The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-01-20
IMPORTANT FROM WASHINGTON.
The Joint Committee OF the Two Houses OH
the Presidential Middle Agree
on u Compromise.

The gratifying intelligence comes from
Washington that the joint committee of the
two houses, to devise some plan to satisfac.
torlly count the presidential vote, have come
to an agreement and ca Thursday reported
their plan to the two houses. The plan is
presented in the form of bill, which is too
long here to copy, but the substance of it is,
that the TWO houses of congress are to meet
on the 14th of February in Joint convention
in the house of representatives to count the
presidential vote, the president of the senate
to preside at said joint meeting Each house
shall previously have appointed two tellers,
and at the joint session the president OF the
senate is to open the certificates in alphabet
cal order of the states and hand them to the
tellers, by whom list OF the votes shall be
made and the votes counted. As each certii.
cate is opened the president of the senate is
to call for objections, and if objection is
made to any state from which but one ceriti.
has been received, the two houses are at once
TO separate and vote on such objection. If
both houses agree to exclude the votes object
ed TO- the exclusion shall be made, otherwise
the vote to be counted. In case two or more
certificates have been received from any state
they are to be submitted to a commission
consisting OF five members from each house
and the four justices of the supreme court of
the L. S. from the LIST, Sd, 7lh and 9th circuits,
b, ~ Mt n
the number of five. The Oldest in commits
sion of the. judges is to be the president of
the commission. To this commission all The
objections, evidence, ETC., in regard to the
electoral vote Of the state in question are tobe
submitted, after carefully examining which
the commission 10 10 decide for whom the
electoral vote shall be counted. When their
decision is made it is to be reported to the
two houses of congress, both of which must
concur in rejecting the decision, otherwise 1t
will stand. After all the votes have thus been
opened, acted upon, listed and counted, tho
tellers shall report the result to the president
of the senate, who announces 1t to tie joint
meeting. In no case of acting on objections
from any state or on the question OF approx
ing the decision Of the commission, shall
more than two hours be occupied in either
house in debate, and no one speech shall be
over ten minutes in length.
This is the plan. The objection democrats
naturally make to 1t is that 1t is a surrender
of the clear constitutional right of he house to
object to and exclude from the count any
fraudulent or illegal electoral votes; and the
republicans naturally object to the plan be-
cause 1t is the surrender of a sure thing,
which they had by adherng to the Norton
Chandler plan, for an uncertainty. Yet it
provides a way that is fair, because the com
mission to whom the final decision is referred
willconsist OF seven democrats and seven re-
publicans on each side, with an umpire TO be
agreed upon by BOTH said umpire being
judge OF the supreme court. 1t is not be.
lieved that either party IN congress will dare
to take the responsibility Of defeating the
plan thus DrODOsed