The Portland daily press., 1880-09-04
"GOOD EASY READING.o

This government rests upon the great constito-
tional a1iom "that all poacer is inherent in the
people" 1T is a government Of the people, By
the people andtor the peoples" and If adn,inis-
tered in the spirit of its founders, st shall not
perish from the earth" Its constitution soas
formed, to use the apt expression of one ,vhose
memory is enbalaed IN the hearts of his cou,a-
trynaen. sby plain people," and 'plain people"
must administer it, The ballot IS the pride, as
nell as the protection, of all. 1t is the truest an
dication of the popular aoiu. The official returns
required from the municipal officers of the seq
eral plantations, toaons and cities, are and aoiU
be made By '.plain people," and made, too, IN
the hurry and hustle and excitement of an elec-
ton. They are not required to be aoritten soith
the scrupulous 'aicety Of a acritiag master, or
acith the technical accuracy of a plea IN abate-
nae'at. The sentences may be ungranlnadtical,
the spelling may deriate from, the recognized
standard; but returns are not to be set at naught
because the pennaanship may be poor, the Ian
guage u'agrdnsn,atical or the spelling erroneous.
1t is enough If the retur1lS can be understood,
and If understood, full effect should be giuen to
their natural and Obvious meaning. They are
o.
their meaning to be distorted by carping and
captious criticism. When that meanangis ascer-
tanned there should be no hesitation IN giying to
1t full effect. The language of Mr. Justice Nor
ton in Strong, petitioner, 20 Pick 4S4, is pecuL
iarly appropriate to the subjects under discus-
sion. "What," he asks, "shdU be the conse-
Q,tence of an omission By the selectnen or tOson
clerk toperJo1m any of these (their) prescribed
duties and upon schom shall it tall' For soil-
fill neglect Of duty the officers acould undoubt-
edly be liable to punishment. Bat shall the
achole toacn be distranchised By reason of the
6eaad or negligence Of their .o6icers2 This
aeould be punishing the innocent for the fraud
Of the guilty.; it acould be more Just and more
consonant to the genius and spirit of oar iasti-
tttions, to iatict severe penalties upon the mis-
conduct, Intentional or accidental, of the eff
GERS, but to receive the Uotes acheneuer they can
be ascertained aoith reasonable certainty. If
return or any imperfect one can be receiUed,
let it be supplied or corrected by the original
record, if any there be-" The returns should
be receiued aoith faoor and construed auith Hber-
atty, for, he adds, '..from the men that usually
are, and Of necessity, must be employed to
MAKE them, great fornadtlty and nlcety cannot
be expected, and should not be required" The
general principle achich gouerns is, that achae
there should be strict compliance With the pro-
visions Of a statute, get achen they are merely
directory, such strict compliance is not essen
tial to the ealidity Of proceedings ander such
statute, u,aless they are declared to be therein
This is specially applicable achen the rights of.
the public or Of third persons are concerned.
The dominant rule is to giUe such construction
to the official acts Of municipal officers as wiu
best conaport acith the meaning and intention
Of the parties, as dericed from fair and
honest Interpretation Of the language used, and
to sustain rather than to defeat the acM of the
people, and thus disfrarchise the citizens.
JOHN APPLETON
CHARLES w. WALTON
VIM. G. BARRowS,
CHARLES DANFoRTH
JOHN A. PETERS.
ARTEMAS LIBBEY,
JOSEPH w. SYMONDs.