The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1877-07-19
No. As

| At ieast As poLenIlat aS that or the
Senators; and 10 was not supposed
that the House would suffer O fraud
80 glaring as this to be thrust down
I the throat of the country "againsE the
stomach Of itS sense." Bnt ifthe two
bodies would declare inconsistent re"
snlts of the count, and proclaim the
election of different Presidents q.
state of things might come which
would subject our institutions TO o.
strain severe enough to endanger
them greatly. 1t was in these diff
cult circumstances that mixed CONF
mission of fifteen was proposed, con-.
sisting of the five Senators, five Rev
presentatives, and five Judges of the
Supreme Court. The mode of ap-
pointing them made it certain that
fourteen would be equally divided
between the parties; and as the fifth
Judge would be named by the con
sent Of his brethren on both sides, he
might be expected to stand between
them, like daysman, with hand as,
heavy on one head as the other. -
The Democrats consented to this in
the belief that no seven Repub~
licans could be taken from the court
or Congress who would swear to- de.
eide the truth and then uphold O.
known fraud; if mistaken in that
opinion Of their adversaries' honesty.
they felt sure, ct all events, that the
umpire would be q fair-minded man.
They wore bitterly disappointed; the
commission went eight to seven for
the great fraud and all it's branches:
} for fraud in the detail and in the ag-
: gregate; for every item of fraud that
was necessary to make the sum total
big enough-eight to seven all the
= time. '.'. '5.
1T REFUsEs TO DO IT'S EUTY.
We must look at the state of the
case as it went before the commits
sion. Tilden and Hendricks had 184
electoral votes clear. and free of all
dispute, one less than O majority of
the whole number. They also had
in Louisiana eight and In Florida
four, appointed by the people, but
falsely certified to Hayes and Wheel
er by the Governors. in Oregon
they had one certified by the Gov
ernor, but against whom a popular
majority had been cast for an ineligi.
bic candidate. To elect Hayes it was
necessary that each and every one Of
these thirteen votes should be taken
from Tilden and given to Hayes. AS
this required many distinct rulings
based upon contradictory grounds,
the path of tho commission was not
only steep but crooked. ... .. .
The great and important duty cast
upon the commission by q speciaI
law and by special oath of each
member was to decide, In the case OF
contested votes from State, "wheth~
or any and what votes from suclE
State are the votes provided for by
tho constitution of the United States
and how many and what persons
were duly appointed electors in such
State" 1t is not denied that the sole
power of appointing electors for the
States of Louisiana and Florida is i'm
the people. 1t was then and still is
an admitted fact that the people had
exercised the power of appointment
in the prescribed and proper ways
they did duly make an appointment,
of electors, and their act was duly
recorded, and SO made perpetual
memory. This thing was not 'donc
in corner;" it was "seen and known
of all men," That each of the two
States named had duly appointed
Tilden electors at regular election
called for that purpose ON the 9Th Of
November, in pursuance of law, was
a part of their history as much as the
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