The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-01-17

ST s !, "a. 1862. E.
RI a., !TS. FIIS ~ n m
remnant When the IsrRlLloRScgR re-
minded the committee that judge
flemlng tried this case, and was over
( ruled by the Supreme Court OF Appeals
~ W Va, page 70l} the doleiul liumol
/ Of tho situation was more than the
majority could stand, and In The report
as 1t stands now there "a n mere two
line reference to the case, the remainder
having been !. stricken out, 4 probably
alter 1t WIS In type M I531I;I
LAUGHED our or 1T. y}
there was the case Of Sherman
Kirk, professor at ( Bethany College.
When this part Of the majority report
got into cold type In the 1NrELLlarscEn
with enough comment to give t. a set
ting, 1t was not 30 fascinating Ito the
committee's mind, and the result Is that
IN the printed report there Is no refer
ence To Sherman Kirk. Behold the in.
auence OF a live press. 4, Tho majority
report is disappointing as a report. It
,s rather journal ol the committees
proceedings. .disjointed and IdiBconnect-
ed,showing the work Of several hands. It
carefully omits The Official returns, gives
returns US prepared by majority and
concludes with the s statement q that
Fleming received 78, COZ votes, and Gofl
7S,4G0. a plurality OF 237 for Fleming,
who : Is duly elected to the office oi
Governor. Gtfs4t s,t,.tA.5, 4 (. :. 4
y THE MINORITY REPORT. n, = 4. Il.
The minority report, signed BY Messrs.
Maxwell and Morris, recites constitu.
tional requirements regulating the can.
wasting Of returns for State officers, re.
hearses the history ofthe canvassing In
the joint session, showing that the CON
stitutional provisions had been ignored.
The report also sets forth formally the
successive steps in the contest and quotes
from the record to show that Goti had
received ITO plurality on the face OF the
returns. Revising the returns In Kama
wha county, GoM is left with il0o votes.
The minority claim that certain deposi.
tions wore taken too, late, but neverthe-
less were considered. StE,,fs 3 : a.. f
"A FAIR ELECTION. is..
The voters are congratulated that the
investigation has shown the absence OF
fraud and purity OF the election as con.
Quoted by the candidates and their
friends. Probably in no other State In
the Union was an election 80 fairly CON
Quoted ns in West Virginia. The few
illegal votes cast were through misunder.
standing and in debatable cases. The
statement that the votes OF West Viz
ginia are purchasable and can be- pur-
chased in large numbers is shown to be
untrue. Then follow the legal principles
applicable TO the contest. ,sff3
A CASE OF FACT NOT LAW.
3"This case is ono Of fact not Of law
There is nothing in this contest except
what men Of common understanding
may comprehend. OF the votes rejected
by the majority on the ground Of nom
residence, the minority quote from au-
thorities to show that the majority had
taken untenable ground, authorities re-
quiring full proof OF the identity Of the
voter. This hud special reference to the
votes challenged by Fleming in Mercer
and Mcdowell counties, and thrown out
by the majority. The report shows that
there is no authority to support the
theory OF the majority that the general
reputation Of a class or race can be- taken
as evidences to show how they; voted. #
Asst to kanawha county, references nre
made to proceedings to supercele and
vacate the returns. Tho only tribunal
having Jurisdiction over these returns
in this case is the Legislature. The ma
jorityS recovered fourteen votes to be
taken from GoG and given to Fleming.
This should not be done. The election
was held fairly and the voteg honestly
counted. The count in the interest Of
Fleming showed for Fleming SIS, for
Goff; $40. n Ss3;;5 ~ ~
s... sslsss:.ss BALLOTS TAMrERED WITH, \
There was no proof to show that the
boxes had been safely kept, or that the
ballots shown on the recount were the
identical ballots cast and first counted.
There was evidence to show that the
ballots had been tampered with. b Ofthis
there Is not the shadow OF a doubt. !. The
first count tailed exactly with the votes
on the poll books. The recount showed
Gof had lost IA and Fleming had gained
IA, and yet the ! total vote polled was
shown to. be 1893 as before. "A most ex-
traordinary coincidence. 4, i N 4,
In the Braxton case they do not re-
commend the rejection Of 4 largs num-
ber OF votea, but leave it to the Legisla-
ture. They are not enough to determine
the contest. In Mercer and Mcdowell
the contestant charges illegal voting, not
deliberate fraud, intimidation or corrup-
ton of voters. The strongest claim Of
the contestant is that men not long
1 enough in the State to vote had voted
without solicitation for Goff. The ma.
jority threw out here q 100 votes, to do,
which they disregarded and ,trampled
upon every well settled principle oflaw.
THE coLoEED VOTE, ~;
Until 1888 there were but few colored
men IN these count'es. Since then many
collieries have been Fput: in operation.
Some Of the laborers are found across
the line in Virginia, aud some have the
same names as those:on the pay rolls Of
manufacturing companies in Virginia.
i The total number OF men employed is.
about j, 500. NJ X
b. 1t is stated by the majority that the
general reputation Of colored men is
that they arc Republicans. This ID ab-
surd and unjust. Is TO carry out this doc:
trine would overtnrn the results Of all
elections, so far as 3proofSis concerned.
These negro men may have been born
in West Virginia sand $lived here all
their, lives. They challenge anybody to
show reason why these votes should be
excluded BY the evidence for the con.
testant the voters sought to be rejected
l. -