The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1908-11-05

euOWu IL Tie ldCIer Gay mOQe OF elect.
ing the vice president. In the first
national elections held the man re-
cetving the largest number Of votes in
the electoral college became president,
while the man who got the second lar
gest number of votes became vice pres
ident regardless of party. Thus in the
early days Of our country we had a
president from one party and vice
president from another. That system
was terminated, however, at the open
ing of the last century, and today
there Is but the remotest possibility
that the vice president will be of a
different party than the president
There is one phase Of the electoral
system that has been attracting con-
siderable attention of late That is the
1nequitable degree of representation
had by various states in the electoral
college. Some states have far greater
proportionate representation than 9TH
ers In respect to population. Thus the
citizens Of those states so favored have
a larger voice in the choosing of a
president and vice president than the
voters of less fortunate states For in
stance, seventeen states can be group
ed having total popular vote of prac-
ttcally the same as that Of New York.
yet the electoral votes of these seven
teen states are almost twice those of
New York in number Nevada, with a
popular vote Of $1,000 in 1904, has
three electoral votes, or one to about
every 1900 voters. Indiana, with
popular vote of $4,000 in 1904, has
only fifteen electoral votes, or one to
every 45,4OO voters. New York is an
other unfortunate state in this respect,
having one electoral vote to every
Al, 400 voters.
Adopted after prolonged and i'm
Uttered dispute in the famous consti-
tutional convention Of 1887 in Philadel-
phia, the electoral college system has
since its inception been the center of
various momentous disagreements.
When washington was first elected to
the presidency the legislatures Of New
York and New Hampshire were torn
by dissensions which reached so far
that no electors were chosen, and
Washington consequently did not re-
ceive any votes from either Of these
states. At the second election, how
ever, washington received the unani-
nous vote Of all the electors.
Notable Historical Episode.
At the second election Jefferson and
Burr appeared as candidates, Ken
lucky giving the former four votes and
South Carolina giving the latter one.
At the third election they appeared
again and this time much more promi-
nently, Jefferson receiving 6S votes
and Burr 80. John Adams, with a vote
of II, just one over the requisite ma
jority, carried off the presidency, and
Jefferson became vice president. North
Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia
each gave Adams one vote, giving JET
ferson the rest, and these three scat
tering votes made Adams president.
At the fourth election Jefferson and
Burr appeared again, and the vote in
the electoral colleges was a tie, 70
each, which led to the famous election
by the house, an episode occupying a
prominent place in American history.
In 1925 there was another election
by the house. For president Andrew
Jackson had 80 electoral votes, John
Quincy Adams 81, William H. Craw-
ford Al and Henry Clay 81, and, nei-
Their candidate having a majority, it
devolved upon the house to choose
president from the three highest The
election came off on Feb. 9, 1925, and
on the first ballot Adams was elected
for Adams, ID states; for Jackson, Z:
for Crawford, 4. In this election Clay
threw his vote to Adams, who in turn
made him secretary Of state, and the
resultant cry Of bargain and sale ruin
ed the great Kentuckian's presiden-
tial prospects.
A Celebrated Controversy.
The celebrated Samuel J. Tilden-Ruth-
erford B. Hayes controversy occurred
in 1875. A violent partisan dispute
arose over the electoral votes Of Flori-