Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-01-25

theories upon The subject.
The Coustituticu requires thoe ~
e1eeturol voGes shall Be cnuntcd upoa
purticular occa<ioa. An win aGree that
tnesooes naned ID the Constitutes ore
- eonstiinHional votes Of :he States.
81 nune Oder. And when they have
keen foond and id<nttled there = moth
ing lelt 10 be disputed or decided. All
Tie rest i the mere clerical work Of
summing up the number, which being
done the Constitutes itself declares the
consequences. This bill. then. 10 only
directed 10 ascertaining. for the purpose
and ID aid of the counting. what ere the
constitutional voter Of the respective
States; and, whatever jurisdiction ex-
lists for such purposes. the bill only reg
ulates the method Of exercising il.
The Constitution. our great instru.
ment and security for liberty and order,
speaks in the amplest language for oil
such cases. in whatever aspect they
may be presented. Il declares that the
Congress shall have power ito make all
laws which shall be necessary and pro-
per for carrying into execution the fore
going powers, and all other powers YES.
ted by the Constitution in the Govern
ment Of the United States. or any de-
partment OF el6cer thereof"
The committee. therefore. think that
the law proposed cannot be justly as
sailed as Unconstitutional BY any one,
and for this reason we think Il unneees.
sary. whatsoever may be our individual
views, 10 discuss sny Of theories refer
red to. Our fidelity to the Constitution
is observed when We find that the law
We recommend il consistent with that
instrument.
The matter then being q proper sub
ject for Legislation, the fitness of the
means proposed becomes the next sub
ject Of consideration. Upon this we beg
leave to submit few brief observa-
tons
In ell great governments both public
and private rights must be defined and
determined by the law. This is essential
to the very idea Of such government,
and is the characteristic distinction be-
tween free and despotic systems
However important II may be whether
one citizen or another shall be the Chief
Magistrate for prescribed period upon
just theories ofcivil institutions. lis of far
greater moment that the will of the
people, lawfully expressed in the choice
Of this officer, shall be ascertained and
carried into effect in a lawful way. II
is true that in every operation Of gov
eminent of laws, from the most trivial
to the most important, there will al.
ways be the possibility that the result
reached will not be the true one.
The executive officer may not WISE
ly perform bis duty; the courts may
not truly declare the law, aud the leg
islat,ve body may not enact the best
laws but in either case TO resist the act
OF the Executive, the courts, orlhe leg
islature. acting constitutionally and law
fully within their sphere, would be to
set up anarchy in the place Of govern
ment. We think, then, to provide q
clear and lawful means OF performing =
great and necessary function Of govern
ment in time Of much public dispute,
is oil far greater importance than the
particular advantage that any man or
party may in the course Of events po>si-
bly obtain. But we have still endeav-
ored to provide such lawful agencies Of
decision IN the present case as shall be
the most fair and impartial possible un-
der the circumstances. Each OF the
branches Of the legislature and the ju-
dietary are represented in the tribunal
in equal proportions.
The composition Of the judicial part
Of the commission looks TO selection
from different parts of the Republic,
while il is thous hit to be free from any
preponderance Of suppos able bias, and
the addition of the necessary constitu-
ent part of the whole commission in Or
der to obtain an uneven number is left
to an agency the fnrthest removed from
prejudice Of any existing attainable one.
It would difficult, IL not impossible, we
think, to establish tritu ial that could
be less the subject OF party criticism
than such an one. The principle Of its
constitution is SO absolutely fair that We
are unable to perceive how the most
extreme partisan can assail it, unless
he prefers to embark his wishes upon
the stormy sea OF unregulated proce-
dure, hot disputes and dangerous re-
suits that can neither be n easured nor
defined, rather than upon the fixed and
regular course Of law that insures peace
and the order Of society, whatever par
ty may be disappointed in its hopes.
The unfortunate circumstance that
no provision had been made on the sub.
ject before the election, has greatly
added to the difficulties of the commit.
tees in dealing with it, inasmuch a.
many Of the people Of the country
members ofthe respective political par.
ties, will perhaps look with Jealousy
upon any measure that seems to involve
even the possibility Of the defeat o
their wishes; but il has also led tn.
committees to feel that these member
are bound by the highest duty in sucl
a case to let no bias or party feeling
stand in the way Of a just, equal, ans
peaceable me asure for extricating thu
question from the endorsements tina
At present surround IL.
In conclusion, We respectfully be,
leave to impress upon Congress the ne
cessity Of speedy determination upos
this subject. II Is impossible to esti
mate the material loss that the country
daily sustains from the existing stat,
of uncertainty. II directly and power
fully tends to unset,le and paralyxe bus
mess, to weaken public and private
\ rred,t and IN create arnroherxsors Z,
the minds Of the people that disturb tn