, 1876-11-14

ELEcT1Na A PRESIDENT.
Tl,aro arc some worry ,,nwiso aul very fool
hardy rerRonB belonging to both politicaf
parties who are tnlking and writing with
much yehcmeuco Of having tho election of
President decided by blood. These pcoplc
insist that tho voto Of Louiaiana shall t,e
counted for T1LpEs, If every Democrat II, the
country must tnko his ,nuslct others tint
it must bc counted for HAYES, oven If tho
War las to DO fought all over aRain, AL
this III extremely incendiary md is a1togotll-
OF unnecessary.
Tho result In Louisiana is as yet unknown
to any one. Each side l.as only been nbla
to cati1nate what tho returns will be when re-
ccivcd. When the ti,no shall como TINT all
tue facts are known, tho country will havo
no difficulty in reaching n protty unanimous
Judgment upou this question, md TINT iudp
mcnt will bo that tho result declared shall bo
tho fair and honest one indicated by the
facts.
Hero, however, Ia presented nnotl1er in-
stance of how tho weaknesses and defects of
our Constitution nre developed, Seventy
aix years ago the then comparatively infant
Republic Was threatened with civil wnr and
ACKNOWLEDGMENT by an altogether unexpected
combination OF circumstances iu the choice
of President. at that time the Presidential
Electors voted for two men for President,
nna tho ono having tho greatest number Of
votes WAS selected Prcsidout and tho ono
receiving tho next highest number was Vice.
President. By IN arrangement nmong Tho
friends Of tho successful party, Que Of tho
Electors was selected who voted for third
person instcad Of the party candidate, thus
leaving q difference between tho total yoto of
tho persons intended for President and Vico.
President. At the election in Inc Jo1s
ADAMS got Il votes ont of tho 40 Electoral
votes, and bccame President, and THOMAS
JEFFERSON got GB, md WIS declared Vice.
President. At the election in 1900 JErYEn-
SON was the Democratic candidate for Prcai-
don't mud AAnoN Bum for Vieo-Prosilent;
and Jouy ADAMS for President and G. q.
PrNcKsEy for Vice President, wero tho can-
didates Of tho Federalisss. Tho Electoral
vote stood: JEFFERSON, IS; Bum, 70;
ApAMs, CT; P1soKxEY, 81; jar, !. Whether
by Incident or intrigue, Bum received
M equal vote with JEFFERSON Tho
Federalists in the House Of Representatives.,
intent on dofenting JEFFERSON, abandoned
thor own candidate to voto for BUM. JE.-
rE1.soN got tic vote Of eiglit States, Bum
six, md two Statos (Vern1ont mud A[aryland)
were divided mud voted blank. Thu country
waa terribly oxcitod, and threats Of war md
violence wero general. Tho Honso began
voting on Feb. II, 1901, aud continued in
session Boveu dayR. Neither side would yield.
Some Of tho Fcdeynlists declared their p,lr-
pose (ApaMs being then preBilent) to DECLARE
Bum elected aud INSTALL lin in Office, nnt! It
wng Threatened Oil tho other side that, If tllis
wero douc, they wonll organize tho 6lateH
nnd nlnlso war upon tho t,sur,cr. After soyen
days continued session, tla interests Of pcaco
prayailel over tho madness of party, mud
Vermont md Maryland yielded, and voted
for JErrEnsoS, who was thus elected, Bum
becoming Vicc-presitlent. THO dangor 10
tho national peace boiug thus ,nalo clear, tho
mode Of voting for President and Vice
prcsidaut VIVA changed to the present ays-
ten, which Mt tho end Of soventy.six years
has developed Il weakness which again threat.
CHS the ponce Of the country,
There is no provision in tho Constitution
for IL conteE.oti election. The certiilcato ly
tho Stntc authorities is, because Of tho ab-
scnco OF any Inv, fiual, It yas 70 into1,t1c,l
to be, tho possibility of fraud or iIlcgal;ty
not having been contemplated. Congress-
tns no authority ir tho promises. It il 70.
ouired by law to 10 in session on tho second
Wednesday in Fetruary. on which div thu
prea;lont of tho Senate shall o,en tho GER.
tiflcatca Of tlo several Boards Of Electors.
count tho yotcs. and t1ecIaro tho result
.rhat Is al TINT Congress haa to do in t),o
,nctter. uutosu t1,cro hn n tin, or n Yo;,nro ~
either canlidn.e to rccoiyo n majority, in
which coso tho lIuaso shall procsci 10 elost
Il President. No result OF TINT kind IL nos,
| sibl, in this case., There cauuot he II lin.
ond e,ther rr,nrs or 1f.vya mist ,,ovo =
majority.