The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-01-26
The following is the text of the bill accom-

term commencing March 4. A. ID. 1877.
BE uendcted by the Senate and House of Rep
resenfdtiUes Of ne United states OF America
in Congress assembled, That the senate an,
House of Representatives shall meet in th
hall of the House Of Representatives at tn
hour Of ! o'clock post meridian. on the frs
Thursday i'm February, A. ID. 1877, and tn
President of the Senate shall be the presiding
officer. Two tellers shall be previously APP
pointed on the part of the Senate, and two OF
the part of the House of Representatives, h
whom shall be handed, as they are opened b,
the President of the Senate, all the certificate,
and papers purporting to be certificates O
electoral votes, beginning with 81 and sale
tellers, having then read the same In the pres
ence and hearing Of the two houses, shal
make list of the votes as they shall appear
from the said certificates, and the votes having
been asoertained and counted, as in this aci
provided the result Of the same shall be do
livered to the President of the Senate, who
shall thereupon announce the state OF the
vute and the names Of the persons or any
elected which announcement shall be doomed
q sufficient declaration of persons elected
President and Vice President of the United
States and, together with list of the votes,
be entered on the journal Of the two houses.
| Upon such reading OF any such certificate or
paper, when there shall be only one
return from a State, the President OF the
Senate shall call for objections, IL any. Every
objection shall be made in writing, and shall
state clearly and concisely and without argu-
ment, the ground thereof, and shall be signed
by at least one Senator and one member of the
House Of Representatives before the same
shall be received. When all objections so
made to any vote or paper from any State shall
have been received and read, the Senate shall
thereupon withdraw, and such objections shall
be submitted to the Senate for it's decision, and
the Speaker of the House Of Representatives
oh
the House of Representatives for its decision,
and no electoral vote or votes from any State
from which but one return has been received
shall be objected to except by the affirmative
vote OF the two houses. When the two
houses have voted, they shall Immediately
then announce the decision of the question
submitted.
SEC. 2. That il more than one return or pa
per purporting to be the return from any State
shall have been received by the President Of
the Senate, purporting to be certificates of the
electoral votes given at the last preceding
election for President and Vice President in
such State unless they shall be duplicates of
the same returns, ali such returns and papers
shall be opened by him in the presence Of the
two houses when met as aforesaid and read
by the tellers, and all such returns and papers
shall thereupdh be submitted to the judgment
and decision, as to which is the true and lawful
u
constituted as follows namely: During the ses-
sion of such house on the Tuesday next proceed
ing the first Thursday In February, 1877, each
house shall by viva voce vote appoint five
of its members, who with five Associate JUS
tees OF the Supreme Court of the United
States TO be ascertained as hereinafter pro-
vided shall constitute a commission for the
decision OF all questions upon or in respect OF
such double returns named in this section. On
the Tuesday next preceding the first Thursday
In February, A. ID. 1877, or as soon there
after as may be, the Associate Justices Of the
Supreme Court Of the United States now as
signed to the First, Third, Eighth and Ninth
districts shall select in such manner as ma
jority Of them shall deem fit, another Of the
Associate Justices Of said court which five
persons shall be members OF said commission,
and the person longest in commission of
the aaid Justices shall be President OF said
commission. The members OF said commits
sion shall respectively take and subscribe
to the following oath Il (blank) DO solemnly
swear Cor affirm, as the case may be) that l will
impaftially examine and consider all questions
| submitted to the commission OF which / am
| member, and true judgment give thereon,
| agreeable TO the constittion and laws, 30 help
me God, which oath shall be filed with the
Sc yetary of the Senate. When the ccmmls-
sion shall have been thus organized, it shall
not be in the power Of either house to dissolve
the same or to withdraw any Of it's members !;
but il any such Senator or member shall die
or become physically unable to perform the
duties required by this act, the fact of such
death or physical disability shall be by said
further, communicated to the Senate OF
the House Of Representatives, as
the case may be, which body shall
Immediately and without debate proceed by
vivs-voce vote to I'LL the place so vacated, and
the person 80 appointed shall take and sub
| 10 ha Oaf nh ihaIa nd
shall become a member of said commis sion (;
and in like manner, IL any of the said Justices
Of the Supreme Court shall die, or become
physically incapable of performing the duties
required by this act, the others Of said Justices
members of the said commission, shall imme-
diately appoint a lother Justice OF said court, a
member OF said commission. and in s1ch APP
poiutment regard shall be had TO impartiality
and freedom from bias sought by the original
appointments TO SAID commission, who shall
thereupon Immediately take and subscribe TO
the oath hereinbefore described and become
member of said commission to fill the
vacancy 80 occasioned. All the certificates
and papers purporting to DO the certificates
OF the electoral votes OF each State shall be
opened in alphabetical ORDER Of the States, as
provided in Sec. Of this act and when there
shall be more than one such certificate or
paper from such States. they shall 30 be
opened, and, excepting the duplicates of the
same returning, they shall De read by the
tellers, and thereupon the President Of the
Senate shall call for objections, il any. Every
objection shall be made in writing, and shall
state clearly and coneisely and without argu-
ment the ground thereof and shall be signed
| by at least one Senator and one member of
the House of Representatives before the same
shall I've received. When all such objections
80 made to any certificate vote, or paper
from State shall have been received
and read, all such certificates, votes,
and papers 30 objected to, and
all papers accompanying the same,
together with such objections shall be forth
with submitted TO the said commission, which
shall proceed to consider the same with the
same powers, u any, now possessed for that
purpose by the two houses, acting separately
or together, and by majority of votes decide
whether any and what votes from suoh States
are the votes provided for by the constitution
Of the United States, and how many and what
persons were duly appointed electors in
such State, and may therein take into
view such petitions, dispositions, anC
other papers, il any, as shall by the oonstitu
ton and now existing law be competent ant
pertinens in such consideration, which do
cision shall be made in writing, stating brief,
the ground thereof, and signed by the mem
beers Of said commission agreeing therein
wherenpon the two houses shall again NEE
and such decision shall be read and entered il
the journal Of each house, and the countin,
OF the votes shall proceed in conformity there