Evening star., 1895-04-25
WITH TWO VESTRIES
A Contest in St. Marks Episcopal
Parish.
CHARGES OF ILLEGAL VOTING
A Notice That Was Posted TODAY
on the Church Door.
THE EASTER ELECTION

iiouHceHleHt as TO kne legal QuallncatlonS
of voters in ST. Marks parish.
'One after another. early pedestrians. as
they came down the street in the cool vir-
gin shade of the broad spreading naples
stepped up to the great door of the church
to read the notice. Then. with dubious
countenance, each would step hesitatingly
down and proceed on the way down town
bent in thought over the puzzling an
nouncement.
The Surprising Notice.
This notice read as follows, having neith-
er caption nor heading:
Resolved, That to constitute member of
s.. Marks parish legal voter at any parish
meeting, he shall have contributed not less
than G9 two dollars for the support of the
church during the year, and such contribu-
tion shall be a matter of record by the
registrar, provided said member shall have
complied with all other requirements of ex-
isting law.
I hereby certify that the above resolution
was adopted by the vestry of St. Marks
parish, at meeting held on April "a. 1895.
and that it was upon the same date posted
In the parish church.
JNo. P. ToRRERT,
Registrar of ST. Marks Church.
The Rift In the Lutte.
Inasmuch as the congregation mas been
pretty thoroughly stirred up ever since last
Easter election over the vestry supposed to
have been elected at that time, it was
quickly supposed that this notice had some
thing to do with that affair. Very little
could be learned from members of the par
ish, who may be supposed to know what is
going on. The faction in the church sup
posed to be responsible for the announce
ment put upon the door embraces several
None of them, however, desired to be
quoted in regard to the action which seems
to have preceded the publication of the
notice. The opposing faction was equally
Richard J. Earnshaw. who is a leader of
this side Of the rift in St. Marks Lutte had
not seen the notice. He said to Star re-
porter: There was q vestry meeting last
night, but know of no such action as this
notice indicates. Who did you say signed
the notice? John P. Torbert. registrar?
Why. he is not registrar of st. Marks.
To the question as to what lay behind the
matter, Mr.. Earnshaw said: There has
been a slight difference of opinion in our
church for year or more. l don't want to
go into that just now, however The recent
election was quiet and peaceable. The new
vestry was chosen almost unanimously,
and no protest was made, and the vestry.
which is the judge Of its own elections, can
vassed the vote and everything was de-
clared valid and in order"
Mr.. Ramage, another member of the
party in power expressed himself vigor-
ously on the notice. 1T is unauthorized If
l were a vestryman I should tear 1t down,
and tear all similar notices down. The
other side has no Vestry. They certainly
did not elect anybody at the last election"
The Other Side of 1t.
From several gentlemen representing the
other side, among them Mr.. Torbert, who
signed the notice. and Mr.. W. T. Kent,
,1,o to- ,1~r Of F,rlys,
a general idea was gained of what took
place at the meeting alluded to in the
notice, although neither of these gentle
men nor any others would permit them
selves to be interviewed for publication.
The situation is that a question arose in
the church as to the advisability Of spend
ing time and money on a mission which
Mr.. Charles Il. Parkman about a year ago
induced the church to start With a debt
on the present church building of $24,OO
the conservative members of st. Marks
wished to keep out of mission work and
concentrate their efforts upon paying the
debt.
Imported Voters.
To carry their point. what is known as
the Parkman party captured the vestry a
year ago, and this year anticipating oppo-
sition, it is claimed. they brought in from
the mission considerable number of votes
duced quite a surprise. The anti-Parkman
party estimate the number of these votes
at about %, and claim that they were not
legal, and that without them the vestry
now in power would not have been elected
The legal qualifications of voter in the
parish are fixed by law. The old Maryland
law passed in the last century, re-enacted
by the District legislature and later affirm
ed by Congress, declares the qualifcat tions
of such voter to be a residence and citi-
zenship in the District of Columbia, and
that he must be twenty-one years old, the
lessee OF a pew or part of a pew in the
church., and to have contributed during the
year not less than 81 to the support of the
church.
A Wagon Load of Votes.
1t is said by the other side that colonized
voters brought by the Parkman party were
brought to the church in wagon load,
some of them not knowing the way to the
church.
The contributions of many of them were
all made at the same time, under condi-
tions which gave rise to the suspicion that
the " representing each vote was paid for
them, as the contribution blanks were all
filled out in the same handwriting and sim
ply signed by each voter, one voter not be-
ing able to write his name, but signing
with a mark.
When the election took place there were
two tickets in the field, the Parkman ticket
consisting of Messrs. Bennett and Roane
NARROW, Hillyer, Fonda, Lundy, Wood,
Nicholson, Gaddis and Earnshaw and the
ticket, consisting of Messrs.
Torbert and Kent for senior and junior
wardens, and Messrs. Marlow, Hillyer,
Wood, Walker. Wallace, Wylie and Johan-
mis- for vestrymen.
Not So Unanimous.
Mr.. Kent was absent from the city. The
vote stood about 81 to 53 in favor of the
Parkman ticket. Had Mr. Kent been pres
ent it would have been tie. The question
as to eligibility of the imported voters from
the mission was raised. but it was held that
the vestry was the judge Of that question,
and the vestry admitted the votes. The
Parkman party carried the election. The
meeting alluded to in the notice as, having
taken place yesterday was an executive
session, it seems. of the vestry that would
have been elected, it is claimed, had the
mission votes not been received at the
Easter election. While none of those pres
ent would state precisely what was done, 1t
is understood that this vestry, claiming to
he the de lure veStry. in