Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-10-23
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT.

ton of President and Vice-President OF
the United States, was that the electors,
who had been elected in the seyerai
States, by the people, in accordance WIN
the provisions of the constitution, shouid
meet and vote for two candidates Tor
President, at least one of which should
not be an inhabitant of the same State
with themselves, and the person having
the highest number of votes cast, if a
majority of the wole number, should be
President, and the person having the
next highest should be Vice-President.
Thus the rule stood until the presiden-
tial election in 1900, when the electoral
vote stood 70 for Thomas jefferson; 70
for Aaron Burr 65 for John Adams,
and Ga for Charles G. Pinckney. This
made a tie between Jefferson and Burr,
and carried the election into the House
of Representatives. In the House the
Federalists had decided majority of
members, but could not command ma
iority of States, and as the vote was
taken by States, there could be no choice
there, and for seven successive days the
House balloted, standing, eight States
for jefferson; six for Burr, and two
Vermont and Maryland equally divid-
ed. The public mind was in the highest
degree excited, and many prophesied
that 1t would result in the overthrow of
the constitutional government.
Vermont had two members of the
House at that time, Lewis r. Morris
and Matthew Lyon. Morris voted for
Burr and Lyon for Jefferson, so that
Vermont had no voice in the seven days
battle. The Federalists became con-
WINGED that they could not elect Burr,
and the good of the country required
that choice should be made to save
bloodshed and prevent destruction of
our form of government, SO it was ar
ranged that Mr.. Morris should absent
himself from the House ON the next
morning. He did so and Matthew Lyon
cast the vote of Vermont for Jefferson,
giving him nine States, and electing him
President for the next four years. This
contest warned everybody Of the dam
gers to the country that might have re-
suited from that method of electing
President, had the Federalists not had
sufficient patriotism to allow Mr.. Morris
to withdraw from the House, and they
applied the remedy of a constitutional
amendment, establishing the system an
der which we have elected our Presi-
dents and Vice-Presidents since that
time.
The death of Mr.. Greeley, last year,
between the time when the popular vote
was cast for the electors, and the day
when the electoral colleges were called
upon to perform their duty, startled the
public mind with the danger involved in
the present system, and although Mr..
Greeley was 50 much in the minority
that no practical dangers resulted from
his death, people could see the dilemma
we should have been in If it had been
General Grant instead. From the pro-
found impression thus made upon the
public mind, and in Difference to the
manifest desire for change in the
methods of electing the chief executive
of the nation, the Committee on Priv
ileges and Elections of the United States
question of another constitutional
amendment upon the subject, and re-
port at their earliest convenience. In
obedience to this instruction, Messrs.
Morton, Carpenter, Anthony and Bay
ard, of that committee, recently had a
conference, and agreed upon the follow
ing propositions to be embodiedin new
amendment; ,.
1. To abolish the Electoral Colleges.
2. That the President and Vice Presi-
dent by the people voting directly for
the candidates.
3. That each State shall be divided in
to as many districts as the State is en-
titled to Representative in Congress, to
be composed of contiguous territory,
compact in form, and as nearly equal in
population as may be, and the person
having the highest number of votes for
President in each district shall receive
the vote of that district, which shall
count one presidential vote that each
State shall be entitled to two presiden-
tlal voters at large, which shall be count
ed for the person having the highest
number of votes in the whole State.
4. The person having the highest num-
Der Of such presidential votes in the
United States shall be PRESIDENT.
8. These provisions to heaPplcable to
the election of Vice President.
.. Congress shall have power to pro-
vide for holding and conducting the cleo
ton OF President and Vice President,
and to establish tribunal for the deci-
sion of contests as to the vote in any
district or State, and make regulations
governing the proceedings of these tri-
bunals. r. .,.
The first proposition, the abolition of
the electoral colleges, we heartily SYM
pathize with. 1t is a ponderous, circuit
GUS machine for the simple work to be
done, and there is no, reason why the
people are not as competent to vote for
the candidates direct, as they are to vote
Tor electors to make the selection. We
do not know but the system of voting by
States, that is, that the vote of each
State shall be proportional to the num-
bers of its Congressional representation,
ought to be preserved yet it looks to
us that In the selection of an officer for
the whole United States, the people
should be allowed to vote in their SOW
erelgn capacity as citizens of the United
States, and that the 10000 majority of
Vermont should count just as much in
the final result as 10000 majority in
New York. We have seen so much of |
the doctrines of States rights in national |
AFFAIRS that we don't believe in. chat we |
desire to obliterate State lines as much |
as possible on national Questions. We
DeiieVe IN circumscribing the power and
authority of the nation within proper
limits and exercising watchful vigil |