The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-10-15

President converting this session OF
the Senate"
The Presidents proclamation hay
| ing been read, Mr.. Pendleton moved
the adoption of the following resolu-
tion; "That Thos. f. Bayard, a
Senator from the State of Delaware.
is hereby chosen President pro tenn.
of the Senate"
Mr.. Edmunds said that of course
he did not object to the present con-
sideration of the resolution, but he
thought that under existing circum-
stances it was his duty to present the
credentials of the Senators-elect,
which he thereupon did. The Gre
dentials having been read, Mr.. Ed
munds moved that the oath of office
be administered to these gentlemen
by Senator Anthony, the senior Sen
ator.
Mr.. Pendleton moved to lay the
motion on the table. Carriedv-yeas
&c, nays 81.
Mr.. Davis, of Illinois, voted with
the Republicans in the negative.
Mr.. Malone did not vote, and Messrs.
PIatt and Fair were paired.
Mr.. Edmunds said that no reason
had been given why the Senator's
elect should not be allowed to take
part in the organization of the Sen
ate; and he therefore moved to
amend Mr.. Pendleton's resolution by
providing fol the immediate quail
fication of the Senators-elect-the
oath of office to be administered by
Senator Anthony.
Senator Edmunds deliveredan ar
gument in support of his second res
oluticn. He claimed that twas not
absolutely essential that the oath
should be administered by the presi-
dent of the Senate. He read from
the Senate journal to show that on
March 4th, 1858, a number of newly
elected Senators were admitted
(there being no president present. by
a resolution precisely Ike that he
(Edmunds) had proposed, that Lewis
Cass, then the oldest Senator in SER
vice, was empowered to perform the
specific duty of swearing in the new
Senators.
Senator Garland, on behalf of the
Democrats, maintained that the law
was plain that the Senate was con-
Yened to elect a president to fill a
gap in the Presidential succession,
and the Democrats proposed to at
tend to this duty at the earliest pos
sible moment.
The burden of Senator Edmunds'
argument was that the Democrats
were taking advantage of a tenn
porary opportunity, the result of
assassination, to gain party point.
There was no necessity of electing a
president of the Senate to retain his
seat permanently, before admitting
the newly-elected Senators. He cited
presidents to show that the Senate
had elected a president to perform
the specific duty for limited period
of time. He maintained that the
Senate-elect were really members of
the body, and that they should by
the promptest method possible be
admitted to its proceedings.
The amendment offered by Mr..
Edmunds to Mr.. Pendleton's resolu-
ton gave rise tn a short discussion,
but was finally rejected: yeas 33. nays
"a; Malone and Davis (Ill.) voting
with the Republicans.
Mr.. Edmunds then proposed an
amendment, providing that Thomas
f. Bayard shall be elected presiding
officer for this day only, and argued
in support of the amendment, con-
tending that it would comply with
the letter and the spirit of the law,
and would allow the States of New
York and Rhode Island to have a
voice in the election of a permanent
president pro tenn.
Senator Morgan, in reply to Mr..
Edmunds, referred to that period of
the past, when Southern States. he
said, were denied representation in
the Senate upon one pretext or an
other, and he had never known Mr..
Edmunds to rise to his seat to pro-
claim the equality of the States and
demand that they be treated alike.
A yea and nay vote on Mr.. Ed
munds' amendment resulted in its
defeat by vote of 33 to "a.
Mr.. Edmunds then offered another
amendment substituting the name of
U