, 1870-03-28
ELECTION OF PRESIDENTS.
Hy Chasles Francis Adams Jr,


1oth OF February, 1869, and Vas subsequently,
printed III the Journal VI tie society In it the
follow query usH euEGestcd:
ttWhlt good rpAruH can Dc given why I'm
our Presidential elections) wo should vots Tor
one man, or thirty men, who, in turn, aro to
lie ple41rrd to vote for another man, dea;g-
unttu to them beforehand, instead OF voting
directly for the object Of our choices
Can any good rcaHon 1'e suggested why the
people uf this country should nut directly
so:u for their Presidents as they ever have for
r! their Govcrnoys:"
This question did not have long 10 wait for
cnl.cluslve answer. When advanced, i. was
accompanied With the remark that the subject
st1od 1ather =. III mood Of rusgee.ion and dig
c,,ssion tEan Of patent Legislative pauaceas or
Individual dogmaiirm. In this spirit il vas
very able criticism shortly atterwasd appeared
III the editorial columns Of TIE CHIcA7o
Tn1nrSE, sllich, while cmphaticais condemn
ng the present mode Of cloosinS the Electoral
Colleges, pointed out very clearly how greater
dangers might not im!'ro'.ahly 10 fouu1 to
exist in the election of President by direct
popular vo:e than by the method now In use
ILiA reply 10 the question, II sustained by
Tearon and fact, is conclusive, and Shows that
no relief is - he found III the direction iudi-
Gated.
In b previous paper IN this subject it was
rcry broa,ily stated that the present system OF
choosing the Electoral Colleges on general
ticket in each State, acts Ii nothing more nor
lsss tllAn premium on ira1l1 making the vio-
lation Of the ballot by Quo party i'll one locality
an alleged political necessity" for counter
balancing violation of it hy another party in an
other locality Particular sections Of the coun-
try--tho-e III wlurh an election is close aud
hotly coutested-are. br t.o practical working
Of this +yrtem. regularly pointed ont at every
c]e.tiou ~ the decisive points, 60 that the least
artute ralitciau knows beforehand just where
votes will ''e wanted and Just where they will
be useless. lilo can, therefore, work intelli-
Sr..r,@1v aud iy,}na a1r1nS 1rifr adj w.t..
ing his means to his ends- For instance.
in tho last Presidential election. unless fraud
were countcrateed by fraud, it wAs aprar.
eht to every one that tho manufacture Of
u fcw Thousand votes in New York city would
decide the uu1ty-tlGce electoral votes Of the
State This would exactly couuteract in the
grind re+ult, any possible majority, the other
way, Of the legal votes cast in Illinois, Sfassa-
practically uncantested- New York city wAs,
therefore, designated beforehand as deciHirc
point; place where every fraudulent vote
would carry great fictitious weight. Tho
result Of tho election showed that tho sam.
state OF Affairs existed elsewhere. votes in
Eansaa were OF no value in the face Of a INA
jurity OF 1904. lG4 ballots, fraudulent or
legal, settled the result in Oregon, and neg
atived tlst in tho State first named, 1t WAS
was futile to hope for any purity in
elections Willie tho elections actually
revealed such enormous dispAritien
OF influence; 30 long IS the nyntem at ouce
supplied h1lch great incentive to fraud, and
designated no precisely the localities in which
it could l,e committed, The case of tho elec-
ton Of 1874 was cited There can l'c no doubt
that 31r. Folk received a majority OF the legal
vote. cast i'll that election: there Is strong
1cuecn for believing, however, that Atr. Clay
was The legally elected Ircsideut. The result,
then, turned OIL tho vote o! New York, whose
Electoral College numbered thirty-si1 MEM
ltera. The party which supported Mr., Folk
Al ~. .I..f-'
lion by tie judiciary Committee Of the United
sstateH Senate asundantls proved the rcrpetra-
ton Of extensive frauds in that State, which,
not impo-sihly, lecilel The contest. tScl.
Doc-., 2hth Gong, "a Sesa.. Rep No. 49,
1t is uhele-s and wicked to argue that, in this
As in other caner, fraud WAS probably oIntt hy
f1a,ll, and that the result practically reflected
tho will of the legal majority. Allowing this to
he tue iu fac, it settles the question to that
system whicl, establishes. for ANY portion of
it. citizctr. cheating Us the only alternative TO
defeat. 1t certainly is not conductive to public
morality u,at fraud should be Recognized as
regular clement in politics in Iced, it wutld
jlo far better to resort to fof'c ar once. The
suggenti0n, however. is not true lit fact
Az III well known. the lserretration Of frau1s
Oil a larg. scale Is Possible uhly u1ler certain
circumstances: Tley eau IL. effected in great
Ginen where the inhabitants are necessarily
unknown to cach Other: OF III rude and lA*ess
communities Our annals are, unfortunately,
Icrletu will 1srcct1lc,ts coming under either
head; Sinii]ar outrases, howcFer, arc not, nor
ran they be, l,c1petrated, on any large scale.
by party which only controls well-rsguIatei
and moderately populated sections Of co,lutrv.
1t only remains to foLvc the problem Of how
this fraui can be reduced within the narTowest
Limits. The present system puts tho largest
possible premium upon it; for, under it. one
fraudulent vote, in given locality, always
may, and often docs, outweigh lluuirei legal
votes acrosa An imaginary line which divides
StatcA 10 remedy this, it was proposed to
u, aS>f ~
Eetlet. Twas suggested that, il the Preai-
dent was elected by direct popular vote, as tho
Governors Of the States now are, and always
1,aye been, the effect Of lless voting would,
OF G1cat many fraudulent votes in ono State
could, 1t most, only counterbalAncc an exactly
equal number Of honest votes elsewhere, and
not, as at present. by choosing tho wilolc
with absolute disregard Of numbers, vast Eopu-
lar majontien in three other and smater States.
Tho predcmiuance given to fraud il certainly
unnecessary. III 10 lar As it il artificial
It cannot, however, be denied. As argued III
the columns OF TnE CHICAGO TaInuSE, that
auch system would bc cum5rous and liahln
to great dangers whenever elections we.o
closely contested. Even the citizens OF New
Yotk, accustomed as they arc to not di.sirniI.r
rpnctacles within their own borders, might OBJ
jcct to seeing sast opposing uaAjorities rolling
up from the wi!ds OF Texas The eatty history
Of knnsaa, aud the later histories OF some
Southern States, havc demonstrated 70 rs tho
possible voting capacity Of certain descriptions
Uf sIsaIre1y y.scttled country 1t must he con-
ceded that it would not bo sA!o 10 permit any
closely contested eicction-As tho election uf
1S44. for instance, which ~aA decided by q
popular majority Of only %, 900 ont Of total
vote Of 2,G00, ,0D0-to depend on the m1nu-
fsctured returns Of lawlcrs cnmmuntics. Two
points IN tho discussion may therefore be con-
tldercd aa settled the present system stands
enndcnnel. mud demsn'ls instaut reform; and,
secondly, the ryHtcm uf genaral, direct election
would prove no satisfactory substitute for it.
What other solution Of the rroblsm can be
M1iIc few deny the Importance OF this
question. nn one seems resolved 10 insist on
its consideration and settlement Tho Lessons
OF the past arc thuA fotgusten before they are
thoroughly learned. Ono yoaE has now passed.
since the election Of 1865 took place. i'uting
that time associations ofl individnn.S
courts of law, and committees Of Congress
Aavc been b.lAily engaged in investigating tho
violations Of tho ballet then alleged to have
taken l,lase. Thu preparations Of frauds IN
4!at c1eclion-frauds unprecedented, systc~
matic, All ailing-irauaa II Which tue rccog-
uizcd leaders OF both parties, Judges Of co1rta
Of law, ara the Inspectors OF elections must
have been tnGuizant. and in which they ware
sometimes rE.scd to havo particp.:3 !-ail
tlcte have ceased to be subjects OF .-, ,.arti-
E1n c1ar1or. and established 6. 1:!at..rs Of
record. Courts have passed upon them, anil
l,arc declared certified results vitatttl i5s fraud
Committee: have investigated them, nnl pre-
tcnttd the fF1lits Of their labors in thu form of
lniderour reports III what has it all resulted:
Ar'y one Nlt' .ho.'ses may now satisfy himself
that IN iln!aAelrhiA four imported ruiiana
threw si1ty votes in ono day, as part Of reg
ailAr system OF "repeaEi1K.'' 1t il matter u
IectEd thai rrr eiulls Judge, bctween October
and Octosst 23- M6s, ordered 10 issuod
daily average Of over IT'S certificates OF citi-
ze1iAhip. Honest and experienced m1cist.sfea.
who ls.vo for ya.ze been engaged in executing
the naturalization lawr, have testified TINT uot
more than single ret OF papers couli be
lFupes!y lassea in 1--WE minutes; wheace it
follows that, allowing the energetic magistrate
in question to have worked night and day.
tween the stL aud I'd OF Octo.,er, ho
could not have properly accomplished
tiil accomplish. il, fact. Eofor, smother Judge.
engaged i'll the performance Of = hinal1ar farre,
tht tanc nan appeared Is . witness uadsr
saith, Twenty-Five times. under different ua.ncs,
one sa.c thlrty-five persons we're registered,
and twcn.y-tl,reo actually voted. from the
ho'lse 81 member u the general committee
q party, III which only one voter actually n
Tiueai ~ another case, thirty persous were
Iouse Of state S.uaior. in which nnly ibrrc
voters fe+1te.i: IN yet two other ca.es forty
i've f'et1os.a were Registered, aud tbirtv-st1
voted, from the honses ot two NlI,rmcn
whence fnUr voteH cn1y could 1eeally h,yc
conc; iFotn Set another horsc. one hundred
and hfts -:Eo nanes were registered. re,,re-
senting, il legal, 3 population o{ ssyr1,
hundred ta,t4ls under = single roof. I-nlar
these circE;nstancea, it not unuatu1s1ly foI.
lowed that the actual vote rollota in the ci,v
where these events took place WAS 10y NJ.
ccnsus returns. Finally, right or wrong, thc
x.ountry liz, scttte.1 down into 4 coayfction