The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-10-22

The election of sergeant-at-arms, brigade
commander, adjutant and inspector general,
uartermaster-general Judge advocate gem
eral, supervisors Of the insane, trustees of
the University of Vermont and State Agri-
cultural College, superintendent of educa-
ton and trustees of the reform school, will
take place tomorrow Thursday. SEN
ator Day offered a joint resolution last
Wednesday that joint committee be ap-
pointed to fix a time for the election of
judges of the supreme court; but it was
ordered to lie to await the fate of the bill to
cut down the number of judges to six.
THE first important debate of the session
took place last week Thursday in the sen
ate over Senator Ide's bill, which in sub
stance allows married women to contract
as If they were unmarried, except that they
cannot sign note as surety for their hus-
band, nor become surety for any of his
debts, except by way of mortgage duly exc
cuted; nor can one maintain claim against
the other for personal services. 1t also re-
lieves the husband Of all liability for debts
contracted by his wife before marriage.
The bill was reported upon favorably by
the judiciary committee with certain amend
ments. The vote of the committee was six
for the bill to one against-that one being
Senator Paul Senator Ide made a power
full speech in support of the bill and Sena-
tor Paul was the chief speaker against it.
Senator Thompson and Senator Hebard also
spoke for it, and DR.. Holton, DR.. Baxter
and Senator Howe of Ludlow against it.
The bill is a very radical change from the
old laws about women. 1t takes pretty
much all the bars down. They can do
almost anything except vote. But, as Sena-
tor Ide said, the same law exists i'm three
fourths of the states of the Union and even
in conservative England. Blackstone said
that in England the husband and wife were
one and the husband was that one. This
was all done away with now, and the hus-
band and wife were for all business pur-
poses two as they will be in Vermont if
the present bill passes. 1t would be impos-
sble for rascally or spendthrift husband to
squander his wife's property without her
consent. Senator Paul believed that the
passage of the bill would do a great deal
toward destroying the sacred relation of
marriage. He believed that that relation
was at the foundation of our civilization and
nothing should be done to impair it. The
senator eulogized the beauty and holiness
of the marriage relation in eloquent terms,
much to the amusement of his brother sena-
tors, for the senator, although the most gal
liant of men, is a confirmed bachelor Sena-
tors lde and Thompson, on the other hand,
are married and fathers of large families
THE committee of the legislature to can
vass votes for county officers, of which
Judge Thompson was chairman, had pub
lie hearing in the large committee-room last
Friday afternoon and evening, in regard to
the Bennington shrievalty contest in which
John Robinson of Bennington is the demo-
cratic claimant and James l.. Mccall of Ru-
pert the republican claimant. The state of
the vote has already been given in these
columns, and need not be repeated. There
was a large number of witnesses examined,
and the elections in Arlington, Bennington,
Manchester, Stamford, Dorset and Rupert
were investigated There was not much
| real disagreement as to the facts, and the
| result may be summed up by saying that if
| it is constitutional to allow each party the
-
| Robinson was elected But the constitu-
| ton prescribes certain ways in which the
| certificates shall be made out. In all these
towns the certificates We're not so made out.
These certificates give the election to Mr..
| Robinson. The votes, as they were declared
| in open town meeting give it to Mr.. Mccall.
| 1t is claimed by Mr.. Robinson, and the evil
| dence tends to show, that in some of the
| towns mistake was made in the count at
| the town meeting, which was rectitied be-
| fore the certificates were made out-a day or
more afterwards and the certificates give
| the recorded vote. Judge j. u. Bromley of
| Castleton conducted Mr.. McCall's case.
He claimed that the committee was bound
| by the certificates required by the consti-
| tuition and is not at liberty to investigate
| any further than to determine whether or
| not it has such certificates before it. Me, srs.
| Pitkn x Huse, who appeared for Mr.. Rob-
| inson claimed that the committee has the
| power to investigate, as far as necessary, who
| received tne majority Oh Ine VOTES CuSU III
| was nearly midnight of Friday when the
| hearing was finished. The committee voted
to leave the draught of its report to sub
| committee composed of MessrS. StiCkney of
| Bethel, Brigham of Bakersfield Franklin
of Newfane, and Senators Johnson and
| Jones. The committee will submit their
draught to a meeting of the full committee,
to be called by the chairman. 1t is sup
posed that there will be two reports.
| THURSDAY night the committee on elections
heard Mr.. John j. Enright present his
| claims to the seat now occupied by the Rev.
Theodore A. Hopkins of South Burlington.
| The points raised by Mr.. Enright with much
| iteration and minor detail were that the
ballots counted for Mr.. Hopkins were not
| printed in legal form, most of them having
| merely the word Hopkins upon them, with
| nothing TO designate the Office or the par
| ticular Hopkins for whom they were cast
that upon the second ballot one hundred
| forty-nine votes were found in the ballot
box while only one hundred forty-tive names
appear checked off upon the check list for
that ballot; that of the one hundred forty
five votes checked he had seventy-three q
majority and Mr. Hopkins should not have
been declared elected; that the law pro-
vides that the votes shall be counted in the
presence of the voters in the room where
they were cast, but that in this case the con-
stable took the box under his arm and
| carried it into room occupied by the town
clerk and there counted the votes that the
vote should have been declared by the con-
| stable who presided over the meeting, but
was in fact declared by Mr., Van Sicklen, a
member of the board of civil authority,
although the constable was then and there
present. Mr.. Enright said he could not ac-
count for the excess of the votes in the ballot
box over those checked off upon the list, and
while he did not wish to cast any reflections
upon any one, yet he intimated that the per-
sons in charge of the ballot box We're stanch
supporters of Mr. Hopkins. Mr. Hopkins
stated that his counsel Hon. A. &. Stafford,
was absent, but he would make a verbal
statement in his own behalf. He said in re-
gard to the first point that the presumption
in favor of the person whose name was
upon the ballot if there was but one candi-
date of that name, and no other person of
that name elgible that in Mr.. Enright' S
own case some of the votes counted for him
had only the word Enright upon them; in
regard to the second point that Mr. Bean.
the constable, was seVenty-two years old
and had feeble voice, and amid so much
excitement 1t was very easy for him and the
town clerk, Mr.. Smith, TO omit TO check
some of the names that in the case of him
self and Mr.. Burke, who both voted on that
ballot, their names were not checked until
after they called Mr.. Smiths attention to il;
that upon the preceding ballot four more
names were checked, and IL was not likely
any of the voters would leave at such a
time; in regard TO the third point he said he
had reason to believe that the votes had been
counted in that same little room ever since
the town was organized, and if he was not
a legally elected representative, none of his
predecessors had been. Dispositions on
| hntI otI tAnt I'M ba nd