, 1876-02-05
4 Proposed Amendment.

| The present session of Congress Is prolif
| of amendments to the federal constitution
| The judiciary committee of the House pro
/ pose cne extending the term Of President I
six years, and making him ineligible 10 re
! election, while Senator Morton has obtaine,
the sanction of a republican caucus to hi
proposition to abolish the twenty second join
rule Of Congress, and to certain amendment
changing the present form of choosing
President The twenty-second rule Is a dan
gerous piece of party legislation, and ough
to be abolished 1t provides for the opening
and counting Of electoral votes IL the pres
ence of both Houses, and also provides that III,
vote of no State shall be counted without tn,
concurrent vote of both Houses. In cases o
contested elections this rule might be forced
in way TO stop proceedings entirely.
republican Senate could object 10 the vote q
democratic State being counted, on som,
pretext or other, and a democratic Hous,
could pay off the Senate in It's own coin. Il
is not difficult in CERTAIN States Il produce d
state of affairs which would give a color OF
right to the objection 10 the vote; vet the
House and the country might know perfect
ly well that the ticket objected 10 was fairly
elected. A contest Of this kind once entered
upon: no one could tell where it would stop.
Enough States might be objected to to reduce
the numder voting to a small proportion OF
the whole. The situation is made more
dangerous by the fact that in case Of disagree
ment 10 tribunal is provided whose decision
shall be final. The rule might be harmless
as a method of announcing the result III law
and-order States Ike New York OF Massa-
chusetts, but in States like Louisiana or Mis-
issippi, where more or less fraud Is practised
by both parties and the correct result of an
election is often matter of doubt, it might
cause much trouble.
Senator Morton's suggested amendment to
the constitution declares that the President
and Vice-President shall be elected by di-
rect vote of the people In the following man
ner: Each State shall be divided into dis
tEitts equal in number TO the number Of rep
resentatives to which the State may be en-
titled in Congress, to be composed Of contig-
uous territory, and TO be as nearly equal in
proportion as may be; and the person havin :
the highest number of votes in such district
for President shall receive the vote Of that
district, which shall be counted enc Presi-
Dental vote. The person having The highest
number Of votes in the State shall receive
two votes from the State at large, and the
person having the highest number IN the
United States shall be President. If two per
sons have the same number Of votes in any
State, each shall receive one vote from the
State at large, etc. The same provisions also
apply TO the election of Vice -President. The
districts are to be created by the State legis-
latures with power Of revision given 10 Con-
gress There will be objections made 10 this
amendment. We do not see why Congress
should be given the right 70 revise the Presi-
Dental districts as defined by the State leg
isiatures. OF course, in nearly evenly ball
anced States the party in power may SO ar
range districts as to give their candidate a
majority of Pre- sidential votes, while per-
haps his opponent has a majority of the pop
lar vote in the State; but the weak poin; in
the project is not made stronger by giving
to Congress the power which States abuse. If
gerrymandering must be done, ii may as well
be done by the State legislatures as Congress
The latter body IN years past has shown itself
more uuscrupulous than the average State
legislature, and We make the assertion with
out any purpose TO compliment any State
Legislature. Nothing viii be gained in the
fairness of an election by giving Congress the
last chance to shake up the Presidential dis
tricts, though We can easily conceive OF a
condition OF things which would enable Con
gress, with that power, 10 change the result
OF an election. There Is 10 prospect, how
ever, that this amennment viii be submitted
this session, though it will probably be con-
sidered in both Houses. ANY proposition to
amend the constitution must receive two
thirds vote before being submitted TO the
States for ratifea ion, AID nothing that
comes from Mor,onrs brain vii command
two-thirds of the vote of the present House,
He is a strong advocate of Capitalization Of
power in the federal government, a. opposed
to the reserved rights Of the different States,
and on that account, if 10 other, democrats
would view his proposition with suspicion.
The clause giving to Congress the right TO
revise Presidential districts in the States
would alone defeat the amendment IL dem
ocratic body.-S. Z. Call.