New-York tribune., 1907-01-09
THE SUIT TO GUST THE MAYOR.


Attorney General Jackson has been In Office
a little more than a week and, if we may judge
by his performances during that period, he Is
one of those public officials, common in these
days. with a real genius for publicity. Indeed,
we do him an injustice in implying that he
awaited his induction into office before seeking
the limelight, for, while still a private citizen,
he extended a hearty invitation to Mr. Hearst
to apply for the institution of quo 1CdfTGnto
proceedings regarding the mayoralty election.
This forehandedness may have taken Mr..
Hearst and his lawyers somewhat by surprise,
and they perhaps did not welcome the invita-
tion with the enthusiasm that Mr.. Jackson ex-
pected. At any rate, there was no contest
against a judges order restraining this kindly
invitation of the expansive Mr.. Jackson, though
he himself snaps his fingers at that order. The
quo tcG7rGnto is abandoned and a new and sur
prising proceeding is begun by the Attorney
General In the name of the state. The public
astonishment at the action is the reward
of Mr.. Jackson, but Mr.. Hearst and his lawyers
find more substantial guerdon Mr.. Hearst
would have had to pay the price of quo tCdr-
rdnto proceeding. and it was TO the expenditure
of very handsome sum of money that the At
torney General invited the editor n few days
before entering Office The state will pay for
this new proceeding, if it ever gets any further
than the newspapers, and there should be gen
erous fees from the state for Mr.. Shearn, Mr..
Hearst's private counsel and Mr.. Jackson's spe-
cial deputy for the occasion.
We have called the proceeding extraordinary,
and it is so In the sense that the Attorney Gen
eral mentions no precedent for It, and no prece-
dent readily comes TO mind. Customarily a de-
feated candidate contesting an election brings
an action before the courts IN his own name
which Mr.. Hearst did. with the result that the
courts rejected his application-or the Attor-
ney General authorizes a quo fCGrrdnto proceed
ing. Mr.. Jackson preferred not to continue
along that line, although he says his right to
do SO is as unquestionable as his right to invite
friend to dinner. The present process we are
told by Mr. Shearn. Mr.. Hearst's counsel and
Mr.. JacksOn's representative aims to oust
Mayor Mcclellan on the ground that he has
'usurped" the Office or has "intruded" into It.
Section 1,94S of the Civil Code, under which
the action is brought, gives the Attorney Gen
erai authority to move against a person who
"usurps. intrudes into or exercises within the
state franchise or public Office civil or mil
"itary, or any Office in domestic corporation"
Mr.. Mcclellan may not have been properly
elected to his office, but his acceptance of 1t may
still be far from usurpation or intrusion. The
properly constituted authorities declared him
elected. If he did not enter into the Office Of
Mayor no one else could on the face of the re-
luTuS baNe uone SO, ana we should have had
no legally seated Mayor His entrance into the
office under these circumstances is far from
what .'usurpation" or Intrusion" means in its
ordinary acceptation. The courts will doubtless
have TO pass early In the action upon the mean
Ing Of these words. Upon them the action will
probably stand or fall. technically.
Mr.. Jackson's complaint is remarkable in an
other way. He proposes to give Mr.. Hearst
something more than recount That was all
Mr.. Hearst ever asked for, but Mr.. Jackson finds
him too modest by half. The Attorney General
would go back of the returns He proposes to
show that men voted for Mcclellan who had no
right to vote, who We're not properly registered
or who cast more than one vote. If such acts
can be proved, why are they not proved GRIM
inaly: If they cannot be proved criminallv
why should the courts take cOgnizance of them?
What is an election for. any way. If the final
test Is to be mere opinion regarding the prey
alence OF fraud? Going behind the returns
strikes us as a dangerous precedent Nobody
alleges that an election is perfect method OF
ascertaning the public will, but IL is as nearly
perfect as police system and an elaborate or
ganization Of special election officers can make
1t. And we do not believe that a subsequent
investigation with discount of the votes for
alleged fraud would be as exact as the present
method. with all its faults, provided the count
of the ballots actually deposited Is honest and
exact The public, think. has favored a re-
count, and the Mayors resistance was III ad-
vised. The Attorney Generals latest perform
ance looks like partsanshp on a rampage.
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