St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-25
A FARCtCAI, CONTEST.

The assault of the defeated Republic
an candidates upon legal points of the
Australian election law and the in
tlividual honesty of election judges
throughout the county is the last card
OF demorallZed Ramsey county Repub-
iicanS. The improbability of the least
tangible success lends farcical appear
ance to the whole enterprise; and yet
it cannot fail to awaken certain
amount of Indignation in the minds of
business men and taxpayers. For it
should not be forgotten that this I'M
profitable contest involves an enormous
expense to the county. Never before
i'll the history of the county has such a
wholesale attempt been made to thwart
the will of the people as expressed at
the ballot box. Individual contests on
close margins have been numerous, but
this ridiculous attempt to subvert an
average Democratic plurality of 1000
for an entire county ticket simply at
tests the desperation of gang of politi-
cal plotters who would take by force
what they failed to win through popu-
iarity
Contrast the case of these hungry as
pirants for positions refused them at
the polls with that of certain Repub-
lean candidate for congress in MaSSa-
chusetts. On the face of the returns
his opponent was elected by one vote.
But according to the strict provisions of
the election law there was, in the form
of the Democratic ballots, a fatal tech
meal error, in no wise, however. invali
dating the intention of the voters. Par
tsan friends of the Republican candi-
date demanded a recognition of his
claim. He utterly refused to accept
such an election, holding that the will
of the people had been fairly, if not
technically, expressed.
But In this contest now pending in
Ramsey county the law has been com
piled with in each particular. 1t will
SO be shown when proof is offered. The
same system, the same procedure which
elected the Democratic county ticket
would. had it resulted in Republican
supremacy, have gone unchallenged.
The two parties came together, aud the
Republican candidates went down to a
certain defeat which they appear ut
terly unable to recognize. The itch tor
office affecting Attorney MUM has
communicated itself to a majority of
other defeated candidates. and nothing
will serve but the expensive itch-oint-
ment of legal contest.
A vast political burIesque is about to
be enacted for the benefit of our citi-
zens and at the expense of taxpayers.
In this spectacular attraction Attor-
hey MUM appears as stage manager,
with Register of Deeds NJ. j. BELL
leader of the chorus.
As previously predicted by the GLOBE
the fangs of Republicanism are directed
against the Alliance. In the eyes of
these Republican contestants the Alli-
ance candidates had no business on
the tickets, and no rights that
the voters of Ramsey county should
respect. For this and other fiimsy pre-
texts involving the honesty of nearly
every election judge in the county, the
great defeated ''cry havoc. and lei slip
the dogs Of war;" Campaign material
must be made for future use. The war
on the Alliance must be continued. The
county Republicans, and stand must
be made. 1t is safe to say that on such
sandy foundations no substantial polit-
ical edifice was ever raised. The legal
tribunal before which this contest will
come is not, by any means, Republican
house of representatives ruled by an
INSCRIPTIONS speaker. Candidates will
not he seated for purely partisan ends.
The will of the people of Ramsey
county can not be jugged with at the
hands of Attorney MUM and his disap-
pointed crowd of Republican barnacles.
The vote of the entire state of Mime
sofa is in fair proportion with that cast
by Ramsey county. so far as local issues
were concerned. The bubble about
the names of Alliance candidates on the
ticket affects equally the votes of al
other counties casting more than 10000
ballots. The array of legal talent sum-
moned by Attorney MUM ct al. bids
fair to awaken to a number of unpleas-
ant surprises in the course of this farci-
cal contest