Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1876-12-01
The Great Problem.

HeraM mus! be accepted as an ulierance Of
more than ordinary importance. The Herold
claims that, in view OF the intimate personal
friendship snbssting between Mr. Potter and
Mr.. Tiden as well as the distinguished ability
Of Mr.. Potter, he is "such man as Mr. Til
den would naturally select to be The exponent
of his views and purposes in matter which so
nearly concerns him and his party"
Briefly described, the letter of Mr.. Potter
consists OF n statement of what the advocates
of Mr.. Tilden can do, and what, in Mr.. Pot
ter's opinion, they ought to do, TO secure the
election of their candidate, in case the HAYES
electors should be declared elected and should
receive their certificates in South Carolina,
Florida and Louisiana, thus apparently giving
Governor Hayes the ls5 votes necessary TO Sc
cure his election.
| To begin with, Mr. Potter bases the proposed
action on his firm conviction that such an issue
of the elections in South Carolns, Florida and
Louisiana would be fraudulent. But rs to the
two former States he frankly says that the
electoral vote is so close that it may be sue
cessfully made TO appear as if given to Hayes
and Wheeler, when the count is conducted and
returned by Republican officials" Accord
| ingy he turns his attention TO Louisiana,
where he claims an 90 actual majority, as now
reported, Of 8099 for the Tilden electors"
reversal of which by the returning board
would be, he declares, a glarng illegal
ity, and violation of the will of the people
10 order io'prove this latter point, he goes
at length into the history of Louisiana politics
during the past four years, claiming that the
State is Democratic, and never in that period
has been made 10 appear otherwise, except by
| fraud. Assuming, therefore, that fraud will
be committed in returning the Hayes electors,
under the penary rcvisory power given by
the State laws TO the returning board, Mr..
Potter proceeds to discuss his proposed remedy.
lie says that when Congress meets, both
Houses will attend, TO perform their duties
refuse TO attend, in order to defeat the electoral
count, he dismiSses utterly absurd. The
President Of the Senate will open The electoral
returns, in joint convention, and. as the Con-
siituion says, the votes shall then be
counted
And here comes Mr.. Potter's first point
lie declares that the phrase "ihe votes shall
then be counted" evidently means that they
shall be counted as the two Houses shall d.
rect. He declares that had the Constitution
meant that the Vice-Prcsident should neces.
sa:ily count the votes it would have simply
oniI tta 81
all the certificates and count the votes" The
form actually prescribed is quite different;
and it seems to us Mr.. Fotter's point is well
taken.
Next, Mr.. Potter goes on to cite n great
many instances in which the two Houses have
heretofore effectually directed the Vce-Pres-
dent what TO do about counting electoral votes,
and in which he has obeyed their mandates
That being established, Mr. Potter is ready for
his next proposition, which is that both Houses
must concur in any such directions as to the
counting; and he quotes Mr.. Clay as saying
that if one House should say that the vote
ought 10 be counted and the other that it
ought not, the vote would be LOST This
This point is elaborated with much detail and
many citations, aud it is argued that no joint
rule now existing allows either House to act
against the concurrence of the other
That being the condition of matters, Mr..
Potter then maintains that tbe Lower House,
which has Democratic majority, ought to
decline to receive and count the vote of Louis
lana. To support this action by precedent he
uOtps TINT in 1897 tho tuo IJousao tool, nat;oo
that the meeting of electors of Wisconsin had
been prevented by storm on the day required
by law and directed the vote to be separately
counted. In 1872, on the objection of Mr. |
George iloar, that Mr.. Greeley was dead and
had died before the electoral college of Georgia
meaning OF the Constitution, this being his
toric fact, Of which the two Houses may prop |
erly tnke notice. the votes of Georgin, cast |
for Greeley, were rejected. AT the same time
the Senate refused to receive or consider an
amendment declaring "that the function of
the two Houses was ministerial merely, and
independent of the question of the effect of the
vote"
Mr.. Potter, however, suggests device |
which would enable the House, he thinks, to
carry ITS point. lie says that even if the re- |
turning board in Louisiana returns the Hayes |
electors as elected and the Governor should |
give them their certificates, the Tilden electors
may get certificate of their appointment
from Governor McEnery, and meet aud vote
for Tilden and certify their votesn Then, he |
says, there would be n disputed election, and |
the House would insist that the vote of the |
Tiden electors should be counted, while the |
Senate might insist that the vote of the Hayes |
electors should be counted Even if both were
Mr.. Tilden would be elected but
The only legal result would be, says Mr. Potter
that neither vote could be counted and, Louis
lana thus losing her vote, Mr.. Tilden would
be President by 1874 votes to 1T for Mr..
Hayes
We presume that the Republicans will argue
that no such State authority is recognized by
Congress as Governor McEnery, aud that the
only recognized governor is Kellogg who also
alone has possession of and is entitled TO use
the State seal. Mr.. Potter, however, strongly
insists that the House could sufficiently take
knowledge of any formal protests of fraud to
at least refuse TO acknowledge the returns
made under the certificate of Governor Kel-
logg. Or, finally, should it be held by the
House that there is no election at all, then Mr..
Potter maintains that it will be lis immediate