The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-06-17

o. THE STARK MLLs-Two miles south Of to
L are now in fine repair and are grinding VIII
A rapidly and turning out first class flour. J
IA Sheriff John P. Rauch is the chief man Of
e. mill and the delivery work is duly and promI
nave been prUpgr RnNHu% HcnScsfrSoTHaee"
the official oath did not present itself
Before the time fixed by law for count,
ing the electoral votes, Congress passed
the Electoral Commission bill, by which
they practically abdiCated in favor of a
tribunal unknown to, and as l think ,un'
movable by the Constitution, and n
acted that the Electoral Commission
should, in the first instance, make the
count, and that the count should stand,
unless overruled by the concurrent ac-
ton of the two Houses. This electoral
tribunal counted Mr.. Tilden out, and
counted in a man who was not elected.
Congress did not override their count, in
conse uuenCe of which the false count
stood as law under the act of Congress.
The only other contingency in which
it would have been obligatory or even
lawful for Mr.. Tilden to have taken the
oath of office, wat in case of a failure OF
a choice by the electoral college, and the
House of Representatives had itself pro-
ceeded to make the election, voting by
| States in the manne prescribed by the
Constitution, as pursued in the election
| of John @. Adams. This contingency,
like the first, never presented itself.
Both failing, any attempt on the part of
Mr.. Tilden to seize the Presidency by
violence would have been the work, not
of a statesman, but Of a brigand.
Courage is too common a virtue among
Americans for any one to make boast Of
it, and the lack of courage is quite too
rare to explain the conduct of any body
of representative Americans. At the
same time there is no doubt that if there
was any place where a special display of
heroism could have been displayed to
advantage, or could have prevented the
defeat of the popular choice and INSTALL
ed the elect of the people in the Presi-
Dental chair, that pace was the floor of
Congress. l suppose | say nothing that
| any Democratic member ofthat Congress-
will dispute, when l state that it was
through fear that the Senate would lead
a resistance to the rightful judgment Of
the House, and that President Grant
would sustain this revolutionary policy
with the army and navy and the militia
of the great states in which the Repub'
licans had possession of the state gov.
ernments, that deferred the House of
Representatives from the assertion of its
rights, and induced its vote for, and &C.
uuiesCenCe in, the electoral commission,
But without speCulating further upon
the causes or motive for such vote and
acduiesCence, the facts are beyond dis
pute. The House of Representatives
did not elect Nj. Tilden in the manner
prescribed by the Constitution or in any
other way. On the other hand 1t did
concur with the Senate in anticipating
and preventing the contingency in which
it might have had to act; it also assisted
in providing beforehand an expedient
which incapacitated it for repairing the
consequences of a failure of an election
by the colleges. 1t adopted the electoral
law, and went through all the forms Of
the electoral scheme. True, 1t atterward
rebuked itself BY passing adeclaratory res
olution C%ondemning the electoral com
mission, and asserting that MI. Tilder
had been the choice Of the people, buI
the Constitution had not provided thai
any man should or could take Office al
President on a deClatory resolution Of ei
ther House of Congress, Ifthat resolution
could have abrogated the electoral law