The news-democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 1906-09-29

1t is up 10 the board of c%anvassers and
registration to decide whether the caucus
held in the First ward last Thursday eve
ming was a legal one in view of the row,
the stealing OF one of the check lists and
the failure Of certain caucus clerks to sign
the returns.
The warden. an adherent OF the Moran
Brady-Dorney faction whose only hope
after the polls closed lay I'm i~nvalidating,
If possible, the ballots that had been cast
against them by the outraged Democratic
voters OF the ward, stood by his ~instruc-
tions from Moran in the city hall yes
terday afternoon as long as he could. and
until he had become convinced that a
Jail term might stare him in the face.
lie had counted the ballots and ascer-
tanned that 1913 had been cast. He had also
ascertained that of this number the
Thurston, or decent Democracy. ticket,
had 200 and the Moran-Dorney or Brady
ticket had but 233.
These figures he had put on a slip of
paper and put the paper i'm his pocket,
and had refused to tell any OF the watch.
ers, the waiting crowd or newspaper men
what the result was.
He had even PROGRESSED not TO know who
Assistant City Solicitor Cram was. and
had emphatically refused TO follow that
officials advice to announce the result,
though he had followed II for some time
faithfully in the preliminary proceed
ings.
80 manifestly outrageous was the war
denis conduct that ex-Alderman Thomas
+. West, whose ward had declared for
the Dorney gang. pushed his way from
outside the rail ard earnestly advised the
warden that he was making a mistake.
that ii was not his province to decide
whether the caucus was legal or illegal,
that he was not responsible for the miss
ing check list and that the result should
be declared by him.
Finan had seen the gambler boss and
held out as long as could. Even then, he
left the room, declaring that he intended
to see City solicitor Baker. though Mr..
Cram was at his side; and after confer
ring with Mr.. Baker ne returned. unsealed
the ballots that he had placed I'm the box
for papers. etc, and again spread them
out upon the table for the clerks to
count.
This time the count was made openly.
SO that the watchers could see II and
keep track OF II; and the result tailed al
most perfectly with the result his private
count had reached-260 for the Thurston
ticket and 23i for the Moran-Dorney
ticket. Addressing the caucus. as 1t was
called, the warden then said.
Il find that the ticket headed by Mr..
Thurston has ESQ votes. and the ticket
headed by George e Brady has 234 votes.
! can't announce any result. because there
Is a check list missing-the Sixth district
list"
Finan Immediately began to seal the
ballots again; and there was considerable
controversy while this was I'm progress.
When the result was announced, Chair
man Whiteley remarked: THAT tallies
about as closely as II could well do with
the result totals caught by the tickers
on Thursday night.
Evidently. Mr.. Whiteley was impressed
with the fact that the ballots in the box
had been legally cast. and that no more
had been put In the box than were depOs-
tied by the voters themselves.
II was known TO both sides on Thursday
night that about 4S5 votes had been cast;
and each side knew about how many
votes IT had in the box.
II Is certain that the Thurston side,
knowing that they had a majority, which
they estimated at about so. would not do
anything that would operate TO invalidate
the caucus. Certainly they would not
have stolen one Of the check lists.
on the other side. the Moran-Dorney
crowd, knowing that II had been defeated,
had reason for pursuing the tactics which
resulted in invalidating two previous eau
cuses in the ward.
II was a caucus manager ny moran sup
porters. from warden down 10 the last
clerk. The clerk whose check list dis
appeared was a Moran man; and, so far
as anybody knows definitely, the check
list was last i'm the custody OF this Moran,
man. whose friends knew that it's dis
appearance might be used TO invalidate
the caucu
; The grand stand play by some OF the
clerks who refused TO sign their check
| lists on the plea that they did not know
the lists were correct was fully appre-
ciated by everybody in the room yester-
day afternoon.
While some of the clerks had been
preparing TO sign the lists, they were ad-
vised by ex-Alderman West. representing
the Dorney- Moran gang TO stopt right
where YOU are: and they stopped.
Then some of them disappeared; and
George T.. Brady presented the following
l petition for a recount, though his petition
} had been ready before the count had been
made. which indicated that he knew what
the count would show:
Respectfully represents the undersign-
ed. that he Is a citizen and qualified cleo
tor OF the First ward OF the. city OF Prov
G idence and state of Rhode Island; that at
a Democratic caucus held at said First
ward on Sept. %. 1906. the undersigned
was a candidate for election to the office
? named opposite his signature and was
I voted for at said caucus by n majority OF
the qualified electors voting at said eau
Gus: that your petitioner claims his elec-
. ton to the office mentioned opposite his
r signature: tina the records and returns
i made by the caucus officers at said eau
Gus are erroneous I'm this:
r That the ballot box was removed con-
e trary TO law. that one OF the district
$ check lists Is missing: that the clerks
{ have not certified to the correctness of
the lists or the number OF votes cast, and
that said records and returns are erro-
y ncous.
Wherefore the undersigned hereby pc
titions your board FOR a recount OF the
ballots cast at said caucus. and. N found
( erroneous. that the said caucus may BE-
b declared illegal and void. And the petit
4 toner asks for such other and further
h. relief as To the board may seem proper
and in accordance with law.
$ GEORGE T.. BRADY.