WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1857
427
the noise and hum of conversation. I shall protest against it, and suggest that the President have his eye on the Sergeant-at- Arms, and that he maintain silence in this Chamber and in the galleries. Now, sir, after the digression, most important, and I am sorry to say necessary, I will proceed with my remarks. When the votes were counted, and when the Presiding Officer announced the individual constitutionally elected President of the United States, all his functions ceased. It was not material whether the tellers certified the 1·esult or not. It was before the nation when the announcement was made to the constitutional bodies to bear attestation of the facts. There was no necessity of further action; and every attempt at it on a supposed contingency was unneces- sary and improper. There is no law determining in what manner a vote shall be rejected; and if Congress has failed to pass laws for regulating a contingency of this kind, or to say how it shall be determined, it cannot be determined, no matter what the con- sequence may be. Every act done beyond the constitutional functions imposed on the President of this body in this instance, is a revolutionary act. This very resolution is not known to the Constitution, nor is it known to the laws of Congress, and it is therefore of itself revo- lutionary. If in this matter anything be done which is not known to the Constitution and laws, it is done in violation of them; and is not only a nullity, but is revolutionary in its character. You may say it is only a form; but, sir, it is a form not known to the Constitution, and I invoke this body not to adopt such forms, lest they become substance. There is no evil arising from the insufficiency or illegality of the vote of Wisconsin in this case, and there is no necessity for adopting a resolution which merely goes to a matter of form and has no validity, because it is not known to the law or the Constitution. I maintain that the elec- tion is good, constitutional, and lawful. That is the announce- ment made in conformity with the Constitution and the law, and the election is valid without any plastering up by resolutions of this kind. I have no doubt of the opinion of every individual here as to the validity of the election. It is not necessary to decide the question of the Wisconsin vote. There is a constitu- tional majority without it, and no action of this body or of the House of Representatives is required. The President of the Senate has told the nation what is the result. He is the organ for communicating the votes of the electoral college to this nation,
Powered by FlippingBook