The age-herald., 1899-12-09
VIM. 5. TAYLOR
 GIVEN CERTIFICATE The Board Gould Not to Be-
 hind the Returns.
 WILL RESULT IN CONTEST DergSs lie Candidates Were se Legally Elected. Sr A SHADOW OF A DOUBT" in all Exhaustive Opinion the Canvass. ing Board Holds That Though
r A SHADOW OF A DOUBTn
Tn an Exhaustive Opinion the Canvass. ing Board Holds That Though There Was Fraud, the Ques-
 ton Was Not for Them

Frankfort, Ky, December S-In the opinion which will be handed down tomorrow awarding the certificate to the republican candidates on the face of the re- turns and holding that the board has no power to go behind these returns, the elec- tion commission will say:
 Occupying place we did not seek we would gladly escape the discharge of the delicate and responsible duties which at the present moment confront us. But hav- ing voluntarily assumed the responsibilities of so important trust, our duty is plain, We are not at liberty to depart from ele- mentary principles to allow partisan zeal to force us to any conclusion which is not approved by our judgment and sanctioned by the law.
 "In reaching conclusion in this case we are compelled to construe for the first time the statute under which we act It has not received judicial construction of lnterpreta- ton at the hands of any count. This of it. self adds to our embarrassment and, if possible, to the magnitude of the disagree- able task before us.
 After quoting extracts from the new elec- ton law defining the powers of the board, the opinion reads: Tt Is evident from the law that the state board of election com- mssioners when sitting as board of con- test Is clothed with powers and Jurisdiction which it does not possess and cannot as- sume to exercise.
 Such is our construction of the present law and we sure of its correctness of this construction, not only by the interpre- tation which the court of appeals of this state has placed upon kindred statutes, but by all the law of the land so far as we have been able to examine it.
 "This board under the present law as 8 canvassing board possesses no other or greater powers than those conferred on the governor, attorney general and secretary of state."
 Quota from the Statute
 To emphasize the correctness of this con- clusion the writers of the majority opinion quote largely from the statute and numer- ous authorities, and then take up the ques- tion of the admissibillty as evidence or the papers and documents submitted for their consideration.
 "Tbese papers," they say, 'are clearly in- competent testimony for any purpose and 1t would be so held, we apprehend, not only dn all courts but 1t would be so held by us If we were now sitting as board or con- test. If this board was clothed wath uh- limited judicial powers 1t would not con sider the ex-parte statements and extra official certificates here submitted It could not do so without violating the most familiar rules of evidence.
 "Vhat we have said with respect to the ex-parte affidavdts amended returns rom certain counties winch Tn every iiiS'anee' only purport to have been signed py ma. ioritv of the county board and which don't certify an fact authorized by the law to pe certified to this board.
 "It is contended by counsel Tor the ueln- ocratic candidates that the mll,aiy H ,,', lo ,rropCfu11V and illegally oaI1ed out on the day of the recent eiecuon with a view of intimidating the citizens and voters of the city or LouisVihe' r 4he reason already stated, our answer is that we cannot, as mere ., cainassns hoard consider the grave and constitutions al o,,estion which they seek to enforce up- on our consideration. But In justice to counsel and to ourselves, we deem It reie- want and pertinent at the least 10 pass judgment upon that over wnich we oo hos Tbe oninion quotes extensively from Coo- ley's Constitutional Limitations in suppore of the position assumed. It continues as follows:
 ''The doctrine announced above IS the law of every state in this republic, and Tn nroper case with the facts properly shown before a tribunal having Jurisdiction 10 deal with the subject.
 The Minority Report
 "pbe conclusion to which such tribunal wouId come is not, in our opinion, clouded by the slightest shadow of doubt. But for reasons already discussed, this board may not now sit in judgment on that question, nor does 1t intend by what it has said to commit itself to any hard and fast line 6f action in the future Once more coun- sel for the democrats urge on this board that 1t ought to reject the vote Of the city of Louisville on account of official acts of circuit judge, who, as counsel, con- tends that writs of mandamus and man. datory injunctions, not only forced, as it is claimed, the officers of elections to ad- init persons to the polling places who le- gally had no right to be there, but who by mandatory process required election officers to verify returns which it Is suggested to us were not in fact true. All of this for tine reasons stated Is apart from the juris- diction of this board at present consti- tuted. It Is enough. however, in this con- nectfon to say that 1t is not government by injunction, and when the question is properly presented before a tribunal having jurisdiction to deal with the subject, we predict with confidence that the judgment of such tribunal will be swift and certain and that it will be distinctly held that such performance on the part of any judge in this state, whether of a1iga or low degree, is a usurpation which cannot and will no6 be sanctioned by law. If the people of -~~-~~-~~-~c-~ c-~-~~~---------~---~--~--
 fContinueA ou Second PaQel