The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-01-03
VINO q Counts the Vote 9---The Question;
Cnffled sslss sg BE- ;s $3.50

VINO Counts the Vote 9---The euestio non
rs Settled. Ia
For months the question as to fWnoo
counts the vote for resid ent OF the. Unasea
States has been under confederation, ana
has been discussed by many able lawyers yen
AZ well as by many such poor lawyers ~
Mfr. SCHUYLER CoLrAx. The fact that "neh
WASHINGTON was first elected, president gu !
Of the Senate was appointed for "the soie
,,urpose al receiving, opening, and COUNT
inc The votes Of the electors" although tnas
course was never afterwards followed, Das
been a sort of stumbling-block In the way Q,
the Democrats, or rather OF those VINO holu'
that the two houses Of Congress IN JONI
session assembled, have the sole rish' ~. "
count the votes, and either to accept OF re-
,act the vote OF any State. To this discus
sion Judge MEREDITH to-day contributes
th,,o,,rh our columns an interesting article.
Tracing up the clew afforded us by Judge
MEREDITH, we find the following TO nave
been the facts: 49, 49,
First. The Convention that framed the
Constitution provided by resolution, as
quoted by Judge MEREDITH, for the election
of n president Of the Senate "for the sole
purpose n receiving, opening, and counting
the vote" This was done because the Con"
stitntion had not gone into effect. The
Congress of the Confederation provided
Tor the day when the electors should
meet; the day when the new Congress
should meet; and arranged al, the preiiml-
naries for setting the new Government IN
motion. Judge THURMAN, and others OF the
best lawyers, hold that the counting OF the
vote should be done under law and not
under Joint rules Of the two houses; but
whether the counting ought now to be done
by the one mode or the other. the first
counting could, it is certain, not be done
under the provisions Of o new constitution
which had not yet gone into effect, but
which, in the words OF the Convention That
framed it, the new Congress, "together with
the President" was requiredto "proceedto
execute.n There was no President OF the
United States to sign bill and make it a
law, There was no Vice-Presfdent. The
new Congress assembled for the first time
on the very day when the votes for Presl-
dent and Vice President were to be count
cd. There was no time to agree upon Joint
rules. But the wisdom OF the fathers had
provided for the emergency. The Conven-
ton had provided that president OF the
Senate should be appointed to perform this
duty for this one time.
Secondly, the Convention that framed the
Constitution provided that the electors
should transmit their votes Designed,
sealed, and directed, as the Constitution re-
quires'') "to the Secretary OF the United
States in Congress assembled" Observe,
not to the president OF tile senate, rs the
Constitution required as soon rs it went
into full operation, but to "the Secretary
of the United States in Congress assem-
bled." These words demand some eNpla-
nation. The Congress OF the Confederation
consisted of but one body, and always
STYLED itself "the United States in Congress
assembled" 1t was, therefore, to the Sec
rotary of the old Congress that the votes
were transmitted. This fact proves beyond
q doubt, and leaves no room for cayil as to
the point, that the first counting was done
not under the Constitution, but under
resolution OF the Convention that framed
the Constitution. This history shows, also,
why this first counting was never regarded
by the fathers as precedent, and why the
course then pursued was never afterwards
followed.
Thirdly. the new Senate did not even
choose its secretary until after the election
of WASHINGTON had been ascertained and
proclaimed. (See HICKEY's Constitution,
p. 1919 "The Secretary Of the United
States in Congress assembled" no doubt
acted as secretary because he had the certi-
ficates OF the votes of the electors in his pos
session. The counting took place on the
9th of April. Since then the Constitution
has been so amended as to require the
counting to be done before the 4th OF
March.
Judge MEREDITH has done the country a
real service in calling attention to these
facts.