Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-08-21
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE.

THE ELECTORAL. COLLEGE.
Inthe constitution of the United States
adopted in 1887, it was provided thai
each State should appoint, in such man
ner as the legislature thereof might di
rect, a number of electors, equal to the
whole number of senators and represen
sentatives to which the State might bt
entitled in Congress. 1t then provided
that these electors should meet in thei
respective States, and vote for two per
sons, of whom one at least should not
be an inhabitant of the same State will
themselves, and after directing the man
ner of counting the votes, and declaring
the result, it was declared that the per
son having the largest number of votes,
should be the President, if his vote was
majority of the whole number OF cleo
tors. and in every case, after the choice
Of President, the person having the great
est number of votes should be the Vice
President This method of conducting
a presidential election was the rule until
the adoption Of the twelfth amendment
TO the constitution in 1904, when the
present mode of voting was established
by that amendment.
There is and always has been, great
dissatisfaction with this circuitous and
round about way of conducting an cleo
ton, and we are glad to see, that the ac-
ton of last winter, whereby the Senate
committee on Privileges and Elections
were directed to inquire into the defects
of the present electoral system and the
best means for remedying them, is going
to, at least, set on foot an agitation that
will probably result in reform. Under
the present system no citizen, unless he
be chosen an elector, can vote for Presi-
dent and Vice-President, except by the
indirect method of voting for electors
to cast the vote of his State. We know
this mode was devised to conciliate the
old idea of federation of States, and
that the nation was union of States
instead of individuals, and that as the
State was the unit in the national sys-
TEN, therefore in selecting the head ex-
ecutive, it would not be symetrical for
the vote to be taken otherwise than
through State officers, chosen for that
purpose; but we trust that the credence
of a people, that have so authoritatively
established a national citizenship as con-
tradistinguished from State citizenship,
and have come to recognize the policy
of a supervision of elections by the gen
eral government in certain cases, will
now be ready to do away with the cum
bersome machinery of the electoral col
lege, and give their votes directly for the
candidate they would elect to the high
offices of President and President
The theory of our Government is
strictly republican, only differing from
pure democracy by reason of public
functions being exercised by representa-
tives of the people instead of the people
themselves. The President is a repre-
sentative of the whole people, and his
acts are in behalf of every citizen. He
should have no sectional partially, and
should not recognize any State lines in
the performance of his high duties, and
should owe his election to the same mas
tiers he serves. This would nceessitate a
direct vote of the people, and would re-
quire that the President receive a larger
number of the popular votes than any
other candidate. Under our present
system a President may be legally elect
ed, although his opponent receives ma
jority of many thousands of the popu-
lar vote. A majority of one vote in the
State of New York, for instance not
only overcomes thirty thousand ma
jority the other way in Vermont, but
would overbalance her if she had united
with her five other States of equal Con-
gressional representation, and equal pop
ular majorities. 1t can readily be seen
how the President may thus be the choice
of only minority of the voting popula-
ton.
Senator Morton, the chairman of the
Senate committee on Privileges and Elec-
tons, is now in Washington busily en-
gagged in preparing the report of his
committee upon this subject. He is en-
thusiastic in his Cesire for a reform on
this subject, and, sinking all political or
partizan prejudices, he is earnestly at
work to secure unanimous report of
his committee that will go "ringing
through the country and arouse the
press and people to demand a reform on
this great question. We are not apprised
of what the committee will advise, ex-
cept what is reported from conversations
with Mr.. Morton, but from them we
gather that the scheme will involve di-
rect vote, and entirely obliterate the
electoral college, and that far the Am
erican people will favor it, only demand
ing that in the details of the new meas
ure the utmost simplicity consistent with
the circumstances shall be adopted, and
that the method of conducting elections
shall be direct, with no useless machin-
cry. We must have more directness
and straightforward ways of doing
things, and we shall thereby arrive at
more satisfactory results, and destroy
many of the facilities for fraud and
peculation that are now the curse of the
country. The electoral college does not
answer the purpose intended It is
useless appendage to our government,
and the quicker we get rid of it the bet
ter for all concerned.
THF LESSON OF MINEVILLE.
The strikers of Mineville having re-