Daily Kennebec journal., 1880-01-13

islature who did not appear to b. 49,
II these eight men have been summcsss.
to help organize this Senate who a. =.
pear to BE- elected, and whom everybodv -
were not elected, andtheir votes have h.sss
quired and used to perfect the organizss;n.
this body, II can have NO binding eject -
we have no legal Senate and shall M "a.
until it 10 organized by q majority - }.
thirty-one members who appear to be- 49,.
There is ore other point l want "a ~.
upon and / am done.
An Hon. Senator has frequently refer,.s.
the Madigan-B BurleiRh case as a reprhs;.'ss
precedent for the doings Of the Governs =,
Council in counting out members le,sn.
elected. Let US look at it just momeps ~!
We may not deceive ourselves.
When the returns from Aroostook eo,,.
came up for examination before the Co-.g!
nor and Council in the fall of 1877, two s' ss"s
dates for the office of Senator appeared-Es
Madigan and Mr.. Burleigh. Both cl.;m.a =
summons from the Governor and Counc;. =
entitle them Is Senators to particip,te !. !,
organization of the Senate. Gov. COM.
and his Council following the practice Of ~:
predecessors allowed the returns to be ope,s,
for inspection. There was an open co,rt =
open hearing.
They heard Mr.. Madigan and allovaa,.
to put in attested copies Of the record ~ -. ~a
vided by chap. Pig, laws of 1877. Thers re
no star chamber proceedings, there ~. :,
usurpation Of the powers of the Sun,..@0
Court. The Governor and Council foIos.,
the constitution as interpreted for mo,e ~
half . century, they took the law Of ,s..
chap. 2l2 and chap. 2l3 as they found ~
The former, chap. 2l2 provides, that sIl :
formalities might be corrected by the r-c,.,
and that the intentions of the voters mi,S. ~
carried out by allowing evidence in recs,s,.
names mis-spelled, and initials of cbr;.,;'"s
names as in the case Of +. w. Hill and -
s. Hill of Exeter. The latter, chan s,s
provided that no person ineligible 20 n. y
flee, should be declared elected. Thea H.
were plain and simple. They had ~
passed upon by the legislature of ls7; Az
approved by the Governor.
The Supreme Judicial Court had in m -.
intimated that they were unconstitut;o,.i
There were also special provisions of a.
Revised Statutes in regard to plantations
The investigations in tbe Madawa.k, 4.
glOn years ago had revealed the fact II.
fraudulent voting prevailed there to l,,.
extent, and that fraudulent returns had H..
made. To prevent this fraud special la,,
regard to plantations was passed. providh,
not only that the lists of votes should be ~
turned to the Secretary of States Office "A \
the case of towns, but also thata copy Of d.
list OF the roters rho rere present and votI
at the plantation meetings.. should b. N
tested by the Assessors and clerks of pl,nn
tiOns, AID returned to the Secretary's ofkr,
with the further provision that unless tA;i, mn
done the rofes should be throrn out and Nd
counted for any officer. See X. s., chan. 4
sec. 76 and II. After an open count and n
open hearing, and an examination of the H.
tested copies Ofplantation records it appesd
that the plantation of Van Buren, had NOT M
turned a copy Of the list Of votes signed n
the Assessors and clerk, and that the list d
votes from Eagle Lake was not attested by
the plantation clerk, as provided by sec {
art. 4, part second of the Constitution.
Obeying the provisions of the r. s., CHI.
sec. IS and II, they were obliged to throw
out Van Buren, and found by the provision
of the Constitution above cited they wen
obliged to throw cut Eagle Lake.
See recent opinion of Courts answer 10
question 5. 1.-The attestation of the clerk i
prerequisite to any action Of the Governs
and Council in counting votes"
This gave Mr.. Burleigh a plurality Of the
votes, but a majority of the Council decided
at the hearing in favor of Mr. Madigan, TINT
Mr.. Burleigh was a resident of Bangor, an
therefore was ineligible to the Office, and Oh
serving the provisions of chap. 2l3, laws d
1877, they would not vote to issue hma sum
mons.
In 1873 the power of deciding upon the
question of eligibility was taken away from
the Governor and Council ci,. 2, laws 1878.
This Burleigh case applies exclusively to I
plantations. With the same general lava
and the same constitution, what have The
Governor and Council done in the year 1872
They did not allow an open count They
did not allow an open hearing.
They did not allow informal returns 10 h
corrected by the record. They did not at
the opinion Of the Supreme court upon tk
cOnstitutiOnality of chap. PIP, 1877 but
hsurped the power of the court, because In
law stood in their way. and declared II %
constitutional. They changed the constnc
tiOn of the constitution as followed for mon
than halt a century, and instead of attemF
ing TO carry out the will of the people BY y
honest and fair and an open count, disreesK
ing law and precedent, and the first prinri
pies upon which our Government stands, thr
subverted the will Of the people and summons
men who they knew we're not elected VI
appear As members of the House and So
ate, that this most outfs geous scheme
modern iniquity might be consumnsisl
While their Predecessor had found sbst
one fatal defect on the average in every fddT
wears, they claimed to find thirty-seven fh
defects in one year. one hundred and fsf!.
eight times As many fatal defects as the sse
age In the past, and to make the scheme h
more outrageous, 80 arranged those deiseb
that republicans were counted out evr
time and fusionists counted in.
This is all can find of the Madigan.Br
leigh case which applies to the present tin
and served - precedent for the Govefpd
and Council.