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- 4t iivitt THE GOOD THAT LACKS ASSISTANCE c FOR THE WRONG TIIAT NEEDS Iit.ESISTANOE: ,
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VOL. 11,-NO. 17. READING, PA., WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 17,1869. 0
..SIX CENTS PER WE!
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RE READING DAILY EAGLE
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The disgraceful scones that occurred
the Hall of the Homo) on Wednesday
t, during the count of the electoral
,es of the States, will be long repent- ,
cil by all who witneadod them, as a
,Hfill exhibition of the pernicious
its of the Reconstruction Acts of
tigres:,, Had the legislative branch of
~ tiovernment never . departed from it's
and unanimous declaration of
11y, 1801, that the war should bo pros
.uted solely for the preservation of the ,
Mon, and"the maintenance of the
ights, dignity and equality of the States
im paired" "and, Under the lead of the
relprevolu tonist SmEirs, degraded
ie States 1 tely in rebellion to the con
ilia of co quered provinces, only to be
!gored to their places in the Union
pen compliance with the untonstitu
inal conditions proscribed by Congress,
l eh a gross broach of parliamentary de•
num as that which sprung out ,of the
',tempted exclusion of the • vote of
orgia from the ollictoral count, could
ever have happened. Your readers
iTe been already niado acquainted with .
is proceedings of the joint convention,
, that it will be unnecessary for me to
epeat them in detail. A review, how•
rev of the extraordinary incidents
rhieh attended them, may not be nnin
ceresting.
In order to a Clear understanding of
'shat transpired, it must be premised
that, a day or two provious,both branchf.
es of Congress adopted what is called a
'' toucarrent resolution," providing in
übstance that; whereas the question of
the right of Occirgirk, representation
in Congress, and therefor e to participit
lion in the Presidential election !
. was
titen pendiug and undetermined, it the
counting or omitting . to count the elec
toral vote of that State should not men-
Bally change the result, in that ease it
ihoull be reported in two forms—the
one including the vote of Georgia and
the other excluding it, but in either ease
declaring Grant and Colfax elected.
Thus prepared to meet the only )'ditlicul
ty that was apprehended, the two Houses
met on the appointed day at ono o'clock,
old lien Wade in i' the chair. All went
along harmoniously until the vote' of
Louisiana was announced, when - the ir
repressible Mullins jumped, up, and ob
jected to icy being counted, without as
iigning any reasons therefor. Judge
Woodward, from the Democratic Bide,
raised the point of order that the objec•
lion was not a spticific ono and therefore
should not be entertained. 'Tut old Ben,
Those rulings aro usually governed
a stubborn will rather than by perils
amtary law, "couldn't see the p'int;"
and hastily decided that the Senate
ilioulil withdraw. So the two branches
, ?pirated to deliberate on what should .
I).' done with the vote of Louisiana, The
veition was soon settled, the Senate and
!louse both deciding, by largo majorities,
that Louisiana should be counted in. It
ii worthy of remark, however, that such
proniihent Radicals as Chandler, Howard,
Sumner and Wilson, in one branch, and
Ashley (the"lmpeacher,").Banks, Boer,-
well,'llen—Butler, Dawes, Jnlisin, Paine,
Van Wyck, and °there, seventy in all,
were found following the lead of the
Tennessee mountebank, Mullins. The
Convention reassembled, and the coun
Wig of the votes was restOned—those for
Great and 'Colfax being announced alter
natelyby Messrs. Conklin and Wilson,
the !WWI tallow and those for Sep
moor and•illair byjldr. Freya, the Dem.
oeratle teller. When the 83 votes of
New York were read off by the latter,
'with an air of thanifest pride in the choice
his native State had made, p murmur of
approval, which almost bnrst out into
loud acclamation, was heard , from the
Fromled galleries. The count went op,
quietly and rather m k onotonously, nntil
the votes of all the Btiqes were announced,
but Georgia last, ot hough not least on
this occasion, in the thoughts of. "the
assembled Wisdom of the nation." The
certificate from the authorities of this
"erring sister" was handed to Mr. Pruyn,
who, amid breathless silence, announced
that, on the Uth of December, 1888, the
nine electoral votes of Georgia had been
cast for Seymour and Blair. Then came
the tug of war, Butler -- a champion of
much sterner stuff thattMullins—entered
the lists arid threw down the gaunilet: In
the tones of a &enter, he said: "I ob
jeet to the vote of the State of Georgia
being counted, and send my objections,
in writing, to the Chair." The objec
tions, fouri n number, were read. They ,
reeited v hi substance : lst..That the Elec
toral., College had not met' on the first
Wednesday (2nd) of December, as re-,
quired by law, but on the second Wed
nesday (9th ) of the month. 2nd. That
'when tho electors were chosen, Georgia
had not been admitted to representation
in Congress. 3rd. That at the date of
said election, Georgia had not complied
with the Reconstruction Acta of Con
_roes. 4tb. That no fair election was
old in Georgia on the 3rd of November
last. All this, in plain %lOW], meant
only that because the people of Georgia, in
spite of the Reconstruction laws, bad the
audacity to vote for Seymour and Blair,
they should have no voice , in the 'election
of President. The point of order was
raised that, provisions having been made,
by the concurrent resolution, for the case
of - Georgia, Butler's objections should
not be entertained, Butler rose to debate
the question, but was_promptly called to
order by Fernando Wood, who insisted
that the rule forbade discutsion. After a
little sharp cross-firing, which was attes
ted by a round of vigorous bows from the
Presiding Officer's gavel, Old'Ben, with
mock gravity, and with far more truth
than was to be expected in an official dee
!oration, said " The Chair is very much
disposed to hold the Senate and the
House to their own doings—to the joint
resolution which they passed—the pur-
port of which is, if we understand it,
that if the votes of the State of Georgia
did not alter the result of the election,
they might be counted, and if they did
alter the result, they were not to be
counted."
This frank admission of Chli true mean
ing of the concurrent resolution, brought
down the House in roars of laughter,
which were perfectly . natural, although
unsuited to an occasion when dignity
and order should have been observed.
Butler insisted that as this was a ques
tion of "high constitkoion'al law, 71 it
should be considered by - thivtwo Homes
separately. Loud cries of "'Yes 1 Yes 1"
from ono side of 'the House, and " No
No 1" from the other, here ensued, and
portended the coming storm, Wade used
his gavel as dexterously as an auctioneer
handles his hammer, but alt to no pur
pose. Helhen rose, as if to give a (loci
sloe, but evidently embarrassed by the
pertinacity of Butler and his adherents,
he wavercd and took his seat again with
mit saying , a word. The shouting and
liin,ghter were renewed , when. Old Ben,
as the easiest any of escape from the dis
orderly scene he was unable to suppress,
decided that the Senate should retire to
deliberate.. After an• hour's noisy dia•
cussion, the House, repudiating its pre
vious agreement to the concurrent reso-
lution, decided; by a vote of 1&O to 41,
that Georgia should bo thrown out. The
only Radicals who voted iu the minority,
were Baker of Illinois, and Hawkins, of
Tennessee. SiMultaneously with this ac
tion of the House, the Senate, by a vote
of 81 to 26, decided, to adhere to the
tams of the special order as to the count
of the electoral vote of Georgia. At half
past 4, the Senate again entered the hall
of the House, and Old Ben resumed the
chair. Stiffened in the back by the deci
sion of the Senate, he at once proceeded
to business, with a determination that
clearly showed his intention to see it
through. Butler's objections were over
ruled, and the tellers were directed to
autiOunee the vote of Georgia. Butler
protested against it, and with a loud, voice
and an excited manner, defiantly ex'eliiim
ed that the House would not be overruled
by the Senate in that 'ray. Wade took
no notice of, him, but repeated the Order
to the tellers to go on and complete the,
count. BUtler bawled "Mr. President)"
with all his might, amid cries of " Order
Order!" from one side, and " Go on,
Butler!" from the other. But Wade was
deaf and immovable, save that his gavel
went up and down like the thumps. of
forge.hammer, Butler, qniveriug , with
rage, appealed from the decision of the
Chair, and taking courage from the ap.-
proving shouts of the members who sur
rounded him, added ". We will see
whether we have any rights here !" Wade
coolly refused to entertain the appeal,
and endeavored to enforce his authority
by a lively repetition of the forge-ham
mer exercise. The Hall of the House
has been the scene 9f many a brawl, but
the angry controversy that here ensued,
beggars description. For a time the
Convention threatened to resolve itself
into au infuriated mob, and Butler, re
gardless of consequences,' stood re-dy
for his part as ringleader. 110 above
all the cries that made confusion worse
confounded, his voice wus heard, shout
ing "Lot tho' Convention be dissolv
ed !" At thie, ,:crititial moment, when
Wade seemed powerless to restore or
der, Colfax, , the adroit and wary tac
tician,—apprehensive, doubtless, lest
the failure of the Convention to per
form its duties ) might present 1111„ ob
struction in his pathway to the Vice
President's Chair on the 4th of March—
came to Old Ben's rescue,and command
ing members of the House to ,come to
order, directed,the Sergeant-at-Arms to
arrest any of them who continued to dis
turb the 'Convention. The prompt ad:
vance of this officer in the direction of
Butler and the malcontents from whom
the disorder had proceeded, had the de
sired effect, and the fear of arrest accom-
Ogled what the Presiding Officer's 'au
thority had utterly failed to enforce.
Tho tellers completed their work—the
result was formally announced, and Old
Ben declared Grant and Colfax duly
elected President and 'Vico President of
the United States. Without waiting for
a formal motion to adjourn, he added
" The joint convention having completed
the business which brought it here, will
now retire to the Senate chamber."
This ludicrous blunder provoked anoth
er shout of laughter, mirthful on the side
of Wade's friends—derisive on the part
of his beaten assailants. The Senators
obeyed the order, and retired, with their
official dignity evidently much Ldis.
turbed. Tho House, glad' to
,
ho relieved from the rule of Wade,
breathed freer, and was soon itself-again.
Butler seized the first opportunity' ter got
the, floor, and! introduced a resolution,
censuring Wadi3's conduct in the Chair,
as "a gross act of oppression and an in
vasioa of the rights of the House." This
resolution led to a spicy and, at times,
acrinionions debate of two days' 'dura.
lion, between. Butler, Schenck and Beu
ton, in support of it, and Shellabargier,
Thomas; 'Bingham, WO,Odward, Garfield
and Logan, against it. Duritig the- die.
elusion, the Speaker called Mr. Dawes
to the Chair, and tool: the floor in' reply
to Mr. Schenck, and in justification of
the ruling of Ben. Wade, as well as his
own interference for the enforcement of ,
order. Bingham seized the opportunity
to pay oil' some of his old scores against
Butler, and, in his speech, denounced
the conduct of the "Hero of 'Flt Nish
or,"- as revolutionary awl, anuchi—,
cal, and even more erimival • than
the late rebellion itself. Butler, who:
went into this tight with the bottstfa , 1 as ,,
Sertion that he "never backed down i "
soon saw that ho was getting , the, ivntat
of it, and to save himself from total de
feat, agreed, at the last moment; . to
en his resolutiondown to a mere refer
. ,
) ence of the subject to a select committee,,
for the purpose of amending the,rnies
which govern tho,action of the Conven
tions of the two 'louses. But, it
wouldn't do. The whole affair Ids lip
ally disposed of' on Friday, by the adept.
tion of Logan'ii motion to lay the whole
subject on the table, by it vote of 130
yeas to 65 nays. The Democratic meai•
hers, although they didn't care which •
side whipped, in this fight , between But
ler and 11 ade, 4 voted with, the.. majority,
with two or three exceptions, because
an adverse vote might • have. been con ! '
strued into a quasi endorsement of But
ler's position that the joint convention,
under any circumstances, had' a right to
exclude the electoral vote of Georgia.
I have thus given your readers more
lengthily than I intended, hut, as briefly
as a proper understanding of the subject
would allow, a review of the proceedings
which will make the 10th day of Feb
ruary, 180, memorable in the legislative ,
annals of the nation. Front fluent the pee-
Ede may draw two important and, to
themselves, pregnant, conclusions:
Ist. Had the result of the Presidential 7,
election depended upon the votes of the'
so-called "Reconstructed 'States," and
had they decided the issue in favor of
Seymour and Blair,the electoral votes of
thosaStates would hare been excluded;
and Grant and Colfax would have been
declared President and Vico President,
by the 'arbitrary power of Congrese.'
2d. Should the people, by longer sub-
Mission to the unconstitutional legislation
of Congress over the rights of the States,
which that body, among other things,
!challis authority to reject the electoral •
vbtes of States in the Union, regularly
cast and duly certified, a precedent will
be, and even has been, established, by ,
which, at ally future time, the will of the
people may be defeated, and a President
and Vice President impospd, upon thorn,
in opposition to their own choice, by the
mere diet um or Congress. HERALD.
—Advices from Cuba state that the
city of Trinidad, in the Central depart.
Meat, has .been declared iu a etato of
siege. Au engagement has taken place
at Mancargua between the troopsand re
volutionists. • Official accounts claim n
victory for the Government. The re•
port of losses is not given on either side:
Mqxican Bandits strip all the clothes
off theistago pngsengers they catch, and
send thtem on their way naked,
—The Boston Advertiser calls Repre•
sentativcs Mullins and Butler, "two
lovely cherries moulded on ono Stein."
'EKS.