Disputed Election of 1 876 273

term as senator would expire on the 4th of March. ^
The resolution was laid aside until the time should
come when its passage would be desirable. If that
time had come, it would probably have been passed,
and Morton would have been chosen. He would then
either have completed the count and declared Hayes
elected, or would himself have been installed as Pres-
ident under a forced construction of the law of 1792. *
In the House David Dudley Field on the 27th
reported from the committee on the powers, priv-
ileges, and duties of the House in counting the elec-
toral vote a bill providing that, in case of a failure to
elect, the line of succession should be the president of
the Senate, the speaker of the House, and the secre-
tary of state, and that the person who succeeded
should hold office until a successor had been duly
elected. * The bill was regarded by some as part of a
scheme to defeat the count and secure a new election.
Some Democrats opposed it because they preferred
Hayes to Morton ; * but it was hurried through, ^ and
was then sent to the Senate, where it was referred to a
committee, and never came to a vote. *



1 Record, p. 1926 ; Times of 27Ui.
