one 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.

_"Resolved,_ That Henry M. Spofford is not entitled to a
seat in the Senate of the United States."

The party majority in the Senate has changed since Mr. Kellogg
took the oath of office in pursuance of the above resolution.
Nothing else has changed. The facts which the Senate considered
and determined were in existence then, as now. It is sought,
by a mere superiority of numbers, for the first time, to thrust
a Senator from the seat which he holds by virtue of the express
and deliberate final judgment of the Senate.

The act which is demanded of this party majority would be,
in our judgment, a great public crime. It will be, if consummated,
one of the great political crimes in American history, to
be classed with the Rebellion, with the attempt to take possession
by fraud of the State Government of Maine, and with the overthrow
of State Governments in the South, of which it is the fitting
sequence. Political parties have too often been led by partisan
zeal into measures which a sober judgment might disapprove;
but they have ever respected the constitution of the Senate.

The men whose professions of returning loyalty to the Constitution
have been trusted by the generous confidence of the American
people are now to give evidence of the sincerity of their
vows. The people will thoroughly understand this matter,
and will not likely to be deceived again.

We do not think proper to enter here upon a discussion of
the evidence by which the claimant of Mr. Kellogg's seat
seeks to establish charges affecting the integrity of that
Senator. Such evidence can be found in abundance in the
slums of great cities. It is not fit to be trusted in cases
affecting the smallest amount of property, much less the
honor of an eminent citi