The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1876-12-01
Senator JyalIace oss tAe Sifuofio...
HIS VIEWS AS no WHAT CONGRESS MAY DO
TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE AGAINST
FRAUDULENT RET URN OF
THE ELECTORAL VOTE.

view between Hon VIM. a. Wallace and a
reporter for the Philadelphia Times:
Reporter. Senator Wallace, l am sent
| 10y my paper 10 get your views on the stu
alton.
Senator Wallace. prefer not to discuss
matters which may come before the Senate
! lest it may seem tney are prejudged.
Reporter. Other senators have given
/ their views, notably Morton and Sherman,
! and ii Is just that both sides should have a
! hearing IN the press
Senator Wallace. What is it you want
| from me?
! Reporter. An answer TO the question,
! Has Congress, or either house thereof, any
power to arrest actual fraud in the return
OF a state for presidential electors?
Senator Wallace. That depends upon
what is the tue construction of the pro.
vision of the federal constitution regulat-
ing the counting Of the vote for president.
rhe words are, The president of the
Senate shall, in the presenc OF the Senate
aud House of Representatives. open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be
counted" Does this mean that the presi-
dent of the Senate acts ministerially and
has sole and exclusive power III both open
ing the certificates and counting lie votes
Or, does it mean that he shall have power
alone to open, and the counting of the
vote is TO be under the control and direc-
tion of the two houses of Congress? If it
means tie former there is no power to ar
rest an actual fraud, and the Senate end
House are present as witnesses TO the
wrong: if it means the latter "a remedy
may be found. Ii the president of the
Senate be vested with full power to count
the votes, the language is strangely inap-
pToIriate to confer it. 1t is not .'he shall
open the certificates and count the votes'
but it is ''he shall open the certificates, and
the votes shall be counted" When we
take the language in connection with the
fact thar the Senate and House are to be
present, and with the unbroken line of pre-
cedcntS since 1897, it seems pretty clear
that exclusive power to count the votes is
not vested in the president Of the Senate.
but power to count as given to some per-
son, or TO some body. This power is not
in the states, for il Is vita to the existence
OF the general government; it is not re-
served to the people, for in the creation of
the government they parted with every
power that was essential to its perpetuity,
aud this power is vital and essential to the
existence and perpetnity Of the general
government; for if the votes cannot be
counted, il can not be known who is chosen,
and the machinery of the government is
stopped. This counting and the result
thereof is the elimination OF tie popular
will, and from the very necessity of the
case 1t inhcrcs in and belongs to some
agency of the government of the United
states. 1t is the right OF the people to aD-
point their electors : it is the right Of the
state TO return it's choice through it's cleo
toyal college, and il is equally the right of
the general government to count that vote.
What, then, is counting the vote? Before
we can reckon, number or count the votes.
we must FIRST learn whethcr they are votes.
Ir. Clay put this worry forcibly in 1921, in
the missouri case. when he said, ''the con-
Stitution required of the two houses to as
sembe and perform the highest duty that
could dcvOive on a public bOdy--to ascer-
tain who had been elected by the people to
administer their national concerns. In a
case of votes coming forward which could
not be counted the constitution was silent,
but fortunately the end carried with it the
means. The two houses being called on to
cnumerate the votes for president of
course they were called on to decide what
are votes" The authenticity and validity
of the certificates presented, containing the
tally of the votes, are much involved in
the execution OF this great power as are the
mere reading of the names and figures
found therein and, as a consequences ne
cessari.y following this, the regularity of
all prior proceedings which resulted i'm the
certificate can 6e inquired into by the body
with whom the power rests. The seal nf
the state is pflmd tdcte proof that ali is
right, but it Is no more. The state is the
people, not lts mere organism. If it's broad
seal be used to certify fraud and the
popular viii legally expressed can be clear
ly ascertained, the will of its people over
rides the PrtmG yJdcie proof. An inquiry
into the facts IN such case is necessary
incident to tile right to count, or, as Mir.
Clay says, it is means TO The end. 1t
would be doctrine fraught with terrible
consequences to our institutions TO bold
that, iii a matter so vital, the government
of the United States was bound by The
faithlesS performance of his duty by the
governor OF state, or that it could not de-
termiue whether the duties its own laws
enjOined had been honestly or frauduIeutly
performed, or performed by the right OF the
wrong person. The power to count the
votes, as / thus define 1T, | believe resides
III the two bouSes OF Congress acting con-
currently as independent bodies. aud they
nave this power under the constitution and
without regard to any joint rule. Their
presence at the counting is expressly en-
Joined by the constitution. It, Ia not cue.
but both houses that are present are
they there as powereSs spectators? The
senators and members of Congress from
each state are there to guard the rights of
their people and their state. Can it be that
fraud may be perpetratcd by the electors
and members therefrom enjoined by the
constitution to De present can do nothing
to avert il? II there is 10 choice by the
electoral college, the House immediately
elects president. How is the House OF
ficially TO know that there is or is not a
choice? Are they to learn this from an
official who by the constitution has not
even a seat within their hail. or are they to
learn it from their own count and SUPER
vision? in the case of no choice for vice
president, The Senate elects one, and it is
from their presence and participation they
learn officially that there is no choice. The
precedeutS all establish the fact that the
count is made by the Senate aud House
acting through tellers in lbe presence of
both houses Jointly assembled From 1893
to 1869, in every case, the Senate and the
House acting separately. appointed telers
in advance of the day for the count, and
acquainted each other with that fact and
a