The Portland daily press., 1880-01-01

taken without notice to his opponent, no one knows
when where, signed by two fusion selectmen of
that town, who had also signed the official return
stating that the vote was not declared in open town
meeting and that they signed the in blank at
the meeting and it was filled in afterwards This
testimony was taken with no cross-examination and
none of the safeguards which the courts of law or
the interests of truth demand; the party affected
not confronted with the witnesses; the evidence
stood uncorroborated. 1t directly contraicted the
fants had officially signed. And yet the Governor
and Council accept the affidavit of the seectmen as
true and reject their official return false in
der to issue the certificate of election to who
was never elected Sticking for the constitution
they override the return to which the constitution
confines Them and base their certificate on a secret
and exparte affidavit which the constitution abhors
NEWCASTLE.
The four towns of Alma Newcastle, Nobleboro
and Somerville together elect Representative
By the popular vote in that district Edward X. Hall
the Republican candidate for Representative, had
535 votes and the Democratic candidate 326 votes,
divided between James w. Clarke j. w. Clark and
James w. Clark, leaving Edward X. Hall clear
majority of 200 over all others. The vote of New
castle was returned by Democratic town clerk as
23S for E. X Hail. though every ballot cast for
Edward X. Hall, while the Democratic vote was
turned as "a for James w. Clark, though it is
known that the actual ballots were cast some for
James W. Clarke spelled with an .'e,'"' some for
James w. Clark spelled without Sc" some for
j. w. Clark and some for James Clark. The record
of the town showed the votes as actually east; the
return did not; the statute of 1877, C. 212 pro-
vides as follows
9Th, Governor AMI Council may receive testi-
mOny oath to prove that the return from any
does not agree with the record of the vote of
such town in the number of votes the names of
the persons voted for and the return when found to
be erroneous may be corrected by the record
This law stands on the statute book unrepealed by
the Legislature unreversed by the court binding,
mandatory every department of the govern
ment every citizen of the state; designed to
prevent the thwartng of the popular will as ex-
pressed at the baob0q 1t is submitted that it not
repugnant to, but that it sezes upon and executes
the very spirit of the Constitution. BY it, in the
case before u.s. all in the returns would have
been corrected. But the Governor and Council
usurp the province of the Supreme Court and strike
down unconstitutional the law that stands in
their path in order to count for E. K Hall the bal
lots that cast for Edward K Hail. and to count
for James w. Clark the ballots that were distrbut-
ed among three or four different names.
The returns themselves show that Alma and New
castle cast their Democratic VOTE aggregatng l25
for James w. Clark, spell ed without an CO. and
Nobleboro and Somerville cast their Democratic
vote, aggregating 1877, for James W. Clarke spelled
with an Sc. The vote would then stand by the re-
turns alone: Edward Il. Hail. 297; E. K Hall,
238; James w. Clark, 129; James w. Clarke, 1877,
and Edward X. Hall, Republican, would still be
elected Having in the Ashland district before re-
ferred to, decided that John Burnham and John
Burnam, idem sonans, were different persons in
order to defeat Republican in that district, they
now decide that James W. Clarke and James W.
Clark are the same person, in order to elect
Democratic representative in this district. They
are consistent in this that Though by opposite