Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1877-02-01
A GREAT DAY IN oUn HISTORY.

II 10 . great day 81 he National Capt..
tai. Warrington IL nrisd With ssranssrs
Who have iocksd thithsr 10 b present
at the opening and counting Of the cleo
torl votes. and the declaration BY the
President Of The Senate Of Who has been
elected President. II Il. in soms TO
spects. the most important day that hAs
daxnsd on the American Rspsblio since
Il aut bant the shscklss Of fsrsign
tyranny and sprsns into e~xistsnos - .
new and frss nation. Upon The events
Of to-day and the succeeding days until
the count 10 finished and the result de-
clarsd. dspsnds the peace and harmony.
aud. perhsps. the very psrPstuity Of
the union. There will b bitter strug-
gle for supremacy between the two par.
ties; ths parliamentary and legal battles
which are TO be fought viii Be sharp and
acrimonious; yet from all the turmoil
aud disssntion We fOndly hope TO pluck
p ace and prosperity for at lssst four
years more. The two parties have
agreed to compromise; they have CON-
promised. unvissly as We think. butstill
the fact remains. And now the people
will demand and insist that the defeated
candidate accept the decision In good
faith, and retire ct ore and forever
from the contest In which hs has been
wontsd.
The n~sw.fanglsd machinery which Is
TO turn out . President for - Is OF 10
complicated . nature. that II Ia perhaps
advisable ON this day, when II Ii put In
motion for the first tims-and let US
hope. for the last tims-to explain its
workings. 90 that every reader may
thoroughly understand the proceedings
in Washington as they are t~elegnphed
from day to day. There seems to be a
widespread misconeeption in regard to
the nongrsl organization which will
noon pass into history ~ the "Unitsd
Siates--.C Congressional Judicial. Return
ing. Board Electoral. Commission" and
the powers and duties with which Il is
invested. II Ia not instituted. as many
suppose. to count the votes, but simply
to pass upon disputed points respecting
the returns Of two or three States. upon
which the result Of the election hangs.
The proceedings under the famous cOa''
promise bill will b. the following
Al 10 o'clock this morning the Senate
in n body proceeded to the hall OF the
House Of Representatives. Tho two
bodies there unite as a joint convention.
President Ferry Of the Senate In the
Chair. Tsllers had already been ap-
pointed by both houses. As soon a. the
convention was organized. Mr.. Ferry
proceeded TO open all the sealed snvel-
opss containing the certificates Of the
votes Of electors, or papers purpsrtine
TO DO such certificates. In opening the
envelopes tho States we're taken in
alphabetical order. beginning with Ala
hama. The certificates. n opened. are
handed 10 the ~t~ilers. Who the
contents to the Vice President. and he.
In turn. declares the vote Of the State to
the two Houses Of Congress.
The vote Of q State from which but
one return has been received. Is accept
sJ a. valid on its face. unless objection
In writing IL made to its reception. by
at least one Senator. and n Repressn-
tativs. II such objection Is made-say
90 the vote OF Nsvada-ths two Houses
will at onee separate. The Senate will
return 10 its chamber. and discuss the
objection. The House will also take
counsel on the matter. and unless both
bodies agree TO reject the vote Of the
State IL will b. counted. In the present
ciss. the House being Democratic, would
Of course never agree to throw out q re-
turn in favor Of Tildsn. and the Senate.
for the same political reason would never
consent to the rejection Of . vote for
Hayes. SO that practically the oper-
alton Of the hill In cases whore but one
return IL made amounts to nothing. and
Senators and Representatives will save
time and trouble by refraining from
making objections to the count OF such
r turns.
But there are States in which the
electoral vote Ia contested. and from
which returns e~lecting both Tildsn and
Hayes electors have been forwarded to
the President Ct the Senate. Il 10 to
pas upon the disputed elzims Of par.
ties. and decide which Of the two or
more return. is the legal one. and en-
titled 10 DO recognized. In cases Of this
kind. that the electoral commission is
s~ltablishsd. and Il 10 only over such cases
that they have any jurisdiction what
ever. The commission consists Of eight
Republicans and seven Democrats.
10 that the casting vote Is in the hands Of
the Republicans. II Is made mp by
Senators Ednunds. Morton. frsyli: &.
huyssn. Thurman. and Bayard. Repre-
4
~ssntativss Payne. Hunton. Abbott.
Hoar, and Garfield. aud Associate JUS
tices Clifford. Miller. Field. Strong. and
Bradley. To this Commission the re-
turns from the disputed STATES. with all
the papers relating I" them. are turned
over. II has power to examine wit
nessss. and depositions. and listen to
arguments on both sides. After care
fully considering the question before IL.
u vote In taken. and whichever return
receives the approval Of q majority Of
the members. will DO returned TO the
Joint Convention ss the valid return Of
the disputed State.
n