Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-01-14
the correctness Of that interested sup
pnrtar Of Mr. Thihodeau

They did not conduct their election
there perhaps with that care We do
in the larger municipalities. After the
votes were cast, and after they were
counted. the evidence disclosed that
they were placed on a table and Mr..
Cyr comes in and gathers them up and
puts a string around them, and he
takes them a mile and a half away
and leaves them at his house. for how
long? Did he do that duty as it IS
outlined by our law? Did he ship
them By express within twenty four
hours to the Secretary of State? Cen
tlemen, the evidence is undisputed in
this case that these ballots laid there
In Cyr's home until sometime the fol-
lowing Wednesday, unseaIed, the only
protection they had a piece Of twine
tied around the box And then some
body by the name of King came over,
l think Tuesday night and they sat
down and united that string and made
account and found Al ballots each for
those candidates.
And that is where the trouble starts
They were accompanied by their wives,
or at least King was, and they went out
" SlSlt anu TIE women stayed III the
house. l don't know whether woman's
suffrage has reached Hamlin Plantation
or not II 1t has you can imagine what
those women did as soon as those men
got outside the door. Laughter)
l say that these ballots were not guard
ed with the care they should have been.
They were valuable public documents
and should have been jealousy guarded.
free from tampering and free from the
opportunity for tampering.
The next phase of this is the giving Of
the ballots to the woman postmistress.
and leaving them there tied up as be-
fore. and waiting there until one of the
assessors came TO sign the certificate.
Finally they get TO Augusta, and here
they are now.
Now. then, do you consider that the
conduct OF these officials in caring for
these ballots was so careful as to avoid
the possibility of mistake? They had one
ballot up there that was defective for
some reason or other. Both sides agree
TO that Did they put it back in the bal
lot box No, sir. 1t vas thrown on the
floor, thrown one side 1t was useless
and they had no use for 1t at all In
stead of returning it to the secretary OF
State they used it to decorate the school
house floor. If that was their conduct
in throwing aside that defective ballot;
and if it is true that FIVE of those bal
lots are missing today. then what conclu-
sion can you arrive at in regard to this
ballot that We claim was lost in the
shuttle?
The question presents itself as to
whether or not YOU are going to take
this travelling ballot box. going from
house to house. from hand to hand, take
that as the best evidence of the vote Of
Hamlin Plantation, take 1t as above the
official record supplied by him who is
charged with that duty. Why those ball
lots would no more be seriously cons!d-
cred in a court OF law, as presented be-
fore this committee, than nothing at all.
They should not receive considerat ton. If
1t were legal proposition we have
abundant authority TO decide in favor of
excluding them.
1t is not necessary for me to wade
through these vouminous citations. but
l will read this from a case in the Ar
kansas reports. Hill VS.. Wyman, in which
the court says: The authorities are
abundant that where ballots have been so
exposed as to have afforded opportunity
, to be tempered with, and have not been
guarded with that jealous case which
will contravene suspicion. they lose their
presumptive purity and are no longer to
be relied upon as evidence in a contest
or judicial inquiry as to the result Of an
election"
Another authority on elections says:
Before the ballot should be allowed in
evidence to overturn the official count re-
turned it should appear aftirmatively
that they have been safely kept by the
proper custodian under the law, and that
they have not been exposed or handled by
unauthorized persons. and that no oppor-
tunity has been given for tampering with
them
That is a rule of law in regard to the
admission of ballots in cases similar to
this we are now discussing. Have these
ballots been guarded with that jealous
care such as the eminent jurfst has re-
marked? Have they been kept in such a
place or such a condition as to prevent
tampering? We do not say that they
were tempered with. We admit, probab-
ly. that they are in the same condition
now as when Mr.. Cyr took them, but We
say that in that miXup. when he bundled
them all up into this box. and when
they were throwing the defective one
around the schoolhouse. and when they
failed to return the unused ballots. tie
defective one, we say under those circum-
stances that that is where Fortunat o.
Michaud's ballot went
I do not want to repeat this too often,
but this Is the question: Are you going
to substitute for the official return the
supposition upon which the minorites
report are based?
This Is an important case-as my col
league has said-important to the people
of Hamlin Plantation. important to Mr..
Thibodeau. and important to the con-
testant here If Mr.. Michaud has been
elected to a seat in this House there is
not a man in this House, l believe. who
would be so unfair as to deny it to him,
and II Mr.. Michaud Is not elected to
seat in this House, he is so qualified that
he does not want it. All he is seeking for
Is his right. The committee Is not pref
udiced in this matter. the majority of
them I think the state of mind Of the
members of that committee is we'll ex-
emplified in the report you have already
adopted: non-partisan, attempting to be
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