The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1852-09-28


tors shall be elected by the Legisl atua,iee. t,ie.
He desired that they should be elected
by the people, but preferred somo
other mode of electing the President.
Throughout the whole debate it was
taken for granted that the latter was
to be elected by the people. And
when Mr.. Lowndcs objected to the
treaty making power, upon the ground
that it was too great to be conferred
upon SO small a body us the President
and the Senate. Mr.. Pimckney re-
piled, that this power was rightly vest
ed ''in the President-who ,yas to be
chosen dy the peopie-and tho Senate.
whose members were to be chosen by
the State Legislatures"
This idea Of the President having q
constituency different from that of the
Senate, seems to pcrvadc every clause
Of the Constitution which relates to his
election. Even when the people fail to
elect, and it becomes necessary that
the choice should be made by States,
tho Constitution provides that the
votes of the States shall be cast by tho
Representatives of the people in the
House, and not by the Senators who
represent the States organized. Nor
can the House of Representatives,
when voting by States, choose for
President any one they please, but
they arc restricted to the choice of one
from tho five (now three) who receive
most votes i'll the election before the
people.
Commenting on these provisions of
the Government, Mr.. Calhoun in his
last work, page l79, remarks, that had
they 'Sbeen left unultered and not su
pcrcedcd i'll practice by caucusscs and
party Conventions, their effect would
have been to give to the najority of
the people Of the several .Sites, the
right ot'nominating five candidates; and
to the majority of the States, acting in
their corporate character, the right of
choosing fibm them, which should be
President, and which Vice president.
The President and Vice President
would, virtually, have been elected by
the concurrent majority of the several
States, and Of their population, cstima-
ted in Federal numbers; and, i'll this
important respect, the executive would
have been sssimilntcd to the lesisla-
tive department."
Thus it is apparent, that In prcpar-
ing his last comment on the Constitu-
ton, Mr.. Calhoun was brought to the
conclusion, that its spirit required an
election or an effort to elect, by the
people. The concurrent majority Of
which he speaks could never take
place, if in the first instance the States
were to vote through their Legislatures.
Those Legislatures do not, in any
case, represent the Federal population
of the States, and their vote caunot,
with any propricty, be spoken of us
that "ot their population estimated in
Federal numbers" That mode of elccz
,.issls snnot thercforcxsc q comp!;16ce
spirit of the Constit;,tion as
g I'D by Mr.. Calhoun in his lost
great work. Nor is it in accorda,,c.
with any feature of-tlle Constitution
which evidently intended that the
President and the Senate of the United
States should derive their power from
different sources, and that whilst the
members of the latter representing the
States organized, are, and should be
elected by the Legislatures, the former
should be elected by the people.