St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-04
REPUBLICANS HAVE a HEN ON
And Want to Mix Themselves Up
With tho Ballots.

And Want to Mix Themselves Up
With tho Ballots.
The office of The city clerk yesterday
was the scene of considerable excite
ment. The candidates and friends of
the same thronged the Office from early
morning until late al night. The returns
as given in the daily papers, with the
exception of the GLOBE, were far from
correct. and, as the Republican city
committee would not be satisfied,
count of the returns made by the judges
of election was inaugurated yesterday.
The city clerk refused 10 allow the
committee to handle the return sheets
made by the judges, but allowed one of
his deputies to take charge of the same.
Members of the Republican city CON-
mittee. assisted by City Attorney Cham
berlaln and his assistants, Chaplin and
Pike, went over the returns of the
judges, precinct by precinct. and at 5
O'clock the first six wards of the city
had been tabulated. The other five
wards will be gone over this morning.
Several members of the Republican
city committee have been undnly ex-
SllSd oNSl thC lCSuIe VI thC lOtS hShts
and yesterday afternoon Messrs. Yam
ish and Holcomb, chairman and secre-
tary of the city committee. visited the
office of the city clerk and insisted on
placing seals on each of the l13 ballot
boxes.
There was really no reason why this
should have been done, but City Clerk
Prendergast said anything that was
| reasonable he would agree to, and the
boxes were accordingly sealed with
slips of paper bearing the initials of the
chairman of the Republican city COM
mittee and sealed with wax. When
this was done one Of the committee in
sisted ON the ballot boxes being re-
moved to a vault where they could have
man TO guard them.
This was too much for Tom. and in
language forcible and TO the point the
city clerk told the pln-headed partisans
that the law said the city clerk should
have the ballot boxes under his care
and supervision. and they would remain
IN his Office.
The refusal of the city clerk 10 re-
| move the ballot boxes from the vault in
| his office 10 another one was disappOint-
| ing TO at least one individual who had
| been hired at 81 per day to watch the
vault and see that the boxes were not
stolen.
just what the Republican city com
mittee mean by their actions is hard 10
| tell. The law provides that when the
votes are counted they shall be depos-
tied in the ballot boxes. and the spring
locks on the boxes locked after placing
the key on the inside. The judges are
! then to write their names on slip of
! paper prepared for them by the city
| clerk, and this slip is to be pasted over
the lid of the box in such manner that
any attempt to open the box would
break the slip. This was done in every
instance. but even this did not
suit the members of the COM
mittee. Mr.. Vanish, who did the
resealing OF the boxes yesterday after
noon, said there had been no attempt
to open up tie boxes, and the seals were
just as they had been put on by the
judges. He endeayored to.eXplain his &C.
tions by saying that hewanted to do his
| uuly dS Cudtl IudL VI IlC uuO
had carried out the suggestion at the re.
quest of the committee. In each of the
ll3 precincts of the city Republican city
committee through their members III
the council had secured the appoint
ment of two, sometimes all of the judges
of election, and just why there was
any occasion for such extreme watch
fullness can only be explained on the
ground that the Republican city com
mittee is preparing to overthrow the
will of the people and make politica
capital.
The great interest taken in the result
by the city attorney and his assistants
is explained by the fact that the in
coming council will have the election o
city attorney to decide in Marcel
next, and unless the bodies are Repub
licau by majority their positions art
short lived.