The New York Herald Newspaper, January 26, 1877, Page 3

- THE GREAT ISSUE Passage by the Senate of the Joint Committee’s Bill. FORTY-SEVEN TO SEVENTEEN Developments Growing Out of the Debate. THE VICE PRESIDENT’S AUTHORITY Only One Senator Left To Do Him Reverence. CONCLUSION OF CONKLING’S SPRECH. Blaine Falls Into the Wake of Mor- and Sherman. *‘yMR. HOAR IN THE HOUSE. ‘Democrats Supporting the Sill—Repub- licans Divided. “NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1877.—TRIPLE SHEET. (tag curing several seasions—since 1873, in fact—about | you would count 6:0 chairs tn this chamber, why is the nesessity of @ method of counting the vote, the rights @f the houses over the vote the estf@me danger to the country of havi mo methed 1: is supposed, of course, that he and those who Bave been conspicuously with him have the patinarany can lawfully exert this po’ desire to figure as the most useful friends of Govern: Hayes, In easo be becomes President, but it is doubt- ful if theyelave made a success of it. Friends of Gov- ersor Hayew here say positively that the opposition to the Elgetoral bill in the Columbus State Journal does 0% fepresent bis views; that he, like Mr. Tilden, Bas been very careful not to express an opinion abeas it, and that the general opposition of Objo. politicians to It is not, in any manner, instigated or counténanced by him. This statement comes on good authority, and, if !t is accurate, nothing will bave bees made by Mr. Morton’s general denunciation of republican Senators for not believing what be bas himself always, until now, denounced. ‘TUR CONSTITUTIONAL POINT, Some amusement is expressed hore by members of both houses at the fears of some New York lawyers and politiéians about the constitutionality of the Electoral bil, The bill was tramed by somo of the most eminent lawyers in both houses. Of the repub- lican side were Edmunds, Conkling, Frelinghuysen, Hoar and McCrary, all lawyers of renown and confessed ability, Among the democrats, Thur- man, Bayard and Hunton aro all of the same high character in their profeasion. Mr. Morton, who opposed the bill im committce and outside, is also a lawyer, bat, unluckily for nim, ho urged last bill conferring on the House powers so much broador and greater than this bill gives, so almost unbounded, 1m fact, that Messra, Edmunds und Conkling voted " agatnat 1. 100 a ‘THE BILL Im THR HOCSE. ‘The bill was brought into the House this morning, and it was at once agreed that debate should goon FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. Wasuixoros, Jan. 25, 1877. The opposition to the Electoral bill broke down shortly after seven o’clock this morning, and Mr, Bargent, saying he bad intended to offer several * smendmenta, but refrained pecause he saw none would be nocepted, demanded the yeas and nays. The bill ‘was passod bya larger vote than was expected by its frends, forty-seven voting tor it, seventeen against: and nine absent or not voting at all, AXALYSIS OF THE VOTE. Ot the yeas twenty-one are republicans and twenty- ix are democrats; of the nays sixteen are republicans {and one a democrat. Of! those who did not vote Sen- ator Anthony ts ill and would have voted for the bill. Senators Harvey, Hitchcock, Logan, Norwood and Oglonby"are abeont trom town, Senator Spencer did _ Rot intend to vote, He bas held constantly that there ‘was noelection, that neither of the candidates is en- Qitled to be put in and that there ought to be a now election, hence he would not vote for any measure which acknowledgea the right of either. Senators ‘Paddock and Wadleigh were present late in the night session and ‘aodged, ” Of the sixteen republicans who voted against the ‘bill Senators Bruce, Clayton, Conover, Dorsey, Ham- Alton, Patterson ana West (seven) are Southern, and all ‘but Mr, Bruce of the kind called carpet-baggers, who « bave no political future in the States they now repre- bent, and do not represent in any broad sense those States, Excluding these it appears that, while twenty Northern ropublican Senators voted for the Dill, only nise Northern republican Senators voted fgainst it Counting by States the vote shows thas Senators from thirty-one of the thirty-eight Btates voted for the bill, and that of Sixteen States both the Senators supported it. Son- ators from fifteen States voted against it, and of these only two—Maine and Arkansas—cast both the Sena: torial votes against it. Taken in any way, the vote is overwhelmingly in favor of the bill, and the republi- an majority for it 1s specially overwhelming. 4 TEST OF ORTHODOXY, The attempt of Scnator Morton, therefore, to ‘read out of the republican party” all who should support the Dill seems to be acunspicuous failure, It wasa Singular undertaking for him to make, for no republican Senator bas so often and so con- sprcuously opposed the party policy. He opposed megro suffrage long and with characteristic per- sistency, arguing that it would bring ruin on the coun- try and indeed foretelling many of the evils which warpet-bag rule bas brought onthe South. His cur- vency heresies are too notorious to need mention, and thero was a smile among the republican Senutors at every allusion Mr. Morton made which scemed to as- sume to himself greater fidelity to his party than be ‘was willing to grant to othors, or the right on account Of such grogter fidelity to ‘read anybody out,” ‘THR VICE PRESIDENT’S POWER, In another and more important way the debato has had an unexpected effect. In spite of the constant and vehement assertions of tho Republican newspaper or- fans all over the country that the Vice President has | the power under the constitution to cuunt the vote, in | until to-morrow at three o'clock, when it will come to avote, Mr. Hoar made an admirable and effective speech for 1s, which excited faverable comment even from those opposed to the bill. Mr. Hale spoke against «it with his usual ability and ear- Reatnesa, and he is one of the best de- baters on the republican side, Ho took occasion, however, to remark that it owed its origin to persons who were spending their time at the seaside and at summer resorts, while other persons bore the brunt of the republican canvass last fall. He did not men- tion names, and this remark was uot a success. ‘THN SELECTION OF THE COMMITTER. The manuer in which the houses will select the mem- bers of the committee 1s alroady discussed. The bill provides that each house shall choose five members by @ viva voce vote, It is supposed that each house will select three of the prevailing majority and two of the minority, and that the members will be chosen by & party caucus, she chairmen of the two caucuses then reporting the selection to their house, whereupon that house will uoau:mously appoint the five so chosen. This choice will be made next Tuesday, and the members of the committee will be sworn in on the following Thursday. There will of course bo an agreement between the two houses as to the manner of selecting the members of the committec, There will’be, it is already plain, some difficulty in agreeing upon the republican Senators who shall serve on the committee, and there are people who expect a lively time in the Senatorial caucus. Whether the progossgqed enemies of tho ~dill will strive for piaces on it to be seon. It, is believed that if they do they will not be strongly opposed by the friends of the measure. Tho responsibility of serving on the committee will be more probably shunned than sought by politicians who are wise in either party, for obvious reasons, CONGRATULATIONS TO CONKLING, Senator Conkling has been receiving despatches all day congratulating him upon the success of the bill and upon bis speech. Mr. Urton sent the following :— New York, Jan. 25, 1877. Please accept my earnest congratulations upon a re- sult whose importance to the country and to mankind entitles its promoters to stand, as they will in history, by the side of those who made the Declaration of In- dependence, The thanks of a grateful people will be ample compensation in the future for the present criti- cisms of apprehensive politicians. WILLIAM ORTON, Tho following camo from a body of citizens of New York :— Nuw Yor, Jan. 25, 1877. The Committee on Memorial to Congress of citizens of New York, presented by you to the Senate, unani- mously unite in congratulating you upon tho passage by that body of tho Klectural Commission bill, and thank you heartily for your own most valuable con- tribution to that Lappy result, WILLIAM DODGE, Chairman. ‘Turovorx Roosxvenr, Secretary, From Utica, the home of Mr, Conkling, came the following, ainong other: Urtea, Jan, 25, 1877, Ihave just read your specch. [t makes me proud that I live on same streot as yourself, LOUIS LAWRENCE. {| Unica, Jan, 2, 1877. spifo of the letters of prominent republican pol- Itcians such as General Dix, Mr, Stough- | ton, Mr. Colfax and others asserting the | same thing, there remained this morning but a single republican Senator who ventured to main- tain tnis doctrine, and that was Mr. Sargent, whose ‘opinion has no particular weight. In last night's de- Date Mr, Edmunds, wno is vory thorough in what he | undertakes, read to Mr, Morton such a number and | variety of that Herman's expressions of opposition | to tho Vico President's counting the voto tuat | { | unul she is safe at the dock, poor Mr. Morton was obliged to confess that he had never hela that ho ought to count | it, but only that if the two houses, who. bad the right, failed to provide a way, then the Vico | Prosident must ‘‘of necessity,” and not by constitu. | i | tonal right, count it, As to Mr. Shermua, he was wsked point blank by Senator Thurman whether he held that the Vice President had the constitutional | Fight to count the vote, and fell into great and Jament- | Ablo contusion about it, being understood to say finully ; that the two houses had rights and evidently veing | muddled as to whut rights anybody haa about it. That | ghost, therefore, is laid, unless Mr. Sargent should set | Gp asa witch and try to raise him, ‘Tho tact ts, the greater part of the Scnate was in # Singular condition of ignorance about it in Decomber. Few men had studied the question fundamentally, and Of those who bad Senator Morton, for his own reasons, | abandoned all ho had said in previous sessions. Sen- | ator Conkling showed in his speech that ho had pro- foundly avd thoroughly investigated the question. He Wus master of every dotail of it, and he shed a light on it which convinced all who were open to convic- tion, except Mr, Blaino, who is said to havo hesitated Gp toa late hour last night and at last concluded to follow Senator Hamiin’s advice and Senator Morton's Ieadership and vote no, srkc 40% OM MORTON'S ACTION, ‘There has been much specuiation here about the re fons which induced Senator Morton to turn bis back 00 deliberately wud completely on all be had been urg- | ‘ | feal parties, | sting hore playing asa swivel yuu’ plays—in all di- Accept my heartfelt congratulations. Your speech was able, magniticen, HARLES V, SYMONDS. Other New York despatches, being congratulations from men of both parties, were received, A leading republican of New York to'egraphs:— Nw York, Jan. 25, 1877. Accept my congratulatio! You have brought the Ship of State out of the trough of the sea, Don't rest THOMAS MURPHY, Another says:—- et Naw York, Jan. 29, 1877. General approva! and admiration of your yesterday's speech is freely expr d here by men of both polit- DEBATE ON THE ELECTORAL BILL. | SENATE. | Wasirtyorox, Jan. 26, 1 The following is tho continuation and couclusion of the fuil report of Mr, Copkling’s speech delivered tn the Senate youterday, and the preceding portion of | which was published tn the Hearn of to-day, When the speech as published concluded Mr. Conkling was showing that Congress in the pust had assumed to exercise ita Judgment and control regarding the elec- | tral vote, aud comupued:— Mit, CONKLING’S SPKRCH, But, Mr. President, more recently than 1873 wo have jilustrations ofthe judgment of the two houses Of Congress wucking the residence and possession of the power to ascertain aud inquire, We tuve had committees sitting tu the deta of the Father of Waters, sitting on the Atlantic coast, and a committe ectious ANd at iouger ru For what? The Senate ‘ead to the Senate what tho Senate said;—'That the sad committee is hereby instructed to inquire mio the eligibility to oltice under the cu tuson of we United Dtues of any persons alleged to have been ineligible on the ith day of November last, or tu be ineligibie ax eiectors of President and Vice Preaitent of the United States, to whom certiticates of election huve been or shall be issued by the executive ausnority Of any State us such electors, und whether the up: pointinent of ciectur¥ or those eluiming to be such in apy of the States,’’—now obi ” The appuiwtment of cleetors been made, di cured or returued cither by force, traud or other menus viberwise than in contormity with the cousti- tuuon and jaws of the United jes and the laws of the respective States, and whether any such ap- pofntinent or uction of auy such elector fas been in any wise unconstitutionully or unlawiully intertered with, For what 18 this inquiry? 1f the two hoases have nothing to dv With 1; if there ts nothing to be done am regard to it; if all the votes, good, bad and in- } judge wud. de j resale will be reached, ‘all this? Mr. President, let mo ask e attention of the Sevate and 3 soue, and only to some, of those who have opinions iu this regard, and who bave ex- pressed epinions not only authorizing the enactment of a bill, but opinions irreconcilably repeat to the idea that the presiding officer of the to in any —James f Sassa- pshire—he 8 the colleague uf lent of the Senate—John Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Dex! cbusetie; Samuel Livermore, of New Hi was President of the Senat Jobn Langdon, the tirst Pre: Marshall, aud, I may a Congress of 1800; Martin Van Buren, Dai ‘ebster, Thomas H. Hen- tor Stephen A, Douglas, Jacob M. Howard, Jacob Collamer. Abrabam Lincoln, John J, Crittenden, Lewis Cass, Los oy Marshall, Thaddeus Stevens. Henry Winter wis, Jobo Bell and others whose names | will not read, be- cause | beg to expend a moment in calling attention to the words of one whose name I did not read, but whose name—whether it was the “Mill Boy of the Slashes” o: -y of the West''—always rang in this yo 's borne in the hole of m bad enthusiasm never, perbaps, surpassed in the instanoa of any. esis i OFIZIONS OF MR. CLAT. 1 bave read in the newspapers that Mr. Clay con- surred in the power of the President in this regard. In 1821 Mr, Clay, as chairman of tue committee, bide | reported a resolution which would have been absuri upon such a@ supposition as that—a resolution which stood only in sharp, clear denial of suc Pr gek ge =~ summoned to take part in the ie, and he said:— The constitution required of id perform the hig! two houses to assemble could devulve on a public elected vy the people to ad- \s. In a case of votes coming torward whieh could not becounted the constitution was silent, but fortunately the end in that case carried with is the in two houses were called on to votes {or President ahd Vice President. Of were called on to decide course, says Mr. Clay, called upon to deci tare the ise in Ing concerning the votes of Missouri, e1 thinking they ought to be counted and others dissenting from that opinion, the commit tee thought 1% best to prevent all dificulty by waiving the question in t! manner proposed, knowing that i$ could not affect the result of the clection. Again, Mr. Clay would merely observe that the dif- floulty is before us; that we must decide it when the bouses meet or avoid ts by some previous arrangement. The committee, being morally certain that the question would arise on the votes#n joint meeting, thought it Dest to give'the go-by in this way. Now observe, Mr. President, that has been quoted as m hing else: poose this resolution not adup! 1 Prosident of the ate will proceed to oppn and count the votes. And would the House aliow that officer singly and alone thus virtually to decide the question of the legality of the votesr If not, how then were thev to proceed? Was it to be sest! by the decision of the two houses conjointly or of the houses separately ? One Ho would say the votes ought to be counted, the other thut they ought uot, and then she votes would be lost altogether. 14V1XO AUTHORITIES, Although | did not intend to refer to living men, | may scuedule among the authorities ail the men who voted for the twenty-second joiut rule and all who acted under it, and allthe men especially who voted for the bill reporved by the Committee on Privileges and Elections, which pussed this body at the asl session, and also those who voted for the resolution under which the commits have been proceeding to is the answer to th: Pp, irresistible stream of bistoric precept and a by the honorable Senator trom f@ the passage If nothing {9 done, » condition of affairs will oxist in which the Fresident of the Senate, tv prevent « doadiock, ‘must uct from necessity, ‘The honorable Senator from Indiana has stated that | peg pa before, Here it is in a report made by im on the lst of June, 1874, a report whiob, in some unusun) senso was the exprossion of vidual convictions, because I observe in it these words:— ¥o powerful have been these obligations that I believe scarce an instance 1s known where electors have violated these pledges. The uso of the personal pronoun there make tl @ personal aod individual deciar: Tead {rom it this paragraph ; it was not a loose opinion, it was the eolemn report of one of the leading com- mittees of this body :— “Clearly,” says the author of this report, ‘Clearly tho framers of the constitution did not contemplate thet the President of the Senate in opening and count- ing tho vote for President and Vice President should eretionary or judicial power in determi: ing between Votes of two sets of electors or upor the sulliciency or validity of the record of the votes of the election merely minister: to be the witnesses and to make record, but the cxer- cee bel these powers may devolve wpou him ez necessi- ‘The honorable Senator said this bill was a contriy- ance. Meaning no offence to him, I say that i ever there was a contrivance, if ever there was u political Hell Gate, paved aod honeycombed with dynamue, thero it 18. Necessity to beget a power higher than” tho constitution! to inuugurate in this Kepublic a power withheld by the charter of the Republic! Ah! Mr, President, nece: Mr, Moxtox—Wil Senator finish the reading of the sentence? He left off reading one of my sen- tences. - ‘ Mr. Conxuixc—Oh, 1 am going to reag the whole sentence, The Scripture rays, “A contented mind 18 great riches,” and although I'know how diflieult it is for the Senator from Indiana to listen to a long, dull speech, if he will waita moment | will read the sen tence and the whove of it. 1 was saying that that urgu- mont 18 in favor of the two houses acting so as to bring about a necessity, which necessity is to create con- tingency, fi @ language of tbe author of this report “clearly not contemplated by the framers of the con- stitution. ““nucEssITY,”? Mr. President, necessity knows no law. Who isto decide whether ho is called and chosen by necessity ? Necessity,” that arch flend in government, that con- venient mother, that prolifle mother and apology of uy, revolution and despotism. Since huinun ninent began the pretensions of necessity have 4 realins and rulers through caverns measure- jo Mun down to a sun! Let not the repre- ntatives of States counive at bringing about a neces- sity they know not what, iraught with consequences they cannot order or foresee, Suppose the Speaker of the House says that he is the man of dostiny—ihat necessity hus created bim to resolve this tangled problem, Suppose the House says it from necessity 18 to be the deus ex machina. sorrowing a phrase of the Senator irom Calilornia, suppose any mun or any power chooses to deem himsel! or itself catled by ne- cessity, what will be the result? Beiore reading the residue of tho seutence from this report, 1 turn buck, as [ meant to do, and read asa purt of it a prior sentonce:— ‘here is imminent danger of revolution to the nation whenever the result of « Presidentin} election Is to bu de- termined by w State in whien the chuice uf the electors h.x v irregular or is alleged to have been garried by traud nd where there is nu metho ned und settled t interposition of courts, Such w dvanco be shorn of bis moral power his office would be looked upon as & usuepe quenecs that would result from such w state of things no man can predict. Mr. President, it is because 1 mean at every stage which the law aud the facts and the truth will war- abt LO insist that the republi chosen Chief Magistrate of this country; itis because, among other things, L believe him to Le w patriot aud iueupable of wishing injury or disparagement to bis country that L wisn him to take w ttle to the grows olfice Which bo portiva of our people chalienge with even a pretext for asserting he has clutched and wields usurped power, or that be and those who acied with him aro unwilling to abide by the fruition of the con- stitution, Lenestiy rendered to the end. Now, I will not lorget to read the crowning glory of this senieuce the report, “Bub the exercise of this power.” tue Senate ous not forgotten them, ‘The power to eon vonilicting certilicates, the power 10 cust the die in x Presivential election, tho r to exert fuculties oven more transcendent than boy o Hut the exercise of these high powers may devuive upon him ax nevessitute ve, and Whatever decision Le muy wane between the two seis of electors or upon cue sufticieney and Vutidity of the voter, whether ov the evidence of the right of the electurs to ewst votes ur whether they have ribed by the ¢ spelivd out ot tient exigency UY Necessity, thaw the constivut ed, Hob vlily tw udjudge these greut bus when he adjudges them, tron the rising of ti tu the going down of tho samme, there shall be nu mn does not bow mittely and reverentiaily to the decision THK COWARD'S RXPRDIKNT, Mr. Presidem, [ soy again it is “hos for represcnie~ tives of the Fepub'ican purty, kuowing the events i the midstol which we stud, to refuse by an exe Of the law inuking power to constivute a quute, certain, tinal (ribunal, by the action of whieh a How shall this be do Seua- tors say it isan attribute and a duty of the two houses to count these votes, Ifthat be tho jaw tus vill does not overpass the law. 1 am reminded that the Measure has been called a compromise, If 1tbe a com. promise of trath, of law, of right, Lam agaiost it, Iify has (uxt ine not w contrive compromise: settle isxues, Every compromi: principle mukeshiit and a snare, ft never stood, 1t never deserved to stand, lb is the cowara’s expedient to adjourn to another day a controversy easy to govern iu the fountain, bat hard w strugule Against mh the stream, Lt wis be such a compromise L ain aguinet it deny that it compromimes anything, ad, xvove all, that it compromises right, priucipic or the constitu: tion, To concest o claim 18 not Lo Compromise tte. To Insist upon the right sod submit it ty an honest, fair scrutiny wad determination 18 not to compromire iy 4 Presivontial elec has occurred, Uniess t 4 tic ora lailure somebody bas been chosen. certain aud establish the fact 18 not a compromis Teveal and establish the truth of a thing already past and tited is ay far from a compromise a8 is the rising of the sun trom the going dowa of the sane. Above all, Mr. President, this is not a com- promise of the position of those who hold that the two houses. o8 such, aro bound to count the voles, And hore { beg to say toa sen. ator Who diflers trom mo in political belie! and who opposes tuts bill, ax do many other democrats, because he holds that the constitution reposos in the two houses the province w function im hund—TI say the bill 1s n0 compromise by those who en vn that view, different, irrespective ot quality, are to be counted But Ldeny that itis a compromise. t | cannot handle and scrutinize and examine and tabu- Tate ali the contents, true and false, of these electoral certificates, They might act by tellers. What are tel- lers? The eyes, the ears, the of the two houses, ‘That ts all. The proxies of the two houses as stock- holders are in a moneyed corporation. Four hundred men cannot jegate two men for each hou: int @ committee to do it, posed, They called ‘There Is no harm in my sayin, the commitice that preposed this bill, tribunal to calles Tepresents the two houses as te! them—no less a commitieo beca: the highest judicial tribunal aro rt of it, 1s the Silver Comumissiun, at the head of which stands my distinguished friend from Nevada (Mr. Jones), less a cominission of the two houses because experts, three in pumber, I believe, not members of ouher house belong to it? Suppose the constitu- tion made it the guty of Congress to observe whe travsit of Jupiter and a committee was appointed of which the Hon, Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Eaton) ought to be one. Suppose on that committee were ae Professor Henry, to guard the Senator trom Connecticut against the observ of Venus in place of observing Jupiter—(lauchter)—would the committee or its character be destroyed by tho pres- ence of Professor Henry, not a member of either house? I understand that very recently—I confess !t had escaped my observation—a commission orf committee of the two houses bas been constituted to reorganize the army, and on that commission are | distinguished men not members of either house. la it @ void commission for that reason? If it shall happen, on looking, that the General of the army is this army commission, would any man ‘© go into history with it known of him that be Supposed in tact, or in law oither, that the commission wus impaired, or even that it was not strengthened and dignified by putting upon it the foremost men although they were not members of either house? The honorable Senator from Obio said that these judges of the Supreme Court being officers ought to be coutirmed by the Senate. If their tunctions were such as ue ascribed to them I think they should. He said they were to make a Presicent. Inasmuch as the constitu. tion hus provided that the people are to do that, und they refused to allow cithes houso todo it, L quite coucur with my honorable triepd that it they are to makes President they ought at least to be confirmed, MR. SHERMAN STATES THE DIFFERENCE. Mr. Suxumay—I | do nos interrupt my frieat—— Mr, CoxxLixo—Not wt all, Mr. Suxkwan—I will mention to him the differen between what is culled the Stlver Commission und the Army Commission, and this comaiission to muke a President. When the Silver Commission report their action is of no validity, and either house may disregard it; and gu with the report of the Army Commission, But when this commission to make a President re- Ports it requircs the aflirmative action of both nouses consenting thereto to undo their work. Mr. ComKLinc—Mr. President, it often happens that when a man is making « speech some Senator who iu- terrupts him interferes with something which is very important to him. hon tho Lé lature of New York repealed the rule in Shelley’s case ebody asked Chancellor Kent why he did not strikeout the chapter in his commentaries relating to the rule tp Shelley’s case, The old man said, Why, it je one of the most admired portions of the work. How could I strike it outf?? And bere comes the Senator trom Ohio and bo interrupts oue of the most important ibings, in my estimation, which | want to say something «bout, (Mr. Sherman rose.) Now, 1 bope he will not interpose further. Mir.* Suxaman—I will withdraw my interruption, then. Mr. Coxxuino—That is right. I hope my honor- able friend will keep it back, because I have a very detnite theory on that subject. I am "going to re- Neve tho Senator presentiy, und I am not going to take my seat, unless [ forget myself, withous disputing tue doctrine, and demonstrating the fallacy Olthat notion put forth now in this chamber for the third time. The honorable Senator trom Ohio thought thas these judges of the Supreme Court should be con- firmed by the Senate in order to act on this commis- #ion. My honorable friend from New England (Mr. Cragin) who sits bebind ejaculates trum bis seat that “They have been once,” and it 8 a most rea sonable and pertinent suggestion, They have Once, and on that nomination of the President and by the uction of this body been certified, or as Mr. Benton would have suia, ‘been certificated ‘as men picked from the whole nation for their titness to weigh evidence, examine and ascertain questions of law."? They are anointed with confidence for this purpose, But the suggestion of the Senator from Obio 13 that this bill establishos offices, 1 say that it merely appoints a committee, 1| say that from ume immemorial in England, will venture to go back to the Battie of Hastings, Which wus io i066, irom a ime in England whereof the momory of man runneth Bot totho contrary, parliumentary committees and comm ve been established, composed not only of members not members of either house, therefore uot officers, But 1 answer the honorable Senator from Uhio, and I beg ia all sincereness his attention, because I think it will disarm the particular cbjection he makes. Who ever heard that Congress cannot itnpose upon national officers additional duties? Is there any officer in the government upon whom Con- tional daties, und it there is one created by Congres 1 Court sald in the case of Pregy vs. ot uce, being State oflicers, Were not bound under the Fugitive Slave act of 1793 to act as commissioners. But, said the Court, if they do act it 1s entirely co: petent; bul, not being national officers, Congress has ho power to (impose, aguinst their cousent, duties upon them. But what said the first Pension law ever passed alter the inauguration of the constitution? It uader- took to make the judges of the federal courts commis- sioners by © somewhat bungling phrase. It spoke of the court, and not the Judges of the court, and men queried whether, under that language, sp jug of the cuurt, there might be criticism made upon it. But did hnybody ever deny that Congress bad power to ake tue judges of the federal courts com- inissioners of pensions uoder the Veusion uct? I think it was never denied. Doos the honorable Sena- tor from Obio doubt that Congress has power to employ a judge, whether of the Court of Alabama Ciaims or Supreme Court or any other court, to settle a coutested boundary between States or to exert apy other faculty essential to the public welfare? I submit again to the honorable Senator frum Obio, in answer to his objection, that the twe houses, from beginning to end, make this examination, They agree botore- hand 10 make it 1m a parti ake it by @ committee. That commitiec incarnutes the two houses. It is tho two houses. 4 CONDITIONAL DECISION, By action beforehand they ugree not to be bound by what the committee shall do, bat to a modo in which this examinaticn shall be mage, What is the uader- Standiag? That the committee decide only pro- visionally, ouly conditionally. The two houses retain the whole thing to the end absolutely in their grasp. ‘A Senator suid yesterday, aud {t bas been repeated to-day, that if the two houses were 10 approve what the commission does it would be nota deiegation of power to another, vot an asportation vo deputies of the power of the two houses, but the exertion of power by the houses themselves. Dir, President, this bill is precisely that, This bul Provides shat the examination being made by the rep- Tesentatives of the two houses, by thuse who consti- tute the eyes wud cars und hands and fuculties of the two houges, and that uction reported provisionaily, 1t shail be deemed the action of the two houses unless they disapprove It, When I speak to the honorable Senator from Ohio I speak to a lawyer, and 1 beg him to remember that the Supreme Court of the Uniied | States, when eight judges sit and a deeree of judgment comes up irom the Circuit Court below, by a toreur- daiwed tule provides that if tour judges ure tor the decree and four judger against it, the decree ts aflirmed, It becomes the Judgment of the court; no, it viriu- aily becomes, in that case, the unanimous judgment of the court.’ Why? Because the court uuanimousty, in advance, has ordered wnd decreed that that division occurring tt shall be the Judgment of tue court. MK. MORTON'S RETRRAT. The meeting of int although | see the honorable Senator trom Indiaua moves away, (Mr. Conkling, while speaking, b dvanced toward Mr, Morton's desk, just across the aisle.) Mr. Monroy—I retreated as tar koe the 5 The Communwealth of Pennsylvania that justic 1 could—(moves aw: Mr. Conktunc—Mr. President, the honorable Senator | from Ludi observes that be hus retreated as tar us | he could, That isthe ovligation laid ow nim by the | common law, He is bound to retire to the wail velore he turns in resistance (0 do harin, and baying retreaucd asfaras be could, Lt venture to make to lim this suggestion, Within a very proposed in this body to import ye presidiny oflice tuto a tribunal whieh should be the uinpire to cast U a the (wo houses, Tif honoravle Sena for Indiana voted in (he yeas aud nays tur that propos: | tien, no constitutional doubt him se restraming, Does my triend stake his head ? | Mr, Monrox—I will satisfy you on that point, | Mr. CosKLIXG—My boouravie iriend protmised to | sausly we, T thought he shovk his he It was you to hold up a record vo #atfsly him that the Chairman ot | tho Vormmittec on Privileges aod Evections uid sauc- Hi yreut Weight und wutbority the right of king power to snatch the Chiel J t, Dring him Were and make him one should arbitrate vetween the two Louncs | and conclude both by the judgment he made. Lven- | ture to repeat, Mr. President, that when a court of firet Instance is constituted to inquire, to bear and to | report to the two houses, and iy ia left with them to | overthrow and reverse the finding, the tribunal is | provisional, aud the wltiinate adjudication ts reserved in the two houses by which that tribunal 1s created; and [submit to my honorable trend trom Ohio that, speaking 1m the genes of law, it est difference whether the provisi mation of What this cominitiee do mative nction or by al action, L speak in the presence of trained lawyers, aud I speak | in the preence of no man who will challenge that po tion, THK BACKED JUVGRS, Mr. President, had I discussed, as I have not done, the views in full which I huid im regard co this que tiow L should feel authorized better to inquire he the two houses shail exercise the power anu the duty resting on them——the power IM respect of the au tion which vecupies the attention of the Seow day, W Lot sUININON Lhe stats; we cannot mand yous or even augele, We must have recourse to meu, We bave provided that ecct: house aneli select 1t8 Most (rusted members, We have provided that added to these shall be five judges of the highest court; ive sucred judges, the Senator from Olie said, because they ndminster justice, Ilow is justice depiciedy A stony figure with blinded eyes, with. an arm unmoved by atorod of teenug, holding unshaken the ¢@ sealer, Because thess judges stand (or that td Senator from Ohio says they are sacred judg this office boneuth them? They never sat ina greater ora graver cuuse, John Jay, when Chief Justice. crossed the treacherous seas ald negotiated a treaty not So great by far as that covenant of law and peace The two houses consist of 400 men, !our hundred men and right which these judues are to establish, eo | chusetts says Nelavn sat in a commission whose duty and privilege it was to hold up belore the world the atiain- ments of America in dignity and reason, by snowing that Ration was strong enongh and = great enough to withdraw w forum of brute force and passion the greatest Font and submit it to a legally constituted authority. @ of 1 andest Emperors on carth acted as um- pire in the same proceedings, and the $15,000,000 ob- tained by the ision was valueless compared with the tranguillty of our land for a single duy—paltry, indeed, by the side of the inestimable auvantage of the actual experiment that 45, je calmly $0 contront and tingency or exizeucy which mi institutions which they eb 5 ‘be who ruleth his own spirit be greater he who ruleth s city’ what shall, be than said of the grandeur of millions who, by am “act as quict as (be wave of a wand quict the commotions of a continent in an bour? No jot or tittie of authority DOt reposed by the constitution in the two houses of Congress, acting separately or together, is broached in prescribing the jurisdiction of this committec, Familiar in ancient times and {p recent times, deputing one to do an act for another customary phrase bh like force and effect ax though 1 myself did it? That in substance is the behest of this bill, With like force ent the two houses for these pur! two hou and evory member were present as the two houses of Varhament were ip law present always when a jull and free’ conterence was held. To you, the chosen depu- ties of the two houses, who on honer and on oath rep- Tesent them in this investigation, we say that you are authorized to do exactly that which the two houses, acting separately or together, might do. Take the coustitution tor your chart and guide. Whatever and the now existing law commands, that do—thus far and uo farther, You stand, in lawyer's phraye, 10 statu quo. Abstain from everything from which those who constituted you ought lawfully to abstain, Do bothing except to deal with that which hes within the domain of your adjudication, and repert to us, who Tepose special trust wud contidence tn you, all the rea- sons that move you, all the conclusivns to which you come. GOING BEMIND THE RETURNS. 1 have heard it suggesied that something in this bill implies the going behind the faculties of the States, gviny Lebind tne lawtul exercise of tbat power which the constitution reposes in the States and wherewith the constitution crowns them. ‘his cominission may £0 Op and inquire at large, vy ciphoring up the votes that were cast in the parishes, or even precin.ts, aud by going into the queation whether those who yoted wore all that should have voted, or voted as they meant to vote, must Constitute, a8] think was said, themselves aud Congress one national returning bourd—a sort of omnium gatherum, a sort of pational rag bag in which sould bo swept all the seraps and tatters of detailea investigation, The law has an aucient maxim—that is certain which can be rendered certain, We say in this bill, ‘Take the constitution as it stands—that's your guid you will ind run the boundaries of your powe: Shall not overpass that, Execute it and stop, yome Senator says, Why d Bot the bill specify all hese men are to do? ‘To ask the question is to suggest the answer, They spring up as the army of Roderick Dou sprang irom the heather when the whistie garrisoned « glen, In the first place there 1s an irreconcilable diflerence of opinion as to the nature and extent of the power of the two Louses, or either, to pry into or penetrate the act of the States. In the next place wero ail ugreed 14 would be utterly impos- sible in a bill to embody @ treatise—a commeniary— whivh should provide for every possible contingency OF supposable possibility that might arise, It was Dean Swift, | think, who mado a written schedule tor his uttendant of all that he was to do, each and several, His duties were committed to paper, but on a Sunday Dean Swift tell iuto a ditch, and, calling on his wttend- for assistance, be produced this schedule und read and said he found nothing there which required bo ould help him outotaditch, so he deciined thut ry neediul act of humane consideration, So it was supposed by this committee, as their sense was only finite, apd extremely finite at that that when they itnported in addition to the five picked men of euch house five experts in the law, men who bad been selected trom the great body of the nation for their training and adaptation to exploring legal dis- Uunctions and ascertaining egal trath, 1 was hardly worth while for them to attempt to accompany this delegation of provisional power with a minuto bill of particulars of all the things that they might do and of all tho ways in which they might do them. It might been possible, by restraint and exclusion, to put ers On the feet of these fifteen members of a tribu- to investigate and provisionally inquire, Every Senator who hears ine, apd the Senator to whoin most of ail I address myse!f on this point (Mr, Dawes), knows that any attempt to run the boundaries of this power, any attempt by the coucurrent action of the two houses to fix it, 10 agree upon a universal solvent, to come to that exact unit of value in constitutional judgment which would be the demarcation between the true and the false, although a right that we possoss, would have been as absurd in the attempt to effectuate that right as it would be ridiculous to assert the right to shear the wolf, and that right belongs to every man whom I see gathered about me. 18 THERE NO Limit? My honorable friend from Massachusetts, in a tone which few beyond me heurd, inquires whether | mean that they havo uo limit in this bill. Mr. President, { had supposed that the constitution had raised, not only a hedge and fence, but a stockade of hmit tothe powers which might be exercised under it. J supposed that when five of the moat largely instructed and trusted mombers of the Senate and five of the most largely instructed and trusted members of the House were auttiorized to get five judgos of the highest and most largely " instructed Judicial tribunal of tho la wo might trust to them to settle what the Court of Oyer und Terminer--j{ that be what is called—settles iv the State of Massachusetts whenever it is called upon to de- termine whether it bas jurisdiction totry an imdictment for homicide or not, I'supposed that preseribing the rule by which its jurisdiction was to be measured we could trust this merely provisional tribunal of selected men to run the bounds, to Ox tho lines, to biaze tho trees that mark that line om the boundary ot ther Jurisdiction. Mr, President, if 1 had heard aright, us { did not, the honorable Senator from Massuchusetis, I ould be authorized to express my surprise somewhere in the chambe here they 1 know that nevor came from the Senator from Massa- Chusetts, because he is a lawyer, and because he has paid ine the respect of listening in some sort tor a few Minutes to what I have ventured to suggest, and be- cause | have repeatedly said that the coustitution and the existing law are tho boundaries, and I believe tho act of 1792 is the only law that bears upon it No, Mr, President, L am wrong about that. Tho act of 1845, King of the choice of Presidential clectors, also upon i, Bet! have said that inasmuch us the Jution—that perspicuous instrument—and the acts of Congress, of which I think there are but two, define this power, and inasmuch as we make that the guideboard, the yardstick, by which these men are to measure—inasmuch as we command, and conjure them to go accoraing to the constitution and kecp within its limits—I suppose it was not a roving commission to traverse at lurge all the realms of fact and of fiction, all of imagination or of supposition. ‘MK. DAWES EXPLAINS. Mr. Dawns—Mr. President, will stinterrupt the Sen- ator If T say a word Mr, Conk1ixG— Not at all, Mr. Dawxs—I hear the Senator stato distinctly that this commii but I hear him stato just as distinctly that in bt opinion this commission, being bound by the conatitu- ton cuuld not invade what I deem to be the preroga- tives of tbe Stutes to setile the title of their own — electors, If coud hin and | all of the = members of ~— that = commit. twe make the same clear and — unequivocal ussertion Igshould be greatly comforted, My uiscon- tent und apprehension arises from the fact that, while Thear him make this equally anequivocal expression of bis own opimion of what the boundary 18, | hear others with equal distinctness and clearness and positiveness say that though they ulso velicve the commission to be bound by the constitation, they be- © the constivutivn autiorizes them to go into and settle questions which in my mind belong excius to the States to settle, Thut 1% what troubles me, the Senator will pardon me for interrupting lim in the way 1 have in order to get ws distinctly as I could from the members of this committee, not only what | knew before, every one of them wouid say that the commission ‘would bave to limit the © of their power Ly the consti tution; but, imasmuch us Ohe member OL this commit. we Leleves the coustitution will stop them at oae point, und avother member of the commitive be twill not, | suggest to the Senator, would it no swler for us by a statute to limit thei ? kuow where the bounda. be Tuen we shail WHAT THE IRRECONCILABLE CONFLICT 14, Mr, Conk this powor is not only one ot BOD, but the very marrow of it, If there were no doubt im that regard we stvuld need bo vill, Lf the two bouses aud the members of the (wo houses were concurrent aud distinct in their Views We should need Lo cormmitice or commission, Lt | | as by ctuse Of the iFrecuncilable conflict of opinion that We propose to execute the coustitation in this way; and if Loave not sad so before | wa OW to way that in omy opinion it 18 not only coinpetent execution of the constitution, but vie substantial, effectual comp mt with tho spirit of it strictly, the Sewator from Masse. he ‘bas heard the Senator from New York say something aud the Senator trom somewhere else say something, May L remind my honorable iriend that woat | tay say io this regard, or even What he may say, Is ike tue gorse Of @ bund, oF like a | tune wien dissolves im tue air, a8 bem question wv bis mind, Why? This com va its outb, und subjeet to our revie constitution 1 commited te. tt. ng upon the , what by the Af ‘my honorabie frieod from Massachusetts wore to be of this commission What he might think or LF might think would be hot how but then of greatmoment. There- fore | subinit to him it is mere anise and cummin and hot o} the weigut in matters of the law tu consider What may be thought by this Senator or what may be thought by that senator of the scope a within Which these men might move certain for themseives if the question in the Stute of Now York 1s whether the Court of Vyer aod Termmer only or whether alxo the Court of Sexsious bas power to try iadictinents for homictoe, ho matter Whether it be bat A i or ©) may be convicted in one 6 UPON that simple question of jurisdiction, So this court of first instance, 1 1b Loids, for example, thas it bas no power tw yo behind the certificate of the Governor of Oregon; that although he testitiet threo men were iectors, one ul whom con- fessedly—1 say confesvedly, in the popular sense—never received that majority by whieh he could be chosen, Suppose they hold hat certiticate 16 a barrier which neither house three votes are to be as certitied by tue Governor of Oregon, Su the two houses aro brought to say whether they will approve or will disapprove that doctrine. On the con- (rar; ppose they say :-—"'We will go behind the cer- We will go bebind the certificate in Louisi- Ana; Not to Inquire about the Weight uf evidency; Bot to find ont whether the Returning Board found rightly counted OOOO EEE EE jou is to be bound by the constivution, | | | may borrow the idea of Lamarii | tor tho rising of the tide to mako it float,’? tee is to way | f wore tess | Es as3 quire as to a Jurisdictional bether the Returning Board of Louisiana had before it, and was authorized to act upon, the evidence of the popa- Jar will.” They so report, and the Lonorabie Senator from Massachusetts, Laving one vote and @ potent Voice im this body, passes on that resolution. On the copirary, suppose they say they hi right to goa little further than that, and to ascertain whether t! Rewurning Board cf Louisiana or the Governor of Oregon was moved by corrupt motive. Motive, that Diack drop locked up 1 fs so hard to tind! they may search demn whut bas been done in Oregon, because greed and corruption moved the hand that beld toe pea when that certificate was made, Upow that ruling the Senator from Massachusetts, as one member of the court of review, is to pass on his oath and on his ree sponsibility as preventative of the proud State which honors him with its commission hei Mr. Dawes—I am sincerely anxious to understand tho whole scope of this bili; and if I understand the Senator aright now he states that there was in t! committee an irreconcilable difference as to how far— Mr, Conkiing—My honorable friend must "patsy me there ut least. 1 did not so state, f spoke of noth- ing that there was inthe committee. i spoke at large, saying that there has beon au irreconcilable difference of opinion, 1 avoided sayin; thing wbout the com- mittee, Mr. Dawxs—I think the Scuator is right, The Sen- ator bas corrected me properly, The Senator says tho committee recognized an irreconcilavie diffeveuce upon how far the constitution will permit this com~- missiou to go into aD investigation of the matters tha States. To meet thal ‘concilable jtand him to say, they propose je construction vf the constiu- tion from this commission, Mr. Coxxuixc—Mr. President, the Senator from Massachusetts is too astute not to knew, tov caretul to forget, that be who in advance can exactly Ox and measure that wuthority holds im his hands the huro- scope in which may be read with some distinctness tho issues of this mi It was the purpose and the laborie ablish a provisional with impartiality as great as could be promised by the instrumentalitics of humanity; a result conforming to the law und to the fusts; @ result resting neither upon the wishes of the Senator trom Massachesetts and upon my own, which concur with bis, por with the wishes of the most pronounced partisan Who stands against us, bat bused on the constitution aad the law as it was on that day in December—I believe it was the 6th—whon the election was determined and decided; that election, the whole purpose of this bill being to ascertain and establish; 1 say the object was to devise up instru- entulity from which ao act under the cousti- the human heu tution. and the laws existing on that day ° in December, whon the votes were cast, an exact, truthtul reflex and proof of wi the people acting by States did. For us to undertake in advance to say precisely what (this commission or commitiea wanted to do was to abandon, as wo might better hat done, without this ceremony of attempting to present a scheme which would be satistactory, not only to the fourtecu men who compose tho twa committees, but to the men who prevail in these two houses, and to that great jury, too numerous to be packed or to be counted wh ands behind these two classes of opiuious which have come apparent. Therefore, wo hold that a tribunal Ot to be imtrusted, e provisionally, with passing upon any part of this controversy w: tb to be intrasted: g the boundury of their own juris- we had delivered into = their chart and the compuss the con: of th United States anu told them to stand to and abide by that im every contin- gency. Now if the honorable Senator trom Massachu- setts proposes to launch upon the leading currents of dobate in these houses, to put into the crucible the Question which in every conceivable contingency suall be the terminus of this power, I only say to im te laanches upon a sea without a shore ur a bottom. The 4th of March, 1877, the 4thof Murch, 1878, would pever sev the end of that debate and the controversy which would be waged belore the fowl solution would come of such tu varied, entangled inquities as these, We Ie! the law of Massachusetts leaves it, tu tn court, which, in the tres instance, tricsa oe charge involving his life, or even bis liberty, to ueter- mine whether it has power to entertain indictments for oflences such as thut, We lett it, ax the law ivaves the must inenial civil tribunal 10 Massachusetts, to de- termine whether it bas power to entertain @ contru- versy of tho most insignificant value which arises be- tween this man and that map, whether the one owes the other money or not, Mk DAWA APPALLING SUGGESTION, My friend suggests the accuracy with which the Jurisdiction of cou 8 unwerted in the state of Massa- chusetts, and he bids me muke this as accurate as such things ure made in the Stato of Massachusetts, Mr. President, the sentiment of despair is the only senti+ ment jovoked by such an appeal The idea of the rep- Tesentatives of all the States making auything on carina, or in heaven above, or im the waters under the earto ‘As oXuct as everything is nade by the State of Masxa- chusetts! (Laughter.) My friend says that I stated we have done it as it is dove in Massachusetts. I did not mean that whe said that she never realized the glory Solomon until she entered inner temp: idea (bat the representatives of other States have breasted the upper sir ortrod the Milky Way know: to tho State of Massachusetts nover ontere wildest and most presumptive vagaries of my imugi- nation, Ob, no, Mr. Presideot; whenever the thirty. seven other States of this Union reach, or even ap- proximate, the exactness of the State of Massachusetts the time will have come whea uo problem remains to be solved, and when coutested Presidential vutoa will count’ themselvos—(inughter)—the universe will go on Ly automatic adjustment and proceedings, Mr. President, | owe aa apology to the Senate, Imake it feclingly, tur the time which | have occupied 1 cussion und the excursion from th discussion, 17 18 NO COMM! I mgnod this rey ove for the pending Dili—vote for it, denying that it is a compromise, believ- ing that it 1s no compromise, believing thas it surren- ders the rights of bone, asserts und maintains the rights of all, and submits to lawful authority, that authority being the iucarpation of the two houses, the solution of the pending question, holding, at first and At last, 10 the hands of the houses the power and the duty to aflirm or reject the prov mal tiuding, Is muy bo denounced by purttsans on the one side aud on the other it may be derided by the adventurous und the thoughtless, and it may be treated, and alsu the consequences it involves, with courageoun gayety by the honorable Senator trom Penasylvania, it may not for the present receive tho approbation even of the thoughtiul or the patriotic, 1 will vote tur it, because | veticve it administers the constitution and becuuse I believe it advantageous to all tue people and to all the States, imcluding that great State whose interest and honor are so dear tome. It may be derided now, but time, at whose great altar ull pas- sions and all preyudices must Low at last, will approv Mu, and, 1 believe, will vindicate It. und vindicaie those who vote for it, They can wait, and, in a matter ot uch importance as this, Senator ery one of us, luce It was the Queen of pr o The on the highest promontory of the deep AM ALL MIGHT SKSSION. Tho debate in the Senate on the bill reported by the select committee in regard to counting the electoral vote Was continued all night, SPRKCH OF MR, MORTON. After the motion to adjourn wus rejected, Mr. ToN then took the floor aud suid he would ende: alittic whic to express his views Tue baste in its eousideration was wi foundation, The whole argument in tavor of this bill jn bis opmion was # mistake. He thought there was 4 panic ip the repuohican party. He could only compare it to the pane of Bull Run, ‘Tho repuolican party was dead iu every Southern Stue except ttrce, and yet the party was asked to come tor- ward bo magnanimous. His desire to do rigut wi as (bat ol most Senators, Lolty and patri otic ressions were very cheap, but they were so viten tbe mero cover for treachery that he thought the maa lable to suspicion who induleed in them. W. the republican purty to apprehend danger? Was it to epprebend au favasion of this Capitol? Or that, if the Senate retused to pass this bill, the House of Kepresentatives would take sume revo- Jutionary action’ He bad no such fear. If Congress should go on as it had gone for the last three-quarters of wcontury nu man would raise his hand, He thought by tis bil the republican party would be the loser and the democratic party the winner, The bill was democratic mea: lt was in the interest of th democratic party. DUTY OF THK VICK PRESIDENT. Mr, Mortoy, continuing bis argument, claimed U the Vice President was not bound to open any fraud lent certiticute from a State. If there sbouid be bait a dozen packages from a State in his possession he wae hot required tu open the package which came from the electors. Asan uilicer of the United States, he was bound to take notice as to who liad been elected elec- tora by the States and act upon his iatelligence just as Other public officers do. There wert cates trom Louis Vice President, 0 was pot required to open them both, Lf he refused to open und prosent the secoud retura bow was it to be got out of bis posses: sion? [fhe rotused to opeu such rewurn was that cuuso of revoluuon? Did he understand that the democtatic party threatened violence or revolution if the President of the Sevate withheld a bogus vertiti- cate? ‘This bill conferred upon the tribunal it created power to legislate unless its action should be over turued by the action of the two houses of Congress: ‘Tut. commission could not carry out the bill without going benind returns from a Su It was sprinkled wil over with very white, pretty I, but the demo- cratic cat was roposing beneath i, Hourgued that the bill was unconstitutional. The Senator from Obio (Mr. Thurman) bad argued that tho democratic party descended trom the republt- cun party of 1800. lie (Mr. Morten) did not think the democratic party of to-day descended from apybody. He beloved it 10 be for the best interests of all parties aud ail men thatthe republican party should rule this country, Alter ti ase has beev wade up be did not beheve im adopting # new plan which would throw away oue-lall of the chances of the republicans, INCONSISTENCY, That he bad been inconsistent on some matters waw entirely probable. He did not believe there were any popes to this Senate who wero infallible, He accorded to every other Senator conscivntivas motives, and he claimed lor bimeelf the sume consideration. Me be- Heved the republicun party had saved this nation, and the groutest cousiderations of humanity and poll demanded that it be coutinued in power, At this par- Vcular juncture it was not the duty of republican Sena- tors, 1h was not bo their interest, to depart trom the Practice which had been followed seventy-five years, SPRECH OF MIL. BLAINE, Mr. BLAIN® said he had, be trusted, as groat Preciauon as aby Senator on this floor of the gravity of tho situation. He had sapported the Seuator trom Vermont (Mr. Rdmunds) i ecomber, tn bi tite. tional amendment te leave this whole jon of i votes to tho Supreme Cours ; this power of counting the ve aps