Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1891-06-12
DELGADO SAYS QUITS.
The County Clerk Appears in the District
Court and Purges Himself of Con-
tempt
He Recognizes the Lawfully Elected
Commissioners and is Given
His Freedom-0beysthe
Courts Orders
at is a long lane that has no turn"

1T is long lane that has no turn"
County Clerk Pedro Delgado, who has
by District Judge Seeds order been con
fined in the county Jail for the past five
months because of his refusal to obey q
lawful order of the court and recognize
the lawfully elected members of the coun-
ty board, appeared in court at 2 O'Clock
this afternoon. A great crowd was pres
ent, as it had been rumOred that the clerk
would take this step and purge himself
of contempt. Mr.. Delgado was accom-
panied by Attorney Geo. W. Knaebel and
the latter, addressing the court, said:
MAY it please the court l am requested
by Mr.. Pedro Delgado, who is now pres
ent In court, to announce that he is ready
and willing to submit to the will of the
court, as expressed in the writ of man.
damus upon which his commitment to
the custody Of the sheriff is based. At
the same time he disclaims ever indug-
ing any thought or purpuose derogatory
to the dignity of this court, or contrary
to his duty as citizen and public officer.
In explanation of his apparent contumacy,
Mr.. Delgado desires to say that, until
the recent decision of the United States
supreme court in his case, he was fully
persuaded that the writ of mandamus and
subsequent commitment exceeded the
jurisdiction of this court, and that
he had been unlawfully oppressed
Naturally, he relied upon the advice, to
that effect, Of prominent counsel, not
op1y pf tbia po,rf bpt of fhn l;rb
est courts of other states, and upon the
confident opinion of the chief justice Of
this territory. He feels that it would
have been wiser, and greatly more to his
own personal comfort, had he made this
submission as soon as information came
to him of the last decision, yet in justifca-
ton of the delay, he must add that, I'M
til the arrival of copy of that opinion,
he had not the slightest notice of the
grounds on which it proceeded, and even
to-day he does not know the man
date of the United States supreme court
has arrived.
"ln justice to his attorneys, he thinks
that he ought to add that they have never
advised him to disobey this court, and
that his present submission is in con-
formity with their views"
The court made few remarks touch
ing the case and said it was satisfied Mr..
Delgado thought he was right else he
would never have gone to jail and closed
by requesting Mr. Knaebel to file the
proper motion in the premises. This was
done and Judge Seeds said he would take
further action in the matter when advised
as to whether Delgado had conformed to
the commands OF the original writ.
Clerk Delgado at once proceeded to his
office, where, few minutes later, County
Commissioners Conklin and Garcia called
and filed their official bonds and oath of
office, being promptly recognized by Clerk
Dtlgado. The commissioners instructed
the clerk to notify Commissioners Mayo
that meeting of the county board will
be held at the clerks office on Monday
next.
Conn. Conklin then accompanied Mr..
knaebel to the court room and informed
the court that the writ had been complied
with by Delgado recognizing the lawfully
elected commissioners, whereupon the
court directed that the clerk enter up the
fact that Delgado had appeared and
purged himself of contempt and ordered
him discharged from custody.
Thus ends one of the most celebrated
political incidents in the sensational poll
zeal history of this country.