Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1837-02-11

NIT, " Il u lS oIbhHth
,epor,ed. upain, the Land bill, with sundry amendments,
which were ordered to be printed, and made lhc o'oeF
for TO- morrow.
And then The Senate adjourned
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 80,
On motion of Mr.. Thomas, the House, by general con.
sent, took up The report made on Saturday ny Inc Jo'nt
committee Of the two Houses, in relation to inc hoae
and manner of proceeding in counting The votes 'ol 'c'
,;dcn, and Vice President of the United States.
A message from the Senate having at that moraentar
rived, informing the House that that body hau asFeeo 10
the same report and resolutions.
Nil. Thomas moved that il be taken up and concurfeu
The report was read, as follows:
The committee on The part OF the House ut RerFescn'
tatiye, "appaintc6 10 join such committee as might Ut
aupojnted on the part Of the Senate, 10 ascertain ana re.
nurt n mode of examining the votes for President ana
Vicc President of the United States, Of notifying the
persons elected Of their election; and also to inquire INTO
The expediency of uscertainins whether any VOTES were
trivcp at the recent election contrary 10 Tile Pf0hiolti"h
| Contained in the second section of the second article OF
lire Constitution: and. ifany such votes were given: what
ourhl 10 he done with them; and whether any ana Whhl
provision ought to be made for securing the faithful 90.
scrvance in future Of that section Of the Constitution,
REPoRT:
That the short period at which they were appointed be-
fore the day on which the votes for President and Wee
President OF the United States have TO be counted, has
prevented them from investigating the facts submitted
10 their examination as fully as might have Gcen done
had more time been allowed. The correspondence winch
has taken place between tie chairman of The committee
aud the heads of The different Departments oi the Exc
culipe branch Of the Government, accompanies tins re-
port, from which ii appears that Isaac "aldTon, VINO was
an rlcctor in y. Hampshire, was, al The ilnle I'll MS APP
poiniment US clcclur, president nj a deposilc bank nj
Portsmouth, and was appointed and acllng as pension
agent, without compensation, under the authority oi the
United States; that, in two cases, persons ct the same
names with The individuals who were appointed and 80
ted as electors in the Stale Of North Carolina, held the
offices OF deputy post masters under Tie General Govern.
ulent. 1t also appears thatin n. Hampshire there IS one
cuse: in Connecticut there il one case; in North Carolina
there is Que case, in which from the report Of the Post.
master. General, it is probable that, at the linIr Of the Gp-
pointnent OF electors III these States respectively. Tie
electors or persons Of the same names were deputy Post
masters. The committee have not asccr;0lned whether
the elrctars are the same individuals who held, or are
presumed to have held, the offices u deputy Iostnasters'
at the lime when the appointment oi electors was made;
aud THIS is the less 10 Gr regretted, as II is confidently he
licvcd That no change in the result ol The election OF
either the President or The Vice President would be cG-
! feclcd by the uscerlainment Of the fact in either way, as
five or SIX Yolcs only would IN any event be distracted
from The " hole number, for the committee cannot adopt
the opinion entertained by some that Il single Illegal vote
would vit!ate The whole electoral vote Of TIC college CT
electors in which il was given, particularly in cases
where tic vote Of the whole college has been given Tor
the same persons.
The committee arc Of opinion, that the second section
Of the SECOND Article OF. the Constitution, which dccIarrs
that "nn Senator, Or Representative. or person holding
an Office OF trust or profit under The Unnsd States, shall
be appointed an Elector, ought TO be carried III lis
+ whole spirit into Iiyd execution, in order TO prevent the
. officers Of the General Government from bringing their
official power TO influence the elections OF President and
Vice President Of The United States. This provision OF
The Constitution, it is belle we'd, excludes ana tI$Tualiiirs
deputy Postmasltrs from The appointment Of Electors;
and The Disqualification relates To the time Of the appoint.
ments, and That u resignation Of the office of deputy
Postmaster after his appointment rs Elcctor would MI
cntille him 10 vote as Elccior under The Constitution.
Should a case occur in which it J. became necessary to
: ascertain ard determine upon the qualifications OF elec.
tors Of President aud Vice President of the United States,
the important question would be prescnled-what trlbu-
nal would, under The Constitution, BE- competent 10 de.
eide: Whether the respective colleges Of electors in the
different States should decide upon the qualifications o.
their own members, or Congress should exercise the
power, is a question which the committee are Of opinion
ought TO b. settled by u permanent provision upon lie
subject.
The committee at present, and in part: report tho fol-
lowing resolutions:
Rcsolrcd, That the two Houses shall assemble in the
chamber Of the House of Representatives on Wcdnrs.
day next, at IL o'clock, and the President Of tn" Senate
snail be- the presiding officer; that one person be appointed
a teller on the part Of the Senate, and twO on the part Of
the House OF Representatives, TO make a list OF the votes
as hey shall be declared; that the result shall be delivered
to the President of the Scnale, who shall announce the
state of The vote, and the persons elected, TO the two
Houses assembled as aforesaid, which shall be deemed a
declaration of the persons elected President aud Vice
President Of the United Slales; and, together with a list
oil votes, be entered on the Journals of the two Houses.
RcSolved, That in relation to the votes OF Michigan, If
the counting or emitting 10 count them shall not essen
TALLY change the result of the election, they shall be re-
ported by the President of The Senate. in The following
manner: Were the votes Of Michigan to be counted. the
result would be, Tor a Is Tor President Of the U. States,
- votes; if not counted, for A L for President Of the
United States, - votes: but III either event, A u Is
elected President Of the United States. And in the sarIr
manner for Vice President.
ir. Mercer was understood 10 make an inquiry Of the
Chairman (Alr. Thoinas) in relation TO the FACT, whether
any votes have been given by persons not competent,
rDdrr the Constitution oil HE United States, TO vote as
Electors Of President and Vice President.
Mr.. Thomas said a few words i'll explanation. The
committee, on investigation, had found That there were
three individuals in North Carolina, one in New Hailp.
shire, ana one in Connecticut, elected to the Electoral
College, whn bore The same name with those Of indlri-
duais who were deputy postmaslers under the General
Government, and the impression OH the minds OF The
committee was that they were consequently the same m
dIviduals.
The committee, he said, came 10 the conclusion that.
whether these votes were counted or not, The general re.
suit would not be affected. and they did not feel them
selves authorised 10 recommend their REJECTION. The
chief reason was, that il would be 4 very delicate power
TO be exercised or the part of Congress to determine upon
the qualification of Electors of President and ' President
Of The i. S. 1t was with the committee, also, 4 matter
of considerable doubt whether, if such an inquiry should
be gone into. it did not belong 10 The Electoral College
itself TO Judge Of the qualifications of its own members
The committee, however, had expressed a very decided
disapprobalion Of any officer Of the General Govern
ment participating, i'll The manner these gentlemen had:
done, in the election Of President and Vice President Of
the U. s., and they had proposed a remedy, by either
giving the power to reject 10 the College or 10 Congress,
as might bc deemed most e%xpedicnt.
Mr.. Cambreleng stated in addition, what had been
omitted by The gentleman from Maryland, that it appear
cd, from examining the list Of appointments Of depu-
ty poslmaslers, that the gentlemen referred to had pro
badly all resigned before they gave in their votes for
President aud Vice President.
Mr.. Thomas had not adverted to tina, fact, because
the committee came unanimously to the conclusion that
they we're not eligible at the time they were elected,
and therefore The whole proceeding was villated ab inHio.
Mr.. Crazy called for a division of the question. lie
was disposed to vote for the first clause of the resolution,
but not Tor that part which made a disposition Of the
electoral votes of The Slate of Michigan. He thought
that Michigan ought to be placed on an equal footing