Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1886-04-02
Mr.. Edmunds's Course In the Electoral
COmmisaiOn Matter.

What Mr.. Edmunds said to his fellow members Of
the committee, whether he distinctly expressed his
opinion, he claims now, whether he said moth
ing definite at all on the subject, Hewitt testified,
matter Of evidence now, for it in the
ture OF private, of-hand conversation, unrecorded
aud irresponsible in any official sense What he is to
be held responsible for is what he said and did the
floor Of the Senate; and this lie what lie aud his de-
tenders wish TO avoid by referring to loose, dsjoiut
ed, and probably aforementioned talk between mem
bers Of the committee. January "a, 1877, while the
electoral commission bill before the see
Senate Journal of that Congress, D. 152) Mr. Morton
proposed the following amendment:
ProUiied, that nothing herein contained shall au-
thorize the said commission to go behind the finding
aud determination of the eanvassng or returning Of
hcers Of state authorized by the laws of the state to
hnd and determine the result OF an election for elect
ors
Mr.. Edmuuds at once arose and offered an amend
ment to this amendment, by striking ont the words
nothing herein contained shall authorize and after
the word commission inserting the words "shau have
authority" This would have made the resolution, as
Edmunds wanted it, to read: "Frorided that the
said commission shall have authority to go behind the
returns" etc. This was defeated and on the ques-
ton Of passing the original ndment Edmunds vot
ed His vote meant that be did not think the COM
mission should be prevented from tul and fair in
yestigation into all the facts, The amendment
to this amendment which he offered meant that he
thought these things ought to be thoroughly inyes
gated, and yet member Of the commission he voted
that he had no right to inquire into these matters
that all evidence regarding them was diiUnje, and
that to do just what he proposed by his amendment
to do would be unconstitutional Interference with
the rights Of the states-RetOro,er NJ last iceek.
The above extract Is the essential part Of
the reply which the Windham County Re-
former makes to our exposure, two weeks
ago, of the utter lack of foundation in fact
for the attack on the public record of Sena-
tor Edmunds to which that paper is now de-
voting its columns. In our own article we
stated, and showed from Hon. A. B. Hewitt's
remarks on the floor of the House, that il
was not true, as the Reformer had charged,
that Mr.. Edmunds was guilty of duplicity in
the matter Of the electoral commission, hold
ing one thing on the floor of the Senate be-
forehand and another thing afterward To
this statement of fact on our part the Re.
former replies as above.
The reply is either piece of gross and de.
liberate Justification, or il is such an exhibition
ofignorance, and loose jointed work, as would
make reputable journalist hide himself in
shame. We choose our words with care and
they mean exactly what they say for there
il not a word of truth in what the extract
which stands at the head of this article says
or in what it implies about the position of Mr.
Edmunds on the question of going behind
the returns in the memorable contest of 1871
~ 10 hpnplhANAy AHioN III pN'Ag PhAtiNhAaAs IL
show this we have only to quote from the
official record of the Congressional proceed
ings where the exact position of Mr.. Edmundi
in regard to the electoral contest is explicitly
stated in his own words publicly Spoken
Vol. ., Part >, Congressional Record, ALL
Congress- I'd session.,
The time to which the Reformer alludes
when Mr. Morton proposed the amendment
quoted, was on Jan. "a, 1877, the last day
of the Senate debate on the electoral commits
sion bill, and the day on which Mr., Edmund
led the measure through to a final vote anC
its adoption or, to speak more exactly, i
was at daylight on the morning of the 25th
for the Senate had been in continuous SEES
sion, except short evening recess, since /
O'Clock of the day before Numerous speeche
had been made, the leading ones by Bayart
of Delaware, Thurman of Ohio, and Conklinl
of New York in favor of the bill, and b.
Sargent Of California, Sherman Of Ohio anC