, 1877-02-03

The disputed Presidency, and laborctl early for
its settlement.
Fraud vitiates all transactions. / will not
agree ehat the Judgment Of court of competcnt
fraud. II II could bc, It would be
AdAts.r FrnLtc PoLtcT.
It would he scandal to Inquire into the bribery
or sorruption OF a Judge wftIe. The Judge il
ttvcs of public policy II mag he true that until
the Judge he !tnpeaehcd OF EGmoyesl you cannot
inquire into the corruption uf his acts. / ven-
anywhere that <you cannot tn,,pcac', for frau.I.
! put Il to the Court that, independent Of the
question whcther II Judge were mistaken, and
4 be shown that acting in the exercise of h1s
erroneousiy certified a thing to be true {xhtc!,
hare no doubt you could inquire into), submit
Tint II you show that i.e eorrupt'y acted, and
tliat be was brtbed Of fctl astray by lfs hunger
thirst for guidj. you can 'tnpeael' hts acts. Who
Is he whose acts we arc asking to impcarhi II Is
TUE THEN GOVERNOR Or FLORIDA.
". II. 8lcaFns. Stearns tE the tnan who sent =
thsox out votesin u ani who fsselrea ior answer
"FrAud atsd intfnidstion,n Or something
elae. Stcarns Is the man rho controlled
those puppets Of the CanvaaetnR Board
lie ' WIS to o. exercise ] "tie''' tic Office i of
Governor for the next term. lsit corrcrt
proposition VI Law that you cannot inquire
whether That man has acted fraulnlcntlyi II
hind, then It Is equally true whether there wos
MI election or not. suppoec prove, or Offer 70
prove, that on the I'll. VI November 1ast there
was no election Whatcser In tic State Of Florida,
the certificate came here signed NV. II. stras,is,'
could yDu say tllat TINT stows That those four
men were elected at that elcction1 To TINT
complexion must y come ut Inst There Is no
f14fyf f.u4 fr%tS $ttA
truth Of that certificate you ran inquire into
EyEHf PACT RELATIVE 70 II.
The greatness Of tho questions In respect to
the dignity Of the Presidential Office and tho
nothing compared with tho nioral clcn,cnts In
roIred. The greater question Is whether OF not
illc American people stand powctiess before
gigantic fraud. Here II tho certificate (holdin9
to touch 1t. lIola Il up tothe light. II Is black
With crime. Pass 1t around. Let every man
tee It, and then tell mo whether Or not
that certificate gives n title to III officer
II fraud succeeds now, let is cover
our faccs with shame. Let us take down the
statue OIL tho dome Of our Capitol, which ercsy
morning faces the. coming light I.ctus clotho
ourselves iu oackcfoth and sit In ashes forever.
Tucker followed slr. t. f!eid. I1e summarized
tho ob}ccttDns presented by ME. Field yesterday,
and said: Tho whole qucas'on presented to this
Houses Of conssess, and wlisi they liase s ssb.
stitutet this trlbunal in thetr stead to decide.
u is simply this: le thcrc any power in the Con.
stitutlon under which wy lsre by whieh fraud
10 the guo-wasfanto Of tic State Of Florida, &
rel Wilkinson, Call, and oi1ers, and
u the decision Of the Supreme Court ia that
State. The decision Ut tho Court he argued to
e s'tsase e afS,ts' % Hfa sasy
IlcmctItes," Sec. no. The Returning Board t,n
regarded is merely one step In tho authority by
which prpmu1gatlulls OF efecttOnG werG made.
lowed TO make a word for tic ooeas!on) rru.
yided by the State OF Florida vas
THE SUPREME couRT.
Therefore, unteas thu primary dctcFEninnnt
only fl ifs action but also a. 10 the extent Of ts
power, then wu must regard tlc Proceedings tn
Florida upon the action III these Electors a. d
part Of TINT ;leterm'nant power, wh'ch h' ;h TIE
| ID The cxcrcitc ot elective functions.
| KAssoH's ARGUMENT.
| After tic recess, Mr. Kasson addressed the
| Commission. H. said: Whnt 10 the case before
| us! First. certificate cotncs TO- Congress aa
unltod States, in conformity to the statutes Of
thr state Of Florida, certifying the Electoral
ve4a ii. ono Of shosa 6tates which my honosa.
bie friend who lat spoke [Tuekcrl was pleased
certificate i tlFst opened and read: There
Is second ccrtllIcatu opened III Joint
meeting Of tho two Houses Of Congrces,
iu which persons signlng tho same pfcrcde
e's Ii s5ssss nat 9y ssts IL. s q
United States nor by the statutes of Florltls ~
certifying olllcsr, being the Attorney oi
TIC state Of Florida. Second. i!e csrtifiet tl'at
9afebs u U e . 81 ss ee4
Gel to tho Executive Of saitl State, admitting
BY that certificate, II 1t as any forvo at al, tha1
hls nctiun Is
WITHOUT f.Aw
State. Third. tic Electors certify to their os,
action, to thctt own qualifications. and they
themselves notified the Governor Of their clee
tton. That is certificate No. 2a-a ecrtitlcatc u
nsto%s Ts eesats ill., s Va Va.
at'u opened. There Is tho third certificate stil
inors extraordinary. sill snofo wanting in the
ctcmctts of yesit1catlon, also demanding con
certified BY ~ otlcsr moi !n existence until tue
functIons of the otllce had been exhausted; q
certificate which rcctcs proceedings In tribunal.
subordinate aud superior to tho Judiciary of
tss s stf ; certificate nsr .oa %sh sa"yss.s
report tu the State officers, hut whlcl
bus ncver been sent TO the Congress Of the
United States or President Of tho ecnaic during
the hundred years IN which We haze bccn Re,
public. The proceedings In tho Court .rectted
tn It arc all subsequent to that time which. by
tho Constitution and ia"s u tho United States,
Is tho time fixed for tho performance Of jutllcia
in Il tho elctacnts Of constitutional and lesaj
validity which slloul1 give them place bcf0rt
this Commission in the condition In which II!
Laws OF tie country now are, ~ which
ec'nlpr, when thosc functions were exercised
Furthermore. II certificate No. IL tlle consti
tutIoMal and legal expression Of tue Sotc OF the
ssatu Of F!urtla, Ut course. that oiiest!on be