The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-07-21
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
he Constitution of the United States
VARIOUS AMENDMENTS SUGGESTED.

The l'TCSIueNl on SdtUTnhy AFTERNOON sent
no following message to Congress:
r. lie senate and House Of Representatives
rxncricuce has fully demonstrated the
-;s5on Of the trainers of the Federal Con-
,.:n,,;on. Under Nil circumstances the re-
r n. .hcir iahors was as near an approx
nation to perfection as was compatible
18th the fallahility of man. Such being
80 estimation in which the Constitution is
.rl has ever been held by our countrymen.
7,;> no, surprising that any proposition for
i. alteration or amendment should be re-
rived with reluctance and distrust. Whilst
iii, sentiment deserves commentator aud
encouragement rs n useful preventive Of
unnecessary attempts 10 change its provi-
.r,ns. Il must be conceded that time has
ipvc,0rcd impcrfections and omissions in
,tc Constitution. the reformation of which
.ss been demanded by the best interests of
-, country. Some Of these have been
-amc#cd in the manner provided in the
constitution itself. There are others which.
,,tnurn heretofore brought to the attention
,.c people, have never been SO presented
s.tg enable the popular Judgment to deter
nine whether they should be corrected by
-ea'.s Of additional enactments. My OBJ
ec; in this communication is to suggest GER
,ain defects in the Constitution, which
.aem TO ne to require correction, and to
-acommSnd that the judgment Of the peo-
re he taken on the amendments proposed.
The first of the defects to which ! desire
direct attention is in that clause Of the
institution which provides for the cleo
i'm of President and Ficc-President
.1rouCh the intervention of electors, and
not Ivy an immediate vote Of the people.
The Importance Of so amending this clause
s. to secure TO the people the election Of
President aad EicePresident bytheir direct
votes was urged with great earneStness and
.5;.;tr by President Jackson in his first
annual message and the recommendation
VA. repeated in FIVE of his subsequent com
rgrt"ations to Congress. extending through
the eight years of his administration. In
b. message Of 1929 he said
To the people belongs the right of elect
Ing their Chief Magistrate it was never
.e,ignei that their choice should, in any
case he defeated either by the interven-
tim Of electoral colleges or by the agency
.aufIcd, under certain contingencies, to the
House Of Representatives.
lie then proceeded 10 state the objections
IL an election Of President by the House Of
Representatives, the most important OF
xhich was that the choice of clear majo-
r;ty Of the people might be easily defeated.
lie then closed the argument with the follow
.ar communication
would therefore recommend such an
amendment Of the Constitution as may
remove all intermediate agency in the cleo
ten If President and Vice President. The
wol" may he so regulated as to preserve to
each State its present relative weight in the
election and failure III the first attempt
may he provided for by combining the second
10 choice between the two highest candi-
dates. In connection with such an amend
ueut il would Ecem advisable to limit the
service Of the Chief Magistrate to a single
term If either four or six years. If, how
ever, ii should not be adopted, it is worthy
d" consideration whether Il provision dis
Qualifying for office the representatives in
Uucrcss on whom such an election may
have dcyolved would not he proper"
Although this Recommendation was re.
rratcd with uudiminishcd earnestness in
-eycral Of his succeeding messages, yet the
r.ro,ns.1 omeranrn, was never odontel
md submittcd 10 thc nconlc bv CONGRESS-.
The DANGER of q defeat of the neople's
ehoice in an election by the House of Re-
prcsentatiyc5 remains uuprovided for in
the Constitution, and would be greatly in
creased if the House Of Representatives
should assume the power Arbitrarily to reject
the votes of u State which might not be
cast in conformity with the wishes of the
minority in that body. But if President
jackson failed to secure the amendment to
The Constitution which he urged so persist
entity his arguments contributed largely to
the formation of party organizations which
nave et'ectually avoided the contingency Of
an election BY the House of Representa-
tiyes. These OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES by re-
-,rt to TIE CAUCUS system of nominating
.lulidates. and afterwards to State and ma
,.5nal conventions. have been successful in
~ limiting the number of candidates as to
escape the danger of an election by the
House Of Representatives.
Ii is clear, however, that in thus limiting
the number Of candidates the true object
AMI spirit Of the Constitution have been
eyaleI and defeated. 1t is an essential
feature in our republican system of govern
4ent that every citizen possessing the con-
stlutionll qualifications has right to be-
come a candidate for the office of President
anl VicePrcsident, and that every quail
lei elector has right to cast his vote for
any citizen whom he may regard as worthy
o, these offices. But under the party or
carnations which have prevailed for years,
iae.e essential rights Of the people have
been as cti,ectually cut off and destroyed as
!; the Constitution itself had prohibited
Their exercise. The danger of defeat
%, the pnpular choice in an election by the