Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1877-03-03


beyond dispate-that the Electoral Com
mission have strictly and accurately APP
piled the Constitution and the laws to the
question laid before them, yet what If the
very principle on which the Constitution
and the laws must ultimately rest be-
comes thereby subvertedg
Granted that the decision. reached is
fairly within the TO I'd, yet what if the
pound of flesh cannot be taken without
its drop OF blood? What if this jealous
care of the rights and prerogatives of
State shall so foster faction and blunt the
sense of justice and increase the prevail
ence Of fraud that the very foundation OF
right shall disappear? 1t is because l
fear that the strict and accurate interpre-
tation of the Constitution applied to the
electoral vote of Louisiana would impcril
that vote in the future, and increase the
very danger which the Constitution i'll
tended to avoid, that l am unable to
concur with such an application.
SPEECH OF HON. HENRY l.. PIERCE.
Objection having been made in due
form to the report of the Commission on
the returns from Louisiana, we arc
brought face TO face with the question
whether the vote of that State shall be
counted at all, or whether it shall be
counted for Hayes or Tilden. l would
gladly avoid the responsibility Of passing
upon this question if, consistently with
the duty which dcvolves upon me as 4
member Of this House, 1 could do so !;
but the responsibility is one which cam
not be averted. 1t is one as great and as
solemn as that which rested upon the
members Of the Commission, whose re-
port is now before us. We are prevented
by constitutional limitations from shifting
the burdens of our responsibility in this
matter to other shoulders.
1t must be sustained by each one of us,
and SO sustained as to satisfy his con-
science and his sense of duty to his cOun-
try. 1t is with great diflidence that l
| NClbNiC w NiOSSho AlOLii viz uNSASASi3 VI
rather the recommendation Of the Com
mission, but the rule which it has laid
down for the determination of this ques-
| tion is one that | cannot conscientiously
endorse The Commission declares that
it is not competent to take any evidence
to show that persons other than those
certified to by the Governor of the State
on and according to the determination of
the returning officers of elections in q
State had been appointed, or that the de-
termination Of the returning officers was
not in accordance with the truth and the
fact. 1t could never have been intended
| by those who established this system of
government that there should be no ex-
animation, no scrutiny of the returns of
the electoral votes as certified by the
State authorities. The most careful con-
seryator of State rights would never have
objected to an examination by Congress
or by any other National authority so far
as to ascertain whether the electors who
sent their votes here to be counted had
been chosen and were qualified in the
manner provided by the Constitution and
laws of their State and the United States
In the case now under considerati On,
an offer OF evidence was made to show
the Commission that the Returning Board
OF Louisiana was not legally constituted :;
that the action of the Board in canvass
ing the votes for Presidential electors was
not in accordance with the laws of the
State; that certain Of the electors certi-
fed to have been chosen were disqualified
both under the provisions of the State
Constitution and the Federal Constitu-
ton. That gross frauds were committed
in the canvass of votes is admitted, | be-
lieve, by both parties, and it is also ad-
mitted that the Returning Board acted in
the discharge Of their duties in an arbi-
trary and illegal manner. If these are
not matters which the representatives of
all the people, authorized by the Consti-
tuition to count the votes and declare the
ment stands on a very insecure founda-
| ton. / cannot give my assent to any
such declaration. 1t Is contrary to good
goyernmenment. 1t is contrary to good
morals. 1t tends to weaken the hold of
the government upon the respect and
confidence of the people; and the party
which gets office by its adoption will be a
party founded upon principle dangerous
to the perpetuity Of the government.
The evidence which has been presented
here, and which the Commission by bare
minority refused to consider, shows con-
dition of things which justifieS and, in my
Judgment requires, the exclusion of Louis
lana from participating in the Presidential
election. 1t shows, if possible, higher
justl fcaton for such course at this
time than was shown in 1872, when the
vote of the State was excluded by Re-
publican Congress. | am aware, Mr.
Speaker, in the action l take that | stand
almost alone among political associates
here, but should be rccreant to my con-
victions if neglected to place on the i'm
perishable records of the House my dis
sent from the rule which it is proposed to
establish.
DR.. A. j. Flagg's Cough and Lung
Syrup is daily working its cures and rails
| ing patients from their beds who have
been given up to die by their physicians.
Almost ever day, DR.. Flagg is receiving
complimentary letters bearing testimony
f,Nf 10. t,.,fs a 4.