The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1872-11-23
ELECTING A PRESIDENT.

Louisiana, under u special act of
Congress, voted for President and Vice
President on Monday, and the rest of
the States ON the day following. AS
the thing has turned out this excep- |
tional arrangement resulted in no
harm, but had the electoral vote been
SO equally divided as for the election to
be determined by Louisiana's vote
great deal Of trouble might have come
of it. The Constitution says: "rhe
Congress may determine the time Of
choosing the electors and the day on
which they shall give their votes, schich
day shat be tie same throughout the
United 'Syffes.' If our members of Con-
gress would look a little oftener into
the Constitution their legislation would
be to much better purpose.
A paper like the Louisville Courier
Journal, (fron which the above is TIA
ken,) ought ssto look Il little oftener
into the Constitution" too. 1t has
made as bad mistake in this instance
as it and few other journals did in
supposing they could eject Mr.. Greeley
President. The (which day" referred
to in the quotation made by the Journal
is the day upon which the Presidential
Electors, chosen by the people, cast
their votes for President. These l:lec-
tors are at liberty to vote for whom
they please, and it might make great
difference if they were permitted to
vote on different days. But the law of
Congress does require them to vote Oh
the same day, and the Electors for this
State will vote on the same day with
the Electors of all the other thirty-six
States. The mistake of the Courier
Journal is in making the words voters
and Electors Synonymous. 1T is the
Electors, and not the candidates for
President, for whom the people vote,
and these Electors, meeting ut the cap
itals OF their several States, vote for
President and Vice President. The
votes thus cast are counted by the two
houses OF Congress in joint session, and
the candidate found to have the highest
vote is declared elected.
1t is in the power of the Electors
chosen ut the recent election to make
whom they please the next President Of
the United States. Voters did not, nor
Grant; but they voted for the Electors.
And yet there We're voters all over the
country who believed that by eras ing
Greeiey's name, or Wilson's name, and
yet leaving the names of the Electors
unchanged, the result would be the
loss Of n vote to the one or the other.
Another remarkable feature of this
mode of electiEg a President is, that tho
Electors chosen by the people are under
no sort of compulsion to choose Il Presi-
dent at all. The Constitution simply
says that the States shall sappoint"
Electors in such manner rs the several
legislatures may direct, but the powers,
duties and obligations of these Electors
are not defined, not even SO much as t..
declare for what officer they shall vote.
1t is only by implication that they get
the power TO elect Il President. In the
event of some such middle AS those We
have been and are having in Louisiana,
President once elected might retain
office indefinitely. Thus, on Il close vote
between two candidates, the Electors of
the result, might be arrest ed and forci-
bly, detained from voting for President
Oh the day fixed by the law of Congress-
How could Congress declare either cam
didate duly elected in such Il case! AS
the Constitution provides that all the
Electors must vote on the same day,
all the votes given on any other hut the
day fixed would he nlanifestly invalid.
And suppose they all voted, but one
house or the other should refuse to ioin
in the count, from any cause that might
beassigncd, and thus no count was had,
what would become of the election for
new chief magistrate: Or, say that
an ambitious and INSCRIPTIONS pre>i-
dent should form \ :InG. and secure I hr |
nomination and election OF ,tt.tt..h |
Electors to proven: an election 10y the |
Electoral College, not Il mnjurity of the !
Electors voting, his trrm would neces- !
sarity tie prolonged until ut last two