Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-06-27
FULL
OF FLAWS, SAY
ASHBY AND AID
Decline to Give Opinion as to
Validity of Plaza RemOn-
STRANGE.
SECTION OF ACT CITED

Flaws in the remonstrance against
the city's participation in the war
memorial plaza project were being
picked today by Samuel Ashby, cor
poration counsel, and Thomas D.
Stevenson, city attorney, who had
the document in the city legal de-
partment offices despite the protest
of it's filers who insisted it should
remain in the custody of the city
clerk.
Mr.. Ashby and Mr.. Stevenson pointed
out a number of instances Of what they
consider fraud in the petition. 1t con-
tains 1852 signatures, according to its
filers The memorial law requires $500
names to make 1t mandatory upon the
city council to call a special election ut
which the voters may state whether they
desire the city to go ahead with tine
project The attorneys refused to state
whether they believe they have found
enough fraudulent signatures to invali-
date the document, but they referred to
page after page of names signed in pen
ell and many in what appeared to be
the same handwriting.
AsHBY CITES SECTION
OF MEMORIAL ACT.
Mr.. Ashby cited section 24 Of the law
authorizing cities to participate with the
county and State in the establishment Of
memorials, page $50 of the acts of -y21,
which reads in part
within thirty d., after the date of
the second publicat on of said declara
tory resolution any qualified voter of said
city shall have n right to file with the
city clerk of said city a written remon-
STRANGE against said declaratory resolu-
tion duly signed In ink by said V3ter
in person which remonstrance shall give
the residence, sex aud state that the
signer IS a qualified voter Of such city"
The act further states. he showed that !:
ANY person signing any such remon-
STRANGE who IS not a qualified voter Of
such city shall be guilty Of the same Of
fense as casting an Illegal vote and shall
be punished accordingly
Mr. Ashby and Mr.. Stevenson said the
petition contains number OF pages of
signatures all written in pencil several
pages in which signatures signed in pen
ell have been traced with ink. a large
number of pages upon which the names
all are signed in the same handwriting.
and any number of cases where the names
Of husband. wife and other members Of
the same family arc signed in the same
hand All such signatures are invalid,
the attorneys hold, because the law says
they shall be duly signed in ink by
said voter In person"
ANOTHER POINT THAT
CAUSES DISPUTE.
The last twenty-five or thirty pages Of
the remonstrance. which has more than
900 pages, contain names following the
second and longer statement OF facts
than is contained at the top Of most, Of
the pages. This long statement is un-
derstood to have been the petition which
the demonstrators started out to circulate.
then decided TO abandon it and use the
shorter form. All Of tho names following
this second statement. the city attorney
contend cannot be counted in the re-
monstrance because none of the sigma
lures are on tho pages bearing II.
Those who favor the plaza plan do not
intend. at this time, to attempt to get
persons who have signed the remon-
Continued on Page Four)