The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-11-13

! has an honest plurality of single vote,
they will readily acquiesce. The contest
on their part is to determine the real will
Of the people the contest on the part of
tina Democratic Committees. as is already
clear from their line Of operations, is to
! stand on the tecknicalities.
In this contest the Republican mana
gers labor under the great disadvantage of
| having all the election machinery in the
hands of their opponents. In order to
succeed they are compelled to make their
case so clear and undeniable as to extort
acquiescence and approval from their ad-
versaries. This fact itself, while it les
sens their chances, assures tranquility in
any event, and it ought to allay all dis
quietude and to rebuke the foolish talk of
disturbance in some quarters.
COUNTING THE VOTES
The general State law of New York in
regard to counting votes, is thus summar-
lied by the New York S,ua:
The general election law of this State.
passed by the Legislature in 1912 and still
in force, requires the County Board of
Canvassers in the counties Of this State
to meet at the Office of the County Clerk
on the Tuesday next following the cleo
tion. The County Board is composed of
the supervisors of towns or wards. In
this city the Board of Aldermen is the
Board Of County Canyassers. A majority
constitutes quorum. The County Clerk
acts as Secretary, and after the constitu-
| tional oath has been administered, the
original statements of the canvass in each
district are produced, and from them the
board proceeds to ascertain the vote of the
county. The board makes separate state
ment of the votes for electors of Plesi-
dent and Vice President and this state
ment contains the whole number of votes
given in each town and district, the
names Of the candidates, and the number
OF votes given to each. This statement
| is certified as usual by the Chairman and
Secretary of the ward ; one copy is re-
corded by the County Clerk. and a duly
certified copy is transmitted by special
messenger to the Secretary of State at
Albany. If any clerical mistake be ap-
parent in any statement of the inspectors
produced before the Board of County
| Canvassers, the latter have the power to
return the statement for correction to the
town or ward inspectors and canvassers
who shall assemble forthwith and make
such corrections as the facts of the case
require. The Secretary of State files the
certified statements of the boards of coun-
ty canvasSers and calls a meeting Of the
Board Of State CanvaSserS. This board is
| composed of the Secretary of State, the
Comptroller, the State Engineer, the At
torney General, and the Treasurer and it
is required to meet on the Wednesday
next after the third Monday of Novem-
ber-which would fall this year on the
10Th inst.-or sooner. This State board,
taking the certified copies of statements
OF the county canvassers, proceeds to can
VOC I,n xrnfa fNv. oil not %
dent and Vice President. 1t then makes
a statement of all the votes and deter
mines and certifies the persons elected.
The Secretary of State then without delay
must cause copy of the certified deter
mination of the Board of State Canvassers
to be delivered to each Of the persons
therein declared to be elected but while
the county board can only inspect errors.
merely clerical, an act of the Legislature
expressly confers upon 1.-THE Supreme Court
whenever it shall appear by affidavit that
errors have occurred in the determination
of the board of county canvassers the
power to require the board to correct such
errors and if the board has dissolved it
can be forced to convene anew. The cor
rected statement made under the order of
the court stands in lieu of the original
statement and must be treated in all
places as of the same effect. 1t follows.
therefore. that while the State canvassers
can not be directly controlled by the
courts, any error of county canvasSerS
can on satisfactory proof be corrected by
order of the Supreme Court. The accu-
racy OF a return would, therefore, nat
urally in cases of doubt be tested before
any Justice Of the Supreme Court sitting
in the district where it is believed the
errors had occurred. AS recently as 1874,
q Of Ia no haf 10 ho
certificate of the proper officer is prima
facie evidence of election to public office,
yet the certificate and the returns upon
which it is based are open to inquiry. and
the return Of election officers may be set
aside by the courts when necessary to
promote the ends of Justice
Briefs.
President Arthur and SAMUEL. Tilden
voted in the same precinct Tuesday.
In New York there were $4,000, 900 bal
lots printed for the election on the 4th.
A reduction of the Democratic majority
in this district from $500, to ! 900, isn't
so bad after all.
Ex-senator .'Zack'' Chandler IS old home
fashionable clearinghouse.
Mrs. Hendricks called upon Mrs. Logan
at Indianapolis last week it is said. 1t was !
the first time the ladies had ever met.
The New York San charges that VIM.
H. Vanderbilt contributed $4,000 to |
the fund for the election of Cleveland.
Gen. Grant did not vote ON the 4th be-
cause he happened to he out of town regis
tration day and did not get his name in the |
lists.
The last surviving son of Mahomet Ali, |
of Egypt, is Prince Hahn, and the Egyp-
tians are willing to hail him as the coming
Khedive
Mr.. Timothy NJ. Healy. the pugnacious
member of the House of Commons for I
Wexford Borough, is to be called to the |
Irish bar next Monday.
The decision of the French court in the |
Patti divorce case was given Saturday.
The court granted divorce on the demand |
OF the Marquis de CauX.
Lord Lytton, accordingto his wife's ac-
count, always dressed at least five years in
advance Of the mode as interpreted in
Britain, and was the first man to introduce
lace frillsan canes into England.
Ensign Harlow, of the Greeley relief
ship Thetis, has had the skin of Polar
bear which he shot in the Arctic regions
mounted and will place it on exhibition at
New Orleans. He has presented it to Mrs.
A. l.. Mason, of Providence, r. I.
Earl Duferin sailed with his suite
rom Southampton for India, Nov. II, in
,he Penlnsular and Oriental Company's
Tasmania, a swift steamer, which, with
Ter connections, will bring the new Vice
10Y to Bombay, at the latest, Dec 9.
On Saturday Of last week, in Calhoun co.
H., Mrs. Sarah A. johnson, while tenn
,Orarily insane, mixed arsenic with sugar
md gave it to her three step-children.
)ne refused to eat, butthe other two par
ook OF the fatal compound. and died in a
ew minutes. The lady then swallowed
he poison herself, and was soon dead.
The Mississippi Steamboat men have q