The herald., 1896-11-29

prolonged wrangle over the choice of
electors, each branch of the legisla-
ture seeking to gain the advantage. and
it was not until a few days before the
date when the loteS had to be counted
in all of the states that the two houses
agreed to the selection of eight candi-
dates for electors by each and a joint
vote for fifteen of the sixteen
thus nominated Although it was
believed that Jefferson would be chos-
Ell, it was really not certain until the
votes We're counted in the presence of
the two houses on the first Wednesday
of February that the chiefs of the new
administration would be Jefferson and
Burr.
BREVITY WAS CONSULTED.
In those days the reports Immediately
followed the inauguration OF the presi-
dents were admirably brief. The first
issue of the Intelligencer following the
inauguration of Jefferson has the fol-
lowing:
This day, at IL o'clock, Thomas. jeff
erson, president of the United States,
took the oath Of office required by the
constitution, in the senate chamber, in
the presence of the senate, the house of
representatives, the public officers, and
large concourse of citizens, previous to
which he delivered the following ad-
dress" the address which follows this
Introduction. having been Set up dur
ing several days previous to the inaugu
ration. 1t was also announced in this
issue that Aaron Burr, vice president
of the United States, this morning took
his seat in the senate as president of
that body" and, Furthermore, referring
to the previous day, that 1.-The two houses
of congress held two sessions, the last
of which was not terminated until a late
hour last night
That was ALL and possibly some may
sigh for the good old times when it was
so deliciously easy to keep thoroughly
Informed of all the proceedings of pub
lie men and bodies.
From the year 1900, as has been said,
up to the time of the general introduce
ton of the telegraph, Washington was
the center at which the news of the pro-
gress of campaigns and the results OF
national elections was received, and
weeks of anxious suspense followed the
dates of the close of such contests, for
in the earlier days of the republic sinis-
ter influences were constantly at work
to vitiate the victory over Great Britain
that had been so hardly won, and no one
could tell when a fatal blow might be
struck at the young Democracy.
The first teegraphic reports of pres
idential election were received in 1S4S,
when the Wings, Taylor and Fillmore,
were opposed to the Democrats. Cass
and Butler. In 1S45 the law had been
passed fixing the Tuesday next follow
ing the first Monday of November as the
day for the presidential elections, and
for the first time in the history of the
country all the states voted simultan-
eously and III the same manner.
SATISFIED WITH SLOW METHODS
The election was held on November
7, and it was considered a wonderful
feat of journalism when the lntelli-
gencer, then a daily issue, and very
good paper for its time, was able to an
nounce that the election returns which
We publish this morning proclaim tnat
Zachary TAYLOR has been elected presi-
dent of the United States"
This, however, was no indication that
all of the states had been heard from,
but merely that the returns were so far
received as to indicate that Taylor was