The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1873-08-14
PRESIDENT AND TICE-PREsIBEYE
Senator kOrtOn's Plan OF EIeetlng
TaeE

Senator Morton arrived here to-day
for the purpose of avaiiibg himself OF
the facilities of the Congressional Lii
brary anu certain Imprinted records
OF Congress in preparing his report of
the Senate Com mmittee on Privileges
and Elections, of which he is chair
man, upon the proposed election of
President and Viee-President of the
United States by direct vote of the
/ people, instead of by the interVt ntiOn
Of electoral colleges The Senator is
accompanied by the committee clerk,
and intends 10 devote the ensuing
days OF lis sOjBurn TO ardnous research
and annexation upon the matters now
uppermOst in his political thoughts.
de intimates th2t his bill and SUP
| porting speech of last session contain
tue substance of his mature thought
and investigation upon the subieet,
but recognizing the truth of the re-
mark of his industrious predecessor in
this particular field of reform, Ssna-
tor Benton, that a select body like
Congress is always inert on questions
which propose To restore the body of
the people privileges which they have
granted away, he intends to prepare
and submit for the adoption of his
committee such report as will go
ringing through the county aud
arouse the press and people to the de-
manding either of = constitutional
amendment, proposed by Congress to
the State Legislatures, or by tue State
Legislatures to each other and to Con-
gress. e a1g--s l. a--s-...ssl .,....,...
Senator Morton, liz his report in
tends 10 go back to the debates la the
Constitutional Convention over the
mode of eleeting the President aud
Vice President, and show how the
best and most logical minds there
present, at the head of whom was the
hlustriOus Franklin, pointed out the
Inconvenience and dangers OF the
method that prevailed, and argued ell
Oquently for intrusting the DeOple
directly with the determination of the
question that really concerned them
more than any other in tie federal
system. He will show, too, the mis-
taken reasons on which the cOnserva-
tiYes carried the point and fashioned
Presidential election upon the aFisto-
cratic models of Venetian and Gen
oese republics, while fearing that they
had already conferred too much
political power upon the general
mass of the people. He will refer 10
the cases of Jefferson and Burr aud
Adams and Jackson to illustrate his
assertion that the Electoral College
system, besides being useless rs a.
medium of selecting men of better
character ana sttainments than cOulj
be discerned by tnthnsia"tic and un-
fhfnEInO nsr- L.. l.
through intrigue, so dangerous AS 10
precipitate ia war, aud THAT syirh lau-
ger grows with the lapse of time, and
il, by the nature of the system, more
dangerous than ever, aud will be 80
hereafter. The district SYSTEM is sup
ported by the 5enaiur Ia preference tD
the plan preferred by others of giving
every voter in the State direct and
independent vote for President and
Vice President, because il gives more
practical force to the wishes of con-
tiguous communities and interests,
and restraints the power of such log
rolling combinations as carry prOhi-
bitory tariffs and fraudulent internal
Improvement bills. This was the
plan recon- mended by an illustrious
Senate committee that sat upon the
question nearly fifty years ago, and
brought in a report that contrasted
the merits OF both plans of voting;
and, though the logical argument is
admitted to lie apparently on the side
of Individual voting, the practical
view OF the question demonstrates.
that the result of q vote by DISTRICTS
organized as proposed would be much
nearer q pure, impartial expression OF
the popular will. Senator Morton ex-
poets to carry his committee unani-
mously for his t,lan, and hopes to ad-
vance the measures considerably be-
fore Congress as early as next session.
II Washington Correspondence of the
New York Herald.