Omaha daily bee., 1891-01-19
ANOTHER REVOLUTIONARY SCHEME.

The two houses OF the legislature
will meet in joint convention to-
morrow to determine the contest
over the various executive officers.
Under the law governing con-
tests for executive offices the speaker OF
the house will preside, and the members
are to act as Judge and jury in rendering
their decision.
1t is proposed and urged by the law
yers who have carried on the contest for
the Independents that the depositions in
the contest case be referred to Especial
committee and that this committee shall
report it's findings to the joint
convention for ratification. liz
other words, it is proposed
that the legislature shall delegate the
duty devolving upon its members, indi-
vidually and collectively, to a packed
jury of Is men, organized from the out
set to return a verdict which has been
agreed upon by a caucus OF one party
only, and possibly only a domineering
fraction OF that party, under whip and
spur Of paid attorneys who have reck-
lessly misrepresented the testimony ad-
duced.
Such a scheme is revolutionary and at
variance with the plain letter OF the law
and spirit of the constitution. The law
directs that the legislature shall hear and
determine every contest over an exec
utive Office.
How can the legislature hear unless
- Al, 10
within the hearing of its members.
Will it take any longer to read the
testimony before the legislature than it
would before the committee? Would
any man Of honor feel justified in voting
away the right. of any man who has re-
ceived a plurality of the votes cast in
November without hearing the evidenceP
Twenty years ago, when the legisla-
ture of Nebraska impeached the gov
ernor and auditor for malfeasance in
office, the final verdict was only reached
after five months session. Every word
of testimony, verbal or otherwise, was
heard by the senate before it came to a
vote, and nobody even dreamed of pro-
posing that a committee should uSurp
the functions devolving upon the whole
body acting in the capacity OF jury.
0The anarchists who are prompting the
legislature to revolutionary proceedings
have not only urged that the hearing
and findings of the contest shall be
handed over to a packed jury of fifteen but
| that the committee shall dispense with
the reading of the testimony, and In its
stead take the garbled and perverted
briefs prepared by the lawyers
| who at the outset of the session ad-
vised them to trample the constitution
under foot. ignore the law and set at
| defiance the orders of the supreme court.
This is the most audacious as we'll as
| the most Infamous proposition that has
| ever been made to any representative
body sworn to obey the constitution and
discharge it's duties faithfully and i'm
partially.
What are those pretended briefs which
the prohibition lawyers are trying to
| substitute for testimony A tissue OF
falsehoods and an ingenious suppression
| of facts. These lawyers know very well
that they are imposing upon credulous
men, not versed in the trickery and jug
| glery of the unprincipled attorney. They
| would not dare to attempt such per.
version of facts in court of justice, and
they know that if they attempted such 9
downright Justification Of testimony be-
fore the supreme court they would be
disbarred and driven from the profession
in disgrace.
Take, for instance, their "priefs' as
regards the alleged bribery of natural
lied citizens. They declare unblush
ingly that 5000 voters were bribed tt
vote for Boyd and the republican state
officers, except Richards, by an agreed
payment for their papers conditioned
that they should vote for these candi
dates.
Now there Is not one scintilla OF testi
mony to sustain any such charge. They
cannot cite single witness who swort
that he made any agreement with any
foreigner to furnish him free naturaliza
ton on condition that he would vote fo
or against any partic rlar candidate
They cannot cite the testimony of on
man who would say that he was in6u
enced to vote for or against any particu
lar candidate by the parties who pai'
for his naturalization papers or by thos
who procured them for him.
The same shameless perversion of tn
truth characterizes the entire pamphle
of the mercenary lawyers who are labor
ing so hard to have their garbled Yer
sion OF the testimony take the place 0
the real evidence.
Such course would not only be revo
lutionary but travesty on justice.