The New York herald., 1877-01-24
HERALD WEDNESDAY l877-TRlPLR SHEET

| senate the choice of the President In
ial,aTe a oy .am,oa me e'e'ie'' was changed
IN many OF It's features It's leading feature
was rejected but as we usually make n, nomroy' con
siderng II and change Il by amendments one oy one,
so this dral remained before the Convention and was
not discarded totally and new one substituted tor
u. Orc OF the provisions which escaped change
was the designation Of the recipient and custodian OF
IN tho evcn Of failure by The electors transferred
TO the House oi Representatives, but me custodian
originally selected renamed. The rcasou the
naIura.pcss Of tho original suggestion, Will occur
10 everybody. II tho Senate was TO choose rres.
dent IN the event OF failure 10 elect u was natural
that with the presiding occr oi the senate the votes
should bc lodged With or without this ray OF light.
however, as TO tho designation ~ the CUSTODIAN a'
will adnit---il will not DO dcnied--that II any other
functonary had been desisuaied by the same words
states, tho Secretary Of State, tho Speaker Of the
House. tho Secretary OF the Senate the Clerk OF the
consstu.on his attributes, his functions his prerosa-
two would have been precisely that wherewth you
are endowed, neither more nor less.
This Urngs me to the language OF article IL The
electors to transmit their vocs IN scaled packets
Tho contents are TO DO secret For THIS there was
reason Originally TO the discretion OF tho electors us
wise. sagacous and unbiased body OF men was com.
miticd the WIDE selection OF the chei Maaistra'e.
they TO vote By ballot order To AVOID denotug
TO hysanders the votes they gave. Under the proec
,on OF seal their directed TO be sent to tho
President OF tho Senate and ny MIN kept, ana Kept
involate, until they needed and then 10 hc pro-
duced aud opencd Following thasc words We read
The rrssdsa. Of the senate shall in the OF the
Gates and the votes shall then lie counted
familiar maxim OF tho constitution rs, that mean.
ing and effect be given us ar may be 10 every
word. TINS rs true OF the m6st irIltng agreement be-
tween men. II must be as true OF iramc OF u gov
eIpmcnt iaboriousiy. devised anu designed
eternal wcdiock between peoples and States. Perhaps
the nrst question that arises Is tho significance OF
the words''iu the OF III, Senate aud House
OF representatives The importance attached TO them
may be cleaned IRON occurrences IN the First and
Second Congresses In which sat eighteen OF tho thirty
nine who niadc the constitution by an act OF
| Congress they required that on the day whom the
proceeding question IS TO occur tho Congress shall
be ~ session.
wIrSxssEs spxcTAToRsP
For what the Congress thus twice required TO be In
session. Obviously Tor some act, or that ITS members
may be spectators cannot say witnesses, for II thc
whole proceeding Is to be conducted aud determined
by man. not easy 10 see how, IN any cfcctual
or loyal sense the members can witness verify
proceeding II the President Of the Senate chooses to
M the end %
quired by tho constitution Tho whole thing may DO
bcrs OF shc houses may listen to them, notwlth-
standing that tho proceeding s wholly hia lilo takes
up paper IN his sea. and pcruscs =. as she eo W. would M
hail gszc at tho spectacle ss they might gazc from The
galleries. and with no moro power 10 know the sigma
turc tho hgurcs the seals Impressed on the paper than
tho concourse which the oath OF Office admins
tered at the Capitol Itmust, however. be admitted
that these words standing alone may bo satis-
fed by supposing that tho two houses, now
numbering about 400 men, arc to attend
their officers spectators OF pageant to sec anu
be Saxers scene wherein they can act no
part They may know or suspect forgery or nm error
the Senate conduct and determine tho cohnt, tho
two houses aud their members have no power to as
ping here It must bo admitted that effect may DO given
TO tie words havc rccited without ascrblng moro
moaning than that havo Indicated The text pro-
cecds-
The President Of the Senate shall all the certificates
There Is no room 10: construction hcrc. This Is a
plain grant OF power to do certain simple thing and
direction 10 do IT, Now the language changes Tho
President OF tho Senate'' h dropped he nowhere
again appears, aud the votes shall thcn DO counscd-
that Is, count OF the voto shall then take place
That Is what II means evdenty-a count OF the votes
shall then bc had. "rhe votes shall then becounsed "
by whom? As two Senators have we'll inquired-why
was Il not SAID 'by him s"-two little words. The
mon who drafted that paper-mastcrs OF language as
puous In tho execution OF their work. so determined
that words should exact vehicles Of thought
ns aP0nSS ns Sn w sna
dent would men ordinarily instructed IN the English
language have expressed themselves had they intended
that the President OF the Senate should count the v0tesY
rhe President OF the senate shall IN the presence OF
tho Senate and House Of Representatives, open all the
certificates and count the vocs," arc tho words In
which ninety and ninc men would naturally have
written or spoken. Had they sald, "rho
that would have becn plain. whys Because no man
count examine tho contcnts OF sealed packet
have made all plain. So, had they SAID open ana
count tho vo,es' But no, he shalI open all tho
iidcatcs. and the shall then DO counted" Why
.'lheny' Ifthc President OF the Senate had TO open
and count II was to have bcen at QUO timc, IN
sy ny WhS Us
were necessary when the effect would DO 10 bewilder
ut least If not mslcad the roadcrs
, The constitution is tcrse contentious. model OF
comprehensive brevity. In the first instance these
words, ain .he Of the Senate and House Of
Representatives were proposed, not before the word
''countcd, but after tho word "counted'; SO that Il
would have stood and old stand, 'the votes shall then
be counted In the presence OF tho Senate and House OF
Representatives" In the earlier consideration tho
words standing were accepted adopted more than
once. Al length tho provision was referred 10 the
committee OH style, anu In passing beg leave to In
quirc Tor what purposoS TO change the mcnn-
ing OF those who, by little accretons Of concurrence
had led up step by STEP with patience aud with cure.
the various branches 0f this great fabrc which was
TO tower so high and last SO long Was the purpose Of
change the meaning and cssoncc as had bicn agreed
,oY Oh mo- but 70 ac!iuS !. more SHARPLY to projoc.
far thereafter, would appeal 10 this Instrument as
their chart and compass. When the committee re-
ported these words to tho consideration OF the Con-
vention they stood as they stand now
and the vote shall then be counted
Was 1t ever, In all the scrutiny which these words
undcrwcL proposed TO commit II 10 the President VI
the senator We're any oi tho tdrms have suggested
other lorns clearly denoting that ever roposed at
ulls No. sir but on the contrary after all this care,
the words, wo see them, wore adopted the last
most deliberate consummate act Of the constitution.
But read these words several intents appear In
dropping tho President OF the Senate and employing
tho present phrase:-
TO BE couxrKD
"rhe votes shall then he counted" What votes '
Not all votes. All the certc ites ~ be opened
but not aI tho votes nrc 10 DO counted rhc votcs'
10 DC counted What votes! The constitutional,
vaid true votes not Blk votes from Oregon, although
six appear not necessarily tho three certified Dy
Governor o Oregon, although he Is tho certifying
officer by tho Of 1902 ana the only certifying officer
lown the national laws but the three votes
VI there three. Counting and asccrtanng becomes
SUBSTANTIAL and reasons Tor so making II II VIC
only to tue exclusion provided by tho constitu-
ton.
The honorable Senator from Indiana yesterday OBJ
served that his view ~ that tho President OF the
Senate borrow his phrase's to count everything,
good, bad and indifferent" Mr.. President, cannot
believe that The act OF 1882 declares, speaking OF the
prOc
session the second Wednesday IN February, 1703,
and the second "Wednesday in February my
every meeting OF the electors and tho said certi-
cates,' or as many OF them as shall have been
ccivcd, shall then bc opened, tho votes counted,
and tho persons who shall I'll tho Offices
| vi President and Vice President asccriaIncd
: and declared agrecably 10 Tho constitution.