The Jasper weekly courier., 1877-11-16

AsA6 VAekA NA AVNAA W4VNVe
a. s.ls"r ss .Ss ns.s t5s% M ss
He Voted In Favor Of Hayes, He 1Belieyes
shat Indfn was Legally Elected
4 :" M, ,lFromths New York snnl
The Hon. william strong, Of Pennsylva-
MIA, n ons of the Associate justices OF the
supreme Court ~ the Tnited States. He
was one Of the fifteen members who consti-
tuted the Electoral Commission through
whose astioh Ratherf0rd B. Hayes was lds,
clared - * -lected President Qf the United
Statess Had Judge Strong, as member Of
that Con missisn, voted the other way, Mr..
Hayes would have been excluded from the
Office Of President. IL Is therefore to the
vote o. Judge Strong that Mr.. Hayes owes
his Office. The Commission consisted Of fif-
teen, OF whom, leaving Judge strong In
were against him. The grand result de-
pended upon the way Judge Strong should
vote. Under these circumstances and with
such consequences hanging upon his vote,
Judge Strong made up his mind to vote for
Mr.. Hayes.
II now appears, howcver-and II appears
by letter under his own hand-that In ar
irving at this conclusion, Judge Strong was
governed by q strictly technical rule, and
that although he cast the determining vote
in favor OF Mr.. Hayes for President, he
does not believe, and never did believe, that
Mr.. Hayes was lawfully elected to that
office The view taken by Judge Strong
was that Congress had no right 70 inquire
into State elections for State electors; that
the Electoral Commission had no more pow
er than Congress had; and so he voted for
Hayes although he feared great icrong had
been perpetrdted blythe Louisiana Return-
ing Board.
All this fully appears in letter addressed
nv Mr. .Insftea IN nId al
friend OF his, the Hon. George w. Jones
Of Tennessee. This letter. being entirely
upon public question Of overshadowing
Importance, has been forwarded to lis by
Mr.. Jones for publication, and we print the
two letters, which are as follows, in full:
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. Oct. l6, 1877.
HON. CHARLES A. DANA Dear Sir; During
the sitting Of the Electoral Commission In
Washington last winter. wrote 70 Mr.. JUS
tice Strong OF the United States supreme
Court. and q member OF the Commission, with
whom had been associated formerly in Con
grcss, did not keep copy Of my letter; but
addressing him, wrote I'm substance as fol
lows
"when you and were In Congress together
you were 4 Democrat, and regarded ~ an
honest man. DO you believe that the people
of Louisiana elected or voted for the Hayes
electorsY'
enclose herewith copy OF Justice strongs
letter In response 10 mine. II you think his
letter worth the publishing you are az liberty
LIN my reply TO Justice strong's letter I
wrote by the Constitution of the United
states IL IL provided that Presidential electors
shall be appointed In such manner as shall be
by the State Legislatures; but the
returns Of the electoral votes are TO be open
sd In the presence OF the two Houses of Con
gress, and be then counted. Congress clearly
has the right to inquire and determine
whether or not the electors of the several
states had been appointed I'm the manner
prescribed by their respective States"
never write secrets nor keep copies of the
letters write. And do not believe that the
omcial acts OF public servants and the reasons
and secret Very respectfully yours,
G. w. JONES.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 1877.
THE HoN. GEORGE w. JoNEs-My Dear
Sir; ! was aDcmocrat when you and were
together in Congress. / am a Democrat
now. hold TO all the opinions the States
Rights Democrats have always held, and
which the acknowledged leaders Of the party
have avowcd up to the present winter-ncyer
more clearly than in 1873 to 1873.
do not believe that Congress has any con-
stitutional right to inquire into State clec-
tions for state electors.
Congress has OF late years interfcred quite
too much with the States. The Electora
ltilillirritu uA- HN tuUEt HuNtI tudH 1bH-
eress has, and ! think IL would be a most
dangerous usurpation, were II to do what
the States alone have a right TO do, even to
cure what fear was a wrong OF the LOUISE
ana Returning Board.
! can not doubt that such will be your
opinion when you reflect 10 what the asser-
ton Of such power would lead. II would
place the right OF the States, respecting the
choice Of electors, at the mercy Of the Fed
eral Government, and be the greatest stride
ever made toward Capitalization.
Better suffer present evil than open such
! door, better than abandon all the time
honored principles Of the Democratic party.
am yours, very respectfully,
w. STRONG.
The letter Of Judge Strong j. in one sense
very crcditable to him. II shows that he
acted from conviction. We can not give our
assent 10 the correctness OF his conclusion, /
but we can understand that this view Is one
which might be honestly taken by techni-
cal LAWYER. not much addicted TO equity and \
10 going 70 the bottom Of things.
The great and momentous fact which APP
pears from the correspondence, and which
presses itself, BY its Gigantic magnitude, up
IN the serious consideration ~ the whole
Is that Rutherford Il. Hayes occu-
pies the Office OF President OF the United
states bv force Of the vote OF man who does
lot believe he was legally elected From
his conclusion there Is no escape. II stands
orth now, and will stand forever, as an his
orical fact, established by conclusive and
evidence.
To urge that every other vote in the Elec-
oral Commission had the same potency as
hat Of Judge Strong does not M all detract
rom the strength OF our argument. Con-
,eding that, because IL Is. undeniable, the
stubborn fact still remains that without
Judge Strong the members OF the Commits
ion were equally divided, and that II Mr.
Hayes had not received theyote Of this mem
,cr Of the Commission, who did not believe
ie was legally elected, he would never have
been declared President.
"a.