CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



165 



and is now ready to proceed to the performance of 

 its duties. 



Very respectfully, 



NATHAN CLIFFORD, 



President of Commission. 



COUNTING THE VOTES. 



On the same day, February 1st, the House 

 notified the Senate that it was ready to receive 

 that body for the purpose of proceeding to 

 open and count the votes for President and 

 Vice- President. At one o'clock the Senate 

 entered the Hall of the House. 



The President pro tempore of the Senate 

 took his seat as Presiding Officer of the joint 

 meeting of the two Houses, the Speaker of the 

 House occupying a chair upon his left. 



Senators Ingalls and Allison, the tellers ap- 

 pointed on the part of the Senate, and Mr. 

 Cook and Mr. Stone, the tellers appointed on 

 the part of the House, took their seats at the 

 Clerk's desk, at which the Secretary of the 

 Senate and the Clerk of the House also occu- 

 pied seats. 



The Presiding Officer : " The joint meeting 

 of the two Houses of Congress for the count- 

 ing of votes for President and Vice-President 

 of the United States will now come to order. 

 In obedience to the Constitution, the Senate 

 and House of Eepresentatives have met to be 

 present at the opening of the certificates, the 

 counting, and the declaring of the results of 

 the electoral votes for the President and the 

 Vice-President of the United States for the 

 term of four years commencing on the 4th 

 day of March next. In compliance with law, 

 the President of the Senate will now proceed, 

 in the presence of the two Houses, to open all 

 the certificates of the several States, in alpha- 

 betical order, beginning with the State of Ala- 

 bama." 



Having opened the certificate of the State 

 of Alabama, received by messenger, the Chair 

 hands to the tellers the certificate to be read 

 in the presence and hearing of both Houses. 



Senator Allison (one of the tellers) read in 

 full the certificate of the electoral vote of the 

 State of Alabama, giving 10 votes for Samuel 

 J. Tilden, of New York, for President, and 10 

 votes for Thomas A. Hendricks, of the State 

 of Indiana, for Vice-President of the United 

 States. 



The Presiding Officer: "The certificate of 

 the vote of the State of Alabama having been 

 read, the Chair has opened and hands to the 

 tellers the duplicate certificate received by 

 mail from the same State, which will likewise 

 be read." 



Mr. Stone (one of the tellers) proceeded to 

 read the duplicate certificate. 



Senator Conkling (interrupting) : "I ven- 

 ture to interrupt the reading, to suggest it can 

 hardly bo necessary to read in extenso the du- 

 plicate certificates received by mail ; and if that 

 should be the impression of the Presiding Offi- 

 cer and of the two Houses, I make the further 

 suggestion that hereafter, when the tellers read 



a certificate, the tellers not reading had better 

 overlook the duplicate certificate at the same 

 time, in order that a comparison may thus be 

 made." 



The Presiding Officer: "The suggestion of 

 the gentleman from New York has been heard. 

 Is there objection to following that suggestion ? 

 The Chair hears none, and it will be followed 

 hereafter." 



Mr. Stone (one of the tellers) then concluded 

 the reading of the duplicate certificate of the 

 State of Alabama. 



The Presiding Officer : " Are there any ob- 

 jections to the certificate of the State of Ala- 

 bama? The Chair hears none, and the votes 

 of the State of Alabama will be counted. One 

 of the tellers will announce the vote, so there 

 can be no mistake." 



Mr. Cook (one of the tellers) : " The State 

 of Alabama gives 10 votes for Samuel J. Til- 

 den, of New York, for President of the United 

 States, and 10 votes for Thomas A. Hendricks, 

 of Indiana, for Vice-President." 



The Presiding Officer : " The Chair hands to 

 the tellers the certificate of the electoral vote 

 of the State of Arkansas, received by messen- 

 ger, and the corresponding one received by 

 mail. In accordance with the suggestion of 

 the Senator from New York, but one will be 

 read, and the other will be examined as the 

 original is read. The tellers will follow the 

 reading of the one received by messenger in 

 every case with the one received by mail." 



The tellers then proceeded, in the manner 

 indicated, to announce the electoral votes of 

 the States of Arkansas, California, Colorado, 

 Connecticut, and Delaware, it being mentioned 

 in each case that the certificate of the election 

 of the electors was signed by the Governor and 

 countersigned by the Secretary of State ; and in 

 each case the Presiding Officer asked whether 

 there were any objections to the certificate ; 

 and, there being none, the vote in each case 

 was then counted. 



The Presiding Officer: " The Chair hands to 

 the tellers a certificate from the State of Flor- 

 ida, received by messenger, and the corre- 

 sponding one by mail." 



Mr. Stone (one of the tellers) read the cer- 

 tificate in extenso, giving 4 votes for Eutherford 

 B. Hayes, of Ohio, for President, and William 

 A. Wheeler, of New York, 4 votes for Vice- 

 President. 



The Presiding Officer: "The Chair hands 

 another certificate, received by messenger from 

 Florida, and the corresponding one received by 

 mail." 



Mr. Stone (one of the tellers) also read in 

 extenso the certificate from the State of Florida 

 indicated, giving 4 votes for Samuel J. Tilden, 

 of New York, for President, and 4 votes for 

 Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, for Vice- 

 President. 



The Presiding Officer: "Still another cer- 

 tificate from the State of Florida has been re- 

 ceived by messenger, January 31st, and it is 



