The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-02-01
SIX STATES FAIL TO
MAKE THEIR RETURNS
RETURNS OF THE PRESIDEN-
TIAL ELECTION HAVE LED
TO ENDLESS TROUBLE.
PENALTY is $1,000 FINE
Nebraska Women Arrived on Time
After Leaving Plane in Mud at Des
Moines. The States Which Have
Not Yet Reported Results.

WASHINGTON, ID. C.-The cleo
toral college, time-honored creation of
the constitution without which no
president can take Office, has this year
shown every sign of decadence.
Today, the final day upon which the
certified returns might under the law
be presented to the president of the
senate, found no less than six states
outside the pale, and in addition the
manner in which the returns have
been presented has led to endless
trouble and modification of the rules
in order to straighten out the errors
that have been made by the electors.
The usual final rush took place to-
day and ha1f-score of states just got
under the wire, including the Nebras-
ka messengers, Mrs. H. II. Wheeler
and Mrs. Draper Smith, who started
to Washington by airplane.
Ladies Wanted Photographer.
The ladies, who landed in the mud
at Des Moines after start by air
plane from Omaha and then >contin-
ued the journey by the conventional
method of travel in the United States,
arrived here today" said the vice pres
ident in discussing their arrival, land
the first thing one of them said was,
"Where is the photographer? The
vice president did congratulate the
two women on the way in which their
returns had been prepared, for during
the course of the morning the mes
III,
North and South Dakota-had report
ed at the capitol with their credentials
sealed in the envelope with the re-
turns.
The express stipulation of the law
is that the sealed returns must not be
opened until the second Tuesday in
February, and in order to dodge this
complication Vice President Marshall
today accepted identification of the
Irrespective senators as evidence of the
eligibility of the messengers.
James ]. Hayes, Jr., the messenger
! from Virginia, walked in for the sec
ond time, today. A week or SO ago
Mr.. Hayes entered the vice presidents
office with a brown paper parcel with
out so much as a string around 1t, and
announced that it was the vote from
| Virginia, He was told to go back and
try it over, but even in two attempts
| he was not quite up to the task. The
certihcation on the outside of the en-
velope today read:
This is to certify that this envelope
contains all of the votes cast for pres
ident and vice president of the United
States" a statement which if accepted
on its face value would let Virginia
speak for the whole country.
The Saddest of Them All
The saddest man of all the messen-
gers probably is the Oregon appointee.
Just as the vice president was explain
| ing that any messenger who tailed to
| get his states vote in today would be
subject to a fine of 81 900 a dispatch
came over the wires announcing that
! the Oregon messenger intended to
leave home about February l so that
he might arrive in time to matriculate
and take actual part in the meeting
of the electoral college February 9.
Still Oregon outranks Maryland
and North Carolina, from which no
returns at all have come, but Oregon
has sent in its mail copy, Indiana,
/ home state of the vice president, has
not made its personal returns and its
mail copy has been invalidated, as If
reached Washington merely address
ed to the vice president, and Mark
Thistlewaite, his secretary, opened it.
Tomorrow it will be the duty of the
vice president to go over all OF the
returns. Where the record is not clear,
either through mail or personal re-
turns, Mr. Marshall will call upon the
secretary of state to appoint a mes
senger to go to the states in question
and obtain the third copy of the re-
turns, which under the law must be
deposited with the district dudge, and
at the same time Mr.. Marshall will or
der the imposition of the $1,000 fine
upon all messengers who have accept
ed appointment and been derelict in
their duties.
The states which were out on the
roll call tonight, made just before the
vice presidents Office closed, were Ne
vada, Utah, Indiana, Maryland, North
Carolina and Oregon.