Evening star., 1945-09-30

be entered upon presentation
The text of Judge Gums de-
cision follows:
Text of Courts Ruling.
The text of the opinion:
This contest ends in this court,
there is no appeal, therefore, it has
given me the most serious concern.
The contestants have been repre-
sented by most able counsel, and
their presentation of the case shows
that they have been painstaking
and diligent in ascertaining the
facts relating to the action.
Il may say right now, that am
persuaded that neither candidate
was cogniZant of the violation of
the law by the officials in Wise
County.
These gentlemen are recognized
as being of the highest character
and unimpeachable integrity. and
they would not be a party to any
violation of the election laws, nor
would they be recipient of fraud
in the procurement of a nomination
"As a result Of the primary held
on August 7, l945, the candidates for
Lieutenant Governor were Lewis
Preston Collins, Charles R. FenWick
and Leonard G. Muse.
Col. Charles R. Fenwick. having
rareived the greatest number of
votes, was declared the nominee for
Lieutenant Governor.
Lewis Preston Collins became
convinced that the election held in
Wise County was illegal, so retained
counsel to represent him. These
gentlemen applied to the clerk OF
Wise County for permission 10 eX-
anime the poll books and documents
pertaining to the election, and their
request was denied, in which the
clerk was justified, because under
the law no one has access to the poll
books unless by order of the court.
Mr.. Collins counsel came to this
court and obtained an order permit
ting them to make an examination
of the poll books. Upon their return
to Wise County Court House they
were informed that the poll books
had disappeared.
Clerk on Vacation.
"The clerk of that county left on
the day of the election for a vaca
ton, and his deputy, William B.
Ley, was in charge of the clerks
office, and as such under the law
was to receive the returns from the
various precincts of the county.
He testified that he was in the
treaSurer's Office on the evening of
the election when three poll books
were brought to him. He took two
of them to the clerks Office and
left one in the treasurer Office, for
what reasons I am unable to say,
and he gave no reason for leaving
the poll books there.
| 1T was a clear violation of the
law, because he was the custodian
and he should have kept them in
| his possession at all times. I must
say at this point that this witness
was a most evasive and unwilling
| one.
Ley Was Book Custodian.
| There was another deputy clerk
of that county by the name OF
Fuller. whose office was upstairs
The clerks Office in which Ley and
Gardner 81. A. Gardner, the clerk
of Wise County,. the clerk, occupied
was downstairs on the main floor.
Ley, in the absence of the clerk,
was custodian OF the poll books and
should have seen that they were
safely kept They should not have
been in place where any one going
into the vault could easily produce
them.
HE knew a contest was imminent,
yet in broad daylight some one went
into the clerks office, into the vault
which was just back of the clerk S
desk, took the poll books and walked
out without the deputy clerk or any
one else seeing him or them-'tis
strange, it's passing strange.
Didn't Bother With Ballots.
"If those books were not stolen
in the daytime, of course, they were
stolen from the vault at night