CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



1G5 



of nil tho votes cast in both Houses of Congress, con- 

 M l.-ivtl as if in joint meeting assembled. 



SKC. . Should it ..c'cur thut the aggregate vote 

 of both Mouses bo equally divided upon the ques- 

 tion, thuii, and in that event only, the President of 

 the Senate shall give tho casting vote. 



Mr. Randolph : " Tho Senator from Indiana, 

 in -Braking to this question, said that no plan 

 had boon presented, that no plan could be pre- 

 sented, which would not in certain exigencies 

 leave a State unrepresented. I called his at- 

 tention yesterday to the fact that tho operation 

 of the amendment that I had proposed would 

 get rid of that difficulty. Under tho amend- 

 ment that I have suggested there is no contin- 

 gency in which the electoral vote of a State 

 c-iii full to be counted. Whether this be tho 

 right plan or not, I do not pretend to say, but 

 I do say that the two Houses of Congress in 

 one way or another will decide, and must de- 

 cide, which the true returns of a State are, 

 and the difficulty that has been so frequently 

 suggested in the course of this debate is over- 

 come by it, and that, too, in a plain, practical 

 manner." 



The yeas and nays were ordered ; and being 

 taken, resulted as follows : 



S Messrs. Bayard, Caperton, Cooper, Davis, 

 Gordon, Johnston, McCreery, Randolph, Ransom, 

 Saulsbury, Thurman, and Withers 12. 



NATS Messrs. Bogy, Boutwell, Burnside, Cam- 

 eron of Wisconsin, Christiancy, Conkling, Cragin, 

 Dawes, Dennis, Doraey, Eaton, Edmunds, Ferry, 

 Frelinghuysen, Goldthwaite, Hamlin, Howe. Jones 

 of Florida, Kelly, Key, Logan, McDonald, McMil- 

 lan. Merrimon, Mitchell, Morrill of Maine, Morton, 

 O^lesby. Paddock, Patterson, Sargent, Spencer, 

 Wudleigh, West, Whyte, Windom, and Wright 37. 



ABSENT Messrs. Alcorn, Allison, Anthony, 

 Booth, Bruce, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Clayton, 

 Cockrell, Conover, English, Hamilton, Harvey, 

 Hitchcock, Ingalls, Jones of Nevada, Kernan, Maxey, 

 Morrill of Vermont, Norwood, Robertson, Sharon, 

 Sherman, Stevenson, and Wallace 24. 



So the am3ndment was rejected. 



The bill was reported to the Senate as 

 amended, and the amendments made as in 

 Committee of the Whole were concurred in. 



The bill was ordered to bo engrossed for a 

 third reading, and was read the third time. 



Mr. Burnside, of Rhode Island, said : " I 

 move a reconsideration of the vote by which 

 this bill was ordered to a third reading, with 

 a view to offer an amendment." 



The President pro tempore : " The Chair 

 hears no objection. The motion to order the 

 bill to a third reading is reconsidered, and the 

 bill is now open to amendment." 



Mr. Burnside : " I now offer my amend- 

 ment." 



The Chief Clerk read the amendment ; which 

 is to strike out all of section 2, and insert in 

 lieu thereof 



That if more than one return shall be received by 

 the President of the Senate from a State, purporting 

 to be tho certificates of electoral votes given at the 

 last preceding election for President and Vice-Pres- 

 i lent in such State, he shall immediately make a re- 

 port thereof to the Chief-Justice of the Supreme 

 Court of the United States, who shall at once cause 



the said Supreme Court lo proceed to examine aa to 

 who are the legal electors of said State, and -hull 

 have power to send for persons and papers ; and the 

 8iiid Chief-Justice shall, on or before the last Tues- 

 day in January next succeeding the meeting of tho 

 electors of President and V ice-President, report to 

 the President of the Senate which of the said elector* 

 wert! legally elected ; and the returns sent by tho 

 electors HO designated shall, if in all other respects 

 they are legal, be counted before the two Houses. 



Mr. Burnside : " I am aware that there may 

 be a supposed constitutional objection to this, 

 but I think in an emergency like this, if it is 

 possible for Congress to give the Constitution 

 a liberal construction which will enable us to 

 avoid the discord that may arise from double 

 sets of returns from any single State at tho 

 next election, we ought to do it. Take, for 

 instance, the case of Louisiana. If the elec- 

 toral votes should be so equally divided as to 

 make the return from that State decide tho 

 election, it is clear to me, and must be clear to 

 every Senator here, that the two Houses would 

 disagree upon that subject. It is clear to me 

 that the present House of Representatives, the 

 same House which is to act when wo count tho 

 electoral votes at the next presidential elec- 

 tion, would declare the McEnery government 

 the legal government of the State of Louisiana. 

 We all know that the Senate would declare the 

 Kellogg government the legal government be- 

 cause it has already passed a resolution to that 

 effect. 



" Now, Mr. President, is it at all reasonable 

 to suppose that either party would be satisfied 

 with the result in such a case when the electo- 

 ral votes are counted next February? Does 

 any Senator believe that there would not bo 

 great discord in the country if that state of 

 affairs should arise? Yet under this bill it 

 may arise. I hold it to be the duty of Con- 

 gress to pass some law or make some joint rule 

 that will avert the difficulty." 



Mr. Bayard, of Delaware : " I will offer now 

 an amendment, the amendment originally pro- 

 posed by the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. 

 Cooper)." 



The Chief Clerk : " At the end of the sec- 

 ond section it is proposed to insert : " 



And that if the two Houses do not agree as to 

 which return shall be counted, then that vote shall 

 be counted which the House of Representatives, 

 voting by States in the manner provided by the 

 Constitution when the election devolves upon the 

 House, shall decide to be the true and valid return. 



The President pro tempore : " The question 

 is on the amendment of the Senator from Del- 

 aware (Mr. Bayard). The amendment is to 

 modify the second section before the question 

 is taken on the amendment of the Senator from 

 Rhode Island (Mr. Burnside) to strike it out 

 and insert a substitute. The Chair understands 

 that this is the same amendment originally 

 offered by the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. 

 Cooper)." 



The question being taken, resulted as follows : 



YKAS Messrs. Bayard, Bogy, Caperton, Cooper, 



Davis, Goldthwaite, Johnston, Kelly, Key, McCree- 



