The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1906-07-13
ENTITLED TO A VOTE
OLD SOLDIERS IN HOMES IN mis-
SOURI,.
cided In an Opinion Written
BY Justice Lamm.


sion handed down by Circuit Judge
Evans, In the contested election case
OF Hale vs.. Stimson. in Phelps county.
The circuit court decided that soldierr
In state homes could not vote, and the
! votes OF those at the St James fed.
| cral soldiers home we're thrown out
and Hale declared elected collector
OF Phelps county.
In his opinion Judge Lamm says ir
part:
In this connection It viii be
| se"n mat the person must he kept nj q
| pooiE"Hs" or other asylum a. public rv-
| rcnsa Can It be said broadly nnd n,blv
| lh'l DID soldiers are kept at pubT, cX.
| p'HS"" The determination OF this cugs
u'es NOT REQUIRE an answer to this qucB-
| u'h nut, III leaving 1t, matters and
! memories Obtrude themselves OF M lIrhI
s.Euihcdnoc, In the first place, a consid-
| GRAFTON was paid the state ON the mart
OF TIE Wonan's Relief corps of the Grand
.Nhy OF the Republic Under the act mnk-
/ ing the St James soldiers home a state
.Suintion. In the second place, II con-
Sll'Illlon wH3 paid the state by an abRo-
alton oi gentlemen owning or controll-
| IHs the confederate nome at IIlgginsy lie.
! under the act making that home a state
| institutions Their lands and properties
y tr taken oyer and accepted by the
Il L. under those contracts The state
u MlsSIGil made the contracts through
= motive OF patriotic duty and along lines
/ .. sentimental beauty. The state OF
Al souri, has shown no disposition to re-
siei ne contracts or repndlntc them by
Inc tiihr u hair, and who shall. EXCEPT
under the prick aud goad OF unqucs-
| TONED constitutional mandate, dam the
hrignt Of its authority or put bounds to
III disposition to be imperial I'm its A.
shall /
MN EuidSmith's scales the widow y mite
thnt passed into the public chest aud In
return for which the state Of Missouri
~ pubic net, sOcnuly agreed to main
tain lis s.ldlcrs, broken by misfortune
In purse and health, and at the same
time permit them to vote? II that thing
IL To he done. or can be done. It must be
done In n case ana upon tissues where
tie parties 10 that contract are present
IN court and may he heard, either as lit
lGinls or amici cuita, and Will not be
unhr IN Rae vs.. StlmSpn, contcsting n
county onlCe In Phelps county. The
question Of public expense must, further
more. be Viewed I'm the light that the
nitu'2e OF a home In the evening NJ
TIER dnys. hoarthstbue, Of a chimney
corner and the right to vote vas bought
and uaid FOR with a great price by tho
inmates and their comrades in arms
VINO. ot this late day, IN II piping time
OF peace. Will measur" that price or caro-
to bring It Within the precision Of a legal
formula" The men and their comrude,
In arms, s'alwurt men, marched and
counter nlch"d. mined and counter
mined. dug, starved frOzc planned dared
and fought through four years OF civil
war under Lee, Johnson and Stoncwall
jloksuu; under Grant. Sherman aud Lo-
glu. Some OF their nmradCs pcrlshcd
!" bltilc ~ the lone picket, ON the long
march, of wounds, uf prisons. 10y burn.
iHs t.Ver, by sickness Of soul, or by dead
~ miasma
II Is written: And as they bound
Kim with thongs, Paul said to the cen.
turion that stood by, is It lawful for you
TO scour1e man that Is Roman and
uncondemned2 When the centurion
heard that he went and told the chief
captain, saying, Take heed what thou
doest; for this nan Is Roman. Then
the chief captain came, and said unto
him, Tell me, art thou a Roman7 He
said, Yes. And the chief captain an.
swered, with great sum obtained this
freedom. Ard Paul said, But was free
born"
Whether freedom for soldier to vot.
was obtained at great price Or was an
Incident of being free born In the case
At bar matters little. Suffice II to say
that while the elective franchise may be
regulated by the state, yet IN this case
~ mas been regulated by statute, and
that regulation should command obcdi-
eucc. Nor do We ear" to split hairs over
tn" question Of which cause the inmates
OF these homes fought for, Because Il
Was written IN the book Of fate that the
CNil Tar had to come, Was the union
OF the states indsyplublc, or was 1t
contract between Independent states e
be severed for cause? Did citizen Ow.
primary allegiance to his state. or to the
national government? There were giants
I'm those days, and some of them said
yea ana some said nay. Between these
opposing theories ana the schools ot
statesmen advocating them, n great guilt
was fixed, Compromise proved dclu'
was At an end. We can talk Of IL nov
kindly. II Is possible. now, IN perspcc.
tive, to speak Of II with justice. 1t Is
not necessary TO blame any one. The
people were not to blame--the irrecon.
cilahla, cnshiug. antagonistic notions
upon policies interviewer with the very
iibcrs OF this government we're alone &c
blame. The wedge that split this nation
in two ful time as forged and ham
mcrcd home by powers beyond control
We had II dlstrust originating In ig
norance OF each other. There was Il
growth OF evil seeds planted before we
were born, and the question had to be
settled--not by argument, not in court
nor by ways Of peace The Mtssourian,
or his ancestor. had come from Ken
lucky. Illinois or Maryland, from Caro-
lima, Alabama or Georgia. from Tennes-
see or Indiana. from Germany. Ireland.
France or Spain. lie worshiped at the
shrine OF Calhoun, Clay. Webster, OF
Breckenridge or douglas, OF Benton or
Gov Jackson. When the war cloud
broke there were Bates, Rollins, Phelps.
Grntz Brown and Gamble. Hall and Hem
0efsOn, BfOauheau ana Dyer 10 leu MN
that the union Of the states could not
be dissolved and that Missouri was In
the Union, de facto and de iure. There
were johnson and Vest, Reynolds and
Jackson Polk and Green Price and Clark
TO tell him his state was joined 10y right
and ties OF blood 10 hts brethren OF the
south.
Verify, our Mlssourian did not stand on
the order OF his going, but went under
iva fags--both ways-went at once. In
tho smoke OF war you see him riding
and hghting In gray with Shelby or Mar
tin Green, or marching and lighting with
Price and Cockrell, with Parsons and
Marmaduke, with BoYen, Little ane
Gates: OF you see him In blue. marching
and lighting with Blair, Phillips. Critten-
den and Oaterhaus. with Lyon, Sigel,
Guitar, Hale When he came home from
the war his mighty mother, the state OF
Missouri. with a great heart, claimed
him as her son, proud OF his deeds, res
olute to cherish his memory, magnani-
nous to forget his quarrel, tender OF both
uniforms. and mourning over the dead
or war-worn and desolatc confederate
and federal.
In this condition OF things we are told
that the constitutional convention OF 1879
40 wrote the fundamental law that III the
state found any OF these old soldiers at
the foot Of the hill of life. stranded In
health and empty of pocket, II could not
at one and the same time II took from
item n freeman's precious right to vote.
In a free state. sustained by no over
awing standing army, where its love
must grow and its protection must rest
in tho hanrfz nf the ppoDir. patriotism