Low Jenks

A happy day was November 3, 1936 for a ruddy, 71-year-old Manchester, N. H. retired shoe manufacturer named Arthur Byron Jenks. That day Republican Jenks. running for his first political office, thought that he had beaten Democrat Alphonse Roy for Congress in New Hampshire's ist District by 550 votes. Less happy were many succeeding days as the Jenks-Roy contest shuttled back and forth in a tantalizing series of recounts (TIME, Dec. 7. 1936. et seq.). One count came out 51,679-to-51,679, first tie in a Congressional race in no years. Another gave Contestee Roy an edge of 17 votes, which a third upped to 24. When Mr. Jenks claimed that 34 Jenks ballots cast in the town of Newton had been lost in counting, New Hampshire's Republican Secretary of State certificated his victory. Congress seated him with other members-elect at the beginning of the session.

No sooner had Congressman Jenks spread his papers on his desk, than relentless Alphonse Roy carried his case to a House Committee on Elections, on which Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-to-3. They voted 6-to-3 in favor of seating Democrat Roy. Unsatisfied, the House gave the committee $5.000 for further hearings, the unprecedented task of interviewing all of Newton's voters to see whether there had been 458, as Mr. Jenks maintained, or 424, as claimed by Mr. Roy. After interviewing all they could find-- nine had died--the committee reported that 458 votes had been cast (but only 424 ballots were available), still voted in "favor of Mr. Roy. Last week their findings were again brought to the House floor. Republicans stormed that Mr. Jenks was being sacrificed because Mr. Roy is French-Canadian and New Hampshire's Democratic Senator Fred H. Brown this year badly needs his State's big French-Canadian vote. The Democratic majority overrode their protest, unseated Member Jenks 214 votes to 122.

One by one 84 Republican Representatives left their seats and stalked huffily out of the chamber until only Minority Leader Bertrand Snell and Mr. Jenks remained. Then Mr. Jenks jumped up from the place he had occupied for 17 months, walked down front, shook hands with Speaker Bankhead, strode out of the House to loud Democratic applause. He will keep the $14,361.11 salary he has collected plus $8,046.12 expenses. Mr. Roy was to get another $14,361.11 for services he was unable to perform, plus $5,638.89 for the balance of his term, plus $3,118.30 for expenses. Both will be paid the expenses incurred in their tug-of-war (but not more than $2,000 apiece). In the cloakroom afterward, undaunted Arthur Byron Jenks announced that five months hence he would run again for Congress against Alphonse Roy.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.