The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-11
WIhh SEAT COATES
ELECTION COMMITTEE RECON-
AIENDS THAT MIR. BALLS SEAT
BE TAKEN AWAY,
WAS ENOUGH LAW AND FACT
JUDGE HICKS THINKS, TO WAR
RANT SUCH ACTION BEING
TAKEN BY HOUSE.
FIGHT BEING MADE ON REPORT.
Attorneys fer the Contestants Make
Their Arguments and Debate
VIII BE Heard Today.

The much talked of Coates-Hau con-
test to determine whether E. s. Hall,
a sitting member and a Populist, CT
j. H. Coates, contestant and q Repub-
Hcan, is entitled to hold a seat in the
house of representatives from Benton
county was taken UP on a special or
der last night and, although it was
conceded that a lamentably weak case
was made out by the contestant, the
report of the elections committee, Of
which Judge Hicks, of Hennepin, is
the chairman, may be taken as an in
deX Of the action of the house in spite
of the most powerful opposition which
can possibly be put up this morning,
when the house will resume it's consid-
Grafton of the contest
Members were reported as having
said that the chairman of the commit
tee had bulldozed the members into
the action taken which, when it had
been reduced to writing, contained as
much Verbiage as an extraordinary
supreme court decision. AS it was, the
report was not cOncurred in or signed
by all the members Of the elections
committee. One member, who listened
intently to the making out of the con-
testant's case, branded it as the shall
lowest case Of this character he had
ever heard. In spite Of this, however,
Farmer Hall, of Minden, one of the
few Populists in the house, will in all
probability be obliged to give way to
Mr.. Coates, of Sank Rapids.
The contest appears to have aroused
no little interest in St. Paul, or even
ing sessions are popular with spectat-
ors, for when Speaker Jones brought
down his gavel last night the gallery
and chairs along the wall We're filed
with people. not few Of them belong
ing to the gentler sex.
After the names of the opposing par
ties had been called, they with their
counsel were invited to take their
places directly in front Of the speakers
chair, and the report of the committee
on elections was read by the clerk.
At its conclusion there was some little
discussion as to the time to be allotted
for the arguments on both sides. It
was settled by allowing each side an
hour with the provision that more time
be given if necessary.
Mr.. Hall was represented by Messrs
J. ID. Sullivan, county attorney of
Stearns, and T. Van Etten, of Sank
Rapids, while the interests Of Mr.
Coates were looked after by Messrs
D. 7. Calhoun and George H. Rey-
nolds, both Of st. Cloud.
Mr.. Calhoun opened for the contest
anf, Mr.. Coates. He stated at the out
set that the report of the COMMITTEES
was practically undisputed, and that
the question had resolved itself into
question Of law. In brief, the contest
ant made the point that he was en-
titled TO majority Of something like
= votes over Mr.. Hall at the recent
i0C To In
though Mr.. Hall appeared to have
majority Of the votes cast, that enough
Of them had been Illegally cast by per
sens who failed to take the oath pre-
scribed by law, that they could not
read English or that they were physf-
cally unable to mark their tickets be-
fore asking other electors or judges
to mark them. He spoke for
perhaps half an hour and his
account Of the contestants's case
differed very little from that included
In the committee report
Mr., Sullivan followed for Mr.. Hall,
the sitting member. He alluded to the
fact that at the polls where his client
lived and voted there was no claim
made of irregularity about the mark
ing Of tickets, while at the polls where
Coates, the contestant, voted there
was any quantity of it, right under Mr.
Coates nose, although it was we'll nigh
impossible for anybody to prove Just
who the Illegal vOtes-if they were il
legal-were cast for. Mr.. Sullivan urged
upon his hearers that they do not split
hairs, and followed this up with the
contention that the failure on the part
Of any illiterate voters to take the oath
before asking aid in the marking Of
their tickets was possibly an Irregular
ity, but did not constitute illegality
1t was with no design that these men
put in votes not in regular form-they
were not repeaters, nor ward politi-
clans, but were in many cases illiterate
and not being able to read or write the
English language We're no doubt igno-
rant of the requirements of the law on
the subject The law was not manda-
tory. but directory, and the mistake
was not SO much on the part Of the IL