The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1880-08-25

To do with the selection or Inauguration
Of Presidents. The people elect the
President The Congress declares in a
joint session who he is We of the army
have only to obey his mandates, and
are protected i'm so doing only So far rs
they may bc-iawful. Our commissions
express that. like Jeflrrson's inaugu-
ration; il suits our system. He rode
alone on horseback To the Capitol IL |
fear it was the cold Capitol'), tied his !
horse To Il rail fence, entered and was |
duly sworn, then rode tn the Executive |
Mansion and took possession. He III |
augurated himself, simply by taking |
the oath of Office. There is no other /
legal Inauguration in our system. The |
people or politicians may institute pa
r.Ides in honor of the event, and public |
officials may add to the pageant by as
sembling troops and hammers, but all |
that only comes properly after the i'll
auguration, not before; and ii is not
part of il. Our system does not provide /
that one President should inauguratc |
another. There might be danger in
that, and il WIS studiOUsly left out Of
the charter. But you are placed in AN
exceptionally important position IN con-
nectiOn with coming events. The capt
tai is in my jurisdiction also, but am
n subordinate, and not ON the spot, and
if were, so also would be my superior
in authority, for there is the station of
the commander-in-chief.
On the principle that n regularly
elected Presidents term of office expires
with the Bird of March (Of which have
not the slightest doubt, and which the
laws bearing on the subject uniformly
recognize, and in consideration of the
possibility that the lawfully elected
President may not appear until the 9TH
of March, great deal of responsibility
may necessarily tall upon you. You
hold over. You will have power and
prestige to support you. The secretary
of war, too, probably EOlds over; but If
no President appears he may not he
able to exercise functions in the name
of President, for his proper acts are
those of known superiOr-a lawful
President You act on your own re-
sponsibility and by virtue of a commits
sion, only restricted by the law. The
secretary of war is the mouth-piece of
President. You are not. Ii neither
candidate has constitutional majority
of the electoral college, or the Senate
and House ON the occasion of the count
do not unite in declaring some person
| legally elected 10y the people, there Is
lawful machinery already provided To
meet that contingency and decide the
question peacefully. Ii has not been
recently used, no occasion presenting
itself, hut our fOrefathers provided 1t. 10
has been exercised and has been recOg
nized and submitted to rs lawful on
every hand. That machinery would
/ At al
MIR. Wheeler Nice-President. That
would he right enough, for the law pro-
vides that in failure To elect duly by
the people the House shall immediately
elect the President and the Senate the
| Vice President. Some tribunal must
decide whether the people have duly
elected President. L presume, of
course, that it is the joint affirmative
action of the Senate and House, or why
are they present To witness the count if
not To see that il is fair and just? IL u
failure to agree arises between the two
bodies there can be no lawful afiirma-
tive decision that the people have elect
ed "A President, and the House must
then proceed to act, not the Senate.
The Senate elects Vice-Presidents, not
Presidents. Doubtless in ease of "A fail
ure by the House to elect President by
the 4th OF March, the president of the
Senate (if there be one would he the
legitimate person to exercise Presiden-
tial authority for the time being, or UNI
| ill the appearance of "a lawful President,
or for the time laid down i'm the consti-
tuition. Such courses would DE peace
full. and. | have firm belief, lawful.
have no doubt Governor Hayes
would make an excellent President. i
have met him and know him. For a
brief period he served under my COM
mand, but ;ls the matter stands l can't
see any likelihood of his being duly
declared elected by the people unless
the Senate and House come To he in ac-
cord as to that fact, and the House
would, of course, not otherwise elect
him. What the people want Is peace
full determination of this matter, as fair
IA determination as possible and law
full one. No other determination could
stand the test. The country, If not
plunged into revolution, would become
poorer day by day, business would IAN
guish and our bonds would come home
to find a deprecated market.
/ was not i'm favor of the military ac-
ton i'm South Carolina recently, and II
General Kruger had telegraphed to me,
or asked for advice, | would have all
vised him not under any circumstances
TO allow himself or his troops To deter
mine who were the lawful members OF
State legislature. l could not have CIV
en- him better advice than to refer him
10 the special message of the President
I'M the ease of Louisiana sometime De-
fore.
But i'm South Carolina he had had
the question settled by a decision of the
supreme court of the State--the highest
tribunal which had acted ON the ques-
tion-so that his line of duty seemed
even to be clearer than the action IN the
Louisiana case. LII the federal court
had interferred and Overruied the tie
cisjon of the State court there might
have been Il doubt certainly, but the
federal court only inferred to compliclte
) not tn decide or override.
, ANYHOW il is no business of the army
To enter upon such questions, and even
if il might be- so i'll any event, u the
; civil authority is supreme, as the con-
stitution declares il to he, the South
Carolina case was one in which the
army had plain duty.
Had General Kruger asked me for All
? vice, and if had given il, | should o
course had notified you of my action
; Immediately, 81 that it could have been
[ promptly Overruled il it should have
/ been deemed advisable by you or othel
: superior in authority. General Rigel
/. did not ask for my advice, and l infer
!. red from that and other facts that h'
e did not desire it, or that, being in direc
Q communication with my military supe
o riors at the seat of government, wh'
n were nearer to him in time and distance
i than | was-hc deemed il unnecessary
: As General Kruger had the ultimate re
e sponsibility of action, and had reall,
I the greater danger to confront IN the II
i nal action i'm the matter, did not ven
=. | -. A.. .l..-.,.,. him, nv suUO,ssf iOuS