The Portland daily press., 1880-04-09
since they came into their possession They
are sure that nothing of the kind has been
done or attempted during their control of the
afur
METHOD OF INVESTIGATING.

| are sure that nothing OF the kind has beer
done or attempted during their control Of tht
| returns.
| METHOD OF INVESTIGATING.
The general course pursued by your commit
| tee on the examination of these returns ha
| been as follows: N "a
Where irregularities have appeared on in
| spection the committee have at once sum
moned the officers of the towns and cities ant
| plantations whose returns have been in ques
tion, and especially the officers who made VI
| the returns, and the records of the same
These have been sent for without regard tc
their politics, and have always been directed
| to bring with them all books and papers re-
| the list of witnesses summoned and examined
| by the committee shows that about one-hali
| of them are "Fusionist" in politics.
Your committee have examined faithfully
and have tried to go to the bottom OF each
case, and whatever may be the political views
| of the members all have worked cordially and
| earnestly together to common end. The
| sessions. which have been public, with two
| exceptions, have been frequent and protracted
and so far as the limited time given to them
| since their work began has allowed, your COM
| mittee have endeavored to go into all branches
| of the case.
They have searched for all kinds of irregu-
larties in the election returns, or in the treat
ment of the same by the Governor and Coun-
Gil or by other parties, in order that a full
presentation might be made to the public,
which demanded an explanation of the pro-
cess by which 81 Senators and Representatives
of one political party had been counted out,
while no candidate of the other party had
been mo.ested.
THE ACTION OF THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL.
In order to fully understand the extent of
the control which the Governor and Council
assumed over the election returns, brief
statement of the facts may fittingly be made.
The sessions of the Governor and Council
are holden at the Capitol, in the Council
communicates The Governor attends most
of the sessions and all important acts of the
Council are subject to his approval or dsap-
proval.
The Secretary of State is part of the exec
ntive branch, and either he or his deputy-acts
as the clerk of the Council at its meeting.
All the election returns are sent to the Sec
retary of State and they are by him, with the
exception of the returns for Governor, which
go direct to the legislature, turned over to the
Governor and Council for examination and
counting The Council Blotter'' as it is
called, is the record of the meetings and do
ings of the Governor and Council at each ses-
sion.
Your committee has received this record for
the year 1879, and it has been made part OF
the testimony.
The record shows that at the meeting of the
Council on September TO- 1879, which contin-
tinued until September 18th, no action was
taken upon the electlOn returns. InlS applleS
also to the meeting of October 9th
AT the session which commenced October
29th, the election returns were taken up, and
on October 30th the following order was
passed, on motion of Councillor Chase:
Councillors Foster and Brown were added to
the Committee on Elections, and said commit
tee was instructed to receive the returns on
file in the Office of the Secretary of State and
proceed to open and tabulate the same as soon
as convenient" The committee as first made
consisted of three members. the usual number
MesSrs. Moody, Fogg and Chase being chosen
No reason has been found why this unusual
addition was made, and your committee can
see none. unless it was that an uncommon
burden was to be laid on the committee
Governor Garcelon in his testimony, says
who he wanted men that were better known
than the young men who first composed the
committee" Mr., Moody, the chairman, was
discontented at the change, and gaveu up the
custody OF the returns and the keys to their
place of keeping shortly afterwards. to Mr..
Fogg.
The Election Returns Committe as newly
constituted, took possession of the returns and
proceeded to open and tabulate them, and
from October 31st to November 18th, this COM
mittee had entire possession and control over
them, permitting, as Governor Garcelon
claims, no one to see them, although persons
who were interested in the returns as candi-
dates made application for an inspection On
November 18th, another full session of the
Council was holden, and on that day the
"Blotter' shows that the Committee ON
ELECTION Returns" reported that ION the 31st
day of October they received from the Secre-
tary OF State the election returns for Senators,
Representatives and county officers, and they
proceeded to open the same and tabulated
them, and now submit the tabulations OF said
retu1nS''
This record shows that on the 18th day of
November the returns had all been opened
and tabulated. and were ready for the final
action of the Governor and Council.
Up to this date Governor Garcelon testities
that no person outside of the Committe
Election Returns of the Council, had seen the
returns or knew what was in them. On that
day committee of three gentlemen, Cover
Dingley Hon. S. d. Lindsey and Hon. L. A.
Emery, representing the Republican candi-
dates, waited upon Governor Garcelon, and
requested permission to look at the returns, to
see if any errors existed in them, that might
be legally corrected by the town records,
under the provisions of the statutes. Cover
nor Garcelon says that he thought the request
reasonable, but on submitting the matter to
his Council it was laid over with no action
until November 22d, when the following Or
der was passed. as found in the "blotter."
ORDERED, That the Secretary give parties notice
that the Governor and Council will be in session from
Dec 1st to 18th, for the purpose of examining the
official returns of votes for candidates for senator's
representatives and county officers. Candidates
claiming irregularities or other causes presumed to
vitiate their election, will have reasonable opportu
nifty to be heard either personally or by duly aathor
lied council
The opportunity for examination by parties
interested was then restricted to the time be-
tween Dec. 1st and 18th, and for all the rest of
the time the Governor and Council were solely
accountable for the returns, and for their be-
ing kept free from tampering or alteration.
The tabulation and the lists of Senators and
Representatives made up from them by the
committee on election returns show that the
final lists made Der 18th that
any perversion of the returns, or wrong appli-
cation OF the law to them, or tampering with
or altering them, on the part of the Governor
and Council or by any persons must have been
before that date.
THE TABULATIoNS AND LISTS.
Your committee have examined with great
care "the tabuations'' and the "lists'' made
up by the Committee on Election Returns, be-
cause from these were made up the final 'lists''
sent to the Secretary of State, for his "rolls,'
and upon these the Governor issued his certif-
Gates to Senators and Representatives. Indeed,
these "tabulations'' and the "lists'' accompa-
nying the Reports of the Committee on Elec-
ton Returns furnished your committee in
many cases with the clue to the Irregularities
and illegal treatment of the returns on the
part of the Governor and Council. The "tab-
ulations'' purport to give the exact vote of
each city, town and plantation for every cand-
date voted for. Wherever the vote of each
city, town or plantation was thrown out the
space in the tabulation opposite such city,
town or plantation is left blank. The foot
ingS of the columns in the calculations" show
the whole numbef of votes received by each
candidate, and the name of the successful can
didate as shown by the footings is carried out
in the right hand margin of the tabulation for
each Senatorial or Representative District.
The same is true in case of county officers.
After these tabulations were compl .ted the
next step taken by the Governor and Council
was to make up in the form of report of the
committee on election returns the final "lists''
of Senators and Representatives These ap-
pear by senatorial and class districts.
The study and examination of these "tabala-
tions' and "lists' have been most interesting
to your committee, and they cannot forbaar the
expression of the wish that every member of
the Legislature should before the session ends,
visit the committee room and inspect these
evidences of the crookedness of the late Gov
ernor AMI Council for himself If this shall
be done half of the work of your committee in
exposing the conduct of proceedings taken by
the late Governor and Council will be done.
From the beginning to the end of the tabu-
lations they are marked by erasures and sub