CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 





The 1'rcsi.K 'iit pro tempore: "The question 



. Shall the bill pass?" 



The roll-call having been concluded, the re- 

 sult was announced as follows: 



^-Bailey, Bayard, Bock, Call, Cockrell. Coke, 

 \ Lrginia, Eaton, Garland, Gordon, 

 < ; r >. .in.-, t i i 'M-r, llainptiin, Harris. Hereford, Houston, 

 Johnston, Jonas, Jones of Florida, Keruaii, Laniar, 

 McDonald, McPherson, Maxey, Morgan. Randolph, 

 Ransom, Saulsbury, Slater, Thurman, Vance, Voor- 

 heee, Walker, Wallace, Whyte, Williams, Witliers 37. 



NAYS Allison, Anthony. Bell, Blaino, Booth, 

 Bruce, Burnside. Cameron of Pennsylvania, Cameron 

 of Wisconsin, Chandler, Conkling, Edmunds, Ferry, 

 Hill of Colorado, Hoar, Ingalls. KelloflK, Kirkwood, 

 Logan, McMillan, Merrill, Paddock, Platt, Rollins, 

 Saundors, Teller, Windom 27. 



ABSENT Butler, Carpenter, Davisof Illinois, Da wes, 

 Farley, Hamliu, Hill of Georgia, Jones of Nevada, 

 Pendleton, Plumb, Sharon, Vest 12. 



So the bill was passed. 



In the House, on May 29th, the following 

 veto from President Hayes was received and 

 read: 



To the Home of Representatives : 



After mature consideration of the bill entitled An 

 Act making appropriations for the legislative, execu- 

 tive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the 

 fiscal vear ending June 80, 1880, and for other pur- 

 poses, "I herewith return it to the House of Represent- 

 atives, in which it originated, with the following ob- 

 jections to its approval : 



The main purpose of the bill i to appropriate the 

 money required to support during the next fiscal year 

 the several civil departments of the Government. The 

 amount appropriated exceeds in the aggregate $18,- 

 000,000. 



This money is needed to keep in operation the es- 

 sential functions of all the great departments of the 

 Government, legislative, executive, and judicial. It 

 the bill contained no other provisions, no objection to 

 its approval would be made. It embraces, however, a 

 number of clauses relating to subjects of great general 

 interest, which are wholly unnconected with the ap- 

 propriations which it provides for. The objections to 

 the practice of tacking general legislation to appropria- 

 tion bills, especially when the object is to deprive a 

 coordinate branch of the Government of its right to 

 the free exercise of its own discretion and judgment 

 touching such general legislation, were set forth in the 

 special message in relation to House bill No. 1, which 

 was returned to the House of Representatives on the 

 29th of last month. I regret that the objections which 

 were then expressed to this method of legislation have 

 not seemed to Congress of sufficient weight to dis- 

 suade from this renewed incorporation of general 

 enactments in an appropriation bill, and that my con- 

 stitutional duty in respect of the general legislation thus 

 placed before me can not be discharged without seem- 

 ing to delay, however briefly, the necessary appropria- 

 ti "in by Congress for the support of the Government. 

 Without repeating those objections, I respectfully refer 

 to that message for a statement of my views on the 

 principle maintained in debate by the advocates of this 

 bill, namely, that "to withhold appropriations is a 

 constitutional means for the redress^' of what the ma- 

 jority of the House of Representatives may regard as 

 ** a grievance." 

 The bill contains the following clauses, namely : 



And provided further. That the following sections of the 

 Revised Statutes of the United States, namely, sections 2016, 

 JH1-. and 'J'1'.JO, and all of the succeeding sections of said stat- 

 utes down to and including section 2027, and also section 5522, 

 be, and the same are hereby, repealed ; . . . and that all the 

 other sections of the Revised Statutes, and all laws and parts 

 of laws authorizing the appointment of chief supervisors of 

 elections, special deputy marshals of elections, or general 



VOL. xix. 19 A 



deputy marshals, having any duties to perform In respect to 

 aiiy election, and prescribing their duties and powers and al- 

 lowing thorn couipcubutioDB, bo, and the Mine are hereby, re- 

 pealed. 



It also contains clauses amending section* 2017, 2018, 

 2028, and 2081 of the Revised Statute*. 



The sections of the Revised Statute* which the bill, 



of the United States to vote in the several States of 

 this Union, and for other purposes." All of the pro- 

 visions of the above-named acts which it is proponed 

 in this bill to repeal or modify relate to the Congres- 

 sional elections. The remaining portion of the law. 

 which will continue in force after the enactment of 

 this measure, is that which provides for the appoint- 

 ment, by a judge of the Circuit Court of the United 

 States, of two supervisors of election in each election 

 district, at any Congressional election, on due appli- 

 cation of citizens who desire, in the language of the law. 

 "to have such election guarded and scrutinized.' 

 The duties of the supervisors will be to attend at the 

 polls at all Congressional elections, and to remain after 

 the polls are open until every vote cast has been count- 

 ed, out they will " have no authority to make arrests, 

 or to perform other duties than to be in the immediate 

 presence of the officers holding the election, and to wit- 

 ness all their proceedings, including the counting of the 

 votes, and the making of a return thereof." The part 

 of the election law which will be repealed by the ap- 

 proval of this bill includes those sections which give 

 authority to the supervisors of election " to personally 

 scrutinize, count, and canvass each ballot?' and all 

 the section* which confer authority upon the United 

 States marshals and deputy marshals, in connection 

 with the Congressional elections. The enactment of 

 this bill will also repeal section 5522 of the Criminal 

 Statutes of the United States, which was enacted for 

 the protection of United States officers engaged in the 

 discharge of their duties at the Congressionalelections. 

 This section protects supervisors and marshals in the 

 performance of their duties bv making the obstruction 

 or the assaulting of these officers, or any interference 

 with them bybribery or solicitation, or otherwise, 

 crimes against the United States. 



The true meaning and effect of the proposed legis- 

 lation are plain. The supervisors, with the authority 

 to observe and witness the proce^ngs at the Con- 

 gressional elections, will be left ; but there will be no 

 power to protect them, or to prevent interference with 

 their duties, or to punish any violation of the law 

 from which their powers are derived. If this bill is 

 approved, only the shadow of the authority of the 

 United States at the national elections will remain 

 the substance will be gone. The supervision of the 

 elections will be reduced to a mere inspection, with- 

 out authority on the part of the supervisors to do any 

 act whatever to make the election a fan- one. All that 

 will bo left to the supervisors is the permission to 

 have such oversight of the elections as political partie 

 are in the habit of exercising without any authority 

 of law, in order to prevent their opponents from ob- 

 taining unfair advantages. The object of the bill is 

 to destroy any control whatever by the United States 

 over the Congressional elections. 



The passage of this bill has been urged upon the 

 ground that the election of members of Congress Is a 

 matter which concerns the States alone ; that these elec- 

 tions should be controlled exclusively by the States ; 

 that there are and can be no such elections as nation- 

 al elections ; and that the existing law of the United 

 States regulating the Congressional elections is with- 

 out warrant in the Constitution. It is evident, how- 

 ever, that the framers of the Constitution regarded 

 the election of members of Congress in every State 

 and in every district as. in a very important sense, 

 justly a matter of political interest and concern to the 

 whole country. The original provision of the Con- 

 stitution on this subject is as follows (section 4, arti- 

 cle 1) : 



