Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1880-01-06
NUMBER 50.

VOW they cannot conscientiously disre-
gard. That Republican Legislature was
elected they do not deny, but there are Is
not dotted and Is not crossed In the re-
turns, which they say makes them by the
Constitution fatally defective" eve
could not trample on the Constitution,
you know" say they with leer. And
when their attention Is called to statute
law which meets the case and empowers
them to amend the technical defects, they
answer at once, 'Oh, that law Is uncon-
stitutional."
It is an old habit of these people to use
the letter OF the Constitution to stab the
State. They tried It on large scale in
1861, when they clamored that the Federal
Constitution not only did not contain the
principle Of self-preservation, but that 1t
actually offered shield and defence 10 its
assailants. But even under this claim OF
q constitutional right to defeat the will Of
the majority, II Is not believed that they
can sustain themselves.
/, The whole business has been character
lied by such indubitable signs of rascally
plot on the part of the Governor and Coun-
Gil to steal the State; they all point SO
clearly to a premeditated purpose and pre-
pared plan; and the condolences are SO
striking and significant that even upon
their technical defence they feel that the
weight ofpubl.c opinion Is Overwhelmingly
against them. They have been especially
called upon to explain the remarkable fact
that the returns have been found fatally
defective only in such cases as would
result in the defeat Of Republican candi-
dates The latest effort In this direction Is
in letter from Governor Garcelon, pub
lished yesterday, in which he says
Every year there have been defective re-
turns rejected-that is, not counted-for
noncompliance with constitutional or le-
gal provisions" He neglects to state the
fact that this Is the first time in the history
of the State that legally and fairly elect
ed majority in the Legislature has been
reversed upon such technicalities perhaps
because IL Is so well known. But this
year." he adds, sin addition 10 the usual
occurrences in this direction, q sort OF
mildew or epidemic seems TO have infected
several Of our larger cities" "A sort of
mildew.' Well, we should say so. And
he might have added that 1t was "a sort or
mildew" that was engendered in the filth
Of the Office OF Eben +. Pilsbury, the chief
functionary OF the Maine Democracy, and
its expectant candidate for United States
the yellow fever germs which another
Democrat, now Governor Of n State, un-
dertook to distribute throughout the
North during the war. 1t went in the
form of blanks for returns, printed under
Pillsbury's directions, in a manner pur-
posely intended to mislead returning OIL
GERS, so that there should be just these
technical defects upon which this gang Of
conspirators could defeat the will Of the
majority and steal the State,
II was Garcelon and Pillsbury and the
rest of the gang who used the opportuni-
ties Of their official positions, who set
these traps and put on them the seal of the
State. And now that they think they
have sprung them and caught their vic
tins, when anybody comments upon the
singular circumstance that all these de-
fects turn TO the advantage of the fellows
who discovered them, and asks an expla-
nation, this man Garcelon looks up mo-
ment from the grand larceny he Is trying
to consummatc, and says: 'Oh, it's sort
of mildew 80 Maybe it is; but it Is "a sort
Of mlldew" that Is much more likely To
rot the party that invented il than TO dam
age those whom ii was intended TO infect.