Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-01-24

The report of the committee accompany
ng the bill for counting the electoral votes
expresses the belief that the law proposed
cannot be Justly asSailed us unconstituli0n-
al by any one. Our fidelity to The conSti-
tuition is observed when we find that the
law we commend is consistent with that
instrument. The COMMITTEE say in all
Just governments both public and priva'e
rishts must be defined and determined by
law. This is essential to the very idea of
such IL government, and is the character
istic distinction between free and despotic
systems. However important it may be
whether one citizen or another shall be
chief magistrate for II period prescribed
upon lust theories Of civil Institutions, it is
of far greater moment than the will of the
people, lawfully expressed in the choice OF
that officer shall be asccrtained and car
ried into effect in lawful way 1t is true
that in every operation of il government of
laws. from he most trivi Il 10 the most I'M
portant, there will always be possibility
that the result will not be II true one. The
executive officer may not wisely perform
his duty; the courts may not truly declal {
the law, and the legislative body may moi
enact the best laws, but in either case to
resist tie act of the executive the courts,
or the legislature, acting conslitutionally
and lawfully within their sphere, would
be to set up anarchy instead Of govern
ment.
We think then that to provide II clear
and lawful means of performing II great
and necessary function Of the government
in u time of much public dispute, is of far
greater importance than the particular adj
vantage that any man or party may In the
course of events possibly obtain, but We
have still endeavored to provide such law.
full agencies of decision in the present case
us shall be the most fair and impartial I'm
der the circumstances. Each Of the
branches of the legislature and the judicia.
ny are represented in the tribunal in equal
proportions, The composition of the ju-
dicial part Of the commission looks to II
selection from different parts of the repub
lie, while it is thought to be free from any
preponderance of supposable bias, and the
addition of the necessary constituent par
of the whole commission, in order to OBJ
tain an uneven number, is left TO i'm agency
the farthest removed from prejudice of any
existing atlainable one. 1t would be diff
cult, if not impossible, we think, to estab
fish tribunal that could be less subject
10 party criticism than such one. The
principle of its constitution is SO absolute
ly fair that VIC are unable to perceive how
the most extreme partisan can assail it
unless he prefers to embark his wishes up
on the stormy sen of unregulated proce
durc, hot disputes and dangerous results
that can never be measured or defined
rather than upon fixed and regular course
of law that insures peace and the order 0
society.
Whatever party may be disappointed in
It's hopes, the unfortunate circumstance
that no provision had been made on the
subject before the election, has greatly
added to the difficulties Of the committee,
in dealing with it, inasmuch rs many o
the people of the country-members o
respective political parties-wilI perhaps
look with jealousy upon any measure tina
seems to involve even the possibility o
the defeat of their wishes, but it has alst
led the committees to feel that their mem
bers are bound by the highest duty, il
such a case, to let no bias OF party feeling