River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-01-15
THE MAINE SITUATION.


The State Journal gives the follow
ing succinct and comprehensive re-
same of the Maine fraud, which we
commend to the candid consideration
of our readers:
On the eighth of September last, the
people of Maine had an election for
State officers and members of the Leg
islature. There were three tickets in
the field, and the canvass before the
election was one of the most active
and animated ever held in any state.
Some of the ablest ulen upon either
side of tLis triangular contest, both
from within and from without the
State We're warmly engaged in the
struggle for supremacy, there being
all the time an evident disposition on
the part of the Democratic and Green
back parties, TO combine against the
Republican party, ut least so far as
the Legislature was concerned. But
when the votes of the people came to
be counted, it appeared that the Re-
publican candidate for Governor had
an overwhelming plurality over either
OI Jilt OUti6I CdHuIAdGeS, anu bIidU TIC
came within two or three hundred of
the combined vote of both. The laws
of the State require that when no can
didate has received Il majority over all
the Legislature shall make the choice,
the election of the State officers, of
course, devolved upon that body. The
Legislature of Maine consists of Sen
ate of 81 members and House of Rep
resentativeS OF Isl members, and of
these the Republicans at this election
clearly elected 10 Senator'S, giving
them a majority of over both the
other parties in that body and 80 Rep
resentatives. giving them majority of
% in the popular branch, and making
| the Republican majority on joint bal
lot SO. Such a result would seem to
have been sufficiently emphatic and
decisive to have silenced all questions
as to the political complexion of the
State. and so to all appearance was it
regarded, but it now proves that a
deep-laid conspiracy had been secretly
plotted, by which the will of the peo-
pie was to be tn warted and the utter
subversion of the principles which un-
derlie our representative form of gov
eminent was to be accomplished. The
administration was Democratic, and it
took advantage of its official functions
to effect Il deliberately planned and fell
oniously and corruptly executed fraud
upon the rights of the elective fran
chise which, in gigantic criminality,
has never had a parallel in the history
of enlightened government. 1t in
structed its clerical force, in the first
place to send out fraudulent blanks to
the town officers. forms which. if fol-
lowed by the town clerks, would in
eVitab.y make their returns open to
technical objection. Coupled with
this fact, it is plain enough since the
result has become known, that secret
instructions were sent to Democratic
and Greenback clerks to be particular
ly careful and avoid in their returns
all technical errors and Irregularities
of which it was secretly planned to
take advantage in respect to the re-
turns from Republican towns. This
consumately corrupt piece of fraud
accomplished, Governor Garcelon, with
his co-cOnspirators of the Council,
locked up the returns, and refused any
inspection of them by those who had a
right by law to see and have then cor
rected, while these precious scoun-
drels, usurping functions which did
not belong to them, proceeded, upon
these pre-arranged techIicalities, to
count out sufficient number of Re-
publican returns to place that party in
the minority in both branches of the
Legislature. Eight Republican Sena-
tors and twenty-nine Representatives
were thus counted out, leaving the
Fusionlsts nine majority in the Senate
and Seventeen in the House, making
| tweEty-six Fusion majority on joint
ballot. By this throwing-out process,
several towns and cities have been en-
tirely DISTINGUISHED, having no repre-
sentation in the House, there being
twelve vacancies in that body. Hav-
ing thus secretly and corIuptly ar
ranged for this stupendous outrage,
| the Governor proceeded to send certIt-
icates to those who were counted in,
and this fraudulent body met, the 9TH
or day, and organized in violation of
the pronounced judgment of the SUI
prem Court of that State; the House
of Representatives lacked constltu-
tionaI quorum to do business; the le-
gally-elected members, who had been
deprived of their seats by the usurp-
ing Governor, petiti0neo for their
rights and protested against these I'M
| lawful proceedings. and the whole viii
Iainlv WAS c0nsumated in violation of
decency, of law, of precedent, and of
established parliamentary usage. Car
celon's gubernltoridl term has expir-
ed. but the functions of that Office are
exercised by the President of the Sem
ate. whose unlawful choice was affect
| ed by the vote of Senators not elected
| bv the suffragps of the people. and
who is the plant tool of the corrupt
cAbal that now holds arbitrary rule
| in the State. There can be no more
| lust and true chdracterization of these
proceedings than that they are reyo-
| iutionarv, to all intents and purposes;
that they are directly subversive of
/ the principles of representative gov
| eminent; that they have overthrown
and trampled under foot the right OF
suffrage, and that precedent has
been established by them by which
any usurpation. however preposterous
that they may elect to perpetuate. and
/ any political villainy they may choose
! to perpetrate, can only be put down by
the armed uprising Vt the people IN
defense Of their pcescriptive and CON
stitution4l rights.
| WE understand that Hon. II. E.