CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



169 



were legally chosen, by reason of frauds perpetrated 

 by returning boards in some of the States. It may 

 also be true that these fraudulent acts were counte- 

 nanced or encouraged or participated in by some who 

 now enjoy high offices as the fruit of such frauds. It 

 is due to the present generation of the people of this 

 country and their posterity, and to the principles on 

 which our Government is founded, that all evidence 

 tending to establish the fact of such fraudulent prac- 

 tices should be calmly, carefully, and rigorously ex- 

 amined. 



But your committee are of the opinion that the 

 consequence of such examination, if it discloses guilt 

 upon the part of any in high official position, should 

 not be an effort to set aside the judgment of a former 

 Congress as to the election of a President and Vice- 

 President, but should be confined to the punishment, 

 by legal and constitutional means, of the offenders, 

 and to the preservation and perpetuation of the evi- 

 dences of their guilt, so that the American people 

 may be protected from a recurrence of the crime. 



Your committee, therefore, recommend the adop- 

 tion 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 Eutherford B. Hayes to be elected Presi- 

 dent, and William A. Wheeler to be elected Vice- 

 President, there is no power in any subsequent Con- 

 gress 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 cre- 

 ate under the Constitution. 



We agree to the foregoing report, so far as it states 

 the reasons for the resolution adopted by the commit- 

 tee, but dissent from the concluding portion, as not 

 having reference to such reasons 2 as not pertinent to 

 the inquiry before us, and as giving an implied sanc- 

 tion to the propriety of the pending investigation or- 

 dered by a majority vote of the House of Represen- 

 tatives, to which we were and are opposed. 



WM. P. FRYE. 

 0. D. CONGER. 

 E. G. LAPHAM. 



Mr. Hartridge: "I call the previous ques- 

 tion." 



Mr. Frye : " I desire to ask the gentleman a 

 question. Is there not a propriety at any rate 

 in obtaining for the chairman of the commit- 

 tee (Mr. Knott) the privilege to submit his mi- 

 nority report ? " 



Mr. Hartridge : u I am much obliged to my 

 friend for reminding me of that. I stated the 

 reason why I desired to wait until to-morrow 

 before I presented the report. The chairman 

 of the committee is ill and desires to present a 

 dissenting report. I ask consent of the House 

 that he have leave to do so." 



There was no objection, and leave was grant- 

 ed accordingly. 



The previous question was seconded and the 

 main question ordered, which was upon the 

 adoption of the resolution. 



The question was taken, as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Aiken, Aldrich, Bacon, Bagley, 

 John H. Baker, William H. Baker, Banks, Banning, 

 Bayne, Beebe, Bell, Bicknell, Bisbee, Blair, Blount, 

 Bouck, Boyd, Bragg, Brentano, Brewer, Bridges, 

 Briggs, Bright, Brogden, Browne, Bundy, Burchard, 

 Burdick, Cabell, Cain, John W. Caldwell, W. P. 

 Caldwell, Calkins, Campbell, Candler, Cannon. Car- 

 lisle, Caswell, Chalmers, Chittenden, Claflin, Alvah 

 A. Clark, Clark of Missouri, Clarke of Kentucky, 

 Rush Clark, Clymer, Cobb, Cole, Collins, Conger, 

 Covert, Jacob D. Cox, Crapo, Cravens, Crittenden, 



Culberson, Cummings, Cutler, Danford, Davidson, 

 Joseph J. Davis, Horace Davis, Dean, Deeririg, Den- 

 ison, Dibrell, Dickey, Douglas, Dunnell, Durham, 

 Dwight, Eames, Eden, Elam, Ellsworth, Errett, 

 I. Newton Evans, James L. Evans, John H. Evins, 

 Ewing, Felton, Finley, Forney, Foster, Franklin, 

 Freeman, Fuller, Gardner, Garneld, Garth, Gause, 

 Gibson, Giddings, Goode, Hanna, Harderibergh, 

 Harmer ? Benj. W. Harris, Henry R. Harris, John 

 T. Harris, Harrison, Hart, Hartzell, Hartridge, Has- 

 kell, Hatcher, Hayes, Hendee, Henderson, Henkle, 

 Herbert, Abram S. Hewitt, G. W. Hewitt, Hiscock, 

 House, Hubbell, Humphrey, Hungerford, Hunter, 

 Hunton, Ittner, James, Frank Jones, Jas. T. Jones, 

 John S. Jones, Jorgensen, Keifer, Keiglitley, Kelley, 

 Kenna, Ketcham, Killinger, Landers, Lapham, La- 

 throp, Ligon, Lindsey, Lockwood, Mackey, Maish, 

 Marsh, McCook, McGowan, McKenzie, McKinley, 

 McMahon, Metcalfe, Mills, Mitchell, Monroe, Mor- 



in, Morrison, Morse, Muller, Neal, N orcross, Oliver, 

 'Neill, Overton, Page, G. W. Patterson, T. M. Pat- 

 terson, Peddie, Phelps, Phillips, Pollard, Pound, 

 Powers, Price, Pugh, Rainey, Randolph, Rea, Rea- 

 gan, Reed, Reilly, Americus V. Rice, William W. 

 Rice, Riddle, Robbins, Roberts, G. D. Robinson, 

 Ross, Ryan, Sampson, Sapp, Sayler, Scales, Sexton, 

 Shallenberger, Shelly, Sinnickspn, Smalls, A. Herr 

 Smith, Southard, Sparks, Starin, Steele, Stenger, 

 Stephens, Stewart, Joseph C. Stone, John W. Stone, 

 Strait, Thompson, Throckmorton, Amos Townsend, 

 M. I. Townsend, R. W. Townshend, Tucker, Tur- 

 ney, Vance, Veeder, Waddell, Wait, Walker, Ward, 

 Watson, Harry White, Michael 1). White, Whit- 

 thorne, Wigginton, Andrew Williams, A. S. Wil- 

 liams, C. G. Williams, James Williams, Richard 

 Williams, Albert S. Willis, Benf. A. Willis, Willits, 

 Wilson, Wood, Wren, Yeates, Young 235. 



NATS Messrs. Blackburn, Bliss, Boone. Cook, 

 Samuel S. Cox, Hamilton. Henry, Kimmel, Mayhain, 

 Pridemore, Robertson, William E. Smith, Springer, 

 Warner 14. 



NOT VOTING Messrs. Acklen, Atkins, Ballou, Ben- 

 edict, Bland. Buckner, Butler, Camp,Eickhoff, Ellis, 

 Fort, Frye, Glover, Gunter, Hale, Hazelton, Hooker, 

 Joyce, Knapp, Knott, Loring, Luttrell, Lynde, Man- 

 ning, Martin, Money, Muldrow, Potter, Quinn, M. 

 S. Robinson, Schleicher, Singleton, Slemons, Swann, 

 Thornburgh, Tipton, Turner, Van Vorhes, Walsh. 

 Welch, Jere. N. Williams, Wright 42. 



So the resolution was adopted. 



In the House, on May 13th, Mr. Potter, of 

 New York, said : " I rise to a question of privi- 

 lege, and send to the Clerk's desk a resolution 

 for the investigation of alleged fraud in the 

 late presidential election in the States of Lou- 

 isiana and Florida." 



The Clerk read as follows : 



Whereas, The State of Maryland has by its Legis- 

 lature formally declared that due effect was not 

 fiven to the electoral vote cast by that State on the 

 th day of December, 1876, by reason of fraudulent 

 returns of electoral votes from the States of Florida 

 and Louisiana ; and 



Whereas, An affidavit by Samuel B. McLin, chair- 

 man of the Board of State Canvassers of the State 

 of Florida, for the election held in that State in No- 

 vember, 1876, for Electors of President and Vice- 

 President, has been made public, alleging false and 

 fraudulent returns for votes for such Electors in that 

 State whereby the choice of the people of that State 

 was annulled and reversed, and that the action of 

 the Board of State Canvassers in making such re- 

 turns was influenced by the conduct and promises 

 of Hon. Edward F. Noyes, now a minister for this 

 Government to France ; and 



Whereas, It is alleged that a conspiracy existed in 



