168 



CONGRESS. (POLYGAMY.) 



oral vote submitted to them by the President of 

 the Senate. 



"But, Mr. Speaker, the main objection I 

 have to the amendment proposed by the House 

 committee, namely, the proposed striking out 

 of the words ' except by the affirmative vote 

 of the two Houses,' the effect of which would 

 be that a single return would have a conclusive 

 presumption of validity in its favor the main 

 objection which I have to that provision is 

 that I believe it possesses no legal and consti- 

 tutional validity whatever. However wise it 

 may seem to us, in attempting to legislate on 

 this subject, that a single return shall be con- 

 clusively presumed to be valid, the real ques- 

 tion will arise when the two Houses meet 

 here to pass upon the electoral votes in the 

 next Presidential election ; and those Houses, 

 in my judgment, when they meet here to dis- 

 charge a duty which is expressly imposed upon 

 them by the Constitution, will not be bound 

 by the action of the Senate and House of the 

 Forty-ninth Congress and the President, when 

 he signs this bill, if it shall pass. It is their 

 duty, conferred on them by the Constitution, 

 to count the votes. If for any reason what- 

 ever a single return shall appear to both 

 Houses of Congress to be an invalid return 

 they have the right so to determine ; and if 

 they do so determine, that vote will not be 

 counted, however many statutes we may pass 

 like this." 



Mr. Gates, of Alabama, moved to "amend 

 section 4 by striking out of lines 20 and 21 the 

 following words: 'and the names of the per- 

 sons, if any, elected ' ; so that the provision, 

 if amended, will read : ' who [the President 

 of the Senate] shall thereupon announce the 

 state of the vote ; which announcement shall 

 be deemed a sufficient declaration of the per- 

 sons, if any, elected President and Vice-Presi- 

 dent of the United States.' " The amendment 

 was adopted by a vote of 141 to 109. Mr. 

 Eden, of Illinois, moved the following amend- 

 ment, which was also adopted : 



After the word " State," in line 37. of section 4. in- 

 sert " which shall have been regularly given by elect- 

 ors whose appointment has been certified to according 

 to section 3 of this act" ; so that the clause will read 

 as follows : 



" And the Speaker of the House of Representatives 

 shall, in like manner, submit such objections to the 

 House of Representatives for its decision ; and no 

 electoral vote or votes from any State which shall 

 have been regularly griven by electors whose appoint- 

 ment has been certified to according to section 3 of 

 this act, from which but one return has been received, 

 shall be rejected." 



The bill was then passed, December 9, with- 

 out a division. The Senate non-concurred in 

 the House amendments, and a conference com- 

 mittee was appointed which reported Jan. 14, 

 1887, as follows : 



That the Senate agree to the amendments of the 

 House numbered 1 and 2. 



That the Senate agree to the amendment of the 

 House numbered 3 with an amendment, to wit : On 

 page 3, line 30, insert in the sentence proposed by the 



House to be inserted in the bill, after the word 

 '* been," and before the word " certified," the word 

 " lawfully " : and that the House agree to the same. 



That the Senate agree to the amendment of the 

 House numbered 4, with an amendment, to wit: In 

 lieu of the words stricken out by the House insert the 

 following: " but the two Houses concurrently may 

 reject the vote or votes when they agree that such 

 vote or votes have not been so regularly given by 

 electors whose appointment has been so certified"; 

 and that the House agree to the same. 



That the Senate agree to the amendment of the 

 House numbered 5, with an amendment, to wit : In 

 lieu of the words proposed to be stricken out and to 

 be inserted insert as follows : "the two Houses shall 

 concurrently decide were cast by lawful electors ap- 

 pointed in accordance with the laws of the State, un- 

 less the two Houses, acting separately, shall concur- 

 rently decide such votes not to be the lawful votes 

 of the legally appointed electors of such State. But 

 if the two Houses shall disagree in respect of the 

 counting of such votes, then, and in that case, the 

 votes of the electors whose appointment shall have 

 been certified by the Executive of the State, under the 

 seal thereof, shall be counted" ; and that the House 

 agree to the same. 



Both Houses adopted the conference report, 

 and the measure was approved by the Presi- 

 dent Feb. 3, 1887. 



Polygamy. Jan. 8, 1886, a bill passed the 

 Senate to amend an act entitled " An act to 

 amend section 5352 of the Revised Statutes of 

 the United States in reference to bigamy, and 

 for other purposes," approved March 22, 1882. 

 The Judiciary Committee of the House report- 

 ed this measure Jan. 12, 1887, with a substitute. 

 The substitute proposed by the committee was 

 slightly amended on motion of Mr. Tucker, of 

 Virginia, and then passed without a division. 

 January 13, the Senate non-concurred in the 

 House amendments, and a conference commit- 

 tee was appointed. February 15, the confer- 

 ence committee reported recommending the 

 passage of the following measure : 



SECTION 1. That in any proceeding or examination 

 before a grand jury, a judge, justice, or a United States 

 commissioner, or a court, in any prosecution for big- 

 amy, polygamy, or unlawful cohabitation, under any 

 statute of the United States, the lawful husband or 

 wife of the person accused shall be a competent wit- 

 ness, and may be called, but shall not be compelled to 

 testify in such proceeding, examination, or prosecution 

 without the consent of the husband or wife, as the case 

 may be ; and such witness shall not l>e permitted to 

 testify as to any statement or communication made by 

 either husband or wife to each other, during the exist- 

 ence of the marriage relation, deemed confidential at 

 common law. 



SEC. 2. That in any prosecution for bigamy, polyg- 

 amy, or unlawful cohabitation, under any statute of 

 the United States, whether before a United States 

 commissioner, justice, judge, a grand jury, or any 

 court, an attachment for any witness may be issued 

 by the court, judge, or commissioner, without a pre- 

 vious subpoena, compelling the immediate attend- 

 ance of such witness, when it shall appear by oath or 

 affirmation, to the commissioner, justice, judge, or 

 court, as the case may be, that there is reasonable 

 ground to believe that such witness will unlawfully 

 fail to obey a subpoena issued and served in the usual 

 course in such cases j and in such case the usual wit- 

 ness fee shall be paid to such witness so attached : 

 Provided, That the person so attached may at any 

 time secure his or her discharge from custody by exe- 

 cuting a recognizance, with sufficient surety, condi- 



