Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-29
THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION.
An Interesting Bit of History From
the Diary of a Senate Page.

David :. Barry i'll Pearson Magazine
On the walls of the beautiful teSSellated
corridor of the eastern gallery floor of the
Senate wing of the Capitol at Washington,
just opposite the door of the caucus room
of the Senate democrats. hangs a large oil
painting that never fails to attract the
keenest curiosity of sightseers and leSis-
lators alike. And for good reason: that
painting depicts in glowing colors a scene
of momentOus import, chapter OF amer
lean political history of graVer consequence
and more far-reaching results than any
other since the civil war. The printed
legend on tire frame of the picture reads:
The Florida case before the electoral
|. commission, February ;, 1877. Painted
from life sittings in the United States Su-
preme Court room by Cordel-a Adele F'5s-
satt.'
The painting belongs to Congress, having
been purchased from the artist for $1,000.
AS you face the picture the portraits of
.,5S men and women, who, twenty-siX years
ago We're part and parcel of the Legislative,
executive, judicial. social and journalistic
life of Washington, look straight at you as
if they We're still living and breathing
things. as, indeed, many of them are As
a work of art the picture is UNIQUE, for
each face is so turned that the feature
can easily be studied, and the likeaesses of
nearly all are so faithful as to be source
of constant wonder and delight
How many young men and women born
since General Grant was President know
anything about the electoral commission,
why, it was created and what it accom-
! pl.shed?
The electoral commission was body
composed of fifteen lawyers-five members
of the United States Senate, five members
of the United States House of Representa-
tives and five members of the Supreme
Court of the United States-chosen by a
law passed on the Goth of January, 1877. to
decide upon the validity and legality of the
election returns of certain disputed states
after the elections of November, 1876, when
hn i1-nl
were Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, repub-
Lean, and Samuel J. Tlden of New York,
democrat.
Each party claimed the election. and the
result hinged on the vote in South Caro-
lima, Louisiana, Florida, Oregon and one or
two other states where fraud was charged
or objection made to the eligibility of GER
tain of the electors The country was in a
state of feveriSh unrest and dangerous suS-
pense. The responsible head of each polit-
teal organization claimed the victory for
his SIDE and the whole country became in
volved in the unfortunate situation. Sena-
tor Zachariah Chandler of Michigan, chair
man of the republican national committee,
had on the night of the election sent broad
cast the telegram, Hayes has 1S5 votes,
and is elected" and he would not change
the announcement. The democratic organ
izat.on, whose chairman was Abram s..
Hewitt of New York, denounced the re-
publicans for attempting to rob the people
Of the fruits of democratic victory. Com
mittees representing both SIDES were sent
to the southern states 10 uneaftn the 1faud,
and the public press blazed for four months
: with lurid articles on the purity of the bal
lot and the sacredness of the Constitution.
Congress met in December, and ways and
means for dealing with the abnormal situa-
ton were continually discussed, and it was
at last realized by Congress and by the
country that the political system of the re-
public of the United States of America had
been brought face to face with new and
most dangerous situation The whole coun-
try was divided into two hostile camps,
each desperately and dosgedly determined
to stand up for its own SIDE and many of
the hot-headed leaders of each faction
openly advocated a resort to arms, If need
be, to prevent their enemies from robbing
them of a well-earned victory.
It is not entirely clear who was the ac-
tual. author Of the electoral comm,ss on
bill. although there is good reason to be-