The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-11

Il.
IN the election the previous fall had ra.
celVed more votes than any other can
Gtdate, though not a majority over all
zen Chamberlain gracefully surrendered
ms sword to Gov. Davis, and the fusion
ISIS became demoralized and disorgan-
lied. . Ill
APPEAL TO STATE COURTS
Inc hrst time that a state sunre,na
courl was called upon to decide hafU-aar
."C contestants for governorship was
Ia wisconsin in 1857. The proposition To
nave a branch of the. state government
ueclae. such question was fought bit
leriy' out to no avail. William A PAR
STOW who had served one term as gov
efhor' was renominated in 1856. On tha
lace or the returns he was reelected nv
l9I majority. This was a decreasa ~
mere than 5000 from his majority two
years before. His opponent was Coles
bdShIord, lawyer. who, though new
conner In the state. had been nominated
10 head the Republican ticket When all
the returns were in and counted the Re.
pubiicans believed that the ,,4turpe bad
| peen smonkeyed'' with In the back eo1,n-
ties or the new state. When all the evi
dence had been gathered Bashford and
ir4s IflehuS decided to go to the supreme
court and have the election invajjdated
10 toreStall them. BaFstow took the oatb
quietly and privately before the CHIEF.
justice OF the court At the sauna tirna
Just as quietly and privately in another
room, Bashford was taking the oath be-
tore another member of the court. Then
before the whole court appeared Bash
Iofd 10 ask for a decision as to who. wac
the legal governor. The best legal talent
IN the state was engaged on both sides
Inc Barstow men contested the right NJ
me court TO consider the case at all. but
the court decided against them There
upon BarStow'S lawyers withdrew alto
selher from the case. But the court
went on, canvaSsed the returns. and de-
clded that not only should Barstow's ma,
Jorlty be overturned, but that Bashford
was ahead of the game by over l,G0N
votes
Barstow being already governor. hold.
ing over, he believed that he had the
militia on his side, and it was said that
he intended to use 1t. His friends were
notified that 1900 armed men would be
present to seat Bashford If necessary.
Just before the judicial decision was
given Barstow resigned. In a message 70
the legislature he said that one side or
the other must yield, and as the supreme
court had assumed to decide the uues-
tion' it undoubtedly would decide against
him. Therefore to avoid a dangerous
conflict of authority. lie would retire. He
honestly believed .hai this would end
the dispute. but the lieutenant governor.
Macarthur, had yet 10 be reckoned with
Macarthur stepped into the breach Bar
stow had left. and announced that he
now was governor. and he would hang on
till something warmer than Wisconsin
On midwinter froze over. The court
When the day came for Bashford to
take the executive Office in accordance
promptly decided that he had no rights
in the case.
with the judicial decision he went I'D to
the governors chamber and knocked
Every one held his breath. Macarthur
was inside. and perhaps a detachment of
militia. The door opened in response to
the knock. and Bashford was invited to
enter. No one was inside except Me
Arthur, his private secretary and a few
friends. The militia bluff was a hollow
mockery. Bashford took off his coat and
hat and made himself at home, at the
same time requesting Macarthur to absent
himself. With a fine show of Indignation
Macarthur asked If force was to be used
Bashford replied that he hoped not but II
1t was necessary 1t could be applied with
precision. Macarthur answered that he
considered that threat constructive
force" and, Selling his hat. he hurried
out The incident was closed
After his term had expired Bashford
went to ARIZONA, became attorney general
-
and died rich man. Barstow took out
| the Third Wisconsin cavalry in the Re
bellton served through the war. which
broke down his health, and died In
Leavenworth in 1855
BUCKSHOT WAR.
Sixty years ago and more Pennsylvania
was torn up over the FBuckshot War" so
called because the militia who were or
dered out in this legislative struggle had
their guns loaded with buckshot.
Joseph Ritner, who had been elected
| governor in 1885 on the Wing and anti
Masonic ticket, was renominated in 1885,
Thaddeus Stevens. then Gettysburg law
| yer, was a member of the lower house,
| and the power behind the throne in the
! Rttner administration. Ritner's secretary
| OF the commonwealth was Thomas H
| Burrows, and Ritner Stevens and Bur-
| rows were as powerful a triumvirate az
| Seward, Weed and Greeley In New York.
| Rftner's opponent in the campaign of 1879
| was David Rittenhouse Porter In the
! three years since Ritners first election
! the anti-Masonic element had Waned
| greatly. The triumvirate didn't seem TO
appreciate this, for Porter was elected
over Ritner by 5000 majority, to the great
surprise of the Wings.
| The trtumvirate at once decided to con-
| test Porter's election. The Wings had a
\ good majority in the senate, but the house
was Democratic. To get control of the
house 1t was decided to try to seat the
| Wing Philadelphia delegation, whose
seats were contested by the Democrats
The plan Of the Wings was to seat their