The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-02-11
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY IL, 1859.
rno JOint Convention.

70 rsa wsll that the 'joint convention" OF
-. two Houses OF Congress for
s0vrt,uO the Electoral vote did not
vaaaardsy afternoon comply with the re-
Susat Of Mr.. Wade, and after accomplishing
Aha business which brought 1t together, with
draw In A body to the Senate Chamber II
Cn,araI Butler had been carried over to the
sthsr wing of the Capitol, without chance
tor an appeal a scene would have there been
s,,e,ad which would assuredly have been
without a parallel in the history OF the Senate,
fairly riyalling, if not surprising, the "oontu-
s,on vorse oonfounded" which marked the
proceedings OF the joint convention Am'os'
all this confusion and wrangling, but QUE
eo;nt stands out 80 clearly that we can
grasp II without misapprehension, and that ia
the point laid down by Speaker Coltax, during
the debate in the House subsequent to the ad-
iournment of the joint convention, 70 the
sffsot that In such body as the LATTER no
appeal can be taken from decision OF the
Chair. When Mr.. Wade made this ruling he
did the only sensible thing that we can lay to
his credit. But he did it so bunglingly, 80
obstinstely, and prefaced 1t by such ridiculous
blunders, that IL is not matter OF surprise to
End General Butler and large majority OF the
House in arms against it. The fact that no
suoh appeal can be taken, however, shows
how defective is the parliamentary law bear
ing upon the point. II the concurrent resolu-
tion Of February s had not been in
Soroe. and member OF the House
had objected to the counting of the vote of
Georgia. being sustained in that objection by
the unanimous vote OF the House, mr. Wade
could have called the joint convention to
order after the question had been under con-
sidsration in the two houses separately, and,
declaring that the Senate had decided that the
vote should be received, could have ordered
the tellers to count it, without any remedy on
the part Of the House or the country, although
ths counting OF this vote might have been one
0f the grossest and most outrageous frauds
ever perpetrated upon the rights OF fret
people. still more extreme case would b,
possible. If both the Seuate and the Hous
had declared in the most emphatic manne
that the vote of Georgia should be excluded
ss the rules of Congress now stand, Mr.. Wad
could still have ordered the tellers to receiv
and count the vote, and there would hav
been no remedy.
With these contingencies in mind, Genera
Battle. was certainly justifsble in making a,
effort to assert the rights of the House in tn
joint convention; but whether he was just
fable in fulfilling his threat to snake
noise" and in fulfilling 1t in the manner an
at the time which he selected, is anothe
question, and one Of considerable gravity
The truth Of the whole matter was that Mr.
Wade found himself a mere pigmy when Gsne
raj Butler took him in hand; and to his alter
mating hesitancy and stubbornness are to b
asOribed the disgraceful scenes which oharac
tsrized the proceedings of the join
convention yesterday. II Speaker Colfa
had been in the chair, the country would hav
been spared the shame which has been brough
upon it, and although he occupied in the join
convention the position of simple member @
the House, he deserves the credit of having a
last brought order out of chaos by instructin
the Sergeant-at-A Arms of the House to arres
any member who refused to submit to th
order of the joint convention. We congratulat
the country on the fact that no such spectacl
as that witnessed in Washington yesterda
afternoon can again be enacted until for
years more have elapsed. In the meantime
is to be hoped that Congress will remedy IL
defects in the rules governing it's joint GO
vention, in suoh way as to prevent the pc
ability Of its occurrence then or thereafter.
The AxOic Age--A Curious Resemblan