The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-02-11


i action of the Senate; and then, at :IO, TN
/ Senate again proceeded TO the hall OF In
Honse- at 4: 4:A5the Senate returned TO tn
Senate Chamber.
Il Morton offered a resolution appointing
a member OF the Senate TO be, with two
1 a Joint comm ittees OF three 10 wait ON Gen
/ eraI Grant aud Schuyler COlfaX and in
1 form them of their election as President
and Vice 2. esident respectively. Adopted
The Chairappointed MorganaS the Sen
ate member OF the committee.
| Sherman moved to take up the Cur
| rency Bill, but Chandler objected, and, on
his motion, the Senate adjourned.
HOUSEs............WA WAsHINGToN Feb. 10.
| This being the day when the formaIity o.
| counting the electoral votes for President
and Vice President takes place Ia the
| House, there was a great pressure TO OBJ
| tain seats in the galleries. Long before
noon every position IN those parts Inat
were open to the public was occupied The
door ways were blocked mp and the corri-
| ders thronged with persons seeking to
/ gain admittance. Many ladies occupied
places in the gentlemen's gallery. Two
| rows or seats in the ladies' gallery on the
| south side were reserved for the families OF
the president and vice PRESIDENT. Ine
| southwest gallery was occupied exclusively
| by ladies of families of members ana SEN
ators. There were only some half dozen
persons in the diplomatic gallery. But
! very few cOlored persons were present n o
[ special arrangements were made in the
I Hall for the accom- nj odatfon of Senator'S
/ the Intention being to let them occupy
the seats of members nearest the Speaker S
chair.
The PROCEEDINGS openedIwIth prayer by
Farnswortfi obtained the consent of the
House to have ladies admitted 70 the cloak
/ room. The practical event OF it was to
have the spaces in the hall outside OF the
range of the members chairs Immediately
|. occupied by ladies, and in many Instances
| to have the chairs OF members so occu-
pied.
sol saip fV1crf no inform
Senate that the House was in session, and
ready to receive that body, for the purpose
| of proceeding to open the votes OF the
| Electors of the several States for Presi-
dent and Vice President
/ The New York and Washington Rail-
road bill came up as the first business IN
Phelps moved to lay it on the table.
| NegatiVed-62 to Ill.
Further proceedings were interrupted by
the proximity OF the hour for joint meet
ing, and the Speaker had the rule read
/ which regulates the arrangement of The
hall for such purposes. The dOor-keeper
ANNOUNCED the Senate of the United
States. The Senators advanced two by two
up the main aisle, the members of the
House standing meanwhile, an took seats
in the portion of the bali assigned them.
senateU1foox s tiIes spea Eeris chair ana the
Speaker took a chair beside him.
saenator Conkling and Representa-, ives
Allison, OF iowa, and Prnyn, of New York,
occupied places at tho Clerks desk as
telleIs.
iers the electoral vote of New Hampshire
open. Senator Conkling read the certifh
cate In full; the IeSulf being that New
HanIlshEre had given for u 5 Grant of
Illinois, five votes tor President; for Schuy-
Ter ColfaX. Of Indiana, hVe votes Tor VICE
senator Sumner and Representative
WashbuFne. Of llltnt is, rose at the same
moment and addressed the Chair.
. Tne Presiding OGicer-If there he no
objection the reading of the formal certtf-
ficeies will be omitted unless required by
some member.
Srfnner-I was going to make that
nIOLfon.
next announced by senator Conkling, anu
the votes of Rhode Island and Mime
sent,,tiv., Wilson, 81 low, for Grant & Col-
fax. The vote of New Ork was then au-
announced by Representative Prnyn, as
thirty three for HoraIIo seymour, Ot New
York. for President, and Francis +. Blair,
Jr., of Missouri. for Wee President.
The announcement seemed to cause con-
siderable amusement on the floor and IN
the galleries, but there was no violation
of prOprlety-nothtng but very palpable
suppression of u tendency to in'sulge in n
lsiIgh. The vote OF New Jersey was next
announced by Representative Pruyn-1 for
seymour and Blair- The vote OF Pennsyl-
Conkling -28 for Grant and CoI'aX. The
votes OF delaware (D and Maryland C)
were announced by Representative Pruyn |
--aII for Seymour and Blair. In the certi- |
ficate from Mary land there was an Onils- |
zion III tie Vynrl funior" In the name OF |
Mr. Blair, which OmisstOn, on its being
made known, caused daughter. Repre-
sentative Wood appealed TO the Char to
preserve order in the assembly. The votes |
of NoriJl. (saroIina 90 aud South Carolina |
(G) were need aifhOanced py Wilson as be-
ing given for Grant and ColfaX The vote
of K en- lucky (ll) was announced by Pruyn
for Seymour and Blair The votes of Ten
nessee (IO) and Ohio cd were announced
bv Wilson for Grant and COiIaX.
Tine Ieresitling officer having handed to !
the teller the vote OF Louisiana, Represcn- |
tatiYe Mullins rose and said:
Mr. Presldent-I ask the reading OF the |
Certificates accompanying that report
Ths Presiding Officer-Let IL be read.
TN. credentials of Louisiana were read |
hv Pruvn. ~The word unior was omitted |
Ia the name of Mr.. Blair, and the word
States is omitted in the term u Unlle9 states
The credentials having been read, Mullins |
Mr. President-I object to the counting
of The votes from the state OF louisiana
The Vice President dIrecied the readlng
of the I'D Joint Rule, which ProVlles tnaI
when in joint convention any question
shall arise in reference to the counting OF !
yotes the Senate shall thereupon Wlth' |
draw and the question be guDmllIed 10
that body for ltS qee1Sto, i.nd se ssIi in
like manner submit the question 10 the
House =,
sisted that the rule was in violation of the |
direct terms OF the Constitution, and he |
called attention to the 18th Amendment.
Tine provisions of the Constitution was |
that Inc President OF the Senate should, in
the presence of the Senate and House OF
RanTesent tatives. open all the certificates. |
and that the votes should then pc counIeu-
The Presiding officer : THIS rg e has been
adoDfed by both Houses, and therefore the |
Chair will not entertain the question OF
order. : o,1a~
which think will be entertained. sub
init that the objection coming from the
gentleman from Tennesse e does not raise
Tne question contem plated by that rule
There must he some SPECIFIC ObJecGi'll
made, and until some specific objection be
made; there Is no occasion for the SENATE
The presiding officer-It will be observe d |
that the rule says that If any question
1or it, hardly appears to the Chair TO be q
reason, the reason VIII 70 stated IA writ
ing so that the Chair may know what 1t Is.
Washurne, of Illinois, hope the gem
tleman from Tennessee viii! Withdraw his
objection.
Sllmner-I would Inquire of The Chair
whether we cannot pass over the count OF
Louisiana informally, and proceed with
the est of the count?
Representative Wood-Go on regularly,
Mr. PresIdaIlf tE#A E@NEHE 7a
The Presiding ofIicer-No debate is in
order until the reason for the objection Is
presented.
Senator SaulSDufy-1 call Tor Sne reason
of the objection. tFrf LWE n
Some moral suasIon was In the mean
time being brought to bear ON Mullins to
induce him to Withdraw his objection, but
he sternIy refused to Withdraw 1t. "a formal
objection having been furnished by hlm,
II was read at the Clerks desk as follows:
- L object to any count of the votes certi-
fed from the State of Louisiana, and L
raise fhe question in relation 10 il that no
valid election of Electors for President aud
Vice President of the United States has
been held in said State"
The Presiding Officer-Objection being
male The senate will retire LO its cham lDer
and deliberate on the objection according
TO the rules.
The Senators then, at half-past one, re-
tired 10 the senate Chamber amid cOnsid-
erabIe excitement and confusion.
The Speaker having called the House to
order, had the tweniy-second joint resOlu-
tIon read aud said the QUESTION was,
"ShaiI the vote of Louisiana he cOunted:"
Washburne. of IlIinOiS-IS IT, la order to
i.,. Iii i1,aA on the LalAlR9