votes were cast for this contestant, James Wickersham, and 7 for contestee, Charles A. Sulzer, and the judges of election at said precinct, in their certificate of results at said election, stated said number of votes as having been cast for each of said candidates, which certificate was accepted as true and correct by the Territorial canvassing board in canvassing the result of said election and in deciding upon the number of votes cast for each candidate. That the aforementioned number of votes cast for the contestee at said precinct should be wholly eliminated, and the number of votes cast for contestant at said precinct should be increased by 15 votes, for the following reasons, to wit: That at the previous elections held in the said Sourdough election precinct the polling place had been established at the Sourdough road house, which is situated approximately in the center of said election precinct, and was well known and generally recognized as the polling place for said precinct. That in the immediate neighborhood of the said Sourdough road house there were not less than 15 legally qualified electors who were friends and political supporters of this contestant, and who would have voted for contestant at this election had they been afforded an opportunity to do so and had the polling place in said precinct remained at the Sourdough road house, but that William O'Connor, the United States commissioner for the Chitina recording district. wherein said Sourdough voting precinct is situated, well knowing that by changing the polling place in said Sourdough voting precinct from the Sourdough road house to the Gulkana road house, 22 miles distant and in the farthest corner of said voting precinct, would deprive at least 15 friends and political supporters of this contestant of an opportunity to cast their vote for this contestant at said election and deprive this contestant of the benefit of the votes of his said 15 friends and supporters in the immediate vicinity of the Sourdough road house, did so change the polling place for said precinct from the said Sourdough road house to the Gulkana road house, whereby said persons residing in said precinct were disfranchised and this contestant thereby was fraudulently deprived of the votes of said 15 electors who would have cast their votes for contestant but for said fraudulent acts.

21. That the laws pertaining to elections in Alaska provide that no voting precinct shall be established unless there are at least 30 qualified electors in such precinct. and also provide that there shall be only one polling place in each voting precinct. That nevertheless, and for the purpose of violating said law and affording special advantages to the contestee and his friends, the United States commissioner for the Chitina recording district, one William O'Connor, at the behest of contestee and the Democratic national committeeman, Thomas J. Donohoe, created during the month of September, 1918, the Kuskulana voting precinct, although he and they then and there knew that there were not 30 qualified electors in said precinct, and they then and there established in said Kuskulana voting precinct two separate and distinct polling places, all in violation of law, one of which polling places was designated as Kuskulana No. 1 and the other as Kuskulana No. 2. That the judges of election in their certificates of the result of said election at said Kuskulana No. 1 polling place, certified that the following vote had been cast at said polling place, to wit: For James Wickersham, contestant, 1 vote; for Charles A. Sulzer, contestee, 11 votes; and the judges of election at the said Kuskulana No. 2 polling place, in their certificate of the result of said election, certified that the following vote had been cast at said polling place, to wit: For James Wickersham, contestant, 2 votes; for Charles A. Sulzer, contestee, 4 votes: and that the Territorial canvassing board for the Territory of Alaska, accepted said certificates as true and correct in canvassing the returns of said election and in deciding upon the number of votes received by each candidate at said election. That for the reasons above stated the said certificates are null and void and should be eliminated from the results of said election.

22. That the Dillingham election district lies on Bristol Bay and along and on both sides of the Nushagak River, in the western part of the Territory of Alaska; that one Dr. L. H. French was the regularly appointed and acting commissioner in the said Dillingham recording and election district on November 5, 1918, and for about one year prior thereto; that said French is a violent partisan opponent of this contestant and was actively engaged in partisan efforts to prevent the electors in said district from casting their votes for this contestant; that the said Commissioner French established at least two voting precincts in the said Dillingham election district, to wit, the Choggiung voting precinct and the Nushagak voting precinct; that Nushagak is only about 5 miles from Dillingham, where the said commissioner resides and

holds his office, while Choggiung is only about 2 miles from the said place across the Wood River; that an election was duly held at Choggiung, but the said French, seeking to fraudulently deprive this contestant of the support of his friends in Nushagak precinct, failed and refused to appoint any election officers for Nushagak, or to forward to Nushagak for their use any of the blanks, ballots, and other material necessary for the holding of said election; that he caused a notice to be published of the holding of the election at Nushagak, but prevented the holding of the same by refusing to appoint the election officers and deliver the necessary blanks, ballots, etc., as provided by law, although he did supply the necessary blanks, ballots, etc., for the Choggiung voting precinct; that the said French well knew that at the election in 1916 this contestant had a large majority of the total vote in the Nushagak precinct, and for that reason fraudulently and purposely withheld authority and opportunity for the electors in said precinct to exercise their franchise on said November 5, 1918, thereby disfranchising all of the electors in said Nushagak voting precinct, whereby this contestant was deprived of the votes of more than 20 of the electors therein who would have voted for him for Delegate and not for the said Sulzer.

23. That at the election held in Alaska on November 5, 1918, a large number of ballots were cast for this contestant which were not counted for him by the election officers in the various precincts in the Territory, because of some alleged defect therein; that said ballots accompany the returns from the precincts in which they were cast and are now included in the returns in the possession of the governor of Alaska, at Juneau, Alaska; that the judge of election in every precinct in Alaska were appointed by the various commissioners and were almost generally hostile to this contestant by reason of their political opposition and their adherence to the Democratic Party organization; that all doubtful ballots and all doubtful offers to vote were decided against this contestant or in favor of his opponent, the said Sulzer, and that justice required a full examination of all the said ballots cast in the Territory of Alaska at said election in order that the true vote cast by the electors in said Territory may be made known and given effect in the determination of the election of the Delegate from Alaska at said election; that when the returns were received for compilation and issuance of a certificate to the successful candidate by the canvassing board in the city of Juneau, Alaska, said canvassing board began an inspection of such doubtful or rejected ballots and thereupon found that many mistakes or discriminations had been made against the interests of this contestant, and the governor of Alaska, fearing that a full investigation of said ballots would disclose that enough mistakes and discriminations had been made to elect this contestant, refused further to examine the said ballots and declared his intention to stand by the face of the returns, a sufficient portion of which had been received by that time to induce him to believe that the face of the returns would enable him to issue the certificate to the contestee, Sulzer; that this contestant alleges that a full and fair examination and compilation of the said returns and the said rejected ballots therewith and a fair consideration of the errors and mistakes made by the various election officers will show that this contestant was deprived of more than 50 votes without authority of law and would thereby be elected as Delegate and the said Sulzer defeated.

24. That at the said election held in the said Territory on November 5, 1918, the Democratic election officers being in full charge of every election voting precinct in the Territory, refused to permit a large number of persons, to wit, more than 50 such persons, who were qualified electors therein, to vote at said election, which said persons would each of them have voted for this contestant as Delegate to Congress from Alaska; that at the same time and by the same officers more than 50 illegal votes were admitted by the said election officers, which illegal votes were cast for the contestee, Charles A. Sulzer, and which, being illegal and unlawful, ought to have been rejected by the said election officers. '

25. That Alaska is almost as large as the United States east of the Mississippi River; that the judicial divisions are each larger than the State of New York, and many of the election districts larger than many of the States of the Union; that there are four principal places for the conduct of business in relation to elections: Juneau, Valdez, Fairbanks, and Nome; that these points are from 400 to 500 miles apart; that during the months of April to July transportation in the interior and from point to point is almost impossible, as it is the 151279-20-2

"break-up" season; that it is impossible for this contestant to reach the various points in the Nome and Fairbanks divisions, or to send attorneys or representatives there to take depositions in the time permitted by the statutes governing contested-election cases, on account of said great distances and the lack of transportation facilities; that it is, therefore, impossible, except along the telegraph line, to secure the necessary proofs of the frauds actually committed in the interior districts away from the line of telegraph; that especially in the fourth division, the judge of the district court, the district attorney and marshal, their clerks, commissioners, deputies, and employees, and all the officials connected with them in any way, are constantly engaged in political work, and are friends, partisans, and supporters of the contestee, Sulzer; that the same excessive zeal was exhibited throughout all these far distant and scattered interior voting precincts, and the same classes of frauds committed therein as are alleged herein to have been committed in the Ketchikan and other precincts in the first division, but on account of great distances and lack of statutory time it will be physically impossible to secure the evidence of such frauds in as great detail or as certainly as in the nearer precincts; that the officials in the interior precincts, well knowing the difficulties against which contestant labors, add thereto by refusing to assist in taking such evidence, and particularly the judge, the district attorney, and marshal at Fairbanks, and their clerks, deputies, and employees advise witnesses not to appear or testify, and in every way in their power prevent the taking of such testimony; that the contestee and his representatives also take advantage of the harsh and unusual conditions in said Territory to prevent the taking of evidence; that by reason of the entire election machinery being thus under the control of contestee's friends, they are able to and do shield and protect all persons who perpetuate election frauds in their interest from exposure or prosecution, and crimes against the elective franchise in the interest of contestee are perpetrated by officials from the governor and Delegate down the line, without fear of prosecution but with approval and political prferment; probably nowhere in the United States is there so much official election frauds as in the interior Alaska precincts, where it is conceived, indulged in, and protected by the officials and their deputies, with the knowledge that it can not be punished or prevented by those injured thereby; it is even worse there than in the Ketchikan election district, where the most glaring instances are herein set forth.

Wherefore, contestant prays the House of Representatives of the United States for the Sixty-sixth Congress to hear this contest and evidence offered in support of it, and that the returns of the election held on November 5, 1918, be purged of unlawful ballots cast thereat, that contestant be credited with the ballots and votes to which he is lawfully and justly entitled; that there be subtracted from the total votes credited to the contestee the ballots and returns with which he has been wrongfully and unlawfully credited, and that a full and fair count of the ballots cast at said election be made in the interests of justice. That upon the final hearing the House of Representatives seat this contestant as such Delegate from Alaska in Congress as of right and under the laws of the United States it ought to do. Dated Juneau, Alaska, May 3, 1919.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Territory of Alaska, 88:

JAMES WICKERSHAM, Contestant.

James Wickersham, being first duly sworn, says that he has read the foregoing petition by him subscribed and knows the contents thereof, and that the same is true as he verily believes.

JAMES WICKERSHAM.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 3d day of May, A. D. 1919. [SEAL.]

My commission expires October 14, 1921.

JOHN B. MARSHALL, Notary Public for Alaska.

NOTICE OF CONTEST.

TO GEORGE B. GRIGSBY, Esq.

SIR: Please take notice that it is my intention to and I shall contest your alleged election and claim to the office of Delegate from Alaska in the House of Representatives of the United States for the Sixty-sixth Congress from the

Territory of Alaska, by virtue of that special election held in said Territory on the 3d day of June, A. D. 1919.

And also take notice that annexed hereto is a petition addressed to the said House of Representatives, specifying particularly the grounds upon which I rely in making said contest.

Dated at Washington, D. C., this 23d day of June, 1919.

JAMES WICKERSHAM,

SPECIFICATION OF GROUNDS OF CONTEST.

To the House of Representatives of the United States,

Contestant.

Sixty-sixth Congress, First Session:

Comes now James Wickersham, contestant, and particularly specifies the following grounds upon which he relies in the contest herein against George B. Grigsby, contestee:

I.

That at all the times mentioned in this petition and ever since the passage of the act of Congress entitled "An act providing for the election of a Delegate to the House of Representatives from the Territory of Alaska," approved May 7, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 169), it was and is the law of the United States that the people of the Territory of Alaska shall be represented by a Delegate in the House of Representatives of the United States, chosen by the people thereof in the manner and at the time prescribed by the laws of the United States, and who shall be known as the Delegate from Alaska.

II.

That at the general election held pursuant to the statutes of the United States in the Territory of Alaska on the 5th day of November, 1918, this contestant was a duly nominated candidate on the Republican ticket for the said office of Delegate from Alaska; that at that time this contestant was a nativeborn citizen of the United States and was then and is now, and for more than 18 years last past has been, an inhabitant and qualified voter in the Territory of Alaska, and on said 5th day of November, 1918, was not less than 25 years of age, and was then of the age of 61 years, and a resident of the town of Fairbanks, in said Territory of Alaska.

III.

That under and pursuant to the laws of the Territory of Alaska this contestant had been and was duly nominated as the Republican candidate for the office of Delegate from Alaska, and Charles A. Sulzer had been and was duly nominated as the Democratic candidate for said office, and Francis Connolly had been and was duly nominated as the Socialist candidate for said office, and all of said persons were entitled as such candidates to have their names printed on the official ballots to be used at the said election of November 5, 1918.

IV.

That at the said election so held in the Territory of Alaska on the 5th day of November, 1918, this petitioner, James Wickersham, received the greatest number of legal votes cast for any person or candidate for the office of Delegate to Congress from said Territory, and thereby was and now is the duly elected Delegate to Congress from said Territory, and was thereupon and now is entitled under the laws of the United States to a seat as Delegate from Alaska in the House of Representatives in the Congress of the United States in the Sixty-sixth Congress.

V.

That the canvassing board of the Territory of Alaska provided and authorized by the laws of the United States for the canvass and compilation of the returns of said and all elections for the election of Delegate to Congress from Alaska, and authorized to issue a certificate of election to the person receiving the greatest number of legal votes thereat, was composed of the governor of Alaska, the surveyor general of the Territory, and the collector of customs; that at

the times herein mentioned each and all of said officers were of the opposite political party of this contestant, and were all Democrats, and partisan opponents of this contestant; that the canvassing board long delayed the canvass and compilation of the returns of the election of November 5, 1918, and the same was not completed when, on April 15, 1919, the said Charles A. Sulzer died in said Territory of Alaska.

VI.

That said Charles A. Sulzer, the said candidate for Delegate on the Democratic ticket in opposition to this contestant, as aforesaid, died suddenly en route from his home at Sulzer post office, Alaska, to Ketchikan, Alaska, on the evening of April 15, 1919, and thereafter, on April 16, 1919, after being duly notified that he was dead, said canvassing board completed the long-delayed compilation of said election returns and declared that upon the face of the same said Sulzer had been elected by a plurality of 33 votes over this contestant; and on April 17, 1919, the said board issued a certificate of election in the name of said Charles A. Sulzer, then deceased, and forwarded the same to the Clerk of the House, and said certificate is now in the said files.

VII.

That within 30 days after the issuance of said certificate of election in the name of said Charles A. Sulzer, and on the 3d day of May, 1919, this contestant made, signed, and verified a notice of contest of said election of November 5, 1918, and the action of said canvassing board in issuing said certificate, and particularly specified in the same the grounds upon which this contestant relied in the contest, and on said May 3, 1919, placed the same in the United States registered mail at Juneau, Alaska, addressed to the clerk of the House of Representatives, Washington, D. C., and thereafter the same was duly received by the said clerk of the House, in Washington, D. C., on May 16, 1919, and was by the said clerk on June 2, 1919, transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was received by the House on said date, and referred to the Committee on Elections No. 3, and ordered to be printed and was se printed as House Document No. 74, Sixty-sixth Congress, first session, and the same is referred to herein, made a part hereof, and served herewith on the said George B. Grigsby, contestee herein.

VIII.

That the Legislative Assembly of Alaska was in session at Juneau, Alaska, when said Sulzer died on April 15, 1919; that said legislature was composed of a majority of Democrats in both houses; that George B. Grigsby, the contestee herein, was then the duly elected and acting attorney general of said Territory, the adviser and counsellor of the said legislature and the Territorial officials, including the governor; that said Grigsby was also a partisan Democrat and violent opponent of contestant; that the said contestee and the said Democratic officials, including a majority of the members of both houses of the legislature, acting together, prepared and caused to be introduced in the said legislature a bill to call a special election to fill the alleged vacancy caused by the death of the said Sulzer, and the legislature did on April 25, 1919, 10 days after said Sulzer's death, pass said bill entitled "An act providing for a special election to fill a vacancy in the office of Delegate from Alaska in the House of Representatives, and declaring an emergency "; and the same was approved by the governor on April 28, 1919; that a full, true, and correct copy of said act is hereunto attached, made a part hereof, and verified herewith.

IX.

That this contestant is informed and advised by reputable and competent attorneys in Alaska that said act of the legislature, so passed and approved by the governor on April 28, 1919, is illegal, unconstitutional, and void because it is in conflict with and forbidden by the acts of Congress of May 7, 1906 (34) Stat. L. 169, secs. 392-407, Compiled Laws of Alaska, 1913), and the act of Congress of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. L. 512, secs. 408-426, Compiled Laws of Alaska, 1913); and upon such information and advice, and upon his own judgment, contestant herein challenges and denies the legality of said act of the legislature, and of the election so held thereunder on June 3, 1919, and of