Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1888-09-28
- PER YEAR, IN ADVANCE.

prevent all damage. The Times had
come out with strong article in which
the conspirators were termed "cranks"
and "lunatIcs" Everybody supposed the
paper was committed TO antagonism OF
the scheme. But it seems the Times was
cheap goods and in the market, and, in
hopes of staving off for awhile the shcr-
ifs visitation in his official capacity, the
editors weakened. Next week there was
only FAINT "yeep" against the scheme
then for two weeks an ominous silence.
Finally, last week, came the flop.
The RECORD is PANIED to see gentlemen
calling themselves newspaper men--and
III this county, too--so bcfoul themselves
and the good name of the profession.
But charity constrains US to believe that
the somersault was caused solely by nun.
ger, and the action taken on the principle
of nothing TO lose and everything to
gam Following is the Times article
j. G. Pitts has received petition, gotten up
by some of the people i'll and about Williams
port protesting against removal of the county
seat. 1t Is doubtless the intention of these peo-
pie TO try to prevent the county y-seat-removnl
project from coming to n vote. According TO
the RECORD, there is nothing to fear from IL vote
Oh the ''scieme;' SO all this useless waste Of
paper and time. The law says that whenever
two.hirds Of the legal voters of the county shall
petition the county commissioners to have the
county seat removed, it shall be the duty of said
commissioners 10 ordor an election; but 1t says
| nothing regarding an opposition petition. Ao
| cording to the election returns Of two years ago,
| there were 38l votes cast, or very nearly that,
and two-tirds of that would be 25i II seems
that go sgners were obtained to the petition for
| removal, and necessarily election must be
ordered We came out strongly against reno
v"val when the project was first started but we
say, vote on it, and fair play. By election time
| the people will know which way they want to
vote.
The young Wlnona topper should
have made 1t read eve came out strong
ly against removal when the project was
'tirst started but Bill Wade came down
and made US some fine promises, and now
we say that he and his 'pards' are not
'cranks' and 'lunatcs. us we termed them
IN our first article"
But let US look into his claim that any
citizen may start out like a thief in the
night tc secure by Misrepresentation the
signatures of his fellow. citizens to peti.
ton the object of which is purely selfish
and against the interests of the taxpayers
Take the Wade. Bumstead petition, for
instance. The signatures we're obtained
in certain parts of the county, while the
fact that petitions were in circulation was
carefully concealed from the people of
other neighborhoods. Then, at meet.
ing of the board set for special pur-
pose, and u full month prior to the scs-
sion of the board at which the call and 9th
er election matters were to como up, the
sheriff appeared with his petitions and
demanded that they be acted on at once.
| No time was to be given for remnnstrauce:
no opportunity to learn whether the pc.
tltions represented the wishes OF two.
thirds of the voters of the county, cx.
pressed with full knowledge of the facts.
True. the law says that when two. thirds
of the qualified voters of a county peti
ton, the board shall grant. But do the
statutes deprive the commissioners of the
right to satisfy themselves that two-thirdi
of the qualified voters so petltIon9 Wha,
authority has the Times for asserting tina,
the vote of two years ago must be taken
as basis? The law does not 80 state
But granting the claim. would the Times
not allow those who signed the Wade
petition to express their real convictions
arrived at after hearing the arguments
on both sides-by signing remonstrauce
That most of the signatures IN at leas1
one township burr Oak) We're obtained
on false pretenses is shown by the fact
that among the signers there to the re-
monstrance are twenty. five who signed
the Wade. petition. In the Dunbury
neighborhood Of Wllllamsport township
the same tactics were employed te
obtain the signatures to the petition o1
many who have since signed the remon
STRANGE. and the same is true of ever,
township in the county.
Another thing we VIII tell the youne
Winona editor who, like the locust, ha!
just completed the shedding of his ole
skin. Nearly every petition that was evel
circulated in Dakota was met by a remon
STRANGE, and IN no other way can the qnes
ton be settled, on its merits, as te
whether two-thirds of the actual qualified
voters residing in county are favorable
to the objects of petition. Further.
more, we will call the attention of the
Times to the fact that within montt
the commissioners of Hughes count,
threw out petition because it was mat
ter OF general public knowledge that thu
signatures were obtained by misstate
nents and misrepresentation. Count,
boards often spend not only hours bu
days, to satisfy themselves that the requi
site majority of legal voters are In favo
of the objects of the petition.
On fair and square vote in all sections
of the county there is no doubt wbateve
that the scheme of removal at this tim,
would be defeated by an overwhelmin,
majority vote. But we also believe tina
men who would stoop to secretly put u,
job on the voters of the county solel,
to feather their own nests would not b.
scrupulously careful as to their method
on election day.
Who is at the bottom of the scheme VI
are unable to learn, as they seem to b.
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