The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1882-03-21

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The Union copies . washington les.
patch of the 10th TO the N. 7. Ns6ane,
to the efect that he Sub ommIttee on
Elections 81 the House has pfaparsd q
report which recommends. the ssatiug Of
Bisbee. The despatch further says that
"the testimony conclusively shows that
he was elected by majority of $50 votes,
although Finley was counted in on re
turns giving him an alleged majority Of
1859 svotss." s.-.-ssa.-rs4.ss. s.
This conclusion of the subcommittee,
says the Union, justifies the prediction
made when the committee was first APP
pointed, that it was organized to unseat
Democrats and provide good working
Republican majority. Everyone in Flor
ida, who is at all informed, knows that
Finley had large and honest majority
against Bisbee. Even giving Bisbee all
the votes he claimed in Madison, and at
every other point, he would still lack
votes enough to overcome the majority
for Finley. But it is useless to discuss
this in a newspaper article. 1t is evident
that the subcommittee has committed the
greatest injustice in destroying Finley's
real majority and giving to Bisbee fic-
titious one of nearly thousand votes.
But neither this report nor that of the
full committee is final. 1t remains to be
seen whether there is not manly indepen-
dence and proper regard for the right
in the House to prevent so gross an injus-
tice to the people of this Congressional
district as the unseating of representa-
tive whom they had fairly chosen, and in
stalling one in his place who was fairly
and honestly defeated. The account given
above is evidently the work of some par
tisan friend of Mr.. Bisbee We shall
know more about its correctness in day
or two.
The Washington Post of the 18th has
the following editorial concerning this
case: " Mr.. Horatio Bisbee, of Florida,
is fortunate man. For years he has fig
ured either as contestant or contestee in
the House of Representatives, and in that
time has drawn pay pretty regularly
either as a real or fiat member This
time he has had extra good luck iD dis
covering a subcommittee of the House
Elections Committee ready to report that
instead of being defeated by General
Finley by eleven hundred and ffty-two
votes he had, in fact, been elected by
eight hundred and fifty-iour majority; a
piece of intelligence both gratifying and
novel to Mr.. Bisbee, and certainly new
to the people of Florida. The report
will undoubtedly be adopted by the full
committee, and in due time reach the
House. The fight might just as well begin
with this case as any. There had to be a
commencement of the long contemplated
raid on the seats of Southern Democratic
members, and probably General Finley is
a good man to start the outgoing process
SlOD. AlloT HIHl there Will NC LIT6c VI
four South Carolina Representatives, some
from Alabama and Mississippi and per-
haps elsewhere. When all these gentle
men shall be turned out rebuke will
have been administered to several consti-
tuents for the offense OF sending Demo
Gratis to Congress and the Republican ma
jority will have been comfortably enlarged
two considerations which appeal most
strongly to Republican legislators. But
perhaps these observations are little
ahead of time, and it may be that neither
General Finley nor any other Congress
man will be summarily ousted from his seat
simply because he happens to be South
ern Democrat. At all events there is a
great deal of difference between the re-
port of a committee recommending an
custer and the entry of judgment thereon
by the House."