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

gress, since Congress did use its power to reject
the electoral vote Of seven States for President
on the ground that they were in rebellion. He
remarked that the power in the States TO ap-
point electors was trust power returned TO
the States and "not a hauble to be PLAYED
with. II, he said, - the voice Of a State, as
uttered in the choosing Of electors, be an I'M
certain voice, Congress can refuse to hear it.
You must be assured that il is the State that
speaks to you before you count its votes. The
States voice is not sure 10 be uttered by cor
pUratiOn, returning board"
He said that unless Congress could remedy
fraud the people of Louisiana would be left
without remedy at all against any, even the
most atrociOus and transparent frauds of re-
turning board. That the Election act Of 1872
in Louisiana repealed all acts and parts Of acts
previous to 1t, and consequently wiped out the
sections in the act of 1868 providing for a mode
of election. Therefore, as the subsequent act
of 1872 provided no method, the returning
board had no due warrant; that the returning
board was required by its oaths to count the
original returns made by the commissioners Of
election; but, instead of doing this, it accepted
what witness has called contabulated
statement by the supervisor. That the omis-
sion, more than that, the refusal of the return
ing board to fill the vacancy which occurred,
and which, in despite of the provision Of the
law under which it acted, providing that all
political parties should be represented on it,
acted throughout with four members of one
political party only, vitiates all its proceedings
In secret session of the commission Mr.. Hoar
submitted the following:
Ordered, That the evidence be not received.
Mr.. Abbott offered the following as q substi-
tute:
RESOLVED, That evidence be received to show
that so much of the act of Louisiana as estab
fishes the returning board for that State is UNI
constitutional, and the acts of the said return
ing board are void
This was rejected by the following vote
Yeas-Messrs. Abbott, Bayard, Clifford, Field,
Hunton, Payne and Thurman 7.
Nays-Messrs Bradley Edmunds, Freling
hnysen, Garfield, Hoar, Miller, Morton and
Strong-8.
A number of other resolutions of a similar
nature were presented by the Democrats, but
in every case they were voted down-the vote
standing in each case to 7.
Senator Morton then offered the following:
ResoLCed, That the persons named as electors
in certificate number one were the lawful cleo
tors of the State of Louisiana and that their
votes are the votes provided by the Constitution
of the United States, and should be counted for
President and Vice-President.
The resolution was adopted by vote Of to
7, as follows
Yeas essrs Bradley, Edmunds, Freling-
huysen, Garfield, Hoar, Miller, Morton and
Strong-9.
Nays-Messrs. Abbott Bayard, Clifford,
Field Hunton, Payne and Thurman.
Justices Miller and Bradley and Representa-
tive Hoar were then appointed committee to
draft report of the decision, with brief state
ment of the reasons therefor, to be signed by
the members agreeing therein and to be trans
mitted to the joint session of the two houses
as required by the Electoral act
The report was signed by Messrs Miller,
Strong, Bradley, Edmunds, Morton, Freling-
! a,Gg 4 NlNp NNrfS 80 no,
follows:
The Electoral commission having received
certain certificates and papers purporting to be
certificates of the electoral votes of the State
of Louisiana and certain papers accompanying
the same, and the objections thereto, report
that it has duly considered the same, and has
decided and does hereby decide that the votes
of VIM. Pitt Kellogg, o. H. Brewster A. b.
Levisee. Oscar Jefflion, Peter Joseph, j. H.
Birch, L. A. Sheldon, and Morris Marks, named
in the certificate of VIM Pitt Kellogg, governor
of said State (Which votes are certified by said
persons as appears by the certificates submitted
to the commission as aforesaid, and marked
number one by said commission and herewith
re urned) are the votes provided for by the Con-
stituton of the United States, and that the
same are lawfully to be counted as therein GER
! tited-namely, eight votes for Rutherford B.
Hayes of the State of Ohio, for President, and
eight votes for VIM. A. Wheeler, of the State
| of New York, for Nlce-Presldent Inc COM
mission also decides and reports that the eight
persons first before named were duly appointed
electors in and by the said State of Louisiana.
The ground of this decision, stated briefly. is
substantially as follows:
That it is not competent to go into evidence
dliu1di as to the papers opened by the presi-
dent of the Senate in the presence of the two
houses to prove that other persons than those
regularly certified by the governor of the State
of Louisiana. in and according to the determi-
nation and declaration of their appointment. in
other words, to go behind the certificates or the
governor so far as it is founded upon the action
of the returning board.
The report also states that the commission
could not receive any evidence to show that any
eector was ineligible on the seventh of Novem-
Der, the day of the election, on the ground that
it was not essential to show that an elector was
eligible on that day so long as he was eligible
when he cast his vote in the electoral college,
and the fact appears that the alleged ineligi-
Bile electors, Brewster and Levisee, were
chosen to fill vacancies caused by their own
absence from the college, and there was no al
legation of inelgibility at the time they cast
| their votes