St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-03-14

DeIS OF the cDuncli met Ill CAUCUS al Tie
/ mayors Office yesterday afternoon.
Thirteen of the fifteen councilmea who
were invited answered the call. the alb
sentees beng Aid. Hickman and Mark
ham, Thirteen being considered an
unlucky number, Third Assistant Cor
poration Attorney Chaplin was invited
to break the spell. and also gave his
opinion on several legal questions which
were TO be brought up.
one of the reasons for the caucus was
TO take some action in the matter of the
appointment of judges of election for
The city election to be held on May l.
it has been the practice TO have the
judges appointed under the Bell char
ter. but this spring It has been decided.
at least by the legal lights in the Re-
publican party, to have the appoint
ments made under the general election
law passed by the legislature in 1898.
Section 53 of the election law, relat-
ing to tile appointment of Judges. reads
as follows:
Section 80. AT least thirty days before
any election in any city or III any moor
peratcd village having TWO or more
election districts, the local committees
of the several parties participating at
the last preceding election may furnish
to the city council. Or other appointing
authorities. Il list OF qua!iiled electors
for the various election districts 10 act
as Judges OF election. which lists shall
be certified to by the several secretaries
I'll such committees. Said Judges OF
election. in cities and Incorporated viii
1g- cts Iva
submitted by said local committees Ill
the following manner:
One for each election district from
each Of said Isis SO recommended by
the said different parties; the fIrSt to be
.cted from the list submitted by the
i,arty polling the laI gest number OF
votes in said city or village at the last
preceding general election; the second
from the list submitted by The party
polling the SECOND largest number or
votes at the last preceding general cleo
ton; the third from the list submitted
by the party polling the third largest
number of votes at the last preceding
general election.
If either of the local committees of
the three parties respectively polling
the first, second or third largest number
of votes at the last preceding general
election snail fail 10 furnish a list as
hereiubefore provided. and a list shall
be SO furnished by the committee OF the
party polling the fourth largest number
Of votes at said preceding election, then
one Judge shall he selected from said
list.
In case there are not three lists SUBJ
miited TO such council. or other appoint
Ing authorities. then said council or
other appointing authorities snail select
one from each list submitted as above
provided: and said council or other ap-
pointing authorities shall themselves
select the remaining Judge or Judges.
but in no case shall more than two OF
such Judges belong to the same political
party.
According to the letter of the law this
would give the committees from the
Democratic. Republican and Populist
parties the right to submit lists of names
from which the council would have TO
select the three judges. one from each
party, IN each precinct. This, however,
does not suit the Republican pushers
that are DESTROYS of having two of the
three Judges in each precinct of their
own selection.
The matter was discussed from a
legal standpoint by Chaplin and Assem-
blyman LightEer and from a party
standpoint by the other members of
the caucus for nearly an hour.
The talk then switched on another
section of the law relative to the man.
ner in making I'D the ticket. Section
% of the election law reads:
Every ballot 10 be printed under the
direction of the county auditor, city
clerk or other official other than secre-
tary of state. snail be prepared as near
as NAV be substantially in the same
manner as provided for the state ballot,
and when the election is to be held at
the same time as the general state cleo
ton. the various tickets shall be ar
ranged in the same order as on the
state ballot. regardless OF the vote Dolled
in any particular county or munlcIpal-
ity. Whens however, the election Is not
held in conjunction with general state
election. the party ticket shall have the
precedence on the ballot in the order OF
The vote polled at the last general elee-
ton within the territory in which the
election is TO be held.
A fair construction of this section of
the law would give the Democratic
candidate for mayor the head of the
ticket and also place the candidates on
the Democratic ticket first in each
group of Offices. This the Republican
managers have decided would never do.
and in order to prevent any but the Re-
publican candidate from heading the
ticket the attorney general will be ap-
pealed to for the purpose of constituting
the law. While it was not stated that
. ha NET hot
the party managers demanded
il was agreed that a fair
and impartial construction. such as is
usually given when questions of this
| kind are submitted TO state officials,
would he secured. The point made by
I the majority of the caucus and their
! legal attendants is that the last sentence
in section % does not refer to the eiec-
| ton held in November, 1892, because IN
| that case it would place the Democratic
! candidate at the head of the ticket. but
! means that the party polling the largest
number of votes in the city election of
I 1892 shall have precedence on the ticket
I in May.
| The matter of ousting the present as
| SCISSOR. E. R. tombstone, was brought
up. but. as one of the members ex-
! pressed ii after the caucus adjourned.
! no conclusion was reached" Assessor
! TOMBSTONE called at the mayors office
while the caucus was i'll session. and
! on being informed that Mayor Wright
was not one of the party in caucus
assembled seemed much put out
At 80 o'clock all adjournment was
| taken until Saturday afternoon. at
which time an opinion of the attorney
general as to the proper construction of
! the points here outlined will be sub
! United.
DONNELLY IN ST. PAUL.