| Show MM AiNAS delfa jlii luu P iu Mun tanas po adl ailua lion is decidedly interesting iab facts in the case aro thecae at ih baie the democrats elected candidate for governor by a small majority the legislature proved to be very close at would have been democratic on the face of tho returns re but there was a can canvassing board consisting ot the territorial governor secretary and chief and this board threw out an election precinct at the tunnel ana the throwing out of thib precinct changed the in the bahe of several uan lor the legislature and gave ihu republicans a bare majority tha excuse for this action ot the board waa that there waa bai tareo judges ot election instead of ave as ahe law de mandod because the count was made in private instead of ai tho polling place and because the were made in i hand than that of the clerk on the other hand it waa conceded that the poll was orderly that the count was merely transferred from an open tent 10 a cabin close by and that ahe en tiro clerical work was in tre bands ot republicans the affidavits charging fraud which were submitted to the state canvassing board turned out to be forgeries and several citizens declared that they were large sums of money if they would mate false oathy of the vote in the tannel precinct the matter went to the court anil when after thorough investigation vesti gation of all the facts a conclusion was reached and the vote ordered to bo counted president dont harrison at the request of his son proclaimed the state without waiting the completion of the returns that put a stop to aalthe proceedings and though ordered to do so by the court abe territorial board of canvassers could not be forced to count the tunnel votes and give the democratic members certificates bo cause the act 05 president Tres ident harrison in declaring montana a state had ended the official existence of the territorial election board but the democratic governor elect whose name is TOOLE proved equal to the occasion by the samo proclamation which admitted montana and terminated the life 0 the territorial canvassing board GOVERNOR TOOLES term began and he signal iced the event by issuing a call for a meeting of the legislature and set forth in his proclamation that those members whose election is certified by county clerks are entitled to sit while those who held certificates only from the now defunct canvassing board are not entitled to membership i in this position ho relies upon the following section of tho montana statutes the certificate of election from the clerk of the proper county shall be held and considered as prima facie of the right to membership of abo person certified therein to be elected for all purposes of organization of either brunch of the legislative assembly it is hard to see how the republicans can prevent the democrats from con trolling tho legislature of montana and electing both senators if there is any force in law or any right in politics they aro certainly on the democratic side of the contest |
