USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume II > Part 28
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Denver made a tour of Southeastern Kansas with a view to adjusting the disorders everywhere prevalent, delivering a number of well considered speeches that were well received, and for a time produced a quieting effect. Just as he began to feel encouraged over the better situation, old John Brown, who had been absent some months, reappeared on the scene, and thereafter, tranquility ceased. After a stormy admin- istration, finding it impossible to stem the current, he resigned October 10th, 1858, since which time he has lived a quiet and rather uneventful life. He is a tall, robust, and rather imposing figure, with a pleasant face and expression, and engaging manners. Although he has not pushed himself to the front in political or other affairs, he made a fine record as a soldier, and had he been supported by the President,
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his administration would doubtless have effected many salutary changes in Kansas, in the war of the constitutions. At this writing he is a resident of Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio, President of a bank, and considered wealthy.
Returning to our own political affairs, the constitution having been framed as described in the preceding chapter, it was submitted to the people, accompanied by an admirably worded address, was voted upon and ratified on the Ist day of July, 1876, with the following result, as determined by the official canvass of the returns:
Total vote, 19,505. For the constitution, 15,443; against, 4,062 ; scattering, 18. Majority in favor, 11,381.
The vote was unexpectedly light in all the counties, therefore disap- pointing, since it gave credence to the too general impression held by the people of the seaboard States that our population was insufficient to justify the concession of statehood. Compared with the previous election the result was surprising, but much of the apparent indifference, instead of indicating apathy or a diminution of numbers, was found to be directly attributable to the fact that in the agricultural sections the farmers were just then occupied with preparations for harvest, and the miners in the midst of the busiest season of the year. No doubt the absence of the customary excitement of opposition had also much to do with it. On Tuesday morning, July 25th, Mr. John M. Reigart, private secretary to the Governor, left Denver for Washington, bearing a duly authenticated copy of the constitution and ordinances, an abstract of the votes, copies of proclamations and other incidental documents, together with the following certificate ;
To His Excellency, U. S. Grant, President:
WHEREAS, In accordance with the provisions of an act of the Congress of the United States, approved March 3d, 1875, entitled "An Act to enable the people of Col- orado to form a State government, and for the admission of the said State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States," the people of said Territory of Colorado, in obedience to the proclamation of the Governor, elected on the 25th day of October, 1875, representatives to a convention to form a constitution and State government ; and
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WHEREAS, The representatives chosen at said election assembled at the city of Denver, the capital of said Territory on the 20th day of December, 1875, and in accordance with the provisions of the act aforesaid, formed a constitution, and by ordinance provided for submitting the same upon the first day of July, 1876, to the people of said Territory for their ratification or rejection ; and
WHEREAS, Said election was held as aforesaid, the returns of which were made to the Governor who, with Hon. Charles D. Bradley, United States Attorney, being a majority of the canvassing board, canvassed the same at the Executive office in the said city of Denver and Territory aforesaid on the 24th day of July, A. D. 1876, and
WHEREAS, It appeared from said canvass that the total number of votes cast was 19,505, of which 15,443 were for, and 4,062 against, the ratification of the said consti- tution and ordinances;
Now THEREFORE, I, John L. Rontt, Governor of the Territory of Colorado, do hereby certify that said constitution and ordinances were adopted by a majority of 11,381 votes, and I further certify that the foregoing copy of said constitution and ordinances is gennine and correct.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Territory to be affixed at the city of Denver, this 24th day of July, A. D. 1876.
JOHN L. ROUTT, Governor.
Attest: JOHN TAFFE, Secretary of Colorado.
On the Ist of August, President Grant issued his proclamation, declaring and proclaiming the fact that the fundamental conditions imposed by Congress on the State of Colorado, to entitle it to admission into the Union, had been ratified and accepted, and that the admission of said State into the Union was now complete.
There came a time a few months later, when the authority of the President to declare Colorado admitted into the Union without further and final action by Congress, was vigorously contested in an argument of some length, from the minority of a Congressional committee, as we shall discover, but it was not adopted.
Thus was ushered into the august sisterhood, the Centennial State, in the year of the one hundredth anniversary of the Republic, an event then being celebrated in the city of Philadelphia by representatives of foreign nations, and by vast multitudes of our own people.
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We now take up the political movements immediately succeeding the adoption of the constitution, and in regular order trace them to their respective conclusions.
The Republican State Central Committee held a meeting at Man- itou on the 20th of July, 1876, to consider measures connected with the welfare of the party, and to arrange a plan of campaign for the election of State officers, a representative in Congress and a legislative assembly. At an early stage of these proceedings the following resolution was adopted, probably in remembrance of a previous unfortunate experience in putting up the higher prizes too far in advance of the will of the people:
Resolved, That it is inexpedient to nominate candidates for the United States Senate prior to the election for State officers and a legislature.
If there was any good reason for the adoption of such a resolution, it can only be found in the possible design to forestall indiscreet action by the subsequent convention of the party, or the ambition of pros- pective candidates, because neither the committee nor any convention held by its authority, possessed any right to nominate candidates for the Senate. Nevertheless, it was debated at some length. At the close of the meeting a multitude of Mr. Chaffee's admirers marched to the Manitou House, where he was quartered, and serenaded him. His appearance in response to calls was greeted with enthusiastic cheering. He spoke briefly according to his habit, confining his remarks to the duties devolving upon the party at this critical period in its history, counseling harmony and energized unity of action in preparing for the approaching canvass.
On the 23d of August the delegates met in Pueblo, and organized by the election of Alvin Marsh of Gilpin, permanent chairman ; M. H. Fitch of Pueblo, Louis Dugal of Denver, and Victor Garcia of Conejos, Vice-Presidents; W. B. Felton of Saguache, Secretary; J. A. Wil- loughby of Summit, and A. E. Gipson of Weld, Assistant Secretaries. The prominent candidates for Governor were Samuel H. Elbert, John
aliin March
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I .. Routt, Lafayette Head and George M. Chilcott. The following nominations were made :
For Representative in Congress .- James B. Belford of Gilpin.
For Governor .- John L. Routt of Arapahoe.
For Lieutenant-Governor .- Lafayette Head of Conejos.
For Secretary of State .- William M. Clark of Clear Creek.
For Auditor of State .- David C. Crawford of El Paso.
For Treasurer of State .- George C. Corning of Boulder.
For Attorney General .- A. J. Sampson of Fremont.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction .- Joseph C. Shattuck of Weld.
For Justices of the Supreme Court .- Henry C. Thatcher of Pueblo, Ebenezer T. Wells of Arapahoe., and Samuel H. Elbert of Arapahoe. District Judges and Prosecuting Attorneys-
First District .- William E. Beck of Boulder. Attorney, Edward O. Wolcott of Clear Creek.
Second District .- Victor A. Elliott of Arapahoe. Attorney, David B. Graham of Arapahoe.
Third District .- James Martin of Las Animas. Attorney, Web- ster Ballinger of Park.
Fourth District .- Thomas M. Bowen of Rio Grande. Attorney, C. W. Burris of San Juan.
Chairman of the State Central Committee .- Joseph C. Wilson of El Paso.
It was the general desire of the delegates to place the name of Moses Hallett at the head of the nominations for the Supreme bench, as a mark of distinction due to his long service as Chief-Justice of the Supreme court of the Territory, and his eminence as a jurist, but when the name was brought forward, Mr. W. B. Felton arose and announced that Judge Hallett would in all probability be named by the President as Judge of the United States District Court for Colorado, a position which, if tendered, would be accepted.
The ticket was well received by the Republican masses. Routt
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for Governor, proved a happy selection. While lacking the finish of scholarship, he possessed the qualities of sound common sense, sterling honesty, and the kind of executive ability that was needed in the primary stages of the new State; practical knowledge of the public needs, and the will to meet them. During his short administration of Territorial affairs he had advanced no personal schemes, engaged in no intrigues, but addressed himself conscientiously to the repression of strife and the unification of all elements for the general good. He was industrious and faithful to every trust. He had, moreover, been zealous and potential in advancing the passage of the Enabling act, and afterward in promoting concord.
Mr. Belford had served on the Territorial bench with marked dis tinction, having been appointed by the President in 1869, and reap- pointed in 1873. He was a speaker of great power and eloquence, a fine campaigner, and popular with the people. The campaign opened in Denver on the night of the 26th of August, Belford being the orator of the occasion.
The Democratic State Convention was held at Manitou on the 29th of August, and was called to order by George W. Miller, chairman of the State Central Committee (now in his second term as Judge of the County Court, Arapahoe County). The meeting assembled in the dining room of the Manitou House. M. B. Gerry was chosen tem- porary chairman, and was succeeded by Judge Harley B. Morse of Gilpin, Alva Adams of Del Norte acting as Secretary. Gen. Bela M. Hughes and William A. H. Loveland were the candidates for Governor. Gen. Hughes was nominated by acclamation, Loveland having with- drawn in deference to the popular desire.
The following nominations were then made:
For Representative in Congress .- Thos. M. Patterson of Arapahoe. For Lieutenant-Governor .- Michael Beshoar of Las Animas. For Secretary of State .- Capt. James T. Smith of Jefferson. For Auditor of State .- James F. Benedict of Weld.
For Treasurer of State .- Thomas M. Field of Pueblo.
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For Attorney General .- George Q. Richmond of Pueblo.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction .- J. P. Groesbeck.
For Justices of the Supreme Court .- Wilbur F. Stone of Pueblo, E. Wakely of San Juan, George W. Miller of Arapahoe.
District Judges and Prosecuting Attorneys-
First District .- R. S. Morrison of Clear Creek. Attorney, Platt Rogers of Boulder.
Second District .- Henry A. Clough of Arapahoe. Attorney, Samuel P. Rose of Arapahoe.
Third District .- J. W. Henry of Pueblo. Attorney, John M. Waldron of Huerfano.
Fourth District .- Adair Wilson of Rio Grande. Attorney, A. T. Gunnell of Hinsdale.
Chairman of the State Central Committee .- Hon. Hugh Butler of Arapahoe.
Mr. Patterson, though scarcely more than three years a resident of the Territory, had become the recognized leader of his party, eminently fitted by reason of his somewhat remarkable talent for stump speaking, to contest the field against his accomplished adversary Belford, and he was much the better manager. Gen. Hughes was universally respected for his fine abilities, his prestige as a lawyer, his stainless character, and the part he had taken in public events from the beginning of the Ter- ritory down through its history. Both parties had put some of their strongest men to the front, and each exerted its mightiest influence to elect them. Routt made no speeches, but directed his canvass so as to reach and talk with the masses in an everyday fashion. Hughes, being a superior debater, took the platform.
The Republicans were effectively aided in this canvass by Mr. Willard Teller, one of the foremost lawyers and debaters, a man who is capable of presenting with clear cut analysis the issues before the people, possessing extensive knowledge of political history and always effective in argument, whether on the stump or in the halls of justice. His dis-
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tinguished brother, Henry M. Teller, entered the campaign after his return from the East about the middle of September.
The chief interest centered in the nominees for Congress, for Governor and members of the legislature, the latter receiving special attention, in view of the election of United States Senators. In the election which took place on the 3d of October, the entire Republican State ticket was chosen, together with a large majority in each branch of the General Assembly. As upon the contest for representative in Congress hinged some of the most stirring events of that period, it is proper to give it such attention as may be essential to an intelligent understanding of its nature, and with the further purpose of clearing away, some at least, of the asperities which from that time to the present have attended the acts of the contestants in that striking drama. Those who were here at the time will recall the bitter attacks made by the press, each upon the representatives of the opposite party for the positions then taken. Having had some part in the discussion of those matters from 1876 to 1880, and having since in my present calling of historian taken the pains to search the records and reach the facts, I am now impelled to submit them without the slightest coloring of partisan prejudice, fairly and impartially, according to the result of a careful and deliberate investigation. The conclusions reached may not be in exact accord with those of my political friends, formed in the heat and excite- ment of the stormy days of 1876, but they are in accord with the record, which is very full and complete.
On the 31st day of August, in the year named above, the acting Secretary of State, Mr. John Taffe, issued a notice to each county sheriff in the State, that the first general election for officers under the constitution would be held October 3d. The sheriffs in their turn caused like notices to be sent to the several voting precincts. The Sec- retary in his proclamation enumerated the various offices that were to be filled, among the rest, "one representative for the unexpired term of the Forty-Fourth Congress of the United States." The reader is
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requested to note the quotation, in order that he may the better com- prehend its bearing upon the final result.
Again, on the 14th of September following, to give due and timely notice of further proceedings, the Secretary published the following, likewise addressed to the several sheriffs :
" You are hereby notified, that in accordance with the provisions of Section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, an election will be held on Tuesday, the 7th day of November, A. D. 1876, in the several precincts of your county, as provided by law, at which time there will be elected a representative from the State at large for the Forty- Fifth Congress of the United States," etc., etc., and directing them to cause proclamation to be made of the same in all the voting precincts of their respective counties. Obedient to such notification, public procla- mations were issued, and arrangements made for an election as before.
During the canvass for the general ticket, much was said on both sides relative to the October election being decisive for both the unex- pired term of the Forty-Fourth and the full term of the Forty-Fifth Congresses, and there were many in both parties who understood this to be the intention. Mr. Patterson, however, did not so understand it, as was evidenced by his speeches, for in a great many, if not in all the places at which he addressed the people, he took especial pains to announce that the nominations for representative had been made under the published call of the Secretary of State, only for the unexpired term, and that a subsequent election was to be held for the Forty-Fifth on the 7th day of November. But as the campaign proceeded, the Republican Central Committee, after giving due consideration, as they supposed to the laws governing the case, decided to print Mr. Belford's name upon their tickets for both Congresses, in the belief that the Constitutional Con- vention, acting by the authority of the Enabling act, gave them the right to do so. A short time prior to the election, a week or two perhaps, this intention was made known to Mr. Hugh Butler, Chairman of the Democratic Committee, who held differing views, but in order that the candidates of his party might have an equal advantage, in other words
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that they might suffer no disadvantage in the official count, proceeded to ยท have Mr. Patterson's name printed on the Democratic tickets in the same form, that is to say, for both Congresses, yet in no wise yielding the right to enter upon another campaign in November. Mr. Patterson being absent in the mountains in a distant part of the State, and not consulted, he knew nothing of the movement. But on the 7th of September he had written Mr. Butler from Pueblo, saying, "The proc- lamation to the sheriffs of the different counties only calls for the election of one representative for the unexpired term of the Forty-Fourth Con- gress. It does not mention the representative for the Forty-Fifth Congress. This I think is right. I have always thought that the member for the Forty-Fifth Congress must be elected in November. Will you see to it that it is understood that only the member to the Forty-Fourth is to be elected in October?" There is abundant evidence of record to show that Mr. Patterson made this declaration at nearly every place at which he spoke. Mr. R. S. Allen, editor of a Republican paper at Fairplay, in Park County, testified that as late as September 19th, Mr. Patterson being then at that place, caused Democratic tickets which bore his name for both terms to be destroyed, and had new ones printed with his name on but for one term,-the Forty-Fourth Congress -and that these tickets were used in the county of Lake. Never- theless, Belford's name went to the electors for both Congresses, on the 3d of October, and Patterson's to most of the counties in the same form, but without his knowledge or consent.
The official canvass of the votes cast at the October election gave the following result as proclaimed by the State board :
For the Forty-Fourth Congress Mr. Belford received 13,302 votes.
For the Forty-Fourth Congress Mr. Patterson received 12,865 votes.
For the Forty-Fifth Congress Mr. Belford received 13,532 votes. For the Forty-Fifth Congress Mr. Patterson received 12,544 votes.
But Mr. Patterson then and subsequently declared and established that, owing to the precautions taken by him not to have his name appear upon the Democratic tickets for more than one term, the vote
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as canvassed by the State board for the Forty-Fifth was erroneously enlarged through a mistake in compiling the returns from Las Animas County, where, by the testimony of the County Clerk it was shown that his (Patterson's) vote for the Forty-fifth Congress fell short of that received for the Forty-fourth Congress, by 1,219 votes. This we shall not discuss, however, since he was beaten for both by Mr. Belford, who had a majority of 437 for the Forty-Fourth and of 988 for the Forty-Fifth.
Next came the struggle for the November election, for which both parties made the usual preparations. The proclamation of the Sec- retary of State still remained in the newspapers, whereby all the counties were duly and legally notified that an election was to be held on the 7th of November.
Chairman Wilson of the Republican committee, a week after the election of October 3d, issued an address to the members of his party tendering earnest congratulations upon the sweeping victory they had gained, commending them for the zeal they had displayed, and stating in effect that, as the Democracy were unwilling to accept the result of the October contest as decisive for both terms, and were resolved to go into another in November, the Republicans "must be active and go to work at once, the first step being to look after the registration," etc. He urged the county committees to give this matter immediate attention. This letter was dated October 10th, 1876, from the head- quarters of the Republican Central Committee, and is referred to here as a sort of prelude to subsequent events. Thus it will be seen that the Secretary of State had ordered an election for November 7th, the sheriffs had repeated the order to every precinct in the State, and Mr. Wilson had directed the county committees to prepare for an election at that time.
On or about the 13th of October, before the official canvass of the October election had been made, some of the leading Republicans, Mr. Chaffee, Governor Routt and others held a conference in Denver, and after considering the law in the case, and obtaining interpretations of the
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same by several noted lawyers, decided that there was no authority for an election in November; that Section 6 of the Enabling act clearly granted power to the Constitutional Convention to fix the date of elections for representative in Congress until the next general census in 1880; that Section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which provided that elections for representative must be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and the amendatory act of 1875 had been virtually repealed, so far as Colorado was concerned, by the terms of the Enabling act, therefore Mr. Belford's name should be withdrawn. It was withdrawn on the 14th. These opinions having been brought to the attention of the Secretary of State, he accepted the same and revoked his proclamation on the same day,-the 14th.
Thereupon Chairman Wilson issued another circular letter to his party, which, after reciting the fact that Patterson and Belford were supported for both terms, and the votes so cast had been certified to the Board of Canvassers, and certificates of election pursuant to the vote so cast would be accorded to the gentleman who had received a majority of all the votes, therefore, in view of the reasons stated, and others that might be enumerated, it had been determined by the Repub- lican State Central Committee to decline any and all participation in the election called for the 7th of November, 1876. "And as we are authorized to announce that Judge Belford declines to have his name presented again for the suffrages of the people at this proposed election, we recommend to the Republicans throughout the State to take no part therein whatever."
Right there was where the Republican committee and its advisers made a fatal mistake, as will appear in the sequel, though it was per- haps a perfectly natural error, as the question involved was one that not even the wisest statesmen could wholly settle after days and weeks of argument, and which to this day remains in doubt. It gave rise to legal problems which only the great learning and impartial judgment of the higher courts of the land were competent to unravel in strict justice. Belford wrote Geo. W. McCrary, and to Senator Edmunds for their
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opinions, and received for answer that if the election for the Forty-Fifth Congress in October was not legal, there was no authority of law for the November vote.
Patterson entered the second campaign without a contestant. The proclamation having been revoked, there appeared to be no machinery for casting and counting the vote. In some of the counties the polls were not opened at all ; in others only in certain precincts. The Re- publicans generally abstained from voting; therefore, when the ballots were gathered and certified to by precinct officers, it was found that less than four thousand persons had cast their ballots. Abstracts of such votes were made up and sent to the Governor, but the State Board, believing there was no warrant of law for the election, refused to make a canvass of them.
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