The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-07-21
Veto Of s,.s Electoral College nm.

'esS " sh0 GAOctOroA OOtego Bsli.
The President yesterday sent to the Senate
bis veto of the bill defining on what con
dtions the late rebel States shall be per-
mitted to take part in the approaching Presi-
dental election. The message is BRIEF but
forcibly written. Mr.. Johnson holds that the
Southern States never having been out of the
Union, Congress has no power to exclude their
votes from the Electoral College, and that If the
ordinances of secession did forfeit all their
rights and sever their connection with the
other States. then ''the war waged upon them
was illegal and unconstitutional" and ''was
waged for the conquest of Territories assumed
to be outside Of the constitutional Union"
The duty of Congress is to count the electoral
votes, and not to receive or reject them. Mr..
Johnson insists that the State governments or
ganized in 1865 were legal and constitutional,
and gives it as his opinion that ''all the State
governments organized in those States under
the acts of Congress for that purpose and
under military control are illegitimate and of
no validity whatever" and accordingly ''the
votes cast in those States for President
and Vice President, in pursuance of the acts
passed since the 4th of March, 1867, aud
in obedience to the so-called Reconstruction
acts of Congress cannot be legally received
and counted The position here assumed is
liable to lead to considerable agitation of the
question, particularly if it should happen that
the votes Of the Southern States are necessary
10 Ia tba ola n iba NJ
didates. The concluding argument of the
message is quite logical in its deductions. If
Congress can refuse to receive the electoral
vote of Virginia because portion of her in
habitants were engaged in rebellion lit can
exercise the same authority with respect to
New York or any other of tie States" the
President assuming that in all of the Northern
States there are persons who participated in
the rebellion. He argues that If the bill be q
legal one then the presidential election may
be controlled and determined by Congress"
In conclusion he holds that 40 power exists in
the constitution authorizing the measure. and
pronouuces il unconstitutional and REVOLT
tionary."
The bill was. of course, promptly passed in
both houses over the objections by the neces-
sary two-thirds vote and is now a law. BY its
provisions Congress is, perhaps, to have the
power to make the next President,
for it defines which States shall vote
and which shall not. This is the
power 10 say who the shall be-, and we
know too much OF the present Congress to fancy
"a
merely because it involves an invasion of the
peoples rights. The bill in regard to the
electoral vote Or,lains that Congress shall not
count the vote from any State that is not pre-
viously represented in that body. At che tiIue
Of the adjournment of this session there
will still be several States in that category,
and when Congress assemblies again il will he
known how the people of those States have
voted. Congress will he governed by that
fact in what it does in relation to those
cratic candidate, no power on earth will get
their representatives in. and those votes will
be lost unless there shall be sufficient ma
jority on the other side to mllity them. In
that case they will he taken in to make show
OF fairness. IT, on the other hand, any State
of those ont shall have gone with the
republicans and its vote shall be
necessary TO win. iniquity in
the shape OF constitution will keep it
out This is the plan. BY this the people
may see that Congress deliberately prepares n
pretext to defeat The popular will il that will
should not suit the republicans. and by the
assumption of power to declare what States
shall participate in the choice OF President
practically makes itself the arbiter OF that
choice. And on this subject Mr.. Johnsons
argument is correct Necessary ~ il may be
that the question of what ex-rcbel States shall
vote shall he definitely settled. the law leaves
their votes completely at the will of Congress,
to be rejected or accepted even as the result is
to or in favor OF the dominant
majority. There is no security ,ha, the d.
cision cf the Southern States now entitled to
representation will he respected. That de-
peads upon how they vote aud who they vote
for.
Tyranny iw rg,pt-Thc viceroy aud Ills