216 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES (ELECTORAL COMMISSION). 



ulently pretend to canvass and compile, and did 

 promulgate as having been canvassed and compiled, 

 certain votes for the following-named candidates for 

 electors which were never cast, and which did not 

 appear upon any tally-sheet, statement of votes, or 

 consolidated statement or other return before said 

 board, namely : J. H. Burch, 241 ; Peter Joseph, 

 1,862; L. A. Sheldon, 1,364; Morris Marks, 1,334; 

 A. B. Levisse", 829 ; 0. H. Brewster, 776 ; Oscar 

 Joffrion, 1,364. 



The Presiding Officer : " Are there further 

 objections to the decision of the commission ? " 



Senator "Wallace: "I offer the objection 

 which I send to the desk, signed by Senators 

 and Representatives." 



The Presiding Officer : " The objection will 

 be read by the Secretary of the Senate." 



The Secretary of the Senate read as follows : 



The undersigned, Senators and members of the 

 House of Representatives, object to the decision of 

 the Electoral Commission as to the electoral votes of 

 the State of Louisiana, because 



1. The said decision was made in violation of 

 the law under which said commission acts, in this, 

 that by said act the said commission is required to 

 decide whether any and what votes from such State 

 are the votes provided for by the Constitution of the 

 United States, and how many and what persons 

 were duly appointed electors in said State ; yet said 

 commission refused to examine and ascertain who 

 were duly appointed electors in and by the State of 

 Louisiana, and what votes from such State are within 

 the provisions of the Constitution of the United 

 States. 



2. Because the act creating said commission was 

 passed to the end that the commission would hear 

 and examine evidence and honestly decide which 

 electors in any disputed State were fairly and legally 

 chosen ; whereas the said commission refused to 

 hear and consider evidence offered to show that the 

 electors, whose votes the said commission has de- 

 cided shall be counted, were not duly chosen, but 

 falsely and fraudulently acted as such electors, as 

 well as the evidence offered to show that the pre- 

 tended certificates of election of said electors were 

 produced by corruption and were wholly untrue. 



3. Because the said decision is in disregard of 

 truth, justice, and law, and establishes the demoral- 

 izing and ominous doctrine that fraud, forgery, 

 bribery, and perjury, can lawfully be used as a means 

 to make a President of the United States against the 

 well-known or easily-ascertained will of the people 

 and of the States. 



JOHN W. JOHNSTON, 

 WM. A. WALLACE, 



J. E. BAILEY, 



GEO. R. DENNIS, Senators. 



FRANCIS KERNAN, 

 JAMES K. KELLY, 

 "ELI SAULSBURY, J 

 JAMES H. HOPKINS, 1 

 ANDREW R. UOONE, 

 CHAS. B. ROBERTS, I Represen- 

 THOS. S. ASHE, ' tatives. 



H. D. MONEY, 

 H1ESTER CLYMER, J 



The Presiding Officer : " Are there further 

 objections to the decision of the commission ? " 



Mr. Cochrane : " I desire to offer a further 

 objection to the decision." 



The Presiding Offieer: "The Clerk of the 

 House will read the objection." 



The Clerk of the House read as follows : 



Senators. 



Represen- 

 tatives. 



object to the counting of the votes as recommended 

 by eight members of the joint commission, and do 

 protest against counting the electoral vote of the 

 State of Louisiana, for the reasons following, to wit : 



1. It was not denied before the commission that 

 the Tilden electors received a large majority of the 

 votes cast. 



2. It was not denied before the commission that 

 Wells and his associates, who styled themselves a 

 returning board, were guilty of gross fraud ; that 

 their certificate, given to the Hayes electors,was false 

 and fraudulent, and that their action in canvassing 

 the votes was in violation of the constitution and 

 laws of the State of Louisiana. 



3. The action of the eight members of said joint 

 commission in declining to hear evidence of the 

 above, and other facts, was a violation of the letter 

 and spirit of the act under which said commission 

 was created, and of the spirit of the Constitution of 

 the United States. 



R. E. WITHERS, ^ 



JOHN W. JOHNSTON, 

 GEORGE R. DENNIS, 

 HENRY COOPER, 

 S. B. MAXEY, 

 M. I. SOUTHARD, 

 ALEX. G. COCHRANE, 

 JOHN H. CALDWELL, 

 JAMES SHEAKLEY, 

 A. H. BUCKNER, 

 WM. MUTCHLER, 

 BENJAMIN WILSON, 



The Presiding Officer : " Are there further 

 objections to the decision of the commission ? 

 (After a pause.) There are none. Objections 

 to the decision of the commission having been 

 submitted and read, the Senate will now with- 

 draw to its Chamber, that the two Houses sep- 

 arately may consider and decide upon the ob- 

 jections." 



In the Senate, on February 19th, the objec- 

 tions having been considered, 



Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, offered the following 

 resolution : 



Resolved, That the decision of the commission 

 upon the electoral vote of the State of Louisiana 

 stand as the judgment of the Senate, the objections 

 made thereto to the contrary notwithstanding. 



Mr. Stevenson: "I call for the yeas and 

 nays." 



The yeas and nays were ordered, and the 

 Secretary proceeded to call the roll. 



The result was announced, as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Alcornj Allison, Anthony, Booth, 

 Boutwell, Bruce, Burnsidej Cameron of Pennsyl- 

 vania, Cameron of Wisconsin, Chaffee, Christiancy, 

 Clayton, Conover, Cragin, Dawes, Ferry, Freling- 

 huysen, Hamlin, Harvey, Hitchcock, Howe, Ingalls, 

 Jones of Nevada, Logan, McMillan. Mitchell, Morrill, 

 Morton, Oglesby, Paddock, Patterson, Robertson, 

 Sargent, Sharon, Sherman, Spencer, Teller, Wad- 

 leisrh, West, Windom, and Wrigrht 41. 



NATS Messrs. Bailey, Barnum, Bayard, Bogy, 

 Cockrell, Cooper, Davis, Dennis, Eaton, Gold- 

 thwaite, Gordon, Hereford, Johnston, Jones of 

 Florida, Kelly, Kernan, McCreery, McDonald, 

 Maxey, Merrimon, Norwood, Randolph, Ransom, 

 Saulsbury, Stevenson, Wallace, Whyte, and Withers 

 28. 



ABSENT Messrs. Blaine, Conlding, Dorsey, Ed- 

 munds, Hamilton, and Thurman 6. 



The undersigned, Senators and Representatives, do So the resolution was agreed to. 



