Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-01-09
THE RUTLAND HERALD.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1878.
A constitutional commission.

A constitutional Commission.
On Tuesday, Senator Frelinghnysen,
of New Jersey, introduced in the Sen
ate of the United States joint reso'a
ton proposing a constitutional "hienu-
ment to provide that disprtes arising
with regard to persons CHOSEN as eject
ors of President and Vice-President in
any State shall be decided by the Su.
nreme. Court of the United States, and
that Congress shall have power to en-
force this article by appropriate legisla-
ton. 1t is somewhat strange that, after
eight years experience and having passed
through twenty-five presidential cleo
lions, our constitution and laws contain
no provision for deciding in reference to
contested election of presidential elect
ors. We have, at the present time, two
If not three such contests. Two sets OF
electors each claim to cast the vote OF
Louisiana and Arkansas for President
and Vice President, and there is no way
for providing, finally, who are the regu-
larly chosen electors. Fortunately, at
this time, it makes no difference which
way they vote. Their vote, however
given, can make no difference, but yet
the right to vote, to have the voice of
the people represented, is just as import
ant now as at any time. Should such a
contingency happen, when the vote OF a
particular State, and that one contested,
would decide INC result Il might precipi-
tate a revolution. Had it occurred at
the reelection of Mr.. Lincoln, in 1864,
IL would have inevitably produced that
result. There is confessedly a need for
a revision or amendment of our national
constitution in this and other respects.
We referred some time ago, to the great
number of proposed constitutional
amendments now pending in Congress,
numbering, by this time, nearly If not
quite thirty. Most of them have proba-
bly, gone to their long home, buried with
a committee. Some of these, perhaps,
deserve a speedy death, while others are
worthy of a better resurrection. How
to prepare these inchoate amendments,
in a form for discussion, amendment,
adoption or rejection, might we'll puzzle
a wiser brain than ours. One step, in
our humble judgment, has been made
in the right direction, in the resolution
introduced by Mr.. Morton, of Indiana,
directing the committee on privileges
and elections to examine and report at
the next session of Congress on the best
and most practicable mode of electing
President and ViCe-President of the
United States, and of providing tribu-
nal to adjust and decide all contested
questions connected Herewith. But, it
seems to us, that the resolution does not
go far enough. 1t may not be practical
Bile, but it is certainly constitutional, to
follow the example Of New York, and
appoint a commission to take the
whole constitution INTO consideration,
and report such amendments, as in their
Judgment, are necessary to supply the
acknowledged deficiencies in the consti-
tuition as it is. Their action, of course,
would be simply in the form of recon-
mendation, and could be accepted or re-
jected at the pleasure of Congress and
the States. Such a commission, proper
ly selected, without particular regard to
politics, would certainly command re-
spect, and their report, if not adopted in
whole or IN part, would serve to bring
out into clearer light the defects of our
present system. Our national constitu-
ton, when adopted, was most admirably
devised for the then existing condition
of the country, but the progress Of eighty
years has demanded constant changes,
and they have been repeatedly made,
and more frequently proposed. 1t seems !
to US, that if the idea contained in Mr..
Morton's resolution was extended, so as
TO include the appointment OF a special
commission or, committee of Congress, |
to whom should be referred the whole |
subject of the constitution and constitu- |
tional amendments, some Of these prOpo-
sitions might be matured, so that Con
gress and the people of the several States
could act intelligently in the matter
When the constitution is amended, we
trust that it viii be so amended as to
render it unnecessary to amend the
tomake their meaning clear,