[Hinds' Precedents, Volume 3]
[Chapter 60 - The Electoral Counts, 1877 To 1905]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
THE ELECTORAL COUNTS, 1877 TO 1905.
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1. Preliminary inquiry in 1877. Section 1953.
2. The count in 1877. Section 1954.
3. The count of 1881. Section 1957.
4. The count from 1885 to 1893. Sections 1958-1960.
5. The counts from 1897 to 1905. Sections 1961-1963.
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1953. The proceedings preliminary to the electoral count of 1877.
In 1877, for the first time, the electoral count was made in
accordance with an act passed by the two Houses and signed by the
President.
In 1877 the privileges, powers, and duties of the two Houses,
respectively, in connection with the electoral count were carefully
examined.
A commission consisting of Members of the House and Senate and
certain members of the judiciary was provided by law to settle disputed
questions relating to the electoral count of 1877.
In 1877 the House and Senate appointed committees to act jointly to
devise a method of counting the electoral vote.
An example of a joint report signed by Members of the two Houses.
On December 14, 1876,\1\ Mr. J. Proctor Knott, of Kentucky, from the
Committee on the Judiciary, reported the following preamble and
resolutions: \2\
Whereas there are differences of opinion as to the proper mode of
counting the electoral votes for President and Vice-President, and as
to the manner of determining questions that may arise as to the
legality and validity of the returns made of such votes by the several
States; and
Whereas it is of the utmost importance that all differences of
opinion and all doubt and uncertainty upon these questions should be
removed, to the end therefore that the votes may be counted and the
result declared by a tribunal whose authority none can question and
whose decision all will accept as final: Therefore
Resolved, That a committee of seven Members of this House be
appointed by the Speaker, to act in conjunction with any similar
committee that may be appointed by the Senate, to prepare and report
without delay such a measure, either legislative or constitutional, as
may in their judgment be best calculated to accomplish the desired end,
and that said committee have leave to report at any time.
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\1\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 78, 101;
Record, p. 197.
\2\ The foundation for this report was a resolution relating to the
electoral votes, introduced by Mr. George W. McCrary, of Iowa, on
December 7. Journal, p. 45; Record, p. 91.
Sec. 1953
Resolved, That a committee of seven Members be appointed by the
Speaker of this House to ascertain and report what are the privileges,
powers, and duties of the House of Representatives in counting the
votes for President and Vice-President of the United States, and that
said committee have leave to report at any time.
The resolutions and preamble were agreed to by the House.
On December 18 a message was received announcing that the Senate had
agreed to the following resolution:
Resolved, That the message of the House of Representatives on the
subject of the Presidential election be referred to a select committee
of seven Senators, with power to prepare and report, without
unnecessary delay, such a measure, either of legislative or other
character, as may in their judgment be best calculated to accomplish
the lawful count of the electoral vote, and best disposition of all
questions connected therewith, and a due declaration of the result, and
that said committee have power to confer and act with the committee of
the House of Representatives named in said message, and report by bill
or otherwise.
On December 22 \1\ the Speaker appointed as the committee to consult
with the Senate committee and provide for counting the electoral vote:
Messrs. Henry B. Payne, of Ohio; Eppa Hunton, of Virginia; Abram S.
Hewitt, of New York; William M. Springer, of Illinois; George W.
McCrary, of Iowa; George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, and George Willard,
of Michigan.
The following were appointed members of the Committee on the Powers,
Privileges, and Duties of the House: Messrs. J. Proctor Knott, of
Kentucky; William A. J. Sparks, of Illinois; J. Randolph Tucker, of
Virginia; Levi Maish, of Pennsylvania; Horatio C. Burchard, of
Illinois; Julius H. Seelye, of Massachusetts, and James Monroe, of
Ohio. Later, on January 12, 1877 \2\ Messrs. David Dudley Field, of New
York, and William Lawrence, of Ohio, were added.\3\
On January 12,\4\ Mr. Knott, from his committee, reporting in part,
presented the following:
Resolved, First. That the Constitution of the United States does not
confer upon the President of the Senate the power to examine and
ascertain the votes to be counted as the electoral votes for President
and Vice-President of the United States.
Second. The only power which the Constitution of the United States
confers upon the President of the Senate in respect to the electoral
votes for President and Vice-President of the United States is to
receive the sealed lists transmitted to him by the several electoral
colleges, to keep the same safely, and to open all the certificates or
those purporting to be such in the presence of the Senate and the House
of Representatives.
Third. That the Constitution of the United States does confer upon
the Senate and the House of Representatives the power to examine and
ascertain the votes to be counted as the electoral votes.
Fourth. That in execution of their power in respect to the counting
of the electoral vote the House of Representatives is at least equal
with the Senate.
Fifth. That in the counting of the electoral votes no vote can be
counted against the judgment and determination of this House of
Representatives.
Sixth. That the committee have leave to set again and report
hereafter further matter for the consideration of the House.
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\1\ Journal, p. 137.
\2\ Journal, pp. 215, 216; Record, pp. 608, 613.
\3\ On January 8 and on January 16 resolutions were adopted enlarging
the powers of the committee so as to investigate alleged disabilities
of electors and to send for persons and papers. Journal, pp. 178, 240;
Record, pp. 489, 666.
\4\ Journal, p. 215; Record, p. 609. House Report No. 100.
Sec. 1953
In support of their resolutions the committee gave no reasons.\1\ The
minority,\2\ after giving their views at length,\3\ submitted the
following propositions, as expressing more accurately the nature of the
constitutional count, and privileges, powers, and duties of the House
in relation to it:
1. That the count required to be made upon opening the certificates
is a ministerial duty.
2. That the so-called twenty-second joint rule is not now in force,
so as to require the proceedings at the count to be conducted under its
provisions.
3. That it is the duty and privilege of the House to attend with the
Senate at the opening of the certificates transmitted to the President
of the Senate by the electors appointed by the several States and to
appoint tellers to make lists of and register and compute the votes as
declared.
4. That the House, conjointly with the Senate, has power to examine
the votes upon opening the certificates and to agree with the Senate
upon a mode of doing so.
5. That the privileges, the powers, and the duties of the House of
Representatives, in the matter of the electoral votes for President and
Vice-President, are no more and no less than those of the Senate.
The minority conclude by recommending these resolutions:
Resolved, First, That it is the power and duty of the House,
conjointly with the Senate, to provide by law or other constitutional
method a mode for fairly and truly ascertaining and properly counting
the electoral vote of each State, so as to give effect to the choice of
each State in the election of President and Vice-President.
Resolved, Second, That in the absence of legislative provision on the
subject or authoritative direction from the Senate and House of
Representatives, the President of the Senate, upon opening the
certificates, declares and counts the electoral votes for President and
Vice-President of the United States.
The minority gave, in support of their conclusions, a history of the
proceedings in the various countings of electoral votes since the
formation of the Government.
The report was debated on January 18, and thereafter until January
25, when the bill to regulate the count was taken up. On January 31 the
report was postponed, the bill having meanwhile passed, and the
questions involved being disposed of thereby.\4\
The committee appointed by the Speaker ``to act in conjunction with
any similar committee that may be appointed by the Senate,'' reported
on January 18, 1877.\5\ The report is in the form of a joint report,
beginning ``The committees of the Senate and House of Representatives,
appointed under the following several resolutions, etc., beg leave to
report to their respective Houses.'' At the conclusion the report is
signed by Messrs. H. B. Payne, of Ohio; Eppa Hunton; of Virginia; Abram
S. Hewitt, of New York; William M. Springer, of Illinois; George W.
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\1\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, House Report No. 100.
\2\ Part 2 of Report No. 100. Also Record, pp. 856-858.
\3\ Those signing the minority views were Messrs. Horatio C.
Burchard, of Illinois; Julius H. Seelye, of Massachusetts; James W.
McDill, of Iowa, and William Lawrence, of Ohio.
\4\ Record, p. 1155; Journal, p. 347; Record, pp. 724-735, 773-779,
833-858, 914-922, 1155; Journal, p. 347.
\5\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, House Report No. 108;
Journal, p. 255. This bill was H. R. 4454, but the bill actually acted
on by the House was S. 1153. Also see Record, pp. 730-731.
Sec. 1954
McCrary, of Iowa; George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, and George Willard,
of Michigan, ``House committee,'' and by George F. Edmunds, of Vermont;
Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey; Roscoe Conkling, of New
York; A. G. Thurman, of Ohio; T. F. Bayard, of Delaware, and M. W.
Ransom, of North Carolina, ``Senate committee.''
The committee say that after ``a full and free conference with each
other thereon'' they report an accompanying bill,\1\ in substance
providing:
1. Provisions for the meeting of the two Houses, as required by the
Constitution and the general course of proceeding, and the declaration
of the result.
2. Provisions for the disposition of questions arising in respect of
States from which only one set of certificates has been received; that
each House shall consider the question, and shall only decide against a
vote by concurrent affirmative action.
3. Provisions for so-called double returns from a State; that such
conflicting returns and papers shall be submitted to the consideration
of a commission, composed of equal numbers of Members of the Senate and
of the House of Representatives and of the Supreme Court of the United
States; that this commission shall be organized and sworn, and have
power to consider and decide according to the Constitution and law what
is the constitutional vote of the State in question, and that such
decision shall govern the disposition of the subject unless both Houses
shall determine otherwise.
4. It is provided that the act shall not affect either way the
question of the right of resort to the judicial courts of the United
States by the persons concerned as claimants to the offices in
question.
The bill \2\ provided that the judges on the commission should be
those then assigned to the first, third, eighth, and ninth circuits,
and a fifth to be selected by those four. The Members from the House
and Senate were to be elected in each body by viva voce vote. The bill
also provided carefully for the meetings of the two Houses, the
preserving of order, the seating of Members and officers of the joint
convention, the conduct of debate, appointment of tellers, etc. Many of
the details were arranged in accordance with the old custom of the two
Houses as presented by the former joint rule No. 22.\3\
On January 25 the House received the bill from the Senate, debated
it, passed it on the succeeding day, and on January 29 notice of its
approval by the President was received.\4\
Proceedings under the terms of the bill began thereafter.
1954. Proceedings of the electoral count of 1877.
In 1877 objections to the counting of the electoral vote of a State
were referred by law from the joint meeting to the Electoral
Commission.
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\1\ 19 Stat. L., p. 229. See also Journal, p. 306, for text of bill.
\2\ For full text see 19 Stat. L., p. 229.
\3\ For terms of this rule see Journal, second session Forty-fourth
Congress, p. 722; also section 1951 (footnote) of this volume.
\4\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 301, 306-309,
323, Record, pp. 930-982, 9971050, 1094.
Sec. 1954
In 1877 the Speaker appointed the tellers for the electoral count
without special authority from the House, and named them all from the
majority party, a course which was followed by the President pro
tempore.
The question of taking recesses arose under the law providing for a
continuous legislative day during the electoral count of 1877.
On February 1, 1877,\1\ the Speaker appointed Messrs. Philip Cook, of
Georgia, and William H. Stone, of Missouri, tellers on the part of the
House for the electoral count.
Mr. John A. Kasson, of Iowa, having made the point that the minority
was not represented in this appointment, the Speaker said that he had
made the appointment under the authority of the House, and had
communicated with the President of the Senate, who would appoint the
two tellers of that body from the majority. The proceedings of the
Senate show that the President pro tempore \2\ of that body had
intended to appoint one Republican and one Democratic teller, but upon
receiving the message announcing the appointment of two Democrats in
the House, he appointed two Republicans.
Also on February 1,\3\ by unanimous consent, the Speaker laid before
the House a letter from the President of the Electoral Commission,
stating that the members had met, taken the oath, and were ready for
the performance of their duties.
Very soon thereafter the House passed a resolution directing the
Clerk to inform the Senate that the House was ready to receive that
body for the purpose of proceeding to open and count the votes of the
electors of the several States for President and Vice-President.
The Senate having attended, the returns of the States were opened by
the President of the Senate in alphabetical order, and read and counted
by the tellers in accordance with the law, when the State of Florida
was reached. There being more than one paper purporting to be a
certificate of the vote of that State, these papers, together with
objections presented to the counting of the vote of Florida, were
referred to the Electoral Commission.
On February 10,\4\ the Speaker laid before the House a communication
from the President of the Electoral Commission announcing that it had
considered the matters submitted, and had transmitted its decision to
the Senate. The House, which under the terms of the act had not
adjourned since February 1 (recesses having been taken), directed the
Clerk to inform the Senate that the House would be prepared to receive
them at 1 o'clock for the purpose of proceeding further with the count
of the electoral vote.
Messrs. Eugene Hale, of Maine, and James Wilson, of Iowa, objected
that under the terms of the law-'' whereupon the two--``Houses shall
again meet''--the meeting should be at once and should not be put off
until 1 o'clock; but the motion for the recess was agreed to
nevertheless.\5\
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\1\ Journal, p. 352; Record, pp. 1189, 1194.
\2\ T. W. Ferry, of Michigan, President pro tempore.
\3\ Journal, pp. 353-357; Record, pp. 1195-1198.
\4\ Journal, pp. 413-417; Record, pp. 1478-1486.
\5\ Record, p. 1478.
Sec. 1954
The Senate having attended, the President of the Senate, having taken
the Speaker's chair, announced that the joint meeting had resumed its
session, and presented the report of the Commission, which was signed
by a majority, and it was read by the Secretary of the Senate.\1\
Thereupon, the Presiding Officer having asked for objections, Mr.
David Dudley Field, of New York, presented objections, duly signed in
accordance with the requirements of law, to the decision of the
Commission.
The Presiding Officer having asked for further objections, and none
being presented, the Senate thereupon withdrew to their Chamber, and
the House resumed its session.
Then Mr. William P. Lynde, of Wisconsin, at 1:18 p. m. (Saturday,
Feb. 10), moved that the House take a recess until 10 o'clock a. m.,
Monday morning, February 12.
Mr. Eugene Hale, of Maine, made the point of order that, under the
provisions of the electoral law, a recess could not be taken.
After debate the Speaker overruled the point of order, saying: \2\
The gentleman from New York (Mr. George G. Hoskins) alluded to that
portion of section 5, which reads: ``Such joint meeting shall not be
dissolved until the count of electoral votes shall be completed and the
result declared.''
The Chair thinks that portion of the act has no pertinency whatever
to the question now before the House. The portion of the act to which
the Chair desires first to direct the attention of the House is
embraced in section 4, which reads as follows:
``That when the two Houses separate to decide upon the objection that
may have been made to the counting of an electoral vote or votes from
any State, or upon objection to a report of said Commission, or other
question arising under this act, each Senator and Representative may
speak to such objection or question ten minutes, and not oftener than
once; but after such debate shall have lasted two hours it shall be the
duty of each House to put the main question without further debate.''
\3\
Under that directory clause of the act, the Chair thinks that at no
later time than the time when the motion was made would such motion to
take a recess be in order. That is to say, if the debate had been
entered upon, then the clause of the law last quoted is clear and
distinct that a vote shall be taken.
The Chair would also direct attention to that portion of section 5
which reads as follows:
``And no recess shall be taken unless a question shall have arisen in
regard to counting any such votes, or otherwise under this act, in
which case it shall be competent for either House, acting sepaxately,
in the manner hereinbefore provided, to direct a recess of such House
not beyond the next day, Sunday excepted, at the hour of 10 o'clock in
the forenoon.'' 4
It is the fact that this is the first time when a question has arisen
such as is alluded to and spoken of in that clause of the act. The
question having arisen now for the first time, the Chair thinks it is
competent for this House, if in their judgment it shall be expedient,
to now take a recess, but only until the next day at 10 o'clock in the
forenoon, Sunday excepted.
Mr. Hale having appealed, the appeal was laid on the table--nayes
156, noes 76.
The motion to take a recess was then agreed to-yeas 162, nays 107.
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\1\ Journal, pp. 416-420; Record, pp. 1481-1486.
\2\ Record, p. 1486. The Speaker again ruled a recess in order on
February 20. Journal, p. 491; Record, p. 1704.
\3\ In all the respects affected by this ruling this section is the
same as section 6 of the present law. Although differing in phraseology
the two are substantially the same, except that debate is limited to
five-minute speeches. See section 1922 of this work, and also 24 Stat.
L., p. 375.
\4\ This is identical with the present section of law, except that
the word ``calendar'' has been inserted before ``day.''
Sec. 1955
1955. Proceedings of the electoral count of 1877, continued.
The electoral law of 1877 providing for putting ``the main question
without debate,'' the Speaker held that this admitted any motions
pertaining to the main question.
During the electoral count of 1877 the Speaker held that the House
alone might not refer a matter to the Electoral Commission.
During the electoral count of 1877 the President pro tempore declined
to entertain a motion that the joint meeting take a recess.
During the electoral count of 1877, when the proceedings were
prescribed by law, the Speaker ruled that a motion interfering with the
promptness of those proceedings was dilatory.
On February 12,\1\ after the recess, the House met and Mr. David
Dudley Field, of New York, submitted the following:
Ordered, That the counting of the electoral votes from the State of
Florida shall not proceed in conformity with the decision of the
Electoral Commission, but that the votes of Wilkinson Call, James E.
Yonge, Robert B. Hilton, and Robert Bullock be counted as the votes
from the State of Florida for President and Vice-President of the
United States.
Mr. Eugene Hale, of Maine, moved an amendment to provide that the
counting of the votes should proceed in conformity with the report of
the Commission.
Mr. J. Proctor Knott, of Kentucky, then offered an amendment in the
nature of a substitute, providing, after reciting in a lengthy preamble
certain alleged conditions, that ``the decision of the said Commission,
and the grounds thereof,'' be ``remanded and recommitted to the same
Commission with the request that the same be so corrected and explained
to this House,'' etc.
Mr. Hale made the point of order that under the terms of the law the
substitute was not in order, and Mr. James Wilson, of Iowa, the further
point of order that nothing could be referred to the Commission without
concurrent action of the two Houses.
After debate the Speaker said: \2\
The gentleman from Maine, in making his point of order, refers the
Chair to two portions of the law--a part of the second section which he
read--as follows:
``Whereupon the two Houses shall again meet, and such decision shall
be read and entered in the Journal of each House, and the counting of
the vote shall proceed in conformity therewith, unless, upon objection
made thereto in writing by at least five Senators and five Members of
the House of Representatives, the two Houses shall separately concur in
ordering otherwise, in which case such concurrent order shall govern.''
And the whole of the fourth section as follows:
``That when the two Houses separate to decide upon an objection that
may have been made to the counting of any electoral vote or votes from
any State, or upon objection to a report of said Commission, or other
question arising under this act, each Senator and Representative may
speak to such objection or question ten minutes, and not oftener than
once; but after such debate shall have lasted two hours, it shall be
the duty of each House to put the main question without further
debate.'' \3\
That portion of the law read which really relates to the question of
order raised by the gentleman from Maine, it occurs to the Chair, is
embraced in the following clause:
``But after such debate shall have lasted two hours it shall be the
duty of each House to put the main question without further debate.''
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\1\ Journal, pp. 420-424; Record, pp. 1488-1502.
\2\ Journal, p. 422; Record, p. 1492.
\3\ This clause is substantially the same as that of the present law,
except that the time of debate is fixed at ten minutes instead of five.
(See section 1922 of this work.)
Sec. 1955
Upon the question involved in that point of order the Chair will
presently rule. But in stating that proposition another point of order
has cropped out. In fact, the gentleman from Iowa, Mr. Wilson,
indicates his purpose to raise the point of order whether it is
competent for this House, either under the law or under the rules of
the House, to commit to an outside commission which is embraced in the
proposition of the gentleman from Kentucky. The Chair therefore desires
in a measure to consider this subject in its two aspects; because, of
course, the gentleman from Iowa, as soon as the point of order of the
gentleman from Maine shall have been decided, will be entitled to raise
his point of order. The language of the law is:
``It shall be the duty of each House to put the main question without
further debate.''
The Chair thinks the amendment or substitute of the gentleman from
Kentucky could not be excluded under that language. The main question,
in law and parliamentary proceedings, embraces all questions upon which
the previous question can be seconded\1\ and the main question ordered;
and in any proceeding in this House, therefore, it would be competent
for the main question to embrace, first, the original proposition,
next, an amendment to the original proposition to perfect the matter of
it, and, third, a substitute for both. The Chair overrules the point of
order. * * *
The Chair is unable to find anything in the law which permits a
recommittal of the question back to the Commission. Nay, more; the
Chair continues to hold, as it has been intimated he has heretofore
ruled, that it is not competent for one House to refer a bill or any
matter to an outside commission. The Chair therefore sustains the point
of order made by the gentleman from Iowa.
After two hours of debate the question was put on Mr. Hale's
amendment, which was disagreed to. The resolution of Mr. Field was then
agreed to.
The House having ordered the Clerk to--
inform the Senate of the action of the House and that the House is now
ready to meet the Senate in this Hall to proceed with the counting of
the electoral votes for President and Vice-President--
the Senate, at 2 o'clock and 25 minutes p. m., attended in the Hall of
the House.\2\
The President of the Senate, having taken the Speaker's chair and
announced that the joint meeting of Congress for counting the electoral
votes for President and Vice-President resumed its session, he further
announced that the two Houses separately had considered and determined
the objection submitted by Mr. Field to the decision of the Commission
upon the certificates from the State of Florida.
The Secretary of the Senate thereupon read the decision of the Senate
thereon, and the Clerk of the House read the decision of the House.
The Presiding Officer thereupon announced that, the two Houses not
concurring in ordering otherwise, the decision of the Commission would
stand unreversed and the counting of the electoral votes would now
proceed, in conformity with the decision of the Commission.
The tellers thereupon announced that the State of Florida cast 4
votes for Rutherford B. Haves, of Ohio, for President, and 4 votes for
William A. Wheeler, of New York, for Vice-President.
Certificates of other States were then opened, and the votes counted
without objection until the State of Louisiana was reached. Thereupon
proceedings took place similar to those in the case of Florida, and the
question was referred to the Commission, as in the case of Florida.
On Saturday, February 17, 1877,\3\ a letter was received from the
President of the Commission informing the House that it had reached a
decision and had transmitted it to the President of the Senate.
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\1\ The demand for the previous question no longer requires a second.
\2\ Journal, pp. 424-430; Record, pp. 1503-1505.
\3\ Journal, p. 465; Record, p. 1665.
Sec. 1955
Mr. L. Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi, offered a resolution, which was
agreed to yeas 152, nays 11--1--directing the Clerk to notify the
Senate that the House would receive the Senate at 11 a.m. Monday for
the purpose of proceeding with the count. This resolution was adopted,
after the point of order had been made that the Secretary of the Senate
was at the door with a message relating to the subject under
consideration.
Louisiana having been disposed of in accordance with the provisions
of the law, the count proceeded until Michigan was reached. While the
joint convention was sitting in the case of Michigan the subject of a
recess was mentioned, whereat the Presiding Officer\1\ said: \2\
The Chair can not entertain a motion to take a recess.
The case of Michigan was determined by the two Houses without
reference to the Electoral Commission.
Michigan and Nevada having been counted, Oregon was reached, and on
February 24, 1877, the House was considering the report of the
Electoral Commission on the vote of that State. A motion for a recess
until 10 o'clock on Monday morning having been voted down, Mr.
Lafayette Lane, of Oregon, moved that a recess be taken until 9.30
o'clock Monday.
Mr. Eugene Hale, of Maine, made the point of order that the privilege
of the House to take a recess had been exhausted by the first motion
for a recess, and that the second motion was dilatory.
The Speaker sustained the point of order, saying: \3\
The Chair is unable to classify it in any other way. Therefore he
rules that when the Constitution of the United States directs anything
to be done, or when the law under the Constitution of the United States
enacted in obedience thereto directs any act by this House, it is not
in order to make any motion to obstruct or impede the execution of that
injunction of the Constitution and the laws.
The Oregon case having been settled after reference to the
Commission, and the Pennsylvania case by the two Houses, objection was
made in the joint convention to the certificate from Rhode Island, and
the two Houses, on February 26, separated to reach a determination.
The House having been called to order, a motion was made for a
recess, and decided in the negative.
Mr. Fernando Wood, of New York, having moved to reconsider this vote
and lay that motion on the table, and an inquiry having been made in
relation thereto, the Speaker said: \4\
The Chair recognizes as in order the motion to reconsider the vote by
which the House refused to take a recess. The gentleman from New York
makes that motion and then moves to lay it on the table, the evident
object being to prevent a vote being taken on the motion to reconsider.
It is well known in parliamentary practice as a clinching motion to
prevent further delay.
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\1\ T. W. Ferry, of Michigan, President pro tempore of the Senate.
\2\ Record, p. 1720.
\3\ Journal, p. 531; Record, pp. 1906, 1907. Also Journal, p. 574,
for a similar ruling.
\4\ Journal, p. 548; Record, p. 1939.
Sec. 1956
1956. Proceedings of the electoral count of 1877, continued.
Construction of the law providing for putting the main question
without debate during the electoral count.
In the joint meeting for the electoral count of 1877 a Member of the
House raised a question as to the presence of a quorum of the Senate,
but it was disregarded by the President pro tempore.
During the electoral count of 1877 a Member of the House was
permitted, by unanimous consent, to make to the joint meeting a
statement relating to an unofficial return.
In 1877 the President pro tempore declined to receive an unofficial
certificate of the electoral vote of Vermont, presented in the joint
meeting by a Member of the House.
In the joint meeting for the electoral count of 1877 the President
pro tempore declined to entertain either a resolution or an appeal.
The two Houses having separated to pass on an objection raised during
the electoral count of 1877, the Speaker decided that the right to
prior recognition belonged to the Member who had raised the objection
in the joint meeting.
The House having reached a determination as to the counting of the
vote of the disputed elector in Rhode Island, Mr. James Wilson, of
Iowa, moved that the Senate be notified of the action of the House, and
that the House was ready to meet that body in joint session.\1\
Mr. J. Proctor Knott, of Kentucky, moved an amendment which provided
that the time when the House should be ready to meet the Senate should
be 10 a. m. the next day.
Mr. George W. McCrary, of Iowa, made the point of order that the law
provided that the Houses should ``immediately again meet.'' \2\
The Speaker said:
The Chair thinks the law does bear the construction which the
gentleman from Iowa puts upon it, that when the two Houses have voted
they shall immediately again meet. The Senate has notified the House of
its action in the case of the Rhode Island elector, and that it is
ready to meet this House in joint meeting. The House has voted on the
same question, and the only remaining duty under the law is for the two
Houses to meet immediately. The amendment of the gentleman from
Kentucky is therefore ruled out.
The question arising in relation to the Rhode Island elector having
been decided without reference to the Commission, the count proceeded
until South Carolina was reached. A question arising, it was referred
to the Commission, whose report was before the joint convention on
February 28, 1877.\3\ During the proceedings of the joint convention
while the actions of the two Houses separately were being announced,
Mr. Thomas L. Jones, a Member of the House from Kentucky, raised a
question as to whether or not a quorum of the Senate were present.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Journal, p. 549; Record, p. 1945.
\2\ These are the words of the present law. See section 1918 of this
work.
\3\ Journal, pp. 570, 571; Record, p. 2021.
Sec. 1956
Mr. N. P. Banks, of Massachusetts, made the point that this was a
question not for the convention but for the Senate alone.
Although Mr. Jones protested against continuing without the
ascertainment of the question raised by him, the Presiding Officer
disregarded his protest and inquiry,\1\ saying that debate was not in
order.
The vote of South Carolina having been counted, and the count having
proceeded, Vermont was reached, and the certificate from that State was
read.
Pending the presentation of objections to the counting of this vote,
Mr. Abram S. Hewitt, of New York, was permitted by unanimous consent to
make a statement in relation to a package purporting to contain the
electoral vote of Vermont, which had been sent to him and which he
tendered to the Presiding Officer.
The Presiding Officer having stated that his duty was only to receive
and open and have read certificates received up to and on the first
Thursday of February, the package tendered by Mr. Hewitt was not
received.\1\
Thereupon Mr. William M. Springer, of Illinois, proposed to offer a
resolution in relation to ``a question arising under this act,''
quoting the words of the electoral act.
The Presiding Officer stated that if the Member from Illinois
submitted an objection to the certificate the Chair would entertain it,
but could not entertain a resolution. The Chair further held that he
could not permit anything to be read except a properly signed
objection.\2\
Mr. Springer having appealed, the Presiding Officer declined to
entertain the appeal.\3\
Objections having been offered and read, Mr. Springer, demanded the
reading by the tellers of the return referred to by Mr. Hewitt, which
had been presented with the objections.
The Presiding Officer declined to have the return read, or to
consider it as a second return received by him within the meaning of
the law relating to reference to the Electoral Commission.
The joint convention having dissolved, and the House on March 1 \4\
having reassembled, Mr. Earley F. Poppleton, of Ohio, claiming the
floor as an objector in the joint convention, and being recognized,
presented a preamble reciting the facts attending the presentation of
the package by Mr. Hewitt in the joint convention, alleging that the
package, although made a part of the objection, had not been opened by
the Presiding Officer in the convention, but had been retained by him;
and resolving as follows:
That the refusal of the President of the Senate to open, in the
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, said sealed
package purporting to be the electoral vote of the State of Vermont,
was a violation of law and of the privileges of this House, and that
until said package shall be opened pursuant to law in the presence of
the two Houses of Congress, the counting of the votes can not further
proceed,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Record, p. 2021.
\2\ The provisions of law in regard to objections were the same as at
present. Compare sec. 1 of act of 1877 (19 Stat. L., p. 227) with
present law. See section 1918 of this work.
\3\ Record, p. 2022.
\4\ Journal, p. 587; Record, p. 2031.
Sec. 1956
according to the Constitution and law now in existence for the counting
of said electoral votes for President and Vice-President of the United
States.
Further, that the Clerk of this House inform the Senate of the
adoption of the foregoing preamble and resolution, and request the
Senate to meet this House in joint session, to the end that said
package purporting to be a certificate of the electoral vote of Vermont
be opened by the President of the Senate, and that the proceedings
thereafter be held according to law.
Mr. Fernando Wood, of New York, made the point of order that under
the provisions of the electoral law 1 no business of any kind was in
order except to proceed to consider the objections made in the joint
convention.
After the debate the Speaker said:\2\
The Chair desires to say that, with great respect for all the parties
concerned, he considers that a grave mistake and wrong was committed
yesterday in the joint meeting of the two Houses in this, that the
presiding officer refused to receive, even for opening and reading for
information, a package which had all the surroundings of an authentic
and duly attested paper in relation to an electoral vote of the State
of Vermont. The Chair, in one aspect of this case, thinks that he would
be called upon to rule that the action of the presiding officer of the
joint convention on yesterday was wrong. He does not think that he
possesses that power; neither in a technical sense, as he understands
it, does he believe that the action of the joint convention can be
reviewed in this House in the manner proposed. And yet there is above
all a fact upon which this matter rests, and that fact is, whether this
House shall have possession of that paper; and to that extent, and that
extent only, the resolution offered by the gentleman from Ohio, in so
far as it requests the return of that paper from the Senate, which, as
the allegation in the preamble stated, was taken away from here in an
undue manner, that this proposition is in order.
Mr. Poppleton having modified his resolution in accordance with the
decision of the Chair, Mr. Fernando Wood, of New York, submitted as an
amendment, in the nature of a substitute, this proposition:
That the vote of Henry N. Sollace, claiming to be an elector from the
State of Vermont, be not counted.
Mr. J. Proctor Knott, of Kentucky, offered as a further substitute,
which was considered as pending, a resolution that the House require
that the President of the Senate open the package in the presence of
the two Houses; that the same, if found to be a certificate as
purported, be submitted to the Electoral Commission, and that the House
would not meet the Senate to proceed with the counting of the electoral
vote until the Senate should join in this order.
After debate, interrupted by great confusion, had proceeded for a
time Mr. Abram S. Hewitt, of New York, rising in his place, announced
that a messenger had just approached him and tendered him the package
in question. Mr. Hewitt said he did not know who the messenger was, but
he was present, standing near the Speaker. As to the message, Mr.
Hewitt said it was not his, and he had no custody of it.
The Speaker said that if there was no objection on the part of the
House the Chair would receive the package.\3\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The provisions of that law were identical with those of the
present law, and are that when the objections are made the Senate shall
withdraw, and the Speaker shall submit the objections to the House. See
section 1918 of this work.
\2\ Journal. p. 590; Record, p. 2032.
\3\ Record, p. 2037
Sec. 1956
Objection being made, Mr. William D. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, asked
that the messenger be interrogated as to whence the package came.
The Chair ruled that this would not be in order.
The question being taken on the resolution proposed by Mr. Knott, it
was disagreed to, yeas 116, nays 148.\1\ A resolution similar to Mr.
Knott's, except as to the declaration that the House would not meet the
Senate to proceed with the electoral count, was next presented and
decided in the negative, yeas 115, nays 147, the previous question
having been ordered.
Mr. Ansel T. Walling, of Ohio, moved that the pending resolution be
laid on the table.
Mr. George W. McCrary, of Iowa, made the point of order that the
motion was not in order under the electoral law.
The Speaker, after declaring that an order for the main question to
be put did not preclude a motion to lay on the table,\2\ said:
The law \3\ reads as follows:
``But after such debate shall have lasted two hours, it shall be the
duty of each House to put the main question without debate.''
Now, the Chair thinks that any motions which are allowed by the rules
of the House, and which pertain to the main question, are allowable at
any period of the progress of the main question.\4\
The motion to lay on the table being entertained and decided in the
negative, a motion was made to reconsider the latter vote.
Mr. Fernando Wood having made the point of order that the motion was
dilatory, the Speaker overruled the point of order, holding it to be a
motion which, under the rules, pertained to the main question.\5\
The resolution offered by Mr. Fernando Wood as an amendment was then
agreed to, yeas 208, nays 17; and then the resolution of Mr. Poppleton
as thus amended was agreed to, after the Speaker had ruled out of order
as dilatory both a motion to excuse a Member from voting and an appeal
from that decision.\6\
At this point Mr. William J. O'Brien, of Maryland, claimed the floor
to submit a resolution notifying the Senate of the action of the House.
The Speaker quoted the law--
When the two Houses have voted, they shall immediately again meet,
and the presiding officer shall then announce the decision of the
question submitted.\7\
and stated that as the House had been notified of the action of the
Senate, he should consider the terms of the act mandatory and
ministerial, and should direct the Clerk to notify the Senate that the
House was now ready to meet the Senate.
The vote of Vermont was next counted in the joint convention under
the provisions of the law, and the count proceeded until Wisconsin was
reached. Objec-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Journal, p. 591; Record, p. 2048.
\2\ At this time the motion to lay on the table was admitted after
the previous question was ordered. Later, Speaker Randall reversed the
practice, and it has so remained.
\3\ The clause of the law here quoted is identical with the present
law. See section 1922 of this work.
\4\ Journal, p. 595; Record, pp. 2050, 2051.
\5\ Record, p. 2051.
\6\ Journal, pp. 601, 602; Record, p. 2053.
\7\ These are the exact terms of the present law. See section 1918 of
this work.
Sec. 1956
tion being made to the vote of that State, the two Houses separated,
and the House resumed its session.\1\
Question arising as to right to recognition, the Speaker said that he
was bound in reality to recognize the gentleman who in the joint
convention had presented the objection.
Mr. Roger Q. Mills, of Texas, having proposed as a question of
privilege a preamble and resolution, reciting that through fraudulent
returns Messrs. Tilden and Hendricks were not receiving by the
electoral count the majority to which they were entitled, and providing
that the House should proceed immediately, in obedience to the
Constitution, to choose a President, the Speaker \2\ held that the only
way in which this proposition could be offered would be in the form of
an amendment in the nature of an objection. In the first place, the
Chair would have to recognize the gentleman making the objection in
joint convention to offer the usual motion in relation to the
objection.
The House acted on the objections to the vote of Wisconsin; and, the
convention having reassembled, that vote was counted.\3\
The Presiding Officer thereupon announced the conclusion of the
counting of the electoral votes of the thirty-eight States of the Union
in conformity with the act entitled, ``An act,'' etc., and directed the
tellers to ascertain and report the result.
The Hon. William B. Allison, a Senator from the State of Iowa, one of
the tellers, thereupon announced the result by States and the totals.
The Presiding Officer thereupon said:
The whole number of
electors appointed to
vote for President and
Vice.
President is......... 369
Of which a majority is. 185
The state of the vote for President of the United States as delivered
by the tellers, and as determined under the act of Congress approved
January 29, 1877, is:
For Rutherford B. 185
Hayes, of Ohio.
For Samuel J. Tilden, 184
of New York.
The state of the vote for Vice-President of the United States as
delivered by the tellers, etc., is:
For William A. Wheeler, 185
of New York.
For Thomas A. 184
Hendricks, of Indiana.
Wherefore I do declare:
That Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, having received a majority of the
whole number of electoral votes, is duly elected President of the
United States for four years, commencing on the 4th day of March, 1877.
And that William A. Wheeler, of New York, having received a majority
of the whole number of electoral votes, is duly elected Vice-President
of the United States for four years, commencing on the 4th day of
March, 1877.\4\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Journal, p. 607; Record, p. 2055.
\2\ Record, pp. 2055, 2056.
\3\ Journal, pp. 612, 613; Record, p. 2068.
\4\ The existing law provides that after the ascertainment of the
result it shall be delivered to the President of the Senate ``who shall
thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement shall be
deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected,'' etc.
(24 Stat. L., p. 373; also sec. 1918 of this work.) The former joint
rule, which, however, was not in force in 1877, provided that the
President of the Senate should ``announce the state of the vote and the
names of the persons, if any, elected, which announcement shall be
deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected,'' etc. Journal
second session Forty-fourth Congress, p. 723.
Sec. 1957
The Presiding Officer further stated that the count of the electoral
vote for President and Vice-President of the United States being now
completed, the joint meeting of the two Houses of Congress is now
dissolved, and the Senate will accordingly return to their Chamber.
1957. Proceedings at the electoral count of 1881.
The State of Georgia having cast her vote on a day different from
that prescribed by law, an alternative announcement was made at the
counting of the electoral vote.
In 1881 the Senate determined that its President had no authority to
decide on the reception or rejection of electoral votes.
In the Forty-sixth Congress, previous to and preparatory to the count
of the electoral vote in 1881, the Senate passed and sent to the House
a proposition for a joint rule to regulate fully and in detail the
proceedings of the count.\1\ The proposition was debated in the House
\2\ at considerable length, there being opposition because of a belief
that a law would be better than a joint rule. Finally, on January 26,
1881,\3\ it became evident from the obstructive tactics invoked in the
House that the joint rule could not be agreed to On February 2,
1881,\4\ after full debate the Senate agreed to the following
resolution:
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 1.
That the two Houses of Congress shall assemble in the Hall of the House
of Representatives on Wednesday, the 9th of February, 1881, at 12
o'clock meridian, pursuant to the requirement of the Constitution and
laws relating to the election of President and Vice-President of the
United States, and the President of the Senate shall be the presiding
officer; that two persons be appointed tellers on the part of the
Senate and two on the part of the House of Representatives to make a
list of the votes as they shall be declared; that the result shall be
delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall announce the state
of the vote and the persons elected to the two Houses assembled as
aforesaid, which shall be deemed a declaration of the persons elected
President and Vice-President of the United States, and, together with a
list of votes, be entered on the Journals of the two Houses.
2. That if it shall appear that any votes of electors for President
or Vice-President of the United States have been given on a day other
than that fixed for casting such votes by act of Congress, in pursuance
of the Constitution of the United States, if the counting or omitting
to count such votes shall not essentially change the result of the
election, they shall be reported by the President of the Senate in the
following manner: Were the votes of electors cast on the ---- day of --
--, 1880, to be counted, the result would be for A. B. for President of
the United States ---- votes, and for C. D. for President of the United
States ---- votes; if not counted, the result would be for A. B. for
President of the United States ---- votes, and for C. D. for President
of the United States ---- votes; but in either event ---- is elected
President of the United States. And in the same manner for Vice-
President.\5\
On February 5, 1881,\6\ after debate, the resolution was agreed to by
the House,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The law governing the count in 1877 had applied only to that
occasion. The debates in the Senate on this joint rule went quite fully
into the legal questions involved. See Congressional Record, second
session Forty-sixth Congress, pp. 3652-3662, 3682-3704, for Senate
debate and form of rule.
\2\ Record, pp. 438-4401, 4487-4501, 4505-4507, of second session
Forty-sixth Congress.
\3\ Third session Forty-sixth Congress, Journal, pp. 264-271.
\4\ Third session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, pp. 1129-1141.
\5\ The doubtful return referred to was expected from the State of
Georgia; and as was stated in the debate in the House (Record, p. 1257)
the resolution was drawn in accordance with precedents of 1821, 1837,
and 1857.
\6\ Journal pp. 335-336, Record, pp. 1257-1262.
Sec. 1958
the yeas and nays being taken on the second branch and resulting, yeas
160, nays 77.\1\
On February 9,\2\ the two Houses met in joint convention, the Vice-
President presiding, and the votes were opened and tabulated by the
tellers. As Georgia had cast her vote on the second Wednesday of
December, a day different from that prescribed by law, two tabulations
were made, one including and the other not including Georgia's eleven
votes. Then Mr. Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, one of the tellers, made the
announcement of the state of the votes, stating that in either event
Messrs. Garfield and Arthur were elected.
The President of the Senate (the Vice-President) then announced the
state of the votes, and declared the same to be as follows:
Wherefore I do declare that James A. Garfield, of the State of Ohio,
having received a majority of the votes of the whole number of electors
appointed, is duly elected President of the United States for four
years, commencing on the 4th day of March, 1881.
A similar declaration was made in regard to the Vice-President-elect.
1958. Proceedings at the electoral count of 1885.
At the electoral count of 1885 the President pro tempore, in
announcing the result, disclaimed any authority in law to declare any
legal conclusion whatever.
In 1885 there was no question as to the electoral count, and the two
Houses adopted a concurrent resolution which was simply the first
branch of the resolution of 1881. As the resolution originated in the
House,\3\ it provided for one teller on the part of the Senate and two
on the part of the House. The Senate amended so that there might be two
Senate tellers.\4\ The House agreed to this,\5\ and so the resolution
took on the exact form of the first portion of the resolution of 1881.
When the electoral count occurred, on February 11, 1885,\6\ the
Presiding Officer,\7\ after announcing the state of the vote, said:
Wherefore, I do declare that Grover Cleveland, of the State of New
York, has received a majority of the votes of the whole number of
electors appointed as they appear in the certificates read by the
tellers, and so appears to have been elected President of the United
States for four years, commencing on the 4th day of March, 1885; and
that Thomas A. Hendricks, etc., * * * And the President of the Senate
makes this declaration only as a public statement in the presence of
the two Houses of Congress of the contents of the papers opened and
read on this occasion, and not as possessing any authority in law to
declare any legal conclusion whatever.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Some of the opposition in the House arose from belief that the
President of the Senate was the proper authority to make the count. On
February 4, 1881, after extended debate, by vote of 42 to 1, the Senate
agreed to a concurrent resolution stating that the ``President of the
Senate is not invested by the Constitution'' with ``the right to count
the votes of electors'' so as to determine what votes shall be received
and counted or what votes shall be rejected. (Record, 3d sess. 46th
Cong., pp. 1160-1174, 1205-1211.) This resolution was received in the
House February 4, but does not seem to have been acted on. Journal, p.
330; Record, p. 1237.
\2\ Journal, pp. 358-360; Record, pp. 1386, 1387.
\3\ Second session Forty-eighth Congress, Journal, p. 381; Record, p.
1053.
\4\ Record, p. 1073.
\5\ Journal, p. 452; Record, p. 1220. Mr. James F. Clay, of Kentucky,
who had charge of the resolution in the House, said that up to 1868 the
Senate had had two tellers in only two instances. There was no
objection, however, to the amendment of the Senate.
\6\ Journal, p. 521; Record, p. 1533.
\7\ George F. Edmunds, of Vermont.
Sec. 1959
1959. The electoral counts of 1889 and 1893.
In 1893 a question was raised as to the constitutional force of the
electoral act of 1887.
For the electoral count of 1889,\1\ provisions for which had been
made in the general statute of February 3, 1887,\2\ the House and
Senate nevertheless adopted the usual concurrent resolution in the form
used in 1885. The count was made without unusual incident.
1960. For the electoral count of 1893 \3\ the form of the concurrent
resolution was continued the same. While it was being considered in the
Senate, the point was made \4\ that the language of the statute made
all necessary provisions without the necessity of adopting the
customary concurrent resolution. Mr. George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts,
explained that this question had arisen four years before, not long
after the passage of the law, and it had been decided best to pass the
resolution in order to avoid a constitutional question which might
arise. The provision of the Constitution that each House may prescribe
the rules of its own proceedings had been sometimes thought to prevent
Congress from enacting by law provisions for directing either House as
to the time or mode of its proceeding without the special assent of the
particular House in the particular Congress.
The count of 1893 proceeded without unusual incident.
1961. The electoral count of 1897.
The two Houses by concurrent resolution provide for the meeting to
count the electoral vote, for the appointment of tellers, and for the
declaration of the state of the vote.
The House by resolution makes a special disposition of the galleries
for the electoral count.
While the Speaker has at times appointed the tellers for the
electoral count as of his own authority, yet the best considered
opinion is that the function belongs to the House itself. (Footnote.)
The usage as to preliminary messages between the two Houses when they
are about to assemble in joint meeting for the count of the electoral
vote. (Footnote.)
On February 2, 1897,\5\ Mr. David B. Henderson, of Iowa, from the
Committee on Rules, presented and the House agreed to this resolution:
Resolved, That on Wednesday, February 10, the whole of the gallery,
except that which is designated as executive, diplomatic, and
reporters' galleries, and two sections of the east end of the public
gallery, shall be reserved for the use of the families of Senators,
Members of the House of Representatives, Delegates, and their visitors.
The Doorkeeper shall strictly enforce this order.
The Speaker shall issue to each Senator, Member of the House of
Representatives, and Delegate two cards of admission, and only persons
holding these cards shall be admitted.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Fiftieth Congress, Journal, pp. 359, 491; Record,
pp. 1254, 1860.
\2\ 24 Stat. L., p. 373.
\3\ Second session Fifty-second Congress, Journal, pp. 46, 61.
\4\ Record, p. 228.
\5\ Second session Fifty-fourth Congress, Record, p. 1462.
Sec. 1961
Then Mr. Henderson presented, also from the Committee on Rules,\1\
the following resolution, which was agreed to by the House:
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That the two Houses of Congress shall assemble in the Hall of the House
of Representatives on Wednesday, the 10th day of February, 1897, at 1
o'clock in the afternoon, pursuant to the requirement of the
Constitution and laws relating to the election of President and Vice-
President of the United States, and the President of the Senate shall
be the Presiding Officer; that two persons be appointed tellers on the
part of the Senate and two on the part of the House of Representatives
to make a list of the votes as they shall be declared; that the result
shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall announce
the state of the vote and the persons elected to the two Houses
assembled as aforesaid,\2\ which shall be deemed a declaration of the
persons elected President and Vice-President of the United States, and,
together with a list of the votes, be entered on the Journals of the
two Houses.\3\
This resolution was agreed to in the Senate on February 3.\4\
On February 5, 1861, a motion was made that the Speaker be authorized
to appoint the tellers on the part of the House.
On February 8,\5\ in the House, the Speaker \6\ said:
The Chair is not entirely certain that he has authority to appoint
the tellers on the part of the House to count the electoral vote, but
in accordance with what seems to be the custom he will make the
appointment and submit it to the House. The appointments which the
Chair will make, if the House does not object, will be the gentleman
from Ohio, Mr. Grosvenor, and the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr.
Richardson. If there be no objection, these will be considered as the
tellers to count the electoral vote.\7\
There was no objection.
Also on this day the Speaker laid before the House letters from the
Secretary of State transmitting copies in full of the certificates of
ascertainment of the electors
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The jurisdiction of this resolution belongs more properly to the
Committee on Election of President, Vice-President, and Representatives
in Congress. See section 1963 of this chapter.
\2\ This form has since been changed to conform to the law, which
provides that the Presiding Officer shall announce only the state of
the vote.
\3\ This is the form adopted for the two preceding counts. Its
general terms are taken from former joint rule 22. See second session
Forty-seventh Congress, Journal, pp. 678, 679.
\4\ Record, p. 1480.
\5\ Record, p. 1662.
\6\ Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, Speaker.
\7\ In 1879 Speaker Randall appointed tellers without consulting the
House (second session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 352; Record,
pp. 1189, 1194), even appointing the two of the same political party.
On February 7, 1881, Mr. Speaker Randall again appointed tellers
without asking the House for confirmation. The proceeding took place
under a concurrent resolution embodying in this respect the same
provision as the above resolution and the same as the present law.
(Third session Forty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 346; Record, p. 1315.)
On February 10, 1885, Speaker pro tempore J. S. C. Blackburn again
appointed tellers without question under similar terms of the
concurrent resolution. (Second session Forty-eighth Congress, Journal,
p. 509; Record, p. 1500.) On February 11, 1888, under terms of the
concurrent resolution the same as in previous years, and the law
existing as at present Mr. Speaker Carlisle expressed doubts as to his
right to appoint and asked the approval of the House. (Second session
Fiftieth Congress, Journal, p. 470; Record, p. 1751.) On February 1,
1893, Mr. Speaker Crisp expressed similar doubts and asked the approval
of the House. (Second session Fifty-second Congress, Journal, p. 65;
Record, p. 1059.)
On February 10, 1873, the Speaker appointed the tellers called for by
the joint rule 22, without consulting the House, saying ``It is the
duty of the Speaker to nominate two Representatives.'' The joint rule
provided that two tellers ``shall be appointed * * * on the part of the
House of Representatives.'' (Third session Forty-second Congress,
Journal, p. 358; Globe, p. 1236. James G. Blaine, of Maine, Speaker.)
Sec. 1961
appointed in the different States. These documents were ordered to lie
on the Speaker's table.\1\
On February 10, at three minutes before 1 o'clock, the Doorkeeper
announced the Vice-President and the Senate of the United States.
The Senate entered the Hall, preceded by its Sergeant-at-Arms, and
headed by the Vice-President of the United States and the Secretary of
the Senate, the Members and officers of the House rising to receive
them.\2\
The Vice-President took his seat as presiding officer of the joint
convention of the two Houses, the Speaker of the House occupying the
chair on his left.
Senators Blackburn and Lodge, the tellers appointed on the part of
the Senate, and Representatives Grosvenor and Richardson, the tellers
appointed on the part of the House, took their places at the Clerk's
desk.
The Vice-President announced:
The Senate and House of Representatives are now in joint session,
pursuant to law, for the purpose of opening and counting the votes of
the electors for President and Vice-President of the United States. The
certificate of the State of Alabama will be read by the tellers.
After the reading of the first certificate, on motion of Senator John
Sherman, of Ohio, and by unanimous consent, the formal reading of the
remaining certificates was omitted.
The tellers, having made up their report and officially certified it,
delivered it to the Vice-President, who announced it, and said:
This announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the
Senate is by law a sufficient declaration that William McKinley, of the
State of Ohio, is elected President of the United States, and that
Garret A. Hobart, of the State of New Jersey, is elected Vice-President
of the United States, each for the term beginning March 4, 1897, and
will be entered, together with a list of the votes, on the Journals of
the Senate and House of Representatives.
The count of the electoral votes having been completed and the result
declared, the joint meeting of the two Houses is dissolved, and the
Senate will now return to its Chamber.
The Senate then retired from the Hall (at 1 o'clock and 55 minutes
p.m.), when the Speaker resumed the chair, and the House was again
called to order.\3\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Fifty-fourth Congress, Record, p. 1643. These
copies are transmitted to the House in accordance with the provisions
of section 3 of the act of February 3, 1887. (24 Stat. L., p. 373.)
\2\ Previous to the arrival of the Senate a message was received from
that body announcing that it had taken order to proceed to the House to
take part in the count. (Second session Fifty-fourth Congress, Journal,
p. 163; Record, p. 1711.) This order had been adopted in the Senate on
the preceding day. (Record p. 1672.) The House sent no message to the
Senate.
On February 8, 1893, the day of the count the Senate adopted an order
that the Senate should attend in the Hall of the House. (Second session
Fifty-second Congress, Record, p. 1314.) It does not appear that this
order was sent to the House by message, or that the House sent any
message to the Senate. (Journal, pp. 80, 81.)
On February 13, 1889, the question of adopting an order that the
Senate proceed to the House to participate in the count caused debate
over the fact that the House proposed to send to the Senate no
notification of its readiness to receive the Senate. It was stated that
the law governing the electoral count was for the first time in force,
and therefore it did not seem necessary or proper for the Senate to
await the usual invitation. So the Senate adopted the order that it
attend in the Hall of the House, without awaiting a message from that
body. (Second session Fiftieth Congress, Record, pp. 1816, 1817.)
\3\ Second session Fifty-fourth Congress, Record, p. 1715.
Sec. 1962
1962. The electoral count of 1901.
In 1901 the concurrent resolution providing for the electoral count
was changed in form to meet the requirements of the electoral law.
In 1901 the Speaker, with the assent of the House, appointed the
tellers for the electoral count.
Form of the duplicate reports made by the tellers at the electoral
count.
On January 22, 1901,\1\ the following resolution, which had been
received from the Senate, was, under the rule, referred to the
Committee on Rules:
Resolved by the Senate (the Howe of Representatives concurring), That
the two Houses of Congress shall assemble in the Hall of the House of
Representatives on Wednesday, the 13th day of February, 1901, at 1
o'clock in the afternoon, pursuant to the requirement of the
Constitution and laws relating to the election of President and Vice-
President of the United States, and the President of the Senate shall
be the presiding officer; that two persons be appointed tellers on the
part of the Senate and two on the part of the House of Representatives
to make a list of the votes as they shall be declared; that the result
shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall announce
the state of the vote and the persons elected to the two Houses
assembled as aforesaid, which shall be deemed a declaration of the
persons elected President and Vice-President of the United States, and,
together with a list of the votes, be entered on the Journals of the
two Houses.
On January 31 \2\ Mr. John Dalzell, of Pennsylvania, reported the
resolution back from the committee, with the recommendation that it be
amended by striking out all after the resolving clause and inserting
the following:
That the two Houses of Congress shall assemble in the Hall of the
House of Representatives on Wednesday, the 13th day of February, 1901,
at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, pursuant to the requirement of the
Constitution and laws relating to the election of President and Vice-
President of the United States, and the President of the Senate shall
be their presiding officer; that two tellers shall be previously
appointed on the part of the Senate and two on the part of the House of
Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the
President of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to
be certificates of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers
shall be opened, presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of
the States, beginning with the letter A; and said tellers, having then
read the same in the presence and hearing of the two Houses, shall make
a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates;
and the votes having been ascertained and counted in the manner and
according to the rules by law provided, the result of the same shall be
delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce
the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient
declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and Vice-
President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes,
be entered on the Journals of the two Houses.
Mr. Dalzell explained that the amendment was intended to conform to
the provisions of the electoral law of 1887. The original resolution,
sent from the Senate, was in the form used prior to the enactments of
the law. By oversight it had been continued from count to count,
although some of its provisions, notably that relating to the
announcement of the result, were at variance with the provisions of the
law.
The amendment was agreed to without division.
On February 1 \3\ the amendment was agreed to by the Senate.
On February 7, 1901,\4\ the Speaker laid before the House duplicates
of the
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 144; Record, pp.
1312, 1316.
\2\ Journal, p. 178; Record, p. 1736.
\3\ Record, p. 1765.
\4\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 2101; Journal, p.
201.
Sec. 1962
certificates of the various States of their election of electors of
President and Vice-President of the United States. They were, by
unanimous consent, ordered to lie on the Speaker's table until after
the electoral count, then to be delivered to the care of the file clerk
of the House.
Also on February 7 the Speaker, asking the assent of the House,
appointed Messrs. Charles H. Grosvenor, of Ohio, and James D.
Richardson, of Tennessee, tellers on the part of the House for the
proceedings of the electoral count.
On February 12th \1\ a message from the Senate announced that they
had agreed to the following:
Ordered, That at ten minutes before 1 o'clock on Wednesday, February
13, 1901, the Senate proceed to the Hall of the House of
Representatives to take part in the count of the electoral votes for
President and Vice-President of the United States.
On February 13 \2\ at 1 o'clock the Doorkeeper announced the
President pro tempore and the Senate of the United States.
The Senate entered the Hall, preceded by its Sergeant-at-Arms, and
headed by its President pro tempore and the Secretary of the Senate,
the members and officers of the House rising to receive them.
The President pro tempore of the Senate took his seat as Presiding
Officer of the Joint Convention of the two Houses, the Speaker of the
House occupying the chair on his left.
Senators Chandler and Caffery, the tellers appointed on the part of
the Senate, and Representatives Grosvenor and Richardson, the tellers
appointed on the part of the House, took their places at the Clerk's
desk.
The President pro tempore \3\ announced:
The two Houses of Congress are in joint convention, pursuant to the
requirements of the Constitution and laws of the United States, to open
the credentials and count the votes of the several States for President
and Vice-President. Following precedents well established on former
occasions, unless there shall be a demand for it in any case, the mere
formal papers will not be read by the tellers. On ascertaining that the
credentials are authentic and in correct form, they will simply give
the lists of the votes of the several States.
If there be no objection to the counting of the electoral vote of the
State of Alabama, the tellers will receive the credentials and make a
list of the vote.
The President pro tempore thereupon opened the certificates of the
various States in their alphabetical order, and passed them to the
tellers \4\ who announced the result.
The President pro tempore then announced:
Gentlemen of the convention, the certificates having all been opened
and read, the tellers will make ascertainment of the result and report
the same to the President pro tempore of the Senate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Journal, p. 223; Record, p. 2347.
\2\ Journal, p. 226; Record, p. 2371.
\3\ William P. Frye, of Maine, President pro tempore.
\4\ The tellers sat those from the Senate on the right and those from
the House on the left of the presiding officer. The returns were passed
to the tellers in turn, beginning with the Senate teller on the extreme
right.
Sec. 1962
Thereupon Senator William E. Chandler, of New Hampshire, one of the
tellers, announced:
Mr. President, the tellers report the following as the result of the
ascertainment of the count of the electoral vote:
The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for President of
the United States is 447, of which a majority is 224.
William McKinley, of the State of Ohio, has received for President of
the United States 292 votes.
William Jennings Bryan, of the State of Nebraska, has received 155
votes.
The state of the vote for Vice-President of the United States, as
delivered to the President of the Senate, is as follows:
The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for Vice-President
of the United States is 447, of which a majority is 224.
Theodore Roosevelt, of the State of New York, has received 292 votes.
Adlai E. Stevenson, of the State of Illinois, has received 155 votes.
The report of the tellers \1\ is as follows:
``The undersigned, William E. Chandler and Donelson Caffery, tellers
on the part of the Senate, and Charles H. Grosvenor and James D.
Richardson, tellers on the part of the House of Representatives, report
the following as the result of the ascertainment and counting of the
electoral vote for President and Vice-President of the United States
for the term beginning March 4, 1901:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of For President. For Vice-President.
electoral ---------------------------------------------
votes to
State. which William William Theodore Adlai E.
each McKinley, Jennings Roosevelt, Stevenson,
state is of Ohio. Bryan, of of New of
entitled. Nebraska. York. Illinois.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama................................................ 11 ......... 11 .......... 11
Arkansas............................................... 8 ......... 8 .......... 8
California............................................. 9 9 ......... 9 ..........
Colorado............................................... 4 ......... 4 .......... 4
Connecticut............................................ 6 6 ......... 6 ..........
Delaware............................................... 3 3 ......... 3 ..........
Florida................................................ 4 ......... 4 .......... 4
Georgia................................................ 13 ......... 13 .......... 13
Idaho.................................................. 3 ......... 3 .......... 3
Illinois............................................... 24 24 ......... 24 ..........
Indiana................................................ 15 15 ......... 15 ..........
Iowa................................................... 13 13 ......... 13 ..........
Kansas................................................. 10 10 ......... 10 ..........
Kentucky............................................... 13 ......... 13 .......... 13
Louisiana.............................................. 8 ......... 8 .......... 8
Maine.................................................. 6 6 ......... 6 ..........
Maryland............................................... 8 8 ......... 8 ..........
Massachusetts.......................................... 15 15 ......... 15 ..........
Michigan............................................... 14 14 ......... 14 ..........
Minnesota.............................................. 9 9 ......... 9 ..........
Mississippi............................................ 9 ......... 9 .......... 9
Missouri............................................... 17 ......... 17 .......... 17
Montana................................................ 3 ......... 3 .......... 3
Nebraska............................................... 8 8 ......... 8 ..........
Nevada................................................. 3 ......... 3 .......... 3
New Hampshire.......................................... 4 4 ......... 4 ..........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This report of the tellers is made and signed in duplicate, one
copy remaining to be entered on the Journal of the House and the other
being taken by the Secretary of the Senate for entry on the Journal of
the Senate. The tabulation is not ordinarily read at length to the
joint meeting.
Sec. 1962
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of For President. For Vice-President.
electoral ---------------------------------------------
votes to
State. which William William Theodore Adlai E.
each McKinley, Jennings Roosevelt, Stevenson,
State is of Ohio. Bryan, of of New of
entitled. Nebraska. York. Illinois.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Jersey............................................. 10 10 ......... 10 ..........
New York............................................... 36 36 ......... 36 ..........
North Carolina......................................... 11 ......... 11 .......... 11
North Dakota........................................... 3 3 ......... 3 ..........
Ohio................................................... 23 23 ......... 23 ..........
Oregon................................................. 4 4 ......... 4 ..........
Pennsylvania........................................... 32 32 ......... 32 ..........
Rhode Island........................................... 4 4 ......... 4 ..........
South Carolina......................................... 9 ......... 9 .......... 9
South Dakota........................................... 4 4 ......... 4 ..........
Tennessee.............................................. 12 ......... 12 .......... 12
Texas.................................................. 15 ......... 15 .......... 15
Utah................................................... 3 3 ......... 3 ..........
Vermont................................................ 4 4 ......... 4 ..........
Virginia............................................... 12 ......... 12 .......... 12
Washington............................................. 4 4 ......... 4 ..........
West Virginia.......................................... 6 6 ......... 6 ..........
Wisconsin.............................................. 12 12 ......... 12 ..........
Wyoming................................................ 3 3 ......... 3 ..........
--------------------------------------------------------
Total.............................................. 447 292 155 292 155
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
``Wm. E. Chandler,
``Donelson Caffery,
``Tellers on the part of the Senate.
``James D. Richardson,
``C. H. Grosvenor,
``Tellers on the part of the House of Representatives.''
The President pro tempore then announced:
The state of the vote for President of the United States, as
delivered to the President of the Senate, is as follows:
The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for President of
the United States is 447, of which a majority is 224.
William McKinley, of the State of Ohio, has received for President of
the United States 292 votes;
William Jennings Bryan, of the State of Nebraska, has received 155
votes.
The state of the vote for Vice-President of the United States, as
delivered to the President of the Senate, is as follows:
The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for Vice-President
of the United States in 447, of which a majority is 224.
Theodore Roosevelt, of the State of New York, has received 292 votes;
Adlai E. Stevenson, of the State of Illinois, has received 155 votes.
This announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the
Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected
President and Vice-President of the United States, each for the term
beginning March 4, 1901, and shall be entered, together with a list of
the votes, on the Journals of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Gentlemen, the purposes for which this joint convention was called
having been accomplished, the Presiding Officer now declares it
dissolved, and the Senate will return to its Chamber.
The Senate then retired from the Hall (at 2 o'clock and 3 minutes p.
m.), the Speaker resumed the chair, and the House was again called to
order.
Sec. 1963
1963. Proceedings in relation to the electoral count of 1905.--On
December 8, 1904,\1\ in the Senate, Mr. Julius C. Burrows, of Michigan,
submitted the following resolution, which was referred to the Committee
on Privileges and Elections:
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
That the two Houses of Congress shall assemble in the Hall of the House
of Representatives on Wednesday, the 8th day of February, 1905, at 1
o'clock in the afternoon, pursuant to the requirements of the
Constitution and laws relating to the election of President and Vice-
President of the United States, and the President of the Senate shall
be their presiding officer; that two tellers shall be previously
appointed on the part of the Senate and two on the part of the House of
Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the
President of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to
be certificates of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers
shall be opened, presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of
the States, beginning with the letter A; and said tellers, having then
read the same in the presence and hearing of the two Houses, shall make
a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates;
and the votes having been ascertained and counted in the manner and
according to the rules by law provided, the result of the same shall be
delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce
the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient
declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and Vice-
President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes,
be entered on the Journals of the two Houses.
On January 5, 1905,\2\ Mr. Burrows reported the resolution from the
committee, and it was agreed to by the Senate.
On January 9, 1905,\3\ this resolution having been received in the
House, was referred from the Speaker's table to the Committee on
Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress.
On January 16,\4\ Mr. Joseph H. Gaines, of West Virginia, from that
committee, reported the resolution and it was agreed to by the House.
Thereupon Mr. Gaines, from the same committee, reported the following
resolutions, which were severally agreed to:
Resolved, That pursuant to Senate concurrent resolution No. 84, to
which this House has agreed, the Speaker be, and he is hereby,
authorized and directed to appoint two tellers on the part of the House
of Representatives to perform the duties devolving upon such tellers by
the act of Congress of February 3, 1887, and said concurrent resolution
of the Senate No. 84, upon the assembling of the two Houses of Congress
to count the electoral votes, on February 8, 1905.
Resolved, That on Wednesday, February 8, the whole of the gallery,
except that which is designated as executive, diplomatic, and
reporters' galleries, and two Sections of the east end of the public
gallery, shall be reserved for the use of the families of Senators,
Members of the House of Representatives, Delegates, and their visitors.
The Doorkeeper shall strictly enforce this order.
The Speaker shall issue to each Senator, Member of the House of
Representatives, and Delegate two cards of admission, and only persons
holding these cards shall be admitted.
On January 20\5\ the Speaker laid before the House the following
communication from the Senate; which was read, and ordered to lie on
the table:
In the Senate of the United States,
January 20, 1905.
The President pro tempore appointed Mr. Burrows and Mr. Bailey as the
tellers on the part of the Senate to count the electoral votes for
President and Vice-President of the United States.
Attest:
Charles G. Bennett, Secretary.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Third session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 64.
\2\ Record, p. 459.
\3\ Record, p. 586.
\4\ Record, p. 918.
\5\ Record, p. 1156.
Sec. 1963
The Speaker \1\ said:
In pursuance of the House resolution, the Chair appoints Mr. Gaines,
of West Virginia, and Mr. Gordon Russell, of Texas, as the tellers of
the House to count the electoral vote for President and Vice-President
of the United States.
On February 7,\2\ on motion of Mr. Gaines, of West Virginia, the
House agreed to the following:
Resolved, That on Wednesday, February 8, the whole of the gallery,
except that which is designated as executive, diplomatic, and
reporters' galleries, shall be reserved for the use of the families of
Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, Delegates, and their
visitors.
The Doorkeeper shall strictly enforce this order.
On February 8,\3\ in the House, seats were provided for the Senators
at the right of the Presiding Officer; and then at 1 o'clock the
Doorkeeper announced the President pro tempore and the Senate of the
United States.
The Senate entered the Hall, preceded by their Sergeant-at-Arms, and
headed by their President pro tempore and the Secretary of the Senate,
the Members and officers of the House rising to receive them.
The President pro tempore of the Senate \4\ took his seat as
Presiding Officer of the joint convention of the two Houses, the
Speaker of the House occupying the chair on his left.
The President pro tempore of the Senate said:
The two Houses of Congress, pursuant to the requirements of the
Constitution and laws of the United States, are now in joint convention
for the purpose of opening the certificates and counting the votes of
the several States for President and Vice-President. Under well-
established precedents, unless demand shall be made in any case, the
reading of the formal portions of the certificates will be dispensed
with. After ascertainment has been had that the certificates are
authentic and correct in form, the tellers will count and make a list
of the votes of the States. If there be no objection, the Presiding
Officer will now open the certificate of the State of Alabama. Will the
tellers please take their places at the desk?
Senators Burrows and Bailey, the tellers appointed on the part of the
Senate, and Representatives Gaines, of West Virginia, and Russell, the
tellers appointed on the part of the House, took their places at the
Clerk's desk.
The President pro tempore of the Senate announced:
The tellers will count and make a list of the vote of the State of
Alabama.
Mr. Burrows (one of the tellers) said:
Mr. President, the certificate of the electoral vote of the State of
Alabama seems to be regular in form and authentic, and it appears
therefrom that Alton B. Parker, of the State of New York, received 11
votes for President, and that Henry G. Davis, of West Virginia,
received 11 votes for Vice-President.
The President pro tempore of the Senate said:
If there be no objection, the Chair will now open and pass to the
tellers the certificate showing the vote of the State of Arkansas, and
the tellers will count and make a list of the votes of that State.
The tellers then proceeded to announce the electoral votes of the
several States, in their alphabetical order.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, Speaker.
\2\ Record, p. 2052.
\3\ Record, pp. 2089, 2090.
\4\ William P. Frye, of Maine, President pro tempore.
Sec. 1963
The President pro tempore of the Senate said:
Gentlemen of the convention, the certificates of all the States have
now been opened and read, and the tellers will make final ascertainment
of the result and report the same to the President pro tempore of the
Senate.
Mr. Burrows (one of the tellers) said:
Mr. President, the tellers report the result of the ascertainment of
the count of the electoral vote as follows:
The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for President of
the United States is 476, of which a majority is 239.
Theodore Roosevelt, of the State of New York, has received for
President of the United States 336 votes.
Alton Brooks Parker, of the State of New York, has received 140
votes.
The state of the vote for Vice-President of the United States, as
delivered to the President of the Senate, is as follows:
The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for Vice-President
of the United States is 476, of which a majority is 239.
Charles Warren Fairbanks, of the State of Indiana, has received 336
votes.
Henry Gassaway Davis, of the State of West Virginia, has received 140
votes.
This announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the
Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected
President and Vice-President of the United States, each for the term
beginning March 4, 1905, and shall be entered, together with a list of
the votes, on the Journals of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The report of the tellers is as follows:
The undersigned, Julius C. Burrows and Joseph Weldon Bailey, tellers
on the part of the Senate, and Joseph H. Gaines and Gordon Russell,
tellers on the part of the House of Representatives, report the
following as the result of the ascertainment and counting of the
electoral vote for President and Vice-President of the United States
for the term beginning March 4, 1905:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of For President. For Vice-President.
electoral ---------------------------------------------
votes to Alton Henry
State which Theodore Brooks Charles Gassaway
each Roosevelt, Parker, Warren Davis, of
state is of New of New Fairbanks, West
entitled York York of Indiana Virginia
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama................................................ 11 .......... 11 .......... 11
Arkansas............................................... 9 .......... 9 .......... 9
California............................................. 10 10 ......... 10 .........
Colorado............................................... 5 5 ......... 5 .........
Connecticut............................................ 7 7 ......... 7 .........
Delaware............................................... 3 3 ......... 3 .........
Florida................................................ 5 .......... 5 .......... 5
Georgia................................................ 13 .......... 13 .......... l3
Idaho.................................................. 3 3 ......... 3 .........
Illinois............................................... 27 27 ......... 27 .........
Indiana................................................ 15 15 ......... 15 .........
Iowa................................................... 13 13 ......... 13 .........
Kansas................................................. 10 10 ......... 10 .........
Kentucky............................................... 13 .......... 13 .......... 13
Louisiana.............................................. 9 .......... 9 .......... 9
Maine.................................................. 6 6 ......... 6 .........
Maryland............................................... 8 1 7 1 7
Massachusetts.......................................... 16 16 ......... 16 .........
Michigan............................................... 14 14 ......... 14 .........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sec. 1963
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of For President. For Vice-President.
electoral -------------------------------------------
votes to Theo- Alton Charles Henry
State. which dore Roo- Brooks Warren Gassaway
each sevelt, Parker, Fair- Davis, of
State is of New of New banks, of West
entitled. York. York. Indiana. Virginia.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minnesota................................................ 11 11 ......... 11 .........
Mississippi.............................................. 10 ......... 10 ......... 10
Missouri................................................. 18 18 ......... 18 .........
Montana.................................................. 3 3 ......... 3 .........
Nebraska................................................. 8 8 ......... 8 .........
Nevada................................................... 3 3 ......... 3 .........
New Hampshire............................................ 4 4 ......... 4 .........
New Jersey............................................... 12 12 ......... 12 .........
New York................................................. 39 39 ......... 39 .........
North Carolina........................................... 12 ......... 12 ......... 12
North Dakota............................................. 4 4 ......... 4 .........
Ohio..................................................... 23 23 ......... 23 .........
Oregon................................................... 4 4 ......... 4 .........
Pennsylvania............................................. 34 34 ......... 34 .........
Rhode Island............................................. 4 4 ......... 4 .........
South Carolina........................................... 9 ......... 9 ......... 9
South Dakota............................................. 4 4 ......... 4 .........
Tennessee................................................ 12 ......... 12 ......... 12
Texas.................................................... 18 ......... 18 ......... 18
Utah..................................................... 3 3 ......... 3 .........
Vermont.................................................. 4 4 ......... 4 .........
Virginia................................................. 12 ......... 12 ......... 12
Washington............................................... 5 5 ......... 5 .........
West Virginia............................................ 7 7 ......... 7 .........
Wisconsin................................................ 13 13 ......... 13 .........
Wyoming.................................................. 3 3 ......... 3 .........
------------
Total................................................ 476 336 140 336 140
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J. C. Burrows,
J. W. Bailey,
Tellers on the part of the Senate.
Joseph H. Gaines,
Gordon Russell,
Tellers on the part of the House of Representatives.
The President pro tempore of the Senate said:
The report of the state of the vote for President of the United
States, as delivered to the President of the Senate, is as follows:
The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for President of
the United States is 476, of which a majority is 239.
Theodore Roosevelt, of the State of New York, has received for
President of the United States 336 votes;
Alton Brooks Parker, of the State of New York, has received 140
votes.
The state of the vote for Vice-President of the United States, as
delivered to the President of the Senate, is as follows:
The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for Vice-President
of the United States is 476, of which a majority is 239.
Charles Warren Fairbanks, of the State of Indiana, has received 336
votes;
Henry Gassaway Davis, of the State of West Virginia, has received 140
votes.
Sec. 1963
This announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the
Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected
President and Vice-President of the United States, each for the term
beginning March 4, 1905, and shall be entered, together with a list of
the votes, on the Journals of the Senate and House of Representatives.
[Applause.]
Gentlemen of the convention, the purposes for which this joint
convention has been called having been accomplished, the Presiding
Officer dissolves the joint convention, and the Senate will return to
their Chamber.
The Senate retired from the Hall (at 1 o'clock and 50 minutes p. m.),
the Speaker resumed the chair, and the House was again called to order.
The Senate returned \1\ to its Chamber at 1 o'clock and 55 minutes p.
m., and the President pro tempore resumed the chair.
Mr. Burrows, one of the tellers appointed on behalf of the Senate in
pursuance of the concurrent resolution of the two Houses to ascertain
the result of the election for President and Vice-President of the
United States, said:
Mr. President, the tellers on the part of the Senate report to the
Senate the following as the result of the ascertainment and counting of
the electoral vote for President and Vice-President of the United
States for the term beginning March 4, 1905, in order that the report
may be entered upon the Journal of the Senate.
The report was then submitted as given in the House, the same having
been made and signed in duplicate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Record, p. 2062.