The news and herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1876-1881, 1877-01-18
MIR. TILDEN's PROSPECTS,
IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE HOW HIS mail
DURATION CAN BE DEFEATED.
a Letter from Senator Gordon, of
Georgia, to Governor Colquitt.

y.
a Letter from Senator Gordon. of
Georgia, to Governor Colquitt
Senator Gordon, of Georgia, has
addressed letter to Governor
Colquitt. Of that State, on tho pres
ent situation, which has been APP
proved by all the Democratic S;cnt -
tors and Representatives, und which
he opens by saying
do not wonder ct your anxious
inquiry "s to the prospects of Mr..
Iiidcn's inauguration. 1 believe
him to have boon fairly elected.
4, Such is the conviction, 1 think, of
s%1hc country, Of all Democrats, and
Of Il large body Of Republicans who
supported Governor Hayes. Eow
any unprejudiccd man can doubt it
or how his inauguration can be De
fetted with any show OF compliance
with law seems to mo beyond com
pIehcnson, and to plain people the
assumption Of tho office of Chief
Executive against the constitution
ally-oxprosscd will of the people
would seem an act Of simple uauIpa-
ton, and to mark another stage in
tho history OF an expiring republic.
Or course it is idle, in advance of
the report Of the joint committee Of
the two houses appointed for the
, purpose, to speculate as to the plan
to be adopted for counting the
Electoral votes, but it is sato to say
that no plan which finds support in
the letter OF spirit Of the constitu-
ton, i'll the declared opinion of it's
trainers, or in tho practice or pres
cedcnts of the government, OF that
will stand the test of time, can be
adopted to count in Governor
Hayes 1 repeat, that of all the
plans for counting in that gentle
nun which the Republican press is
suggesting, and which take different
hucs with each succeeding day, as
the party exigency or the public
pulse seems to demand, not one Of
them has the least warrant Of law or
sanction of commanding prccedents
upon any one construction Of the
constitution, except that which
would confer upon the Vice Presi-
dent all the powers which Congress
possesses to count or reject the vote
OF State#-and that is no construc-
ton ut all The result Of the count
ing must be the election of Mr..
Tilden. Ii, for instance, the primu
facic programme, which was tho Re
publican plan until the action OF
Governor Grover, Of Oregon, is to
be adopted, Mr.. Tildcn has 1S5
votes and is elected, If, on the
contrary, Congress is to go behind
the certificates and count the votes
ns given by the people of the St.tt 8
Mr.. Tilden has 1876, without South
Carolina, and Of course is elected
Ii the twcnty-second joint rule is to
be rcadoptcd, allowing either house
to object to the count II of S ate.
of course the Hous. of neprcscnt ia
fives will object to counting Louisi,
ana, Florida and possibly South
Carolina for Governor Hayes. 1t
cannot be supposed that tho House
will ever consent to have these
States counted as manipulated by
returning boards who have usurpca
powers not conferred by the laws OF
those States, and expressly denied
by the courts in two Of them. The
result on that plan would be to
leave Dir. Hayes with only 1GG votes
and therefore not elected. If the
bill of Senator Morton, now before
the Senate. on the motion of Sena-
tor Elmunds,, should be passed re-
'quiliDg MI the votes to be counted
from States which have sent ND but
ono set of certificates, or the ono
counted upon which both houses
agreed where there urc two returns,
then also would tho result be Mr..
Iildcn's election. Again, if that
clause of the constitution which re-
1uires for the election of President
n ma jority Of all the Electors ap-
pointed be construed to mean a
iSmajority Of the Electors legally
chosen and tho votes of ono or
moro States should be rejected, it
would leave 1874, majority, and
Mr.. Tilden is elected or if the
other construction be given to that
clause, viz, that it requires 1856
votes to elect, that is majority of
oil the Electors appointed, whether
counted or not, then, although
there would bo no election by the
people, in case any State we're re-
jected, yet t: House would elect.
and would elect Mr.. Tilden. But
suppose the joint committee should
fail to agree and the counting be
left where the constitution leaves
ito the two houses. In that case
the vote of no State to which objection
was made could bo lawfully counted,
because, as counting is an af1irma-
tive act to be performed by both
houses, it cannot be done by one.
What is the business Of both Jointly
cannot be performed by one sepa-
rately. In each State, therefore,
whom there are moro than ono set
of returns, neither could be counted
If objection were made. A count by
Ona Jyhara ~ 20 o1oo rl., ,oo1o @l>n