The statement of the popular vote here given is that printed in Appleton's "Annual Cyclopædia" for 1889. It

differs slightly in the vote of several States from that given in McPherson's "Handbook of Politics," and in the New York "Tribune Almanac," edited by Mr. McPherson. The returns were "official" in each case; the reason why they do not agree does not appear. It may be suggested that the return in the one case is that of the vote for the leading elector on each ticket, and in the other case the average vote for all the electors on each ticket respectively. This is apparently not the true explanation. The aggregate difference between the two statements is not large, as will appear from the following:

There are other returns which differ from both of those given. Possibly they also may have been obtained from "official sources. The discrepancies are not of great importance, but they illustrate the difficulty of obtaining exact statistics when the ultimate authority varies its reply to the same question.

The count of electoral votes following this election was the first to take place under the act of February 3, 1887, and the first in the history of the government under the Constitution which was regulated by a general law, and did

not require previous concurrent action by the two houses of Congress for the time being. The joint convention for counting the votes was held in the hall of the House of Representatives on February 13, 1889. The proceedings were devoid of striking incident. Mr. Cox, of New York, called attention to a slight deviation from the precise requirements of the law. It appears that Mr. Ingalls, the President pro tempore of the Senate, who presided, did not "call for objections, if any," after the reading of each certificate, as directed by section four of the law (see p. 417). The official report of the proceedings does not state whether or not the presiding officer changed his method after attention was called to the matter. When the vote of Indiana was reported, the vote of the President-elect's own State, there was applause, which was quickly suppressed. Mr. Manderson, the first of the Senate tellers, reported the state of the vote in detail, and in a summary; the presiding officer repeated the summary, and added a formula, drawn from the law, that this announcement of the state of the vote "is, by law, a sufficient declaration" that Benjamin Harrison, of the State of Indiana, had been elected President, and Levi P. Morton, of the State of New York, Vice-President, for the ensuing term.

APPENDIX.

CONVENTIONS OF 1892.

THE Republican National Convention met at Minneapolis, June 7, 1892. J. Sloat Fassett, of New York, was the temporary chairman, and Governor William McKinley, Jr., of Ohio, the permanent president. The platform was reported and adopted June 9, as follows:

The representatives of the Republicans of the United States, assembled in general convention on the shores of the Mississippi River, the everlasting bond of an indestructible Republic, whose most glorious chapter of history is the record of the Republican party, congratulate their countrymen on the majestic march of the nation under the banners inscribed with the principles of our platform of 1888, vindicated by victory at the polls and prosperity in our fields, workshops, and mines, and make the following declaration of principles : —

We reaffirm the American doctrine of protection. We call attention to its growth abroad. We maintain that the prosperous condition of our country is largely due to the wise revenue legislation of the Republican Congress.

We believe that all articles which cannot be produced in the United States, except luxuries, should be admitted free of duty, and that on all imports coming into competition with the products of American labor there should be levied duties equal to the difference between wages abroad and at home.

We assert that the prices of manufactured articles of general consumption have been reduced under the operations of the Tariff Act of 1890.

We denounce the efforts of the Democratic majority of the