Judsonia weekly advance., 1913-07-16

county nearly TOUT nunureu votes. When these facts were made known, the committee hurriedly pass ed a cut-and-dried resolution declaring l Judge Hays the nominee, thereby shut 1 ting off all further opportunity for in- vestigation. This action was taken. 36 | hours before it was necessary to cer- | tify a nominee, and in face of the de mands of my counsel that they be per 1 mitted to continue the examination Of i the vote of Ouachita county, and after 1 notice had been given the committee ] that witnesses were then on their way ] to Little Rock and would reach the city that night from Boone and Phil l lips counties, to give evidence as to 1 frauds in those counties.
 Says Covington Fitted in We'll. ] Tn an impassioned speech, Senator l Webb Covington, well known in the political history of this state, demand 1 ed that the contest be dismissed and that e committee declare Judge Hays tl,e nominee. It was fitting close to the farce that had been enact l ed for twoAand half days, that the ark of the Democratic covenant should | be transmitted 70 Judge Hays by Webb Covington. It would have been better and more satisfactory to the people if i the certificate had not been blem- l ished by the fraud of the candidates home county.
 ''When the committees unwarranted and unheard-of action was taken, ap- piled to the Chancery Court of Pulaski county for temporary restraining order against the secretary of state, enjoining him from certifying the perpetual, denouncing the action of nominee. This was granted; and upon the hearing for a perpetual injunction, l Central Committee were read to the chancellor, and the case was fully argued and heard, he sustained my contention and made the injunction perpetual, denouncing the action of the State Central Committee az g tray- esty on justice and denial of my rights
 Says He Can Show Fraua.
 While 1 am prepared to show by indisputable evidence that there were gross frauds perpetrated upon the bal
 lot in all of the counties named by me l i'll my contest, want to call the at tcntion of the public especially 10 the returns as certified from Phillips county. In this county am in pos session of nndoubted evidence that at the recent primary election there were boiled only between a thousand and eleven hundred votes: and yet the re- turns from there show that there were cast 2,395 votes. This was a palpable and outrageous padding of the returns,
 Which was not only moral wrong,
 but criminal violation of the laws of
 the state. As a result of this fradu- lent padding, Judge Hays is accredit-
 ed with 1,050 votes received in that county, while I have definite informa-
 tion that he in fact received less than 100 votes. This is responsible for his
 majority as shown on the face of the
 returns. Any fSir-minded and honest
 man who cares to investigate can rtad- fly learn the real facts in conneckon
 with the vote of this county, and k vpw
 that the true vote, if properly record
 ed, would have given me the nomiffa-
 tion for governor in the present con- test, to say nothing of the frauds per
 petrated in other counties, which were
 on smaller scale but no less definite in their results.
 These are some of my many req sons for saying that I am today the
 rlghtful nominee of the Democratic
 party for governor of this state
 Supreme Court Decision.
 Today the Supreme Court reversed
 the order of the Pulaski Chancery Court on the ground that the courts have no Jurisdiction over contests of 1 primary elections, or to compel the party committees by which the vote is canvassed to purge the ballots of fraud, and declare an honest result. have no criticism to make of the court in connection with this ruling. How ever, Tn view of what has occurred in this election, it is unfortunate that the courts cannot intervene for the purpose of requiring the law to be en- | forced.
 | Court Did not Pass on Fraud. The Supreme Court did not pass upon nor consider the facts disclosed in connection with the contest before | the State Central Committee, but only the legal question as to it's jurisdic. ton to require the committee to hear the contest. I think the statutes of the state should be amended so as to clothe the courts with power to inter- vene for the purpose of preventing such frauds as were perpetrated upon the Democratic voters of the state in the recent election, if it is possible to do so; and 1 cali the attention of Democrats throughout the state to the vital importance of legislation to that end. Or, if the legislature is without power to pass such law, then to the importance of amending the constitu- tinn t0f fn N1 olO