Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/111

 the votes of a large majority of the members of both the House and Senate and was approved by President Grant. When the two houses of Congress met to receive the returns of the States, and Florida was reached, there were conflicting returns, one declaring that the vote had been given to Hayes for President and another declaring that it had been given to Tilden. The conflict was then referred to the Electoral Commission for a decision. It decided in favor of the Hayes electors by a strictly partisan vote, all of the Republican members, (eight,) voting to report the Hayes electors legally chosen, and the Democratic members, (seven,) voting that the Tilden electors were legally elected. All of the contested returns submitted to the Commission were decided by a similar partisan vote in favor of the Hayes electors. As the Republicans had a majority on the Commission and as each member voted to recognize the electors from each contested State who belonged to the political party of which he was a member, Hayes, the Republican candidate, was given one majority of the electoral votes and was declared elected President.

The Senate having a Republican majority, by a strict party vote accepted the decision of the Electoral Commission and the House having a Democratic majority, by a strictly partisan vote refused to accept the decision. As it required the concurrence of both houses to reject the decision of the Electoral Commission and as only the House of Representatives rejected the decision, it stood and made Hayes President.

The contest had lasted from the day of the Presidential election up to the last day of February, and during all of this time intense excitement and gloomy apprehension of serious trouble prevailed over the entire country. No one could foretell the probable decision of the new tribunal created to make a peaceful solution of the conflict and public confidence and business were seriously depressed by the long strain. When the decision came, although