New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-11
THE CONNECTICUT CASE.


! At the Connecticut State election in 1890
total vote was cast of 35.29s. Under the
! Connecticut law majority of all the votes east
in the election is necessary TO choice ior
| Governor and other State officers on the gen
cIa ticket. In this case, according 10 the re-
! turns Is made. 67.649 votes we're necesSai!
TO the election of Governor. Mr.. Morris the
| Democratic candidate, had on the face OF the
returns e. COS votes. giving him apparently
majority of g. Upon the returns from bridge
port il appeared that 1876 Republican tickets
had been thrown ont because of alleged pencil
or ink marks placed upon them III violation
of the law for the purpose of lden'ihcation.
IF they were properly rejected the Democratic
| candidate for Governor was elected. But II
they did not contain marks for identification
and were consequently legal ballots entitled
to be counted a. cast there was no election
by the people. The election of Governor under
the regular process of law would then be made
hy the Legislature on Joint ballot. This has
often happcncd in Connecticut, and frequently
the result has been the election OF a candidate
who did not receive puIalu! OF the pop
MAR vote In the present instance the Demo
Gratis had a majority Of the senate and the
Ee,mbicanS a majority in the House. On JOINT
ballot the Republicans had a majority. When
the Legislature met in January, 1891. the Re-
publican House insisted upon the appointment
of n committee to examine the report OF the
Board of Canva>ScrS with view to ascertain
ing whether the 1876 Republican votes in
Bridgeport had been legally rejected The
Democratic Senate insisted that the LcgiSlat-
urc had no power TO 60 behind the returns, but
must declare the Democratic candidate FOR
GOvcrnor elected.
That is the Connec icut deadlock in nut
she'll II all depended on the l26 votes thrown
out in Bridgeport. Practically, it was qucS-
ton whether the Bridgeport Moderator OF the
Connecticut Legislature should choose the Gov
ernor. The Republicans contcnded that the
Bridgeport Moderator had no right 10 diSflan-
chisc I2G voters if they had complied with the
terms of the law. The Democrats stood upon
the technical claim that. right or wr'ng. the
action Of the Moderator was final and con
elusive. and the Legislature was po"crles' to
do anything bu: accept It. II was not case
without precedent. In at least one previous
instance the IcgiSlltuIc had gone behind the
returns and corrected false and fraudulent
record uuon the recommendation of com
miticc appointed 10 examine the report oi the
Board of Canva. Scrs. Any di>ntcreS'ed per
son would say upon this state of facts that the
only Just and proper course, the only way 10
insure absolute certainty. was simply 10 make
an examination Of the rejected ballots to find
out whether they were really marked as al
legged and properly rejected. That simple,
straightforward and easy, and could have
wrong,d no one That was all that the Re-
/ e., Son
refused to bulge from their technical alyan-
tage. They not only rejected the proposition
| to meet the House in joint convention, a. re-
! quIcd by law. they even assumed the power
of the joint convention passed resolution de
clarng Mr. Morris elected Governor, and went
through the silly farce of swearing him in,
which was his first and last appearance That
| action left no door open for an understanding
| or agreement between the two houses. They
| have been AT logecrhcads ever since, and had
| il not been for the good sense and patriotism
Of Governor Bulkeley all departments of the
government would have been brought to
Stand>till.
Meantime. for nearly year and a half eff
| forts have been making TO obtain a settlement
| Of the question in the courts, the Republicans
) desiring To get at the bottom facts by an cX-
! animation OF the rejected ballots and the Dem
ocrats holding fast 10 their tcchnicaliticS. The
| Bridgeport ballOt-boNcS were at last opened
| by order Of the court and on Thursday the
| rejected ballots were subjected to microscopic
examination by an expert. His testimony was
| that the marks were not made by pencil or
pen: that there was not the shadow Of doubt
that they were SpcckS of printers ink left
on the paper in the process Of printing. The
| Republicans are completely justified in the po-
Siton they have held, and the Democratic Sen
at0rS are put in the attitude Of reckless par
tisans who would stop all the machinery of the
State Government rather than lose the advan-
tagc Of some doubtful petty tcchnicality.
Briefly stated, the Democratic Senate has
stopped all the business Of the State so far rs
it was able in order 10 secure to the party the
advantage Of an Illegal rejection of l26 Re-
| publican votes. Connecticut voters viii re-
| member this in November.