Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-21
IN BEGKHAM'S FAVOR,
Continued from First Page.)

disregard of the principle that Anglo-Saxon
freemen have for centuries deemed to be
essential to the requirement of due process
of law.
Il cannot assent to this Interpretation of
the fourteenth amendment What did We
mean when recently in Wilson agt. North
carolina (Which was a contest about a local
offlce) we said:
The Jurisdiction of this court would only
exist in case there had been. by reason OF
the statute and proceedings under it, such
plain and substantial departure from the
fundamental principle upon which our gov
eminent is based that 1t could with truth
and proprety be said that II the judgment
were suffered to remain the party aggrieved
would be deprived Of his life. liberty or
property in violation of provisions of the
federal Constitution"
DiscreditabIe Action.
ut Is to be regretted that a case like this
should be the occasion of departure from
principles heretofore announced and acted
upon by this court Looking into the rec
ord of this case. find such action to have
been taken as was discreditable to the
body claiming to be legislative authority
and which assumed to be acting in ac-
cordance with law.
1T openly and defantiy trampled upon
the will the people expressed at the ballot
box. 1t struck at the very foundation of
liberty, regulated by law.
Il find also that the declaration of the
ioIy VI Sp1llemSu claiming 10 De the Ken
lucky legislature was purely arbitrary. be-
cause made without looking at all into the
evidence.
Il say this because, as stated by counsel,
and not disputed at the argument the evil
dence was all in typewriting and consti-
tuted nearly 2,G09 pages. They could not
have examined that evidence. On the very
day the board of contest decided that Goe-
up with their report of the evidence taken
before them. the Legislature approved the
action of the board and declared Goebel
elected governor.
Outside of All Law.
at is not pleasant thing to say, but l
feel constrained from a sense of duty to
say. that the action Of that body was such
that it ought not to be respected in any
court as a judgment upon the question
involving important rights submitted to it
for decision, but as action taken wholly
outside of ali law, and in contempt of the
constitutional rights of freemen to select
their rulers.
THE record iustifies the belief that that
body was wholly Indifferent as to the ma
ture of the evidence. and that there was
fixed purpose on its part to put Goebel into
office and GUST Taylor. regardless OF the
proof in the case.
''If any regard whatever had been paid
to the evidence no conclusion favorable to
Goebel could have been reached on any
ground upon which the board of contest or
the body calling itself the legislature had
jurisdiction to determine the contest.
Law in the Case.
THE constitution of Kentucky declares
that the person having the highest number
of votes shall be governor The statute
provides that where another than the per-
son returned shall be found to have re-
ceived the highest number of legal votes
given such other shall be adjudged to be
the elected and entitled the Of
fee
with the constitution and the statutes of
the state before him when he prepared his
notice to Taylor of contest Goebel did
claim in general terms that he was legally
and rightfully elected governor of Ken
lucky, but he took care not to say-he pur-
posely avoided saying-that he had re-
ceived the highest number of legal votes
cast for governor.
THE evidence taken In the case makes 1t
clear that the declaration that he had re-
ceived the highest number OF votes was in
reckless disregard of the proof. l observe
also that the notice Of contest contained
many grounds upon which it was not COM
petent for either the board of contest or
the'legislature to rest a judgment.
without stopping now to refer to other
things stated in the opinion of the court, to
which 1 cannot assent. and recognizing the
Importance of an early decision of this case.
of my general views. intending at future
time to present them fully in written
opinion to be fled In my opinion the judg
ment should be reversed
Gov. Taylor Not Surprised.
LOUISVILLE. KY, May Ex-Governor
Taylor arrived in the city from Frankfort
at II o'clock and went at once to the GUS
tom house. After reading the Associated
Press bulletin the governor said:
Il rather expected the decision would be
against me. The adverse rulings of the
or a 0TIrfS hnra ma do nrf Of otdf
of me. and l am not surprised that the
Supreme bench has overruled the writ Of
error.
'"This is not time to talk. I will only
ceiterata my former statements In regar I'd