The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-02-04
ELECTING a PRESIDENT.

PROPOSED CHANGE IN THE CONSTITUTION.
The committee of the house on elect
ions, which has been especially charged
with the duty Of preparing a report on the
method of electing president and vice
president, and submitting propositions
for change of the constitution IN this
respect, have given the subject very
thorough consideration, and have pre-
sented the following report through Mr..
Harrison, of Tennessee. The committee
has authorized the report to be made as
it's report, though all the members do
not commit themselves to its reasoning
concerning the power of the senate and
house in counting the electoral vote.
The report is complete in its citations
from the history of the constitution, and
from the history of the various elections
of presidents since the constitution was
adopted. It makes a startling exhibit
of the dangers to the republic IN the
present system, which are liable to be
encountered at any future election.
THE REPORT.
The committee on elections were in
structed, by order of the house, on the
11th of December, 1878, s'to examine
and report upon the best and most prac-
ticable mode Of election the presidentand
vice president, and providing tribunal
to adjust and decide all contested ques
tons Herewith. On the 22d of June,
1874, the committee, by its chairman,
Mr.. II. Boardman Smith reported and
recommended the adoptSn of the fol-
lowing joint resolution, proposing an
amendment CT the constitution of the
1,, Of l,n olnaf1or
of president and vice president, which
| was recommended to the committee viz !:
Resolred, By the senate and house of
representatives Ct thhe United States Of
| America in congress assem- bled, (two-
thirds of each house concurring therein
That the following article is hereby pro-
posed as an amendment to the cOnstitu-
ton of the United States, and, when
ratified by the legislatures of three
fourths of the several states, shall be va
lid, to all intents and purposes, as part
of the constitution, towit;
ARTICLE
Sec. l. The president and vice pres
ident shall be elected by the direct vote
of the people in the manner following !:
Each state shall be divided into districts,
equal in number to the number of rep
resentatives to which the state may be
entitled in the congress, to be composed
of contiguous territory, and to be as
nearly equal in population as may be;
and the person having the highest num-
Der of votes in each district for president
shall receive the vote of that district,
which shall count one presidential vote;
but no voter in any state shall vote for
candidates for president and vice presi-
dent who are both citizens in the same
state with himself.
SEC. 2. The person having the high
est number of votes for president IN a
state shall receive two presidential votes
from the state at large.
Sec. 3. The person having the high
est number of votes in the United States
shall be president.
Sec. 4. If two persons having the
same number Of votes in any state, 1t
being the highest number, they shall
receive each one presidential vote from
the state at large and if more than two
persons shall have each the same num-
Der of votes in any state, it being the
highest number, no presidential vote
shall be counted from the state at large
If more persons than one shall have the
same number in any district, no presl-
Dental vote shall be counted from that
district.
Sec. 5. The foregoing provisions
shall apply to the election of vice presi-
dent.
Sec. 6. The congress shall have
power to provide for holding and con-
Quoting the elections of president and
vice president The returns of such
elections shall be made to the supreme
court of the United States within thirty
days after the election. Said court shall
under such rules as may be prescribed
by law, or by the court in the absence Of
law, determine any contest in respect of
such returns, canvass the same, and de-
clare, within ninety days after such cleo
ton, by public proclamation, who is
elected president and who is elected
vice president.
Sec. 7. The states shall be divided
into districts by the legislatures thereof,
but the congress may at any time by
law make or alter the same.
SEC. 8. No person who has been JUS
tice of the supreme court shall be ellgl-
BILE to the office of president or vice
president.
The report says that the committee
have given these proposed amendments
that careful and laborious examination
which is demanded by the gravity and
importance of the questions involved.
They present to the house some consid-
erations, in opposition to the existing
provisions of the constitution upon the
subject, drawn from the history and the
practical workings thereof; and the
views that have occurred to the commit
tee, favoring an amendment to the cons
titution looking to what they regard as
an improvement on the present plan,
and as avoiding the dangers which are
imminent and certain if the existing
mode of electing the president and vice
president, and counting the vote, is con-
tinued.
After detailing the history of the pres
ent plan the report, goes on to say that
in one respect, at least, its theory had
not been carried out in practice. The
electors, according to the original theory,
were TO be independent of pledges to