Omaha daily bee., 1886-10-25
keer II Bcrorc Rcpublicnns.

Howe has any rightful claim upon the
support OF amy decent republican. Leav.
ing out OF question his corrupt methods
and notorious venality we appeal to rc'
publicans TO pause and reflect before
they put n premium upon party trca.
son and conspiracy against IT'S very exist
encc. .HH
Ten years ago when the republican
party was on the verge of disaster, and
every electoral vote cast for Hayes and
Wheeler was needed to retain the party
in power, Church Howe entered into
conspiracy to deliver republican
Nebraska into the hands of the enemy
This infamous plot is not mere coniec-
ture The proof of it does not rest on
surmisc or suspicion. 1t is not to be
pooh.poohed or brushed away by pro-
nouncing it one of Rosewater's malicious
campaign slandcrs.
The records of the legislature of which
Church Howe was member in 76.T7,
contain the indclibIe proofs of the treas
enable conspiracy and no denial can
stand against evidence furnished by his
own pen. Briefly told, the history of this
plan to hand over the country to Tilden
ana democracy is as 1OiOWS:
In 1876 Nebraska elected Silas A.
Strickland, Amasa Cobb and A. II.
Connor presidential electors by vote of
3lJl6 as against n vote of 1884 cast for
the Tilden and Hendricks electors. After
the election it was discovered that the
canvass of this vote could not take place
under the then existing law before the
legislature convened. The electoral vote
had to be canvassed in December
at the latest, and the regular ses-
sion of the legislature did not begin
until January. In order to make
legal canvass of the electoral returns,
Governor CARRIER called a special session
of the legislature to convene on the 5th of
December, '78, at Lincoln, for the pur-
pose of canvassing the electoral vote of
the state. The democratic effort to cap
ture republican electoral votes is historic.
Tildens friends, notably DR.. Miller, had
been plotting for the capture of one of
the electors from Nebraska and 1t Is also
historic that II large bribe was offered to
one of the electors, General Strickland.
The call of the legislature broke into the
plan of the plottcrs, and they found will
ing and reckless tool IN Church Howe.
When the legislature conveeed at the capi
tai, Church Howe filed a protest which may
be found on pages 6, and 8 of the Ne
braska House journal of 1877. The fol
lowing extract makes interesting reading:
II, Church Howe, a member of the legisla-
ture of Nebraska, now convened by procla-
nation of his excellency, Governor Silas
CARRIER, for the purpose of canvassing and
lnnln riptr thn t,Nft tl,n trnta or Mo-
braska for electors for president and vice
president of the United States, hereby enter
my solemn protest against such act, denying
that the governor has power to call this body
in special session for any such purpose, or
that this body has any authority to canvass
or declare the result of such vote upon the
following grounds:
First. This legislature now convened hav-
ing been elected under what is known as the
old constitution, has no power to act in the
premises, the new constitution of the state
having been IN force since November 1915"
The second and third clauses deal with
technical objections and are somewhat
lengthy. The concluding sentences of
this precious document are as follows:
For the foregoing reasons L protest
against any canvass of the electoral vote
of the state by his body, and demand
that this, my protest, be entered upon
the journal (Signed) Church Howe,
member of the legislature of Nebraska.
The democrats did not respond to the
call of the governor and there was barely
quorum in the senate, while there were
several to spare in the house of which
Howe was member. The protest en-
tered by Howe was doubtless prepared
by the Tilden lawyers in Omaha and
Howe had the glory of being the sole
champion of Sam Tildcn. The leglsla-
ture ignored Church Howe, spread his
protest on its record and canvassed the
electoral vote in spite of it.
When the legislature convened in Jan
uary, 1877, the presidential contest was
at Its height IN Washington. Church
Howe had changed places from the house
to the senate. Early in the session, a
resolution was introduced expressing the
convection on the part of the senate that
Hayes and Wheeler having received a
majority of the electoral votes were en-
titled to their seats. This resolution
gave rise to very lively debate which
lasted Two days. Church Howe asked to
be excused from voting when it first
came up and was SO excused. On the
final passage of the resolution the record
[page 376. Senate journal 1871 shows
the following result Yeas-Apbrose,
Baird, Blanchard, Bryant, Calkins,
earns, Chapman, Colby, Dawes, Gar
field, Gillian, Hayes, Kennard, Knapp,
Pepoon, Powers, Thummel, Van Wyck,
Walton and WilcoX-2O..
Those voting in the negative were:
Aten, Brown, Coyell Ferguson, Hinman,
Holt, Church Howe and North-S.
During the same session of the legisla-
ture, Church Howe's vote on United
States senator for the first three ballots is
recorded as having been cast for E. w.
Thomas. South Carolina democrat,
[pages 1913 and 20S Senate Journal All
this time Church Howe professed to be a
republican independent, republican on
national issues and q temperance granger
on local issues. We simply ask what
right a man with such record has to
he supp ort of any republican.
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STATE AND TERRITORY.