Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1880-03-19

them. or tsmpering with or altering them. on
the mart of the Governor and Counch OF py
anv persons must have been before that date-
The Tabulations and Lists.
Your committee have examined With great
care the .sthe tabulations" and the 'iists
made I'M by the Committee on Election ne
tnrns- because from these were made up the
final lists sent TO the Secretary OF ctA'e.
for his ssrolls.-' and upon these the Governor
issued his certificates to Senators and heP
re.enta,iye.. Indeed these i.tabulations ana
the ..llsts accompanying the Reports OF tne
Committee on Election Returns. furnisneo
vour committee in many cases with the ciue
To the irregularities and illegal treatment OF
the returns on the part OF the governor anu
Council. The ..tabulations" purport to give
the exact vote Of each city. town ana piantA-
tion for every candidate voted for. here'-
er the vote Of each city, town or piantation
was thrown out the space in the tanuia'ion
opposite such city. torn. or plantation Is ieft
= blank. The footings of the columns IN the
calculations show the whole number. OF
votes received bv each candidate. and the
name of the successful candidate as shown by
the footings is carried ont in the right hano
margin of the tabulation for each Senatorial
or Representative District. The same IL
true in case of county officers.
After these tabulations were completed the
next step taken BY the Governor and Coun-
ell was to make up in the form OF report OF
the committee on election returns the hnai
..lists, of Senators and Representatives.
These appear bv Senatorial and class DIS
tricts.
The study and examination of these 'taou-
latiops" and lists" have been most interest,"
ing to your committee, and they cannot or
bear 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 Governor and Council for himself.
If this shall be done, half the work of your
committee in exposing the conduct OF pro-
ceedings, 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
situations of figures, both in the columns and
in the footings, and also OF names in the mar
gin and this is made startling in its force as
a piece of evidence by the facts, which have
been shown in testimony. that the ''tabula-
tions'' for Senators and Representatives are
not the first and informal ones made, and
upon which corrections might naturally be
expected to be found, but the final records
upon which the reports and lists were made
up.
The s'lists'' tound in the reports of the
Committee on Election Returns, show the
same remarkable features. The first report
drawn up by that committee shows repeated
cases of erasures, interlineations and substi-
tutions which were made before the ''list
would suit, and so that it would show the
requisite number OF Representatives of the
fright stamp''-to use Governor Garcelon's
phrase.
In the left-hand margin of the report on
the Representative list, each name Of the
''right stamp is marked with
a letter &C. and it is noticeable that in the
case of Oliver r. Bragdon of Gouldsborough
his name was first written in and then erased
anu his greenbaek competitor, James Elye,
substituted; but so fragrant was the case that
in company with the letter &C. in the mar
gin Indicating Mr.. Flye's politics. is an in
terrogation mark ''?" showing that whoever
itated and had question whether the case was
not too bad to stand upon.
Suppressions and SubstitutiOns.
In the examination of the cases where the
original returns have been suppressed and
new returns substituted in their places for
the purposes of enabling the Governor and
Council to carry out their scheme to count-in
a quorum Of fusion members, your commit
tee have been embarrassed by the fact that
such new returns have been made upon Off
cial blanks identical with those issued by the
Secretary of State to the clerks of the sew
eral cities. towns and plantations, prior to
the election. In almost every instance the
official envelope in which these new and
substituted returns were forwarded to the
Secretary of State, and which must have
born in the post-mark. the date of mailing
have been destroyed. leaving as a rule the
new return to be filled in place If the one
suppressed, without any evidence in the re-
turn itself which would be likely t. lead to
the detection of the fraud. The expense of
summoning the municipal officers who made
up the election returns is so large. and the
time for investigation so short. that the COM
mittee have been obliged to examine only
those cases to which their attention has hren
called either by the appearance of ihr re-
turn itself. the alteration in the tabuations.
or information received from outside parties
A sufficient number of cases have been ex-
amined to establish the fact beyond contro-
versy, that this practice of suppresslng de-
fective returns from places giving fusion ma
jOrities, and the substitution of others which
conformed to the rules which were establish
ed by the Governor and Council for the pur-
pose Of rejecting certain returns. disclosing
republican majorities. was resorted to when
it was found to be necessary to the election OF
fusion members.
Your committee will briefly allude to few
Of these cases as disclosed by the testimony
which accompanies this report.
Jonesboro', Addison, Whiting and Lin.
coin.
In the case of Jonesboro' in Washington
county, the committee found among the re-
.urns which came into their hands for exami-
nation an official envelope signed by the Sc
1ectmen and Town Clerk of Jonesboro'. bear
ing the post-mark of Sept 9. 1870. which
purported to contain the Senatorial return
from that town. This envelope contained a
blank return which hal lrcvcr been illcd NJ.
Evidence was taken before The committee
which showed that Dec .. 1879. Herbert NJ.
Heath, ESQ.,, the counsel of the republican
Senators-elect from Washington county. ex-
amined the senatorial returns from that coun-
ty in presence of Governor Garcelon and F..
L. Moody, Chairman Of Committee on Elec-
lions: that he noticed the envelope from
Joneshoro' among the returns in the morning.
but when he came in the afternoon it was
missing. and after some search it was found
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