Disputed Election of 1876 279

were brought over;^ enough other Democrats were /
sober-minded sufficiently not to stultify the party by re- |
fusing to carry out the terms of a law which they
had themselves hdped to pass ; and the resolution was
finally voted down by 116 to 148.^

Wife this vote the possibility of defeating the com-
pletion of the count disappeared. The strength of the
filibusters rapidly decreased. After some further de-
lay the House voted to reject the vote of the post-
master-elector. ^ The Senate once more entered the
hall. The irreconcilables in their desperation even
attempted to get up an objection to receiving tiie vote
of one of the Virginia electors, but no senator would
lend himself to the scheme. * The votes of Virginia
were therefore counted ; then those of West Virginia,
Wisconsin was reached. A final objection was then
offered; it alleged that Daniel L. Downs, one of the
electors, was an examining surgeon of the pension
office and was therefore ineligible. ^ The two houses



1 Speech of Hewitt In 45t^ Conff. 2d Sen. iReoord, ik 1007) ;
McOlure'a, XXm. p. 87. Hewitt later boasted that he forced
the Republicans to make concessions by his policy in the matter
of the Vermont return, and claimed that Levy came in Just at
this time from the Wormley conference. This was impossible,
for L«vy had just spoken. The assurances were exacted before
Hewitt became a mibuster. and Hewitt misrepresented his part
in the affair either through ignorance or in order to lessen Dem-
ocraUc criUcism levelled against him for his failure to secure
the seating of Tilden. On Feb. 28th Burke telegraphed to
Nicholls: "Recent strength filibusters spasmodic. — Our leaden
have now no defined policy except prospect of anarchy, some
other Republican, or new eleoUon." On March 1st he tele-
graphed : "The weary struggle of aimless filibusters continues."
— See copies of the dispatches in H. R. Mis. Doc. No. 81, 45tti
Cong. 8d Sess., in, pp. 624-625.
