The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-05-05
PRESIDENTIAL DISTRICT VOTING.

The Republicans are going TO test the
Of the Michigan electoral
law which provides for taking the vote of
the people for presidential electors by
congressional districts. This measure is
supposed by some to be Democratic
measure. but the principle was originally
prepared and presented by OLIVER P.
MORTON, the great Indiana Republican
leader, in q report to the United States
Senate from the committee on elections.
This report has peculiar and added sig
nlhcance, from the fact that it was the &C
ton OF the committee, after a careful in
vestlgation, under a resolution adopted in
the Forty-second Congress instructing the
committee to examine and report at the
next session upon the best ana most prac-
tlcable mode of electing President and
Vice-President. The committee had leave
to sit during the Congressional vacation,
and, in the winter of 1874, adopted and
submitted the report.
/ The report was written by Governor
| MORTON himself, though MATT II. CAR
PEWTER, Of Wisconsin; JOHN A. LOGAN, of
Illinois; H. B. ANTHONY, of Rhode Island,
4 aud JOHN HIPPLB MITCHELL, of Oregon,
were among his distinguished colleagues
on the committee. This document favored
all the material points in the Michigan law
and sought to engraft them on all the
states by a constitutional amendment.
The plan would dispense with the cleo
toral colleges and elect the President di-
rectly by the vote of the people. The Te-
port declared that under the present sys-
ten it is entirely possible that the Presi-
Edent may be elected by comparatively
small minority Of the votes of the nation,
He may carry enough states to give him q
majority of the electoral votes by an aggre-
gate majority not exceeding $4,000 votes,
and his opponent may carry the remaining
states by such msiorities as to give him
perhaps half a million majority of the
whole vote of the people
! The present mode Of choosing the Presi-
dent is. though not generally so called, an
election by states. 1t had It's origin in the
idea OF preserving, as nearly as possible,
the equality of the states in the election OF
the President, and this was for
. the protection of The small states
But If the President were elected
by the vote of the people by districts, a
part of the districts in the state might vote
for one person and part for another, 81
that the election would have more of a state
character and be more national
Quoting again from Gov. MoRToN's re
port it may be added that under the pres
ent system the state voting solidly there
is great temptation to fraud. Where The
condition Of parties is nearly balanced in
state, successful fraud may determine
the vote OF the whole state. This puts tn,
:. whole vote of states in the hands of larg
q cities. The material with which to perpe
4 trate frauds predominates especially il
/. large cities such as New York, Philadel
phia, Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, St
|. Louis and New Orleans. Under the dis
!. trict system the frauds in large cite
I would only affect the vote in the district
q in which they occurred and could not Il
= their consequences extend to the vote o
the whole state. But under the presen
s system the successful city fraud may de
D termine the vote of the whole state.
- Thus, instead of the people of Michiga
being condemned and their action haule
up before the courts for their effort to II
= form the evils of the present system-an
doing it, too, in perfectly legitimate mar
ner-they ought TO be highly commended