The Hawaiian gazette., 1905-12-01

lHf oil f0n iaIaa s. 60. H.I 0UnI.
10. HfffsaltInH H flf IfffH1y .fi
.aUifaitHf received lf csNlii Not
Itf received i0H. Ful ttt UoH'ffift fe-
alffi ltlf Iht combined npp IsN nn
20 coniesiet received iiis ani tanIes
tee received 1901. fraction over one
half
The mere stnieucn, ~ tnest figures
a once destroys the charge ~ con.
spifacy INDUCED in by contestant. and
leaves u to be Inferred "a once that
the casting of these illegal ballots VAS.
al the most. a case OF wrong construc-
tiaa Of the law. or an error Of judy
nett on the part OF election ofiicere,
which was harmless In its efIect upon
the result. aud which may be at once
eliminated. II is not contended any
where. nor shown In evidence, that
they were cast by any persons except
legal and duly qualified voters.
THE 1921 ballots aforesaid which
may be easily Identified by the COM
mittee, as they are preserved In the
record In exactly the condition In which
they were cast and counted, contain
serial number, corresponding TO a
number upon the stub kept by the
election officers as the ballot was given
him, which number is printed upon
the upper right-hand corner. with per-
forations cut around the two inner
sides, so that II can be quickly and east
ly torn from the ballot after II is
folded and before II is cast.
by the proper election officer
without any disclosure OF its contents.
When such ballot has had the serial
number aforesaid torn from 1t by the
election officer, and before the same
is put in the box, It Is I'm all respects
such secret ballot as is contemplated
by the election laws of Hawaii and
absolutely without any Identifying
mark. This is admitted by contestant
in his testimony. The placing of the
number upon the right-haDd upper cor
ner of the ballot was done, not to
evade or disobey the statute and the
regulations duly promulgated thereun-
der, publishing fully the instructions TO
voters and election officers, but for
the purpose of more efficiently enforc
ing tia legitimate object, surely, and
in the interest of a free and honest
election. 1t efficiently prevented the
unlawful substitution of another bal
lot for the one given the voter by the
election officer, which he thereupon was
to take into the booth, secretly mark
and return to the officer, who being as
sured that the voter was a legal cleo
tor, was to take the ballot from him.
and, II by comparing the number there
on with that on the stub. he was sat
ished the elector had returned the same
official ballot given him, was then
without unfolding to tear the printed
number from the ballot offered and
deposit the same in the ballot-box in
the voters presence, who thereupon re-
tired"
Considerable testimony about the in
structions to voters and officers is
printed, after which the Charges or
grounds of contest" are discussed
seriatim. The attorneys contend that
the ballots were per Sc legal ballots,
commenting in this wise: 1.-THE ballots
are presented to the committee in the
record just as they were prepared,
printed and sent out to the election
officers throughout the Territory and
speak for themselves. Whether they
are under the law legal or Illegal ballots
is a question of law and not OF fact
and 1t rests with the committee and
Congress to pass upon It. After CIV
ing figures for ballots for the various
candidates, the brief continues:
Contestant has INDUCED rather free
ly, in his notice of contest and brief
in charges of conspiracy, corruption,
intimidation and fraud against the Of
ficers of the Hawaiian government and
election officials, but he expressly
'acquits the contestee Of any personal
connection with these frauds notwith-
standing they are charged and dilated
upon as having been committed for
.contestee's especial and sole benefit. In
this connection we pause to remark that
such claims OF fraud by contestant
seem rather puerile and absurd. in the
light of the figures on the election,
which demonstrate that contestant and
his running associate (Notley) combin-
ed received almost as many of the
class ] Objected to- ballots as did the
contestee. or the official vote in the
district, as certified by the Secretary
of the Territory, Kalanianaole received
about 81 per cent. of the total vote
1890; Iaukea received about "a per
SN''Nf oii'A -Noti'J itttlNtu ~ per
cent; while, after deducting the whole
1927 class / ballots, and from each the
portion of them received by him, Ka-
lanianaole has IS plus per cent. of the
legal vote remaining; Iaukea has "A
per cent, and Motley has II plus per
cent. This is another convincing dem
onstration that the numbered ballot de-
vice was really conceived in the inter-
est of the honest, free election, and that
the allowing of any of them to be cast
with the numbers undetached was
simply an error Of judgment on the part
Of election officers. which worked no
harm to any OF the candidates"
The Delegates attorneys say that
charges OF intimidation, with refer
ence to about 1900 employees, are not
proven. I'VE are inclined to the opin-
ion," they say that contestant had,
and has, little faith In this charge for
he signally fails in securing any evil
dence to show that any real coer-
cion or intimidation existed or cost him
any considerable number of votes"
Assertions that employees OF the Ter
ritorial government were organized in
to clubs and marched to the polls is