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Show THE ELECTORAL COINT -THE JOINT H10U COMMISSION, I Tim prouiilcnt Binned tlio electoral commission bill on Monday, nnd it ia, nnw a luiv. To-day, umior ilfl pro-visioua, pro-visioua, tbo ncimttt ninl liotitto of rop-rcsonUtives rop-rcsonUtives will each appoint fivo members of tho coinmUsion, and the four associate justices will alio meet and select the fifth judicial member of the commiBnion, which will then be coniplftto and rcmly (or tlio performance perfor-mance of iU duties. K ich houso will aUo appoint two tol lera. On Thursday next, February 1, th two houaua of congress will meet in joint convention in tlio hall of tl lionsfi of rcprencntativeH, and will be organized by the presiding officer of Bftnalo actinR as president of the convention. con-vention. Tho president will thon prococd to open all tho cleetor.il certificate cer-tificate in alphabetical order, commencing com-mencing with Alabama, handing them to tho tellers, who shall read them and make a lUt of tho aanio. No objection will probably bo mado to receiving tho voted of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut Con-necticut or Delaware, and they will be entered upon the approved list. The Btate next in order will he Florida, and aa there havo been placed in tho handB of th president of the senato two certificates purporting to bo certificates cer-tificates of tho electoral vote of that atato, they will both be opened and handed to tho tellers, who will read them to tho convention. When objections are called for in reference f:0 tho Florida certificates, two sets will probably be presented in writing in- democrats and republicans respectively, respec-tively, and after all bucU objecliouB havo beon xoceived and read, all the ceriificatea, votes and papera eo objected to, and all papors accompanying accom-panying the same, shall be forthwith submitted to tho conimusion, which is to proceed to consider the same with tho snmo powers, if any, now poaacised for that purpose by the two houaea acting separately or together, and by a majority of votes decide! whether any and what votes from, Florida aro tho votes provided for by, the constitution of tho United States, and how many and what persons worn duly appointed electors in that state. Tho commission may take into view such petitions, depositions and other papers, if any, as shall by the coiulitution and now existing laws be competent and pertinent in such consideration, and its decision is to be made in writing, stating briefly the ground thereof, and signed by the members of said commusion agreeing thereto. The two houses shall again meet to receive tho decision, which shall bo read and entered in the journals of each house and the counting count-ing of the vote of Florida is to proceed in conformity tberowith, unless upon objection made thereto in writing by at least fivo senators and five members mem-bers of the houso of representatives, the two houses shall separately concur in orderiiiif otherwise, in which case urA concurrent order shall govern. The vote of Florida will in all probability bo counted according t& tho decision ot the commission, as neither the democratic houso nor tho republican senato would be likely to overrule a verdict given in its favor. Tbo vote of. Florida settled, the count by tho joint convention would proceed, unless an objection Bbould bo made to the voto of some state that has sent to tho president of the senate but a single electoral certificate. In such case th bill provides that the two house shall separate and pass upon tho objections, each senator or . representative being entitled to Bpeak on tbo objection ten minutes, tho entire debate in ach caso to bo confined con-fined to two hours, when the main question shall be put without further debate, and the two bouses shall meet in convention. No electoral vote or vrtes from any state from which but jno return has been received shall be ejected to, except the affirmative tote of both houses. It will be observed, therefore, that tho tripartite commission will have nothing to do with the votes of states that havo Bent only one electoral certificate, and it i morally certain also that the destination of such votes cannot bo changed under this law. For instance, objections have been mado n tne newspapers and elsewhere else-where to tho votes of North " Carolina and Mississippi being counted for Tilden, and it has been asserted that California was carried for Hayes by fraud, but there being only one electoral certificate certifi-cate from each of these states, their returns will not be presented to the ; commission, and in order to change , the rcorvIed result ia 8cu states, i both houses will, have to concur to that effect. It may therefore be regarded re-garded as established that tbo commission com-mission will have before it only the states of Florida, 4 votes; Jjouisiana, 8 votes; Oreijon, 1 vote; 1 Hiuth Carolina, 7 totes. There will therefore be 184 undisputed un-disputed electoral votes counted by the joint commission for Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks, and 105 undisputed electoral votes counted for Rutherford B. Ifayes and William A. Wheler. The result of the count must therefore there-fore depend upon the decision of .the commission in regard to these twenty disputed votes, unless the two houses (shall previously agree in regard to them, which does not mow seem very j probable, ifow the commission may j ducide is a problem purposely left in doubt by the framers of the commission commis-sion scheme. When a complete list of the members f the commiAsion is before tho country thore will be a chance for speculation as to the probable result; but it should be remembered re-membered that this ncwltribunal is empowered and required to decide tho questions before it justly and with a spirit of judicial fairness. Wo have no right to supposo that a body in which resta such vast powers will Mifli;r partisanship to guide their deliberations. Tho caso is one to decided in accordance with the law and the facts, in bohalf of the whole people of the United States, and not with regard to the competing parties or individuals as such. . Patriotism evidently inspired the compromise bill, under the provisions I of which all tho election disputes are to be settled, and there is no reason to believe that tho high joint commission com-mission will bo a less patriotic or more partisan body than the legislative legis-lative committee which framod the bill. In a like spirit of patriotism tho American people have determined deter-mined to abido by the result, whatever what-ever it may bo. |