CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



195 



Senators, hostile to the confirmation of Judge 

 Eobertson's appointment as Collector, on the 

 16th of May both the New York Senators, 

 Eoscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Platt, sent no- 

 tice to the Vice-President that they had that 

 day forwarded the resignation of their seats to 

 the Governor of their State. Their reasons for 

 adopting this course were set forth in a joint 

 letter of resignation addressed to Governor 

 Cornell. (See NEW YORK.) The appointments 

 of Mr. Robertson as Collector of the Port of 

 New York and of Mr. Merritt as Consul-Gen- 

 enil at London were confirmed, almost without 

 opposition, on the 18th of May. The name of 

 General Badeau for Charge d 1 Affaires to Den- 

 mark was withdrawn at his own request. 

 Among the other appointments confirmed the 

 same day were those of Thomas A. Osborn as 

 Minister to Brazil, in place of H. W. Hilliard 

 recalled ; and Judson Kilpatrick as Minister to 

 Chili, in place of Mr. Osborn. On the follow- 

 ing day the nominations for offices in the 

 State of New York, which had been with- 

 drawn, were renewed, but the name of Henry 

 E. Knox was substituted for that of Louis F. 

 Payn as Marshal of the Southern District, and 

 that of Charles A. Gould for that of John 

 Tyler as Collector of Customs at Buffalo. An 

 appointment to which much opposition was 

 developed was that of William E. Chandler, of 

 New Hampshire, to be Solicitor-General. The 

 vote in the Judiciary Committee was a tie, two 

 members being absent who were opposed to 

 confirmation. The name was reported without 

 recommendation, and, on the 20th of May, was 

 rejected by a majority of five in the executive 

 session. The same day the New York appoint- 

 ments and some others were confirmed, and 

 the Senate adjourned without any renewal of 

 the contest over the election of officers. 



SECOND SPECIAL SESSION OF THE SENATE. 



On the 23d of September, President Garfield 

 having died in the mean time, President Arthur, 

 his successor, issued a proclamation convening 

 the Senate in extraordinary session on the 10th 

 of October following. The main object of this 

 was understood to be the election of a Presi- 

 dent of that body, as the accession of the Vice- 

 President to the executive chair left no officer 

 in the line of succession, in case of the death, 

 resignation, removal, or disability of the incum- 

 bent. Before the Senate met there was some 

 controversy as to whether the presiding officer 

 should be chosen before the new Senators were 

 admitted. The resignation of Messrs. Conkling 

 and Platt, and the death of Senator Burnside, 

 of Rhode Island, had produced three vacancies 

 on the Republican side, giving the Democrats 

 control of the organization, if it was to be 

 effected before their successors were sworn in. 

 Both parties held caucuses on the 8th of Octo- 

 ber. The Republicans questioned the right of 

 the Democrats to elect a presiding officer before 

 the new Senators were sworn, but resolved to 

 confine their opposition to a formal protest. 



They appointed a committee to confer on the 

 subject with a similar committee on the part 

 of the Democratic Senators. Before receiving 

 information of this action, the Democrats had 

 decided that the Chief Clerk should call the 

 Senate to order, and that the resolution for the 

 election of a President pro tern, would then be 

 in order and should be offered. They selected 

 Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, as their candidate. 

 They consented to the appointment of a com- 

 mittee of conference, but there was no agree- 

 ment reached, as neither party was disposed 

 to recede from its position. The Republican 

 candidate for the temporary presidency was 

 Mr. Anthony, of Rhode Island. 



After the preliminaries of opening the ses- 

 sion on the 10th had been disposed of, Mr. 

 Pendleton offered a resolution that Mr. Bayard, 

 of Delaware, "is hereby chosen President pro 

 tern, of the Senate." Mr. Edmunds arose and 

 presented the credentials of Messrs. Miller and 

 Lapham, of New York, and Aldrich, of Rhode 

 Island, and moved that they be first sworn by 

 Mr. Anthony, the oldest member of the session 

 in continuous service. He claimed that this 

 was in accordance with right and with prece- 

 dent. It was claimed on the other side that 

 the law requiring new Senators to be sworn in 

 by the presiding officer could not be set aside 

 unless by unanimous consent. A motion to 

 lay Mr. Edmunds's proposition on the table was 

 adopted by a vote of 36 to 34. General Ma- 

 hone was absent, and Judge Davis voted in the 

 negative with the Republicans. Mr. Edmunds 

 then moved to amend Mr. Pendleton's resolu- 

 tion, by providing that Mr. Bayard be chosen 

 President pro tern. " for to-day." This was 

 negatived by a party vote, Davis, of Illinois, 

 still acting with the Republicans. Then Mr. 

 Edmunds moved to substitute the name of Mr. 

 Anthony for that of Mr. Bayard, which was 

 also negatived. The original resolution of Mr. 

 Pendleton was adopted, 34 to 32, Mr. Davis 

 not voting. The Democrats in caucus, the same 

 day, determined to make no opposition to the 

 admission of the new Senators, and not -to 

 press the election of a Secretary at present. 

 They selected Colonel L. Q. Washington, how- 

 ever, as their candidate for that position. The 

 new Senators were sworn on the llth, without 

 objection. The equal division of parties in the 

 Senate, there being no longer a casting vote of 

 the Vice-President, made the retention of Mr, 

 Bayard as the presiding officer dependent on 

 the vote of Senator Davis, in case the Republi- 

 cans attempted to secure a change. The Re- 

 publicans held a caucus on the 12th, and de- 

 termined to propose Mr. Davis himself as the 

 President pro tern. The next day a resolution 

 continuing the standing committees was adopt- 

 ed by a vote of 37 to 35, and then a resolution 

 was offered by Mr. Logan, of Illinois, for the 

 election of his colleague, Senator Davis, as the 

 presiding officer. This was adopted, yeas 36, 

 nays 34, Bayard and Davis not voting. Messrs. 

 Bayard and Anthony were appointed to escort 



