Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-12-07

5lE f&f ,.iuu3 lt'HsE IS EIa!'3Aa. u *
Bayonet House to order with q rap Of 1th'
gavel and said: II hold in my hand an off
cial list of the determination Of the State
board Of canvassers of those legally elected
members to the House Of Representatives o.
South Carolina. Members will answer t
their names" ~ 2'~''s 9 5''''t
The roll was then called. From the Demo
cratic counties no voice was heard, and from
the Republican counties fifty.nine answered
to their names, Mi. Reedish, of Orangeburg
alone being absent, Of the sixty Republican
members elected. He, it is said, voted fol-
Gen. Hampton at the election, and rather
than pass under the Federal bayonets and be
captured by the gang within the Hall of Rep
resentatives, he refused to- join them, and
Joined the Democrats. Jones said: "Fifty
nine members have answered to their names
One hundred and sixteen members have been
chosen, Of which fifty mine is a quorum, and
the House is now prepared to proceed to busi
ness" ''S@-'t ~. ''s','' i.' .t' % .'@''
The first thing in order being the election
of Speaker, E. w. M. Mackey and MAJ
Meyers, colored, of Beaufort, were nominated
for the position. After speeches from two OF
three Of the negroes on these nominations, the
vote was taken, and the clerk declared that
Mackey had received 81 votes and Meyers 2
and announced that Mackey was duly elected
Speaker of the House. In this little proceed
ing was fairly exposed the important position
of the clerk. John Lee, of Chester, declared
to me- and to others, that he had not voted at
all, which would have made the vote cast 5S,
which, according to their own estimate, is no
quorum. Notwithstanding this, Jones de,
clared that the whole vote cast was 59. Lee
was told by Radical, at the reporters table,
that he had committed himself, and he then
tried TO deny what be had said. = '>...
Mackey was then wornin, and made lit,
tie speech, in which he prated about the criti'
cal condition Of affairs in the State, and the
grave responsibility that he had resting on his
shoulders. Hesaid that he would always aim
to act with fidelity to- the State, and with i'm
partial justice tt" every man in the House,
without respect to party. ..E' : -. &. .',.'
Then came the work of swearing in the
directed to the appearance of the miserable
body endeavoring. by the aid Of Federal bay
onets, to usurp the government and place at
defiance the Constitution of the State they,
one BY one, swore to uphold. Ofthe So mem.
bers constituting themselves a quorum, B
alone are white men. --i'.' 1'
"a. o. Jones was then nominated for clerk
ofthe House, and, having no opposition, was
elected-so Mackey said. Henry Daniels
(ceiored) was elected sergeaut-at-arlns and
w. r. Marshall reading clerk. - ... -
A message was then sent to the Senate, IN
forming that body that the House was legally
organized and ready to proceed to business
A return message was received from: the Sen
ate, recognizing the organization Of the House
and declaring that the Senate was organized
aud had appointed Whittemore, Green and
Swails as committee to join the House com
mittee to wait upon the Governor and inform
him that the General Assembly was organized
and ready to receive any information from
him. Palmer, Myers, Vanderpool, Ferriter
and Reed were appointed on the part of the
House to join the Senate committee.
Straker, of Orangeburg, wanted to know
under what authority the House had been or
ganized, and thought it proper that the infor.
nation be furnished the members. The rev
olutionary manner in which the whole pro-
ceeding had been conducted evidently struck
this Bermuda negro with some force. Mackey
then described the extraordinary position in
which they found themselves, and after he
got through it looked very much like put.uE
Job between Straker and himself to keep uF
the courage of the crowd. The chair, he said
"concurred with the ruling of the clerk, thai
6fty.nine members constituted quorum ano
is sufficient for the organization of the House
Section IA, Article 81 of the constitution o.
South Carolina declares that each house shall
Judge of the qualification of its own members
and that the majority Of each house shall con
stitute a quorum to do business. In the Con
stitution of the United States there is SINH
lar clause. So that the Constitutions of the
State and the United States both fix as quo
rum majority of its members. We contend
that the majority of members chosen constitute
q quorum. Fifty.niie is majority of the
members chosen to this House; the House
having no notice whatever that any members
were chosen from the counties of Edgefelo
and Laurens, the whole number chosen being
one hundred and sixteen, and fifty.nine is s
majority of this. This is our position. ",t...
Thos. Hamilton, Of Beaufort, then made 8
speech Of some length, in which he said he
was Republican, but was disposed to see
that justice was done to all parties. Under
the Constitution of the State every county in
the State was entitled to representation, and
he held that it was the duty of the House to
decide, before they did anything affecting the
interests of the people, whether the Republi
can or Democratic delegations from Edge6eld
and Laurens are to be admitted. IF the peo
pie of these counties are to pay taxes and be
subject to the laws ofSouth Carolina, they are
part of the State and are entitled to represen'
tation. He further held that the election OF
Speaker and other officers was illegal, as il
was proceeding affecting every county of the
State, two counties Of which had been denied
voice. Hamilton's speech was a bombshell
and Straker Immediately took issue with him
All that they were doing, he said, was all right
and he cited the case of Pinchback to show
that Louisiana senator had been denied ad
mittance in the Senate of the United States
Hamilton still held his ground and contended
that this was no precedent where county OF
State had been denied some representation
and while one of the Louisiana senators had
been excluded, the other was representing hel
in the nation. After further debate between
Straker and Hamilton, Meyers put an end tc
the matter by Offering the following resolution
p,eoI,eJ bot II n, ottors of contact ap6 nrotes
be referred to the committee on privileges and
election when appointed.
Mackey then appointed S. J. Keith, R. D
Gather, j. B. johnson, T. E. Miller, A. W
Curtis, W. H. Thomas and John P. Wander