Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1856-02-20
THE ELECTORAL QUESTION.
For the Advertiser.
FOr the NdVertSer.
TO THE PEOPLE OF EDGEFIELD DISTRICT

FELLOW C1r1zsSs:sI intended to express
my views on the Electoral question in the
Legislature at its recent Session, but was
unable to do so, because the time for dis.
cussing this matter was too short for length
ened debate. cheerfully respond to the
call now made upon me.
Before taking up the subject proper, |
propose first to answer the leading objec.
tions urged against our present mode of
electing Presidential Electors.
It has been said that the appointment of
Electors by the Legislature is a"tircrnbE-
can and an usurpaiiou on the rights Of tho
people. If so, it should certainly be abau.
doned.
Ant.Rcpublican! Then were our lsevo-
lutionary ancestors false to the republican
principles they had laborcd so severely to
establish; for the very trainers Of our Gov.
ernment, three years after they had formed
our State Constitution, assisted in passing
the act Of 1892, which regulates Our election
of Electors; and the mode established by
this act has received tlte sanction OF our re.
publican fathers for more than sixty years.
What new light has fallen upon tue public
mind to convince US of error i'll the conclu-
sions of these wise and experienced men
At the time Of the adoption OF our own and
of the Federal Constitution, tho appoint.
ment of Electors by the State Legislatures
was deemed highly republican, while the
plan now urged by the advocates OF change
was then stigmatiscd'a as da'i.rep"Ollcan, and
pregnant with the worst results of central,
consolidated despotism. Hence, in the Con-
vcntou that framed the Federal Consttu-
ton, FIVE distinct propositions, made by the
Federal party of that day (Which was sty IL
ed the anti-republicaai party) 10 have the
presidential Electors dsctcd by the collec-
tive people Of tile United States, were voted
down by the republican or Statc.rights par
tv whose aim was to: :havc the appointment
made by The State Legislatures, or by the
Governors of the different States. The
result was Il compromise between the par
ties, leaving it to the Legislatures of tho
various States to determine the manner in
which the appointment should be made
The republican party Of that day ioresaw
what has since taken place under the sys-
tenn they sought to avoid viz: the establish
.ment o. a~ceatsal, consolidated despotism
at Washington, :swayedby the iron will OF
hcartless numerical dfaaiiority, who trample
under foot the most sacred provisions OF the
Constitution, and utterly disregard the rights
and liberties of the States. Had the orIgI-
nal practice in all the States Of appointing
Electors by the Legislature been steadily
adhered to, States.rights and State sovereign.
ty would, doubtless, have been now gener-
ally established throug hout the Union, and
the despotc party combinations that so ab.
solutcly control the liberties of the country,
might never have become formidable. Our
plan, if generally adopted, would give as
cendancy to the StG:sS-thereby alIurdrg
stronger safeguards Tor the protection OF the
minority interests of the country, against
the dcspotic will OF consolidated numer.
ca majoritv. It is therefore to all intents
and purposes, essentially Republican, and
we'll calculated, to furnish more ample pro-
lection to tile rights and liberties of the
SOUTH.
No Better founded is the charge Of usur-
patton. With many who take little pains i'll
establishing the data from which they reason
and draw their conclusions, this charge OF
usurpalion by our Legislature is become
favorte topic What is usurpation! 1t is an
unjust, illegal seizure of power. 1t is an
assumption of that, to which the body usur-
ping had no previous legal right. With
what propriety, now, can it be urged, that
the Legislature Of South Carolina, in ap.
pointing Presidential Electors, has usurpcd
the rights of the people, when the constltu,
ton OF the United States expressly declares
that" each State shall appoint, in such
manner as the Legislature thereof may d.
rect, number of Electors" &C.; when,
moreover, the early Acts Of Congress refer
to the appointment Of Electors, by the States;
and when, too, it WAS the uniform practice,
in the early days of the Republic for tho
Legislatures to appoint!
But this charge is, in general, without
meaning or propriety. Were this n Gov
ernmcnt, legally recognizing distinct castcs
or privileged orders as in a monarchy or
aristocracy, the justice Of the charge might
sometimes bo allowed; for then powers as
sumcd by one class Of citizens might be in
derogation of the rig hts Of others; but wc
live in RErUBLrc, where the people arc
the legitimate source Of all powcr-in which
only one class is known to the law-where
all are politically free and equal, enjoying
the same rights and privileges; where Leg
isators themselves are enducd only tempo
rarily, with certain peculiar independent
powers, subject to an easy and speedy re-
moval from office, and make laws by which
they, as well as their fellow citizens, are TO
be governed. So far as the rights and in
terests of tile citizen are concerned no ust
distinction can be drawn between Legisa.
tors aud their fellow citizens generally. The
same laws govern all: tho same rights at.
tach to all. If the former impose burdens
by their Legislative enactments, DO they not
impose these hardcns as well on themselves
as upon their fellow. citizens: If they usurp,
do not they usurp their own rights! Once
Legislators, they soon become again private
citzeus; and upon what principle Of human
nature, or Of common sense will men use
power tyrannicaIly TO the prejudice of their
own best interests, or to tho overthrow of
their dearest rights and liberties?
There can be no permanent usurpalion by
our Legislature, to which portion Of the
people do not lend their sanction; Tor all
conceivable conflicts of power in the State,
whether in the Legislature or out Of it,
whether by factions or sections, are but
s,ru.rtrlrc Lct yvrru different nortions rf thu