New Britain herald., 1915-10-05
HART MAY CONTEST
 VICTORY OF i. 0. P.
Democrats Question Legality of
 JOhnSOn'S Election
CLAIM ERROR BY MODERATOR
Argue That Hart Should Have Been Given Benefit of K" Marks on Split Ballcts-Victory for Lcense-Win Continue Drive Against Marine.

Continue Drive Against Marine.
 Endorsing the administration of First Selectman William J. Johnson, the voters at tho annual town meeting yesterday registered a wish to keep the republicans in power for another year, electing all the G. O. P. nomi- nees. At the same time they de- cided to have Plainv1lle stay in the wet" column, giving license a ma jority of 56. Unfavorable action was taken as far as Ptainville is concerned, on the constitutional amendment con- corning milage of members of the gen. eral assembly, tWenty-four of the for tyfour voters who declared them selves On the matter depositing nega- tive ballots.
 The feature of the election was the remarkable run made by William c. Hart, the democratic candidate for first selectman. He ran but twenty two votes behind his successful op- | ponent and foc membership on the board got but eight less. MT. Hart turned to the democrats after County Sheriff Dewey had removed him as
 
 1 given him yesterday is general re- garded as a vi1oication for the fo. 1 mer officer. It is substantial evil dence of his popularity and indicates that his fellow townsmen have confi- dence in him.
 George s. Blbcock, father of the Independence Dlrty, and his own nom- inee for first selectman, was relegated to the ranks of the has beens, only nineteen voters depositing ballots in his favor.
 That the courts may be called on to decide on the legality of Selectman | Johnsons electio't was claimed today by some leading democrats who ad- vanced the argument that A. H. Dresser, the moderator, erred in not counting as votes for first selectman the x marks paced before the names of Johnson and Hart on split tickets. MT. Hart and his supporters said this morning that the ex-sheriff would have won had the ballots been count ed in accordance with their conten- tions. Some of the republican leaders scoff at the idea. They argue that the | law specifically declares that to vote | for first selectman on split tickets the figure 1 must be used to designate the | choice. E. A. Freeman is not among the, G. O. P. contingent offering this 1 claim. He sides with the democrats | and disagrees with the moderator. 1 Registrar of Voters I. P. Newell puts it up to the democratic entirely. l They had their own moderator, he claimed, and i- was in response to l their protest that only the split bal l lots with the figure 1 were counted in l he 1f ha irCf l manship contest.
 During the count there was consid- erable anxiety in the republican camp, the straight ballot having indicated l a proba bility of Mr. Hart's election. | The democrats had boiled 230 votes against PIP for the republicans and 1 when work on the split tickets was begun the prospects of MT. Johnson's 1 reelection looked anything but bright The totals, however, showed that he had received 287 votes against 265 cast for Hart for first selectman and 305 against 297 for membership on the board.
 All the candidates for constable with the exception of Gaetano Cas- ciello, were elected. Giles c. Buell. was the unsuccessful nominee for grand juror.
 The result of the license contest was not surprising, the predictions that the town would go wet by over fifty having been generally accepted | for over a week. The "drys" made a | vigorous fight, hut the liquor dealers and their friends kept we'll on their trail and it looked like a license vic- tory from the start. The majority for the season was 56.
 Difficulty in marking the ballots