The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1891-05-13
THURSDAY, May Z.

THURSDAY, May Z.
The Suwannee contest came up by
special order at II a. m. yesterday.
Mr.. Bogue of Duval secured the floor,
and went back into the political history of
Suwannee county since 1879 He labored
for the better part of an hour To prove that
r. A. Iy=y was u democrat and referred to
different citizens of Suwannee to make
good his assertion. He said in 1886 Mr..
Ivey supported Blackburn for the senate
with time as well as money. In 1890 he
says the convention had been worked up"
tor months so that il w&s "plt dyed" when
it met. Therefore Mr.. Ivey did not sup
port ii.
Mr.. Burford of Marion-"Mr. Speaker. J.,
rise to point of order. Is no, the gentle
man out af order when he gets outside the
testimony in the case?"
Mr.. Mann Of Misunderstanding he
has not read the testimony and don't know
when he is out"
Sir. Bogue-"I was not asleep when l
read it. But Mr.. Speaker. asked tina,
be not interrupted" (Mr. Shine was ris-
ing to "make a pint" but sat down
quickly)
Mr.. Bogue continued his speech and
made references TO the volume of testi-
mony, and read pages and pages from
heavy looking volumes.
In the afternoon Mr.. Burford of Marion
secured the floor and made an elaborate
and critical review of the testimony most
pertinent and convincing. He showed
the glaring inconsistencies and contradic-
tions of the witnesses for the contestants
and built thereon solid structure Of
law and logic He declared that the
election law of 1889 was a democratic
measure formulated in democratic eau
Gus and enacted into law by a democratic
legislature. No man should be denied
iustice on account OF his political faith.
but the legislature must uphold the law
of the land. ami to do this we must
throw out the vote Of precinct No. in
Suwannee county which the evidence for
the contestants themselves shows was
cast in direct conflict with tie law.
He did not claim that it was necessary
to observe the directory mnutl4 of the
statute. The honest omission OF such
directory requirements cannot vltlate an
election But the law was not only vlo-
lated in it's directory injunctions, but its
mandatory requirements were openly
trampled under foot.
The constitution of the state gave the
legislature the right to prescribe poll
tax prerequisite, and this right had be
come embodied into statute. But that
mandatory statute had been openly ig-
nored by the inspectors at precinct No.
2. The statute made registration nee
essary qualification to the elector, but the
testimony and exhibits proved that Al
electors who voted had not registered!
When the election law Of 1889 passed
the house Is voted against it; OF these 8
wete republicans. and one OF the five DEM
ocrats who opposed 1t was the gentleman
from Hamilton, who bad acted as chair.
man OF the committee on privileges and
elections and signed majority report
which contemned the whole body and
spirit of the law. Duval county had 200
republican majority and il the law had
been disregarded In her borders as In Su-
wannee, her democracy would not be
represented in. the Capitol to-day. This Is
true of many other counties In The state.
Shall this house put the seal OF its condem-
nation on the law which has guided us out
of the woods? Then do not stab 1t in the
back, but file your bill and repeal It.
The charge of forgery is made. Suppose
there was forgery. 1t does not matter In
this case, Tor their own witnesses prove the
gross omission and commission which
amounts 10 open fraud-constructive If
not actual fraud. An election Is no cleo
tion if not held and conducted according
to law and here we find the law violated,
not only in its directory provisions, but in
. Mr.. Thompson. of Monroe impressively
rose and delivered beautiful speech grace.
fully and we'll. He showed himself par
ticularly apt at repartea and par