St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-08
VIEWS OF THE REVIEWS.

anu Ht Sh-ScIdlOT
follows in the lugubrious vein of reflec-
ton opened by President Harrison in
his message, and glOOmily fOreseeS in
this innovation on the custom of later
years sign of degeneracy which fore
BODIES the overthrow OF the republic.
AS one reads his solemn warnings
against practices growing more common
year by year, whereby injustice and
unrepublican advantages are sought
and gained by one party or section or
faction over another. acqulesced in and
winked at even by reputable members
OF the parry profiting thereby" one
cannot avoid rejecting that these
high sentiments come from man
who sat OH and participated In the ''in-
justice and unrepublican advantages"
gained to his party by the electoral
commission. However much this may
discount his motive,i does not affect his
argument; and this he makes with all
the skill of the great lawyer he is. First
he descants on the admitted evil OF the
gerrymander to show how the pres-
dental elections might be unfairly af-
fected by that process. Here again he
permits his partisanship to weaken the
effect OF his argument by selecting as
Illustrative The districting OF Alabama.
which, for some purpose not perceptible
from the national point of view, shows
| the gerrymander in a form which would
make an Ohio Republican turn green
with envy, and Omits reference to equal
| ly bad or worse gerrymanderso states
dominated by his own party. Turning
| then to the constitutional requirements
| for the selection Of electors, he insists
| that the determinative words of the
| provision are that "the state shall APP
| point" The "manner" relates solely
| to the mode, the method by which the
state will act. This act must be that of
"a single political persOn-the single
expression of single will, incapable of
parts or diviSions-speaking once for
all in the production of its electoral
body" This was the design and pur-
| pose of those ''giant architects and
artists in government" who created the
constitution. As further proof of this
he cites the provision for the election of
! the president by the house of
representatives, when no choice is
reached by the electoral col
leges. requiring the vote to be by
states, and giving but one vote to each
state. The opposite conclusion would
seem to be more easily sustained by
| this reference. Were it the design of
the trainers that only the state should
decide III such a case, the unity of peace
would have been better kept by giving
the election to the senate, which body
Is supposed to represent the states.
rather than on the house, which repre-
SentS the people.
For what he regards as a great evil he
offers two remedies-min0rity repre-
Sentation, ''Once proposed and ably adj
vocated in the senate by Mr.. Buckelew,
of Pennsylvania. then and now de-
Servedly honOred citizen and Demo-
| nrat ~ and tho OthQr tho rpfnrmatiO N nf
our immigration and naturalization
laws. He would restrict citizenship
among persons of foreign birth to
those who 'by long process of
assimilation have become imbued with
the sentiment, as we'll as the fact, that
they are OF this country and are for its
institutions" 1t is somewhat signifi-
cant that this retired senator, who has
been SO long an acknowledged leader of
| his party, should commend as remedies
| to be now adopted one measure pro-
posed to the senate by a Democrat and
| rejected by Mr.. Edmunds' fellow-parti-
sans, and the other one which involves
the repeal of law. the passage of
which has been the favorite boast of his
/ party, and return to the old Demo-
cratic policy of long probation before
the foreigner can attain citizenship.
Ex-Minster Phelps makes short work
of the fabric of Mr.. Edmunds' argu-
ment. He shows that the plan of ehoos-
ing the electors devised by those "giant
architects and artists OF government"
I did not survive three trials. Instead of
the colleges being composed of eminent
citizens who meet and deliberate upon
the merits of the candidates for presi-
| dent and select the one best fitted, using
their own Judgment and regardless of
what may be the wish of the people Of
the state, as the trainers intended, they
have become mere re siSterS OF the will
of the majority Of the electorate, itself
restricted to the candidates named by
the mass conventions of the people of
the political parties. No electOr would
dare to vote tor any presidential candi-
date other than the one named by his
| party convention, anu Mr.. Phelps eX-
presses doubt if the electors would do
so if the candidate should die after the
election and before the colleges con-
vened; they would await instructions
| from another convention.
Mr.. Phelps points out that one result
of the election at large OF the electors is
| to give the large states and ''often a
| single large state, an almost absolute
right of dictation in the nominating con-
ventionS Of the respective parties. 1t
not only decides which OF two nominees
shall be elected, but determines before
| hand who they shall be-" Practically,
| this makes the choice OF president de-
| pend OH the will of small minority in
| single state. Another result is the
| practicable ineligibility for that office OF
| any man who has the misfortune to be
resident of small state.
The question is one TO be considered
from a national and patriotic, and not
| from partisan standpoint. This is the
| easier because it is impossible to fore
| cast its partisan effects; and, any
| way, the gains of party in one state
| would be Offset by its losses in other
states. The important question is,
which method will give the fairest ex
| preston to the will of the people? The
| majority should control. But he would
not so far destroy the rights of states as
| to have the president chosen by ma
| jority of the aggregate vote of all the
| people Of the states. lit must be then
| by majority i'll such political SubdiYis-
ions as it is found expedient to create"
| The constitution answers the question
| in requiring that leach state shall ap-
| point i'll such manner as the legislature
| thereof may direct number of electors
equal to the whole number of senators
| and representatives to which the state
may be entitled in the congress-
'tAn exact analogy between. the
|
is thus expressly established. Two
kinds of electors are virtually provided
| for; electors at large and electors for
| the districts" The former represent
| the state, the latter the people in their
! districts. ITO the districts properly be-
| long the district electors, aud they
i should be chosen accordingly" He
| finds further support for this view in
| the provision for all election by the
Iihouse of representatives. ''lf state.
for instance, has seventeen members,
nine of one party and eight of another.
| its one vote may be cast by the nine,
Though the state may have voted by
large majority for the opposing candi-
date. He considers the question as an
Iaopen one and evidently thinks that the
/ Michigan plan gives the fairest expires
1 sion to the will of the people. P. j. S.
| Periodicals Received.