The Portland daily press., 1880-09-10
"GOOD EASY READING"

Ihas government rests upon the great constitat-
ttonal axiom "that all po,oer is inherent in the
people" at is a government of the people, by
the people and for the peopte;;'' and II adminis-
tered in the spirit Of its founders, ''u shall not
perish from the earth" Its constitution acas
formed, to use the apt expression of one aohose
memory is enbdtmed in the hearts of has cou1a-
trynaen. "by plain people," and "plai,a people"
must administer it. The ballot is the pride, as
aceH as the protection, of al is the truest IN
dicotion of the popular aoiu. The official returns
required from the municipal officers of the sey-
erdl plantations, toacns and cities, are and will
be made by ''pldin people," and made, too, IN
the hur7y and bustle and excitement of an elec-
tion. They are not required to be aoritten aoih
the scrupulous nicely of sUriting master, or
aoiM the technical accuracy Of plea IN abate-
ment The sentences may be ungranamatical,
the spelling may deviate from the recognized
Standard but returns are not to be set at naught
because the penmanShip may be poor, the Ian
gadge uragronaaaticat, or the spelling erroneous.
1t is enough if the returns can be understood,
and If understood, full effect should be gicen to
their natural and Obvious meaning. They are
not to be strangled by idle tecnicalities, nor is
their meaning to be distorted By carping and
captious criticism. When that naeanangis ascer-
tanned there should be hesitation in giving to
it full effect. The language of Mr.. Justice Nor
ton IN Strong, petitioner, 20 Pick. 4S4, is pecul-
adrly appropriate to the subjects under discus-
sion. "What," he asks, "shau be the conse-
que'ace of an omission by the selectne1 or toaon
clerk topertorm any Of these (their) prescribed
duties and upon whom shall it faH9 For aoil-
full neglect Of duty the officers aoould undoubt-
edty be liable to punishment. But shall the
phole toaon be distranchised By reason of the
fraud or negligence Of their o6tcers9 Thas
Doutd De Furnishing the innocent for the fraud
Of the guilty; 1t ,could be more Just and more
conSonant to the genius and spirit of our insti-
tutions to i'aict sepere penalties upon the mis-
conduct, Intentional or accidental of the eff
GERS, but to recei0e the UoteS aCheneUer they can
be ascertained aoih reasonable certainty. !fno
return or any imperfect one can be receiUed,
let 1t be supplied or corrected by the original
record, If fang there be-" The returns should
be received aoith favor and construed ,cith iber-
atty, for, he adds, '..from the men that usually
are, and Of necessity mast be employed to
make them, great tormality and nicely cannot
be expected, and should not be required" The
general principle aohich gouernS is, that aohae
there should be a strict compliance acith the pro-
0isions of a statute, get aohen they are merely
directory. such strict compliance is not essen
tiot to the Ualidhy Of proceedings arder sach
statute, unless they are declared to be therein
This is specially applicable achen the rights of.
thepublic or Of third persons are concerned
The dominant rule is to giue such construction
to the official acts Of municipal officers as aoM
best comport acith the meaning and intention
Of the parties, as deri0ed from fair and
honest Interpretation of the language used and
to sustain rather than to defeat the aoM Of the
people, and Ht,ts distfanchiSe the citizens.
JOHN APPLETON
CHARLES w. WALTON
WIN. G. BARRows,
CHARLES DANFoRTH,
JOHN A. PETERS.
ARTEMAS LIBBEY,
JOSEPH w, SYMONDS.