Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1884-09-26

properly filed" the alleged excuse
for this being an irresponsible and
unauthorized "protest of certain
citizens of Norfolk" But another
excuse can be found. To secure a
Democratic Senator in the Thirty
first district, a law was passed to
establish eight voting precincts in
the city of Norfolk and to provide
for a registration of the voters
therein. That is, a new registra-
ton under Democratic manipula-
tion was provided; but it failed in
its object, Mr.. Turner being elect
ed, as has been seen. Now the
conspiratOrs take a new dodge.
On the Goth of January the Demo
cratic Senate "resolved that w.
II. Turner is not entitled to a seat
in this Senate" and ordered a
third election in the Thirty-frst
district. Mark you, this case was
thus pending twelve days. In the
meantime the Democrats (while
Nortolk's twice elected Senator was
denied his seat) were forcing
through the Legislature and over
the Governors veto a new partizan
charter for the city of Norfolk.
The third election was now held,
and, to the great disappointment
of the conspirators, Turner was
again elected. AT last February
27th) NorfOlk's Senator was al
lowed to take his seat, about one
week before the expiration Of the
legal term of the session.
The first contested case decided
by the Senate was that Of Rocking
ham. Webb (Rep.) had received
2,675 votes, and Keezell lDem.)
1923 votes. This majority of 80
was overcome by the cOnspiratOrs
throwing out Conrad's Store pre-
cinct, which gave Webb 40 ma
jority. Assuming that all the Re-
publican Senators were present,
this action of the Senate made the
Democratic vote % and the Repub-
lican vote 10.
The next case was that of the
Eighteenth Senatorial district.
Hubbard (Rep.) received 3,24C
votes, and Petit (Dem.) received
3,197 votes, making majority of
43 for HUBBARD. To overcome this
majority Curdsville precinct was
eliminated. and just here attention
is called to the fact that in the
pursuit of the two-thirds, in nearly
every case in both houses a pre-
cinct giving the Republicans a
large majority has been thrown
out, and in no case was a Demo
cratic precinct thrown out. HUI
bard's majority at Curdsville was
100. The only plea for throwing
out this precinct is found in the
following brief resume:
"The contestant abandoned before the
committee every ground of contest except
the Curdsvile precinct. The law is that
that the return is presumed to be right,
and the burden is on the contestant to
show it is wrong. If there were irregu-
larities he must show them. If there was
fraud he must prove it. What has he
proven2 By his one single witness intro
duced by himseD and in his Ocn behalf
Powell Hooper, clerk at the electiOn)
is is shown that it was cloudy morning.
and Hooper had no watch, but supposed
the sun was half or three-quarters of an
hour high. Some few voters had arrived
and were impatient to vote, and he and
one Edward J. Stegar, uniting with Jack
Ellis, regularly appointed judge of cleo
ton, stood up together with their hands
Oh the Bible and took the oath prescribed
by law, the oath being read to them by
Mr.. A. c. Garnett, who was present, and
they opened the polls as judges, and he
(HoOper) acted also as clerk. They re-
ceived eleven votes and put them in the
ballot-box. BY this time Mr.. J. Y. Crute,
another of the judges appointed by the
court, arrived, and proposed to act as
SUCH Hooper declined to act further as
judge, giving way to Mr.. Crute. Crute
objected to going on with tho election till
he could be assured as to the contents OF
the ballot-box, and athis request and that
of his party friends (the Democrats) this
was consented to, and the box opened,
tnrned upside down, and entirely empti-
ell of its contents. Whereupon ii was
found TO contain eleven ballots and moth
ing else, and the poll-books showed that
eleven voters had voted. Crute being
satisfied, the ballots were replaced in the
box Crute took his seat as judge; Powell
Hooper and John A. Matthews were
chosen as clerks, and the election pro-
ceeded regularly, with tlco judges appoint
ed by the court; the third chosen or accep-
ted by them, and shown by the contes-
tant's evidence 10 have been sworn as
Judge by John V. Crute."
Thus, by depriving Hubbard of
his seat and giving the same to
Petit, the Democratic vote was
fixed at twenty.six and the Repub-
licans at fourteen, leaving only
one more to make the coveted
twenty-seven. Spontaneously wrong
was the action of the Democratic
Senate, that when Mr.. HUBBARD, a
few days afterward, offered himself
as candidate for the vacancy in
the House of Delegates, he re-
ceived every vote at Curdsville
precinct, thus putting the seal of
peoples condemnation on the
Democratic fraud-a fraud which
reaches further than our local in
terests for the two Senators thus