The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-01-06

laws cases are Constantly aI1SiL- NlAcEC PAL
ties have been arrested and punished 70
violation of some statute when they wer
utterly unconscious of committing an.
crime and devoid of any intent to vioiat
law. But if it be necessa ~ 1'1roo ia consider tn
intent in lrfaT king before marked tickets "a
be rejected, whose intent must be consiC
cred, the man who offers or the man VIII
prepares the ticket? The printer, withou
any knowledge, connivance or consent 0
the part of the candidate or the voter, an
without any intent on bis own part excep
to make handsome ballot, may print til
ticket in fancy ink ON fancy paper with bot
Gag les and dashes on it, and yet we presum
no man would say such a ticket should
received and counted under this law be
cause there was no intention to violate il
Such 4 construction would abolish the stat
ute. The intent in law is presumed from
! the act done, even where it is necssarG {
prove an intent, but in misdemeanors TO
violation Of positive statutes no intent neel
i be proved or alleged.
But If it were necessary to prove an in
| tent to violate the law before the tickets il
this case can be rejected we think the cir
! cumstantial evidence Is amply sufficient
| There We're Republican tickets printed il
Jackson, Miss, under the supervision of th'
| State Executive Committee like the Demo
| The contestant could have procured sucl
unmarked tickets in jackson for his Distric
at 81 per thousand, and yet he paid 81 pei
thousand IN Vicksburg for these marked
tickets. The contestant examined and ap-
proved these tickets before they were dis
tributed and knew the marke were there
The voters knew the marks were there, for
some who could not read, when asked how
they knew the Republican ticket, pointed
n arL-s fhoF Al
tickets were not only distinguishable but
were distinguished by these marks, and that
men who could not read had been instructed
that these marks indicated the Republican
ticket. Again, the Republican supervisors
at the polls wrote down how each man
voted as his ticket was handed in, which
could only have been done by some mark
understood by them.
The other proposition, that mark should
not be called a mark because it is a printers
mark, is simply absurd. The marks found
on these tickets were four in number,
technically known as follows: First, flush
dash; second, a monkey dash; third, q
head dash, and fourth, a monkey dash lar
ger than the second. These dashes are not
type, but belong to the class of printing
material used to display their work, they
are found in sample books of printers dis
play material along with eagles, flags and all
such devices intended to attract attention.
The fact that the dash is used oftener than
the eagle in printers work does not alter its
character or make it any less a mark, which
Webster defines to be''a visible sign, link
point, stamp, figure or the like drawn or
impressed SO as to attract attention." &c.
The very use which printers make of these
dashes is to attract attention to the fact that
the subject has been changed, and this
shows they are marks intended and well
adapted to attract attention. Nor can the
fact of their constant use on tickets when
not prohibited by law avail anything. To
say that printers dash when found upon a
ticket, where the law says it shall have no
mark or device thereon, shall not be called
a mark, because printers constantly use such
dashes on such work when not prohibited by
law is as ridiculous as to say man should
not Be arrested for carrying concealed wea-
pons in place where this is prohibited by
law because he habitually carries such
weapons where 1T Is not prohibited by law.
But there is another and more serious diff
Guilty in the way Of such loose construction
of the law. To permit election officers to
say that one kind of visible mark should
reject a ticket and another kind of mark
equally visible should not. would be placing
in the hands of such officers power t9S
dangerous to be intrusted to party men in
times of high party excitement.
The only safe rule all such cases
i. that laid down ~ Chief ustice Thigh
man in the casSs already cited.
Let Isa1F least prevent future alterations
9ttt'5lections by laying down such plain rules
for the conduct of inspectors as cannot be
mistaken. | am Tor constituting the bylaw
as it is written and rejecting all ballots that
have on them anything more than the
names.
A strict construction of law is always
safest and best, and especially of law which
refers to political powers, duties or rights:
When we launch into the broad sea of
latitudiuous construction we have neither
chart nor compass, and the law becomes a
dangerous instrument in the hands of those
who construe it and who may contract or
expand it to suit the demands of those in
power But it is urged that this construc-
ton of the law should not be enforced
because it throws out such a large number
of Republican votes. The principle is the
same whether one vote or 100000 be affected
by it.
The whole vote of Wisconsin was once re-
iected because a snowstOrm prevented her
electors from assembling on the day ap-
pointed by law for them to vote. The whole
vote of Arkansas was once rejected because
the seal of the State was not affixed to the
certificate Of the electoral vote. And the
vote of Georgia will probably be rejected
because her electors failed to vote on the
day prescribed by law
deem it unnecessary to allude to the
charge made that this action of the Com
missioners was false, fraudulent and unlaw-
full This question has been settled by the
United States District Court sitting at
Jackson, Miss. These Commissioners were
arrested and tried for this very action, and
after full investigation the United States
District Judge instructed the jury to acquit
because there was no fraud or falsehood in
their action and they were acquitted. This
is full answer to the contestants charge
of fraud made by himself in his notice of
contest and made by his partisan friends in
the public press One or the Commi ssion-
ers was leading Republican, who concurred
in this action, and this should have con-
WINGED fair. minded men that there was no
fraud in it.
JAS. 3. CHALMERS.