The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1917-04-05
METHODSUSED TOICAPE CIRARDEAU'
DEFEAT V0RBECK Will HAVE FAIR
ARE CONDEMNED SEPTEMBER Ills
Voters Who Were Deprived
of Their Right to Vote De-
nounce Trick.
PROFESSORS PUT
BUNKO SCHEME ONER
Physician to Ask Gov. Gardner
If Normal Educators are Paid
10 FlimfIam Him.


Voters in all sections of the city yes
terday were loud in their condemna
ton of the scheme which robbed DR.
]. C. Vorbeck Of place on the School
Board. More than fifty men in the
Third ward yesterday displayed School
Board ballots containing only the
names of C. w. Stehr and L. l.. Bow
man. These voters pocketed the bal
lots when they discovered that plan
had been inaugurated to prevent Vor-
beck's election.
A prominent Cape Girardeauan, who
is also a distinguished lawyer, yester-
day said he regarded the School Board
election as illegal, and expressed sur
prise that the judges permitted the
unofficial ballots to be substituted for
ballots emitting the name of Vorbeck.
while 1 am positive that the school
Board is conducting its affairs on a
strictly correct basis" he said, 81 can
not understand why it is so neces-
sary that the board be controlled by
the same people. / believe the cleo
ton of Vorbeck might have been a
good thing. 1t would at least have
resulted in Illuminating certain cor
ners that seem to be in need of light.
"Vorbeck would have done the work
of a tungsten lamp. l am sorry that
he was not given an opportunity to get
into the organization and look around.
It is amusing to me to read of Gust
Schultz's legal opinion that the bal
lots containing an incomplete list of
the names were legal. On the bot
tom Of the ballots, it reads: Two to
be elected With but the two names
on the ballots, / don't hardly under
stand how more than that number
could be elected. This notation in
dicates that more than two men were
candidates, and / can't understand how
Mr., Schultz, who became well-known
as a city official, reached his legal de-
cision that an incomplete ballot was
more official than ballot containing
a full list of the candidates.
"Why was it 30 imperative that DR..
Vorbeck be eliminated from the list
of candidates? / believe Mr.. Schultz
has reversed some of our leading
jurists."
The bogus ballots were delivered to
the election by Profs. Roberts and
Benson Of the Normal School. Just
why the two educators took such an
active part in the contest, or who con-
ceived the scheme, has not been learn
ed. Martin Kruger, who was clerk
in the Second ward, said that the bal
lots without Vorbeck's name, were
given out to voters in that ward. 1t
is said that Justice Schultz's opinion
was a precedent which was accepted by
ali Of the election judges as legally
puneture-proof, and as soon as it had
been learned that he had rendered his
decision, the ballots were accepted by
the judges.
Lawyers agree that the School
Board election is illegal and there are
scores Of voters who yesterday offered
to testify in Vorbeck's behalf. DR..
vorbeck declined to discuss what ac-
ton he would take last night. except
to say that he had written to Governor
Gardner complaining about the action
taken by the two Normal professors.
II simply want to know if the State
pays salaries to educators to perform
the service the two professors render
ed Tuesday," he said. 81 didn't ask a
single person to vote for me. and I
wasn't particularly interested in being
elected, but / do object to having two
State teachers take my name from the
ballot and get pay from the State for
doing it."