Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-02-05

the Farmers Institute and with mum.
Der of the members of this General As
sembly, is the constitutional provision
that "all elections for governor, senators,
representatives, sheriff's and coroners,
shall be by ballot" Myers
argues at considerable length, and with
citation of authorities, that a vote on
his machine is ballot. But, unfortu-
nately for him, and perhaps for ballot
reform in Delaware, his argument does
not satisfy the judiciary. Chief Justice
Comegys says explicitly that ballot,
in the contemplation of the Delaware
constitution, is piece of paper. The
consideration of secrecy is one ingredient
of voting by ballot, but the piece of
paper is indispensable.
DOVER, Jan. 30.-The Jig is up for
this week and the senators, tired of I'M
availing sparring for points, have ad-
journed until Monday morning next and
gone home. Speaker Donahoe's messages
were therefore wired in vain. It
doesn't take the ability to see through a
milestone to put together an urgent
summons to Ex-Governor Hall. to come
and an invitation to Moore to stay away
and deduct therefrom that the speaker
was desperately anxious to get Demo
cratic majority here to do some specific
thing, But what surprises some people
is, not so much that the present speaker
of the Senate should have tried to play
such hand as that he should have
played it so bunglingly. He might
have played it by deputy, undetected.
But he should have known that the
chances were against his doing SO in
person, after carrying about with him
such an air Of superior wisdom and I'M
fashionable resource as TO advertise to all
spectators that he was willing to be con-
sldered a deep man, with big schemes
constantly on tap.
The adjournment of course leaves the
Five Commissioners bill still pigeon
holed in the House. There has not
been a moment since it was railroaded
through that body at caucus dietation
when it has been regarded as 'ssafe" to
send it over to the Senate. ltlooks now
as though the men who drove it through
the House are about to lose the stake
they aimed at, and that the turn of the
people Of New Castle county to take
hand in framing genuine reform legisla
ton had come.
EX-tiovernor Hall, who came up this
morning in response to two urgent tele-
grams, declared that he felt hardly fit,
physically, to be in his seat to-day. This
Is not to be wondered at when one con
siders how the Ex-Governor has been
harassed by the misfortunes of the past
few days. The loss of two vessels, the
death of one of his captains, the mental
al ,,l,ty,iun1 .
imposed upon him, might well have left
their mark upon much younger man.
The ex-governor states that the first
of the vessels, the Nathaniel Lank, was
worth about $4,000, though it did not
stand him in more than half the sum.
On this there was no insurance. On
the second vessel, the Charles G. Lister,
Jr., valued at 700, there was two
thirds insurance, but the Governor is
not sure that the policy has not lapsed.
The PhitadetDhia Ledger is authority
for the statement that the insurance
policy on the Lister expired the day
before the schooner was lost.
WHERE THE EX-GOVERNOR STANDS.
This is the question that has been
bothering everybody. Some insisted
with vehemence that he would have
voted for the Five Commissioners bill
had it come up; others with equal CON
tidence claimed that he would not. OBJ
viously, the only way to settle this nm
certainty was to go to Headquarters and
this l did, Immediately after adjourn
ment.
The ex-governor courteously declined
to say where he stood. | then asked
him II he had ever told anybody how he
would vote on the bill. He replied posi-
lively that he had not. He stood abso-
lutely and unequivocally uncommitted
and unpledged. Moreover he would not
pledge himself to vote for or against
public measure, because fuller or subse-
quent information might cause him to
change his mind. His attitude on the
Cedar Creek and Little Creek bills was
the same. He had declined to pledge
himself and was under no other obliga-
tion to vote either one way or the other.
The ex governor expressed the opinion
that this bill might not be finally acted
On for weeks to come. The impression
! gathered from the interview was that
the ex-governor owns himself and will
not surrender his judgment on any
measure to the dicture of partycauclts,
and that on these particular measures
he will take time to inform himself as to
their merits, and will make up his mind
only after due deliberation and, when
he hasconcluded what he ought to do,
he will do it-and the man or men who
think they can use him as tool will
find before they get through that they
have made the mistake of their lives.
THE INSURANCE RIII
Insurance Commissioner Fooks' bill,
yesting in that officer the issuance Of
licenses to agents of foreign fire and life
companies and reducing the license fee
to $25, passed the Senate this morning
with the following amendment, which
was concurred in by the House during
the afternoon:
That all the charitable and beneficial
orders organized for mutual benefit other
than regularly chartered mutual insurance
companies, shall be exempt from all and
every the provisions of this act.
1t does not appear that there is any
thing IN the bill affecting such organi-
cations, but it was deemed wise to guard
in this way against any possible over
sight. The State Grange Insurance or
ganiAation is expressly exempted by
name in the body of the bill.
DOVER, Feb. 2,-The State Capitol,
despite tension that was apparent in
every senatorial yisage, never witnessed
a quieter grounding day." On the
surface, everything was as serene as the
waters Of Silver Lake as they rippled
gently under a cloudless sky in tenn
perature as balmy as May. Neither the
Five Commissioners nor the Sussex bills
were even mentioned, and when the
afternoon train came without bringing
senator Williams-who would not have
been Of any use 70 the railroaders, how
ever, had he been able to come-the
Senateadjourned until tomorrow morn
ing and the cause Of county refnrrn had