208 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES (ELECTORAL COMMISSION). 



Oscar Joffrion, at the election held on the 7th day 

 of November, 1876, did act and officiate as Supervi- 

 sor of Registration for the parish of Pointe Couple, in 

 said State. In support hereof, inter alia, there is 

 herewith submitted the testimony taken before the 

 special committee of the House of Representatives 

 to investigate the election in Louisiana ; also the tes- 

 timony taken before the Committee on Powers and 

 Privileges of the House of Representatives ; also the 

 testimony taken before the Committee on Privileges 

 and Elections of the Senate. 



ELI SAULSBURY, ) 



J. E. McDONALD. > Senators. 



FRANCIS KEIiNAN, ) 



G. A. JKNKS, 



J. R. TUCKER, 



R. L. GIBSON, 1 Represen- 



DAV1D DUDLEY FIELD, f tatives. 



W. M. LEVY, 



E. JOHN ELLIS, J 



The Presiding Officer : " Are there further 

 objections to the certificates from the State of 

 Louisiana ? " 



Mr. Wood, of New York : " I present, on 

 behalf of the Senators and Representatives 

 who have signed it, a further objection." 



The Presiding Officer : " The objection sub- 

 mitted will be read by the Clerk of the House." 

 The Clerk of the House read the objection, 

 as follows : 



The undersigned. Senators and Representatives, 

 object to the counting of the vote of 0. H. Brew- 

 ster, A. B. Levisse, W. P. Kellogg, Oscar Joffrion, 

 Peter Joseph, J. H. Burch, L. A. Sheldon, and 

 Morris Marks, as electors for the State of Louisiana, 

 for the reason that the said persons were not ap- 

 pointed electors by the State of Louisiana in the 

 manner directed by its Legislature. 



M. I. SO'UTHARD, Representative from 



the State of Ohio. 



CHAS. E. HOOKER, of Mississippi. 

 R. A. DE BOLT, of Missouri. 

 R. P. BLAND, ->f Missouri. 

 JOHN W. STEVENSON, of Kentucky. 

 WM. PINCKNEY WHYTE, of Maryland. 

 FERNANDO WOOD, Representative from 



the State of New York. 

 ERASTUS WELLS, Representative of Mis- 

 souri. 



A. G. EGBERT, Representative of Penn- 

 sylvania. 



The Presiding Officer : " Are there further 

 objections to the certificates from the State of 

 Louisiana ? " 



Senator Howe : " I submit some concise ob- 

 jections to counting the vote certified here by 

 John McEnery and his associates." 



The Presiding Officer: " The objections will 

 be read by the Secretary of the Senate." 



The Secretary of the Senate read the objec- 

 tions, as follows : 



The undersigned respectfully object to the count- 

 ing of any vote for President and Vice-President of 

 the United States given or purporting to have been 

 given by John McEnery or R. C. Wickliffe, or of 

 either of them, for the reason that there is no evi- 

 dence whatever that either of said persons has been 

 appointed an elector of said State in such manner as 

 the Legislature thereof has directed ; and for the 

 further reason that there^is evidence conclusive in 

 law that neither of said persons has been appointed 

 to be an elector for the State of Louisiana in such 

 manner as the Legislature thereof has directed. 



They respectfully object to the reading, the re- 



cording, or the acknowledging of any commission 

 or license or certificate of appointment or of authen- 

 tication, signed or purporting to be signed by John 

 McEnery as Governor of the State of Louisiana, for 

 the reason that there is no evidence that John Mc- 

 Enery is now, or ever was at any time during the 

 year 1876, Governor of the State of Louisiana ; and 

 for the further reason that there is conclusive evi- 

 dence that W. P. Kellogg was, during the whole of 

 the year 1876 and for several years prior thereto, Gov- 

 ernor of that State ; was recognized as such by the 

 judicial and legislative departments of the Govern- 

 ment of that State, and by every department of the 

 Government of the United States. 



T. O. HOWE. CHAS. H. JOYCE. 



R. J. OGLESBY. L. DANFORD. 



JOHN SHERMAN. W. W. CRAPO. 



J. R. WEST. EUGENE HALE. 



S. A. HURLBUT. WM. LAWRENCE. 



W. TOWNSEND. 



The Presiding Officer : " Are there further 

 objections to the certificates from the State of 

 Louisiana? If there be no further objections, 

 all the certificates from that State, and the 

 papers accompanying the same, together with 

 the objections thereto, will now be submitted 

 to the Electoral Commission for its judgment 

 and decision. The Senate will now retire to 

 their Chamber." 



Accordingly the Senate withdrew. 



On February 17th the President of the Elec- 

 toral Commission notified the two Houses that 

 it had considered and decided the matters 

 touching the electoral vote of Louisiana. 



On the same day a joint meeting of the two 

 Houses was held. 



The Presiding Officer : " The joint meeting 

 of Congress for counting the electoral vote re- 

 sumes its session. 



" The objections presented to the certificates 

 from the State of Louisiana having been sub- 

 mitted to the commission, the two Houses have 

 reconvened, to receive and consider the decision 

 of that tribunal. The decision, which is in 

 writing, by a majority of the commission, and 

 signed by the members agreeing therein, will 

 now be read by the Secretary of the Senate, 

 and be entered in the Journal of each House." 



The Secretary of the Senate read as follows : 



ELECTORAL COMMISSION, ) 

 WASHINGTON. D. C., February 16, A. D. 1876. J 

 To the President of the Senate of the United States, 

 presiding in the meeting of the two Houses of Con- 

 gress under the act of Congress entitled " An act 

 to provide for and regulate the counting of the 

 votes for President and Vice-President, and the 

 decision of questions arising thereon, for the term 

 commencing March 4, A. D. 1877," approved Janu- 

 ary 29, A. D. 1877 : 



The Electoral Commission mentioned in said act 

 having received certain certificates and papers pur- 

 porting to be certificates, and papers accompanying 

 the same, of the electoral votes from the State of 

 Louisiana, and the objections thereto submitted to 

 it under said act, now report that it has duly con- 

 sidered the same, pursuant to said act, and has. by 

 a majority of votes, decided, and does hereby decide, 

 that the votes of William P. Kellogg. J. Henri Burch, 

 Peter Joseph, Lionel A. Sheldon, Morris Marks, 

 Aaron B. Levisse'. Orlando H. Brewster, and Oscar 

 Joffrion, named in the certificate of William P. 

 Kellogg, Governor of said State, which votes are 



