Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1882-06-30

.ASsOaeu"S W ViiOoO loiIy -liSto aIu CdI0
evidence of the persons who kept
them, of the III ballots returned by
the judges, only $50 were legally cast
thus leaving discrepancy Of 24T
ballots, or votes. 1t is therefore nec-
essary, in order to arrive st decision
US to the weight to be attached to
these tally lists, to examine into the
manner in which they were kept.
MIR. McIrvine was the first called.
He began to keep tally at half-past 8
or 3 o'clock. He inquired Of the
Judges how many votes were polledy
They said 1O2. But there were in
fact lob, and the first name taken bv
McIrvine was the lO4th. SO the in
formation was substantially correct.
There was no discrepancy between
the two except of one name. Mr..
Mclrvine then commenced keeping
tally, by making his marks in three
columns, and taking down the names
of all for, at least, he believed that he
was taking all the names) persons
who voted. But Mr.. McIrvine testi-
fed that the voting was brisk, even
rapid. Consequently he quit writing
names and made taly-marks, which
prove nothing and are of no use ex-
cept as memorandum to Mr.. Irvine.
Mr.. Perry received the list after 60
or 70 votes had been Tailed, and kept
it after that. But Mr.. Perry did not
even attempt to say that his list was
correct. On the contrary, he says
that it was not only possible, but
probable, that many persons voted
whose names he did not get. Such
testimony can have but little weight
rs against that of the clerks Of cleo
ton, whose special duty it was, un-
der their oath, to keep list Of the
names Of those who voted, and to
keep it correctly. The Testimony
showed that there was some wrang-
ling at times and considerable talk
and noise ut all times, around the
polls. The noise, TT is fair to sup
pose, prevented Mr.. Perry from keep
ing all the names; and it is to be
presumed that the lists kept by the
clerks are correct, and they should
be accepted as such.
Mr. Ruick's testimony is more pos.
tive in its character. He was quito
satisfied that all names had been
written down, and he stated the
names of some persons whom, he did
not think, had voted. But, rs be-
! fore stated, they lived in this vicin-
ity, and the presumption was that
they had voted. Taking Mr.. Ruick's
actions throughout this campaign az
an indication of his ceilings, coasid-
ing the disputes he got into, the in
terest he showed his testimony is
such that it will have to give way to
some of different character.
For long time it was not known
how it would be attempted to prove
the fraud alleged. After while it
was stated that, at the noon recess, as
the tally-sheets were deposited in tho
ballot-box, there were many ballots in
them. Mr.. Perry says he thinks that he
called MIR. Dayton's attention to this;
but he is not sure that he did. In
fact, Mr.. Perry prefaced most of his
replies by the words 81 think" or 81
believe" and he seemed to be certain
Of nothing. Mr.. Dayton, however,
who is undoubtedly reliable witness,
and who was looking out for Belle
vue's interests, did not testify that
Mr.. Perry did so.
The only other testimony on this
point was by Mr.. Cranston, who tes-
titled that when he returned from
lunch, it seemed to him that few
ballots dropped out of the poll lists
as they were taken from the box.
But few ballots would not account
for the discrepancy of PAT votes,
which is alleged to have existed be-
tween the actual number of votes
polled and that reported.
Another circumstance awaited Of
is that in the evening, when the bal
lots came to be counted, less ballots
were found than the names on the
list called for. A second count
showed eight more ballots than
names. The third showed the same.
But this is not to be wondered at, as
such mistakes frequently occur; and
the law provides a way to purge the
ballot-box in case such as this.
That is done by drawing out ballots
and not counting them.
There has therefore not been any,
thing calculated to impeach the re-
turns offered in evidence.
The Court regretted that so much
feeling should have been shown on
this subject; but that was unavoid-
able, as the question was one of great
and general interest. Nor was it sur
prlsing, considering the statements
made to the people of Bellevue by the
very men whom they had sent to rep
resent them at the HALEY polls, that
they should have entertained the
opinion that they had been wronged.