The Hillsdale Standard

Why King Strang's Right To A Seat In The Legislature Is Disputed.—The Grand River Eagle gives the following as the ground upon which the seat of King Strang in the Legislature will be contested by Albert T. Lay, of Grand Traverse:

The question is, is the Beaver Island included in the Representative District in which Mr. Lay claims to have been elected; he having received a larger vote than Mr Brooks, of Newaygo? Mr. Strang will claim that his "Kingdom" is included in the county of Emmet, because it is north of the south line and west of the east line of that county, which is a part of the territory attached to the Newaygo and Oceana district, entitled to one Representative. The revised Constitution, in constituting "a separate judicial district" of the Upper Peninsula, includes therein "the islands of Lake Superior, Huron, and Michigan." The same territory is also named as constituting a part of the third circuit for the election of a Regent of the University. Mr. Lay will claim and no doubt justly, that, as the Constitution includes the islands in the Upper Peninsula, it could not have been its intention to recognize the Beavers as a part of the county of Emmet. This question has once been decided by the Legislature in favor of the King: but as each Legislature has power to determine the eligibility of its members, that decision will in no wise be a governing precedent for this. That Legislature was in the hands of a party, for the interest of which it would not do to provoke the wrath of His Majesty, the King: and right was, as it generally is, with that party, of secondary importance. Now the case is different. We have a Legislature which will decide the question according to the merits of the case; and Mr. Lay will doubtless obtain the seat.