Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-22
CHANCE TO APPEAL
From the Decision Of Election In
spectors in New York City.
NO COURT TO BE HELD HOLIDAYS
To Afford an Aggrieved Citizen IN 0ppor-
tunity to Ask For
4 WRIT OF MANDAMUS TO BE ISSUED

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE p1sPATcH.1
NEW YORK, Oct 21.-In setting aside
the order of Justice Lawrence, of the Su-
preme Court, fining Timothy j. Donovan
$3.50 and imposing ten days imprisonment
on him for his failure 10 obey o writ Of
mandamus requiring him TO accept the vote
of Horace NJ. Lower in the Seventh elec-
tion district of the Second Assembly dis
trict last election, the Court of Appeals,
October term, has abolished the practice OF
having a Supreme Court Justice hear ap-
plications for mandamus on election day.
Other election days have been busy days at
the county Court House. The Justice as
signed TO duty for the occasion up to about
P. NJ. has had his hands full OF business,
and, indeed, it has sometimes been neces-
sary to have more than one judge act
Since the adoption OF the booth system OF
voting many questions have arisen concern
ing il, and last election day many voters
applied for writs who declared that the
inspectors had without proper cause re-
fused their votes.
No Count to Be Held on q Holiday.
Lower was one of three whose votes were
refused. He had found difficulty about
folding his ballots. He obtained an order
to show cause why a writ of mnndamus
should not issue against the Inspectors, re-
turnable forthwith. The Inspectors did not
appear at the hearing, and Justice Law
renee issued q writ OF mandamus against
them. 1t was alleged that Donovan had
set the writ at naught, and, when it was
served, had said that he would not regard
the order. Two of the Inspectors wanted to
obey the writ, and the other, while voting
with Donovan, did not use words setting
the Judge at defiance.
The general term affirmed the order ad-
judging Donovan in contempt The appeal
was on the ground chiefly that no court can
be held on holiday, and that mandamus
can be issued only by court, and not by
Judge. This is not as clear to the mind as
to lawyers, who are obliged to discriminate
between orders of Court and orders of
Judges In a long opinion. written by
Juege Andrews, with Judge Gray dissent
ing, the Court of Appeals decided that this
position was we'll taken, and that no Judge
throughout the State or in this district,
where q special statute was pleaded, can
issue a mandamus, but that it must issue
from the Court.
The Only Remedy With the Legislature.
''The right of q voter to vote" says the
Court, ''may be lost unless this power shall
be conferred. Under the statute no court
can be opened within the State on the day
of any general election to transact any
business except for the purpose of receiving
a verdict or discharging jury and for the
exercise by single magistrate of certain
Jurisdiction in criminal cases.
1.-THE voter who is refused the right to
vote can resort to no court for relief until
after his right is lost rs no court can enter
tain his application on election day. IT an
enlarged jurisdiction in these cases is ex-
pedient, the remedy is with the Legis-
lature."
Justice Lawrence, who sat in private
chambers for this work last election day, re-
fused to-day TO speak of the case, but an
other Justice of the Supreme Court, who
did not desire to be quoted, admitted that
no Justice of that court will sit hereafter to
hear applications for writs of mandamus, as
no court can be held on that day, and this
writ cannot, by the decision, issue except
from a Court
This being the case it is fortunate for the
Democrats in this city that majority of
every board of election inspectors is Dem
ocratic. In the country Republican coun-
ties, however, the majority is the other