Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1880-10-30
The First Presidential Election.

1t occurred illithe middle of cole
winter, Il most Mconvenients season
Congress did moi learn the acceptanc,
Of the new Consultation by a sufficient
number of States until late in the sum
mer of l7SS, andidid net name the day
for the election oea President until the
18th of Septembee
The three inte sling DAYS were then
appointod-the Sshrce" Wednes8f gsS
as they were cssstE On the first
Wednesday of Ja.Nary, 1889, the peo
pie were to elect presidential electors,
On the first Wedf SHAY in February
the electors Of wero 10 ,a,eel
and choose a = res 4 Rlds / resi-
dent. On the III WeaaesdAy ii
March (Which wa4Ae itb] eohgrssA
was to meet in Ne' York, count tho
electoral votes, anaset the new Gov
enment in motion.s
So the first Presidential election took
place at very cold time Of the year.
Mr. Madison, afterSard President who
was always fond ofshis Joke, used to
take much pleasure in telling his
friends what a remarkably cold time
they had at that election. He was
running for CoSgress IN Virginia
against James Monroe, Nhoswas aes.
tines to succeed hius il the Presidency.
The two candidates had a public Dis
cussion one sunday afternoon in the
open air from the steps Of a Lutheran
church. -.
1t was not usual then to hold po.
litcal meetings on Sunday; but the
issues were deemed seeimp9rtant, aud
it was so hard to get lie people togeth.
er in the middle of tb winter, that It
was thought prQperfp invite the con.
grsgation after chd,ch to listen 10 n
political debate.
A keen northe3 lpr was blowing,
when Mr.. Madison Bonntel(he steps
and addressed the .eople, he had 70
face as sharp a win, as ever blew ii
Virginia. ltwas so Gold that one Of
the speakers ears wgAktlpzen, and 50
badly, too, that thetef showed some
traces of it to his dyigg day. Hs Mr.
Madison told tlse a y " \ .wowlds tpSiat
to the markes upon his ear, as "thC
honorable scars he had borne from the
battle field"
The elections duly occurred on the
first Wednesday of January and the
first Wednesday in February. The
electoral votes were forwarded in sealed
packets to New York. So far, all had
gone according to the act of the old
Congress, with order and punctualty.
The first Wednesday of March ar
rived, the day ON which the new Con
gress was appointed to meet. There
was no quorum present Of either house,
and nothing could be done except ad.
journ from day to day, and wait for the
arrival Of tho tardy members.
At tnat muddy season it was a week.
hard work to travel 200 miles, and
some Of the members had to make
their way from Georgia and New
Hampshire.
Day after day passed, and no Sena
tors came, and no great number OF
Representatives. Letters were ordered
to be sent to the absentees urging theil
immediate attendance; but the whole
Of the month Of March passed, anC
still there was no quorem of either
House.
1t was rather aggravating, too, thai
members from the most distant State.
had arrived, while those from New
jersey fingered weeks and weeks. The
reason was explained by Mr.. Madison
IN letter to Gen. Washington o
March 10, and a vefy curious reason il
was. The law, in New Jersey, having
fixed no time for closing the polls, they
were kept open in some of the countie
three or four weeks, each party still
hoping to get more votes.
at seems uncertain" wrote Mr.
Madison, "when they would have beer
closed if the Governor had not inter
posed and fixed on a day for receivin!
the returns"
At length, on the 9th of April
1889, there was "a quorem of botl
Houses. The first business was to opel
the packet containing the votes of tn
thirteen Electoral Colleges.
The Senate having notified tn
House that they were ready to NEE
them for this purpose, the Represents
tives, headed by their Speaker, wake
to the Senate chamber and the vote
were counted.
For Gen. Washington every electo
had given his vote; but Mr.. Adam
was elected to the Vice Presidenc
only by a plurality of thirty-four i
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