Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-01-01
ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES.
The Fallacy of Eiectiug Our re.idents
BY Direct Vote of the People.


BY Direct Vote of the People.
We have been more than little aston
ished of late to find men whom we have
considered well grounded in the eIemen-
tary principles on which this Government
was founded, declaring for such heresies
as the election Of a President by the popu-
lar vote of the whole people We have,
as we have said, been astonished to hear
these who have never pretended to teach
say these things; but astonishment" does
not express our feelings when we read the
following article in last Wednesdays Err
dminer:
"The count OF the Presidential vote is
now so nearly complete that we can figure
on the popular majority with some conf
dence. Cleveland's plurality over Harri-
son is 100, 474-about double his plurality
over Blaine in 1884 This may be slightly
changed by revised returns, but not by
more than few thousand either way.
"That man in the full possession of
power, and backed by such a substantial
majority OF his countrymen, should qui-
etly yield his place to a competitor, sup
ported by nothing but constitutional tech
nicality, is ar example of self-control, con-
science and patriotism that could hardly
be matched outside of America And vet
here it is mere matter of course. No
body even thinks of giving the President
credit for any remarkable moderation, and
1t has never occurred to him to claim anv.
He does just what any other American
citizen would do in his place, and if he
should behave differently, appealing from
the law to the majority that voted for him.
his own party would repudiate him.
This easy acquiescence of a checkmaied
majority in a technical defeat is something
for Americans to be proud of, but it does
not make the injustice any the less real.
This is democratic republic, and govern
ment by the minority is not democratic.
Some day, when the country is more pop
ulous than now, when some issue is at stake
more infaming than the tariff to mems
passions, and when some leader is in the
field more ambitious and less scrupulous
than Grover Cleveland, the party that wins
the votes of the people may demand the
fruits of victory
" 1t is well to think about these things
while there is time for thoughtful consid-
Grafton of the methods of reform. The
electoral system is overgrown What
should take its place."
We have often thought lat the "Fed-
eralist" ought to be a textbook in our
public schools. No man who had ever
read the Federalist" would make such a
mistake as the above. Doctors of divin
ity would think it nonsense to read the
first page of the child's catechism to his
grown up hearers; or the teachers to give
an explanation of the alphabet to their
graduating classes. Until we saw the Err
dnlnaers article we would have thought an
explanation of the why's and wherefores of
the Electoral College as much out of place
in an American newspaper as either of the
above.
This Government was formed on the
idea of free and independent States-some
great and some small 1t even then ex-
tended over vast extent OF territory with
varied interests, and its founders saw that
Its extent would be much greater, with
more varied interests. Some States would
be small-some densely, and some of ne
cessity, sparsely populated. The lower
house OF Congress was made on the basis
OF the vote of the whole people the Senate
on the States. The Presidency partook of
the mixed character, and the Electoral
College represented both the people and
the States. In the Senate every sovereign
State is equal. Nevada has as much voice
there as the great State of New York.
In the Electoral College Nevada has two
for the State and one for the people,
whereas in New York the people have
thIrty-four, and the State has only two
Nevada's representation is based on a
population of 81, 266 New York's on 5,OS2-
S71. Hence in the College, Nevada has
one vote for each 20,755 votes and New
York for each 141, 100. That is vote in
Nevada for President is worth nearly seven
times as much as one in New York In
the Congress the proportion is the same
Now this is right and why?
If there was no Senate, and the Presi-
dent should be elected by direct vote,
the country would be ruled entirely by the
great centers of population. Whatever was
of advantage to the great States would be
done without inquiring as to the interests
of the smaller States This was the view
the founders of the Government took
when framing the Constitution. A Union
could never have been made on any other
basis
An article like the one we quote from
the Examiner would seem queer even in
Republican journal, but what can be said
of 1t in Democratic Monarch" consid-
ering the tenacity with which the Democ-
racy sticks to Estate rights?" 1t is en-
tirely possible that in the near future we will
have President with million minority
on the popular vote, and it would be right.
We are not at all disposed to quarrel be-
cause Mr.. Harrison will be minority
President-he will be constitutional Pres
ident, and that is better.
Aged Statesmen.