The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-10-22
GRIGGS OWN MIDDLE
Applications Before Justice
Lippineott for Keys of the
Ballot Boxes.

On Friday last Corporation Attorney
Minturn of Hoboken applied to Justice
Lippincott for an order requiring County
Clerk Fisher to surrender to City Clerk
McDermott the keys of the ballot boxes
which were used at the special election on
September Is. Clerk McDermott wants
to get the boxes ready for the November
election. Justice Lippincott decided this
morning that the proper method of pro-
cedure was for the Common Council to
pass resolution requesting the County
Clerk TO surrender the keys and then
apply to the Court for an order. Mr..
Fisher insists that he has no desire to
keep the keys and that Clerk McDermott
can have them for the asking.
Lawyer Young made a similar applica-
ton on behalf OF the authorities of Gut
tenberg, and was informed that the law
does not apply to townships.
Ex-Judge Noonan this morning made
application to Judge Lippincott for an Or
der authorizing the City Clerk to take
out of the ballot boxes of Bayonne the
ballots and other papers of the last spe-
c.al election, on the constitutional amend
,neIts, so as to permit the use of the
said ballot boxes at the approaching gen.
Bral election Section 3O6 of the Ballot
Reform law provides that:-"When an
election is over the ballots and other pa
pers shall be deposited in the boxes, which
shall be sealed andl Immediately taken
to the Office of the City Clerk, who shall
keep the same and shall not open said
boxes nor permit them to be opened for
a space of three months after the same
have been deposited with him except when
he shall be called upon by some court au-
thorized to try the merits of sucaPelec-
tion; provided, that when any special
election is to be held within three months
after the said ballot boxes are SO de-
posited with the City Clerk, the Circuit
Court Judge may direct the contents of
the boxes to be removed and preserved
and the boxes themselves to be used at
such special election"
Where a special election is to be held
three months after the general election,
the law says that the boxes may be open
ed and used for special election. This
IS the only statute which Mr.. Noonan
could find authorizing the opening of the
boxes within three months after an cleo
Justice Lippincott said that, although
the statute literally authorized the OPEN
ing Of the boxes only for a special cleo
fion. hen special election is to be
held three months after a general cleo
ton that the courts would construe the
statute 70 mean not only what it says
but also the converse of what it says
Justice Lippincott said that upon the
application being authorized by the City
Counsel, he would make an order that
the boxes be opened and used for the
general election three months after the
special election In the same manner as
he would for special election three
months after general election. This de-
cision tillsets The general notion that the
Legislature makes all the law. for, ac-
cording 70 this decision, the Court makes
the law. And 1t is thus TO great ex-
tent that the law has been developed.
There is almost as much law made by
the construction given statutes by the
rst,f,,tc 40 thera ic bv the LEGISLATURE by
legislation.
The Iioboken Common Council held e
special meeting at 1.3g O'Clock this after
noon. and resolved to apply TO Judge Lip
pincott for an order compelling the
County Clerk to turn over the keys Of
the ballot boxes SO that they may be
The law requires that the ballots must
remain in the boxes sixty days, but that
time has not elapsed since the last special
faction. and in order to avoid trouble