South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1889-08-02

-
horatIisl contest Of this State, from its
eonopondsnt at Terra Alis. the place where
tie committee Is now sitting
POLITICAL REyoLuTios.
The State If West Virginia has for man
years been q solidly democratic State, aud
the desperate struggle 10 carry the State thu;
was msde by the reps olicsn party Last fall
10 still fresh in the minds OF tbe people.
Tie results Of that political battle, so far az
fpal Te.ults have betn reached, the deadlock
in The Legislature which followed. the sp.
peal OF the rival candidates 10 the couris.
and the TlsciDg OF the contest in the hands
OF tie cen mittee which is now In session
here, are all incidents which have taken
their place 10 the history of the State.
The LAW IN The cAsx
The Constitution Of the State provides that
An election for Governor shall be held NJ
Fueh times and places as may be pre- jcribed
in this Constitution or by general law, and
that the returns ofevery election for Covers
ror shall he sealed up and transmitted BY
the returning officers TO the Secretary of
sinie. directed TO the Speaker of the House
OF Delegates, who shall Immediately after
the Organization Of the house and before
proceeding to business open and publish the
same in the presence of a majority of each
house OF the Legislature, which shall for
that purpore assemble in the hall OF the
House OF Deegates.' 1t is further provided
that contested elections for the Office of
Governor shall be determined by both hous.
es OF the Legislature by joint vote in ouch
mar ner as may be prescribed by law
In pursuance Of the above provisions of
TIE Constitution the Legislature made the
following statutory provision: When the
election for Governor Is contested the petit
ton Of the contestant and the DISPOSITIONS
shall be referred TO joint committee of the
w nf sba 4 .totaf To-
tion and report, which committee shall con.
sist OF two Senators elected by that house
and three Delegates elected in the same
manner by the House of Delegates. The
contest shall be determined by the Legisla.
tnre, both house, thereof sitting In jo:n
session In the hall Of The house of Delegates.
the Speaker OF which bouse shall preside
THE PtsIs OF THE CONTEXT.
There was a contest in Fayette county O..
yer the congressional election, and in tina,
contest Mr.. st. Clair, a prominent lawyer of
that county, discovered some irregularities
in the vote for Governor, which, upon be-
made known to Judge Fleming, led to the
gubernatorlal contest. The democratic
candidate then gave the notice of contest to
his opponent as required by law and procee..
n ed 10 take dispositions to support his
.cl inns. These deposiiions, with his peti
sior were then sent to the Clerk of the
Hs1 &c of Delega' and by him delivered to
the =, 'oint committee, in accordance with
PROVE ons Of law above quo ID.
TIIas INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE.
The Senate selected from that
bodv to- serve on the CONN ttee. Sen.
.atorc Ej. vim Maxwell OF Clarksburo
md r, W. Morris, of Ritchie coun,v
editor Of abe Ritchie Gazette. Both
Senators are republicans. The
House Of Delegates selected as its
representatives on the committee Jo-
seph Sprige Of Moorcfeld, w /.
Key, OF Randolph county. and w.
+. Lively, o. Weston all democrats
and lawyers OF acknowledged stand
ing and ability.
now THE WORK Is BEING DONE
The committee organized by SO.
lecting W. L. Key as chairman, snd
Alfred Rheinstorm as clerk and stem
ogr spher. The work of the commit.
tee is Of judicial character, and con.
sists in reading the depositions sent
up by the Contestants and deciding
what votes must be allowed to stand
and which must be thrown out. AT.
ter the committee finishes its work
and makes up lis report special
session of the Legislature will be
. called to receive the report and de-
eide the contest. The reading Of
the dispositions was commenced by
the committee at Charleston On the
9Th of May last. and the work has
been continued without interruption
ever since that time with the excep-
ton OF three or four days. The come
mittee held session OF one month at
Charleston and another OF q month
at Grafton, and then TO avoid the ex.
cessively hot weather at that place,
came here on top of the Alleghanies,
where they will conclude their labors
unless the weather gets too cold for
them before they are through.
Mr.. ST. Clair,of Fayette county, is
attorney before the commission, as it
is called here, for Judge Fleming, and
W, r. Hubbard, Of Wheeling, ropre~
sents Gen. Golf. When the Sun cor
respondent looked in upon the com
mission the other day there were
present OF the committee Me5ars,
Maxwell. Sprigg and Lively, the 9th.
er two members being temporarily
absent. Neither the contestants nor
their counsel were present. II is the
plan OF the committee TO read the
DISPOSITIONS and have their sieno.
grapher carefully digest and mss6 a
brief OF the testimony applying to
each contested vote. When this is
done N a given county or counties,
they take up the matter and hear
council and decide upon the vote In
yolved. On The occasion referred to
the committee was engaged IN digest.
ing testimony and preparing for the
hearing on Preston county.
TnE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE
GAINING.
OF tho Gfty.fOur counties in the
State tie vote is contested 10 forty
four The committee has considered
and passed upon the vote 10 twenty
Eve counties leaving, nineteen counN
ties to be considered. In the coun-
ties already passed upon by the com :
mittee, Judge Fleming, the demo-
cratic candidate, has made net gain
Of seyenty'eIght votes. Upon the
face VI the alleged returns, Gen. Gofi
had a majority Of one hundred and
ten. Wi,h net gain Of seventy
eight b7 the contest thus far, Judge
Llo,,,tno "a tine matter now stauda