Southern telegraph., 1838-03-13
United States Congress.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Ia
tons, to which the subject had been re
ferred, made the following RErour:
The Committee Of Elections, to ,naich ,ca
referred the communication of S. S
PRsNTIss and Tuos. J. WORD, claim;ne
seats in this House from the State o.
Mississippi, report:
That, by the order nf the House, they be-
lieve special duty merely was imposed
on them, to wit, 10 report the facts of the
case; and therefore submit the following
statement, without comment or inference:
AT the opening of the first session of the
25;h Congress, OH the 4th day of Septem-
Der, 1887, MesSrs. Gholson and Claiborne
appeared, were sworn, and took their seat.
IN the House, as members from the State OF
Mississippi. Before they were sworn, how
! ever, and before the House proceeded TO an
election of Speaker and Clerk, Mr.. Mercer
offered the following resolutions, viz. ere
solrcd, That sufficient evidence has not
been afforded to this House that John F. III.
Claiborne and Samuel J. Gholson are law
fully eutitled to seats therein;" which reso-
luton, after some debate thereon, was laid
upon the table, on motion of Mr.. Bynum
On the 18th of September it was voted BY
the House that the action of the several
standing committees. on all matters not en-
braced in the Message of the President of
the United States to the two Houses of Con
gress, communicated on the second day Of
that session be suspended until the COM
mencement of the annual session in Deer.
On the 18Th of September, on motion of
MIR. GholsoD, the foregoing order was sus-
pended, so far as it relates to the action of
the Commi'tee of Elections.
On the 18Th of September, in the House,
on motion of Mr.. Gholson, it was 'Resolsed,
That the Committee of Elections be in
structed to report upon the certificate Of
election of Messrs. Claiborne and Gholson,
the members elect from Mississippi, whether
they are members of the 25,h Congress or
not and that said committee take into their
consideration the proclamation of his excel
lency Charles Lynch, Governor of said
State, and the writ of election ss. III in ac-
c"r1snce with said proclamation, on the
18Th day of June, 1887; and also the act of
the Legislature of Mississippi, entitled can
act to regulate elections approved March
%, 1888"
The only evidence or documents exhibited
to the committee under the above resolution
consisted of the law of Mississippi; the writ
of election issued by the Governor, requiring
an election to lie held in July last, for mem
hers of Congress for lim;ed term; (all of
which are set forth in the report of the com
mi;lee Of last session, being document No.
2 Of that session, to which the committee
refer as part Of their report J and a certified
of the votes given at that election,
marked A.
Upon this evidence Messrs. Claiborne
and Gholson, by written argument submit
ted to the committee, and subsequently fur
nshed to the members of the House, claim
ed to hold their seats in this house during
the 25tb Congress; and ma jority of the
committee thereupon made a report
which concluded with the following resolu-
ton, viz. "Resolped, That Samuel J. Ghol-
son and John F. H. Claiborne are duly
elected members of the 25th Congress, and,
as such are entitled to their Seats" which
resolution, on tie Sd day # October, was
adopted by the House.
The proclamation Of the Secretary of the |
State of Mississippi, declaring the number
of votes at the July election, and that Messrs
Claiborne and Gholson were elected to "the
called session of Congress-" marked b; and
the credentials as required by the law OF
under the hand of the Governor
and the great seal of the State, declaring
that Messrs. Claiborne and Gholson were
duly elected members ofCongress until the
regular election should be had under the
law Of the State, in November next thereaf
ter, although issued and in existence, were
not presented to the committee at the last
session, nor relied upon by Messrs. Clai-
borne and Gholson as any part Of their evi-
dence; nor considered by the committee in
reaching the result to which they came i'll
the resolution presented to the House. In
uuirics. however, were made by a member
Or members, in relation thereto. Answers
we're given; but by whom given, and OF
wkat import, are not remembered with s'lffl-
cient di. tinctness and unanimity to be IN
into this report. The committee
would add, however, that differing as they
did, essentially, in their views OF the case,
the production Of the papers in question
would not have changed the opinion which
they formed on ITS merits.
The committee further report, that an G.
lection was held in Mississippi, according
to the forms of law, on the first Monday and
day following in November last, which re-
suited as per statement marked G.
They further report the credentials o.
Messrs. Prentiss and Word, as contained IN
document marked u. i
The committee report document marked
r. as the Constitution Of Mississippi.