The Portland daily press., 1877-01-26
THE ELECTORAL VOTE.
The Senate Passes the Bill, AZ
to IL.
The Bill Debated in the House,
Little Doubt OF Its Passage.

WASHINGTON, Jan. % The Senate at 40
a. m, after an all night session, passed the bill
reported by the special committee in regard to
counting the electoral votes, without amend
mems; Various amendments were submitted,
but all were voted down. The vote on the
passage of the bill was, yeas AZ nays II. Mr.
Eaton of CT. was the only Democrat who vot-
ed against it,
The debate continued all night. Mr. Morton
in closing his argument, claimed that the Vice
President IS not bound to open any fraudulent
certificates. II there should DO baif dozen
packages from one state in bis possession, he Is
not required to open them all, but only that
package which came from the electors As an
officer OF the United States, be is bound to
take notice who have been chosen electors BY
the states and TO act upon his information as
other public officers do. There are two Ger if
Gates from Louisiana in the hands of the Vice
President He is not required to open them
both. If he refuses to oper and present the
second return. how is it to be got out of his
possession? Will the Democratic party threat
ell violence or revolution If the President OF
the Senate withholds bogus certificate? This
bill coufers upon the tribunal it creates, power
to eg'slate, upleSs its action should be over
turned by the action OF the two houses OF Con-
gress This commission cannot carry out the
provisions of the bill without going behind the
returns. The proposition is sprinked all over
with very white, pretty meal, but the Demo-
cratic cat is reDosiDg beueath it The Senator
rom Ohio (Thurman) has argued that the
Democratic party descended from the Repub'i-
Can party of 1900. Mr.. Morton did not think
the Democratic party of today descended from
anybody. He believed it to be for the best in-
terest OF all parties and all men, that the Re
publican party should rule this country. At
ter the case had been made up, he did not be-
live in adopting new plan which would
throw away half of the chances of the Repub-
lIcans. tt at be had been inconsistent in some
matters, Mr.. Morton considered entirely prob
able, but he did not believe that there were any
PopeS in this Senate who were infallible. He
accorded to every other senator conscientious
motives, and he claimed for himself the same
consideration.
Mr.. Blaine said he had he trusted, as great
an appreciation as any senator on this floor, of
the gravity of the situation. He had support
ed the senator from Vermont (Edmunds) in
December, in his constitutional amendment
leaving this whole question of counting the
electoral votes TO the Supreme Court. He had
favored placing this power of counting the
votes In this Supreme Court, by a just aud
competent amendment to the Constitution; but
that proposition did not commend itself to the
favor of the Senate and was defeated by large
VOTE So far as he was personally concerned
he was not welded to any particular theory as
to counting the votes. He desired simply to
adhere to the Constitution. Unlike many
gentlemen here, he was free from any embar-
RAISING record on this question, and was OBJ
posed to giving the power to count the votes to
fourteen gentlemen, four of whom were to
complete the number by selecting the fifteenth
and thus by lot or chance filling that coy and
bashful blank, as Mr.. Benton would have
termed it, on which the attention of the coun-
try is so generally fixed. 1t is proposed to give
these fifteen gentlemen, or possibly the 6f-
teenth gentleman, more power over the electo-
raj vote than Congress possessed, and he did
not believe this could be done BY single
enactment. Nothing less than constitutional
,1v,na nj E.
tremendous power over the electoral votes of
the states. He did not believe it to be war
ranted by the Constitution which he had sworn
to support, and though he did not pretend to
be what is termed a constitutional lawyer,
every senator, on his oath, must vote on his
own conscientious belief of what the Constitu
ton is and what it allows. He had desired
earnestly to support this bill, if he could do it
consistently. The arguments adduced in it's
favor had persuaded him of its unconstituton-
ality, and he felt himself compelled to throw
his vote against the measure. In conclusion,
Mr.. Blaine begged the Judiciary committee,
now that the public mind is SO strongly direct
ed to this question, to frame an amendment to
he Constitution which would, if posi-
BILE, avert 10 future all danger of a renewal Of
these troubles.
Mr.. Blaine was followed by Messrs. Howe of
Wisconsin, Eaton OF Connecticut, Whyte of
Maryland, Thurman of Ohio Merrmon of
North Carolina and Burnside OF Rhode Island,
who spoke for or against the bill.
After general debate Mr.. Edmunds resumed
and argued in favor of the constitutionality of
the measure.
Mr.. Dawes, withdrew his amendment defin-
ing the power of the tribunal to be created, and
Mr.. Sherman of OHIO restated his objections
to the bill, and was followed by Mr.. Morton,
who opposed the bill aud proposed an amend
ment that nothing in the act should authorize
the commission to 60 behind the decisions of
the returning boards.
The amendment was finally defeated by AZ to
II
Mr.. Sargent submitted an amendment that
the commission should sit with open doors,
which was opposed by the friends of the bill so
earnestly that Mr.. Sargent withdrew it
Bill was then put upon it's third reading and
passed, AZ to II, as follows:
YeGs-Messrs Alcorn, Allison, Barnum, Bayard,
Bogy, Booth, Boutwell,, Burnside Chaffee, Chris
tancy, Cockrell, Conkling, Cooper, Cragn, Davis
Dawes, l,eanis, Edmuuds, Frenghuysen, Gold
thwalte, Gordon, Howe johnson, Jones of Florida,
Jones OF Nevada Kelley, Herman, McCreery, Nc
Donald, Mcmillan, Maxcy, Merriman, Morrill,, Price,
Stevenson, Teller, Thurman, Wallace, WHITE, Win,
dom, Withers anu Wrght-47.
NdyS-Messrs. Blaine, Bruce, Cameron of Pa.
Cameron of Wisconsin, Clayton Conover, Dorsey
Eaton, Hamilton. Hamlin. ingalls,, Mitchell Morton
Patterson, Sargent, Sherman, and West-17.
Absent or not U0ting-Messrs. Anthony Harvey
Hitchcock, Logan, Norwood Ogleshy, Paddock Spen-
Ger, Wadleigh and Wright-l0.
The Senate then adjourned until Friday at 10
o'clock.