The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-12
COUNTING H VOTE.

IDENTIFY carefully studied, and which at once
caused o decided sensation, and resulted in a
challenge and debate in both houses of Con-
gress, after the dissolution of the joint con-
%vention. The precise language Of Mr.. Ed
munds will be found in the official report, else
where printed. In effect, the words Invested
the President of the Senate of any authority
whatever to do anything more than to
break the seals of the Certificates" al
though Mr.. Edmunds amplifed his
constitutional powers-according to his
own interpretation-by an extra-legal
and extra constitutional Speech" in which
he talked of s'papers" and what appears" by
'the computation of the tellers." For all this
there is no warrant in the letter of the Con-
stitution, if Mr.. Edmunds's theory of the
function of the President of the Senate be
correct. The address Of Mr.. Edmunds raised
when it was claimed for the first time that the
President of the Senate was nothing more
than an automaton in a solemn farce, and the
further claim was made that the Senate and
the House of Representatives were clothed
with the power to decide who had been
elected President and vice-President, al
though, in every possible way, the
Constitution removes the choice of these
officers as far as may be from Congress. An
examination of the provisions for the election
of the executive will show how z~ealously that
department of the government has been
guarded, so that it should not, by any posi-
bility, be the creature of Congress, or in
any degree responsible to it or under obi
cation to it. In case the House
of Representatives elects the President,
the States are to each cast one vote,
Rhode Island having the same voice as New
York, and the one representative from a small
State, should there be a State with one repre-
sentative, would exert the same power as the
thirty-four representatives from New York.
In the Senate this balance of he States
is in the constitution of the body, hence
that body elects the Vice -president without
any restriction. The President is to be the
President of the States, and the voice of
the States alone are to be heard in the deter
mination of his election, whether the choice
be by the action of electors, or by the
voice of the representatives in the popular
house Of Congress. 1t is strange to see the
Democratic party, which talks so much about
the rights and sovereignty of the States, give
away this great power, SO carefully preserved
to the States by the Constitution.
But as to the proceeding before Congress,
such as took place yesterday. "The President
of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
Senate and House Of Representative yes, open
all the certificates, and the votes shall then
be counted" This is all. But the Constitu-
ton has carefully provided that these "cer-
t~ificates" shall be in the hands of
the President of the Senate; and to sup
plement the constitutional provision, the law
provides for triplicate copies, so that in case
~ IiCccCiSCl A0Aic, IA l. ICSLttCILO u lA6 Oeudl0
can supply the deficiency from one of two Of
fetal sources. When a messenger comes to
the President of the Senate he must satisfy
that officer that he is such a messen-
ger. and that what he delivers him
Is a Certificate" If the messenger cannot
properly identify himself or his Certificate
A. D-.s1--L - IL (-.L-- -
toned sright-and he has more than once ex-
ercised the Gright1sto disown the alleged mes
icate." Surely this is as important a power
as that claimed for the President
of the Senate by those who agree with Chan
cellor Kent, that the spirit of the
Constitution and the unities Of the govern
ment, as well as the plain implication and In
ference. of the language of the instrument, is
that the President of the Senate shall ''open
the certificates and ''count the vote" It is
to be hoped that the President of the Senate
will never go through with such a farce as did
Mr.. Ferry in 1876, when he Opened
duplicate sets of go called Certificates" and
one which turned ont to be a burlesque "'cer-
t~ifcate," the reading being stopped by The
convention when its character was discovered.
The President is to open Certificates, not
comic valentines; and he ought to be
allowed to exercise the common sense
God gave him, and the official pre-
negatives with which the Constitution
and laws invest him in determining what are
certificates, and whether they properly and
legally express the votes of the States. The
counting of the votes" is, after that, mere
clerical work. which the president Of the