or any invitation to go into, any joint convention for the election of United States senators, or a United States senator, at any time during the present session of the general assembly of the State aforesaid; and that no election has been held by the two houses of the said general assembly for United States senators, or a United States senator, or any other officer elected by the concurrence of the two houses thereof, at any time during the present session. All of which appears by a complete and careful examination of the journal of the said senate for the entire session thereof. J. S. HARVEY. Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 14th day of February, A. D. 1857. [L. S.] In witness whereof, I hereunto set my hand and notarial seal, at the city of Indianapolis.. C. RICHARD M. HALL, Notary Public. Affidavit of three senators who were part of the twenty-six found absent on a call of the senate, January 12, 1857. STATE OF INDIANA, Be it remembered, that, on this the fourteenth day of February, A. D. 1857, personally appeared before me, R. M. Hall, a notary public of the county aforesaid, John T. Freeland, P. S. Sage, and John Weston, who, being duly sworn, depose and say: That they now are, and have been during the present session, senators of the State of Indiana, and holding their seats as such; that on the twelfth day of January last past, at the time a pretended joint convention was being held in the hall of the house of representatives, they were present in the house, having gone there out of mere curiosity to witness the ceremonies of inauguration; that they were not there in the capacity of senators, for the purpose of participating, in any way, in said convention, nor did they in any manner take part in the action thereof. They further depose and say, that they did not then, nor do they now, recognize the legality of said joint convention; that they never have, at any time or in any way, given their assent as senators to go into a joint convention of the two houses of the general assembly during the present session of the legislature. And further they say not. JOHN T. FREELAND. Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 14th day of February A. D. 1857. [L. S.] In witness whereof, I hereunto set my hand and notarial seal, at the city of Indianapolis. RICHARD M. HALL, TRANSCRIPT OF SENATE JOURNAL, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1857. MONDAY, 1 o'clock p. m., February 2, 1857. The senate met. The president laid before the senate the report of the attorney general in relation to the claim of Moorehead, Hall & Co. against the State of Indiana. Pending the reading of which by the secretary the president left the chair. On motion by Mr. Griggs, Senator Burk was called to the chair, as president pro tem. On motion by Mr. Cravens, the rules were suspended and the majority report of the committee on the judiciary, in reference to the right by which the Hon. Le Roy Woods, senator from the county of Clark, holds his seat as such senator, was taken from the table. The secretary read the following resolution contained in said report, viz: "Resolved, That Le Roy Woods, by accepting of the office of moral instructor for the State's prison, discharging its duties, and receiving the emoluments thereof since his election as a senator from the county of Clark, has vacated his office of senator, and he is not entitled to a seat in the senate." On motion by Mr. Cravens, the report was concurred in, and the resolution adopted. On motion by Mr. Griggs, the senate adjourned. TRANSCRIPT OF SENATE JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1857. WEDNESDAY MORNING, 9 O'CLOCK, February 4, 1857. The senate met. The journal of the preceding day was read. Mr. Heffren moved that the secretary be directed to insert the name of Mr. Woods in the journal of yesterday wherever it should occur in the votes by ayes and noes. Which motion being entertained by the president, Senators Cravens and Bearss appealed from the decision of the chair, as follows: viz: "Upon the motion made by the senator from Washington to correct the journal, objection was made that the said motion was out of order; the president decided that the said motion was in order; from which decision we respectfully appeal to the senate." Pending the discussion on which, The president left the chair. On motion by Mr. Suit, Senator Burke was called to the chair, as president pro tem. "The undersigned protests against any action by a portion of the senators, not a quorum, (the president being absent,) in the joint convention, as not being a senate.". "LEN. WALLACE." On motion by Mr. Wallace, A call of the senate was directed. Before proceeding to which, On motion by Mr. Suit, The senate adjourned at five minutes after 10 o'clock a. m. The senate met. 2 O'CLOCK P. M. The pending question at adjournment being the consideration of the appeal of Senators Cravens and Bearss, By the unanimous consent of the senate, Mr. Heffren withdrew the motion to amend, and Messrs. Cravens and Bearss withdrew the appeal. The question on the resolution offered by the senator from Washington, directing the secretary to strike out a portion of the journal of the 2d instant, being before the senate, On motion by Mr. Heffren, The resolution was laid on the table. Mr. Griggs moved that the senate now adjourn. The ayes and noes being demanded by five senators, Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs. Bobbs, Burk, Chapman, Cooper, Crane, Cravens, Crouse, Drew, Griggs, Heffren, McLain, Richardson, Rice, Rugg, Slater of Dearborn, Suit, and Tarkington-17. Those who voted in the negative were Messrs. Bearss, Blair, Fisk, Gooding, Green, Hargrove, Hendry, Hill, Hostetler, Johnston, Kinley, March, Mansfield, Murray, McCleary, McClure, Sage, Slater of Johnson, Stevens, Thompson, Wallace, Weir, Weston, Wilson, and Yaryan-25. So the motion to adjourn did not prevail. The question on the resolution offered yesterday by the senator from Laporte, to adjourn the senate to Thursday morning at 9 o'clock, being before the senate On motion by Mr. Suit, The resolution was laid upon the table. Protest of thirty-six representatives against the correctness of the record of the alleged joint convention which elected United States senators. Attested by the assistant clerk of the house. We, the undersigned, members of the house of representatives of the State of Indiana, now in session, do most solemnly enter our protest to the following entry upon the journal of the house, which appears in connexion with its proceedings on the 4th day of February, 1857, viz: The hour for the meeting of the joint convention of the two houses of the general assembly having arrived, the senate, preceded by the lieutenant governor, appeared within the hall of the house, where seats were provided for them, on the right of the speaker's chair. Upon the calling of the convention to order, the president, with the consent of the convention, appointed Solon Turman secretary thereof, who was duly sworn in as such by the honorable Samuel Perkins, one of the judges of the supreme court, and entered upon the discharge of his duties. The chairman addressed the convention as follows: GENTLEMEN: Pursuant to adjournment on Monday, February 2, 1857, we are assembled in joint convention, under a provision of the constitution of the State of Indiana, and you will now proceed to choose a Udited States senator by a viva voce vote, to serve as such until the 4th of March, 1861. Mr. Walpole nominated Graham N. Fitch. Those who voted for Graham N. Fitch were Messrs. Alexander, Brown, Drew, Fisk, Gooding, Hargrove, Heffren, Hostetler, Johnston, Mansfield, Mathes, Miller, McCleary, McLain, Richardson, Rugg, Slater of Dearborn, Slater of Johnson, Tarkington, Wallace, Wilson, and Woods, of the senate. The senator from Laporte, Mr. Weir, voted blank-1. Messrs. Abel, Adams, Allen, Ayres, Bethell, Blake, Bowman, Branson, Brown, Bryan, Carnahan, Clark, Claypool, Conduitt, Crowe, Cullen, Davis of Sullivan, Denby, Dobbins, Duncan, Early, Edson, Harrison, Herod, Hoagland, Humphreys, Kerr, Landiss, Lane, Lewis, Massey, Marvin, Modesitt, Moore, McDannel, McDonald of Fountain, McFarland, McGinnis, McKinney, Neff, Reese, Reyman, Ricketts, Robbins, Schermerhorn, Sherrod, Shoulders, Slicer, Smith of Bartholomew, Stillwell, Studabaker, Taggart, Trippet, Wallace, Walpole, Wiley, Williams of Knox, Williamson, Yater, and Mr. Speaker of the house of representatives-83. Messrs. Hayden and Wright voted for George G. Dunn-2. Graham N. Fitch having received a majority of all the votes of the members of the general assembly of the State of Indiana, was declared by the president of the convention duly elected United States senator from the State of Indiana, to serve as such until the 4th day of March, 1861. The president then announced that the joint convention would now proceed to choose a United States senator by a "viva voce" vote, to serve as such from the 4th of March, 1857, until the 4th of March, 1863. Senator Slater nominated Hon. Jesse D. Bright. Those who voted for Jesse D. Bright were Messrs. Alexander, Brown, Drew, Fisk, Gooding, Hargrove, Heffren, Hostetler, Johnson, Mansfield, Mathes, Miller, McCleary, McClure, McLain, Richardson, Rugg, Slater of Dearborn, Slater of Johnson, Tarkington, Wallace, Wilson, and Woods, of the senate. And the senator from Laporte, Mr. Weir, was present, and refused to vote for any one. Messrs. Abel, Adams, Allen, Ayres, Bethell, Blake, Bowman, Branson, Brown, Bryan, Carnahan, Clark, Claypool, Conduitt, Crowe, Cullen, Davis of Sullivan, Denby, Dobbin, Duncan, Early, Edson, Harrison, Herod, Hoagland, Humphreys, Kerr, Landiss, Lane, Lewis, Massey, Marvin, Modesitt, Moore, McDannel, McDonald of Fountain, McFarland, McGinnis, McKinney, Neff, Reese, Reyman, Ricketts, Robbins, Schermerhorn, Sherrod, Shoulders, Slicer, Smith of Bartholomew, Stillwell, Studabaker, Taggart, Trippet, Wallace, Walpole, Wiley, Williams of Knox, Williamson, Yater, and Mr. Speaker of the house of representatives-83. Messrs. Hayden and Wright voting for Richard W. Thompson-2. Jesse D. Bright having received a majority of all the votes of the general assembly of the State of Indiana, was declared by the president of the joint convention duly elected United States senator from the State of Indiana, to serve as such until the 4th day of March, 1863. The president then adjourned the joint convention to meet in the hall of the house of representatives on Wednesday, the 11th instant, at 3 o'clock p. m. I certify that the foregoing journal of the proceedings of the joint convention is correct. SOLON TURMAN, Secretary of Joint Convention. We declare most positively that it is untrue that the senate, preceded by the lieutenant governor, appeared in the house, or that there was any command of the constitution requiring an entry of a portion of the senators into the hall of the house for any such purposes as proclaimed by Mr. Hammond at the speaker's stand. We further declare that the entry of said senators, and the action of a portion of the representatives, in the hall of the house, without any resolution of the house or senate fixing a time and place for a joint convention of the two houses, was not only in violation of the rules and proper decorum of the house, but in direct violation of the laws and constitution of the State of Indiana, as well as the Constitution of the United States. Therefore we, the undersigned, members of the said house, having had no authority to act in the premises, and refusing to be present on that occasion, hereby protest against any such entry upon the journals of the house, and the doings of the pretended convention, as illegal and void, and ask this our protest, with our reasons therefor, to be entered upon the journal of the house of representatives. James D. Conner, of Wabash, Robert Boyd, M. P. Evans, Jno. M. La Rue, George C. Merrifield, Thomas J. Neal, A. B. Price, |