The daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1874-1883, 1876-11-01
Counting the Votes.

Concern is expressed In some quar- 5 |
about the method of counting the votes
FOR President and President, upon
the idea that the'clection will be close'and
may be attended with possible danger. |
This anxiety is misplaced, ,and these fears
may be dismissed. In the first place, Mr..
Tilden's majority of States in the electo-
raj college, and of the popular vote, too,
will be so large as to furnish no pretext
for dispute.
In the second place, the Constitution
provides the only existing mode by which
the election shall be formally verified for
after all, 1t is nothing more than a verif-
cation of a result already determined.
That clause in the Constitutionise is explicit
enough, when not broken into fragments.
Itsays, Article IL, Section L:
"The electors shall meet in their re-
spective States, and vote by ballot for
two persons, of whom one at least shall
not be an inhabitant of the same State
with themselves. And they shall make
list of all the persons voted for, and of
The number of votes for each; which list
they shall sign and certify, and transmit
sealed to the seat of the Government of
the United States, directed to the Presi-
dent of the Sena e. The President of the
Senate shall, in the presence of the SEN
ate and House of Representatives, open
all the certificates, and the votes shall
tbeu be counted"
The act of March 1, 1902, was passed to
carry this clause into effect. 1t provides
how the electors shall be chosen, when
they shall meet ,and to whom their ceriifi-
Gates shall be sent. Also, that Congress
shall be in session ON the second Wednes
day in February ''for the purpose of count
ing and declaring the vote" The prac-
tice has been for the two Houses to me It
in joint session on that day, and for the
Senate to appoint on teller and the
House two, to record the votes as read
from the certificates ofthe electors, which
had been previously "directed to the
President Of the Senate"
On the 9th of February, 1866, the Re-
publican Congress adopted joint rule,
which placed it in the power of either
House to raise objections to the counting
of any vote, and declared sno vote object
ed to shall be counted except by the con-
current votes of the two Houses" 1t is
easy to see that, with Republican ma
jority in the Senate and Democratic
majority in the House, very serious diff
culties might arise in high party times
like the present.
This joint rule is now dead, as the
House at the last session refused to read
opt it, and with very good reason. So the
count will take place under the constitu-
tional provision above cited, unless the
two Houses should come to an agreement
as to ano.rer mode, which is hardly pro-
bable. " lie no trouble is to be appre-
hended, the desperate Republican leaders
who have control of the Senate will stop
at no means within reach to retainpower.
Hence it is desirable, not only to elect
Mr.. Tilden, but to elect him by so over
whelming vote that the corrupt and
reckless managers at Washington will be
awed into submission land silence, and
the Administration of Grant will go
down into disgrace, without the voice of a
disturbing faction to distract public atten
| ton.