River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-01-01
THE MAINE CONTEST.
THE COUNCILS REPORT ON
THE CANVASS.
Gov. Gareelon's Address to the Pub
lie And How it Was Received


election returns made in council:
Your committee in submitting this
report, deem it necessary to state spe-
officially certain facts connected with
the returns from many of the towns,
cities and plantations, in which we
have materially affected the result, by
canvassing The votes returned. There
are many returns, which owing to the
fatal defects cannot be counted; but we
shall specify only those which have az
fected the result.
Article four, part one. section five, of
the constitution regulates the manner
OF electing senators and representatives
to the legislature, and also the process
OF transmitting to the governor and
council the process by which they
are to determine Who have been
elected. This section provides that in
case of towns and plantations, the
municipal officers shall, in open town
and plantation meeting, at the close of
election day, sort, count and declare
the votes cast and forward list of all
persons voted for and after the name
of each person, thus voted for, shall
write the number of votes received by
him. This list shall be recorded in
open meeting by q clerk md a copy of
this recorded list shall be signed by the
selectmen and attested by the clerk
and sealed up in open meeting. This
copy of recorded lists, thus attested, is
to be deposited in the office of secre-
tary of state within 80 days thereafter.
A section of the revised statutes re-
quires that in addition to the foregoing
specific and mandatory provisions of
the constitution, the returns shall state
the whole number of ballots cast at the
election. The same section of the con-
stitution requires that the governor and
council shall open ard compare the re-
turns, thus transmitted, and from them
determine who appear to be elected,
and the governor is to issue to such
persons as thus appear to be elected, a
summons to take the seats in the legis-
lature. OF course the first require
ment is that the returns shall be made
and sealed up in open town and planta-
ton meetings. We understand this is
required in order that the electors may
be present, and see that the returns are
made in accordance with the facts; and
we are of the opinion that the returns
not made up in open meeting are not
legal returns, and cannot be counted.
and we have acted upon this belief ~
making our tabulations. Several prof.
tests accompanied with affidavits to
support them against counting of the
returns specified therein, have
been considered by us. These
protests allege that said returns
should not be counted because they
were not made up in open town meet
ing, but were made after the meeting
closed in some private office or store,
when no one but a portion of the NUM-
cipal officers we're present, and in some
cases only the clerk. This condition of
things in several cases has been proven
to our entire satisfaction and we ~have
rejected the returns thus defective in
our tabulations. In the case of the
town of Stoneham, an affidavit signed
by the two select men establishes the
fact that they signed the returns in
blank and the town clerk took them
home and filed them up and the
selectmen had 20 knowledge of what
the returns contained.
For the foregoing reasons we have
rejected in our tabulations the returns
from the towns of Jay, Stoueham, Lis
bon, Webster and Pennington. The
returns from the town of Searspcrt
have also been rejected because it was
not sealed up in open town meeting.
By means of these reflections, a few
perons will receive seats in the legisla-
ture who would not have been thus
seated, had the returns from the afore-
said towns been made up as the consti-
tuition requires. These are Jas. O..
White, of Jay district; Louis Voter, of
Pennington district; N. Bradbury, of
Stoneham district; Joshu E. Gordon, of
Searsport district; and Leonard HI.
Beale. of Derham district.
The supreme court have held that the
municipal officer shall sign the returns
with their own hands or make their
marks; otherwise the returns cannot be
counted. We have found several re-
turns fatally defective in this particular
and have accordingly rejected them.
BY this rule, laid down by the court,
the New Sharon returns have been by
us rejected. This rejection affects the
election of one representative.
We found several returns fatally de-
fectiye because they were not attested
by the town clerk. The supreme court
have held that such are not legal
returns and we have rejected them.
They are quite numerous, but we shall
specify only such as affect the result of
the election. The representative re-
turned from the town of Lebanon is
one of them. Its rejection affects the
election OF one representative, VIZ:
Stephen Lord. Vanceboro and albany
are like cases, and the rejection of the
returns from these towns affects the
election of two representatives. The
representative districts in most cases
are composed of several towns; IN some
of the towns the full Christian names of
the candidates seem to have been used !;
in others only the initials, and we hesl-
tated as to whether we could count the
initial names with the full names. On
an examination of the law, we lind the
supreme court, in volume GA, page So,
has held that "the governor and coun-
Gil must count them as distinct and
separate persons" By the adoption OF
this rule, laid down by the court, the
election of five representatives seem to
be affected, viz: F. w. Hill, of Exeter,
Alex. Woodcock, of Danforth, j. ii.
Hart, of Newcastle, John Brown, of
Hogden, and John w. Brighton, of
Bland.
The revised statutes reqvire that IN
cases of plantations, In addition to the
forms required by towns, list of the
voters OF the plantations must be sent
in to the secretary of state, otherwise
the returns from such plantations shall
not be counted. We found the returns
of seven plantations irregular in this
particular and we have specified them
on our tabulation. 1t will there appear
that the rejection ofthose returns affect
the return of two representatives.
The statute requirement OF settlug
forth the returns of the whole number
of votes, IN many cases, was not COM
piled with. We find it has been the
practice OF the governor and council for
many years to reject such returns, and we
have not deemed it safe to deviate
from this long established interpreta-
ton of the law. so fully recognized by
our predecessor and in making our
tabulations we have omitted such re-
turns. 1t will be perceived that these
reflections affect the election OF several
representatives.
In the county of Washington, one
candidate for the senate seems to have
been voted for in some of the towns OF
his county nv the name of John Il.