That must be settled by
the law and the fact. Upon these we thought Kellogg's title
to be clear. Kellogg was seated. But when the Democrats
got a majority, two years later, the Committee on Privileges
and Elections, under the lead of Benjamin H. Hill of Georgia,
undertook to set aside this judgment, and to seat Mr. Spofford.
Mr. Hill made a long and, it is unnecessary to say, an able
report, setting forth the view taken by himself and by the
majority of the Committee, and recommended the admission of
Mr. Spofford. I advised the Republican minority to decline
to follow the Democrats into the discussion of the evidence,
and to put the case alone and squarely on the authority of
the previous judgment of the Senate. This I did in the following
report:
The undersigned, a minority of the Committee on Privileges
and Elections, to whom was referred the memorial of Henry
M. Spofford, claiming the seat now occupied by William Pitt
Kellogg, submit the following as their views:
On the 30th day of November, 1877, the Senate passed the following
resolutions.
_"Resolved,_ That William Pitt Kellogg is, upon the merits
of the case, entitled to a seat in the Senate of the United
States from the State of Louisiana for the term of six years,
commencing on the 4th of March, 1877, and that he be admitted
thereto on taking the proper oath.
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