duly elected, and praying said Court to decree accordingly. ▷ It was this resolution which induced the Clarkson N. Potter resolution of investigation, a resolution the passage of which was resisted by the Republicans through filibustering for many days, but was finally passed by 146 Democratic votes to 2 Democratic votes (Mills and Morse) against, the Republicans not voting. The Cipher Despatches. An amendment offered to the Potter resolution but not accepted, and defeated by the Democratic majority, cited some fair specimens of the cipher dispatches exposed by the New York Tribune. These are matters of historical interest, and convey information as to the methods which politicians will resort to in desperate emergencies. We therefore quote the more pertinent portions. acting for said Pelton, or in the interest of Samuel J. Tilden as a presidential candidate. Also to investigate the charges of intimidation at Lake City, in Columbia county, where Joel Niblack and other white men put ropes around the necks of colored men and proposed to hang them, but released them on their promise to join a Democratic club and vote for Samuel J. Tilden. Also the facts of the election in Jackson county, where the ballot-boxes were kept out of the sight of voters, who voted through openings or holes six feet above the ground, and where many more Republican votes were thus given into the hands of the Democratic inspectors than were counted or returned by them. Also the facts of the election in Waldo precinct, in Alachua county, where the passengers on an emigrant-train, passing through on the day of election, were allowed to vote. Resolved, That the select committee to Also the facts of the election in Manatee whom this House has committed the in-county, returning 235 majority for the vestigation of certain matters affecting, as Tilden electors, where there were no county is alleged, the legal title of the President officers, no registration, no notice of the of the United States to the high office election, and where the Republican party, which he now holds, be and is hereby in- therefore, did not vote. structed in the course of its investigations to fully inquire into all the facts connected with the election in the State of Florida in November, 1876, and especially into the circumstances attending the transmission and receiving of certain telegraphic dispatches sent in said year between Tallahassee in said State and New York City, viz.: Also the facts of the election in the third precinct of Key West, giving 342 Democratic majority where the Democratic inspector carried the ballot-box home, and pretended to count the ballots on the next day, outside of the precinct and contrary to law. Also the facts of the election in Hamilton, where the election-officers exercised no control over the ballot-box, but left it in unauthorized hands, that it might be "TALLAHASSEE, November 9, 1876. "A. S. HEWITT, New York: "Comply if possible with my telegram. tampered with. Also the following: "Geo. P. RAREY." Also the reasons why the AttorneyGeneral of the State, Wm. Archer Cocke, as a member of the Canvassing Board, officially advised the board, and himself voted, to exclude the Hamilton county and Key West precinct returns, thereby giving, in any event, over 500 majority to the Republican electoral ticket, and afterwards protested against the result which he had voted for, and whether or not said Cocke was afterward rewarded for such protest by being made a State Judge. OREGON. And that said committee is further instructed and directed to investigate into all the facts connected with an alleged attempt to secure one electoral vote in the State of Oregon for Samuel J. Tilden for President of the United States, and Thomas A. Hendricks for Vice-President, by unlawfully setting up the election of E. A. Cronin as one of such presidential electors elected from the State of Oregon on the 7th of November, the candidates for the presidential electors on the two tickets be- On the Republican ticket: W. C. Odell, The votes received by each candidate, as shown by the official vote as canvassed, declared, and certified to by the Secretary of State under the seal of the State,-the Secretary being under the laws of Oregon sole canvassing-officer, as will be shown hereafter, being as follows: 66 66 "I fully endorse this. "JAMES K. KELLY." Of which, when the key was discovered, the following was found to be the true intent and meaning: "PORTLAND, November 28, 1876. "To W. T. PELTON, No. 15 Gramercy Park, New York: "Certificate will be issued to one Demo crat. Must purchase a Republican elector to recognize and act with Democrats and secure the vote and prevent trouble. Deposit $10,000 to my credit with Kountz Brothers, Wall Street. Answer. J. H. N. PATRICK. "I fully endorse this. "JAMES K. KELLY." Also the following: "NEW YORK, November 25, 1876. "A. BUSH, Salem: W. K. Odell received............15,206 votes John C. Cartwright received....15,214 John W. Watts received.........15,206 E. A. Cronin received............14,157 W. A. Laswell receiyed.. "" ..14,149 Henry Klippel received.........14,136 " And by the unlawful attempt to bribe one of said legally elected electors to recognize said Cronin as an elector for President and Vice-President, in order that one of the electoral votes of said State might be cast for said Samuel J. Tilden as President and for Thomas A. Hendricks as Vice-President; and especially to examine and inquire into all the facts relating to the sending of money from New York to some place in "To Hon. SAM. J. TILDEN, No. 15 Grasaid Oregon for the purposes of such bribery, the parties sending and receiving the same, and their relations to and agency for said Tilden, and more particularly to investigate into all the circumstances attending the transmission of the following telegraphic despatches: "PORTLAND, Oregon, Nov. 14, 1876. "Gov. L. F. GROVER: "Come down to-morrow if possible. "W. H. EFFINGER, "A. NOLTNER, "C. P. BELLINGER." "PORTLAND, November 16, 1876. "To Gov. GROVER, Salem : Also the following: "December 1, 1876. mercy Park, New York: "I shall decide every point in the case of post-office elector in favor of the highest Democratic elector, and grant certificate accordingly on morning of 6th instant. GOVERNOR." Confidential. Also the following: "SAN FRANCISCO, December 5. "LADD & BUSH, Salem: "Funds from New York will be deposited to your credit here to-morrow when bank opens. I know it. Act accordingly. Answer. W. C. GRISWOLD." Also the following, six days before the "NEW YORK, November 29, 1876. "To J. H. N. PATRICK, Portland, Oregon: "We want to see you particularly on foregoing: account of despatches from the East. "WILLIAM STRONG, S. H. REED, "C. P. BELLINGER, W. W. THAYER, "C. E. BRONAUGH." Also the following cipher despatch sent from Portland, Oregon, on the 28th day of November, 1876, to New York City: "Moral hasty sideral vizier gabble cramp by hemistic welcome licentiate muskeete compassion neglectful recoverable hathouse live innovator brackish association dime afar idolator session hemistic, mitre." [No signature.] "PORTLAND, November 28, 1876. "To W. T. Pelton, No. 15 Gramercy Park, Of which the interpretation is as follows: New York: "NEW YORK, November 29, 1876. "By vizier association innocuous negli-"To J. H. N. PATRICK, Portland, Oregon: gence cunning minutely previously read- "No. How soon will Governor decide mit doltish to purchase afar act with certificate? If you make obligation concunning afar sacristy unweighed afar pointer tigress cattle superannuated sylla- tingent on the result in March, it can be done, and slightly if necessary.' bus dilatoriness misapprehension contraband Kountz bisulcuous top usher spiniferJ. H. N. PATRICK. ous answer. [No signature.] Also the following, one day later: "Governor all right without reward. Will issue certificate Tuesday. This is a secret. Republicans threaten if certificate issued to ignore Democratic claims and fill vacancy, and thus defeat action of Governor. One elector must be paid to recognize Democrat to secure majority. Have employed three lawyers, editor of only Republican paper as one lawyer, fee $3,000. Will take $5,000 for Republican elector; must raise money; can't make fee contingent. Sail Saturday. Kelly and Bellinger will act. Communicate with them. Must act promptly." [No signature]. Also the following: "SAN FRANCISCO, December 5, 1876. "TO KOUNTZE BROS., No. 12 Wall St., New York: "Has my account credit by any funds lately? How much? "J. H. N. PATRICK." Also the following: "NEW YORK, December 6. "J. H. N. PATRICK, San Francisco : "Davis deposited eight thousand dollars December first. KOUNTZE BROS." Also the following: "SAN FRANCISCO, December 6. "TO JAMES K. KELLY: "The eight deposited as directed this morning. Let no technicality prevent winning. Use your discretion." And the following: [No signature.] "NEW YORK, December 6. "HON. JAS. K. KELLY: "Is your matter certain? There must be no mistake. All depends on you. Place no reliance on any favorable report from three southward. Sonetter. Answer quick." [No signature.] Also the following: despatches and W. T. Pelton, of New York, and also what relations existed between said W. T. Pelton and Samuel J. Tilden, of New York. April 15, 1878, Mr. Kimmel introduced a bill, which was never finally acted upon, to provide a mode for trying and determining by the Supreme Court of the United States the title of the President and VicePresident of the United States to take their such offices is denied by one or more of the respective offices when their election to States of the Union. The question of the title of President was finally settled June 14, 1878, by the following report of the House Judiciary Commitee: Report of the Judiciary Committee. Committee on the Judiciary, made the folJune 14-Mr. HARTRIDGE, from the lowing report: The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom were referred the bill (H. R. No. 4315) and the resolutions of the Legislature of the State of Maryland directing judicial proceedings to give effect to the electoral vote of that State in the last election of President and Vice-President of the United States, report back said bill and resolutions with a recommendation that the bill do not pass. in " controversies" Your committee are of the opinion that Congress has no power, under the Constitution, to confer upon the Supreme Court of the United States the original jurisdiction sought for it by this bill. The only clause of the Constitution which could be plausibly invoked to enable Congress to provide the legal machinery for the litigation proposed, is that which gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction cases or controversies" between a State and the citizens of another State. The committee are of the opinion that this expression cases" and " was not intended by the framers of the "Constitution to embrace an original proceeding by a State in the Supreme Court of the United States to oust any incumbent from a political office filled by the declaration and decision of the two Houses of Congress clothed with the constitutional power to count the electoral votes and decide as a final tribunal upon the election for President and Vice-President. The Forty-fourth Congress selected a commission to count the votes for President and Vice-President, reserving to itself the riguc to ratify or reject such count, in the way prescribed in the act creating such commission. By the joint action of the two Houses it ratified the count made by the commission, and thus made it the expression of its own judgment. "DECEMBER 6, 1876. Glory to God! Hold on to the one vote in Oregon! I have one hundred thousand men to back it up! "CORSE." And said committee is further directed to inquire into and bring to light, so far as it may be possible, the entire correspondence and conspiracy referred to in the above telegraphic despatches, and to ascertain what were the relations existing between any of the parties sending or receiving said All the Departments of the Federal Government, all the State governments in their relations to Federal authority, foreign nations, the people of the United States, all the material interests and industries of the country, have acquiesced in, and acted in accordance with, the pronounced finding of that Congress. In the opinion of this committee, the present Congress has no power to undo the work of its predecessor in counting the electoral vote, or to confer upon any judicial tribunal the right to pass upon and perhaps set aside the action of that predecessor in reference to a purely political question, the decision of which is confided by the Constitution in Congress. But apart from these fundamental objections to the bill under consideration, there are features and provisions in it which are entirely impracticable. Your committee can find no warrant of authority to summon the chief-justices of the supreme courts of the several States to sit at Washington as a jury to try any case, however grave and weighty may be its nature. The right to summon must carry with it the power to enforce obedience to the mandate, and the Committee can see no means by which the judicial officers of a State can be compelled to assume the functions of jurors in the Supreme Court of the United States. There are other objections to the practical working of the bill under consideration, to which we do not think it necessary to refer. the adoption of the accompanying resolution: Resolved, That the two Houses of the Forty-fourth Congress having counted the votes cast for President and Vice-President of the United States, and having declared Rutherford B. Hayes to be elected President, and William A. Wheeler to be elected Vice-President, there is no power in any subsequent Congress to reverse that declaration, nor can any such power be exercised by the courts of the United States, or any other tribunal that Congress can create under the Constitution. We agree to the foregoing report so far as it states the reasons for the resolution adopted by the committee, but dissent from the concluding portion, as not having reference to such reasons, as not pertinent to the inquiry before us, and as giving an implied sanction to the propriety of the pending investigation ordered by a majority vote of the House of Representatives, to which we were and are opposed. WM. P. FRYE. O. D. CONGER. Leave was given to Mr. KNOTT_to_present his individual views, also to Mr. BUTLER (the full committee consisting of Messrs. Knott, Lynde, Harris, of Virginia, Hartridge, Stenger, McMahon, Culberson, Frye, Butler, Conger, Lapham.) The question being on the resolution re yeas 235, nays 14, not voting 42. The Hayes Administration. His It may be true that the State of Mary-ported by the committee, it was agreed to land has been, in the late election for President and Vice-President, deprived of her just and full weight in deciding who were legally chosen, by reason of frauds perpetrated by returning boards in some It can be truthfully said that from the of the States. It may also be true that very beginning the administration of Prethese fraudulent acts were countenanced sident Hayes had not the cordial support or encouraged or participated in by some of the Republican party, nor was it solidly who now enjoy high offices as the fruit of opposed by the Democrats, as was the last such frauds. It is due to the present gen- administration of General Grant. eration of the people of this country and early withdrawal of the troops from the their posterity, and to the principles on Southern States, and it was this withwhich our Government is founded, that drawal and the suggestion of it from the all evidence tending to establish the fact" visiting statesmen "which overthrew the of such fraudulent practices should be Packard government in Louisiana,-emcalmly, carefully, and rigorously examined. bittered the hostility of many radical ReBut your committee are of the opinion publicans. Senator Conkling was conspithat the consequence of such examination, cuous in his opposition, as was Logan of if it discloses guilt upon the part of any in Illinois; and when he reached Washinghigh official position, should not be an ef- ton, the younger Senator Cameron, of fort to set aside the judgment of a former Pennsylvania. It was during this admiCongress as to the election of a President nistration, and because of its conservative and Vice-President, but should be confined tendencies, that these three leaders formed to the punishment, by legal and constitu- the purpose to bring Grant again to the tional means, of the offenders, and to the Presidency. Yet the Hayes' administrapreservation and perpetuation of the evi- tion was not always conservative, and dences of their guilt, so that the American many Republicans believed that its modepeople may be protected from a recurrence ration had afforded a much needed breathof the crime. ing spell to the country. Toward its close all became better satisfied, the radical por Your committee, therefore, recommend to report it, and even after a request to do so from the Democratic caucus, -a course of action which heralded him every where as a "hard-money" Democrat. The main business of the extra session was devoted to the consideration of the Appropriation Bills which the regular session had failed to pass. On all of these the Democrats added "riders" for the purpose of destroying Federal supervision of the elections, and all of these political riders were vetoed by President Hayes. The discussions of the several measures and the vetoes were highly exciting, and this excitement cemented afresh the Republicans, and caused all of them to act in accord with the administration. The Democrats were equally solid, while the Nationals divided-Forsythe, Gillette, Kelley, Weaver, and Yocum generally voting with the Republicans; De La Matyr, Stevenson, Ladd and Wright with the Democrats. tion by the President's later efforts to pre- | unlimited coinage of silver, the Senate Fivent the intimidation of negro voters in nance Committee refused to report it, the the South, a form of intimidation which Chairman, Senator Bayard, having refused was now accomplished by means of rifle clubs, still another advance from the White League and the Ku Klux. He made this a leading feature in his annual message to the Congress which began December 2d, 1878, and by a virtual abandonment of his earlier policy he succeeded in reuniting what were then fast separating wings of his own party. The conference report on the Legislative Appropriation Bill was adopted by both Houses June 18th, and approved the 21st. The Judicial Expenses Bill was vetoed by the President June 23d, on the ground that it would deprive him of the means of executing the election laws. An attempt on the part of the Democrats to pass the Bill over the veto failed for want of a two-thirds vote, the Republicans voting solidly against it. June 26th the veltoed bill was divided, the second division still forbidding the pay of deputy marshals at elections. This was again vetoed, and the President sent a special message urging the necessity of an appropriation to pay United States marshals. Bills were accordingly introduced, but were defeated. This failure to appropriate moneys called for continued until the end of the session. The President was compelled, therefore, to call an extra session, which he did March 19th, 1879, in words which briefly explain the cause: THE EXTRA SESSION OF 1879. "The failure of the last Congress to make the requisite appropriation for legislative and judicial purposes, for the expenses of the several executive departments of the Government, and for the support of the Army, has made it necessary to call a special session of the Forty-sixth Congress. President Hayes, in his veto of the Army Appropriation Bill, said: "I have maturely considered the important questions presented by the bill entitled 'An Act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, and for other purposes, and I now return it to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, with my objections to its approval. "The bill provides, in the usual form, for the appropriations required for the support of the Army during the next fiscal year. If it contained no other provisions, it would receive my prompt approval. It includes, however, further legislation, which, attached as it is to appropriations which are requisite for the efficient performance of some of the most necessary duties of the "The estimates of the appropriations Government, involves questions of the needed, which were sent to Congress by the gravest character. The sixth section of the Secretary of the Treasury at the opening bill is amendatory of the statute now in of the last session, are renewed, and are force in regard to the authority of persons herewith transmitted to both the Senate in the civil, military and naval service of and the House of Representatives. the United States at the place where any "Regretting the existence of the emer-general or special election is held in any gency which requires a special session of Congress at a time when it is the general judgment of the country that the public welfare will be best promoted by permanency in our legislation, and by peace and rest, I commend these few necessary measures to your considerate attention." By this time both Houses were Democratic. In the Senate there were 42 Democrats, 33 Republicans and 1 Independent (David Davis). In the House 149 Democrats, 130 Republicans, and 14 Nationalsa name then assumed by the Greenbackers and Labor-Reformers. The House passed the Warner Silver Bill, providing for the State.' This statute was adopted February 25, 1865, after a protracted debate in the Senate, and almost without opposition in the House of Representatives, by the concurrent votes of both of the leading political parties of the country, and became a law by the approval of President Lincoln. It was re-enacted in 1874 in the Revised Statutes of the United States, sections 2002 and 5528. |