The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-02-14
UNITED STATES CONGRESS-.
Senate.

Senate.
The members of the special committee of
seven appointed to devise means for a satlstac-
tory count of the electoral votes entered the
Senate chamber. Mr.. Edmunds Qtcp.), of Yer
mont, the chairman of that committee, said:
/ an directed. Mr.. President, by the select
committee raised under the resolution of the
Senate OH the subject of counting the electoral
vote. to submit . report in writing, with an &C
complaining bill. The report is signed. am
happy to say. by all the members of both COM
mittccs. with one exception and all that l wish
to say on this occasion-aftcr stating that
we desire to take it up at the earliest possible
day, possibly on Saturday, but certainly on
Monday, to press it to a determination IN some
form steadily from that day fOrth-ls that the
committee are of opinion that the measure we
recommend is not what is called n compromise
in any sense of the term, but is a measure in aid
of the exercise of constitutional government.
and that in no sense of the term will ANYBODY
have a lust right to say that anybody's opinions
or views have been surrendered i'll any slbstan-
tial respect. 1t is not n measure of policy or
continuance. but a measure OF constltutlonal
justice for the preservation OF the peace ana
order of the government.
The report of the committee and the accom-
panying bill was then read by the chief clerk,
and it was ordered that they be printed. The
report is signed by George D. Edmunds, Fred
crick D. Frclinchnvscn. Roscoe Conkling. A. Il.
Thurman. r. I. Bayard and NJ. ". Ransom ON
the part of the Senate, Mr.. Morton being the
only one who declined to sign it. On the part
of the House of Representatives IT was SiSncd
bv the seven members. namely: IL. Il. Payne,
E;mpN Hunton, \. S. Hewitt, W. NJ. Springer.
+ George W. McCrecry. George F. Hoar and
George Willard. After the report had been
read. the bill WAS read a second time by title
and placed on the calendar. =.
In n discussion on the Louisiana question
Mr.. Bogv CDcm.) of Missouri, made charges
against Gov. Packard which were appIIaudcd by
the galleries. and these were at once cleared by.
the sergcant-at-arms Mr.. Sherman CRep.l !, OF
Ohio. and Morton Tep.), of Indiana. sustained
Gov. Packard.
THE COMPROMISE ELECTORAL BILL"
In the Senate Mr.. Edmunds (Rep.). of Ner-
mont. made the opening speech on the tlll Tor
counting the electoral vote, or; as II Is now
known, the Compromise bill. The galleries OF
the Senate chamber were crowded and every
, senator in Washington was present III his seat.
The speech was listened to with strict attention.
The speaker entered upon an explanation OF
fine several provisions of the bill, describing
! them at some length. He made all onset against
the allegation Of the right of the presldelt.o1
the Senate to exercise Judicial power Ill the
counting of the vote, and his denunclatlon OF
those who alleged this right was strong. Ills
oint against those who declare the bill uncol-
stitntional was this: That there is not a single
section of the Constitution, save one, which has
enforced itself without Congressional Hesitation.
The excepted section is the one which rccoG-
nizcd slaves as property. and IN notable case
cited by the speaker, this CONSTITUTIONAL pro.
vision was decided by the supreme court
TO allow a master to recover q slave
rs propcrtv wherever he could find him.
Is TO the matter of precedent, the senator de-
clarcd that i'm point of fact the votes had been
connted by tcllcrs at the clerks desk after each
Presidential election for a period of forty years.
No such crisis as this had ever arisen o neccssl-
tate the action of Congress III the matter, anu
the Congress was now called on to exercise q
right which had merely lain dormant. lie
urged senators neither to stimulate doubts Ill
their OWN minds nor to let their wishes ontrun
their deliberate judgments, and eXhortcd the
chamber. in behalf of the country. not to leave
it in danger of tossing anarchy, resembling
mountains tumbling cvermole into seas without
n shore. -,
Mr.. Morton (Rcp.), of Indiana, followed Mr..
Edmunds III the discussion. MIR. Morton was
the only member of the Conference committee
that did not sign the rerort and he did not
make a minority report. He spoke i'll opposi-
ton to the bill. He knew that there was great
uneasiness in the country and apprchcnslons
are felt of violence. The bill, he declared, was
presented for the reason that members OF the
two houses believed that danger threatened the
country. He did not believe in the reality OF
the danger. The real danger to be appre-
hcnded was in not standing up and doing our
whole'dutv. For one he was not afraid that If
this vote should be counted as it was for the
first scvcntv-two years III the history OF our
government there will be any revolution. He
believed that any one who attempts it will be
utterly destroyed. He regarded the bill as a
compromise, and that it should take its place
alongside the notable compromises i'll the his
tory of the Countrywide compromise OF 1920
and the compromise of 1850. He believed that
rutherford i. Hayes was fairly elected
President. and if counted in he would be
inauguratcd without violence and there
! would be no revolution. He closed abruptly
after holding the floor only fifty minutes. MIR.
Norton maintained that i'll the absence of lcgls-
lation the president of the Senate must count
the votes to prevent a deadlock. He did not
hold that this power should be exercised III OPP
position to the will of the vol houses, but its
exercise he held to be 10 more of q usurpatlon
than had been committed in every count down
to the adoption of the twenty-second joint rule.
Ills chief objection to the bill was that it gives
the commission power to go behind the re-
turns and ascertain what electors were duly ap-
pointed, which he held to be unconstitutional,
and regarded besides as q change OF the exist
ing status in favor of the Democrats. Mr.. Ere
lingluuvscn Qtep.), of New Jersey, followed Mr..
! Morton in q written speech III favor OF the bill.
| He denied that it gave the commission power TO
90 back of the papers submitted to 1t to see
how returning boards performed their duties.
Here were two diverse Republican opinions at
the outset as to the most important feature OF
| the measure. Mr.. Cameron Qtep.). of Penn
s~vlvania, made Il five minutes speech against
the bill, dcnouncing it as q Democratic ahalr,
framed by three or four ltcpl1bhcans to Crafty
their political opponents. 1t created, he said,
n political court, to cheat one party or the other,
BY trick or lot. Mr.. Edmunds (Rep.), of Yer
| mont, declared that prompt action was neces-
sarv, and that he should push matters to n
vote.
MIR. Sherman (Rep.), Of Ohio, held the floor
for an hour. during which he delivered a speecE
against the Electoral bill. He Travelled over
the same ground traversed by Senator Morton,
and dwelt chiefly on the points assailed by the
Indiana senator. He maintained that the Con-
stitution clothed the president of the Senate
with the mower to count the electoral votes,
and asserted that the Legislature proposed by
the conference committee of the two houses
was not ONLY unconstitutional but antagonistic
to the spirit of orr government. What the
president of the Senate lid was i'll the presence
and under the scrutinizing gaze OF the repre-
| seutativcs of the States and the people, III open
! dav and with the ewes of the nation upon him.
willie the homogeneous tribunal created under
the provisions Of the proposed bill would sit Ill
secret and. unseen by mortal eye. pass judg-
ment that concerned the veal or woe of forty
millions of people and thi. Judgment. after all,
wuuld be but the opinion of one man. tile NTH
Judge. who would doubtless have to be selected
by lot by his four colleagues OF the supreme
bench designated by the bill: .
Mr.. Conkling Q'cp.), of New York, spoke at
length in favor of the bill. He attacked the
assumption that the Vicc-rresident had or was
intended Ey the trainers of the Constitution to
have any power whatever III regard to the
electoral vote, except to open the certificates,
and abiding to the language of the Constitn,
ton which says that "t!'e president OF the
Senate shall open the electoral certificates and
they shall then be counted" he turned aside,
and, with one hand outstrctchcd to the sena-
tors, the other stretched TOWARD the presidents
chair. exclaimed "By him " in a tone which
set the galleries tluttcring. "1f it had been
intended that the vote should be counted by
him. those two little words" said he.
"as two senator's have said before nc.
would have expressed that intention"
SIS a President, then, to be chosen. asked Mr..