OCR Text |
Show Woolley Wins In Election Contest The election contest brought by Dihvorth Woolley against George Christensen, for the office of district Judgo was decided last Saturday in favor oi- Mr. Woolley. The cmivass of the votes by the s;ate board of canvassers showed a majority of 21 votes .for Judge Christensen Chris-tensen in the district. Mr. Woolley filed v. contest and the trial was had before Judge P. C. Evans, one of the Salt Lake City judges, who had been designated by Governor Bamberger to conduct the hearing. The trial opened at Manti on December 28, and later was transferred to Price, where the investigation was concluded January Jan-uary 8. All of the ballots in every election district within the five counties making mak-ing up the Seventh jusicial district, were opened and recounted, with the final result that Mr. Woolley had a majority of thirty-or.e votes over Judgo Christensen. The largest discrepancy discovered was the apparently accidental omis-' omis-' sion of the judges in Storrs precinct, in Carbon county, .to credit Mr. Wool-ley Wool-ley with twenty votes. The other changes were on account . of small errors, and mistakes in interpreting irregularly marked ballots by the election judges. The election contest was conducted conduct-ed by both the parties in a most fair and friendly manner, without the least animosity or ill-feeling. Judge Woolley will file his oath of office and assume his duties on Monday, Mon-day, the 17th. In the meantime, Judge Christensen is acting as judge to close up the unfinished business. That the election contest has been one of a friendly nature is evidenced by the expressions of the attorneys for the respective sides and also the court, which followed immediately after the decision and which is herewith here-with quoted: Attorney Cherry: "I will say at this time, Judge Erlcksen and Judge Christensen, that Mr. Woolley has indicated his willingness, if you desire de-sire to take that proceeding (appeal) to aid you in every way to limit the expense and time and to make any reasonable stipulation which the facts warrant to facilitate any such review; re-view; and at this time I want also to say in behalf of Mr. Woolley and for myself that in this proceeding we havo felt that you gentlemen have been actuated by a spirit of fairness, and sometimes have gone farther than the ordinary litigant would go towards promoting a full and fail-disclosure fail-disclosure of this matter. While this trial has been arduous, it has been characterized by the utmost good fooling. And I want to say further, I know Judge Christensen well and Mr. Woolley well, and it is my firm opinion that neith r one of them would want this office if there was any suspicion as to the validity of his title." Atorney Erickson: "If your honor please, in view of tho very kind expressions ex-pressions just voiced by Mr. Cherry, I want to say we want to reciprocate tho kind words uttered. I, too, know both of these parties. I have a very high regard for both men, and from the very beginning I have felt that this matter should be conducted in a spirit of absolute fairness, without any bias or prejudice on the part of either. We started out with that in view, and we have carried it out through the entire trial. Of course, at times we have been weary and tired because it has been a tedious task. I think we have on both sides been entirely fair, and I believe we have arrived at just what the facts in this district disclose. ' I don't think there is any doubt about that, and on behalf of my client, I want to thank the ooui , and (I want to thank the opposing parties for every consideration and courtesy shown during tho trial." I The Court: "Permit the court to j say in this behalf that the court ap-J preciates the attitude of the contesting contest-ing parties in this case, and the at-: titude of counsel. It has been most refreshing and gratifying, inasmuch as I had anticipated, before coming down here, much embarrassment and j difficulty in sitting in this case. Ij came only when it became apparent it was impossible to secure anyone else to sit, and cftme with much hesi-, tation. But the conduct of the case! has been on a very high plane. I' commend tho attitude of counsel on j both sides, and I also commend the! . attitude of the contesting parties. Should this case remain here, that is to say, should it not be appealed, and ! the judgment of this court should remain, re-main, Judge Christensen may feel that he quits the bench with the good will of all whom he has come in con- j tact, and that he has rendered dis-i tinguished service to the Seventh ju-j dicial district, and to the people of' Utah, and I feel that all of those pres-j pres-j ent will joiu the . court in the hope j that Mr. Woolley will make his mark ; upon tile -bench, and that his term of- office will not only be pleasant to him i but gratifying to his constituents." |