, 1869-02-05
HOW TO xLxcr PREs1pRHrs.

nls for Fresideat ana Vice rr-aldent, and II
Il b. s
state, aId tach districts 10 choose An Heetot tor
a1d Vice President"
We intt1 from tAis bfiet description +.
that The bill proposes to divide the States ..
into as many electoral districts as each :
State ia entitled'to Electors. For example, :
illinois casts slxteeu voles In the Electoral ,
College; htnce Illinois would be divided
Into sixteen districts. eseh ono e!ecsing
cne Efector. This is the same schema
proposed by the acting President in
his special message to Congress
last summer, except th.t 6p :lding's
plan provides for mating the districts
by Congress, wnereas Johnson's plan de-
volVed that duly on the State Legtsla-
lures. In tits rtspecf, Jchnso1'a plan Is
The best
The defects in the present system are
fout-fold: First. 4 plurality OF vo;es IN
State eecu1es all the Electors. Second.
II Is optional with The Legislature OF a
STATE whether 10 let the people vote tor
the Electors OF 10 choose them by the
woe Of the Legislature. Third. Taere
are no means provided tor pursing the |
returns Of frauds, no matter no Y glar1ng
aod yiIlainous they may be- Fourth.
In the event that no canIt- |
date receives a majority Of all
the electoral votes, the election goes to
the House Ct Representatives, where each
Sta1o counts ons fols, ard. II delegation
Is equally divided, The State would count
az a blank, aud the larees. State counts
no moro than the smallest. Nevada
wcu'd tffset New York Nebraska would
balance Pennsylvania, and Delaware
reutralize Ohio, while the Illinois mem.
bers may happen 10 be evenly divided
between parties, and, In that, case, coun.
moth ,pg, notwithstanding F,orids or
Rhode Island counts one. AL this. Is
radically wrong. The whole system for
electlng President and Vice President
| should be reformed and made to conform
10 The principles of equal rights and re-
pnhlicauism, and 1t can only be done by
q COL ssiluuonal amendment
Without going into the subject very
fully, We would propose much simpler
AID butter plan fos choosing electors than
that provaced in SpAlding's bill. In the
first place, let the candidate who receives
the largest number OF electoral votes be
declsred elected. Of, If that Is no. deemsd
satisfactory, and the decision goes TO
Cerg1ess, then let the sena'e
and House meet in joint con-
vention for election Of President
ard Vice President, and continue voting
ttra toce until one candidate has MI
jorlty, which can be secured by dropping
the lowest after, ssy. every second or
third vote, In The next place, let each
Congressional District elect one Elector
ard tho State at lsrge two.
: This does away with all the
! trouble, expense and partisan cheating
: that would occur In creating electoral dis
: tricts. Let the duty OF forming the Con
e e,essional Districts continue with th'
e State Legislatures, and to be performed
I at their first session after taking the de-
# cerDial Genius and the announcement O
e the Congressional 1atios By this mean
- the Electoral and Congressional district
would always be Identical, and ther
a would bc no disturbance OF the e7ectio
G. prectnc,s: TbHs, 1llina5s s,s tsHs's E t.. =.
! hAtp kADstH 0IhAh hu0 SoAhA LttEtoi
At III ntue districts, and three for the Sat
Is q: large, two tor Senators and one for Il
= tour een,h Congressman, not apporsione'
H. making twelve voles for Grans ani c.
tc tax againss four votes Of districts carrie
Ii. for Seymour and Blair. On the 9TH
D. hnno, the State Of New York, whie
Isl cast th'r1y.threc 70 ca tor Sci
F. mour, Il zach district had elec,e
he 1t own E1ectcr, would hs,
D. given Grant eighlcen votes, again
ed fit,ten for stymour-s thirteen BY disulc
tie ard Two by The State At large.
r. Suppose the late Presidential clecsis
ey had bsen conducted on the plan he
be prop, std, the result would have baen
cY follows:
h, Grsnt e41.iea Congressional Districts. ........ !
~ Grant carried swe1ty sx btatss.
oe- stJaoa1 eas5ied Cenr,ess!onI i Disttic:s.....
by sc3 mour s1rsied eight otaies..-.....--. ...-.
uA Seymour 81. clcr1 cr1.,............. .,...,.....
ted Crafts ua5ortty......... ...-....... .......
il As the eltciion WAS conducted, Ill
r.. Electors OF twenty-sn 8ia'es voted
The Grsps, ard all the Electors OF eie
wo Stsxs voted tor Seymour. The form
nne cast 214 votes Tor Grans, and the lat
ved l1gh y tor Sc, naour, which shows Thai
. of ,he l,stzins pltn the minority pa
o,e would have given their candidate fo'
thn teen mere electoral votes and The nsj
The My party fourteen lever votes
Til. Lei us t1' mine how this rule wo
,ual have worked at previous Pfesiden
sent elections. In 1864
~ ureo.n carried Congressional! U'strtcts.... :.
cans
=. Total TO. Lirco1n ............ ...+.. ......
Inn Net lillian e..1,ed corg.ea,ioull DtstrIcts...
Mcclellan carried three states.
-. ktttrl,y for Ereo'n...,..... .........-,
sae But BY The olher mode Of 80 Ing
eao States ard not by districts the t~e'
ORE. TWO States which vo'ed for LIN
sta gave him a13 Eleclors, aud the t
'e'F States which voieo for Mcclellan
'pu' bim crly twen'y-oue Electors, Y
soo- b+ar no iais proportion TO the streng
anu sbc MtCieslAn psEsy at the tine
s''e' Let Us next take the election OF
Hhgn .ls the STATES vo.e3, and We
- 1;,e es this result: .--...
~ ~ Lttcoa carried Consrettiopsl D.t,tcts.
rotee Lincoln cart1ed serensetn satea.-..'-.. 49,
no Of Tttal for Lincoln. oln....,..........,.."......
& < .ss e Bste1,nriage md Douglas carried corsr
n an. Bs1 cii11idKe and Deusia4 carried thtste
,oxE btsles '...'
morc Tttal for Bleck1I1td8c and Doue1at.
deEel- Bell carried Congressional Dtstyiea........
a mo- hetl catEed Urea
otson. Total for Bell. .-.............,..-.....+
- y ae ps. Thus, while the Lincoln Electors
~. o. OF msjortsy OF the whole, they e.
q Il, the pumber cast for both Douglas
nsls1d BnekspIidRe.
alwaJs We alko find, by careful compus.
that II all the Democratic votes ca
string bo,h D-u9lAs and Breckinridge bad
ot be concentrated on Douplas the
olE would have been as tot1ows:
We | Republican Congressional plEGtets. ts....-..-
lc On Retnoheaa-nl'eeH oA3'es''''''A''''''''''
i cur Total B!ee,orr...... .........-...............
! MS nos.sae S5Etesn tGnf1,GsH s,ee.' uus....
three
price sl eI ~ e., s,'on.i Oirui:ts.
It and Beli-s,atss......,......-.
:tasiou, The united Democratic vote e1'
ncarly stas csst tor lincoln, and ha1 II
srd the concentrated on Douglas would
L, costs n ade him Pr. zident uuder the pr,
avisate c's'ric. sys EN-.
nearly In vot,re by S.aus, Lincoln 1s
fences, 1870 electoral votes, BEeckinr,d9
Sc ren. ee,yed 7e, Bel! 80. aud Douglas II
aborers, Il will be seen IRON thas zeVst
rura1g the popular vosee would be Ia