The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-10-17

well as with that of Great Britain, which
they used to call the mother country be-
cause she colonized America and held it in
that relationship for upwards of two cen
turies; hence the language and to some
extent the laws os this country are the
same as those of Great Britain. The
Americans even call their own language
the English language, because England is
the chief province of Great Britain. Now,
the title President was used i'll Great Brit
ain to designate a man who presided over
large assemblies and institutions; and,
when this country seeded from Great
Britain the supreme power of the country
was lodged in the hands of great assem-
bly, and institution called the Continental
Congress; and hence, in accordance with
their traditional customs, the head man of
the Continental Congress was called the
President. Now, after the lapse of about
a dozen years, that system of government
was overturned by bloodless revolution
(fUr, as have said, in this country all sue
cessful revolutions here are bloodless), and
a new system was established in its stead
which lasts until the present day-and
which, if the public orators are to be be-
lieved, will last forever. However, the po-
litical preaching and the political practice
of the Americans are quite different: They
are continually changing their constitu-
tions and continually proclaiming them to
perpetual,
the American character which l am un-
able to explain.
AS / have said, the second system estab-
lished continues yet. They still have
Congress, but it's structure is different
from the old, or what they used to call the
Continental Congress. The present Con-
gress is composed of two great councils,
which the vulgar people call the ''two
Houses" Now, when the change was
hn of rpf
i say was retained, because under the old
system the President of the Congress per-
formed some, though not all, of the func-
tions performed by the President under
the new system-and this especially in cor
responding with foreign nations, and COM
missioning public officers, and such like.
Under the old system he was styled the
President of the Congress of the United
States of America; under the new system
he is styled the President of the United
States of America. Hence you can see
that under the old system the title of the
President was grander than it is under the
new system, because under the old system
his title contained two or three words more
than it does under the new system.
Under the new system the President
does not preside over Congress or any of
its councils, but his title originated in that
kind of a function. This l have already
described. The President has not as much
power as the Tycoon of our country, and
/ don't pretend to be able to describe in
full the powers which he possesses. l will
merely describe them as far as know
them. But, before describe his powers,
l must first inform you how he obtains his
high office.
The office of the President of the United
States of America is not hereditary, and
he does not hold his Office during his Whole
lifetime. The President is elected every
four years. At the satfle time there is also
elected functionary called the Vice Presi-
dent. The Vice President presides over
the superior council of Congress, and
hence, under the new system, the Vice
President shares with the President some
of the functions performed by the Presi-
dent under the old system.
The President and Vice President go
into Office together and go out of Office to-
gether. And in case the President dies,
or is strangled, or drowned, the Vice
President succeeds to his place and also to
his title They are both elected in ex-
actly the same manner, and hence de-
scriptioi1 of the election of one will do for
both.
The President is elected by electors espe-
cially chosen for the purpose. These cleo
tors are themselves chosen by the people,
hnt hTs e been Be- that b1 this at
the option of it's local rulers-and a closer
description you probably would not be
able to understand. Now the President is
elected in this manner: About the COM
mencement of summer, every fourth year,
the wise and learned men of the various
parts of the country have various assem-
blies in the great cities, and they propose
various persons for the Office of Presidents
and then the people make selection OF
electors in favor of one candidate moro
than of another, as each person may pre-
fer. This part of the proceedings do not
very clearly understand. The books say
that the President is elected by the peo-
pie, but the way it is explained to me
makes it that the people can only accept
one out of two, or at most three, of those
candidates proposed by wise and learned
assemblies, which they call conventions.
When the candidates are proposed the
election is not immediate, but takes place
in winter, so that the entire autumn can
be spent in talking about the eandidates-
their wisdom, learning, honesty, and such
like. In the meantime these things are
all thoroughly discussed in the newspapers
In the second last month of the American
wear the people of each State choose their
electors, and in the last month OF the year
the electors choose the President. After
the election of the electors, which takes
place in the second last month, 1T is prac-
tically, though not officially, known who
to De Lu6 new 1IcSiuChb" AAAO ~ANSSOA0
of each State meet by themselves to choose
The President, and am told this: They
must meet on the same day throughout all
the States-for the great divisions of this
country are called States. Now, as have
said. this meeting is held in the last month
of of the American year, and on the first
fourth day of the last month When the
electors meet they give their votes for
President, and they make at least three
nortificates of their proceedings. They
send ser d. messenger with one of their certifi-
cates to Washington, and they send an
other ot. by the public conveyanees, which in
this country are called post-otf1ces, and the
remainder are kept in reserve. On the
fiIs. fourth day of the second month of the
Following year the two great councils of
Conoress meet in the same hall and salute
each other. When they have saluted each
other the head man of the superior couu-
eli who is usually the Vice President of
the United States, enters before Congress
and carries huge wallet in his hand. He