Sharp County record., 1890-05-01


sumed to be a legal vote, and the
action of the returning officers Is
presumed to be legal, and the
return can only be set aside upon a
prcponderance Of testimony.
Now, ! submit, as has been sub
mitted here before, | submit to you
gentlemen, the question, whether
You will hold that anywhere on this
continent the unsupported oath ot
one witness, the testimony of one
solitary witness, shall overthrow the
sworn return Of five election officers,
men who had the right to know, men
who were in the position to know.
| ask YOU it You propose on this
occasion, to overthrow the sworn re-
turn of five men, sworn officers, upon
tie evidence, uncorroborated, of one
solitary witness? Is this prepond-
crance? Remember, there is no con-
troversv made as to my vote in that
township; yet it is proposed, not on
! w to give Mr.. FeatherStOn what he
CLAIMS, but to take from me what |
claim and what | received and what
! it Is admitted | received.
Mr.. KERR, of Iowa, Will the
gentleman yield for a question?
Mr. CATE. Yes, sir,
Mr. KERR, of Iowa. Do you
contradict by any testimony the evl-
dence given by that one witness?
Mr.. CATE. No, sir; I do not
! | did not contradict that by any
witnesses, from the fact that l did
not suppose there was a tribunal or,
ganized anywhere in the United
States that would, on the unsupport.
ed testimony of one witness, set
aside the solemn sworn return OF hYe
election officers whose means OF
knowledge were better than his,
whose opportunities to know the
facts were better, and who stand
here unimpeached. | will ask the
gentleman who puts this question
whether there is any other witness
who attacks the return Of those eleCN
tiOn officers.
Five witnesses against one; no diff
ference except this-the five are
white men, the one is negro. The
five are men of unquestloned lnteg-
rity; the negro brings as his certltl-
cate of good character, the fact OF
his arrest for perjury, but this is Sut>
fcient here. And there is no denial
of my vote in the proof. The only
difference is that this witness SWearS
he saw three more men vote than
the number of votes returned 10y the
officers. The five officers of election
sat in a dry room and counted III
each ballot, and counted them all out
of the box. One negro stood so feet
away in rain storm. Which will
you take, the five or the one? have
other evidence here. | will state to
the gentleman from Iowa { MIR. Kerr
that have the solemn, honest admls
sion over the signature, the genuine
signature, Of the contestant that l
received those 224 votes.
Mr.. KERR, of Iowa. Where Is
that?
Mr.. HILL. On page I.
Mr.. Cate. The printed copy will
be found on page !, OF the record
I have the original, with the slgna'
ture of the contestant.
Mr.. BOATNER Ito Mr.. Cate. }
And the majority Of the committee
take those 224 votes away from you:
Mr.. CATE. Yes, sir. | read
from the printed record, page 7, the
language of the contestant;
That at the precinct of Independence,
| in the country of Lee, in said district, at
an election held Oh the 9th day of Novem-
! ber 1888, received 397 votes, and you re-
ceived 224 votes.
Could language be plamer? The
return is that iii that township SO
voted for contestant, the proof OF
one witness is that he saw 3 more
votes cast than were returned. Yet
the majority of the committee come
here and not only claim 3 more, but
saw that on this evidence they will
set aside the return Of those Judges
and the absolute, honest admission OF
the contestant over his own sigma
ture, and will deprive me of those
224 votes.
A similar state of facts exist with
regard to Smith township, in Gross
county. There the contestant ad
mits that received 81 votes, Now,
| wish to call attention--and | hope
gentlemen will listen to the only
excuse that is offered for the perpe'
tration Of what call gross and
glaring outrage on justice. read
from the brief Of the contestants
counsel:
! Ii will be said that Featherstone in his
notice comedies that Gaze received 22i
votes in this township, and that a slmilaT
! oonooSe,On il moaa and CHARGED in re latiOu