USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume II > Part 35
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The Republicans were not the only men who endangered the peace. There was a plot to kidnap General Chamberlain and hide him in some back town. The general discovered a plan in case of any slight violence on the part of the Republicans to burn the Blaine mansion and kill the owner.
On January 12 important steps were taken by both sides. In the morn- ing the Fusion Legislature met and qualified Mr. Lamson as Acting Gover- nor. The Republican "Legislature" met in a more dramatic fashion. The plan had been arranged suddenly and with great secrecy. Late in the after- noon the Republican members began dropping into the State House in little groups of two or three. Two members, Professor Young of Bowdoin,
'Dingley, "Dingley," 169.
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and Mr. Weeks, later elected Speaker, obtained permission from General Chamberlin to use the halls. While he was writing the order, the Fusion superintendent of public buildings, Bradford F. Lancaster, rushed into the general's office, crying out that a mob was about to break into Representative Hall. In no way pacified by the assurance that the mob was composed of members elect, Lancaster declared that they should not go in and, snatching the keys from the door-keeper, ran off. At the request of General Chamberlain, Mayor Nash, who had been sent for, opened the door ; the undaunted Lancaster reappeared, entered the hall with the mem- bers, and bolted with the gas lighter, but he was pursued, the lighter recap- tured, and the chamber duly illuminated. The Republican members qualified before the clerk of courts of Kennebec county, elected officers, appointed a committee to prepare questions to be submitted to the Supreme Court, and, remembering that possession is nine points of the law, proceeded to hold the fort, being strengthened by a well spread lunch in one of the committee rooms. At two-fifteen in the morning the committee reported a list of questions and the House adjourned until the 17th. The Repub- lican Senate found the doors of the chamber unlocked, walked in and organized. Mr. Locke was chosen President, and a committee appointed to consider the matter of presenting questions to the Supreme Court. The Senate then adjourned to the 17th.
The same night General Chamberlain wrote to Chief Justice Appleton that he believed that if the court would recognize Lamson he saw a way out. General Chamberlain made the matter public a year later. He said that he only meant a quasi recognition by answering the questions Lamson might put, and it was urged in the general's defense that thoroughgoing Republicans believed that it would be necessary to recognize Lamson finally, and that only at the last moment did the Republicans decide to organize the Legislature themselves and submit questions to the court. General Chamberlain's letter was published, and it may be interpreted as asking a complete, or as seeking only a partial recognition. On January 13 Mr. Lamson sent a statement to the Supreme Court that he had assumed the office of Acting Governor. On the 15th he directed Sheriff Libby of Kennebec to dismiss his deputies who were guarding the public buildings, but the sheriff, who was a Republican, refused. On the 16th the Fusion Legislature, which had voted in additional members who claimed the seats of certified Republicans, elected Smith Governor, chose other State officers and inaugurated Smith. The same day Lamson gave General Chamberlain a written guarantee that the Republicans could meet on the following afternoon in the chambers of the House and Senate without inter- ference. On this day also the Supreme Court replied to the questions of the Republican Legislature by a decision in its favor. The judges stated that the opinion as to the method of counting the returns asked for by Governor Garcelon was an authoritative determination of the law, which it was the duty of the Governor and Council to obey. They declared that a
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law allowing only members with certificates from the Governor and Council to take part in the organization of their respective houses, was clearly unconstitutional because it aimed to control the right of each House to determine the election of its members by imposing on it until there had been a full organization a majority fixed by the Governor and Council. They further declared that if improperly certificated members were needed to make a quorum and if a protest was made against their taking part, the organization of the House was illegal and void. Referring to a previous decision of the court that the Senate could organize with less than 1 quorum, the court held that the ruling was proper when by reason of a requirement of an absolute majority less than a quorum might have been elected, but that the decision could not apply when a quorum had been chosen and that if less than a quorum voted for Speaker and there was nothing on the record to show that a quorum was present and acting, the election was void. They decided that the oath of office of Senators and Representatives might in case of necessity be administered by any magis- trate, although the constitution requires it to be taken before the Governor and Council since the essential matter is the oath and not the person admin- istering it, that a President of the Senate chosen by virtue of improperly certificated members cannot become Acting Governor, because he was never properly chosen President of the Senate; that circumstances might exist rendering an organization like that of the Republican House and Senate legal, and that if the returns of the vote for Governor were inaccessible to the Legislature they might substitute certified copies of the record.
On Saturday, the 17th, the Republican Legislature assembled at the usual places of meeting, the House sent to the Senate the names of Daniel F. Davis and Bion Bradbury,' and the Senate at once elected Mr. Davis Governor. A council was also elected. In the evening a joint convention was held and Mr. Davis qualified. General Chamberlain recognized him as Governor, and announced that he considered his special duties at an end.
The Republican Legislature met again on Monday, and the matter of electing an adjutant-general and a treasurer was taken up. The Repub- licans found themselves in an embarrassing position. They had nominated as adjutant-general, Major Gallagher, the pension clerk in the adjutant- general's office, and for treasurer, John W. Folger, a clerk in the Treas- urer's office who, though a Fusion appointee, had acted with the Republi- cans. But neither were men of weight, and there was a general feeling that in the present circumstances stronger men should be chosen. A caucus was held before the meeting of the Legislature, and a committee was appointed to confer with Major Gallagher. They reported that he had agreed to leave the matter in the hands of his friends. It was proposed to postpone action till the evening. But at another caucus, Mr. Hale said that there were grave reasons why the adjutant-general's office should be
'Bion Bradbury had received 264 votes, thus making him a constitutional candidate.
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filled that day "by some gentleman of responsibility and who is in full accord with the branches of government. We are on the verge of events of importance," he said, "and in the case of anything happening between now and night, it was necessary to have a permanent head in the adjutant- general's office." The caucus reconsidered its nomination and by a vote of 79 to 8, General George L. Beal was elected by the Legislature. No treasurer was chosen. Another most important question was, Should the Fusion Legislature be allowed to meet in the State House? They had adjourned to four o'clock Monday afternoon. The Governor decided to exclude them from the State House, and when they appeared about four o'clock they found the iron gates closed and guarded by police. On demand- ing entrance they were refused by Mayor Nash in the name of Governor Davis, as there was no business being transacted in any of the departments. "Speaker" Talbot mounted the coping surrounding the grounds and called the "House" to order; the "House" heard the journal read, and adjourned to meet at ten o'clock the next morning. President Lamson then mounted the coping and called the "Senate" to order, and that body adjourned to the same time and place as the "House." The meeting was duly held and there was much talk but little action.
The Republicans elected a State treasurer. Their Legislature recessed for an hour that a caucus might be held, and Folger voluntarily withdrew that a man of greater age and more financial experience might be chosen ; the caucus passed a resolution complimenting him in the highest terms, and nominated Samuel A. Holbrook, who was, of course, elected.
On Friday, the 23d, Governor Davis became convinced that the situa- tion was changing for the worse. The Fusion Secretary of State, deputy- secretary under Garcelon, had carried off the State seal and persisted in refusing to give it up. Ex-Councillor Fogg's paper, the Greenback-Labor Chronicle, was declaring that the State House must be taken though it cost a thousand lives, and what was far more serious, there were reports of recruiting and drilling in every county in the State and in Augusta. In the evening of the 23d, Mayor Nash informed Governor Davis that he feared that his police could not defend the State House "against such force as the public enemies seem to be willing and able to bring against it." Accordingly the Augusta militia company, the Capitol Guards, were called out and at midnight they entered the State House. A little later the Gardiner Light Infantry joined them. In the early morning of Saturday, the 24th, the Auburn Light Infantry and the Androscoggin Light Artillery arrived, the latter bringing a gatling gun manned by fourteen men. On the same day the Fusion Legislature voted to submit certain questions to the court. On the 27th the court replied that they could not recognize the
"The Fusionists accused General Chamberlain of bad faith. "Governor" Lamson, Captain Channing and "Adjutant-General" Folsom swore that they heard the General promise that if the Fusionists would let the Republicans hold a caucus in the Legis- lative Chambers the rooms should be clear for the Fusionists on Monday. General Chamberlain stated that his promise was for Saturday.
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persons putting the questions as a legal Legislature, but that they felt that they would be omitting an important service which might fairly be expected of them if they failed to state why they could not answer the questions. They then gave reasons in the line of their previous decisions that the Republican Legislature was legal. They said that the fact that no notice of the session of the legal Legislature had been given to the minority was not material. "The minority were not excluded. The organization was made in a public manner. The minority were at the time claiming to be, and are still claiming to be, the lawful Legislature. It is not to be pre- sumed that they would have abandoned that organization at that time had notice been given. We do not think that the want of notice invalidates the organization of January the 12th. There may be irregularities in the man- ner in which such organizations were formed; but the voice of the people is not on that account to be stifled, nor the true government to fail to be maintained. No essential defects anywhere exist, but only such departures from ordinary forms as circumstances compelled."
Early on the following day the Augusta and Gardiner companies were relieved from duty. In the afternoon the Fusion Legislature met and adjourned until August 1. Some of the more radical claimed that they would meet on that day and begin an active campaign, the object being to secure the electoral vote. But the general feeling was that that Legis- lature would never meet again, that the adjournment to a fixed day was taken to let the counted-in members down easy, they having given a good deal of trouble. On the morning of January the 30th, the last troops were sent home. Many Fusionists on that and the preceding day joined the regular Legislature; of the Senators only two remained absent." Late in the afternoon of the 31st, P. A. Sawyer, the Fusionists' Secretary of State, appeared at the secretary's office and surrendered under protest the State seal, the election returns, the Council record, and the reports on election returns for 1879.
A joint committee was appointed by the Legislature to investigate the treatment of the election returns, and the attempt to defeat the will of the people, and also any undue or illegal expenditure of the public money. Governor Garcelon was subpoenaed and testified before the committee; Councillor Moody appeared voluntarily. The other members of the Council and P. A. Sawyer declined or failed to attend. The committee reported that there had been a conspiracy to count out Republicans and count in Fusion- ists. All the Republican members of the committee signed the report. Two of the Fusionist members stated that "the undersigned regret that the mem- bers of the Council have not seen fit to appear and explain the irregularities which seem to exist. The evidence being uncontradicted, the undersigned cannot make a denial of the facts proved by it and can only withhold their
1ºA new valuation of the State was to be made that year and it was most im- portant for the various localities that their representatives should attend to look out for their interests.
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assent to the conclusions arrived at by the majority of the committee." The third Fusionist did not sign either report. Messrs. Garcelon, Sawyer and the Councillors for 1879, except Mr. Moody, issued a pamphlet in reply to the report of the investigating committee.
There was considerable evidence that attempts were made by the Fusionists to secure the amendment of incomplete returns. Councillor Moody testified that he took a blank return and the original return of the town of Bristol to Wiscasset, but that he did nothing because he found that an amendment of the return by the record would not change the result. James R. Talbot, the Fusion candidate for Senator from Washington county, testified that he received three blank returns, with a statement of the defects in the returns from the towns of Whiting, Addison and Jones- borough, and that he took steps to have these returns corrected.
It was also charged that the Governor and Council did not act on uniform principles, that they had one rule for Republicans and another for Fusionists. It was alleged that they threw out the return from New Sharon because all the signatures appeared to be written by one man, but admitted the return from Somerville, where this was manifestly the case, because the rejection of the Somerville vote would have lost the Fusionists a Senator. The Republican candidate for county commissioner in Andro- scoggin county lost his election because certain votes were returned for Hiram Briggs, and these were counted for a different person from Hiram W. Briggs, although the record showed that the votes were cast for Hiram W. Briggs and affidavits to that effect were presented," but the Fusionist candidate for county attorney in Penobscot county, Benjamin H. Mace, received the benefit of votes cast for B. H. Mace, affidavits being sworn to by voters that they intended to vote for Benjamin H. Mace. A Repub- lican, Francis W. Redlon, was not given the votes cast for Francis W. Redlond, but a Fusionist, Charles Rankins, had votes counted for him which were cast for Charles Rankin. A Democratic candidate for Senator, James R. Talbot, was allowed votes for James R. Talbart and John R. Tabbot. A Fusionist, Isaac F. Quimby, was given a vote for Isaac F. Quinby, but John Burnham, a Republican, was not allowed the votes given to John Burnam. Votes in the town of Stowe cast for Standley were counted for Stanley, a Fusionist ; so a Fusionist, Mr. Hutchins, was given votes cast for Hutchings.
The pamphlet in reply to the Hale report, signed by ex-Governor Garcelon and six of his Council, asserted that they had not received the affidavits from New Sharon and had no evidence concerning the Somerville return. They also denied that any affidavits had been received in the Briggs case, and said that if they had been, corrections would have been made as was done in the case of many county officers. They said that in the Burnham, Quimby and Redlon cases the ruling did not affect the result,
"Governor Garcelon swore that the decision was taken by the Council contrary to his opinion.
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and offered some special explanations. No reply was made to the charges in the Stanley and Hutchins cases. In the first the result was not changed by the Council's tabulation; in the second it was.
There were grave charges of alteration and mishandling of returns. The Council of 1879 stated that the only senatorial return from Jonesbor- ough was a blank, but the town clerk and one of the selectmen swore that the return was made out and forwarded. It also appears from the testi- mony that about November 8, Mr. Drisko, of Machias, stated that there was a certain defect in the return, and that a corrected return was made out and forwarded. Major Gallagher swore that he was in the office of the Secretary of State on November 17, that a return from Jonesborough came in, and that Deputy Secretary Sawyer hurriedly put it in his desk and clearly manifested a wish to conceal it. Herbert M. Heath swore that one morning, when arguing a Washington county case in the Governor's room, he saw the Jonesborough envelope in a pile of other returns, that when he went to dinner they were locked in a bookcase, that in the afternoon the Jonesborough envelope was missing, that when his back was turned it was found on the floor and then contained a blank return. The envelope was postmarked September 9. This testimony makes it extremely probable that the second return was placed in the first envelope and the envelope in which it came was destroyed, that the conspirators then learned that there was evidence of the arrival of a return in November and they then determined to substitute a blank return, which the Republicans would have no desire to challenge as Jonesborough had gone Fusion.
Much stress was laid by the Republicans on the case of Oliver P. Bragdon, one of their candidates for Representative. He was refused a seat on the ground that the votes of the town of Gouldsborough were given to Oliver B. Bragdon. The tabulation and the final lists drawn up by the Council showed that the votes had been counted for Oliver P. Bragdon and his name put in the list of persons to whom certificates had been given, that it had then been struck out, and the name of his Fusion competitor, James W. Flye, substituted, and that changes to conform to the decision in favor of Flye had been made in the tabulations. The town clerk of Gouldsborough swore that he wrote the middle letter plainly "P," and his manner of writing "P" in the town records conformed with the return as he described it. Councillor Moody, who made the tabulations in the Brag- don case, testified that he had not examined the return originally with sufficient care, that his attention being called to the matter, he re-examined the Gouldsborough return, and consulted Governor Garcelon as to whether it was a "B" or a "P." The Council of 1879, in their reply to the com- mittee, stated that any changes that might be found were made after the papers passed out of their hands, but this is clearly contradicted by Mr. Moody's testimony.
The vote of the town of Fairfield was thrown out on the ground that two returns were forwarded at the same time, that they differed from each
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other, and that there was no means of telling which was the correct return. It appeared, however, from the testimony of the first selectman and the town clerk that by an error in the counting the Fusionists had lost twenty votes, that the selectmen and town clerk received blank returns from Major Channing, a prominent Democrat, that they made new returns, stuck on each a slip stating that these were amended returns, and sent them to Augusta. They also sent an explanatory letter. Major Channing swore that he was in the law office of Councillor Brown, and that, at the request either of Brown or his partner, he took an envelope marked "Secretary of State" and delivered it to the town clerk of Fairfield. The returns for Governor and county officers had the explanatory slips on them and were recognized by the Fairfield town clerk as the original slips. The returns for Senators and Representatives showed that something had been torn off, but enough was left to make it probable that it was the original slip described by the Fairfield clerk, which had been detached. When Governor Garcelon was asked about the matter, he swore that he was entirely ignorant of the affair and that he would not have permitted a detachment had he known of it, that he took the word of the Council for the duplication of the Fairfield returns.
The Council received affidavits from Farmington regarding the returns from that town, and Governor Garcelon was asked why affidavits were not obtained from Fairfield. He replied that he supposed that it was because the Council wanted a Representative of the right stamp. The Governor, however, hinted that the Republicans might have put the slips on and then torn them off, an improbable explanation in view of the testimony.
There was also clear evidence that the name of George H. Wakefield in the returns from Berwick had been changed to George A. Wakefield, that the vote had been originally tabulated for George H. Wakefield and had been changed, and that by this means the Fusionists gained a Senator. The Council charged the Republicans with making the alteration, but this was impossible, since the Council issued a certificate based on the return "George A. Wakefield."
In the return from the town of Wells, the votes for the Fusion candi- date, Josiah H. Stover, were wrongly given to Josiah Stover and the error was corrected by crowding in an "A." The town clerk swore that he made the mistake, and produced his memoranda and record to show that he had made a similar mistake on them. The Council said in their pamphlet that if he did he was guilty of great carelessness, that the return was correct, and that if it had been changed the alteration was made after it left their hands. They also said that if they had committed a fraud, they had been so foolish as to sin uselessly, for the Governor and Council had given the certificate to Mr. Stover's opponent.
It should be remembered, however, that cheating is often done in an unscientific manner, and if individual councillors and subordinate executive officers did the work it might be difficult for them to act in concert. The
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sending of blanks with only three lines for signatures by which certain aldermen were led to consider three signatures enough, is also a very sus- picious circumstance, and, all things considered, it is most probable that men high in office were guilty of something worse than misunderstanding the law.
The Republicans also accused their opponents of misappropriation of the public funds. There is no doubt that the excess of an appropriation for high schools was used to pay the Fusionist guards and police, that money was paid out without proper vouchers, and that Governor Garcelon retained public money in his hands and paid the police after he had ceased to be Governor. It was alleged in defense that the transference of surplus appropriations was in accordance with custom, and that the retention and use of the State money by ex-Governor Garcelon was warranted by the special circumstances of the case.
It was the duty of the Legislature to select a successor to Senator Hamlin, and Eugene Hale, of Ellsworth, and William P. Frye, of Lewis- ton, were candidates for the Republican nomination, which was equivalent to an election. Both gentlemen had sat for many years in Congress, and had rendered excellent service to the Republican party. Mr. Hale was now in private life. He had served ten years in Congress, but at the last two elections had been defeated by a Greenbacker. Mr. Frye had been fortunate enough to retain his seat. This circumstance was turned against him. It was said that Mr. Hale was without a place. Mr. Frye already had one. Moreover, it was claimed that the next House would probably choose him speaker. Furthermore, if, as was very likely, Mr. Blaine should be a mem- ber of President Garfield's Cabinet, there would be another vacancy in Maine's representation in the Senate, which could be filled by Mr. Frye. Mr. Hale had the powerful support of Mr. Blaine and was himself in Augusta to direct his campaign. Mr. Frye considered that his duty required him to remain at Washington, attending to the public business. When the Legislature met the chances appeared to be decidedly in favor of Mr. Hale, but Mr. Frye's friends continued the contest. The battle, however, went against them; two Senators and a Representative from Oxford county announced at a protracted meeting of the county delegation that they should vote for Mr. Hale. This defection in Mr. Frye's own congres- sional district was a wellnigh fatal blow, and his friends decided that there was no reasonable chance of success, and that the interests of all concerned would be promoted by the avoidance of a protracted or acrimonious con- test. Accordingly, two of the Frye leaders were sent to announce a sur- render and express the hope that harmonious relations would continue between all parties (that is, that the new Senator would not neglect Mr Frye's friends in distributing patronage?). Mr. Hale "very cordially responded," and he was duly nominated and elected.
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