Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, December 25, 1876, Page 7

e THE PRESIDENCY. SIDNEY SMITI'S VIINWS, 70 tha Fditor af The Trisuns. Cnicaco, Dee, 22.—Eminent statesmen of Europo liavo assarted that the wit of man can- pot, by & written constitntion, dovise a frame- work of Government adequate to the exigencles which may arigo In its alministration. If It cen Ve done, oxperienc has already taught us that the dificuities are grave, calling for the excrelse of the highest qualities of states- manship, tempered with a efidt of ab- soluts eamdor and fairness, If. In est emergencles threstening tho. very existence of representativa government, a mere partisan spirit i3 to control the conduct of men intrusted with the aflalraof government, the end of represcntative government on alarge seale, on this continent, is near at hand, A erisls has arisen In tho affalrs of our Govern- ment which muat bo tnet. Tho neuplu demand that it shall be fafrly met; and the reaponsibill- 47 reats upon those now in vositions of offictal rust and power Anclection for the nnyc(ntment of Electors af Presldent and Vice-T'resident of the United Btates was held on Lhe 7th of November Inst in ol tho States of the Unlon under the Constitu- flon and the lawa of the United .8tates nni of the several States, The Electors have met in aach State, n voto has been taken and certifled snd forwarded to tho seat of Government of tlhe Unlted States, dirccted to the President of tho Benate. Here the aiffienltics commence. Dy- plleate returns have been forwarded from soma of the Btatcs, and it la allezed that In gomo Instariccs certificates of election have “been {ssued by Btate Governors to those who were not In fact appoinied Electors, and refused {0 those who were go appointed. Ot course, all sgree (or ehould ngree) that those who were in fact appolinted, and’ those nnl{ should have u volee tn tho.electlon of Presldent and Vice- President’ bat tho difliculty arlees in deter- mining how and by whom these questions aro to be determined, ‘or whether, Indced, in the gresent sinte of the law thoy can be determined at all. That the provisiona of thoe Con- stitution and tho Jawa aro in s degree de- fectivo for tho. present omergeucy cannot be denfed. HBut' to concluds that thuy are fatally defectiveis to determina that our (overnment {s at un end; for to seck relief through measures of violence and revolution would bo of itsclf the cnd of our present Gov- ernment. And where anarchy and confusion would end, and what sort of anow Governmient would bs erccted on the ruins of the old, no Buman foresight could prodict. It 1s but = popular orror to supposecither that s majority of the whole Electoral Col- leze—now “185 volcs—is nccessary to the clectfon of a- President, or that all the votes opened by the President of tho Senate (even In the absenco of duplicates) necessarlly count towards making the requisite number to clect, for the Constitutlon’ provides that * the reon baving the fmntnar, number of votes for President shull be Yresident, {f such number be @ majority of the whole number of Electors appolnte , o 1t one State falls to appolnt any Elcctors, orif any Btates fail to appoint the aumber al- lowed, atill » mnjoruly of the Electors actunl- l{ sppolnted “will be euflicient * to elect, If all tho Btates but_one should fuil to appolnt, a majority of the Electors from {he one dtate appotnting would novertheless be suflicient to elect, : Bomo authority nust therefore determine, first, low many” qualifled persons, 1n the ng- gregate, have beon.duly nppolntc& Electors; stcond, whether the vote cast for any person as President includes a mafority of these duly np- pointed and qualified Electors, The Constitution of the United States pro- vides that * Kach State shall appolnt, -In_such manucr as the Legislature thereof may direct, snumber of Electors equal to the whole num- ber of Sonators and Representatives to which the State may bo cntitled in Congress.” And i also provides that “*Tho Congress may doler- mine the tlme of choosing Electors,” Thus, in the most pointed language, too plain for inter- pretation or constructiun, does the Constitution of the United Statcs vest In cach Btate the ex- clusive power to appolnt its quota of Lilectors, and in the Legislature of each Stato the exclu- tive. power to prescribe the mode and manner of such appointment. No department of the Federal Governwent has any power or suthority in the premises except to flx the time when tho act of ‘appointment “shall take pluce. Tuder these rru\'lnlunu tho Leglslature may it- sell exerelse the appointing Jm\\‘ur; or it muy confer this power upon the Judges of the St- rang Court of the Btate, the Governor, or ie {recholders of the State, or upon all the qualified voters, throngh the instrumentality of tn clecton to “be beld under o Blate Electfon law regulating the manner of conduct- Ing, contesting, snd declaring the resuit, All this i3 whotly a maticr of State concern, and for which the inembers of the State Leglslature would be respousible only to their {nnnedinte constituents. ~ And as thisbroad power and dis- cretfon is vested in the State Legislatures in ex- Erea- terms by the Constitution'of the United tates, it could not be abridged, restricted, or modifled even by tho provisions of a State Con- stitution. Much Icss could legislative actlon this regard- be controlled, _reculfied, orIn any manner revised or reviewed by Con Rrces, or by any other deEnrl.man of the Yeds cral Government, 1 the Legislaturo of any Etato hias seon tit to prescribe the munuer of upe pointinz Electors by a vote of the people under an Election law %ruvixllu ' omang other thingy for a Returning Board with full “power to rejec any portfon ol ‘the votea on the allegation of Intimfation in any precinet or election dlstrict Wheresuchvotes arepolled, or forany other spucl- fled reason, however trivolous or {aollsh, fu the Judgnent of Cunszrcss, such reason may scem, 2ud the Electors hiave been appointed and the result declared noder such law, so that the manner of appointment prescribed by the Leg- islaturo has been Jollowed, how can it be suc- cesfully malntained that the power exlsts in any dopurtment of tha Federal Government to reverse the result declared by such Returning d, or in any manner raview or modify its action, or tho action of the Govern- or In flgmnm:F certifieates to thoss declared elected, or indeed to In any manner intorfere With tha action of the State ofielnls under such BlateElection law, The wisdom or justica of such luw, or {ts Infamy or injustico, are wholly Immaterlal inquiries, 80 far aa Congress or any other Departiment of the Federal Government lsconcorned, slnce no dopartment of such Goy- eroment has Jurisdiction to roview or modify e law, or the actlon of the Btato authoritfes under it If the manner of Sppointing Electors prescribed by tho State Levislaturs has not betn followed; for fnstance, itan lectiun Ly the peaple under on election 8 {3 tho mantier. gruurlhud. and the appolnt- ment lins been made by the Govergor, or vice Yoren, or it tho Leglslaturo should full {n its duty to proscribe the manner of ap olntling Elcitors, elther by an_election or ot”xmwlw, 8ad an attompted appolntment by an eloctlon should mevertheless be mndé, In elther case the appulntment would bs nugato and there would be a fallure to appoint. Bufif &manner of appointment has been prescribed md pereucd, what ends the question, and all this business of taking testiinony by a Con- Fresslonul Committec ss to_ bulldozing in Lou- lzua fx an almless wasto of tima and money, na there Iy no (;urumeu«m to reviow the declsion of e lteturn{og Board us to the fact of intimida. 0D or ity extent, Ex-Senator Trumbull and e-Goy, Puller are tov good lawyers mot o huve seen the force of this position, Hlence thelr attempt to show either 1hiat thcra {s 0 law in Loulslana authorizing an Sppointment of Electors by vote of the people, ot that If any law cxists {8 le the law of 1508, ferised in 1670, and that the clection was not beld ana_the 'result ascertained and Bader this law, Of course if they are right in thelr Eflslllonl there hos been a”faflure to ap- polnt Eleotors In that Btate, and ft should be excluded {u the count; Lut £ they are wron "y 'tn the vote of the Electors Lolding certiii: fates from Gov, Kellogg should be allowed, #ud this sccms tobe about all there . {s of this ulslana question, .The Orepdn case seoms to present merely Queatlous of law, There is not hikely to be any muateriul disputo sbout tho facts, Watts wis b unlitied at the L of his appointment, but 418 conceded . that Lo recelved a lana Jidé ma- dority of the vates of the cople of over 1,100 "" 8 falr election. e subscquently re- tigned, and * was appolnted - by~ the stlier twe Electors, who also recelved a ifke ma- }'nm) a4 tho clection, aud the three cast thelr Ole T accordunce with the wislics of the lority wha clocted thew. If, under these elie -’l".llnun tha opposite party thinle they cun {jr\n thelr oblectluua to tho allowancs of Watts' te, the legul questions fuvolved will have to :: la:::mnu;l lecmed. uAn [ thonrnulu egal quostions, offer no fbinton. T “flave wot bad the curlosit cxsmine them, for the reason tha 1o not bellove that ' the party advocating the u;mun of Tildon will dispute the propriéty of wa}n:muovom for lIu{u from Urcegon, cm!"‘lll rather acyulicsce fu fhls ubvlouulyl]ual = l;l\u.lun. But, however this may be, there is ihing to Incite alurm In this case, for surely pucre ouglt to bo sulliciont otelllzence and L tluthin ‘{n Conpgress to mect the dr ques- mmu :;l law fnvolved fairly and peuv-\r{\‘, sod lnlhl.en(lre eatistuction of the public; aud e Iu:n‘m; s tro of the Loulslana W t Cougress will conclude to_proceed upon hl‘ detlned principles of law, and abandon the Iea of consldering u mazs of contrudictory tes- u[i"lfln; 22 Lo vivlcico aud intimidation In certain .lmmu of that Btate, o procecding which will V8t surely lead to wrimivatfons aud recsime declared - inatfons, and upon mo legal nr'ncl{:lcs can it Posalbly be followed by any satisfactory rcsult, s Congress ligs no {urfsdiction or power to re- viow thedectsion slready made by the Btato suthoritics, Dut who are to decido the questfons? The Contitution of the United Btates nruviios that ““Tho President of the Benato sall, In tho pres- ance of the Senate and House, open ail the certifi- cafee,’ Wheunever duplicate certlicates are for- warded to the ecst of Government, ns it the case of Oregon and Loulstann, under that post- flva fnjunction of the organlc Jaw it scems to bo tho plaln duty of the President of the Senats to open Loth eots in the presence . of the ‘Scoate and tho Jouse. But what next! And who ls to do the counting? Much has npfiesmd in the public journals pro and con uponthis question, and the authority of Chan- cellor Kent has been Invoked, who presumed ““In the absance of all lygislative provision on the subfect, that the Presldent of the Benate counts the votes and determines the result” thus fin- plied, by ssserting the power of Con- ce8 over the subject, at least to he extent of declarlng by whom tho votes alall be counted and the resuit de- clared. If nothing but mere counting Is to be done, it is immaterial by whom [t {s done, A child ean count. And when no questions or contesta arlse, nothing but counting s to bo done. Bubstantlaily such hns been our past happy expericnce. ~ But now much bronder and graver questions are upon us, and a mere count of tha votes, certified and -returned, would de- cide mnothing, and amount to nothing. For {inatance, ‘whilo Oregon {5 en- titled to only three, and Toufstann to only cight votcs in the flleclonl College, six In tho'former and sixteen in the latter bave been cast, certified, and forwarded to the scat of Government, directed to the President of the Scnate. All of theso are claimed to Le legal and valld; but surely only half from each Sinto can possibly be valld, or allowed {u making up the majority necessary to clect. As already scen, some aullorliy ought declde which of tho votes cartified . and returncd stiould be allowed in_making the requl- slite majority, The Constitution {s not only silent upon this r‘uusllon. but It is sflent upon the question by whom the mere count ista be made alter the question as to what Is to be counted has been determined, Nor Is this strange, The Constitution is only desizned as an outline or framework of government, not as-" suming to descend Into detall, and fn addition to the cuumerated powers It has wiselyconferred upon Congress the power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for mrrvlgfi Into exccution the !ureqohl powers, and powers vesled by this Conatitutlon in the Govern~ I%ul afim U.r'nuad States, or in any department or.. e { g Under this sweeping proyision the power of Congress to provide by lnw for emerencies like the {)runcnz ought not to bLedoubted. Tha questions involved are purely Federal questions, vital to the continued existence of our Govern- ment; and Congress may 'fmvmo by law either that thess questions, and. kindred questions likely to arise in the future, aball Le declded by Congress in joint convention, by joint ballot or otherwlse, or may confer this” power upon some other branch of thie Federal Government. The difliculty is, Congress has thus far failed to {n‘ufldc the necessary leglslation, and thisteems 0 bie the ouly difficulty, No amendment of the Consti‘ution appears to be necessary. Nor is it to be supposcd ¢hat this instrument contem- {)slc: that such serious and complicated ques- fons ns have now orisen, and as aro likely to frequently arlse In the -future, upon this subject, ara elther to be permanently left tonsingle man who for the time being happens to be President of the Senate, or that tley are not to br decided at all for want of power in auy dopartment of the Gencral Gov- ernment to provide how and by whom there to be declaed. . Had Congress at the commencement of the present session, instead of sending lnveut(gnl(n: cominittecs upon Quixotie errands to the South, addreszed themselvea soberly and carnestly to the business .of providing the much-needed legislation, it would doubtiess have been much better for the conntry; but as It is probably now too late, it only remains for Congress to ascertnin asbest tney can, underthe Constitution and the laws now cxlsting, what votasshould yn counted, and acquiesce In such count and‘s declaration of the result b.f the Prosident of the Benate. Ifaspirt of candor and fairness pro- vails, this can hie done; i€ it be not accomplistied, the people wil be apt to conclude that it hos falled merely becausec n peaccabls uct:lemunt &usb h x;n,umuurfly“uer;d :n a temy ) one palitical arty or thnpzm. and tl?nt mycrc artisan sp(rn hak revented any scbtlement. whatover. It is tobe oped that no such spirit as this will pervade Congress, for surely one or the other of the po- litical partics must succeed {n this emergency, orthe country must drilt jnto anarchy and con- Inslou. The'peaple sre in no temper to tolor- ate factious conduct by members of either par- g' and ho who acts upon the assumption that ey ara will find his political earecr coming to & sudden and inglorlous end. TUE POWER TO COUNT THE VOTE. 7v the Editor of The Tribune. . Avaora, 1L, Dec. 20.—A question of the ut- most importance {s now being discussed through your columns, and Ropublicans ought not to bo hasty in taking sides upon it. Both sides ars pretty well presented in your Monday’s issue, Certalnly no falr-minded person can contend that the argument fs sll cither way, Therels no’ doubt of the soundness of the distinction taken by Mr. Root, botween the Constitution of the United Brates, 2s a grant of power, and the 8tate Cunstitutions, which are mero limita- tions upon the juliorent power of tho Btate Lepislatures. But is he justified in tho conglu- slon which he draws from the application of thls principle? Another correspondent, “Mon- teaquieu,” has called sttention to the fact that the pawer to count the voleslsno more cone ferred upon the Prestdent of the Seoato than it is upon .Congress, It scems, then, thut this power has not bean expressly conferred by the Constitution upon anybedy. "It certalnly Is not cssential to the exercise of the pawer actuall conferred, to-wit, the openiug of the certiil- cates, ‘There being no axpress grant of power to count, and thus to declde who, {f any one, hina recelved the majority of the Ilectoral votes, SiDNET BaiTm. and {t being necessary that the puwer should be ~ exercised, here y of CoUrA, plied . nt. Buch y an im| a grant {8 implied in the words, *the votes shall then be counted.” (8ce Art, 13 of Amendments to the Constitution.) To whom s this iniplied powver graoted? Au implied power is always vested In that person or body by whom it I8 necessary to be excreised 1 order to the carry- ing out of an expressed porer. We have secn thut the counting of the votes is not essentfal to the exerciss of the powcr conferred upon the President of the Senate; but it is nccessary to the exercise of a power conferred upon the two Houses of Congross, to-wit, the selection of the President by the House and of the Vieo-Pres!- dent by the'Seuate, In ¢ase no person has ro- ceived'a mojority of all the Electoral votes, , ‘There secins to be an apprehension that it would be, in some way, a reffectton upon the Preaident of the Senate to take from him the power to count thevotes. But how about the two Houses of Congress? Is that august asscmblage to come tugether as spectators merely, with no duties to ‘wrlcrm in any con- tingencyl Is that view of the question no ro- flection upon them? The President of the Benate hos, it is true, Rgenerally, by permission of Congress, counted thevotea. In 50 dolug he hes acted na the azent of the two Houses, But Congress has Interfered on sevoral occasy nd notably in the adop- tion of the Twent; d Jolnt Hule, ‘The power of Congrees to interfere {s plainly recoghlzed by Chancellor Kent, n the passage clted by Mr. Root, whercin Kent says, * In the absence of all legialative provision on the sub- ject,” he presunies the Preaident of the Scnate couuts the votcs, Bince writing the nbove, I have read your edf- tarial in Tuesduy’s {ssuo, which covers the whole ground so far as the question of puwer is con- cerned. ‘The objection to any Intorferenco by Conxirc ariacs, not from the want of pawer, but from the fact that such interference fn this eleetion would be special leglalation, or, If by rale, apectal interference, But for this, there would be a precedent; and specinl leglalation or specinl interference would be better than war, or, what would be worss even than war, a permancnt conviction on the part of half t'ha peuple that & great natiopal wrong had becn cominitted, and that an in. justice lnd been perpetrated over the heads of the people's representatives. w. ANOTHER WAY OUT. To the Fditor of Ths Triduns. BALT Laxs, Utah, Dec. 18.—As the manner of electing Presldent and Vice-President is evls dently about to be remodeled, I want to offer my fdeas with the rest. Iwould bave aconati- tutlonal amendment providing— 1. That the peopls shall vote directly for Presldent and Vice-President. 2, That the voto of each State shall ba can- ‘vussed by the Governor, Chief-Justice, and At- torney-General of tho Btate; dlvided in dus proportion between the candidates, the States haviug votes atlotted tathem as now; and in that shapo certifled to the Prealdent of the Bon- atej the dutles of this Btato Board of Can- vassers to be purely wintsterial, 8, Thls canvass to be final as regards tho Btatej golng beblnd 1t on the part of any per- B0, \V’Ylerenu, THIS UHICAGO TRIBUNE: MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1876, son or tribunal whatever to bo prohibited; any Btato so barbarous na not to he able to {ndls- phtably indicata ita cholea for Prestdent to bo disfranchised for that occaslon. 4. A plurality vota (o elect, as In tho case, I gcn{:'ni-, of - all aur electionn except the Presl- cntinl, . The Presfdent of tho Benato toopen tho returns s made Igeum Statc Canvassers in the pmsf‘ncu of the Benate, count, and declare the result. * 4 Thus would the Electoral College snd clec- tions by the Houso be done awsy with; the first should”be, beeause it has long” been obsolete, and for plenty other reasons: the last should be, becanso it ia too risky; the Houss isn't fit to trust with any such duty, and prubnblr never will be; and thera Is no rcason why a plurality shouldn't elect In the Presidential the same as in other cInul.lom.—Confranlonnl. for example, Tho State -principle {s respected by [ilvhu: each Btate, big or little, two votes at Jarge, It s necdful to do this to make our system harmonlous: to elmplify the business of cnnvulll:‘:: and lullf, to get an amenament adopted. The Ilittle Htates caunot bo expected to do anything to re- duco their present Jmportance ~ voluntarily, ‘Therefora to attempt to do away with the State principle would be vain. To elect by Cunfiroa- sional Districts would make too many Boards of Canvasscrs, They would never get through in time. y Cnut;rua has fifteen or twenty contested seats. Wecannot stand contested re- sults {n Presidentlal elections. Which brings e to my third provision. Now, what is the use of having States at all it they arn not competent to declars fn an absolutely uninistakablo manner thelr preference for Prealdent. If O.heg' can't do it, pupular governent, so far ns ihey are con- cerned, 18 already o fallure. If we’ require o telbunal to overhaul and overrule the Blates in ihis matter, wo do {n all matiers, and it would ummllelykollow. sure as the world, Letus admit, and certify, and stand by the principle, that the States are competent to do some things beyond recall or revision; and Jet us call the g casting of thelr votes for President one of them, It {s not suppusable that we are to have Btates with dou- ble QGovernments as o steady thing, 11 80, it will not take long for us toconclude that such Btates had botter be abollshed altogether. And that result {s iucvitable. 1If the poopla of Louisiana, or South Carolina, for cxample, perisn in thia endeayor to maintain two rival State Governments, the National Government will be obilged to step in, and, after enough of t, set them both astde for good. But there Is o danger of this, When the evil gets bad enough, the prople of cach Btate will ctire it, be assured, Mcauwhile, Iet the vote of all 8tates that send up double sets of votes be thrown out by the Vice-Presiient in counting. I would make tho Btate CunvaulnE Boards* duties purcly ministerinl, In order to keep con- tested results and all that sort of thing conflned 10 {he narrowest locality possible. Let results be settled once for nll and forever at the pre- cinets or ot the counties. Or, if this Is unsatis- factory, et the Presidential vote ba determined in each Btate precisely as the vote for Governor 18 pscertaineds thers werc mno other reason for theso provisions, it s Impracticable to {investigate these things except on the spot. Each poll, or at most each coun-+ ty, can get at about the fair thing if so dis- posed, aud to say that it 18 not so disposed Ia to hat Pupuln government is a faflure. f {uur Btato undertakes such an in- vest/gation, It Is too far away from the polls to get at the truth; It s too expensive, tedious, und altogether damnable; thero is so much clss 10 do besides investigating elections, Then, if you create 8 higher tribunal still, you canas irell have twenty contested States as one. To- day there are no less than ten States that might teasonably be contested. And it would be necessary, smply to give time for the sottlc- ment of "thess contests, to hotd our clections five years in advance. Finally, let it be understood, that eternal yigi- Innco is ‘the price of llberty. No method of electing President or auybody else will save us from tho rule of the baser efements of soclety unless men attend to their political duties,- In Massachusetts not more than b0 per ecnt of the voters vote, ordinarlly, In New York, lnst No- vember, Tliden hunted up more than 100,000 Democrats who never voted belore. Even then, had the Republicons turned out, Tilden would have been beaten out of sight, for there were 110,000 voters in the State who didn’t vote, and, no doubt, most of them were Ropublicans, 1t ever a Dictator or Im- erator rulea us it will be beeause we were too ndifferent to do It ourselves, Let it be under- stood that & man's place on clection day la at the polls; that he s not only to vote, but'to see fair play, aud prevent fraud. Elections won't ruo themsclves and remaln pure, no more than business will run {tsell successfully. It fsat the polls all the ¢vils we complaln of are to be corrected. Notblng elso will over do it. I we would have elections in which peoplo will cheerfully ac- ulesce, they must be falr and honorable; and t :o{) uever will be that till evorybody makes it his busineca to seo that they arc. Meonwhlle, let it be understood that the votes in the boxes aro to decfde the result be- ond recall, If there Is fraud, or repeating, or int{midation, and the result is thus made to misrepresent the wishes of the community, et the commuuity beatir Jtself and correet these evile, or let it suffer tho conse- quences, Let there bo mo rebell- fon inst the votcs, for I there fa one there will he a hundred, 1t tho declsion of the ballot-bux Is once rejected and an ;‘pn:nl taken to arms, the chances are that it always will be thereafter, when the stake is thought sutliclent and the means are ut hand, In l%at case popular government [s gone, and some form of despotism will be invoked as the only alternative of anarchy, It 1s the votiug und’ tho returning that aro to bo looked aiter, That done, all elsc will tuke care of {tsclf. DovoLiss. i ORFGON AND MISSOURY, 70 the Editor nf The Trivund, -Linconx, 11k, Dov. 23.—Iu the recent Prests dentlal clection 369 Electors wero olected by the votes of the people. Tbe threo in Oregon wers Cartwright, Odell, and Watts, Gov, Grover fraudulently consplred with the Demo- cratlc party, refused to fssue n certificats of clection to Watts, and Instead thercof issued one to Cronlu, upon the sssumed ground that, a8 Watts wos & Postmaster at the time ho was voted for, he was inellgible, and Cronin having Deen also voted for, was entitled to the certifl- cate, though hio was not elected by the people. The original intention was, evidently, to take ono vote4rom Hayes and glve it to Tilden, thus making for the latter 185 snd for the former 184 votes. While that may, however, have been the first motive, the conspiracy was intended to subscrve any oticr purpose that the fnge- nuity of Democrats could devise, It now secms, a8 an additional string to the Democratic bow, It Is clalmed that the ssue of tho certifl- cate to Cronin may have beeu illegal, but Watta, in consequenca of his fncligibility, was not clected, henee but two Electors wore In fact clected In Orvegon; . therefore, while Tilden may o entiticd to no voto frotn thnt Stote, Hayes Is entitled to but two. By this modo linyes and Wheeler are to be reduced to 184 votus, Thus the two asplrants will be tied, and the liouss of Representatives will be required to elect tho Iresident and Vieo-President. ‘Thore Is elther nothing in that vicw of the ques- tlon, or there {s miore than Democrats are pre- pared to adnut. 1 thero was a fallure to elect Watts in Ore- ®on, there was a faflure to clect Froet in Mis- souri; ,and {f by Democractle reasoning Orcgon has légally glven but two Electoral votes, by the same reasoning Missouri has given bot 143 thus Tilden will recelve upon the count only 183 votes, ‘s aro, however, met with thostatement that Hardin tssued to the iucligible Elector a certificate, but Gov. Grover refused to {ssuc ono to Watts. That does. not mond the matter, Frost's Incligibility is of such character thut he cannot renounce Itby any act of Lls own, a3 Watts could by stmply, by Lis vase, resigning the oftice of Postinaster, It Watts wis not olected, and no vacaney i Oregon could exist to be 1llled, Frost's election was of no valldity; no vacancy was created by bla refusal to attend tho Elllc!bl’ll College or the fallure to clect an eligi- o man, It Is claimod that by virtue of the law but two Eloctors were elécted In Orezon, and no vacancy existed becauso of the fajlure to elect three, " IE that be truc, but fourteen were elect- ed In Missourl, and no vacancy could exist, ‘That reasoulng, however, Ia not good, in eithor case. Vacand oy oxist by death, resigna- tlon, refusal to "“”5 fallurd to clect, or fueli- gibility; and when [t docs exist, must be filled in thesanie way, Missourl was entitled to fif- teen Eluctonb and Oregon o three. It eolther. Btate elected ons less than thy full pumber, there was 8 vacancy of one, not a.lupse that could not be supplied, An clection isstuply tho choice of the people ex[m:nza by their ‘votos, whuther the person voted for was u}.‘!‘mh or not, The certilleato of the Returning Board or Uovernor ouly ascertains wliat was that cholce. The tuellgibility in no wanner affects the fuct of the election, ll.n?‘ belng two entirely differ- ent queulum!" the fuet being onu on wlich the Goveruor or Returnlng Board passes, but with the question of eligibility ho has nothiug to v, hence Gov, “Hardln violated uo law, and' transcended wo jurlsdiction, fn lasul a certificate to Frost, while Gov. Grover did overstep his jurisdiction in falscly certifying that Watts had not, and Cronin had, been clected. The Leglslature of 8 State elects a man to the Senatc who fs not 80 years old. His seat, for that reason, is denfed him, It s not pretended that Lis competitor before the Legisiature would be entitled to it. In these reflections we do not admit that Watta was not legally elected, but maintain that the question of hia eligibility has refcrence to e timo that ho (s required or assumes to exerciss the functions of hia ofllce, or at lcast to the time his certificats should be fssued, and at cither of those times Watts had resigned his Postmastership, Be {hat as it may, to- remove from the case aven & technical obfection or difficulty, he resigned, and, being then etigible, was appointed to, and did fil1, the vacancy, 1t scems to us that Republicans and Repub- Hean members of Congress are sttaching an undue degrcoof fmporfance to the quibbles and bluster of o Democrats on this Presidential question, In other words, b thelr treatment of it they give I{ dignity as a question clouded In mist and ob- scurity; one on which Jegislation {s domanded, or compromises would be proper; one upon which the Constitution Is nmcurré furnishing norule crs\xldu when In fact the Constitution {s plaln an expflcn upon cvery questfon that can ariso. One ticket Is elected or the other, Thatls all, and the Constitution and laws cxpressly de- clare how the fact shall be ascertafned. ‘The ylelding disposition of ~ Congress- men, especially Benators, while 1t may bo in the Interest of peaca and harmony, ulm]fly emboldens the dozen or mors Nortlicrn Copperhicads (pestiferous and unserupulous as they are, and who are mainly reeponsible for all’the trouble that s being fomented) to a greater degres of politiral bulle dozing, A different courae by our Senators, it gcetns to us, would allay public excitement, Nothing good can ba expected of the Demo- cratic ‘lnng until {t “ccazes to be in- fluences Y the few men who con- trol it °The masses of the party are honost, and in thelr honesty have signally rebuked tho courso of the prescnt Houss of Representatives by the election of a new Con- Bress containing about half Republicans. Hayes and Wheeler are fairly and djnnly elected, but, upon the idea that prevailed prior to the clectlon, that Tilden must be clected at all hazards, that ambitious ballot-box stuffer refuses to yield, A Democratic House of Rep- resentatives may, after Hayes and Wheeler have been declared *elected, go through the farce of clecting Tilden und Hendricks, and thefr role “in the comedy will be_played by them lnklv onths of oflice {n New York, or probably in Wasbington {n somo private rooin. Then what? As Foe’s raven sald, Nothlug more.” The body that eteeted them will have been dissolved. The Somate will be Republican, and the House about equullfl divided. The Chief Magistrate, Hayes, will be at the head of the Goveinment, and Tilden will Lecome & laughing-stock for the nations of -the world. A few Northern Democrats, who were never aclive participants In any war, say that it those cventa occur, there must bo a fight. Bouthern Democrats of the wiser typesay, “No, e want no war, and if you Northern men must have ity keepit on Northern sofl, and smong Northern people; we lnow what war means, ;vt-,‘:a suffered by it, and will have no more of Mark our prediction: Hayes and Wheeler aro Justl, ,;\wa Jegally elected, and will bo so declar- cd. The result will be acquiesced in, and Hayes will moke & model and popular President. WiLLiax B, Joxxs. THE KENTUCKY ELECTORAL VOTE o the Edtior of The Tribune. Cn1oa6o, Dec. 23.~Why should we allow public attention to be diverted from Kentucky and concentrated on miuor Irregularities, if any thero be, in Oregon and Floridat This case of Eentucky, falrly examined, 18 a great fraud and {rregularity, embracing the whole Electoral vote of that 8tate. The samo constitutional law governs that Btato, s ft does every other Btate. The Constitution itself {8 not worded as it should be. The Constitutlon says: * Eaclh State shall appoint, in such manner as the Lagis- lature thereol miny direct,” Electore, ete. How could the Leislature direct the 8tate to appotnt? The State Is represented by the Governor, In no State has this direct mesningof the words been fallowed. Everywhere, but In Kentucky, the Legislatures have provided that the people may voto by ballot for Electora of their cholce as In other cases. Kentucky so votes for Congrossmen: but by her law they vote viva voce for Electors. Inall canvasses of the ballots ft fs found that there are frequent profer- onces, ana the Elcctoral votes are not the same for.cach Elector, Some will not vote for one or miore of the nominces at all, Electoral votes are much changed. Though the law of Ken- tucky is thnl.s htm»tun shall vote for Electors, and ° the shall proclalm aloud, the express provisions of the Jaw bas utiversally been unheeded. It also has been universally the case that no vofer Las had the ballot for Liector, nor the privilege oven of voting for'the Elcctor ho chooses, and had the constitutional right to vote for, If the cgislature had divected the Governor to aj polut the Electors to be voted for, {n the rigid construction of the Constitution, according to its specitic reading, then those appointed would be those to by voted for, and there would be .no cholce, But ns the law is not exactly thus, and the people have given them the right to vote for whom they choose, then the maoner the clection was conducted in Kentucky was néither accordfug to the law or the Constiiution. The Sherlll nowhere performed the duty the law im- posed on him; The volers nowhere were per- mitted to voto by ballot for Klectors of their cholce, Tho vote was direct for President and Vice-Dresident, The “Sf“ of clection recelved no ballota—they recelved no deslynation of the cholce of Elector by the voter—they received solely the viva vove anuouncementof thevoter's chofce for Presklent and Vlco-l’re-ldcnl.l and then tallled for whom they picased, to a list of nanes, not called to the voter, and whom he did not koow. 'There Is ncither a vote for Elector, nor {a there a ineaus of knowing to ywhom the tally was carriod on tho voters' fi:nv- fug, 8o distinguished o man as the former Attoroey-General of the United States, Hen Stansberry (o Democrat), de- clared he annuuoced at the polls that he voted for ZTilden and Mendricks. He did not kuow the Electors—had uo Electorat ticket— ‘did not yoto for nny one as Llecfor—but the udges, he sy, y tallled bim on the ticket for lectors they held.” The judges did not declare who thelr list were, This was the eeneral coursa in Kentueky, Al thls s a violstion of the specific,prov’.lons of the law of that State, :‘ud in violation of the spirit of tho Constitu- jon, In spirlt and purpose the Democrats of Ken- tucly were united by 8 common bond, and act. ed with the sawme understundiog and to produce the asine effect by the same menns that Hamp. ton did with his rifle-corps in South Carollua, boldly avowed, No colored man dared vote oy he chose, unless it was for the Demnocratlc pare ty; thou it might be fres and loud, A Repub- 1lcan colored niau dared not do this, Redileld sold when ke, s corrcspondent, over- looked' the coyrie of votlog, that he was asked to vole; though koown a5 a _ mon-resfdent, he was told it made no dliTerence at all,—that white peo- ple wero uevor examfued, and .could vote, no matter whero they caine from, and as often as they chose. But ut tho colored box every ob- stac) b{ minuto examination, was {nn n the way of the voters, and so exhausting time that several hundrods who were present could not get their ballots in. Yol so anxious were thess ,mnplo to vote whera they could Lo protocted hat they sigpt In the rain on the ground, near thte United States guard, to be ready early to vole. 1t is very clear that no colored man I Ken- tucky could have freedom of cholee, and it is quite clear, with tho fecling known to' exfat, it hie voted at all, where his vote was tallied, This whole Kentucky vote should bo thrown out. At lenst a Congressional Committes will find Kentucky a better field for {nvestigation than Oregon or the Southern States, Let us haye falrplay and a fair count, and not be dl- verted fromn Baying It. C.d. W, \ —— TIHE BALLOT-BOX, o the Edlior of The Tridune, Bovrn Banp, Ind., Dec. 32—I fatter myselt that £ am one of thoso patriotic people that are trymg to sca where the truth lles in this Presidentlal coufusion. I fought with Grant and voted for bilm, then for Greeley, and naw for Tilden, seeking cach tima the interests of the country, as I understood them. For ten yel r over I bave scarcely read any metro- politan journal but Tux Tuipunx, rogarding it 83 one of the first of American journals, highs minded, broad-minded, the soul of honor, progreas,'and patriotism, Being then what [am, and what youbave made ine, O, my TRIBUNE, it was with the utnost satisfaction I read fu the carly part of thia troublo your manly protest against Y the countiug of votes never cast or offered to be cast, or the rejection of lawful -votes legally cast and recorded ou tho poll. Usts.! “That was like Tum Tuwbuns ; it bad the true American rlog, prunounclng for the swedncss of 6 batlot-box. ) ufllttg"‘hd(lllnzlbomixlllem loué: molra evl}la tfiuln nfl Lho‘ {m;%e&! .mllu l'n thto,prrz Te8s ;rlll.he'u&: AMIUSEMENTS. ¢ ballot-box ts sacred scals are L Al 0 uce distrust in the minds of S A A sanssaAsnsaanad regarded; hope ftself will not remain. lr%pcry- Fnd%%cml‘:nt element in the [mrl.y. yet we hoped MeVICKER'S THEATRE, Tect as §t may be, the ballot-box is atlll the volcs of the people, the only volce they have, and if this I once tampered with the confusion of Ba- bel will be upon us. Ty TRIRUNE ls now the carnest advocate of Y'the forms of law,” the high prerogatives of turning Boarde, of Governors, and of Vice- Presidents. What a fall ia here, my wunlr{- menl Ten thousand * lawful votes, legally cast and recorded on the poll-lists,” are thrown out “‘accarding to law ;" Electors who did not recelvo ©n malority of the votes cast’ receive certificates of electlon under *the broad seal " of the Exscutive; and finally, lest even in Con. gress the dumb people should recover their volce, the Vice-President, all according to law, countsthe Electoral votes—for whom ho pleases. It 18 the worat elements of the Republican party that are thus striving to stifle tha voice of tha people under the forms of Iaw, not knowling, or not caring, that 1t s the JJettar that killeth, but the splrit that giveth life.” The fairer- minded of the party aud of ita press are burried alopg In the ‘stréam by thelr unscrupulous Jeaders,—the men of rule or ruin, against whomn Tus Trinuns and tho best olementa of the tnrty waged such an honorable and long-con- Inued warfare. If this {s the style jn which the Republican party is to retafu power, how, pray, are we to be 1id of tho Chandlers, Mortons, su: Kellogga? During the canvass [ felt that we were approaching a purer era In politics, who- ¢ever should be President, But if returns are to be to manipulated that there shall be a Repub. lican mafority wherever tlere is a negro ma- Jority; 111t 18 to be taken as an axiom that ne- Erocs are pot Democrats; that whenever there 18 8 race-quarrel the whites nlone sre to blame; that all Democrats are Confeder- ates, and that no ' Confederate* can be a loyal citizen; it Democrat {a but another name for greedy office-socker, and none but Ropublicans are good American cltizens,—{f such things ns thesv ars 60, then, instead of Aflnmmh ng & purer era In _American Listory, we have already reached the beginniog of the end of republican government, for a party has taken the place of the people. It is not the first time that this has oceurred in the world's bistory, It was thus that the Pm of the Independents took the nlace of the Engliah orle that the Triumvi- rates 100k the blace of the Roman people, and that the Macedonian party took the place of tho Qreek people. Where fs our Hampden, our Cicero, our Demosthencs? Alas! they weros powerless then, and they might benow. But webavea noblo press and a people that love fairplay, If theso fail us, wearo lo-t indecd, and Cromwell, Crsar, or Fhilip will scon be bere, "pmerv‘n ” the State, “Tha Presidential election,” says a distin- gulshed Republican lawyer, ** ends with the de- B“m of the last ballot on election-day in the allot-boxes of the country.” Tomo ft eeems that the cholcs of President in sny other way than this mcans one of two things—the erd of republican goverument, or, if thero is yirtue enough {n tne people to prevent that, then the end of the party daring to commit the ontrage, Intimldation, bribery, and other cloction abuses are discases for which there are anpropriate remedices, but the vlolatiun of the ballot-box {s death, for which there {s no remedy, T, E. H, ety A REPLY TO MR. ROOT. To the Editor of The Tridune, Cnicago, Dec, 28.—The communication in Monday’s TRIBUNE, over the signature of Mr. J. P, Root, struck me s one of the most palpa- ble pleces of special pleading that ever came under my observation,—begging the question, os it dld, at the very outset. He assumes that *the power to count the votes and declare the result * {s ¢lodged In one man,—the President of the Senate; ” and then proceeds to quots the only clause of the Constitution relative to the subject, and which not only does not bear out this assumption, but really implies the very contrary: . ‘The President of the Senate shall, fn the preacoceof the Benate and House of Representa- tives, open all tho certificates, snd the votes shall then, be counted,” ate. Now, had it been the Intention that he and he only should “count? the votes (with all that the word may be held to finply), language to that cffect would unques- tlonably have" been employed. How easy it would have been to ulumlfl any, after the word & vertificate,” * and shall then count the yotes.” The plrascology used must, therefore, fn all reason, be construed as chosen for the purposc of leaving the * counting™ of the votes t be done under Conaressional direction, It {s one of the numerous. instances in which the Con- stitution leaves to Co:fircu the detalls which shall effectuate tha provislons of the supreme Inw of the land, Let us then supposs that Conpress wers to enact that ofter the Preaident of the Benatc has ulpuuml all the certificates, o folut committee shall ** count the votes,” in the vontinucd pres- ence of the two Houses, aud declare the result, will Mr. Root undertake to say that the Constis tution would thercby bo violated! 1f so, how? Would not the requirement that the President of the Scoate shntl ‘‘open all the certificates™ have been complied with, and would not the further requirement * that the votes shall then be counted,” have been strictly fulfilled alsol Yet Mr. Root'a claim fnvolves the absurdity of & negative answer to this crucisl Imlnlry. Nobudy deniesthatacount bythe President of LheScnate, 11 Congreas aces proper to permit it, 18 o perfect compliance with the letter of the Constitution. But it {s by no means the only method of such compliance. Mr. Root learned, long ago, that, though a horse {s sn anlninl, cvery animal is not 8 horse; and yet he in offcct inslats that, {f the Constitution speaks of an anima), that animal shall be deemcd and taken to bea horse. Jt won't do. ‘The interests at stake are too grave to be disposed of {n such an lirutional, ex parte, summary fashion. And when Mr, Iout tells us, off band, ** 1t can’t bo helped,"” we answer, * It must be," or more exactly, ** It & helped.” Hut Mr. Root coally téils us: It evidently was not the intention of the framers of the Constitution to pive Congress the power to count a President (n or to count bim out. The frumers of the Coustitution: wisely kept this power away from Congress.” Did they, fodeedt And tey were so bent upon this (according to Mr. Root), that fu thelr fear lest a large number of men should conspire for such purpose, these astute Constitution-makers gave a s{ugle man the power to count Afmself in, whenever, as re- peatedly hos been the case, the President of the Benate Is n candidate for the Presldency of the nation! This, too, when those vnrly Congress- men, If no candiidate have a clear Electoral ma- Jority, nre expressly intrusted with the power of glving tho Presiduncy to thatone of thethree lllf;hcu. candidates who hus reveived the fewest Electoral votea! You can * tell that to the ma- rines," good Mr. R. 1le goes ou to descant upon the ancmalous character of a Joint Asscmbly of the two Houses of Conzress,—intimating that n this pllght they bave, so to speak, no head nor tatl; for which reason he secms to think that they can have no fingers,—in ehort, nothing but eyes, paradoxical as such a predicament inust Le. Wo night lwc lulrI! retort upen My, Root his own dlctum, "It can’t be helped," for the Consti- tutlon, a8 cited hx himself, certainly requires the rrcscm'e of both Houses ou the occusion. e hold that thls requirement {nvulves something more worthy of constitutional ordinstion thun helpless spectatorship of a possible zlnl!nfi outrage; whereas, the only consolation As would rrnvhlu for us fn that gricvous cuse s the du- blous one, It can’t be helped.” For anght we know, he might bave shone as a Constitution- Luilder, But as un expounder he Is sssuredly ‘‘not a success.” Tho partisan complacency of Mr, Root s par- alleled by varfous politiclans of the mame kid- ney, who have coolly given out that if the Housy chooses to attend 10 witness the feat of thy Senutortal Fresivent-malkier, the Senate will catirteously furuish seats, but if the House pre- fers to stay away, the performance will come off Just the same! ‘Fo such preposterons suleclsms doea blind party aplrit leud even men who vride themselves on finving some reputation to sus- tain aud some inlliience to preserve, It isas clear as the words of the Constitution can make anything of the kind that an opening of the certiticates and a * count " of the Vutes—elther or both—except **Iu the presenve of the Sennto and Louse of Representatives” would be, to all intents and purposes, wholly valld, and we sliould Le remanded to some a8 yet uncertaf pathout of ditllculties which truly patriotic wen of every purty nust comblnu 10 Svercome, Houo ALvuy, THE GREAT MUDDLE, To the Kditor of ¥Ae Tritune, BunuiNaToN, la., D, 2h—Befure the meet- ing of the Republican Conveution to nouiluate acaudidate for Presldent, 1,, in common with Yourself sud very many others who had acted with the Republican party in ita bitter days, was cxeeodingly anxlous toses the nomluation of Bristow astho mauwho had shown himself worthy in an emiucut degree fur ths leadership *of & great movement to reform Lhe sbuses that ladcrept {ntotle Adwinistrasion of the Uov- ernment,s threatening {ts destiuction, 1, like yoursclf, seoepted the nomiuation of Mayes fn the hope and bellef—after reading his lettor of acceptance—that he, if vlected, would be able toact Iudependently of the corrupt men who Lad controlled the Admiubtrution of Graut, aud 5Ivuu¢ a reforin Adwinistration, ficrlm,m equal to that we bud resson to expect lud thoe mau of our chofee been selected us the stund- ard-bearer af the party; and, although there Wero muny thluge ovelifred lu the organization | for the hest, and cast our ballota for Hayes and Wheeler, Had It not been for tha dead welghts they had to carry in the persons of those assuming to be the Jeaders of the party heretofore, und who for various reasons had lost the respect and con- tidence of the masses of the people, they would no doubt have been triumphantly elected, anit the country woulil have heen spared the dread pense and fearful anxicty of the present con dition of things. But now, the election helng over, L see no way but tu accept tbings a8 tha{ are and drift alung to whatever the future has In atore for us in determining the results, Ig it not the part of wisdom, however, to look calmly and dispasslonately over the ground, and ask ourselves the question, What can be done in the future to prevens the recurrences of such a statc of thiogs as the presenti How far is It allowable for the furma of law to be disrcgarded in the interest of Px\r“cl, and how far Jaws that aro & perveraion of justice and tho Interest and rights of the people—laws mado b{ocormre Legislatures with special tefl- erence to the Intercst of particular parties for #clfish ends—shall beallowed tostand in the way of the exfins-lon of the will of the people, Take the Oregon case. While uo vno can Justify the action of the Governor of Oregon, perha;m, in an attempt tothwart the cxpress will of the people of his Btate, yet it 18 manifest that under the Constitution Watts could not bo nEpomted an Elcctor; and Iam not sure that the best thing that could Lappen would be to teach the people a lesson that they would not soon forget; mor am I quito sure but that the Governor's construction of the lmw—however much we may deprecate the consequences—is the correct one, And the action of the other members of the Board [n appointing him 1 think wasveryunfortunata; forif he was Incligi- ble when elected, he could not certalnly purge himseit afterwards, If we lnrposa the framers of the Constitution {ntended that that Instrument should have any meaning whatever. Whydld theydenytherizhtto any *Senator or P.cl:rnsenlnllve or other person holding an office of trust or profit uunder the United Btates" to be an Elector] Most certalnly to prevent such officers from corruptly uaing thelr officlal po- sitlons to promoto personal or partisan enda. 1low then could Watts ba an Elector by l%polnt- ment after tho clection consistently with this idea when he had held his office and may have rruamuted 1t to personal and partisan ends all brough the campaigni . ‘That Watts cannot act as an Elector under the circumatances scems to mae clear, or this pro- vision of the Constitution is meanlngless. Agaln, take the cass of _ Loulsiana. This law puts the power of determining the results of the clection wholly and absoluta- 1y fn the hands of a Returninz Board who are not required to confine themselves to the count~ ibg of the yotes cast, and make thelr return ac- cordingly, but If in llm'r,/udqmmf certain things havo transpired, then thuy shall, in utter disre- gard of the vote cast, and In utter disregard of tho rights of the honest or dishonest voter, throw out the whole poll; and exclude 1t from thelr return. What rights has an honest voter under this law? A thousand men may.go to n poll and vote,—400 of them possibly at the risk of thefr Itves (putting it In the most sensationsl u{;m),— and liceaure 100 men for any reason claim to have been afrald to vote for fear of personal violence, the vote {s thrown out, and the 100 cowards or knaves, or viclims of the Knavery of unscru| ulnu-demagn%:cs, carry the election. This will never do. The proposition only needs to be stated for any reasonable man to see its absurdity and rank injustice. ) Noj Jet the State Governmenta and the Na- tlonal Government, so far as the Inws under the Constitution will allow it to be done, use all the means at thelr command and at thefr disposat to protect every citlzen of cvery race in the ex- ercige of his rights nsa citizen, but when the ballots are cast let them be conuted and the re- sult be determiued by the ballots in the box, 1If there Is fraud—If thereare ballotsin the box that should not he therc—this is easlly deter- mined, and the vote can be purzed, but give to no Returning Board, though they were pure as angels, the right to go bebind the ballots of freemcn, and sny, that én their judyment votes should be counted, and those not, 1 bad intended to allude to other .forms ot law In Louisiana, which, us in the Oregon case, were utterly disregarded In the lato election, but this communication Las grown tou long al- ready. Yours, 8. ANOTHER SUGGESTION. b the Edttor of The Tridune, Cn1cAGO, Dec. 22.—1f the Senato and House of Represcntatives cannot agree in the final count of the Elcctoral votes, let the falr and candid members of both partles agreo to this: That the Scnate shall not {nsist that Hayes is chosen, and proceed to inaugurate him In defl- ance of the House. And the House shall not insist that there has been no cholee, and there- upou proceed to elect Tilden In_deflance of the Senate. But the tivo Houscs shall unita o a declaration to the vountry that they tind It impossible to decide the question, and therefore refer the whole matter to the people for a mew_ clection. ‘Then, after the 4th of March, the President of the Bennte will bo Acting-President until an election can be hued. Botli candidates and both parties cun better afford to wait thau w suw ceed by what will scom to a lurge portiun of the peaple an outrage, Try It aguin, not merely fn the disputed States, where we might havea repetition of the ditllculty, but throuzh the whols Unfon, and see {f the nation will not speuk with a more de- clsive volee next thie. UNus, NEW_PUBLICATIONS, “SECOND 10,0007 READY TO-DAY. The Barton Experiment, Dy the Author of ‘*Telen's Bables." 1Gimo. Paper, S0ceuts, Cloth, 1.0, *4*The first edition of 10,000 coplos was exhsusted the day of publication. The nublishers have now read: secand large edliion, and will endeavur to supoly t| demand for this ** pungent little book.* **Jta Justiy toba classed among tho freshest and ‘most original of minor works of Actfon. It ls twive tha baok that *Helen's Rables sndought to have twice the sale,"~Erening Mail, For sale by a1l Bookseliers, and sent postpald on re- celpt of price by the publlahers, G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 182 Fifth-ay,, New York. Fire! Firell We shall be open to-day until 2 o'clock for the sccommodatlan of our customers. FIRE STORE, 108 South Clark-st, Bowery Loan Office. ‘Wa shall be open to-dayuntil 2 o’clock for the accommodation of our customers, BOWERY LOAN OFFICE, 181 and 153 South Olark-st. MEBICAL, Brown’s Bemedies, SAMPLES FREE, A compound extractof Koek Rose aud Stillinga (s & foopertul biood putlfer. The (ite s tha bivod: it 1y e ceutre of our belug. iy o oie is free from 1slnt ur dsy snid weneistion, tirrofore ilie grest need of wichw 1 “Tns remedy fe prompt (o “wli ordinary cues: i eatraoriinary cusealL s 8 yegelatlo catuniel, yet porfecily hariniess (o all, sud more thau pleasaut Lo inko. Sawmyle buitle seut by eapress. Addresa D 0. FIELPS BROWN, 1 Grand-st., Jeniey Lity, N. J. ’ THE WIN le()it, Frouting City . Juckeonville, Florida. This new and Elegunt lotel, the wost bouutifully los cated in the city, ls now , and ofiers aceuinuno- %m’:’unmllummnnuuuwrlul to uuy Hotel In orid, FRED ll;fiQ!!l.D €0., Propristore. WINTER RESORT, WJE HOYAL VICTOIA HOTGL, Nowsu. Uabawa Y or RN 20U Roon & co. 26 Nruaidway, New Vo W20, B30, $100. B200. $300. ALEX. FHOTHINGHAM & CO., Dankers and Brokeis; No. 12 Wall-st., Now York, male fus cua- touiers destralio Jovesiinents of large l{lllltll sounty i stocks 02 » legiliniate charac hich frequnily flom Ove 1o taeaty times (he ut by ested BvEry'clfhey aye, Kisliablo bk briviiese aLfavorablo rales. Blocks Lou<iit and cagric. Wyt 22 dealraiton depoalt of 5 10 3 per cents CIrcules a1 Weokly loports scui ree. cku's Geuulua Calth Gralns. ~ Aperlibve, = ey Every red hux b ioubters 2 Lervy, Ul 8iue Seuve'des Putlis Chawpe Farli § i EBELLOGG GRAND ENGLISH OPERA. TUESDAY EVENING, DEC.. 28, LAST PERFORMANOCR of Meyerbeer's Grand Spectacular Opers, THE STAR OF THE NORTH! Withall {ts Magnificent Costames and Appoiate ments, Grand Armies snd Great Cast. 'NO OPERA UNTIL TUESDAY. Reserve soats aarly, HALSTED-ST, OPERA IIOIJSE,‘ Coroer Halsted and Harrison-ats, FOR CHRISTMAS WEEK ONLY. OLD DOMINION§ The only colored dramatte ce spis Solz colotel dramatic company n extatence will day, snd Saturday fa th UNCLE TOM’S CABIN ! Introducing the Grand Plantation t of tnirly valces, Prieesof i ineiog 2595 A v ==L, reesof admiselon. 23, 83 and 50 cts, NEW CHICAGO THEATRE. For 4 short season, commenciog Chriatmas, M ?fi:‘wzf‘ e:m-rl.\'l'!;:m ch 38 and xs"-‘ fl‘n’."fi ednsaday an | urda) ATI00N. HAVENL' gufl D “(HKHNIANA ND IRIg) COMEDY COMPANY, Including the Trish Comedilans, ‘the only PAT ROOKEL, DA JOSIE MOIRILIS and ML, nflq MISS B NAN, In the new | drama entitled ‘'R llg‘ O’Connor,™ intro- Looney, Dan and Joste Storris, and the Irens to be foliowed with & new' specialzies, arney's A Iventures, or the Tricks % snd 75 cents, No o . Admimior 5 €xtracharge for reserred Box-sheet now open, HAVERLY'S THEATRE, ERLT. MAG! 4 Vi MO GRS Dec. 25, CHRISTMAS W] Monday, Wednesda; INLY, M CALLENDERS rch GEORGIA _ The Ot Origlnat GEORATA POUTERETES %gg%%gflg ‘ STRE MINSTRELS Lttt ADELPII THEATRE, A GRAND MATINEE TO-DAY. A TONY DENIER, A The Gire MERRY ‘Clown sie ';fnxmm, WEEK g, o JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK. McVICKER'S THEATRE, A MERRY CHRISTMAS!. TWO PERFORMANCES OF BTRON'S MOST SUCCESSFUL COMEDY OUR BOYS! On Christras Day and Evening. Matluce at 2 o'clock, o, DELIGATIULY LA Cl! o'clock, LAR! ~ LAUGHABLE cari—Elaborate production of S McVICKER'S TllEf\'l;RB--KELLOGG. GRAND ENGLISH OPERA. LAST FOUR PERFORMANCES, MISCLARA LOVISE KELLASG) Mr. O. D, EESS Appearing in every {English Opera Come AT EVELTYe, Do 8D, EVENING. Deo. 26, AR OF THE NORTH, i RELLOUGG, Sime. itosowald, Mra. Baguin, Mestrs sar, Teskes, Conly. 64, 10 e cast Wednening, 160, 27 Felfar. Dee. 20 X" FIA DIAVOLO. Batuniay—Graid Matineo and Iast porformanco, COLISEUM. Two Grand Performances Til18 AFTERNOON AND EVENING. FIFTY POPULAR ARTISTS. TIIE' EST PROGRAMME EVER OFFERED 1IN THA Afternoon at 2:30; Evenlng at 7:45. WO0OD'S MUSEUM. Mondsy, Christmas Afternoon and Eventag, NAVAL ENCGAGEMENTS AND. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. THE ) _TRINUNE. THE CHICAGO TRIBONE. ™ Great Republican Newspaper. DOLLAR WEEKLY TRIBUNE. THE BEST PAPER FOR THE FARMER, MECHANIC, BANKER, MERCHANT, ' POLITICIAN, FAMILY., PROSPECTUS FOR 1877, Twenty Woeklies for §20, Postage Paid, PRESIDENIIAL ELECTION, ‘The conntry has passed throngh a flerce Presi dential contest, and the reuit has been loft ins dangerous and unsatisfactory shape, on account of tho unprecedented closeness of the clection, the angry dixputes as to the votea of cortain States, and the fallure of the Constitution to provide any tribunal tosolve doubts or decide contested polnts. GOV, TIAYES ELECTED. From the best light before it, Tur TiBUNE be- Hoves that Haye recelved 185 Electoral votea against 184 for Tilden, and I therefore entitied to be Inaugurated Froaldent on the 4th of March, 1877, The higkest good of the South, os well as of the North, would be best promuted by his occns pancy of the Exccutlve Chair. DANUGEN OF ANOTHER WAR. But there are grs pprehensions thata rufMan. ly, ravenous crowd uf oflice-scekers may resort to lawless and violent means to fnduct the defeated Al candidate Into the oftice of Chicf Maglatrate, “peace-loving and law-abiding men, irras party, must stand together in this c crush out the Incendlary demsgogues who are threatening to light the torch of Interueclne war, which would bring rala and deatruction upon the country. The coming year promises to be the most evente ful and exciting of any siuce the War. Tux Taine uxe will do everything In its power to have the now Presldent peacefully and lawfully inaugurated, and to restore harmony and confdence in the futuro. Let us never despalr of the Republic. A REPUDLICAN NEWSFAFER. While Tug Cimocago TrisuNa s epablican newspaper, and contributed as much as any ather in the United States to the success of ita party, it Isalways {ndependent aud fearloss In (he expres~ slon of {ta views, and &ims to be right rather than partisan; and while holding pasty high it holds the country higher, UENERAL CHARACTER. The general character of Tux Cuicace Tisuns 14 too woell established to meed recapltulation,: 1n its news department 1t iv second to zo paper in United States, 'The Weekly. Edition contaln carefully prepared summary of the news of 'tho week, brought down to the hour of golng to press, Literary, political, dnancial, nacial, and sgricule taral topics will constitute, 88 berelofore, leading features of the Weekly Edition, and oo pains will ba spared to Increase its attractiveness in thess do- partments. Its market roports aro unsurpassed, cembracing all the information which faruwcni ros quire for the Iutelligent transactlon of busiuces, batl av scllers and buye 5 Tus WeEkLY TRIBUN, largoelgut-pagosheet, slze ns Tus DALy Twisune, conulet- ng of firty-elx columus of cloely printed matter, and, 8 Famlly Newspaper, snd in its gencral wake-up, lv unsurpassed Ly any paper in the land, GUEAT REDUCTION IN VRICE, Tus Trsuxs will bo furnished, postage pald, during the ensulng yesr, at the following tates, payablo iu advance: Weekly Tribune, per cop, 1.8 Club of ten 11,00 Club of twenty (o « 20,00 Daily Tribune, per month, 1.00 *Frl-Weekly, ainglocopy..... .00 Fel-Weekly, cluba of v - 28,00 Sundsy {saue, great double yheet, lterary . s0d religions, Per year. et siisiiniinny Rill Baturday lvsue, 12 pages, splendid paper, peryesr... Aaa R . 2,00 Spuclmen copies acal free, Y Glve Post-Ofice address fn full, luctuding State . au County. X Rewittances msy bo mado either by draft, ¢x. presé, Post-ORice arder, or In reglsterad lettors’ sl wur ik, Addreas THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, Coraer Madivon and Deasborn: Aty cuuio. 1L 13 4 i