The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-01-11
THE;EisIEToRAL VOTE:

AN NOI1UOON, NJ VI, IL
. ), 80 THE ELECTORAL VOTE:
REPUBLICAN,. ADMissIoNs--"A FEW
/ THINGS ALREADY SETTLED" -.
- Correspondence d as .Hsis York Tribune. -.
.a..., '... ~ ,WAsHINeToN, Dec; "a.
Every step taken by the committees Of
I the Senate and House of Representatives
appointed last week to devise some basis
for the, settlement, of the. great contro.
versy over count; ;ng, the electoral vote
will be watched with. the greatest inter:
est here in Washington sand throughout
the entire country. They, may not reach
the same or similar conclusions. Fer
haps that would be too much to. expect
rof committees controlled by rival parties
in a time ,ofrexcitement, like this, and
when the prize for which they. ares con-
! testing is 50 great, They may not agree
to recommend any, Fule Of procedure to
guide the joint convention when;it meets
in the. Senate chamber ,.9n the 18th OF
February. But their discussions and
their reports will certainly be Of great
value. They will clear away much of
the rubbish that now surrounds and OBJ
scures the questions at issue, and show
what has, been settled by the, Constitu-
ton, the laws and we'll llrestablished prece-
dent, and what.the actual diffarences l,be-
tween the. two houses of Congress are. :. :;
1t seems to, me. very fortunate that the
counting of the. electoral vote does not
take place until after Congress has. been
.in session two and a half months. On
the second Monday, in. December the
members, of both. houses came here hot
with the excitement Of the campaign aud
of the month Of suspense which; followed
it, many of them. with vague notions. of
the Constitution, laws, and preeedents
applicable to. the unusual condition OF.
affairs, and each. with some plan which
he believed il adopted would result in
the Inauguration ofthe candidate of his
choice. Three weeks free discussion has
shown how impracticable the most Of
these schemes. are; and if it continues in
the newspapers, ih Congress, in the COM
Smittees that have been appointed, and in
the private political gatherings until the
second Wednesday; in February, both
houses of Congress will become better
and better fitted to deal with the delicate
questions which they will then have to
decide, unless. something unforeseen
should occur to kindle excitement anew
and arouse partisan frenzy
Many, of the. suggestions which indi:.
vidual members of Congress have made
have not got into the public prints before
they have, been abandoned but Others
hare, led to long discussion, and although
never formally relinquished by those who
for a time defended them, are NO longer
accepted as the basis of:a probable solu-
tion of this difficulty. Some of; these /
shall enumerate in this letter, giving
some of the reasons why each plan is no
longer seriously advocated or is not like
!ly 10 be adopted. I cannot predict what
|; the joint convention will do. ON the, 14th
of February, but DO know with reason.
able, certainty some. things that it. will
not do. e: =
e lst. The president Of the. Senate will
not of his own motion assume the re-.
sponsibility Of deciding in regard to the
validity Of the returns from any State
which come to him in the customary
form. When it was first learned that the
Democrats would send pretended returns
from South Carolina, Louisiana and
Florida, for, the purpose of laying the
foundation for questioning those that
...,,:.L ~ A S;hf ,a;a Is q o,,,f III ,.acoc,.
nized authorities of those States, it was
very generally held by Republicans that
the president Of the Senate could, and
undoubtedly would, prevent, auy such
question from being raised: BY refusing
to receive any returns except thos which
he knew to be. the genuine ones; and it
was at One time published as fact that
MI. Ferry would Be informed in advance
by Governors Chamberlain, Kellogg and
tStearns who the messengers were from
whom he should receive the returns OF
their States, and that he would decline to
receive any others. Mr.. Fery'S action
already has shown that this report was
4 hot founded in fact. To refuse to re:
.ceiye any. returns would be to decide in
advance of the joint convention, between
the contestants in those three States. No
such power has ever been conferred on
the President of the Senate, either BY the
Constitution, the laws or precedent, and
the Senate has given MI. Ferry no in-
structi6fis in the matter. Without the
authority Of oueEof the other of these, the
President Of the Senate would assuine no
such responsibility. -
Iconcaude, therefore, that unless be is
previously fnstfncted Otherwise; Mr..
Ferry WIFI do as Vice President Colfax
did d'in1873. Where he has received two
sets of returns from any State, be will
open them both lin. the Joint convention
rand announce the fact Of their reception,
lealfihg attention. 20 any marks th&t either
}ima ayi Bear which will assist to identity it
Fas the genuine and 1egat return. For
instance if on? is certified by the Gov.
|sernor of the State and bears its broad
l!seal,' while, the othef'is signed by some
other person; that fact, will Be remarked
when:the packages are opened..c But the
President of the Senate will not even
then decide which return should be
counted, If either, unless that power is
expressly conferred on him iuadvspce.
|r; I'd. The. vote. will not be counted by
the President of the Senate. My reasons
!, for this belief are twofold. / expect the
Senate, in theSabsence of any rules, will
follow the. best established preeedents
where the constitutions and Laws are
silent, and I know that. the House. and !
/ i.Gp .l,t tl;ii cs,,tnio ,,;II o.r:,o = y
entrust4 tie acting Vice-P President with
| this power: ;Iisayathat the Senate, in the
absence of. rules. will follow the best
established precedents where the consti-
tuition and laws are silent. 1 know that
when the fist President was chosen
under the constitution. the Senates in
obedience to a. resolution passed by the
Constitutional 90 Convention, elected =.
President pro TEN. for the sole purpose
OF counting the vote, and it has been
argued that the passage Of that resdlu-
ton WAS in, effect an. interpretation atithe