The National tribune., 1909-01-07
ANSWERS TO
CORRESPONDENTS.

r. ]. P, r. F. D. No. 1, Garfield.
Ark, asks: Can you tell me Of some
one who can translate Sanscrit and
Latin into plain English? I have a
book and papers of my family, dating
from 1920 to 1896, mostly written In
Sanscrit, with some Latin.
If you will write to DIR. I. M. Casa
novice, Assistant Curator of Historic
Archaeology, U. s. National Museum.
Washington, D. c., he can make the
translations you desire or can advise
you of some other linguist competent
to accomplish 1t.
F. II. r., Waukon, ILL.,, writes: How
can I get the genealogy Of my family ?
My grandfather, John Robbins, was
born in Massachusetts,, married Sarah
Pierce, an aunt of President Pierce,
moved to Vermont. and was Captain
in the War with Great Britain. He died
in Dansville, N. Y, in 1853. His broth
ers were Moses and Enoch.
Joel MunselPs Sons, of Albany, N Y,
show that in 1881 there was published
a chart of the Robbins family in Amer
lea, which they sold for $3.50. You
can probably purchase a copy Of this
of some bookseller who makes a spe-
cialty of dealing in genealogies, such as
Robert c. Clarke & Co., of Cincinnati,
or A. s. Clark. of Peekskill, N. Y.
]. M. G., York. Pa, writes: I have
heard the statement that the electors
voting for President prior to 1924 were
not voted for by the people, but were
appointed by the Legislatures of the
States. Please state the facts in the
case.
Properly speaking, there is no popu-
lar vote for President and Vice Presi-
fa aIo
tors, who meet in their several States
and vote for candidates to fill those
offices. In the convention of 1887 there
was diversity Of opinion regarding the
mode of electing the President. The
majority during the greater part of the
time favored his election by Congress.
Other plans were for an election by the
Governors, by general popular vote,
by secondary electors chosen by cleo
tors, the latter to be chosen by popu-
lar vote. The system finally adopted is
given in the Constitution of the United
States, Article 2, Section 1, according to
which Each State shall appoint, in such
manner as the Legislature thereof may
direct, a number Of electors" who were
to vote for two persons, and when the
vote was canvassed the one receiving
the most votes was elected President
and the one with the next largest vote
became Vice President, thus giving the
two offices to the leaders of the two
parties in some cases. By the Twelfth
Amendment, ratified by the States in
1904, they shall name in their ballots
the person voted for as President, and
in distinct ballots the person voted for
as Vice President" Electors have been
chosen in four different ways, by joint
ballot Of the State Legislatures, by a
concurrent vote Of the two branches of
the Legislature, by a district vote and
by a general vote. BY 1872 the general
ticket method was adopted in every
State. At first in most Of the States the
electors were appointed by the Legisla-
lures. Thus, in 1896, at the election of
John Adams, 10 of the 16 States then in
the Union appointed their electors by
the Legislature. which practice was fol-
lowed by South Carolina until 1868, and
in 1876 Colorado's electors were so
chosen. The record of any popular
vote for electors prior to 1924 is so
meager and imperfect that no compila-
ton would be of value or of use. Not
until after 1887 was an official record
or compilation of the popular vote rem
dered possible by Federal statute. In