The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-01-16

man Chittenden said to a Tribune re-
porter:
Undoubtedly a tremendous interest
in the system was aroused among Re-
publican voters. Satisfactory does
not properly express the verdict 1t
was found fair and just, and. conse-
quently, satisfactory
'Moir's vote represents over one
half of the average Republican vote.
1t is a circumstance which has a wor-
thy bearing in favor of the experiment
for this reason; Had he been a cam
didate in delegate convention and re-
ceived no representation from a dis
trict with, say, only twenty-five Re-
publican votes, but which favored him,
and there were enough of these dis
tricts misrepresented to give the NOM
inatiOn to some one else, the reaction
Of his personal following on election
day would be strong enough to defeat
the delegate nominee.
His personal following has been
proved to be amazingly large and at
the polls there will be no resentment
expressed, and no probability of a
repetition of the deplorable defeat which
we experienced in the last election Of
mayor
THE RESULT.
The result shows that the peopIe
are competent, not only to express
their individual choice, but they are
intelligent enough to distribute the
nominations among all the national
itie2 represented, a Scotch-American
for mayor, a native-born American for
treasurer a German for controller, a
Welsh-American- German board for
city assessors, and Welsh and a ma
tive-born American for the two nomi-
nations for school director National
ity has and does cut a big figure in
local politics. A distribution has also
been made geographically, but that has
not always been considered strictly an
element of success. Although the point
is raised in delegate conventions, its
Importance is overestimated.
Chairman Chittenden indicated that
the rules lacked some essentials. When
asked to specify them, he said:
"A few improvements would make
the new rules perfect. The issuance of
| official ballots to candidates should be
prohibited. There should be incorpor-
| ated a section permitting authorized
agents of the candidates to watch the
count Dy the VlSllantS.
LAS the ballots are not numbered, a
rule should be adopted permitting a
board to empty it's box hourly and
| count the vote at leisure. There being
nothing in the present rules to pro-
hibit this, the board in the First dis
| trict of the Seventeenth ward followed
| this plan, and the returns for the dis
| trlct We're reported at headquarters
| twenty minutes after the polls closed
| This too, is big Republican district"
Asked to express an opinion on the
showing made by candidates who had
never appeared in a city political con-
| test before, Mr.. Chittenden said:
II consider that Philip Rinsland has
made the best showing of any of the
| thirty-two contestants. He is destined
| to be heard from in future ambitions
| for political advancement. His case
| illustrates one of the benefits of the
new system. A young man and wholly
| unknown as an aspirant for office, he
has attained an advancement solely
on account of personal qualifications
Political leaders might never have
| chosen him, but 1 predict his election
| beyond a Notwithstanding, of course
| that the unofficial count has correctly
| made him one of the three candidates
| The point has been raised that Rims
| land is not eligible to the nomination
! he being a resident of the same district
| as Fowler, the Second of the Thir-
teenth This does not affect Fowler's
| nomination, but it has been suggested
that Rinsland should retire in favor
of II. ID. Jones, or Fickus, according
to which of the two latter is returned
as fourth on the list.
On the point in question, Chairman
| Chittenden will have legal advice and
| Rinsland has been asked to secure II
also before tomorrow's meeting of the
| city committee.
For several weeks he has had a house
in the Eighth ward ready for Occu-
pancy and proposed making it his res
idence soon. This offers another
troublesome point, for, If he movee
from his present district before election
day he viii not be a qualified voter
there, and candidate not a qualified
voter Is not eligible to office,
All summed up, Rinsland's case
seems TO hang upon an official count
showing him ahead of Fowler-thert
are only 20 votes between them-un.
less II can be shown that ne and Fowler
! can be elected from the same district