, 1877-07-28
EIGHT TO SEVEN.
.Eutlye j. ". Black Reviews t,e Action OF
ife Electoral Commission.

! Eudxe J. y. BLACK Reviews the Action oi
fhe Electoral Commission.
The NpYth 4merioaI, Reriel0 for July
contains the promised article by Judge
jeremiah S. Black, on the character and
acts of the electoral commission. The
articleisentitled The Electoral Conspiracy
and the title is the key note to the entirt
tone and scope of the production. To say
that it is ably and eioquently written is
( to say what does not need announcement
Among the prominent points mthe earlier
portions of the article, are the description
of the Carpet Bagger, his descent up
on Louisiana, and the condition of things
he brought about. The returning board
! is thus analyzed and its scope and methods
described President Grant is arraigned
as the head OF conspiracy to prevent the
will of the people being carried out.
Judge Black then said
But how was the object of the CON
spiracy to be accomplished The house
of representatives was democratic, and
without its consent, expressed or implied
in some form or another, the senate could
not give effect to false count The first
intention was the claim that the pr Sident
of the senate had power to determine ab-
soIutely and arbitrarily what electoral
votes should be counted and what not
This was the great rallying point until Mr.
Conkhng took 1t up, and, IN a speech Of
surprising ability, utt -rly demolished and
reduced ii to invisible atoms IL became
settled, therefore, that the two houses
must count the votes, and this clearly I'M
Piled the power to determine what were
votes. 1t could not be denied that the
voice of the house OF representatives was
at least as potential as that Of the sena-
tors and 1t was not supposed that the
house would suffer u fraud SO gl&rIng as
this to be thrust down the throat of the
country against the stomach of It's sense.
But if the two bodies would declare in
consistent results Of the count, and pro-
claim the election of different Presidents,
state of things might come which would
subject our institutions TO a strain severe
enough 10 endanger them greatly. 1t was
IN these difficult circumstances that d
IAtiAGNl lAANNEAi hdho fSt'fOsii
ted, consisting of five senators, five rep
resentatives, andfve Judges of thesupreme
court The mode Of appointing them
made it certain that fourteen would be
equally divided b-tween the parties ard
as the fifth Judge would be named by the
consent of his brethren on both sides,
he might be expected to stand between
them ike a daysman, with hand rs
80 ,c,ilsc,,ie l 70 this IN tho bajief
that no seven republicans who could be
taken from the court or from congress
would swear 20 decide the truth and then
uphold a known fraud if mistaken IN
that opinion Of then adyersarIe5 honesty,
tkey felt sure, at ali events, that the un-
rire would be far minded man. They
were bitterly disappointed the commits
sion went eight 70 seven for the great
fraud and all us branches; for fraIid III the
de5ail aud III tbs aggregate; for every item
of fraud that was necessary to make the
sum- total big enopsh-eight to seven all
the time
d" We must look al Tie state Of the case
as it went before the commission. Tilden
and Hendricks had l84 electoral votes
clear and free of all dispute, one less tha
majority of the whole number. They
also had IN Louisiana eight, and IN Florida
four appointed by the people, but falsely
certified to Hayes and Wheeler by the
governor, but against whom popular
majority had been cast for al ineligible
candidate. To elect Hayes it WAS neces-
sary that each and every one Of these
thirteenvotes should be taken from Tilden
and gwen to Hayes. As this required
many distinct rulings based upon con-
Trajectory grounds, the path of the COM
mission WAS not only steep but crooked
''Ihe great and Important duty cast
upon the commission by special oath OF
each member was to decide, in the case
of contested votes from 4 state, whether
any and what votes from such state are
the votes provided for by the contribution
of the United States, hew many and what
persons were duly appointed electors in
| such state. 1t is not denied that the sole
power of appointing electors for the states
of Louisiana and Florida is in the people.
! Il was then and still Is an admitted fact
that the people had exercised the power
of appointment IN the prescribed and
proper way ; they did duly make an ap-
pointment of electors, and their act was
duly recorded, and so made perpetual
memory. This thing was not done IN {
corner it was seen and known of al
men. That each of the two states named
had duly appointed Tilden electors at {
regular election held for that purpose OF
the 9TH OF November, III pursuance OF Law
was part of their history as mneh as tbs
fact that they were states of the Union
All the members OF the commission knew
it as well as they knew the geographical
position OF Tallahassee or New Orleans
It needed no proof but if specific cyl
dence had been required, there was tn,
record from which the truth glared upoi
them as clear as the sun. They shut thei
eyes upon the record, and refused to SET
how many and what persons were duly ap
pointed electors by the people, but listen
ed eagerly to the evidence (aliunde thougi
it was) which showed how many and wha
persons had been designated by the re
turning officers. 1t was ultimately helc
(eight to sevea) that the appointees OF tn,
returning board were duly appointed, an,
the appointees Of the people were undul,
appointed. Did the eight suppose tha
the legal power TO make such an appoint
ment was vested by law in the returnin,
board Did they think it was not veste,
| in the people No, that is impossible
But they may have conscientiously believ
ed that the interest of their faction EoIlt
be well Served by Hayes election The,
may have been prompted by virtuou
admiration OF carpet bag government, anC
were sincerely anxious TO save it from
Tilden's reform.
| The action of the commission in Ii,
cases OF the disputed states Is theI. deal
with in detail, and the article conclude
as follows
CATER all, there was but one question