The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-22
DOYLE ALLEGES FRAUD.
Only One Day More in which Il
serve Notice of Contest ON Col


Only One Day More in which 10
serve Notice of Contest ON Col.
Lester.
Ex-Postmaster j. F. Doyle will, in all
likelihood, serve notice upon Congressman
r. T.. Lester tomorrow of a contest for
| his seat in the Fifty-ffth congress.
Mr.. Doyle has gone to considerable
trouble in gathering evidence to be used in
the contest and it is not likely that he
will fail to make use of it. He said yester-
day that he had not fully made up his
mind to make the contest, although he
had all the evidence necessary to do so.
He only has until tomorrow night to make
up his mind on the subject, as the law re-
quires that notice of intention to contest
must be served upon the party officially
declared to have been elected within
thirty days after the result of the election
has been officially announced by the gov
ernor.
The governor Is required by law to an
nounce the result within twenty days after
the election. The election having been
held on Nov. 3, Wednesday will be the
hftieth day since the election. The law re-
quires that the notice shall be a domicili-
airy one and that it shall be served at the
most notorious place of residence" AS
Mr., Doyle considers Mr.. Testers home on
Hall street, he will have the notice served
there If he decides to make the contest.
Il have plenty of evidence upon which
10 make such a contest said Mr. Doyle.
! have been engaged for the last six weeks
IN gathering this evidence. | had no idea
when begun this investigation of the ex-
tent to which fraud had been practiced in
the election. / have secured positive proof
OF the most stupendous fraud in nearly
every county in the district
Mr.. Doyle declined to enter into partic-
ularS as to the evidence which he had I'M
earthed. In case he should enter into the
contest he would have no objection to
making the facts public, he said, but as
he was still undecided, he preferred to
keep the information which he had Sc
cured to himself for the present.
Il couldn't understand how it was that
| was beaten so badly" ne said, land
simply decided to investigate the matter
for my own satisfaction. ] found enough
to convince me that unlimited fraud had
been practiced by the democrats in most
OF the counties. The frauds were very
great in Burke, Buloch and Liberty coun-
ties"
IF I enter into this contest" said Mr..
Doyle, Il will unearth state of affairs
which Will make the members of congress
open their eyes and will surprise some peo-
pie right here in Savannah. The manner of
conducting elections in this district needs
an airing, and | would like to see it given.
The only drawback now is the expense of
conducting such an Investigation. A vast
amount of evidence would have to be TAX
en- and hundreds of witnesses examined.
These witnesses would have to he pald
their per diem and mileage also, IL they
were brought to Savannah, and this ex-
pense would have to be borne by me- This
is the paint which / am considering now
and which prevents me from announcing
positively whether or not I will enter the
contest
How about Chatham county?" he was
asked.
There were some Irregularities in Chat
ham," he replied but not sufficient to
be of any great Importance. If / had been
as fairly treated in other counties as in
Chatham, would have no complaint to
make"
Mr.: Doyle declined to say what the ir-
he alluded, were. The law requires that
the grounds of contest must be specified
in the notice served upon the party hold
ing the certificate of election. This will
be done, Mr. Doyle said, if he should serve
notice upon Col. Lester, and the frauds
charged to have been committed in each
county will be named.
Mr.. Doyle was asked if he had secured
sufficient evidence, in his opinion, to
change the result of the election. He re-
piled that he had evidence that would
show that he had been defrauded of over
2,0O votes. If these votes should be sub
tracted from the total credited to Col. Les
ter and added to the total credited to
him 1t would mean that he was entitled
to the seat He was uncertain, though
whether the congressional committee, in
frandulently credited to Col. Lester, would
credit him with the number of votes so
thrown out As Col Testers majority
was something over 1000, 1t might be nee
essnry to prove frauds to the full amount
OF the majority in order to unseat him