Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1856-02-20
VOL. 1XI....NO. 6.
with this small degree Of power. Most
lame and impotent conclusion p
's Most

from falling into the lower House Of Con.
gress as provided by the constitution OF the
United States. Now we have always been
taught to believe that throwing this election
into the lower House of Congress, under
certain contingencies, is an admirable pro-
vision in The constitution for protecting the
rights and influence OF the smaller States of
the Union and, in my own judgment, this
furnishes strong ground against the change
proposed, and against the present caucus
system. This | will endeavor to show.
Under the Federal Constitution there are
two elements that enter into the election Of
President and Vice President-the element
Of population, and the element Of territory,
!. e., Of the States in their corporate eaPaci.
ty. The present caucus and convention
system gives predominence to the element
of population, to the exclusion Of the other,
by which the Southern States, small in pop.
ulation, are overpowered by the great mas.
ses in the Northern States By this means
! South Carolina, for example, has only
votes in the electoral college, while New
York has 35. New York has, therefore,
more than quadruple the power of South
Carolina in the choice Of President; and
the Northern States, though less in extent
Of Territory, have much more power than
the Southern States. But when the election
is thrown into the House Of Representatives,
the other element-the element Of Territory
gains the ascendant, The States vote
as corporate bodies-each State casting one
vote Here South Carolina and the other
small States have voice in the election Of
President as potential as the great State Of
New York and the Southern States, though
sparsely populated, can hold something like
an equal hand with the most populous states
Of the North and North. West.
The argument then amounts to this the
election of Electors is to be taken from the
Legislature, because in doing so you keep
i, out of the lower House of Congress- and
thereby weakcn the voice of the State in the
election of President; because, further, the
clause in the constitution, designed for the
protection of the slave. holding States, is
thereby rendered null and void-being su-
perseded by bungling, irresponsible eau.
cuses and conventions, in which the only
presiding principles are those Of spoils aud
conquest.
In the discussion Of this subject, fellow.
citizens. the public mind has. TO some ,ex.
tent, been Ted of from the real issue. The
true and only inquiry is--in what way can
the peoples rights and interests be best
promotedl And when | say the people, |
mean the collective population Of the State.
Let this be determined as every important
question should be--by reason and expert
encc. What is the main object to be at
tanned in the election of Presidential Elec-
tors. Is 1t not to gire fair oppression to
The enlightened arishes and sentiments of the
people /? On this point there can be little
difference of opinion. BY our present mode
OF election has not this object been success.
fully reached Was our Legislature ever
known, in this regard, 10 thwart the will of
the people, or to pursue course that failed
to secure the appreciation of large majority
of our voting populations | challenge an
instance. When the State threw away her
vote in 1892, upon Mr.. MANeuM, and in
1910 upon Mr.. TAzEwELL, did the people
generally express any dissent from the action
of the Legislature On the contrary, was
not the vote Of the. Legislature in accordance
with the previously declared will Of the peo-
pie as made known through the newspapers
of that days 1t was already foregone con-
clusion with our people before the meeting
of the Legislature, not to vote for General
JACKSON in 1882, nor for MIR. VAN buren,
in ls40-and the Legislature only carried
out the will Of the people. And it, in the
past, it has always done this, why may it
not in future9 The same causes under like
circumstances, generally produce the same
results. The laws that govern our moral
being are as stable and as certain as those
which govern the physical world. 10 the
judg merit of the philosopher one is as sure
as the other.
Nothing, as can perceive, in the nature
of the present plan renders it less certain in
expressing the true will Of the people, unless
it can be made to appear, that the agents
employed to cast the vote Of the State are
less qualified than others that might be
chosen. How is it in this respects The.
people cannot vote directly for President and
Vice President. The Constitution Of the
United States compels them to employ
agents-electors to cast their vote. In
South Carolina the members Of the Legisla.
ture are constituted agents to appoint Elec.
tors. Are these men, coming as they do
from daily intercourse with their fellow.citi.
zcns, less acquainted with their sentiments,
than those who may be chosen Electors by
direct popular votea' 1t is absurd to sup
pose so. If, then, members Of the Legisla.
ture have the honesty to express what they
I know to be the true wishes of the people,
nothing will hinder the peoples will from
being duly carried out in the vote for Presi.
dent. But why should the Elector, voted in
at the ballol.box, be blessed with virtue
above the Legislator By what species
Of Legerdemain can an election for one
Office inspire men with honesty superior to
what they would have had, if elected to
anotherl While entrustiug to the members
of the Legislature their more important con.
Germs, touching the civil, financial and po.
litical relations Of the State, can any sage
philosopher Of this progressive age assign
plausible reason why the people may not
safely commit to them Likewise, the poor
matter of electing few men. to vote for
President of the United Statess
1t is idle to deny that the power of elect.
ing Electors is as wisely and safely exercised
now as it would be under the plans propos.
ed. The people Of the State now get their
will fully carried out by agents whom they
l,.,,. ,L>.on 80 A., I.It,t L.