"
Two bodies of persons claimed to be the returning board for the State,
and the circuit court in that case decided that the one to which Lynch
belonged, usually designated by his name, was the lawful returning
board; and this decision has been repeatedly affirmed by the district
and supreme courts of the State. Having no opportunity or power to
canvass the votes, and the exigencies of the case demanding an immediate
decision, I conceived it to be my duty to recognize those persons as
elected who received and held their credentials to office from what then
appeared to me to be, and has since been decided by the supreme court
of the State to be, the legal returning board.
Conformably to the decisions of this board, a full set of State officers
has been installed and a legislative assembly organized, constituting,
if not a _de jure_, at least a _de facto_ government, which, since
some time in December last, has had possession of the offices and been
exercising the usual powers of government; but opposed to this has been
another government claiming to control the affairs of the State, and
which has to some extent been _pro forma_ organized.
Recent investigation into said election has developed so many frauds
and forgeries as to make it doubtful what candidates received a majority
of the votes actually cast, and in view of these facts a variety of
action has been proposed.
Pages:
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432