The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1891-02-12
NEBRASKA's MU[DDLE.
THE RAILROAD coMBiNE.s Lat
EST GAME,
neat-Gov. Meikeljohn Sets Up - Autor-
crat NJ the LegisIatare-stand OF the I'm
dependents in This Contest for Law and
Order AHninst Usurnafson.

Leit-tov. Meikeljohn Sets Up - Autor-
crat NJ the LegisIa4dre-Stand Of the In-
dependents in This Contest for Law and
Order Against Usurpation.
On Wednesday afternoon, whom the
Joint convention assembled, the plan Of
the conspiracy BETWEEN the Boyd crowd
Rnd the railroad faction 6f the repub-
iican party wa DEVELOPED. It was fof
Lient,-GoV: Mcikeljohn I'd Eiainh the
right 10 preside over the Joint c6nxenr
ton, and. when the speaker, published.
the returns to declare Boyd duly elected
Boyd would then take the oath before
some %ttinerant notary and demand the
Office, there to remain until a tedious
process of law would GUST him. This
program the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS at
tempted to carry out, but he met Stun.
bling blocks il the, fact that the joint
Convention Was without rules; that the
plain intent of the constitution is that
the speaker should preside, that Speaker
Elder had the custody of the returns and
refused in the absence Of any rule for
the convention to acknowledge MI:
Meikeljohn as presiding officer OF aid Id
any way to carry out this monstrous and
illegal program.
The adoption Of the rules of the last
legislature by the two houses separately
does not adopt them for the joint con-
ventfon; and until that convention de-
cided otherwise those rules were not in
force.
The proposition of the independents
was fair and manly. 1t was that q com:
mittee Of the e~5nvaition should be ap-
poihted to whom all papers relating to
the contest should be referred, and that
it was not the intent of the constitution
in cases of contest that the contested
officers should be seated before the evil
dence was examined and tho facts as to
the election determined. This motion
was made, the question was put by
Speaker Elder, and 1t was fairly carried,
and Is NOW d record on the minutes OF
the convention.
In pursuance of this vile conspiracy
Meikeljohn made the grossest and most
arbitrary rulings. He ruled the motion
to adjourn out of order. He refused to
entertain any motion looking toward a
reference of the contest to q committee.
| Never III the history Of any state has d
more high-handed outrage been at:
tempted upon the sacred right Of stiff
rage. A. little railroad attorney-a
third-rate shyster from a country village
sets himself up as the autocrat and die
tator to 1873 Of the chosen men of this
state.
We can not believe that any number
| of republicans are In this vile plot. We
have too rnuch respect for honorable
men who are proud Of the name of re-
publican to believe it.
Some republicans think that the inde-
pendents intend, when they get the op.
%portunity, to unseat the whole fepubli:
can STATE ticket BY an arbitrary vote.
This is not true. Should this matter be
referred to a fair committee, such as
was appointed to-day, no man would be
unseated unless it was conclusively
shown that he was elected by fraud;
Tho independents are fair men, and do
not propose to make any precedent that
they will not be willing I'd face Eefes
| after.
The joint convention should adopt
rules at once, among them one to declare
who should be its presiding officers, and
then adopt q reasonable and fair mode
of procedure which, would allow BE
equitable decisisn Of tie contest.
Mir. Meikeljohn refused to-day in the
senate to entertain q motion to ADOPT
rules, and then refused to entertain at
appeal from his decision. This is a gros!
usurption, no chairman on earth car
legally, deny the, right Of APPEAL. BY do
ing So he puts himself in the position 0
a dictator over the body of which he i
simply the sevant.
His only right to preside over the foin
convention is derived from a rule which
that body has bet adested;
The Independents stand in this contes
Tor law and order against conspirac.
and usurpation-for the purity of tn
ballot against ruffianism and mob rule
They are making history, Let then
stand firm As this eternal Hills fHf TIL
tight, and their enemies will respec
them and every honest citizen applaud
and sustain them.-Lincoln (Neb.) Farm
crS' AlLiance.