Year: 1879




The withdraw Contests.


As will be seen by our report Of thu
proceedings of City Council, Messrs'
Evans and Gawthrop have Withdrawn
their protests before that body and their
claim to the seats occupied by Aessrs.
Carmichael and Allen, giving as a rea-
son for doing SO, that Council had re
fused to allow the contestants to be rep
resented by counsel, although it was
sitting as a court Of justice, as judges in
. case in which they could not be advo-
Gates. This of course puts an end to
the contests and Messrs. Carmichael and
Allen will be allowed to occupy the seats
to which they were never elected hon
sstly. OF course the partisan Demo
cratic press of .he city will attribute
the withdrawal of the cases to other
causes than those presented by the con-
testants, but this will not change the
views of dispassionats, honorable, tair
minded men, who are ac.ua.ed more by
a spirit of justice than of partisanship.
The pith of the whole matter is con-
tanned in the few remarks Of Mr.. Rod
ney. in which he pointedly set forth
that Councilmen sitting as judges
in a contested election case could not
at the same time act in the dual
capacity of advocates, and it was
to the credit Of that gentleman
that he refused to act in that double
capacity. Those who have watched
the case as far as it went could not but
notice the malignant partisan spirit
displayed by the Democrats at every
stage of the case, which entirely unfit
ted them to act as impartial judges in
case which required an entire absence
Of party spirit to do justice. To show
the partisan spirit which controlled
some of the members of Council, We
have but to refer to the insane rawlings
of Mr.. McGlinchey on Monday last
when he called upon his fellow Demo-
Gratis to look out for snares and traps
set to catch them by the Republicans.
To look for impartiality and justice
from such source would be the
heighth of foolishness, and as Mr.. Nc
Gliuchey is one of the acknowledged
leaders of the Democrats in Council it
was not hard TO forecast the result, no
matter what the evidence might have
been. Even with counsel and with
positive proof the partisan animosities
of such men in Council as Mr.. Nc
Glinchey must keep them from acting
impartially, and as this spirit has been
shown by the refusal of the Democrats
to allow the contestants to have Coun-
sci to represent them there was nothing
left for the latter to do than to withdraw
their cases in which they were not al.
lowed the privilege of making an honest
and fair presentation Of its merits. In
the most trivial cases coming before the
higher courts of justice in the State,
there is no accused criminal too low
down in the scale of morality, no mat
ter what his crime may be but is al
lowed counsel, but if he has neglected |
to employ one, the court will assign
him one at the expense of the State
that his case may be fairly represented,
but strange to say that here in the City
Council of Wilmington, body sitting
as court within itself, and from which
no appeal can be taken, two honorable,
respectable and high-minded gentlemen
are refused the privilege accorded by
the Superior Courts to the worst of
criminals. We have already stated
that We did not approve Of the Repub-
licans refusing counsel in cases where
it was demanded, though the cases are
not parallel with the present, but this
does not excuse the Democratic majority
in Council for doing now what they
formerly condemned the Republicans
tor doing. This insincerity on the part
of the Democrats is hut another evi-
dence of their partisan spirit by which
they are governed and shows the futil-
ity Of Messrs. Evans and Gawthrop in
making a farther contest. AS the frauds
committed by the Democrats can be as
easily exposed without as with the con-
tests pending before counsel, and be-
lieving ,hatj they will be thoroughly
exposed, We believe that Messrs. Evans
and Gawthrop acted wisely in with
drawing their contests.


THE "GAzErrE" says it knew two
weeks before the election that the Dem