Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1869-02-18
COUNTING TIE ELECTORAL VOTE,
Contest over the Vote Of Georgia.

he W hehiNlNfn correspondents ~
tho New York World gives a graphic
description OF the proceedings OF the
Senate and House Of Representatives
when in Joint Convention for the pur.
pose of counting the votes ard declar-
ing the result of the last Presidential
election, from which we make the
following extracts;
The votes of the States then pro
ceeded in reading till that of Georgia,
purposely put last, was reached. AT
this stage Of the proceedings General
Butler presented written objection
of four counts against the vote of that
State being counted. The objections
alleged no fair election and incomplete
reconstruction. The objections were
read, and then began the scenes which
make to-day commemorative OF the
disgrace Of the country and Of the
rupture of the Radical party. When
the objections had been heard, Mr..
Wade decided that, under the rule
agreed to the other day, the objections
were out of order, as it was concur
rently provided that Georgia was to
be counted alphabetically Butler
insisted that his objections went be-
yond the rule, and he demanded the
retirement of the two houses for de-
liberation. At this point Ben Wade,
with most Pickwickian innocence, said
that it was agreed that if the vote of
Georgia did not change the result, il
should be read, but that if it did change
the result, then the vote should not
be read. AL tins every one jeered and
laughed for five minutes in the most
boorish and understandable manner,
and Mr.. Wade was the object of De-
mocratic sympathy and Radical rage
all over the chamber. Seeing the
storm which his bull had invoked, Mr..
Wade abruptly ordered the Senate TO
retire to consider Buffers objections,
and thus stultifed his ruling that they
were out of order. Tho House, then
left to ITSELF decided by vote of $50
to Al, that the vote of Georgia should
be rejected The Senate sat for forty
minutes, and Mr. Wade was utterly
incompetent to stop the debate on the
Georgia case, which the joint rulo for
bids to be INDUCED. Every Senator
had something to say ard said it, and
the Senate drifted as q vessel which
bad lost its helm, Mr.. Wade all the
time feebly rapping bis toy gavel for
order. At last tho Senate, by a vote
of 81 to 20, decided that the objections
of General Butler were out OF order
under the rule providing that the vote
of Georgia be alphabetically counted.
Butler. meantime, had come over to
the Senate TO see what was doing, and
he accompanied the Secretary to the
House, when the latter announced
what the Senate bad done.
Then the Senate returned to the
hall of the House, and Mr.. Wade,
assuming the chair, declared that, all
the votes having been counted, the
tellers must announce the result. II
was thus seen that the Senate was
bent on over-slaughing altogether the
dictum of the House. that the vote Of
Georgia should not be counted The
House had decided ono thing the
Senate had decided that the House
had no right to decide that one thing;
the President Of the Senate was in the
House to enforce this ruling of the
Senate, and the House was there TO
speak and act for itself and in behalf
of its own views. So soon as Wade
declared that the tellers must read
the total vote, General Butler rose to
n point of order, that the House had
decided that the vote of Georgia
should not be counted, and he asked
the Chair to pass upon that point Of
order, and direct that the Senate retire
to consider it. Butler spoke with
great noise and emphasis. Thunders
of "Question," "Question," "Order,"
"Mr. President" "Mr. Speaker"
"Question," responded through the
House, while the galleries took up the
sounds and sent them back with audi
bic comments and contemptuous laugh
ter aud jeers. In the midst of all this
Babel and hell let loose the tenuous
treble Of Wade was heard declining to
receive Buffers question of orGer.
Butler hurled back from the very
depths of his throat, 81 appeal from
the decision" Wade refused to enter
tain the appeal. Then Butler bowled
out Of his seat into the aisle, deliber-
ately rolled up his cuffs, threw back
his head, and was regarded by the
House as the East Indian regards his
idol-they knew that he was ugly, but
felt that he was great. In a few words
of intense bitterness he called on the
House TO sustain the representatives
of the people against being trampled
on, and he looked tho very incarna-
tion Of hate, spite, and malice, though
perfectly cool withal. The scene az
this point battles description. A hun.
dred men were on their feet, hun. |
dred tones Numbered at old Ben.
Wade; as many more hallooed at
Butler; the House was frantic, and
Butler and Wade were the personal
devils who bad invoked and we're try.
ing to ride the storm into directly |
courses. The contagion of
revoltsrread. Ingersoll Farnsworth, |
Kelly, Washburne, Van HON, (Mo.,) |
Banks, Shellabarger, Pike, Boutwell,, |
Lynch, Judd, Jones, Eldridgo, Wood. |
ward, and scores of others, were on
their feet yelling discordantly, and |
demanded "question" with one breath |
and "order" with the next. Wade |
was nowhere lie was an atom hurI. |
ed by hurricane. The gavel with |
which he pounded made no noise, and |
was only little hammer shaken
against a mighty tempest. At this
point voice deeper than all the noise.
q voice profound as the bass of Beech
ors big organ, voice pitched in the
Iono Of command, rose upon aud fairly
the House TO silence. With !
hat voice, which was the poetry Of
he Philadelphia convention, Senator
Doolittlc demanded that tho votes be
'ead, and, Wade fell back as suddenly