Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-05
THE BALLOT ILLEGAL.
Allegheny's Indebtedness Not Voted
on According to Law.
A PROTEST CAN BE SUSTAINED.
The Tickets Were Wonderfully and Ays-
teriously Made.
THE LAW GOVERNING SUCH CASES

Suspicion, 0oupt anu Visions OF polltlcdl
trickerv fitted through the minds of many
Allegheny voters at the election on Tues
day. But without reason, howeveE The
prime cause of this feeling was due to the
voting on the bonded Indebtedness" issue.
Tickets for all the offices from State down
to county were as plentiful as snow flakes In
Siberia. The one absorbing topic to the
Northside citizen, however, was "Will the
bonded indebtedness be increased" In the
contest the nays bad it by an overwhelming
majority.
In the first place 1t is alleged the major
ity of voters misunderstood the ticket as
framed by the election officers, and many
did not vote for or against the bond issue
on that account.
There were four separate tickets as fol-
lows:
''Street improvements, $500, o,OOO;" "Water
extension, $500. .000;' ''Public lighting,
S10O, Ooo;" "Opening street in flooded dis
trict, $50,
Style of Opposition Ticket
On the outside of each ticket for and
against was the sentence or caption, en-
crease the debt" On the inside of the
same slip of paper was "No increase of
debt" and signifying below what it referred
to whether water, lights, streets, ETC., with
the amount of bonds intended to be issued.
That was the style of the tickets which were
against the increase.
On the other hand, the ones intended to be
voted for the Indebtedness were thus
printed: The back contained the same cap
tion, Increase the debt" as appeared on
the others, while the inside had the words,
'tDebt NAV be increased with the same
purposes stated as above
The outside and inside type were both in
plea caps, and on a whole was very mislead-
ing to the average voter. Not only to the
common everyday uneducated voter, but to
men of known brain power and keen percep-
tion. Clerk of Councils Dilworth framed
the ticket, and he was very bitter and ironi-
cal in his reference to s'those smart people
who think they know it ALL and he got
down the law on the question, which he
quoted for the benefit of THE DISPATCH
reporter and the public.
The Law on the Subject.
It is act 212, passed Jane 9, 1891, and en-
titled can act to regulate the increasing of
indebtedness Of a municipality. The
clause which bears upon the subject at issue
specifies the following: ''Such election
shall be held at the place, time and under
the same regulations as provided by law for
the holding of municipal elections, and it
shall be the duties of the inspectors and
judges of such elections to receive tickets,
either written or printed, from electors
qualified under the Constitution of this |
State to vote in such district, tickets to be /
labeled on the outside, Increase the debt"
and containing on the inside, 'No increase
AohS na1 he oil
briefly the purpose and amount of increase,
and to deposit said tickets in a box pro-
vided for that purpose.
'Such election shall be held at the place,
time and under the same regulations as pro-
vided by law for the holding of municipal |
elections, the law says, and according to |
this the voting for and against the indebted |
ness was illegal, as the contest on Tuesday |
was not E municipal election.
Notwithstanding the overwhelming ma
iority by which the increase was defeated, |
if those who voted for it care to protest, |
they can easily do so, and be upheld in the |
move by the statutes.
The next municipal election will be held |
on the second Tuesday of November, when |
the matter should, to satisfy the law, have |
been voted upon.
1t Is Clearly Illegal
William b. Rodgers, ex-C1ty Attorney Of |
Allegheny, and one of the authorities on |
matters, is THE DIsPATCH's |
legal informant on the point. He, |
like hundred others, failed to |
understand the ticket at first, but |
when the law was read to him he said the |
act was new and he was not familiar with /
ii. After hearing it, he read it over again |
and then said: at was illegal
aside from the badly arranged and /
features of the ticket. 1t is
specifically stated in the act that the voting
shall take place at the time of the munich
pal election. 1 think that is plain enough.
Tuesdays election was a State and county
affair, and should have been confined to
those offices and issues"
Mr. Rogers says he was confused when he
looked at the ticket for and against bonds
He said. however, that In the Fifth ward
the caption of the tickets had been torn off
Senator James S. Rutan also can be
quoted about as the former gentleman. An
other potent feature which the Senator
raises is that there is no reason why one
man could not vote, if he chose, four votes
for one issue, for instance, if he lived in
where it would beneficial to
him to have street improvements, what is
to prevent him from voting four times on
that one matter. The ticket is very incon-
sistent and conflicting, and should be modi-
prehensive.
A number of other ATTORNEYS who live in
said practically the same thing.