Grab At A Straw

A peculiar condition of things prevalía in the affairs of county school commissioner and school examiner. On May lst, W. W. Wedem eyer was commissioner of schools for this county. M. J. Oavanaugh and Herbert A. Daneer were scliool examiners. On May 4, Mr. Wedemoycr rcsigned his office and M. J. Cavanaugh, by the help of a Uipublican, who, as will appear later, had' sold out to the Democrats, was elected to fill out the vacaney, although it has always been the cuslom to choose to ñll out a vacaney of this sort the man who had already been elected to thu school commisssonership and who was to tako the office a few weeks later. By tho vote of Mr. C. M. Fuller, a Republican, however, Mr. Lister, the commissionar-elect was turnad down and Mr. Cavanaugh was, on May 4, elected to fill out the few weeks still remaining of Mr. Wedemeyer's term. When Mr. Lister assumed the duties of his office on July 1, and came to examine the law in the case, he found that Mr. Cavanaugh by virtue of bis haviüg acceptcd the oöu'o of commissiotior, had vaoated bis olii w as o.u"i iner. To be suro üf his position ia this matter, Mr. Lisier hud a letter written to Mr. Maynard, Michigan's Attorney-General, who responded that there was undoubtedly a vacancy on the board of oxaminers caused by Mr. Cavanaugh's kavingaccepted the offiee of conimissioner to nel out Mr. Wedemeyer's unexpired term. Mr. Lister then proceeded to cali together the otbor school examlner and the Judge of Probate, who, with himself oonstitute by law a board to flll a vacancy in the board of examiaers when a vacancy ocours. ïhoy met last Monday and elected Prof. D. W. Springer tobe a member of this board, all three of the mernbers being ia attendance at the olection held in Judge Nawkirk's office. But such a prooeeding would leave a Democrat out of office and that is more than the ordinary Demecrat can stand, if it can possibly be avoided. To obviate this eerious difticulty Mr. Cavanaugh has díscovered that Mr. Lister did not qualify for the office within ten days after the election as the law requires. Here was a ghost of a chance for kim to get back at Mr. Listcr because the latter had complied with the law, as he understood it, and as it had been interpreted by the Attoruey-General. Mr. Cavanaush therefoi'e rtoolarosi that Mr. Listar is nat legally coinmissioner of schools and that as a result he himself is still in that ollico ia that he can hold the ofllca unül a succeasor is chosen. He therefore proceeds to act íq the capacity of commissioner of schools and the first thing he does is to acknowlodge that Mr. Laster was right In tha contention that there was a vacaney on the board of school examiners, and calis a meeting of the other examiner, Mr. Danccr, wlio is a Democrat, and Mr. Newkitk for the purpose of electing a successor to himself as a member of the board of examiners. In this act Mr. Cavanaugh necessarily admits that there was suoh a vacancy as Mr. Llster had contended. This moeting was called by Mr. Cavanaugh to be held at 2 p. m. yesterday and notice was served upon Mr, Isewkirk to meet with the other two at that time. But it seeqas that Messrs. Cavanaugh and Dancer werc in a grêat hurry for they met fully half aii buur before the hour et in the notitication sent lo Mr. Newkirk and weüt throngh the formof electing another examlcer. Here is wliere payment was made to Mr. Pulier, of York, for hls voto whl h on May 4, gave the election m commies ioner to Cavanaph, Mr. Fuller yesterday benng eketed to the pretended etflee of school examincr. As tüe mattei' now stands, the questiüii is, did Mr.Llster forfelt hUoffioë bj uot qualifyingf '.vithia ten days aftti1 elüotion? It is not at all liktiiy Umi suuh is the case sinco Mr. Llster waa not ollicially notified of his electioD, as tl.u law requires, ani bence it oould nrt be possiblo for him to legally q'ialify, if the strict technjcalties oí tl. e law aro Lo bc followed out to the verv Viter. In vcry few nstftuccs, if ever all, is every technioality ubsnrvcd ín such matter, and H is absurd io supposo tliat by folio w Injf what has beon the custotn. for a quarter of a eentury past, oiio raay therefurc bo tbrown out of offloe beoause what is ppactlcalfy v.n unimportant detail is not strictly observed. The fact is the entire action of Messrs. Cavanaugh and Danoer is and can be nothing more than a bold bluff. -The one thing that is necessary to avoid such complications in the future is to pension all Democrats who have had a taate of the public fodder and who seem thereafter utterly unable to get along without it.