The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-05-01
THE MAY CONVENTION.

Next Monday Is the day upon which the
Delegates appointed to consider the pror,i-
city OF sending delegates to the Cincinnati
Convention, will assemble in Columbia.-
The manner IN which these delegates have
been appointed, viz: by the friends OF the
mrisurc-and those only receiving the ap-
roin;mcnt WHO were known to favor the
Proposition leave but little doubt ms TO
what will be the result of their ,lclbcra-
tons. Though in our District this rule was
vari>d, and persons appointed Of the oppo-
s't'on: Yet II this ru!c had been adopted in
ali the other Districts, the political caste Of
the Cunycnt;on would not have been much
affected, because most OF those who oppose
the scheme woa!d prefer TO STAY at home
and so the convcn,:omists would have had
1t ali their own way anyhow.
We may certainly expect this bod ly-
composed as it will be of those who have
been active in c"unsclI;ng; the State to put
aside all the legitimate and constitutional
objections to the plan upon which the Ma
tional Convention is workcl-to trample
under foot The great political doctrines Of
tALHorS; yes, his opinions upon this sub
Jrct, derived as they were from the plain
import Of the Constitution, arc to be treated
as wor'Aless-;o hc supp'anted by modern
hercses - modern light, cmanatny from,
lesser orbs, whose dull d:mncss changes to
darkness i'll comparison with the intellectual
hllllancy Of him whose principles they
would now rcrudiate. 1t would he folly to
cxlcct anything else from ,lis body. 1t
will doubtless, by its action, endorse the
present National Convention system, though
we would gladly hope otherwise.
If the National Convention was organ
iz.d upon plan which would give to each
State the weight in choosing the President,
allotted 10 it by the Constitution, we could
consistently advocate the propricty of a
representation at Cincinnati. The Consti-
tuition provides that the President shall be
elected by electors, chosen in sucl, manner
as the people of the several States may di-
rect. These electors meet together, cast
their votes for the respective candidates,
their votes are counted per capita, and a
majority Of all the votes of the Electoral
College is necessary to choice. The
number of the electors from each State is
made equal to the vote of the State in both
Houses of Congress; and if no choice is
made by the Electoral College, the three
highest on the list Of those voted for, 60
before the House Of Representatives, which
votes by States, a majority Of the delcga-
ton controlling the vote of the State, which
is counted as one. By this, the constitu-
tional mode of choosing tho President, VIC
eqnalize the power of the large and small
States. But let us see if the plan of voting
in the National Convention assimiatcs to
the constitutional plan, or to anything like
fairness, Or, indeed, if it is not at variance
with the spirit and genius Of republican
principles. Well. how do they vote o.
Each State in Convention is allowed vote
equal to her vote in Congress, votes by ma
jority and counts per capita. TO illustrate /:
South Carolina in Cincinnati would be enti.
tied to eight votes, and supposing that five
out of eight voted for BUCHANAN, that be-
ing majority would carry the vote Of the
whole State for him, and count for him AS
eight votes, when in fact he only received
tive; and by this system Of voting, we press
che opposition minorities in each State into
! the service Of tile majorities, and count