The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-07-22

States Il can carry. Nominations would, there
fore, be made 10y national conventions OF either
party, as now. The people would concentrate
on these nominations as now; the votes of the
minority in each electoral district would bs
lost in the count, as now the votes of the mi
norty ia each state are lost: the popular vote
might be cast for another than the candidate
elected, just as now and the only effect OF the
change would be to merge the States and elect
the President by electoral districts.
An inconvenience attending the plan would
be that the electoral districts would not corre-
spond TO any political division of the State now
existing. II would require two more districts
in each State than the number OF Congress
sional districts, so as to add one electoral dls-
tlict for each Senator. The electoral districts
would be just near enough to the Congressional
TO create confusion. To carry out the plan
would require a board of auditors AMI entire
official machinery for each electoral district
which do not now exist As to the PROPOSE
ton that the President shall be elected for six
years instead of four, reluctant as the Ameri-
can people feel to part with the services of
President johnson after so short and glorious
an administration, we cannot conceive that
they will ever again have ''showered down
upOn them" a Presidential blessing which
they will seriously yearn to retain for more
than four years. II they should, their yearn-
iDgs may doubtless be satisfied by re-electing
him for four years more. The most illustri-
ous precedent relative to six years term is
that afforded by the Rebel Csnfederacy, which
elected jeff. Davis for that term, and found
it rather longer than they would have wished.
The amendment requiring that on impeach-
ment and removal of the President, he shall
appoint a successor-for devolving the success
sion on the members of his Cabinet means no
less-may not have been intended as joke,
but it is nearer approximation to humor than
the President has ever before perpetrated.
no fhnu oh pf i,,,pa 70 ho,y
him succeeded by Seward, or removing Bu
ehansn to get Howell Cobb, or ousting
Franklin Pierce to put in Jefferson Davis, is
amusing The election of United States Sena-
tors by the people instead of by the LegiSla-
ture would, We think. be no improvement on
the present system. 1t would practically de-
volve the actual selection on the State Conven-
tions of the respective parties, and we doubt
if any higher grade of Senators would be
chosen by these two political Conventions than
are now chosen by the Legislature.
The change would be for the worse.
Appointing the judges of the
United States Supreme Court for twelve
years instead of for life, would bring them
more under the control of the President, and
would lessen their independence Itwould place
the two judges OF the Supreme Court whose
terms would expire during the term of any
President more under his control than the
welfare of the country demands. On the
whole, therefore, we see many more evidences
of wisdom in the Constitution as our fathers
framed it than in any Improvements Mr.. John
son would be likely to make in it. We have
not been in the habit of regarding the Consti-
tuition with fetish worship. We believe it will
perpetually grow, and change, and be renewed.
And like all living things, when it ceases to
grow it will have begun to die. But Mr..
Johnsons amendments are crude and bungling
in their conception, and though he claims that
his meditations upon them have been long,
they never could have been broad or deep.