The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-12-04


tises Congress from this State which six persons the
Governor shall forthwith commission under the great
seal OF the State represent this State in the House
Of Representatives Of the United States"
We bring such commission, and the Clerk Is
bound TO receive il prima faeie evidence OF our
right 70 sit here. Such is the law Of Parliament
Mr.. II. here quoted law OF Parliament passed in
the 7lh and 9th years Of William and Mary declar-
ing that members returned by the sherihs sitting
members until Parliament on petition, shall judge
their election 10 have been illegal He said that the
same principle had been settled by the House OF Re
representatives. over and over again and in con6rma-
lion Of this statement referred TO the decision by The
House al the late special session in the case OF
Messrs. Claiborne and Gholson. He also quoted
other precedents from the Ceases OF Disputed Elec
tions, pages l56, 72S, and 729. There was no
in all the history OF the House where regular legal
commission had been rejected before the House
organized. And this was according 10 all law every
where. Nothing was better settled than that The de-
cision OF regular tribunal, appointed by law 10
decide such matters, must, when The same question
came up before any other tribunal unless in of
appeal, be received and admitted res adjndieat0,
according TO the maxim res adjrdicata pro rerfatc
aeciptnr. He therefore insisted that in justice 10
the laws OF New Jersey, and the public officers of
that State, as well as 10 The commissioned MEM
bers, The names of such members ought be placed
upon the roll II other gentlemen claimed the seat,
and could prove their right 10 it, let Them proceed
regularly by petition Let them show IL they could
that the Governor had done wrong in granting such
certificates; when that question came up Mr.. I'll.
trusted he should be able 10 show that the Governor
had done right. He appealed in the meanwhile 10
all honorable and high-minded Stae-rights men
mol TO let the regular acts of Stale authority be wan
tony sci aside. Were il their own case, would they
Lot CALAMITY stand up for the authority of their
States
As to the other testimony 10 which the Clerk had
alluded, Mr. H. understood il TO consist Of certif.
cate obtained from the Secretary Of State of New
Jersey, under the seal of his office, moi under the
broad seal of the State in favor Of the other candi-
dates But the Secretary Of State was not the re-
porting or certifying officer known to the law he
had no legal authority 10 give such certificate: IL
was, In reality, no certificate al all Besides, il did
not pretend TO state any official returns Of the cleo
ton, but only rhe personal I'm terstandng OF that
officer as to the general result A certifying officer
could only legally certify 10 records he had no au-
lhorliy to certify what might be his personal OPT
mons: and even il this Secretary OF State were the
authorized officer to certify election returns the
certificate he had given was not in the usual form.
Mr.. H., however, had no objection that his certif-
cate, such as il was should be read.
Mr.. TILLINGHASr Of Rhode Island said that
the gentleman from New Jersey who had Just taken
his seat, had openly claimed TO have his name called
in the list OF representatives from that State. The
gentleman whose name had Immediately preceded
his had presented commission in precisely the
same iorm and 10 strict conformity with the laws Of
the State. The Clerk had then stated that be held
FIVE other commissions in the same identical words,
all signed by the Governor-the only regular organ
Of communication between the State and the House
the only difference being that Of them con-
tanned the name of Mr. HaSted and the former the
name Of Mr.. Randolph Now, the Clerk had ac-
tualy called the name of Mr. Randolph on the
strength Of nothing else but such certificate and
nobody had uttered an objection TO it, Was it, then,
very extraordinary thing that Mr.. Halsted should
now demand to have his name called also2 He
could not see on what ground any difference should
be made. The Clerk had acted as The temporary
organ OF the body OF men now present, "a body met,
mol for the purpose OF settling questions MOTTO revise
elections, settle LAVISH and by their universal
consent he had without solitary sign OF objection
in any quarter, called the name OF Mr.. Randolph as
entitled TO seat. All agreed that he had done right.
MIR. Halsted now came forward and claimed the
same privilege When did the privilege Of men,
Der OF Congress commence2 Mr.. Jefferson, in that
chapter OF his Manual which treats on Privilege,
had stated that privilege from arrest commenced
from the election OF man 70 be member, though
he could not act as such until duly sworn and then
he proceeded 10 declare, in words TO which Mr.. T.
called the solemn attention Of all around him. that
every man must, at his peril take notice who were
returned 81 record as duly chosen. All persons who
were bound TO do, or 10 abstain from doing any
thing, in consequence of the election, bound at
thelI peril TO take notice who they were who were
returned Of record Mr.. T. proceeded to observe that
there were two distinct powers exercised in the mat
ter under consideration: one was The power to make
and TO declare an election of representatives to Con-
gress and the other was to Judge OF the validity Of
such election. These powers were wholly distinct
from each other The first power was TO be exer-
csed BY the people and by certain public officers
within Slate; but Congress had passed no law on
the subject further than to require the Stale to elect
the rest had been left exclusive
ly to State egislalion and under such circum-
stances, the laws passed by any State were binding
on Congress and on all other persons. The second
power was to be exercised by the house Of repre-
sentatives, when duly organized and authorized to
vote on matters falling within their Jurisdiction
The assemblage OF gentlemen here present had met
f,,rfh ar Of kn.,
but it was not the house. They were not authorized
to Judge whether the election Of members from New
Jersey was valid or invalid ii would be an assump-
ton 10 attempt ii.
Now, in the interval between the exercise Of these
two powers, there must exist such evidence Of
the exercise Of the first Of them all persons
bound to respect, and to which they must yield their
credence. He appealed to the common Of all
who heard him if this must not be And If il so,
there must be provision the laws Of every State
furnish such evidence. Accordingly, some States had
declared that the returns Of the sherfs should consi
tute 1t. And where such returns made they inn
medatey tPso facto, exempted from the persons
OF all whose names were SO returned: man thus re-
turned could not be refused any Of the privileges e
gally and constituonally pertaining to Representa-
tive Of the People. In other States, only certificate
Of the Governor necessary and there, such
uhcate had power to confer like exemption, and n-
vest with like privileges, until its validity was de-
stroyed by some authority competent to destroy It,
Inc laws OF New Jersey hau prescrlned Inc form OF
commissions: and commission Of the commanders Of
our Army Navy etiectually invested their ho
ders with their respective offices, than did this com
mission to members of Congress Now, the body
here present consisted Of men who had concern in
this matter-they were bound to notice it, and must
at their peril, observe who declared members Of
record: And all action Of persons everywhere, touch
ing the whole matter mus, be governed IN like manner
The evidence required by law must everywhere receive
credence Some had already been admitted on this
very evidence; aud he could not for his life how
Others producing the very could be rejected If
no claim had been advanced, the case might be diff
ferent; but claim had been openly up and he did
not know how il TO be refused.
Mr.. FILLMORE appealed to all gentlemen around