Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1877-01-19
From the New York Times.
The Constitutional Function of
the Vice President.

which will be found In our columns To-
day, brings into clear relief certain essen
tial points relating to the duties in regard
to the cosnting of the Electoral vote i'm
posed by the constitution on the President
of the Senate. These points will not bb
precisely new to the readers Of the Times,
but they are presented in the letter re-
felred to with degree of fullness and
force which sught to secure for them
general attention. Ole fact is incidental
~ alluded to in this communication which
deserves somewhat extended notice. Sew
eral inquirers into the question of who
shall count the vote appear TO have been
struck with the importance of this point,
and it is likely to be prominently brought
out in the debaters in Congress on the
problem which is now engaging the at
tention of the country. 1t is briefly as
follows:
The committee of eleven of the Federal
Convention, TO which was referred on
Aug. 81, 1888, 1.-THE postponed part of the
Constitution" made report on Sept. f.
in which occurred the following language
in regard to the counting of the Electoral
vote: THE President of the Senate shall
in that house open all the certificates. and
the votes shall be then and there count
ed" On Sept. this part report was
discussed, and it appears that ION sew
eral motions the words in presence of
the Senate and House Of Representatives,
were inserted after the word counted :"
The order of the words was slightly
modified before being placed on the
journal, since it appears there precisely
as 1t finds place in the Constitution:
The President of the Senate shall, in
the presence of the Senate and House OF
Representative open all the certificates.
and the votes shall then be counted"
1t is toerably plain that amid all the al
terations of phraseology the chief ankle
ty OF the founders was to clearly an
nounce the main proposition that the
President Of the Senate should open the
certificates and count the vote. To rem
edy any ambiguity on this score in the
language OF the committee of eleven was
the obvious intent of the amendment
made "on several motions, and the form
finally adopted was as clearly meant to
show that, in opening the certificates and
counting the votes, the President of the
Senate had to discharge a constitutional
function which both houses were. indeed,
invited to inspect, but with which they
could not interfere. Nothing could
well have been further from the inten-
ton of the trainers of the Constitution
than, by slight verbal amendment, and
without debate, suggestion, or motion OF
any kind, to work so vital change
in the mode of counting the votes, or to
transfer that power and duty from the
President of the Senate to the Senate and
House of Representatives If hey could
agree.
The obvious purpose of the convention
is further shown in the resolution adopted
by the members on Sept. IL, tLat when
the House and Senate should be convened,
after the Constitution had been adopted
the Senate should choose a President for
the sole purpose OF receiving. opening and
counting the votes for President. The
President Of the Senate is usually the Vice
Preside of the United States, elected by
the people thereof, and not a Senator
He derives his powers from the Constitu-
ton, and not from the Senate. That body
can neither add TO nor detract from his au-
thority, nor can it relieve him from the
performance Of any duty the Constitution
may have imposed on him. One of his
conceded powers is TO preside over the
Senate. another is to open the certificates
containing the Electoral vote. The Dem
ocratic theory is that with the unsealng
of the certificates the power of the Vice
President ends 1t would seem to follow
that before any count is made the two
houses must agree. In the event of a
failure to agree. the President of the Sen
ate would evidently be compelled to hold
the unsealed certificates indefinitely, or to
throw them away as waste paper. Those
who believe that the trainers of the Con-
stituiion left the way open for any such
piece of absurd.ty as that. must have a
very low opinion Of their understanding.
All the Democratic interpretations OF
the language OF the Constitution and the |
practice of its authors in the matter OF
counting the Electoral vote aim at super
seding the constitutional power of the
Vice President, by an exercise Of usurped
powers by members Of Congress. In
other words. an officer specially intrusted
with the duty of counting the votes. is to
be replaced by men who are constitution
ally excluded from being Electors, and