New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-01
A REVIEW OF THE PROCEEDINGS

zoclock this evening Salhucl DiD, =, f
Carolina. ceased to occupy a seat Ill 'ne iio"'o
penr.ssnfatives to winch he was not ehtiI'eu "i"
Wv NJ. Mackey, who was the choice Oh largo
.,;aritr of fhe voters of the lid South CarOhha
5r..ot ,ras sworn in as their representative. Inc
II4o which led to this conclusion has been a re-
.o,.,rla one in one respect No man who has Spo-
hon arains, the admission of Msckey has dated 10
discuss the merits Of the at ALL OF 10 uenY '@C
tbe contestant received an undispnted majority VI
.he votes cast at the election Of November - AooV'
Nor has anyone dared to assert that Dlopie '"u .0
shadow of right to the seat, except upon the INV
olons Ground that the will OF the maJony Oh Not0iS
was nullIfed by the death OF OConnor WHO i'u
received fraudulent certificate OF elcctoh'
The discussion began promptly TINS MoIniie .N0
Democrats having concluded to defer until aIter
the case had been disposed of the presentation oi
tr resolutions censuring the Speaker and the ma
ioritr Of the House. Mr.. AthertOn, who opened the
dohate after waiting over night for an audience,
,-os after all compe led to do SO to slim House
.nd almost EMMY galleries. Mr.. AthertOn Is set
down in fhe Congressional Directory as lawyer,
and he prcfaced his speech tins morning with the
statement that he would address himself Jndlclaly
10 the House in its judicial capacity MI Atherioh
had not uttered dozen sentences, however, before
be forgot this p1aSeworthy intention, and his argu-
ment degenerated into mere vehement pohtical
haranguc, brisling with erroneous statements ana
false inferences Through il all however, Mt. AIN
erton carefully avoided making even the most re-
mote allusion to the merits OF the case itself With
all his assurance and audacy he was afraid to dis
cuss the question, "Who was elected TO Congress
in the lid District of South Carolina"
Mr. Rannev who brought 10 Congress the reputa-
tion of being one of the abest lawyers at The MasSa-
chusett bar fully vindcated his right to that rep
utatlon to-day His speech, distinguished by its
lucldity of statement and force of argument, left
his opponents not leg to stand on. Mr. Ranney
devoted himself to the discussion of two PROPOSE
tions first, that Mackey elected and, second,
that the allegations that Mackey had surrept-
tjousy and corruptly" falsifed the testimony in
the case were unfOunded. Mr.. Ranney proved be-
yond the shadow of a doubt that on the face of the
precinct returns Mackcy elected by majority
oil lue..i; 100, and showed that the action of the
County and State Canvassers iu rejecting the re-
turps from certain precincts was in violation OF the
law of South Carolina. Mr.. Ranney then
took up and disposed of the ale
cations of fraud and forgery" IN
the testimony, and he showed conclusyely that
every alteration in the testimony was made by
agreement and in the presence of opposing counsel
and, moreover, that no alteration, III any sense
material had been made He had been carefully
through all the manuscript of the testimony as
find upon which any alterations had been made,
and he read these alterations to show how imna-
terial they were The name of Joseph Spratt jr.,
had been changed to Joseph Sprott, u. ;
"priyate house" in another place had been
altered so as 10 read out bouse"; the word
"around" had been changed 10 armed; the
context showing that the alteration necessary
in order to preserve the These are fair sam
pies of the alterations over which the Demo-
Gratis in Congress have raised such howl, ana OF
which thsv have demanded an investigation by a
special committee Mr.. Ranney spoke almost two
hours and was listened to with close attention TO
the very end
Mr. Moulton Of Illinois another member OF the
Elections Committee made the next speech. and,
sedulously avoiding the real merits of the case,
sought to establish that the House has no right to
turn out Dibble because 0'Connor died before the
disputed case was tried and decided, and because
DIbble had managed at a so-calcd special cleo
t0n where there no opposition. to get about
1000 votes In a constituency of 10000 voters.
Mr.. Moultou also repeated the stale and frivolous
allegations that the testimony had been tampered
with by Mackey.
Mr. Jones, of Texas. a Greenback member of the
Elections Committee. made capital speech in
which he thoroughly discussed the merits of the
case and exposed the gigantic frauds by which
O'Connor was counted in in 1850. Mr.. Jones said
that with him case like this not party
question and he called attention to the fact that he
had united with the Democratic minority of the
Elections Committee in their report IN favor of the
sitting member III the Bisbee- Finley case.
After the previous question was ordered Mr..
Evins of South Carolina, made a short speech, the
tenor of which was that all elections in that State
during the last few years have been fair and honest
Mr. Eyins did not appear to think that his speech
eafira IN
Joke and his face grew redder than ever as he de-
Tended the honor" of his State
About O'Clock Mr. Dibble began his farewell ad-
dress to the House of Representatives, promising
that when the House tries such case as this II has
two matters to consider and adjudicate: FIRST the
private right of member to his seat, and, sec
ond the right of his constituents to be represented
IN Congress- Mr.. Dibble did not appear TO reflect
tAa'' had the rights of majority of the voters not
been destroyed by illegal MEANS he would not have
been addressing the House this afternoon He
tried hard to make the memb.rs of that
body believe that most of the colored voters
in South Carolina are Democrats and if they were
not intimidated would vote Democratic ticket But
even Mr. Dibbe dared not assert that Mackey WAS
not fairly and honestly elected although he
did say that "a gross wrong is to be in
fiicted on my people" Mr.. Dibble also as
serted that his constituents entitled to be
represented in the House and he therefore, ought to
fee grateful that are now represented and by the
man of their choice.
Chairman Caikins closed the debate in tenmin-
utes speech distinguished by its eloquence and
vigor As he was about 10 close Mr. Springer, who
bad not created disturbance since yesterday,
sprang to his feet and began to jump about and
shout and gesticuatc in most extraordinary man.
ner Immediately there was a great hubbub. The
Suealer said "rhc qenf lslan from Illinois s NOT
speaking i'll order.v