Court Opinion

ID: 9811829
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 22:30:20.529233+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:21:49.936260
License: Public Domain

Douglas, J.,
dissenting: This was a civil action brought by the plaintiff to recover the penalty imposed in Section 42, Chapter 159, of the laws of 1895. The plaintiff introduced the sworn statement of election expenditures filed by the *164defendant in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Yance County as required by law, and also the evidence of two witnesses. When the plaintiff had rested his case, the Court, being of opinion that there was not sufficient evidence to go to the jury, directed a verdict in favor of the defendant. In this I think there was no error.
The section under which this action is brought is as follows: “That any person who shall, at any time before or after an election, either directly or indirectly, give or promise to give any money, property or reward to anji elector, or to any county or district in order to be elected, or to procure any other person to be elected a member of the General Assembly, or to any office under the laws of this State, shall forfeit and pay $400 to any person who will sue for the same, and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and any person who shall receive or agree to receive any such bribe shall also be guilty of a misdemeanor.”
Section 72 of the same Act provided that: “Every candidate who is voted for at any public election, held within this State, shall, within ten days after such election, file as herein provided an itemized statement showing in detail all the monies contributed or expended by him, directly or indirectly, by himself or through any other person in aid of his election. Such statement shall give the names of the various persons who received the monies, the specific nature of each item, and the purpose for which it was expended or contributed.” The same Section specifies the manner'of verification and place of filing, and concludes as follows: “And any candidate who shall neglect or refuse to file such statement shall forfeit his office, if any. he has.”
It is a matter of common knowledge that the successful candidate, from the highest to the lowest, filed such statements showing in some instances large expenditures “in aid of their election.” The defeated candidates generally neg*165lected this duty, as they were perfectly willing to forfeit an office which they had never obtained, and did not care to erect any further memorials of their vanished hopes.
Sections 42 and 72 must be construed together, and as it is evident that the latter section contemplates legitimate expenses, it is equally evident that the former section applies only to illegitimate expenditures. To say that the phrase “in order to be elected” and “in aid of his election” mean one and the same thing, and that one is lawful and the other unlawful, is a contradiction; and we are at a loss to find any authority for holding that a strict compliance with Section 72 is in itself a confession of guilt under Section 42, as suggested by the plaintiff. If any further evidence of the legislative intent were needed, it is found in the concluding paragraph of Section 42, which refers to the Act therein prohibited as “such bribe.” The word “bribe” has a distinct and settled meaning, and always includes some corrupt element.
We think there was no evidence of bribery, or at least a mere scintilla, and that his Honor properly directed a verdict in favor of the defendant, the burden of proof resting as it did upon the plaintiff. Wittskowsky v. Wasson, 71 N. C., 451; Best v. Frederick, 84 N. C., 176; Brown v. Kinsey, 81 N. C., 245; State v. White, 89 N. C., 462; State v. Powell, 94 N. C., 965; Covington v. Newberger, 99 N. C., 523; Spruill v. Insurance Co., 120 N. C., 141.
The statement'of expenditures was carelessly and even imprudently drawn, but I do not feel called on to place upon the defendant’s words the worst possible construction, in order to bring him -within the penalty of the Statute that has been repealed.