ed if Mr. Stockton's colleague could have
been present. Mr. Wright was ill at his home in Newark and
contradictory reports were made as to the time when he could probably
be present. Some of the Republicans justified their urgent demand for
a final vote on the belief entertained by them that Mr. Wright would
never appear in the Senate again. As matter of fact he resumed his
seat eight days after the decision of Mr. Stockton's case. His vote
would have changed the result. The haste with which the question was
brought to a decision can hardly be justified, and is a striking
illustration of the intense party-feeling which had been engendered by
the war. In a matter so directly affecting the interests and the
feelings of the people of New Jersey it was certainly a hardship that
the voice of the State was not heard. With one senator excluded from
voting by parliamentary law and the other absent by reason of physical
disability, Mr. Stockton had good ground for declaring that the Senate
had not treated him with magnanimity or generosity. It is due to Mr.
Stockton to say that under very trying circumstances he bore himself
with moderation and dignity.

In the decision itself, however, there has been general acquiescence,
and it led to an important reform in the manner of choosing United-States
senators. The well-known Act of July 26, 1866, "regulating the
time and manner of holding elections for senators in Congress," was
the direct fruit of the Stockton controversy. Though it may not be
perfect in all its details that law has done much to insure the fair
and regular choice of senators. It has certainly accomplished a great
deal by preventing various objectionable devices, which prior to its
enactment had marked the proceedings of every senatorial election
where the Legislature was almost equally divided between political
parties. The reluctance to interfere with the supposed or asserted
rights of States had too long delayed the needful exercise of National
power. The Constitution provides that "the times, places and manner of
holding elections for senators and representatives in Congress shall be
prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; _but the Congress
may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to
the places of choosing senators._"

There was a reluctance in the early administration of the Federal
Government to assume any function which had been given alternatively
to the