The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-11-11
counting the Votes for PRESIDENT.

and sealed up, makes the following pro-
visions:
"Thc President Of the Senate shall, IN the presence
81 te S.na.e ana hvuse 81 hsbtvsen H., uNes ~ az
the person having the greatest number votes fur
nslQry Of the whole number q esctor. appointed
and II 40 perscn have such nsjoriy then from the r
s % ne s'I1 w w * NV 81 49,
President" amendment Kill
1t will he seen that the Constitution in
tended only to make general provision
of mode of ascertainng with legal GER
tainty what person had received majori-
ty of all the electoral votes and mt the
same time the highest number OF votes;
and then to direct how the Presi-
dent shall be chosen II there is no
choice effected by the Electoral Col
leges. The officer who is TO open
the certificates is the President of
the Senate; and he is TO do this in the
presence of both Houses of Congress. Tho
time when it is TO be done, and all other
details requisite 70 fulfil the intent
of the Constitution, are left to be
regulated by legislation, or by other
Joint action of the two Houses Such
legislation or other joint action OF the two
Houses must, of course. have relation TO
the intent of the Constitution, which is, to
ascertain with legal certainty whether any
person, and who, has been chosen by the
Electoral Colleges, by having received the
requisite number of their votes.
At the time when WASHINGTON was first
chosen President, no law of course had
been passed on this subject. The prece-
dent then established simply shows that
the two Houses met, that the President OF
the Senate, who had been chosen such for
this special purpose, opened the certin-
Gates, and that the votes were counted by
him in the presence of the two Houses,
one Of the Senators being appointed TO sit
Mt the clerks table and make q list of the
votes us they we're declared. But before
WAsHISGroSs second Presidency, a law
was passed March l, 1872, which provided:
"Ths, coneres. shall be in session on the second
Wednesday - fenruary. one thousand ssyen hundred
VIZ anu ev Un ' men ~ ccoI
ard inc said certificates or 20 msIy Of them hall
counted and the persons VINO shall oil the oice- u
ngreeaoly to the Constitution"
Under this law, on Wednesday. Feb. 10,
1898, the two Houses assembled in the
Senate Chamber, the certificates Of the
the President, and then delivered 10
tellers, who. having examined them and
ascertained the votes, presented list OF
them to the Nice-Presdent, aud he read 1t
to the two Houses Thereupon, he de-
cared WASHINGTON to be elected Pres-
| dent, and JOHN ADAMS to be elected Vice.
President.
THIS seems to have been in accordance
with the law and the Constitution. Neither
of them contemplated that the presiding
officer Of the Senate should do anyth ing
but open the certificates. This act he was
TO perform in the presence of both Houses.
1t was then for the two Houses, acting in
each others presence, to appoint such
tellers as might be noedful to count the
votes and declare the result.
In 1921, on the reflection of Mr.. MONROE,
the two Houses appointed joint commit
tee 10 report method OF proceeding in
counting the votes. The plan that was
| adopted and followed was an assembly of
the two Houses, each having its own pre-
siding officer and therefore each sitting as
| IA distinct body. Tellers were appointed
on the part of the House of Representa-
tives, who made n list of the votes as they
were declared; the result was then deliv-
cred 10 the President OF the Senate,
who announced it 10 the two Houses,
and this was deemed the legal declaration
of the persons elected US President and
Vice-President, and 1t was. with a list of
the votes. entered on the journals of the
two Houses. On this occasion question
arose whether the votes OF Missouri should
be counted, that State having appointed
electors and forwarded their votes before
she had been formally admitted into tho
Union. To obviate this embarrassment in
advance il was decided, inasmuch rs II was
known that the votes Of Missouri would
not affect the result, that the President of
the Senate should announce that If the
votes of Missouri were counted the result
would be -; II not counted the result
would be -; but that in either
event Mr.. MONROE was elected Pres
| dent, and DANIEL d. ToMPKINs was
elected Vice-Preadent. When, in the as
sembly Of the two Houses. the votes Of
| Missouri were handed to the tellers, Mr..
LIvERMoRE OF New Hampshire objected
| to their being received The Senate then
| Withdrew to their own chamber. long
| and somewhat excited debate followed In
the House Of Representatives, on the
power Of either of the two bodies TO
reject the votes but it was at last
| decided that the course marked out
| by the joint committee should be
| followed. A message was sent TO the
| Senate, that body returned to the hall of
the House, the joint session was resumed,
and the result was declared rs above
stated. Thus the question of jurisdiction
and the method of proceeding in case of
real controversy, was left undecided.
| The existing law on this subject section
l42 of the Revised statutes, is a substantial
reunactment Of the law OF 1902, with some
verbal changes which do not vary the
sense. There is no joint rule OF the two
| Houses which regulates the method OF pro-
ceeding, and there is no precedent which
bears directly upon the jurisdiction to
inquire into the authenticity or regu-
| larIty of the certificates forwarded
by the bodies claiming TO be the electors
Of the several States. Mr.. CLAY, in the
! definite of 1921, said there was no mode