The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-25
TOO SUBSEQUENT.

TOO SUBSEQUENT.
The Pioneer Press, as usual. is a
month behind the times and an eterni-
ty behind the facts, in it's comments
yesterday upon the charter question.
Having now learned that a petition,
signed by more than the number Of
voters required by the law, was filed
weeks ago with the district court, it
could, would or should not perform
the duties imposed upon them by the
statute. Before doing this it did not
even ascertain the facts of the case.
Worse than that, it asserts positively
what IS not true, and what the slight
est inquiry on its part would have dis
closed to be false. Action upon petition
is not such an uncommon thing as to
leave any doubt about the process.
One of the three political parties con-
Quoted its entire state and national
campaign in Minnesota last year under
nominations made by petition. So the
charter law wisely admitted a section
without which, we may now plainly
see, the will of the people would have
been nullitied by the politicians who
think they have places 10 save.
The exploiting of mares nests by the
Pioneer Press proceeds with an inquiry
how the judges are to know that the
persons signing or purporting to have
signed the petition are legal voters.
Not satisfied with this, it ventures this
positive assertion, There is no such
legal evidence of these facts as is re-
quIred in other cases where the court
acts upon petitions;" and announces
that the Judges may therefore decline
to act without some formal authenti-
cation of the signatures and Of the fact
that the signers are legal voters" Now
the fact is that not only is every sigma
ture to this petition in the sfgner's own
handwriting, under a heading declaring
himself to be a resident and legal voter
OF the city Of st. Paul, but there was
presented to the court and filed with it.
at the same time, as a part of the
petition, an affidavit declaring the
signatures to be authentic and the
slSners to be qualified electors. The
Pioneer Press is therefore guilty of
something which we believe to be the
gross error of stating what is not true
without taking the trouble to ascertain
the facts from the records in the CITY
hall, rather than the grave offense of
deliberately publishing a falsehood.
From this wild beginning the next
step is to still more ABSURD conclu-
sion, this time following what appears
TO be an ignorance of the law positively
brilliant in its comprehensiveness As
sumlng that the judges have no evil
dence Of the genuineness of the sigma
lures, the Pioneer Press says: eff thew
should not decline to act on this
ground, the validity of their annoint-
ment of a commission might be cba1-
lenged on these grounds" Now while
as We have shown, it is established bv
primaJ faeie1 evidence before the co,,rt
that the petition presented conform
to the law, and the court must so re-
gard it unless proof to the contrary &c
furnished, yet it would not make the
least difference in the validity Of the
courts action if these signatures were
not authenticated, and if the petition
represented only, as the Pioneer Press
says, IAN indication of the public feel
Ing in favor Of charter commission -
We commend to its attention the fol-
lowing extract from section of chan.
ter 255 of the General Laws Of 1897, be.
ing the act in question: "Wheneve,
said judge or Judges, or a majority OF
the same, deem the public interest sc
require, he or they may appoint such
commission on his or their own mo-
ton" If, therefore, the precaution had
not been taken to verify the petition
or If any irregularty or error had beer
or should be discovered, still the powe,
p of the judges to act and the validity
of their action under it could not pos
sibly be called in question, because thew
are expressly empowered by the law
itself to act on their own motion. and
without the passage Of any ordinance
or the presenting of any petition what.
ever.
we have rarely met with a case of as
complete absence OF informa ton as
this on the part of any one assuming