The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-03-31
ELECTION SURE.
Defeat of the Term Extender
Read Between the Lines
of the Supreme Court
Decision.
J DEMOCRATIC CERTIFICATES FILED
Republicans. Alarmed al the
Turn Of Affairs. Spread
Rumors About Another
Bill.
LEADERS Predict a Big Democratic
4 Victory in the Event of the
Election Next Month.

Edward HooS, Democratic candidate for
Mayor. appeared at the Office of City
Clerk NJ. ]. O'Donnell at eleven o'clock
this morning, and for a second time pre-
sented his certificate of nomination as
candidate for the election on April 13.
All the other candidates followed suit an
hour later.
The City Clerk accepted Mr.. Hoos' GER
tificate, and remarked that he did so un-
der the decision of the Supreme Court,
which was handed down yesterday.
Copies of the decision were received in
the city this morning. The following is
the full text of it,
NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT.
The State, ex rel. Edward Hoos VS..
Michael ]. O'DonneI.
On rule, etc., for mandamus.
With respect to .the duty of the City
Clerk to receive and file the certificate of
nomination to have no difficulty. Sec
tion 205 of the Election Act provides
that nominating bodies of a political body
may nominate Candidates for public office.
Section 206 prescribes the form of the
certificate and Section 2o9 requires the
written acceptance of the candidate SO
nominated. Section 223 declares that GER
the provisions of this act shall be deemed
to be valid; If objection is to be raised
DeIore the Clerk it must be presented
to him in writing within five days and
notice by him given to the candidate af-
fected; If the candidate make application
holding the Circuit of a threatened in
vasion of his right under such certificate
summary hearing may be had.
,Ihe plain Interpretation of these pro-
visions is that the action of the political
body in question having been certified
IN the manner prescribed by the statute,
the certificate should have been received
and filed by the clerk leaving both OBJ
jectors and the candidate to pursue the
respective remedies given to each by the
statute. Any other Interpretation would
be into toErable, for it would place it in
the powcr Of the Clerk, of his own mo-
ton and without even the knowledge of
the party affected, to ignore the certi-
fcate.
Where the supposed invalidity arises,
forrnity to the provisions of the act'' but
from some matter aliunde, as in the pres
ent case, the Clerk, if he have jurisdic-
must derive it by the strictest conformity
to the statute by which it is claimed to
be conferred.
much as NO objection in writing was filed
with the Clerk, in the present instance.
ms duty to treat the certificate as valid
Inasmuch as this determination rests
upon mere Interpretation Of the Elec-
stitutionality of the statute Of 1897. we
have thought it right to dispose of it as
soon as practicable.
"A peremptory mandamus should issue
directing the respondent to file the Re-
lator's certificate
The application for mandamus to
compel the City Clerk to print the bal
lots for an election cannot be disposed
of without passing upon the constitu-
tionality of the statute of 1897 above re-
ferred to The decision of a question of
this Importance should, in our judg-
ment, be made in a form capable of re-
view by either party. The question will
be presented in such form if the facts
contained in the stipulation of counsel
now before us be treated as the return
to an alternative writ to which the re-
lator has demurred. We will hear the
parties at the State House on Thursday.
April l, at II 80 A.. NJ on an application
to frame pleadings in accordance with
this suggestion, unless the parties shall
before that time notify us of a stipula-
tion by them to the effect that the issue
may be regarded as so presented
A true copy.