CONGRESS, UNITED STATES (ELECTORAL COMMISSION), 



209 



certified by said persons, us appears by_ the certifi- 

 cate submitted to the commission as aforesaid, aud 

 marked Numbers One (1) and Three (3) by said com- 

 mission, and herewith returned, are the votes pro- 

 vided for by the Constitution of the United States, 

 and that the same are lawfully to be counted as 

 therein certified, namely : 



Eight votes for Kutherford B. Hayes, of the State 

 of Ohio, for President ; and 



Eight votes for VV illiam A. "Wheeler, of the State 

 of New York, for Vice-President. 



The commission has, by a majority of votes, also 

 decided, and does hereby decide and report, that the 

 eight persons first before named were duly appointed 

 electors in and by the State of Louisiana. 



The brief ground of this decision is that it ap- 

 pears, upon such evidence as by the Constitution 

 and the law named in said act of Congress is com- 

 petent and pertinent to the consideration of the sub- 

 lect, that the before-mentioned electors appear to 

 have been lawfully appointed such electors ot Presi- 

 dent and Vice-President of the United States for the 

 term beginning March 4, A. D. 1877, of the State of 

 Louisiana, and tliat they voted as such at the time 

 and in the manner provided for by the Constitution 

 of the United States and the law. 



And the commission has, by a majority of votes, 

 decided, and does hereby decide, ti.at it is not com- 

 petent, under the Constitution and the law as it ex- 

 isted at the date of the passage of said act, to go into 

 evidence aliunde the papers opened by the President 

 of the Senate in the presence of the two Houses, to 

 prove that other persons than those regularly certi- 

 fied to by the Governor of the State of Louisiana, on 

 and according to the determination and declaration 

 of their appointment by the returning officers for 

 elections in the said State prior to the time required 

 for the performance of their duties, had been ap- 

 pointed electors, or by counter-proof to show that 

 they -had not: or that the determination of the said 

 returning officers was not in accordance with the 

 truth and the fact ; the commission, by a majority of 

 votes, being of opinion that it is not within the juris- 

 diction of the two Houses of Congress assembled 

 to count the votes for President and Vice-President, 

 or to enter upon a trial of such questions. 



T lie commission, by a majority of votes, is also of 

 opinion that it is not competent to prove that any of 

 said persons so appointed electors as aforesaid held 

 an office of trust or profit under the United States at 

 the time when they were appointed, or that they 

 were ineligible under the laws of the State, or any 

 other matter offered to be proved aliunde the said 

 certificates and papers. 



The commission is also of opinion, by a majority 

 of votes, that the returning officers of elections who 

 canvassed the votes at the election for electors in 

 Louisiana were a legally constituted body by virtue 

 of a constitutional law, and that a vacancy in said 

 body did not vitiate its proceedings. 



The commission has also decided, and does hereby 

 decide, by a majority of votes, and report that, as a 

 consequence of the foregoing, and upon the grounds 

 before stated, that the paper purporting to be a cer- 

 tificate of tlie electoral votes of said State of Louisi- 

 ana, objected to by Timothy O. Howe and others, 

 marked " N. C. No. 2 " by the commission, and here- 

 with returned, is not the certificate of the votes pro- 

 vided for by the Constitution of the United States, 

 and that they ought not to be counted as such 

 Done at Washington the day and year first above 

 written. 



SAMUEL F. MILLER. 



W. STRONG. 



JOSEPH P. BRADLEY. 



GEORGE F. EDMUNDS. 



O. P. MORTON. 



FRED'K T. FRELINGHUYSEN. 



JAMES A. GARFTELD. 



GEORGE F. HOAR. 



VOL. xvii. 14 A 



The Presiding Officer : " Are there any ob- 

 jections to the decision of the commission ?" 



Mr. Gibson : " I have the honor to present 

 the following objections to the decision and 

 report of the Electoral Commission, signed by 

 Senators and Representatives." 



The Presiding Officer : " The objections will 

 be read by the Clerk of the House." 



The following objections are interposed by the un- 

 dersigned, Senators and Representatives, to the de- 

 cision made by the commission constituted by the 

 act entitled " An act to provide for and regulate the 

 counting of votes for President and Vice-President, 

 and the decisions of questions arising thereon, for the 

 term commencing March 4, A. D. 1877," as to the 

 true and lawful electoral vote of the State of Lou- 

 isiana^ for the following reasons, viz. : 



1. For that the said commission, as guides to 

 their action, adopted the rejected resolutions, as 

 follows: 



" Friday, February 16, 1877. 



" The commission met at ten o'clock A. M., pursu- 

 ant to adjournment, with closed doors, for the pur- 

 pose of consultation on the question submitted rela- 

 tive to the offers of proof connected with the objec- 

 tions raised to the certificates of electoral votes from 

 the State of Louisiana. 



" After debate, 



" Mr. Commissioner Hoar submitted the following 

 order : 



" ' Ordered, That the evidence offered be not re- 

 ceived.' 



. " Mr: Commissioner Abbott offered the following 

 as a substitute for the proposed order: 



" ' Resolved, That so much of the act of Louisiana 

 establishing a returning board for that State is un- 

 constitutional, and the acts of said returning board 

 are void.' 



" The question being on the adoption of the sub- 

 stitute, it was decided in the negative yeas 7, nays 8. 



" Those who voted in the affirmative were : Messrs. 

 Abbott, Bayard, Clifford, Field, Hunton, Payne, and 

 Thurman 7. 



" Those wi:o voted in the negative were : Messrs. 

 Bradley, Edmunds. Freliughuysen, Garfield, Hoar, 

 Miller, Morton ; and Strong 8. 



" Mr. Commissioner Abbott ofi'ered the following 

 as a substitute : 



" ' Resolved, That evidence will be received to show 

 that the returning board of Louisiana, at the time of 

 canvassing and compiling the vote of that State at 

 the last election in that State, was not legally con- 

 stituted under the law establishing it, in this : that 

 it was composed of four persons all of one political 

 party, instead of five persons of different political 

 parties.' 



" The question being on the adoption of the sub- 

 stitute, it was decided in the negative yeas 7, nays 8. 



" Those who voted in the affirmative were : MesM's. 

 Abbott, Bayard, Clifford, Field, Hunton, Payne, and 

 Thurman 7. 



" Those who voted in the negative were : Messrs. 

 Bradley, Edmunds. Frelinghuysen, Garfield, Hoar, 

 Miller, Morton, ana Strong 8. 



"Mr. Commissioner Abbott offered the following 

 as a substitute: 



" ' Resolved, That the commission will receive tes- 

 timony on the subject of the frauds alleged in the 

 specifications of the counsel for the objectors to cer- 

 tificates Nos. 1 and 8.' 



" The question being on the adoption of the sub- 

 stitute, it was decided in the negative yeas 1, nays 8. 



" Those who voted in the affirmative were : Messrs. 

 Abbott, Bayard, Clifford, Field, Hunton, Payne, and 

 Thurman 7. 



" Those who voted in the negative were : Messrs. 

 Bradley, Edmunds, Frelinghuysen, Garfield, Hoar, 

 Miller, Morton, and Strong 8. 



