WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 10, 1869. The following petitions were laid upon the Clerk's table, under the rules: By Mr. Johnson: The petition of Captain William A. Parker, United States navy, praying to be placed on the active list; which was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. By Mr. Taber: The petition of John J. Weeks, praying for an extension of his patent; which was referred to the Committee on Patents. By Mr. Nicholson: The petition of Mary J. Driver, praying for a pension; which was referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. By Mr. Stone: The petition of Azel Warfield, a soldier of the war of 1812, praying for a pension; which was referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions. By Mr. Delano: Five petitions from citizens of the State of Ohio, praying for an amendment to the Constitution recognizing Almighty God as the source of all authority, and Jesus Christ as the ruler of the world. By Mr. William Lawrence: Two petitions of similar import from citi zens of the same State. By Mr. Thomas Williams: A petition of similar import from citizens of the State of Pennsylvania. By Mr. Moore: A petition of similar import from citizens of the State of New Jersey. By Mr. Baker: A petition of similar import from citizens of the State of Illinois. By Mr. Hulburd: A petition of similar import from citizens of the State of New York. By Mr. Ela: A petition of similar import from citizens of the State of New Hampshire. By Mr. Harding: A petition of similar import from citizens of the State of Illinois. By Mr. Thomas: The petition of citizens of the State of Maryland, praying for a republican form of government for that State. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. - The petition of citizens of the State of New York, relative to the medical corps of the navy; which was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. On motion of Mr. Farnsworth, by unanimous consent, leave was granted to the ladies to occupy the cloak rooms of the House this day. A message from the Senate, by Mr. Hamlin, one of their clerks: Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a joint resolution of the House of the following title, viz: H. Res. 402. Joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States; with amendments, in which I am directed to ask the concurrence of the House. The Speaker, by unanimous consent, laid before the House the following; which were severallyreferred to the Committee on Appropriations, viz: I. A letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting a report of subsistence stores supplied to the Indians. II. A letter from the Secretary of the Interior, relating to the applica tion of the Chickasaw nation to be reimbursed expenses of defending their country from hostile Indians. III. A letter from the Secretary of War, in answer to a resolution of the House of the 23d ultimo, relative to buildings occupied by his department in Washington city, ordered to be printed. IV. A resolution of the legislature of the State of Kansas, asking an appropriation to pay certain citizens of that State for losses by depredations of the Indians. Mr. Eggleston, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 1914) for the relief of Abbott Q. Ross; which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. Mr. Schenck, as a question of privilege, submitted the following resolution, which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz: Resolved, That the Clerk inform the Senate that the House is now 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 of the United States. Mr. McCarthy called up the motion submitted by him yesterday, to reconsider the vote by which the bill of the House (H. R. 621) to authorize the building of a military and postal railway from Washington, District of Columbia, to the city of New York, was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time. Mr. Phelps moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, And the question being put, It was decided in the negative, Yeas. 62 111 49 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are So the House refused to lay the motion to reconsider on the table; When, Mr. McCarthy withdrew the motion to reconsider. The said bill was then read the third time. The question then recurring on the passage of the said bill, Pending which, The Senate attended in the hall of the House. The President of the Senate took the Speaker's chair, as the presiding officer, in pursuance of the joint rule of the two houses, the Speaker being seated on his left and the senators having taken the seats provided for them. The President of the Senate then proceeded, in the presence of the two houses of Congress, to open the certificates of the electors of the several States, authorized to be represented in the electoral college, for President and Vice-President of the United States. Pending the opening and counting of the same, Mr. Mullins objected to counting the vote of the State of Louisiana. Whereupon, The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the Senate therewith. A message from the Senate by Mr. Gorham, their Secretary: Mr. Speaker: The Senate have adopted a resolution providing that the votes of the electors of the State of Louisiana for President and VicePresident of the United States be counted. The Senate again appeared, Pending the further opening and counting of the votes, Mr. Benjamin F. Butler submitted the following objection to counting the vote of the State of Georgia, viz: I object, under the joint rule that the vote of the State of Georgia for President and Vice-President ought not to be counted, and object to the counting thereof because, among other things, the vote of the electors in the electoral college was not given on the first Wednesday of December, as required by law, and no excuse or justification for the omission of such legal duty is set forth in the certificate of the action of the electors. Secondly, Because at the date of the election of said electors the State of Georgia had not been admitted to representation as a State in Congress since the rebellion of her people, or become entitled thereto. Thirdly, That at said date said State of Georgia had not fulfilled in due form all the requirements of the Constitution and laws of the United States, known as the reconstruction acts, so as to entitle said State of Georgia to be represented as a State in the Union in the electoral vote of the several States in the choice of President and Vice-President. Fourthly, That the election pretended to have been held in the State of Georgia on the first Tuesday of November last past was not a free, just, equal, and fair election; but the people of the State were deprived of their just rights therein by force and fraud. Whereupon, The Senate withdrew. The question was then put, Shall the vote of the said State be counted? And it was decided in the negative Yeas... Nays. Not voting.. 41 150 31 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who vot ed in the affirmative are Mr. William B. Allison Delos R. Ashley Amasa Cobb Mr. Ignatius Donnelly John F. Driggs Mr. William H. Koontz James M. Marvin Mr. Hiram McCullough Theodore M. Pomeroy Mr. Samuel J. Randall Daniel M. Van Auken Mr. William H. Robertson Mr. Worthington C. Smith Fred'k E. Woodbridge. So it was ordered that the said vote shall not be counted. On motion of Mr. Delano, by unanimous consent, indefinite leave of absence was granted to him. Mr. Ellihu B. Washburne, by unanimous consent, from the Committee on Appropriations, reported a bill (H. R. 1911) making appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the service of the government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, and for other purposes; which was read a first and second time. Ordered, That the said bill be committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, and made a special order for tomorrow and until disposed of (except Saturday,) and printed. On motion of Mr. Ellihu B. Washburne, by unanimous consent, the |