The Portland daily press., 1880-05-11
THE ELECTORAL COUNT.
A Democratic Plan for Stealing the
80 Presidency.
SENATOR MORGAN'S BILL FOR
COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTE.

New YORK, May 10.-A Washington special
says thu measure which Senator Morgan has
introduced to for the counting of the
electoral vote not only deprives the States of
all voice or influence in the matter of contested
elections, making Congress the sole Judge be-
tween two sets of returns; but provides in ad-
dition the machinery by which, in every case
where there is only single set of returns
that is where the State has done its whole
work to its own entire Observation-Disclosures
may Ego behind the returns, Question their
accuracy and throw out one or more or all of
its votes, according as Democratic necessities
may make it desirable. Section of the Nor
gan resolution is as follows:
After list of votes of electors from any State
has been received under the foregoing provisions of
this rule and before the vote of the electors of an
other State is considered, the President of the
Senate shall cause the name of each eector on such
dent and Vice President of the United States, to be
read in the presence aud hearing of the two houses
and after all the names of electors such list and
their votes have been read, he shall put the ques-
ton: SIS there objection to the vote of any elector
from the State of - (namiug the State) If no
objection is made to any vote of any elecor said
list, in the manner hereinafter provided all such
votes shall be counted by the tellers; and entered
on the lists to be kept by them, If objection is
mode to one or more Of the votes Of electors on said
list. the same shall be presented in writing and in
duplicate, and shall specify the elector, and also
the vote or votes of such elector objected to, and
shall state the grounds of objection succinctly and
without argument, and the same must be signed by
at leost two Senators and three members OF the
House of Representatives. and must be presented
before the reading of any certified list of votes of
electors from another State has commenced or
within thirty minutes after the list of electors has
been declared to be received, if the State whose
vote is being considered is the last the alpha
betical list of States.
When objection is made to any vote or votes of
electors, the Senate shall withdraw to its chamber
and consider such objection or objections, and in
each House the objection objections shall be read.
The question to be decided upon each vote to which
has hear ma la "a ho tod INV thn
siding officer as follows: "Shall the vote under
consideration be counted Notwithstanding all OBJ
ectons that have been made in the presence of the
Senate and the House of Representatives to the
same? After all said objections to the votes of cleo
tors from any State have been disposed of in either
Houes, it shall communicate its decision to the
other House. Senators and members of the House
of Representatives may each speak in their respec
tive houses for the five minutes npon the votes of
any elector to which objection has been made but
not more than once or for longer time than five
minvtes on the vote or votes of the same elector,
except by unanimous consent and after debate has
continued for thirty minutes on the vote votes
of any electors, the main question: above stated
shall be put separately upon such vote votes.
After the two house respectively shall have come
to decision upon all the votes of electors from
States that have been submitted to them and
have each communicated to the other decisions so
made they shall Immediately re-assemble in the
hall of the House of Representatives and the pre-
sldent of the Senate shall announce in the presence
of each elector submitted to it. Ii it shall APP
pear that the Senate and House of Representatives
have concurred in their decision to reject any vote
SO submitted to them respectively for decision the
shall not be counted by the tellers otherwise
all of said votes shall be counted.
This, it will be SEEM places no limit OF the
power OF Congress, or, rather, it removes all
limits to its power, and, as an eminent Repub-
lican said, it simply places it in the power of
the Democratic Congress to elect to the Presi-
dency whomsoever it chooses. Objections
may be based upon questions of the ineligibili-
ty of electors, either on account of alleged non.
citizenship or because the elector is Federal
oficeholder; or it may even go beyond and
take into consideration the number of votes
cast for the electors and the influences by
which votes were obtained And this it will
do, not in compliance with any law, but by a
simple concurrent resolution of the two houses
of Congress, which may be rescinded or
changed for each Presidential election to meet
the emergencies of the occasion.
If then the result of the election next
N ovember is not Overwhelmingly favorable to
one or the other of the most prominent candi-
dates, the course of the Democrats may be
easily foretold. Detectives will search every
where for evidence upon which to ground OBJ
jections to particular Republican electors No
provision being made for formal decision,
be raised, the first knowledge of the intention
to raise an objection will be obtained when the
two houses are in joint session and the obiec-
ton is actually made. Then the whole ques-
ton, involving as it will the title to the Presi
dency must be canvassed under the five minute
rule, and decided by a vote within half an
hour of the time when the objection was
raised, no opportunity being given to present
evidence upon the questions at ISSUE
Democrats say that they know nothing
about the Morgan resolutions, but there is no
doubt that they are the outcome of the in
structions given by the Democratic caucus
which had the matter under consideration.
The Democrats doubtless intend to push the
measures through if not at once then early in
December, in case the result of the election
makes it advisable.