The Washington weekly post., 1900-11-20
stm Advocating the Impossible.

It has come TO be the regular order af
ter every Presidential election for som,
OF the "moiders OF public opinion" 20 de.
mand that Presidents be elected by direct
vote Of the people instead Of through tn,
process prescribed In the Constitution, Il
Wit.
Each State shall appoint. IN such man.
neT as the legislature thereof may direct
number OF electors equal TO the whole
number OF Senators and Representative
to which the State may be entitled In the
Congress-"
II is the Philadelphia Times that leads
or with the call for reform this time, and
II the facilities for amending the funda-
mental law of the republic were COM
mensurate with the zeal and logic with
which the Times enforces its view, there
might be some remote possibility OF its
success. PREDATORY to its arguments, the
Times harks back to the eighteenth CEN
tury long enough 10 groan over the "oId
time Federalism that distrusted the peo-
PIE and battled at every step TO impair
their sovereign authority" Even George
Washington comes in for slap from our
contemporary unsparing hand. 'grhe
one defect IN his otherwise sublimely har-
monious character" the Times asserts, IS
That he was stubborn Federalist, dis
trusted the people and exercised a power
1ul influence in the restraints about the
popular power in framing the Constltu-
ton"
our contemporary urges that the estate
sovereignty" theory ''has been obliterated
by the arbitrament of the sword. and
there is nothing now to prevent US from
looking squarely I'm the face the startling
inequality Of the people of the Several
States in choosing a President"
That is not quite correct The claimed
Tight OF State TO go out of the Union
was disposed of at Appomattox. But
each State is still sovereign in the exer-
else Of "the powers not delegated TO the
United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States" Those
: powers which are reserved to the
States, respectively, or to the people" are
many and great And within its own
jurisdiction each of the forty-fve States
Is as much sovereign as is the govern
ment Of the United States in the exercise
Of the limited powers delegated 10 Il.
The Times, in giving its reasons why
The people should elect the President in
cidentaliy shows why its proposed amend
ment cannot be carried. It says there are
six States in the Union, each of which
has but one Representative in Congress:
mat their combined population does not
much if any, exceed 1,O00,OO or about
one-siXth the population of PENNSYLVANIA:
that those six States cast eighteen cleo
toral votes, and if Pennsylvania had a
relative number of votes in the electoral
college, her electoral vote would be los, or
more than treble the vote PENNSYLVANIA
now has in the electoral college.
Not only those six States, but many
others, much more than a majority OF all
the States, would lose, while few of the
States would be large gamers in their in
fiuence In the choice Of Presidents If the
popular vote of all the States was pooled
and the majority or plurality of the
whole elected the candidate for whom II
was cast. Since the opposition of one
more than a fourth of ali the States
would be fatal to any proposed amend
ment' how cosld the Times hope TO win?
Indeed. how coIsld II hope to get a two
thirds vote in both Houses Of Congress for
the submission of such proposition? On
that matter the trainers of the Constitu-
ton locked the door and threw away the
hey. That concession TO the smaller
States will stand as long as the Union en-
dures. And We think almost if not quite
every other provision of the Constitution
viii have equal longevity.