The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1893-09-28

ed to bring up the returns, met in the |
court house in Danbury, and I'll Q |
Board of County CanyasSerS was Or
ganized. 1t consisted of eight Demo-
Gratis and three Republicans. Objec-
tions having been raised to the
after much discussion, an adjournment
was held until the next day. That
evening, Nos 10Th, the contestee,
whose home was in Reidsville, in the
county of Rockingham, and who
was State solicitor of the ninth
judicial district, of which the county
of Stokes forms part, whose duty it
was to prosecute all persons charged
with crimes, appeared upon the scene.
The Board adjourned until the next
day. During the night of the 10Th,
runners or messengers were sent into
the country, and on the following
day when the Board of County Can
vassers met there was large and
beisterous crowd of partisans of the
coDtestee present. Many of them
were armed and violent and disorder
ly in their conduct.
A. NJ. Stack, Esq, who had been
elected to the State senate appeared
before the Board in behalf of himself
and the contestant and objected to
the further canvass of the returns.
and asked to be allowed to send for
witnesses to prove the irregularities
at Sands and Covington SchOol-hOuSe
,, precincts. ConteStee announced that
! he appeared for himself and other Re-
| publican candidates and opposed any
| adjournment. According to the wit
| nesseS the demeanOr of the crowd was
| bcisterouS, and not only so but threat
| ening. Contestee frequently address
! ed the Board, advising them that the
| law did not allow them to go behind
Z Il rnfI nrlti in
| ing precincts, or to investigate charges
of illegality. irregularity and fraud,
| but their plain and bounden duty was
| to accept and count the returns as
sent in. These addresses of conteStee
the crowd would frequently applaud
and press forward inside the railing
of the bar where the board sat. The
sheriff tried to preserve order but
was unable to do so. A request was
then made that an adjournment be
had to certain day in order to give
contestant, who was not there, an op-
portunity to be present with counsel
and see that his rights were maintain
ed. In this state of affairs, one OF
the board made motion to adjourn
to the 21St of that month, which mo-
tiOn was carried. ConteStee violent
ly opposed adjournment, and again
and again asserted that the law re
quired the board to do no more thar
accept the returns as sent in. lie
said that it would cost the county o.
Stokes a Thousand dollars to inveSti
gate the charges which had beer
made. The board then by a MAORI
ty voted to adjourn to 21st. where
upon the contestee remarked to Mr.
Stack, in the presence and hearing o
several members of the board, Now
you have played h and got, thi
board in a pretty fix. You know
their action is not lawful, and the
are every one liable to be indicted
According to the testimony of som
of the Witnesses, as the conteste
|, made his ''points" the crowd woul
cheer him boiSterOuSly. In this stat
of things, the peace of the count
threatened, the board fearing tina
. they would lay themselves liable t.
! Indictment, as they had just hear
from an officer who had it in his pow
er to set on foot prosecution dgains
: them, on motion of some member G
the board decided to reconsider til
:, vote by which it had been voted t
adjourn to the 21St. How such me
! tion could have been entertained i
I any deliberative body, judicial or 9th
; | erWiSe, is not clear.
4 Il is sufficient to state that upO
the attempted reconsideration of tn
. motion to adjourn the board reassen
bled. There is some evidence that
few witnesses were examined, bu
there is no evidence whatever that
judicial determination of the true r.
7 suit of the election in that count
> was had, or that the board judicial
I passed upon the charges of illegalit.
I irregularity and fraud. Indeed, lit
impossible in this state of affairs tina
y judicial determination of thes
. matters could have been had; and, bU
> for the fact that it is testified to b
e so many witnesses, it is a ditficu
q matter to believe that such condut
u as that of the cortestee and h
: friends at Danbury would ever /
u permitted in a. civilized cOmmunit.
: That a judicial officer, clothed wit
y the power to institute pre- 9cut OF
Il Il and if he be so minded to Cypress til
Il people, should take advantage of p
sition to which he had been elevated
as appears from the evidence in I'll
I case, by political device of question
= able nature, to coerce those compO
- ing the Board of County Canvasser
= most of whom as shown by the ev
~ dence were but plain farmers, into a
utter disregard of the duties impose
! upon them by gross misstatenent {
u law and fact, is, indeed, difficult
y believe.