The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-02-15
PROVIDING FOR FUTURE ELECTIONS


In times of peace, prepare for war. The
dangers which threatened the country on
account of the disputed result of a presi-
Dental election have been happily averted
by the passage of the electoral bill but
this measure is only temporary. BY the
very terms of the act, it applies only to
this presidential election. In the nature OF
things it would be impossible to enact
similar measure again. The defeated par
ty, if, indeed, present parties should hold
together another four years, would never
consent to submit its cause to the arbitra-
ment of a similar tribunal. With the fourth
Of March, it will have accomplished lite
purpose and the law becomes of no further
avail. The existence of the present crisis,
however, shows the necessity of providing
for future contingencies. The questions
which vuere nneattln1 --F - -,
commission was called into existence still
remain unsettled, and there etill exisf' tho
Iurlher legislation. The bill
providing for the electoral commission
either repeats in part or suspends the oper
alton of the law of 1892 which has pro-
vided for the counting of the electoral vote
ever since the government was organized
Whether it is simply O.. suspension of the
operation of the act and, if so, what is
the effect of such suspension on the future;
or whether it acts as pro tGntO repeal of
that law, we will not stop to inquire
These questions must be settled hereafter
unless they cease to be questions by new
legal or constitutional provisions. New
questions will arise, and, the old ones un
settled, it behooveo the country to take i'm
mediate steps to decide these matters be-
fore they again threaten the peace of the
country.
In order to provide for the future, a
constitutional amendment has been pro-
posed abolishing the electoral colleges, and
providing that the people of the several
states shall vote directly for president and
vice-president of the United States, each
state to be entitled to number of cleo
toral votes equal to the number of her SEN
ators and representatives in congress. At
time to be designated by congress, by
law, the people are to vote direct for pres
ident and vice-presdent, and the returns of
the votes are to be made within ten days to
the secretary of state the returns to be
canvassed by the governor, chief justice of
the supreme court and secretary of state,
who shall assign to each candidate voted
for the vote of the state, as follows:
"They shall divide the whole number of
60 votes returned by the whole number of
" the states electoral vote, and the result
"ant quotient shall be the electoral ratio
g for the state, and shall assign to candi-
I" dates voted for one electoral vote for
" each ratio of popular votes received by
" them respectively, and if necessary, ad-
" ditional electoral votes for successive
largest fractions of a ratio shall be as
signed to candidates voted for, until the
whole number Of the electoral votes of
" the state shall be distributed" Three
returns, containing the popular vote by
counties, towns and parishes, and the ap-
portionment of the electoral vote, are to
be made aud certified, one copy sent to the
president OF the senate, one to the speaker
OF the house, and third to be filed in the
oihc9 OF the secretary of state OF the state.
If such rule had been in force in No
Vember, its practical working, in Vermont,
would have been 10 give three votes to
Hayes and Wheeler, and two to Tilden and
Hendricks. The whole whole number of
votes was "a, AGO, and the number of cleo
toral votes to which the state was entitled
was five. Dividing the whole number of
votes by the number of electoral votea
gives 1882 as the electoral ratio for the
" state" and the Hayes ticket having re-
ceived A, 1913 votes, and the Tilden ticket
2O,9sS, would give the result stated, al
though Tilden would have gained from the
fraction. In New York the whole num-
Der of votes was 1,015502, the number of
electoral votes thirty-hve, and the "elec-
" toral ratio" twenty-nine thousand and
fourteen. Tllden received 521, 949 votes,
emitting him to eighteen electoral votes