CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



179 



mands, the said committee may appoint aud employ 

 suitable disinterested and unprejudiced persons not 

 resident in either of sucli States, with authority to 

 take such testimony as may be material in determin- 

 ing any pending contest growing out of the election 

 of electors in either of said States. 



Mr. Thurman, of Ohio, said : " This resolu- 

 tion seems to imply that there is a broader 

 jurisdiction in Congress over the subject of 

 the election of President than I have been ac- 

 customed to suppose is vested in Congress. 

 It requires the committee to inquire whether 

 these electors have been elected pursuant to 

 the Constitution and laws of the United States. 

 I know of no power in Congress to pass any 

 law on this subject except a law fixing the 

 time when the electors shall be chosen. The 

 only power vested expressly by the Constitu- 

 tion in Congress is the power to fix that time. 

 The provision is not as it is in regard to the 

 election of Senators and Representatives, that 

 the Congress may by law prescribe the time 

 and manner of election, but it is simply that 

 Congress may fix the time in respect to the 

 election of electors themselves." 



Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, said: "I have al- 

 ways doubted the authority of the Senate of 

 the" United States to inquire into the proper 

 election of a member of a State Legislature or 

 of its constitution. If the Legislature exists 

 and is the recognized Legislature of the State, 

 I question whether Congress has any authori- 

 ty to go behind that and inquire into the con- 

 stituent members composing that legislative 

 body to determine whether they are rightly 

 there or not. That is for the Legislature of 

 each State to determine for itself; and al- 

 though it may be true that there may be one 

 or half a dozen members that ought not to 

 have been in that Legislature in our opinion, 

 if the State Legislature under its State organi- 

 zation has organized and it is the recognized 

 Legislature of the State, if we find that to be 

 the case, and it has then made the election in 

 pursuance of the Constitution of the United 

 -, I question if we are not bound by the 

 election. If there are two Legislatures, then 

 we must determine which is the proper one. 

 Unquestionably that will present the question. 



"Some years ago I do not remember the 

 date, but I understand the Senator from In- 

 diana to say it was in 1865; I do not find the 

 date givun in the book before me the two 

 Houses of Congress agreed upon a rule in re- 

 gard to canvassing the votes for President and 

 Vice-President.'' 



Mr. Edmunds, of Vermont, said: "There is 

 no denying the fact that the passage or rejec- 

 tion of this resolution involves a determina- 

 tion of a certain risrht in the Senate and in the 

 House of Representatives over this subject of 

 the election of President a jurisdiction, as 

 -Vnator from Illinois has styled it. Now, 

 what is that jurisdiction? Where are you to 

 go? Both the Senator from Ohio and the 

 Senator from Illinois, and I believe the Senator 

 from New Jersey I was called out while he 



was speaking maintain that we have no right 

 to go behind the election of the elector, behind 

 his certificate. If that is true, then there is no 

 use of sending down to Louisiana to ascertain 

 what is the certificate of these gentlemen. 

 Those certificates on both sides are in your 

 possession. They are subject to investigation 

 and inquiry here on the spot, and when you 

 have yourselves looked at the State seal and 

 verified the signature of the Governor, it is a 

 question of law, according to the idea of these 

 gentlemen, which certificate represents the 

 sovereign and conclusive evidence that the 

 State sends yon as to what she has done." 



The Vice-President: "The question is on 

 the adoption of the resolution." 



The resolution was adopted. 



In the House, on January 13th, Mr. Sheldon, 

 of Louisiana, moved that the rules be suspend- 

 ed in order to pass the following resolution : 



Retained by the Haute of Representative* (the Senate 

 concurring therein). That a joint special committee, 

 consisting of three Senators and six Representatives, 

 be appointed, whose duty it shall be to inquire into 

 the election for State officers and members of the 

 Legislature held in the State of Louisiana on the 4th 

 day of Novemberj A. D. 1872, and report the result 

 of their investigation to the two Houses of Congress 

 at the earliest practicable moment ; that said com- 

 mittee is hereby especially charged to inquire 

 whether, as a result of said election, there is any 

 legal ana established government in said State, and, 

 if there be two sets of persons or organizations, each 

 claiming to be the government of said State, which 

 should be recognized by Congress ; that said com- 

 mittee be authorized to employ a clerk and ste- 

 nographer, to send for persons and papers, to ad- 

 minister oaths, and take testimony, and to hold ses- 

 sions by sub-committees in the city of Washington, 

 or in the State of Louisiana, at their discretion ; the 

 expenses of said committee to be paid out of the 

 contingent fund of the House. 



The rules were then suspended so as to 

 allow debate on the resolution for one hour 



Mr. Sheldon : " Mr. Speaker, I suppose by 

 this hour two Governors have been inaugu- 

 rated in Louisiana. For one week past there 

 has been in session there two Senates and two 

 Houses of Representatives, each claiming to be 

 a part of the legal Legislature of that State. 

 The House of Representatives should by law 

 be constituted of one hundred and seven mem- 

 bers, but we have now in the two Houses there 

 one hundred and forty members, each body 

 claiming a quorum; and at the same time 

 there are forty-five Senators in the two bodies, 

 while under the constitution of the State there 

 can be but thirty-six Senators. Thus it will 

 be seen that we really have in fact or in ap- 

 pearance two State governments as the result 

 of the election held on the 4th day of Novem- 

 ber last. 



"This resolution simply looks to an inquiry 

 into the facts of that election, to ascertain 

 which of these organizations claiming to be 

 the State government shall be recognized by 

 the Congress of the United States. The Su- 

 preme Court in the case of Luther . Borden 



