Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-11-05

100000 votes behind Douglas received
three times as many votes in the college.
Indeed, these Interpretations are so ludi-
crous that without further argument. the
table may be left to stand az a glariup ex-
aAAple Of the actual occurrence Of what we
have hitherto expressed only az a clear
posslbility-namely, a majority candidate
before the people being minority candi.
date before the Electoral College.
In presence Of such historic facts, il be-
comes fair question whether the device
Of the Electoral College should not b.
abolished, leaving the President to be d.
rectly chosen by the people. Ordinarily,
it would be regarded by the disinterested
student as safe proposition that, above all
other officers, the President of the United
States should be, as nearly as practicable,
the immediate choice of the people of the
Republic. One political school will reply,
however, that this is not SO; that the
founders of the Federation" designed the
President to be chosen not by the whole
electoral people, but By the people of the
several States as such and not, therefore,
TO be President Of the people, but the Pres
ident of The States. This doctrine is sup
ported by political facts. For the States
may choose the Presidential electors as
they like-through their Legislatures, as
IN South Carolina, or with any property or
! other qualification they may please to i'm
pose upon the elective franchise-they
may suffer men only six feet tall to vote
for President.
But we may fairly suppose that it never
was the design of the founders of the sys-
tenn to produce the sort of results which
have just been set forth. Times have
changed, and laws may we'll change with
them. Domestic politics in America have
been metamoIphosed since the infancy of
the Republic. The nominating convention
now crysLalizes party around a man-it
provides for single coior-bearer for all
who wear the same party name, and ordi-
nariiy you accept him or throw your vote
away. The constitutional device of the
Electoral College was inverted for vast
ly different system of party organization.
The theory then was las De Tocquevllle
terseiy puts it, that ut rarely happens
that an individual can receive at the first
trial majority of the suffrages of great
people; aud this difficulty is enhanced in
republic of confederate States, where To-
cal influences are far more developed and
more powerful" Hence it was proposed
ITO delegate the electoral powers of the ma.
ton to body which should represent it,
because "this mode of election rendered
majority more probable"
That was the theory OF the Electoral
College, and early practice sustained it,
since the first body of the kind, that of
1889, found no less than eleven candidates
for Vice President before it 4; the one
which elected John Adams had twelve 9th
er candidates for President ana Vice
President; and the next one could not
elect anybody at all lin spite Of DeTocque-
yllle's dictum), but threw the election over
to third body, namely, Congress.
Oa the other hand, for the last thirty
years, I. E., since 1910, there have never
been (save in the highly exceptional cleo.
ton of 1860, when the Democratic party
was disrupted), more than three candidates
for President and three for Vice President;
IN all but one election chat of 1856, if Fill
more be indeed an exception, there we're
substantially but two candidates, "a the
third polled but a handful of votes car
rying not single State; while the most
recent elections, those Of 1864 and 1868,
show but one candidate on each side, rail-
lying INTO TWO great parties every voter IN
the land. Clearly enough We can never
return to the state of politics under which
the Electoral College was framed, because
The tendency is the other way.
But, merely to abolish the Electoral
College--the course which first suggested
itself-would not radically cure the errors
here pointed out The effect of this aboli-
ton would obviously be merely to impose
on State Governor or other offer the
duty of casting the votes nov thrown by
the Electors OF that State Or, should We
resort 10 counting the popular vote
that device would now be utterly unscien-
tifc and inexpedient, because of the differ
enCes in the elective franchise in different
States.
What, then, il the tue remedy? Il Is
to abandon the idea of the President being
g President of States, and make him the
President of the people; to create an uni
form qualification for voters at the Presi
Dental election, throughout the land; and
to incorporate this provision for a new rs
tional elective franchise with its quaiifca-
tions there defined, in the same constitu-
tional amendment which shall abolish the
Electoral College.