CONGRESS, UNITED STATES (ELECTORAL COMMISSION). 



169 



ence of the two Houses of Congress, and objections 

 thereto having been made, the said returns, with all 

 accompanying papers, and also the objections there- 

 to, are herewith submitted to the judgment and de- 

 cision of the commission, as provided by law. 



T. W. FERRY, President of the Senate. 



The President: u It is suggested, and I think 

 very properly, that the doors may now be 

 opened, and that proper persons be admitted." 

 Mr. Commissioner Payne : " Now I move 

 that the certificates, with the papers, be printed 

 at as early an hour as possible." 



The President : " The motion before the 

 commission is, that the three certificates in the 

 case of Florida be printed, and the objections 

 thereto. If that is your pleasure, you will say 

 'Aye.' (Putting the question.) It is a vote." 



The President: "How soon can they be 

 printed ? " 



Mr. Commissioner Field, of California, said : 

 " Should we not have copies of the papers 

 presented ? " 



The President: "I suppose the certificates 

 and objections may be printed in a very short 

 time. The Secretary will understand that the 

 motion is intended to include the certificates 

 and the objections and the papers that accom- 

 pany the certificates, and nothing else. It is 

 desirable that they should be printed with as 

 little delay as possible." 



Senator Sargent, of California, said : " The ob- 

 jectors, the persons whose names are signed to 

 the paper, are Senators Conover, Sargent, and 

 Sherman, and Mr. McCrary, Mr. Kasson, Mr. 

 Woodburn, and Mr. Dunnell, members of the 

 House. There has been no opportunity up to 

 this moment of consulting with these gentle- 

 men, to ascertain which of them will state their 

 objections to the commission." 



The President: "Two objectors may repre- 

 sent the case in this tribunal." 



Senator Sargent : " So we understand by the 

 rules. 1 " 



The President: "Will Mr. Field state the 

 names of the objectors on the other side ? " 



Mr. Representative Field, of New York, said : 

 "The objectors to the first return are Senators 

 Jones, of Florida, and Cooper, and Representa- 

 tives Thompson, Jenks, and myself. 



The President : " I am requested now to call 

 for the names of counsel who appear in the 

 case on each side." 



Mr. Representative Field : " We have several 

 counsel on our side. We have Mr. O'Conor, 

 of New York, Judge Black, of Pennsylvania, 

 Judge Trumbull, of Illinois, Mr. Merrick, of 

 Washington, and Mr. Green, of New Jersey." 



The President : " Counsel not exceeding two 

 in number on each side are allowed to partici- 

 pate in argument." 



The President: "Who are counsel on the 

 other side ? " 



Mr. Evarts : " I will state that Mr. Stough- 

 ton, Mr. Stanley Matthews, Mr. Shellabarger, 

 and myself, are expected to represent objectors 

 in some of the cases which will appear." 



Senator Sargent: "In reply to the question 



of the commission as to which of the objec- 

 tors would present the case on behalf of the ob- 

 jectors aside from counsel, on conference it is 

 determined that Mr. McCrary and Mr. Kasson 

 will so appear." 



The President : " My impression is although 

 I do not make that decision in behalf of the 

 commission that the several objections to the 

 returns from a State constitute one case, and 

 two objectors will be heard upon one side and 

 two on the other ; and after they shall have 

 been heard, two counsel will be heard upon 

 one side and two upon the other. Unless oth- 

 erwise advised by the commission, that will 

 be the ruling." 



Mr. Representative Field : "Will you allow 

 me to say that perhaps there may be some mis- 

 understanding in regard to that rule, unless I 

 state to you precisely the facts? " 



The President : "Proceed, sir." 



Mr. Representative Field: "There are ob- 

 jections to the four votes of Florida on each 

 side ; that is to say, we object to the four votes 

 mentioned in the first returns." 



Mr. Commissioner Edmunds : " Which are 

 they ? " 



Mr. Representative Field: "They are, if I 

 may use the names of the candidates, the Hayes 

 electors. We object, on our part, to those votes, 

 certificates, and lists." 



Mr. Commissioner Edmunds : " And the 

 other gentlemen object to the others? " 



Mr. Representative Field : " Mr. Sargent, 

 Mr. Kasson, and the gentlemen on the other 

 side specifically object to ours. Then there is 

 the additional objection made by Senator Jonee, 

 of Florida, and others, to one of the Hayes 

 electors as ineligible under the Constitution. 

 That is a distinct matter, and we supposed it 

 would be taken up quite distinctly. It is a 

 minor affair, and should not encumber the prin- 

 cipal one. And if the commission will allow 

 us, we will designate Mr. Thompson and Mr. 

 Jenks. I suppose the discussion of that will 

 not take up much of the time of the commis- 

 sion ; but at all events, as a matter of form, if 

 you will allow us, we will suggest that Mr. 

 Thompson and Mr. Jenks be the objectors in 

 those, and then, as to counsel, we will advise 

 to-night, and inform the commission to-morrow 

 what counsel represent up." 



The President: "Under the circumstances, I 

 will put the motion that, when the commission 

 adjourns, it adjourn until to-morrow at half- 

 past ten o'clock." 



The motion was agreed to. 

 Mr. Commissioner Miller moved that the ob- 

 jections to certificates in the Florida case be 

 heard as one objection to each set of electors, 

 and be argued together ; which was adopted. 



FRIDAY, February 2, 1877. 



The commission met at half-past ten o'clock 

 A. M., pursuant to adjournment, all the mem- 

 bers being present. 



