The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1880-12-10
Presidential Pitfalls.


rounded the Presidential electoral system
Addressing the electors of his own State, he
said Although you and all the members
of the Electoral College had an absolute con.
stitutional and technical right to vote for
anybody you choose, and though no written
law directed or suggested your choice, yet
every American knew that the august soy
ereign Of the repubic--the nine millions of
voters--on an early Gay in November had
pronounced the omnipotent fiat of choice,
and that sovereign, assuming as done that
which he had ordered to be done, entertain
cd no doubt that his will would be implicitly
obeyed by all the colleges in all the states.
That is the reason why the people were 80
serenely quiet yesterday" AS matter of
sentiment this is all very pretty, but Gen
eral Garfield knows very well that the sys
TEN upon which he bestows so much praise
is wrong, dangerous and full Of peril. Presi-
Dental elections ought not to depend upon
the loyalty of politicians. They should be
governed by the strictest and most stringent
statutes that legislators can devise. The
Presidency of the United States is the high
eat Office that man can bestow upon man.
The ruler of England, Empress or Emperor,
the Gar of Russia, the President of the
French Republic, the monarchy of Ger
many or of Austria-not one of them all
wields the power he wields Alexander can
not remove even a chamberlain Of his palace
without consulting his mobiles. Victoria can
not command her own guards without asx
ing the advice of Mr.. Disraeli or Mr.. Glad
stone. William is almost the slave of Bis
mark. The Pope is the creature of his Car.
dnals. Alfonso, ruling over Arragon and
CASTLE and Cuba, is the puppet of his prime
Minister. The president of France must
bow to Gambetta. The President of the
United States is alone supreme. He cannot
to be sure, declare war, but war declared he
can postpone almost indefinitely the day Of
peace. With party behind him, bare
majority of one legislative chamber, he can
call into existt nee an army of office-holders
almost as large as the standing army Of
Great Britain. He is the Commander.in
Chief of the Army and Navy, of fifty mil
lions of people. He controls the disburse
ment of hundreds of millions of dollars an.
nually. Tho prizes of life for which men
Toll and strive-Genera!s, Judges, Cover
nors, Cabinet officers, foreign Ministers-sre
all at his disposal. To be sure he is only a
trustee, but why should the comforting of so
stupendous a trusteeship be LETT, as it is left
under the present system, to the chances of
political lottery, for that is really all that
il is?
General Garfield ha- the reputation, and
we believe justly, of being student of our
politics and of our history. There can be
no doubt that he understands the theory OF
our governme mt aud of the constitution bet
tive chair stree Lincoln and Buchanan, and
we confess that we are surprised and
amazed that in the first public utterance he
has made since the official declaration of his
like. rattle off the old, unmeaning, thread.
bare compliments about the honor and the
honesty and the virtues of politicians. Gem
eral Garfield missed very great opportunity
to direct the public mind and concentrate
public attention upon the one weak link in
the chain Of our constitutional government,
the Ell, ctoral College system As he points
out in the extract We have quoted from his
speech, the Presidential election really took
place not in November, but in December. 1t
is true that a majority Of the people OF the
United States declared month sgo that
General Ga field was tbeS choice for presi
dent, but if the Electoral College decided
otherwise month later if they should say
that Gent raj Hancock or General Graut and
not General Garfield should be president,
there is no power in the constitution or in
congress or in the courts to revise their de-
cision. If they had chosen to defeat the
will of the people as expressed at the polls
and elect General Gaifelds man servant,
no power could prevent him, il he be citi.
zen, from entering the White House on the
fourth oi next March. This is the doctrine
of th- Constitution, Its letter and spirit, ex-
pressed in the plainest and most direct
terms. Bat this is not the only danger of
defeating the popular will lurking in this
constitutional machine for the grinding out
of presidents. A blunder in a name, the
mistake of a date, the negligence of an Of
fetal and hundred other acts of omission
or commission may under certain given cir
cumstancss operate as effectuslly as wilful
crimnality to reverse the verdict of the peo
pie Georgia ia a case in point. The char
acteristic perversity that as rule marks oil
legislation below the line of the Potomac
and the stupidity or obliquity that for some
inscrutable purpose of the Almighty has al
ways distinguished Southern officials make
it exceedingly doubtful whether or not the
vote of that State can be counted next
March, Happily it does not make any diff
ference one way or the other 81 far as the
result goes; but suppose for arguments sake
the election hinged upon the vote OF Geor-
gis. In what condition should we find our
selves? 1t is easy in such a contingency to
picture the excitement and 6ewllderment In
which the whole county would be plunged.
In Indiana there is said to be another infor-
mality. Suppose Gsr6eld's or Hancock 8
election depended upon the vote of that un-
certain and exasperating little common
wealth Fortunately We have escaped the
perils of the Electoral College pitfalls this
year. Let us abolish so wretched contri
vance before another national election comes
round Times.
There is an ide a prevalent that railroad engi-
neers are carele,s and hard hearted, While we
do not desire 10 approve of any loss of life or
upheld ali the actions Of these men, yet we do
know that some have the highest regard
for human life, and are ever on the alert for