The Portland daily press., 1877-02-21
The Electoral Count.
Louisiana Counted
for Hayes.
Objection Made to a
Michigan ElectOr.
Both Houses Override It
and the State is Counted.
NEVADA ALSO OBJECTED TO.
NEVADA Also OBJECTED TO.
The Debate i'm the HOuse-TwO Massa-
chusetts Republicans Vote With the

The Debate i'm the HOuse-TwO Massn-
chusetts Republicans Vote With the
Democrats.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2O-The House met at
10 o'clock. Half an hour was consumed IN
calling the roll.
that the Hayes electoral votes Tor Louisiana DO
not counted.
Mr.. Hurlbut of Illinois moved to amend by
striking out the word mot
The discussion was opened by Mr.. New, OF
Indiana, who said he had voted for the cleo
toral commission bill without hesitation or
misgiving He did so in FULL confidence that
no requirement in it, either expressed or i'm
piled, would be ignored or treated as unneces-
sary.
seemed to him perfectly clear, that the charges
made by each party against the other in Louis
iana were in the main true No facts were
ever proved more conclusively than the fraud
and corruption charged on the one side. and
the intimidation and cruelty on the other.
wrong doing, it would be very hard TO- say.
The corruption on one side seemed as heinous
as the other was horrible and on both sides
there appeared to be no limits except the re-
mission had clearly interpreted and accurately
applied the laws, yet what it the very princi-
pies on which the laws must rest became there
by subverted! ono nation" said Neibuhr,
sever died except by suicide" and the suicidal
vice is engendered not so much in the unjust
| statutes of government as in the immoral
practices of people which the government is
| unable to restrain.
Mr. Joyce of Vermont supported the decision
of the electoral commission and asked whether
ANYBODY supposed that if the decision had been
the other way, the waling sounds about COR
ruption would have been heard from the Demo
cratic party.
Mr.. Levy of Louisiana made an appeal ia
| the great generous American heart in behalf
of the state of Louisiana in this hour of domes'
| tic, of national peril, and he went on to de-
| nounce the frauds committed by the Returning
| Board, to which the commission now gave force
| and effect
| Mr.. Townsend of Pennsylvania expressed
| his establishment at the opposition made tt
| the decision of the electoral commission by the
| Democratic party. The commission was a
| tribunal of Democratic creation. lie defended
its action.
| Mr. McMahon of Ohio said that in his opin
| ion the decision in the case of Louisiana Ii
| worse in its consequence to the American peo-
| pie than the decision in the Florida case. In
| that case the commission had simply disregard
| ed the Constitution; now it attempts is override
| it. He had visited Louisiana and could say
| that Tilden had carried Louisiana as fairly and
| honestly as Hayes had carried Ohio.
Mr.. Rice of Ohio protested against the wrong
| and violence embodied in the decision and ar
| gued that the whole subject should be referred
| back to the commission.
| Mr. Gross of Massachusetts said he would
not defend the action of the Returning Board
but he asked what must have been the c0ndi
| ton of state that made such q board necessa
| ~, that required such a system in order tt
| guard against violence and to protect in the
| political rights the timid, the ignorant and thu
| inoffensive, against the strong, the desperate
and the lawless
MI. Wattersou said two courses are open tx
the majority on this floor. On the one hand
passionate outcry, at once impotent and child
| ish, on the other hand, without offering need
less obstruction to the progress of events ar
earnest, manly but temperate protest agains
what we believe great and grievous Wrong.
| In my Judgment the latter is our clear AND
bounden duty.
Mr.. Danford defended the decision as one
which outside of party feeling would meet the
approval of the whole American people.
Mr.. Pierce of Massachusetts said he would
| be glad to avoid the responsibility of voting OF
the question presented, but he did not think i
could be avoided. 1t was with great diffidence
| that he ventured to dissent from the decision O.
the commission, but the rule it laid down was
| one he could not concientiously endorse. The
l commission had refused to receive evidence
other than the certificate and the governor Of
the state. 1t could never have been intended
| by the fathers of the Constitution that Con
gress should not be able to scrutinize the re.
turns of the electoral vote. He was aware tina
1 III bQ6 pOSlLlOu u6 LUX uo bbUUu diLuOsL dOu6
in his party, but he should be recreant to his
convictions if he neglected to place on RECORD
| his dissent from the rule proposed to be estab
tablished. Applause on the Democratic side.
Mr.. Ellis of Louisiana argued against the
/ division and characterized the members of the
Returning Board as men whose souls wer'
scorched with perjury blacker than that O
Judas Iscariot but the deed was done. Tit
crime was accomplished. For four years more
the Republican party would hold the shadow
of Executive power. In four years more thu
l great American people wrOnged and outraged
would arise in their majesty and might bur
such drunken guests from power forever, ant
brand with the indelible brand of infamy those
men who had aided, .countenanced, abetted Of
defended their INDUSTRIOUS crime. Applause.
Mr. Wood of New York closed the debate
denouncing the action of the commission.
| Mr. Gibson's resolution was then adopted
| 172 to 99-a party vote, except that Messrs
| Seelye and Pierce of Massachusetts voted will
| the Democrats.
| A message was then sent to the Senate tina
| the House was ready to meet that body.
The Joint Convention.
At 1.35 the presence of the Senate at th,
door of the hall was announced and the mem.
bers rose and remained standing while the Sen
ators entered the hall and took seats on the
| Democratic side of the house. The presiding
officer, having taken the Speakers chair, call
| ed the meeting to order and stated that the two
houses acting separately had considered and
| decided the objections to the certificates from
the state OF Louisiana, and that the action of
| each house would now be read. This having
been done the presiding officer announced that
the two houses not ha1 ing decided otherwise
the decision of the Commission would stand in
force, and he directed the telers to declare the
| vote of Louisiana.
Senator Allison, one of the telle.s, thereupon
| announced that Louisiana had given vote
| for Hayes for President and votes for Wheel
| er for Vice President. There was no manifest
| alton OF any kind at the announcement, and
| the opening and counting of the certificates
proceeded IN alphabetical order, the state o.
Maine giving votes for Hayes and Wheeler
| Maryland s votes for Tilden and Hendricks,
and Massachusetts 10 votes for Hayes and
| Wheeler.
An Objection to Michigan.
When the certificates from the state Of
Michigan were read, giving its II votes fol
Hayes and Wheeler, Mr.. Tucker of Va, rose
and preseated an objection to the counting of
the vote OF Daniel L. Crossman, one of the
having been elected one of the electors of the
state OF Michigan, and having held and still
holding the Office of U. S. Commissioner, had
absented himself from the meeting of the cleo
| tors on the 9th of December and that his place
had been filled by the other electors The OBJ
lection claims that because Hanchett apsented
himself from the meeting did noe create va
| cancy. therefore that said Crossman had not
been duly appointed an elector. The objection
also submits the testimony of Benton Hanchett
before the committee on privileges. in which he
states he has never resigned his Office of U s.
Commissioner and that he aosented himself for
that reason from the meeting of the electors
The objection is signed by Senators Norwood,
Wallace, Barnum and Hereford, and by Rep.
resentatives A. S. Williams, Tucker, Vance of
Ohio, McMahon, Rice, Sparks, Marsh, Savage
| and Hurd
The presiding officer then asked if there were
further objections, and none being made the
Senate withdrew to let the objection be cousid-
cred and acted on by each house separately
A Fillibustering Attempt i'm the House
Voted Down.
Mr.. Southland of Ohio moved the House take
a recess until 10 o'clock tomorrow.
Mr.. Hale of Maine raised a point of order,
that the general scope of the Electoral Com
mission bill intended to prevent delay, and that
motion for recess was not now in order.
The Speaker said as he nndersto I'd the intent
and scope of the bill, motion for recess was
in order, and he therefore oVerruled the point
of order.
In the course of the discussion over the ques-
tlon OF recess, Mr.. Wood of New York, oppos
ea tne proposition, and submitted that as it was
SUN early IN the day, the objection of the count
l I MIchlgan should be presented at once,
olscusseo and acted upon so that the Elec tcral
count shouldsproceed