The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-02-11
TuE SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT.
ITS Adoption In the Senatc-WhAt #
Provides.
Mnnncr of Choosing T'rcsId entIal
RIectOEg.'

WASHINGTON, D. c., Feb. 8, 1860.
The longest and hardest struggle in
| Congress for many years came to an
end at a quarter before six this evening,
when the Senate took its final vote on
the pending constitutional amendment.
The session of last night began at o.
clock and continued sixteen and a half
hours, when half hours recess was
taken and then at noon another session
began and continued five and three
quarter hours. Mr.. Fowler spoke from
1920 last night till a littleaiter one this
morning, protesting to be an earnest
advocate of universal suffrage, and yet
denouncing the suffrage amendment in
the strongest terms. Arunning debate
of an hour followed, in which Messrs.
Hendricks, DOolittle, Morton, Whyte
and Drake were the chief speakers,
when Mr.. Davis, who had already spo-
ken four or five hours, got the floor
and talked for another hour. MIR.
Norton. the renegade Republican
six, and then from nine to ten.
Mr.. Wilson's brief speech soon after
daylight was unusually good. MIR.
Norton, after closing at six, disappeared
Tor an hour, and his manner while
speaking the second time seemed to in
dictate that he had been over TO the cor
ner restaurant for his breakfast. The
debate of this afternoon was in part
quite interesting, and some OF the brief
speeches were first rate. The Chinese
question got into the discussion, aud
for couple OF hours there was an eX-
cited wrangle, In which the Senators
from the Pacific slope said many hard
things about Burlingame's new fellow
citizens. The galleries were well filled
with spectators during the early part of
the evening. About one hundred re-
manned till eleven o'clock. AT mid
night the numbers had dwindled down
to six women ard thirty or forty men.
BY ono o'clock the women had all gone
home, and the occupants of the mems
gallery counted eighteen. AT daylight
this morning three white men and five
negroes were still looking down upon
the assembled Senate. These soon
went Off for breakfast, but by nine
and nj eleven o'clock there were
u hundred persons in attendance.
| This afternoon tho mems gallery
| was full and tho women's gallery about
une-third full. The long session on the
whole was very orderly. There was
some joking among members, but the
| Jokes were not of the smutty kind, COM
have sometimes been censured for in
toxicAtiOn were all in their places sober
enough 10 be members of Mr.. Wilson's
temperance society. Senators slept on
the lounges in the chamber and cloak
rooms good deal, and while Mr.. Nor
| ton made his first speech not moro than
| a dozen were at any time awake. The
| Sergea arms officers were alert,
| and whenever Il vote was called, thirty
| five or more members came docking in
| from the ante-rOOmS, answered crisply
! to their names, and then disappeared to
sleep. perchance to dream. Three or
the reporters kept at their seats and
worked in tho gallery, from first TO
last, doing when Fowler, Davis and
| Norton were sDeaking, und coming out
fresh and jaunty to night from the
twenty-second hours labor, as only
! Journalists to whom day and night are
rs one. Between midnight and the adj
| journment this evening the roll was
called twenty-fOur times. The joint
resolution was got out OF Committee OF
the Whole at 1870 this afternoon.
The suffrage proposition, rs adopted
| by thirty-one to twenty-seveE, was
moved by Mr.. Wilson, and declares that
mo discrimination shall be nude in the
United States among the citizens OF the
United States in the exercise of the
elective franchise, or in the right
to hold office in any State on
account of race, color, nativity, proper
ty, education or religious creed.
The amendment of Mr.. Morton, of
Indiana, providing for tho choosing of
Presidential electors by districts, which,
by the why, it was alleged, hast sup
port of General Grant, WIS first reject
ed by 20 to u, then adopted by ~ to 20,
and finally reailirmed by IS TO %. 4
good many Republicans were strongly
opposed to it, ard at one time it threat
ened TO swamp the suffrage clause. 1t
was not moved Till four O'Clock in the
afternoon, and very little time could be
given for debate thereupon. 80
Mr.. Summers bill got but nine votes,
namely: I;dmuEds, Mcdonald, Nye,
Ross, Sumber, Thayer, Wade, Wilson
cans are recorded against it. When
the final vote On the joint resolution
was reached, then came up sharp
struggle To get II seperate call on each of
the two propositions. (Wilsons and
MOrtOn's,) put Ar Wade ruled the mo-
ton out of order; several Senators
threatened to rotc against tho whole
thing rather than accept Mr.. MortOu's,
and for some minutes there was cOnsid-
erable private consultation. Had there
been two months n1OSe OF the session
defeat would have come, but every body
saw at this period of the winter it was
this or nothing, and so both PROPOSE
lions finally went through by 40 to I6,
the Republicans who voted i'll the neg
alive being Anthony, Corbett, E!-
nuns, Grimes and Sprague, aud those
present and not voting. or who lett only
few minutes before, so rs to avoid
voting, being Sumner, Trumbull, Fes-
sender, Howard and Frelin9huyseE.
There is good deal of talk this evening
as to what the House will do with the
joint resolution. The Morton article hus
not been discussed at all in that body,
and tine Wilson amendment contains q
clause which was rejected over there
by very decided majority. The whole
matter will probably have to go into
n HnnfQFnn0n Nsnf
be settled for some days.