Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-07-24

il OF course everybody knows that q
presidential elector is under no le-
gal restrictions whatever. He has the
legal right, when elected, 10 cast his
vote for any qualified citizen Of the
United States. He may, If he wishes.
legally vote for some person whom
the country has never even heard OF,
much less thought about, for Pres
ident. &5.st
The arrangement about presidential
electors was the one conspicuous fail
ure in foresight Of the trainers of the
Constitution. Apparently the theory
was that the electors would. sit down
at their several state capitals, con.
slider who were the prominent citizen
fitted to be President. and by some.
sort of plenary inspiration agree on
somebody. Their first choice was 10
be President and their second Vice
President.
Two factors probably contributed to
the blunder. Really popular govern
ment, based on sweeping assert;
ion OF popular sovereignty, was q new
experiment That such government ca
not be operated without strong and
coherent political parties to define
the issues before the voters was not
yet clearly appreciated. And every
body knew that If the new national
government were started by raifica-
ton OF the constitution, George Wash
ingt ON would certainly be the first
President. Washington's unique pos
ition in the public mind disguised the
future difficulties Of the arrange.
ment. sl n
1t really broke down with the re-
tirement of Washington. In the
election OF 1896 the rival tickets were
Adams and Pinckney and jefferson
and Burr. Five Connecticut, three
Maryland, three Massachusetts, and
six New Hampshire electors who vol
Cd for Adams did not vote for
Pinckney. AS a result Adams and
Jefferson>were elected President and
Vice President. Then in 1900 the
6emoratic electors forgot the Second
choice" kink and all voted for both
jefferson and Burr, SO that there
was no choice legally expressed ana
the election went into the House OF
Representatives.
Then the Constitution was amend
ed to ayoia the second choice" kink,
but not so as legally to require the
electors to vote for any particular
person. Political common sense met
| the deficiency by making it a. point
Of political honor for the elector, 70
vote for the candidate Of the party
nominating him. And even in such
contests as that Of 1876, when the
change Of one electoral vote would
have changed the result, American
political honor has stood the test.
Never until now, and under the up
lifting influences Of Mr.. Roosevelt.
has it been seriously suggested that
an elector should vote for any per-
son other than the nominee OF the
party nominating the elector.
The Kansas courts have taken cog
nizance Of the force Of precedent and
custom and Of their duty to protect
the voters from political false pre-
lenses and betrayal Of their trust
They have declared that candidate ia
for presidential elector who seeks t74k
election as Republican while refus
ing to vote il elected for the repulb''
,ican candidate has no right on the
republican ballot, s.s
Doubtless Mr.. Roosevelt wiz de-
aounce the ruling Of the Kansas
courts as another scheme OF the
bosses to 'tsteal the Preslde del {
cy" from him. He should and
doubtless will find in it another ar
gument for recall Of judicial deci-
sions TOR the reform OF appeal
from the umpire to the bleachers:
But to fair-minded men Of all parties
the injunction issued by the Kansas
courts is an upholding Of political
honesty and common decency.-Chica,
20 Record Herald. 55ss