Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-03
An Answer to the Injunction Pro-
o,edings Filed Today.
LEGALITY OF TIE EASTER ELECTION
Complainants Late in Discovering
Their Alleged Wrongs.
THE BOLTS ON THE DOORS

OF the so-called de jure vestry, who ques-
ton the legality of the last Easter Mon
day election, was filed in court by Mr.. j.
Walter Cooksey, as, solicitor for the de-
PENDANTS. At the suggestion of Mr.. VIM. A.
Meloy, for the compliments, the case was
postponed until 10 o'clock next Monday
morning. The answer and the exhibits
filed with 1t make about fifty typewriter
pages. 1t goes into all the details of recent
parish history having a bearing upon the
questions at issue. 1t denies specifically
every allegation made in the bill of the
compliments essential to maintaining
the contention that the complain
ants and not the defendants, were
elected vestrymen at the last parish cleo
ton. 1t devotes much space also to show
ing that the church is a free church, and
that the complainants have only recently
discovered that it is pew church, a point
which, it is claimed, has much to do with
determining the qualifications of voters. 1t
in the congregation who had been for
long time accustomed to occupy special
seats, and to secure said seats with reason
able certainty to such persons a plan was
devised whereby upon the signing of
pledge to contribute to the support of the
parish weekly sum any person who SO
desired could have a special seat assigned
him. 1t is claimed that at the Easter cleo
-
the compliments, presided as senior war;
den, registrar and chairman, he and others
defined the qualifications of voters without
reference to the qualification of owning or
leasing pew or part Of pew, and the
then ,vestry when called upon to pass upon
the qualifications of voters did SO without
regard to said question. Again, at the
Easter election Of 1895, SO amply oppor-
tunity was given to challenge voters, no
one suggested that the qualifications of
voters embraced 1.-The owning or leasing Of
a pew or part of pew" and no such ques-
ton was raised until nearly two months
afterward. The allegations that the pews
of the church are rented, the defendants
assert, are without foundation in fact and
are urged by the compliments only to OBJ
scure the merits of the case and: to give
color to the unlawful pretensions of the
ccmplanants.
In reference to the allegations concerning
answer says that May %, 1895, the vestry
deemed 1t wise to elect r. ]. Earnshaw al
subtreasurer. and thereupon passed a reso-
tuition directing the registrar ito turn over
70 H. j. Earnshaw, the subtreasurer of St
Marks parish, such funds of the parish as
ne now has in his possession, or that may
hereafter come into his possession" In ex-
PLANTATION OF this, the answer says that Mr.
waiter ID. Narrow who Is the treasurer of
the parish, acting under the evil counsels
and advice of the compliments and other
evil disposed persons" refused to pay the
salary of the rector in the amount ordered
MED the power and authority of the yestry,
although holding office under it,
The answer goes into details in relation
to the various parish books and lists, main
tanning the legality and proper character of
the books and lists kept by the rector, and
whose validity was attacked by the COM
plainants in their bill.
History ms Told by Defendants.
The answer goes on to say:
Defendants are informed that for many
years prior to Easter Monday, 1894, the an
nual election of wardens and vestrymen in
st. Marks parish have. been uniformly
without contest or evidence of personal
feeling, and with an attendance of only
about eight or dozen persons. These cleo
tons were purely informal affairs, as on
many occasions the old vestrymen were the
only ones present. and uniformly voted out
four Of their number and Immediately re-
elected the same four. Ordinarily, when
the AFFAIRS of parish are settled the ne
elect of the qualified voters to attend the
Easter elections Is productive of no great
injury, but 1t Is often found that when an
emergency arises the vestry, which has
Tor many years managed the affairs of the
parish, is found to be unequal to such an
emergency. During the year 1893 such an
emergency arose In st. Marks parish, and
the vestry which had been tolerated by the
indifference and neglect of the parishioners
proved unequal to the same BY the death
Of Rev. A. F. Steele, who for more than
twenty-five years had faithfully served the
parish, the entire management of affairs
was thrown upon the then vestry, which
was presided over by Complainant Torbert
as senior warden, he being also registrar of
the parish; that during the said year 1873
two questions of great Importance arose,
of the mission referred to in said para
graph.
1.-THE said vestry called as priest in
charge Of said parish a person who was
nfe 70
Pensioners, and when it became known
that 1t was the intention of his friends
In the vestry to call him as rector a strong
and determined opposition sprung up to
avert, II possible. such action. The atti-
tude Of the said vestry with regard to
mission work in the said parish was re-
garded by many of the parishioners as
u u,Sa an,,a and unchurchly. A young
Christian, had been in charge of said mis-
sion for some years and had held a license
as lay reader from the bishop of the do
cese. Through some inadvertence his IL
cense was allowed to expire and was not
renewed. although he personally believed it
to have been renewed. He went on with
the work of said mission as he had been
accustomed to do. and under ''misappre-
hersion as to the state of parochial af-
fairs and without intention to disregard
the rights of the vestry to be consulted
in the matter, he invited certain leading
clergymen of the city to officiate in said
mission, which invitations were accepted.
The Mission Trouble.
This technical violation of the law of
the church was made the subject of a set
of stilte1 formal resolutions passed by the
said vestry, calling attention to the said
violation. 1t seems never to have occurred
to the promoters of :hese resolutions that
a word spoken privately to said lay reader
would have been sufficient to accomplish
the desired result. The matter was taken
to the bishop of the diocese and for some
time the fate of said mission hung in the
balance. The inability of the then vestry
10 settle these two questions in a satisfac-
tory manner. or their willful determination
to settle them against the wishes Of ma
jority Of the parishioners, gave rise to
the greatest dissatisfaction among the said
parishioners and result the attend
ance at the Easter Monday elections in the
year 1894 was increased to twenty-one per-
sens. These defendants have no excuses
to offer for the attendance of said per-
sons, and none are necessary, since they
were simply exercising their legal rights.
They aver that at said election each and
every voter was legally qualified, and they
deny that all were allowed to vote, mas
much as two votes were challenged by
John P. Torbert and adjudged by the ves-
try as not qualified. No unfairness was
practiced. The majority submitter grace
fully to the rejection by the vestry of two