Connecticut western news., 1877-02-09

for dead man? Was it intended by those who framed the Constitution that votes for dead man should fill with an aching void the Presi- dential office? To count my fingers" he said, that is purely ministerial office; to count pile of paper is the same; to count bank notes, among which may be coun erfeits, and to sort the true from the false, that requires the exer- else of judgment. If New York should send here forty-fve electoral votes they would not be counted; they would have to be sorted" " Government" " said he, ''rests on the consent of the governed. Is 8 majority of Congress less to be trusted than one man? A bare ma jority of this House might select presiding officer for the express purpose of counting in candidate. Is such creature of an hour of more force or more trustworthy than the wis dom of the two houses?"
 MT. Conkling said. in conclusicn, he believed the Republican nominee had been chosen the chief magistrate of this country, and he asked him to take title to his great office that no one could question. If this bill was compromise of truth, of law or of right he was against it ; but he denied that it was any compromise, and. above all, it did not compromise right principle or the Constitution. To contest claim was not to compromise it. To insist upon an honest, fair counting of the elector- al votes was not compromise. Presiden- tial election had occurred, and unless there was a tic somebody had been chosen. To establish that fact was no compromise. The bill surrendered the rights of none, but asserted and maintained the rights of all. It submitted to lawful authority the solution of the pending question. The bill might be de- nounced by partisans on one side or the other. It might be derided by the adventurers and the thoughtless. It might not for the present re- ceiye the approbation of even the thoughtful pr patriotic, but he would vote for it because he believed it advantageous and within the Constitution. It would be beneficial to the people of all the States, including that great State whose interest and whose honor was so dear to him. The bill might be divided now, but time, at whose great altar all passions and all prejudices must bow, would at last vindicate the bill and those who proposed it.
 Mir. Morton (Rep.) of Indiana, presented and read number of telegrams from the people of Indiana: against the passage of the bill, and said that he had received more than 200 declared that leading Republican papers were against it. In reply to this Mr. Mcdonald (Dem.), of Indiana, said that he was at Indian apolis three days before and heard but one opinion relative to the bill and that was in favor of it.
 Mr. Bayard Dem.) ), of Delaware, spoke for two hours on the bill and in it's favor.
 Mir. Christiancy (Rep.), of Michigan, also spoke in favor of the bill, closing with strong protest against the charge that the judges will their political predilections. He said that the party which should reject this bill without offering one equally fair would necessarily for felt the support of the people. ; |
 MT. Dawes (Rep) ), of Massachuse ts, wanted the scope of the bill defined so that the com mission should not claim the right to invade the State of Massachusetts and take from the governor and council the power of determining who the State has appointed as her electors.
 Mir. Thurman Dem. ), of Ohio, spoke ln favor of the bill. He maintained the constitutonall- ty of the measure, and argued that the ques- tion was of such importance that the perpetui- ty of the nation depended upon its solution. There never was greater reason than now to constitute such tribunal as the bill proposed, beneath which ill importance all others sunk into insignifcance. As member of the joint committee he would say, Democrat as he was, that he would be willing to submit the decision of the question to the committee itself, for he felt in the atmosphere which surrounded the special committee that when the day of trial came men could rise above party and perform their duty.
 At seven o'clock in the morning, after 8 night session, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 47 yeas to 17 nays. The vote for and against the bill was as follows Affirmative Bayard, Dem; Bogy, Dem; Booth, Ind. {; Boutwell,, Rep; Burnside, Rep; Chaffee, Rep. :; Christiancy, Rep; Cockriil, Dem; Conkling, Rep; Cooper, Dem.; Cragin, Rep; Davis, Dem.; Dawes. Rep; Dennis, Dem; Edmunds, Rep; Frelinghuysen, Rep; Goldthwaite, Dem :; Jones, of New, Rep; Jones. of Fla, Dom Kelly, Dem., Herman, Dem.; McCreery, Dem. Mcdonald, Dem.; McMillan, Rep.: Maxey, Dem.; Merrimon, Dem.; Merrill, Rep; Price, Dem.; Randolph, Dem.; Ransom, Dem.; Rob- ertson, Dem.; saulsbury, rem.; Sharon, Rep; Stevenson, Dem. Teller, Rep; Thurman, Dem. Wallace Dem.; Whyte, Dem; Windom, Rep. Withers, Dem; Wright, Rep.
 Negative Blaine, Rep. Bruce, Rep. ; Cameron, of Pa., Rep. Cameron, of Wis, Rep. Clayton, Rep. :; Conoyer, Rep. Dorsey, Rep. Hamlin, Rep; Ingalls,, Rep; Eaton, Dem. Hamilton, Rep; Mitchell, Rep. Morton, Rep. Patterson, Rep; Sargent, Rep; Sherman, Rep; West, Rep.
 resolution in regard to selecting five senators to serve on the commission authorized by the Electoral Count bill.
 Mir. Cragin (Rep), of New Hampshire, nomi- mated as members of the commission, George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, and Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, of New Jeasey.
 Joseph C. Bailey, elected United States sena- tor from Tennessee to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Andrew Johnson, presented himself and took the oath of office.
 l Resolutions were presented and discussed relative to the gubernatorial question in South Carolina, but no action was taken on them. The Senate discussed the bill reported by the Judiciary committee to amend the Pacific rail road acts so as to provide sinking fund fol the liquidation of the indebtedness due the government by said roads.
 House.
 Mir. Lamar (Dem.) ), of Mississippi, from the i Pacific railroad committee, reported bacl l favorably the Senate bill extending for eigh years the time for the completion of the North ern Pacific railroad. Referred.
 ! MT. Wood (Dem.) of New York, offered resolution that the message of the Presiden relative to the use of troops in the South bt referred to 8 select committee of eleven tC inquire whether there had been an exercise O authority not warranted by the Constitution.ant laws ill the use of troops for which the Presi dent is justly responsible, with power to sent for persons and papers, After discussion, thu resolution was adopted by vote of 134 yeas tt | 75 nays.
 THE COMPROMISE ELECTORAL BILL.
 Immediately after the opening of the House | the bill, which had been received from thu Senate for concurrence, was referred to th proper committee and almost instantly reported back, according to agreement, to allow of de bate.
 Mir. McCrary Rep.) of Iowa, of the join committee, opened the debate by stating tha after an earnest consideration the committe had reached the conclusion that the bill ough to pass The country was in the presence of
 very great and very dangerous emergency. Tn
 present was the crisis in national affairs whicl
 the fathers of the republic had foreseen il
 1900, and which at various periods in the na
 tlons history great statesmen had forseen ant
 had dreaded It might be that if the bill wer
 defeated, and Congress failed to pass any meas
 ure on the subject one or the other of the par
 ties would peacefully submit to Q decision
 which they believed to be without law or au
 thority, but he confessed to very great doubt
 and fears that such would not be the case. H
 quoted John Marshall and Daniel Webster t.
 prove the constitutionality of the bill, and de
 clared his intention to aid it's passage with voic
 and vote
 Mir. Hunton Oem.), of Virginia, advocate
 the measure. He spoke of Presidential cleo
 tions as dangerous periods in our history, an
 as more likely than any other cause to wrec
 the ship of state declaring that all preceding
 troubles of that character sank into absolut
 insignifcance as compared with those that no,
 stared Congress and the country in the face
 He believed that to the two houses of Congress
 and not to the president of the Senate, belongs the nOYer to count the votes but as an nnno