St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-08
ELEPHANT Tine Mares NEST
A CONSTITUTIONAL FREAK LAUNCHED
ON THE WORLD.
VIOLATION OF THE CHARTER

Deliberately Prop ased by the Re-
publican Committee to Secure
the Assembly-Last Gasp of
Defeated Party-The Removal
Scheme Abandoned Mr..
Cutcheon Shows the Legal
FaIlacy of the Proposition.
Ever since Noah was called to the
front, when an emergency in mundane
affairs has arisen. the man has been
found to come to the rescue.
ST. Paul is enabled to furnish the lat
est and perhaps the most important
emergency man Ill the worlds history.
His name-tell il not in Gath. but whls-
per it from the house tops-is +. w.
Zollman, and he is member Of the Ike
publicau city committee.
Since the thrashlng administered to
them week ago the Republican COM
mittee has been state of mind, and
from out of this mental perturbation
Zcllman has emerged as the cOnStitu-
tional Moses. to lead the children OF
darkness 10 the Elysian fields OF polit-
ical bliss.
Beginning with election day, and con-
tinuing ever since. she Dispatch has
been bewailing the fact that four of the
assemblymen were required by the
charter TO be elected from those resid-
ing in the geographical district east of
Wa&Sha street, and four residing In the
dEtfict west of Wabasha street, but last
night it came out with the discovery"
that all this is unconstitutional, though
SO provided in the city charter, and In
this announcement it places a laurel
wreath upon the brow Of St. Paul's
great constitutional lawyer in this
manner:
The credit of this discovery is due F.
w. Zollman. secretary of the committee,
who detected the constitutional viola
tion and laid tile facts and law before
the committee"
In support of his argument this Web
sterian constitutional product quotes
section Z, article Z of the state constitu-
ton, as follows:
Every person who by the provisions
of this article shall be entitled TO vote
at any election shall he eligible to any
Office which now is or hereafter shall be
SASStSu OJ ihS POoplC III tHC ulStliCt
wherever he shall have resided thirty
days previous to said election"
From this he argues that, 10 matter
where a man lives. if he is legal voter
he can hold any office, regardless of the
following plain provision of the city
charter:
1.-The assembly shall be composed of
aine t9) members. The members of the
nssembly shall be elected at large from
the body of electors of said city, and
four az of'same shall reside east of Wa
baSha and Rice streets and north of the
Mississippi river. and four (4) shall re-
side west of Wabasha and Rice streets
and north of the Mississippi river, and
one Q) shall reside in the Sixth (6th)
ward of said city,"
1t so happens that. as unofficially re-
ported, two Republican nominees living
east of Wabasha street received more
votes than two of the Democrats resid-
ing west of Wabasha. Ever since this
discovery the Republicans have been
studying to determine how they
could violate the charter and
have six assemblYmen live east
of Wabasha street and only two
west. AS they claim to have elected
the member from the Sixth ward, they
are coDtented to allow him to live in
the district he is supposed to represent,
but when it comes to the Wabasha
street division they apply a different
rule, and invoke the aid Of Zollmanic
Jurisprudence to prove their case and
violate the charter.
The assumption of these great Repub-
lican minds is that the defeat of the two
Republicans east of Wabasha street
who RECEIVED more votes than two Dem
Ocrats west of Wabasha street would be
to declare that they are ineligible to
hold the office, and that, as the consti-
tion says every voter is eligible for any
office, therefore, they must be declared
elected, regardless of their residence.
AS evidence of the shalIowness of
this pretense it need only to be cited
that at first the Republican plan was to
have lin Reard0n and Arosin, the two
Republicans residing east of Wabasha
street, who received the lowest number
OF votes of any Of the candidates in
that district, move over to the west side
of Wabasha before qualifying. AS
slstant Corporation Counsel Pike
favored this plan. and. of course,
the Pioneer Press joined in the plot
for the purpose of securing another CD.
portunity to back water. But Pixies
legal intellect seems to have been OBJ
scured by the constitutional expounder,
and that plan has now been abandoned.
When it came down to the point they
discovered that there was no more rea-
son for moving the two candidates
named than there would be to move
others who had received higher num-
ber OF votes than two Democrats resid-
ing west of the dividing line. In fact,
the proposed removal was a direct
recognition of the force of the charter.
and it is now regarded easier to disre-
gard the charter snd declare it uncon
stitutianal.
When the ballots were being officially
prepared, City Attorney Chamberlain
was consulted and gave it as his opinion
that the four candidates receiving the
highest number of votes, whose resi-
dences were, respectively, either
east or west of Wabasha street,
would be elected. he stated yesterday
that he had given the Republican city
committee no opinion and would only
give one when called upon by the coun-
Gil. Whether he will consider it wise
or legal to reverse himself in view of
the fact that the council will be Demo-
cratic or joint ballot in any event, and
make a partisan decision in favor of a
violation of the charter. instead of ad-.
herring to an opinion based ON the law
when he did not anticipate such ques-
tion tolarise, time will determine.
1t is tmmaterial. SO far as results.
whether lie does or not, except as it
might affect his standing at the bar,
proving him unfit for his present posi-
tlon, for higher tribunal would speed
lily reverse him, if he should proceed to
make 1t necessary by reversing himself