New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-06-12
ELRcTIyG OUR PRESIDENTS.

ELRCTING OUR PRESIDENTS.
The Federal Constitution undeniably cOntem-
plates the choice by the People of each State
of certain number of wise, upright, intelli-
gent men, who shall meet confer, deliberate,
and cast one vote each for such person as he
shall deem fttest for and worthiest of the ex-
allied and most responsible position of Presi-
dent of the United States. Possibly, this was,
and is, the best plan that could have been de-
vised but, good or bad the People have seen
fit TO disregard and repudiate it. In the fourth
election of President, it was completely set
aside, and has never since been resoTted
to. The candidates for President and Vice
President are selected beforehand; the people
vote really for them, and but nomnally for
the Electors, whose very names are unknown
to seven -eighths of them. The Electors, thus
chosen, are respectable Misunderstanding more.
They meet to register n decree, not to choose
President and Vice president. For all
practical purposes, the least wealthy, least
competent least intelligent, would serve for
Electors as well as the best; and, in fact our
Electors are not much to brag Of a couple of
strong names are usually placed ut the head
of the ticket; the districts are represented
thereon by ambitious intrguers, rich nobodics,
and persons whom the choice may honor, but who
cannot honor it. In short, the Electoral Colleges
are expensive farces, and should be abolished
forthwith. The Electors might defeat the pop
ular will rs embodied in their electon-bribery
or intrigue efiectng a choice of President
uucontemplated by and unwelcome to the
voting majority at the popular election
This may seem a remote danger; 1t surely
is not imaginary. The facts that the
Electoral Colleges cost large sums and
accomplish no good whateyer-that they
can at best do what was already done
without them, while they may defeat the popu-
! lar will and fOist on the country President
| odous TO it, should be conclusive. Let us have
done with Electors-the sooner the better. We
may then smile to hear changes of the Consti
tuition deprecated, when in fact the Electoral
Colleges were practically discarded seventy
years ago, without provoking rcmonstrance
or murmur.
But what tlIeni
The Hon. Charles Francis Adams OF Massa-
chusetts sent paper on this subject to the
last meeting Of the Social Science Association,
which inveiehs against the Electoral system
as a fountain of corruption and abuse, which
we do not believe il, nor do we see howa vote
directly for President and Vice-President-the
candidates having the largest votes in the
aggregate poll of the entire Union 10 be
declared chosen would correct any evils
now existing save that IL would rid us
of costly and cumbrous machine which has
no longer n shadow of utility. Indeed, we
fear that the most giaring abuse now encOun-
tered-that of fraudulent voting and fraudu-
lent cOunting-would rather be aggravated
than otherwise The wrong is evoked by
the circumstance that in certain locali
ties one party is 50 Overwhelmingly
strong that it can do as It will with the ballot
boxes and neither the fact nor the tempta-
ton would be modified by voting directly for
President. We desire a system which shall
limit and localize. fraud if it cannot be wholly
extirpatcd. TO this end, We propose direct
vote for President and Nice-Prcsidcnt; but
under a District system.
Let each State vote directly for President
and for Vice-P President, and let the candidates
preferred by the majority in any State receive
two votes answering to its Senators. Then
let each representative district vote in
like manner, and let whoever shall receive
a majority Of said vote be certified there
from as its choice for President and for
Vce-Prcsdent respectively. Under this system,
a fraud at the polls, however gigantic, could
affect only the two votes cast by the State and
the one vote of each district wherein the frauds
were perpetrated; whereas under our present
system, the entire thirty-three votes of our
State were stolen from Gen. Grant by frauds
wholly cOncoctcd and almost wholly pcrpe-
trated in this City. We are confident that the
popular vote under this system would be far
purer than now.
Had the last Presidential Election been held
under this system, the result would have been
nearly as follows: