Huntsville gazette., 1892-05-14
A DEMOCRATIC TRICK.
A Characteristic Plan to Secure the Presi
dency.

dency.
The democratic managers are des-
perate over the revelation of the revival
of republican feeling indexed by tho
local elections in many of the northern
states this month. They are beginning
to despair of being able to succeed in
the presidential contest next November
by fair means and are basipg their
hopes on fraud. A Washington dis
patch declares that the leading New
York democrats in congress have in
contemplation plan which, If put in
execution,s will make it unnecessary for
the xitizens Of that state to vote next
fall for president.
The scheme is nothing more nor less
than to have the presidential electors
chosen by the legislature. The constitu-
ton of the United States provides that
the presidential electors shall be chosen
after the manner prescribed by the state
legislature. The almost universal man
ner at present is to choose electors by
vote of the entire state. Michigan dem.
ocrats attempt to do their share of un-
fair work by providing for their election
by congressional districts. The New
York democrats propose to go them one
better and have the present legislature
choose them.
Such plan would insure the election
of democratic electors, and If other
states followed suit the democrats Of
the country would win to dead moral
certainty, SO the New Workers argue.
They have consulted high legal authori.
ties, all of whom have assured them that,
though their plan is calculated to startle
the public. it is undoubtedly constitu'
tional. Moreover, it is not without
precedent, as South Carolina before the
war chose its electors in that way and
the plan was not questioned The plot
ters have made unusual efforts to keep
their plan a secret But it was too big
for one of them to hold. He had to leak
or burst; so, like man who loves life,
he leaked
The plan is constitutional; but that
by no means proves it to be just On
the contrary, the Michigan plan, and
the discussion of this New York idea Of
having presidential electors chosen by
the legislature. sharply call public at
tention to defect in the nations or
ganic law This defect is in not pre-
scribing one method of choosing presi-
Dental electors. We should not object
to the plan of choosing them by dis
tricts, if all the states followed that
method: nor would there be any in
justice in having the state legislator es
choose them, if all were thus chosen.
The injustice and unfairness is in
changing to one or the other of these
methods as a mere partisan trick, to
obtain electoral votes which could not
be depended upon without it.
President Harrison, it will be remem
bered, called attention strongly to this
injustice in his last annual message. 1t
is not too much to say that the greatest
peril that can come to our form of free
government is that to which it is ex-
posed through disputed presidential
election. We were on the brink of
civil war in the spring of 1877 from this
cause, and an election carried by trick
this year would put the nation again in
peril. There should go up protest
from all patriotic citizens against the
adoption of any scheme, whether al
lowed by the constitution or not, which
is unfair to either party; and the defect
in the federal constitution should be
remedied as promptly as it can be done.
Toledo Rlade