The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1873-08-21
The Choice of q President.

The Choice of President.
Senator Morton, chairman of the Senate Com
mittee on Privileges and Elections, has ap-
pointed a meeting of his committee for October
to consider certain proposed amendments to the
Constitution changing the mode of electing the
President of the United States.
The practicaoility of a fair and peaceable
election of the chief executive of great ma
ton has always been question of doubt in
the minds of many of the best political writers,
and it was one of the most difficult problems
presented to tie convention that framed the
Constitution of the United States. The expe-
rience of the world has been that it was i'm
possible to guard such elections from the mis-
chiefs of foreign intrigue and domestic turbu-
lence, and that the only escape from these dan
gers was in having hereditary Chief Magis-
trate. The trainers of our Constitution,
however, determined to have an elective
Executive, and to guard against the dangers
most imminent in such election they devised a
mode of referring the selection of the President
to a small body of electors appointed in each
State under the direction of its Legislature,
and to shut out as far as possible all intrigue
they declared that Congress should fix the day
for the election of the electors, and that the
day should be the same in all the States. The
mode thus provided for the selection of Pres
ident was declared by Mr.. Hamilton in "The
Federalist" to b. eff not perfect, at least ex-
cellent," and it was the only important part OF
the system of government devised by the con,
yention that escaped the censure or received
any mark of appreciation from the opponents
of the proposed Constitution. Notwithstand-
ing this contemporaneous approval, no part OF
our system has, perhaps, given so little salts
faction, and Chancellor Kent, after many years
observation of its operation, declared it to be
''the question which is to try the strength of
the Constitution" eff we are able for half a
century hereafter" says this eminent jurist in
the first edition Of his commentaries, "to elect
the Chief Magistrate of the Union with dis
cretion, moderation and integrity, we shall un-
doubtedly stamp the highest value on our ma
tional character, and recommend our republl-
can institutions, if not to the imitation, ,ssyet
certainly to the esteem and admiration OF man
kind"
The original Constitution provided that when
the electors chosen by the people should meet
within their respective States they should pro-
ceed to ballot for two persons without designa-
ting which of tho two they voted for as Presi-
dent and which for Vice President. 1t merely
declared that the person having the greater
number of votes should be President if such
number were majority of the whole number
of electors chosen; and if there were more
than one having such majority and an equal
number of votes, the House of Representatives
were to choose, by ballot, one of them for
President, and if no one had a majority, ther,
from the five highest on the list, the House
we're, in the same manner, to choose the Presl-
dent. This provision was put to severe test
in 1901, when, in consequence of an equality
in the electoral votes between Jefferson and
Burr, the selection was thrown into the House
of Representatives and resulted in much riot
GUS and violent conduct. In consequence of
this disturbance the Constitution was amended
so as to require the electors to name in distinct
ballots the persons voted for respectively as
President and Vice President, and the precau-
tions thus taken will probably prevent repe-
tition of the dangerous occurrences referred
to.
In order to obtain the sense of the people in
the choice of a President the power of selec
ton is committed by the Constitution not to
any body already established, but to meme lect-
ed by the people for the special purpose. The
idea of having an intermediate body to make
the final selection is that small number of
persons, selected by the people, would be most
likely to possess the information and discern
ment necessary to make q judicious choice, and
would in addition preclude the possibility of
tumult and disorder. The trainers of the Con-
stitution hoped also through this machinery to
divest the election of a President of all party
and personal prejudice by referring it to body
of electors who should be unfettered by previ-
Gus commitment and influenced only by the
exercise of their own judgment and considera-
ton of the public good.
The theory is excellent, but it has never
been realized in its practical operations. In
fact the entire theory has been subverted in
practice, and the electors instead of assembling
to exercise their own judgment in making
choice of President, meet only to give for
NAL constitutional sanction to the choice pre-
yiously made by one or other of the political
narties through o political convention.
It is reported that the Senate committee,
which will assemble in New York in October,
will hold public sessions and will invite num-
Der of leading constitutional lawyers and wri
ters on this special subject to address them. No
doubt much valuable and interesting informa-
ton will be thus elected and many important
suggestions made. The. precedent of giving
full public investigation to proposed amend
ments to the Constitution, and inviting discus
sion and cooperation from those learned in
such matters, but not holding public office, is
an exceedingly good one and ought to become
we'll established. AS to some of the alterations
to which we have alluded, we presume there
will be not much difference of opinion, but as
to % the he mode of counting the popular vote,
whether by taking the consolidated vote of the
whole country, or the majorities by States,
much may be said on both sides and we may
expect some diversity Of. opinion.-LouisviIle
Courier-JournaL.
SOUTHERN MANrFACT ACTURERs.-C Commenting
upon the growth of the manufacturing inter-
ests in the South, the Philadelphia Gazette