The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1889-01-10
A Fair EIaetAral SYstem.

Ane evils and lnNquahty ot the pres
entsystem Of electing a President have
long been recognized. and are felt the
more strongly since the recent cleo.
ton produced result which is uni
VERBALLY recognized assin some degree
9 reversal Of the democratic principle
that the msjority must rule. What
has happened in theyear 1888 is lia.
BILE to happen at any Presidential elpc-
tion in the future, until our electoral
system 10 changed.
Can il be chapged2 There's the
rub. The present system 10 imbedded
in the Constitution. which provides
that each State shall appoint in such
manner as the Legislature may direct
q number Nf electors equal TO the
whole number si Senators and Repre-
sentatises TO which the State is emit.
tied in Congress, No change is posi-.
BILE withouta Constitutional amend
ment and no amendment is possible
without the concurrence OF two-thirds
OF both houses Of Congress and ratifi-
cation by the Legislatures OF three
fourths OF the States. 1t is true
amendments have been adopted from
time to time in the face of these Com
stitutional obstacles, The difficulty
in the present case, however, is to
frame an amendmenttha will not re
duca the power Of the smaller States
in selecting President. An amend
ment providing for a direct popular
vote wonld certainly do this and would
he unlikely TO receive the approval Of
the smaller States.
Congressman Springer's proposed
amendment, which he has again intro.
duced in the House, has been skilfully
devised to obviate this officially.
Briefly stated, his plan is to give each
State the same proportion OF electoral
votes it is now entitled to, but instead
of allowing the entire electoral vote Of
any State to be cast for the candidate
who has received an Insignificant plu-
rslity, to distribute it in exact proper
ton. He proposes to divide the total
vote cat in each State by the
number Of electoral votes to which it
is entitled. The quotiept is to be
taken as the ratio of division, the can.
didate having the largest fraction
when the result is fractional being en-
titled to the odd vote.
Under this plan ut the late election
the electoral votes OF California and
Connecticut would have been evenly
divided between HARRISON and
CLEVELAND. Texas would have given
HARRISON 8 and CLEVELAND 10; New
York, HARRISON is, CLEVELAND IL.
Fisk l Alabama, CLEVELAND 6, HAR-
RIsos 8, sTREETER /; Indiana, HAR-
RIsoN s, CLEvELAND 7, and SO on
through the entire list. The sdysn.
tage Of this plan would be that in de-
termining the final result Democrat.
&c vote would count for as much in
Pennsylvania as in Texas and a Re
publican vote tor IS much in Texas as
in Pennsylvania. If this system were
adopted the solid South or the solid
any other section would disappear
from national politics and the minority
party in each State would be encourag-
ed to poll full vote, knowing that
each vote would be as effective in pro
ducing the final result rs one cast by
the majority.
Itis probable, therefore, that little
Imposition to the SPRINGER amend
ment will arise from those jealous of
the rights and powers OF the smal
States. The professional politician
who prefer that the result in Presiden
tial elections shall remain as now de
pendent upon few pivotal States tina
may be carried for the party that car
raise the biggest corruption fund will
prove its most bitter opponents. II i
so eminently fair, however, that j
should receive popular support sufi
ciently strong to secure its adoption
in spite Of the manipulators Of "foat
ere IN blocks oi FIVE" or any other nun,
her. Mr.. SPRINoER's plan ttill furthe
recommends itself to popular supper
BY extending the Presidential term t.
ak years and making the incumher
ineligible to re-election.--Philade
phia Times.
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The Road to Heaven.
"a map of the road to heaven, BY
soul in purgatory," writes an anthr
and literary critic, describing his ide
and humorously confessing his failu