Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-04
LA TOILETTE ASKS WHAT
WASHINGTON REJECTED
The Popular Election Of the President
Was Turned Down by the Trainers Of
the Constitution for Reasons as
Sound Now as Then

SOuUu NOW aS lueu
TVlIE members Of Senator La Follcttc's
L progressive bloc may be wiser than the
men who framed the Constitution.
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin,
Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, Gouv.
erncur Morris, James Madison and Charles
Pinckney were among the delegates to the
Constitutional Convention.
Over against these men We have Senator
la Toilette himself, Senators Norris and
France and Capper and Borah, and Repre-.
sentatives Burke and Keller and Casey and
Lampert and McSwain and several others
more obscure.
Senator La Toilette and his friends are
proposing a constitutional amendment pro.
vidlng for the election Of the President by a
popular vote instead cf by the present
method.
George Washington and his associates
considered every possible manner Of electing
Il President, including the election by popu.
system now In use as less Objectionable than
any other.
They did not reject the pinn Of popular
elections because Of their distrust Of the
people. as has many times been said. They
rejected it because It would have given the
large States so much more power than the
small States that It would have weakened
the principle Of federation in the new sys.
tenn they We're setting up.
These men we're much more conscious Of
the States than the politicians soon to be
kxl lol
and independent existence. They we're jeal-
Gus Of one another. They did not wish to
surrender their autonomy without some COM
pensa,ing advantages. They secured one Of
those advantages IN the provision that each
State should bc represented as a matter OF
right by two Senator's. and that its repre-
sentation should not be cut down without
its own consent.
Under this arrangement Nevada, with the
population Of one Of the larger wards OF
Philadelphia. has us many Senators Us
Pennsylvania with a population of 5000. 1000.
And If the Federal system IS to be preserved
unimpaired it Is right that Nevada should
have just as many Senators as Pennsylvania.
Under the electoral system it IS the States
which choose the President. If majority
of the voters OF New York wish q Repub.
lican President. the electoral vote of that
State is cast for q Republican, and the
minority vote !s not added to the minority
vote in another State to add to the Demo.
cratic total And the arrangement that the
electoral vote OF each State shall be equal
70 the combined number Of Senators and
Representatives gives to the small States an
influence In the election which they would
not have under any other system. And their
possession Of this influence is detensihle on
the theory that the United States Is
federation over which the President presides.
There are fourteen States which have
from on. 10 three Representatives. They
have from three 70 FIVE electoral votes, which
gives them an immensely greater influence
than they would have II the President were
chosen by popular vote.
No constitutional amendment such as IS
proposed could be passed unless those States
should be willing to surrender the power
they now have and should decide to aban-
don the Federal Idea and to favor the con-
centration Of a.! power IN Washington.
This proposition to elect the President By
popular vote is in reality an iusidious attack
upon the rights Of the States. There Is an
appeal IN it to all superficial thinkers and
to all demagogues who play on the prejudice
and ignorance Of the people. They charge
that under the present system the inter
es.s" name the President and that the peo.
ole are betrayed, and they insist that Il We
could only nominate the Presidents at a
direct primary and elect them by direct vote
all the evils OF which they complain would
disappear.
They made the same argument when they
were advocating the popular election Of
Senators, but they have not he'd the au {.
dacity TO assert that the character Of the
Senate has been raised by the new plan.
Massachusetts voters have sent Walsh TO
Washington where the Legislature used 70
elect Hoar. and New York voters have sent
| Calder where the old system sent Root
The tendency of the times Is toward mag .
! nifying the central Government and tnyad
| ing the rights Of the States. The Demo
Gratis, who used TO be the most ns.stent on
State rights, have gone as far as the BE
| publ;cans. II Is the duty Of those who
believe in the Federal system, however, tc
continue to fight encroachments upon It even
when they come In such insidiou3 and In.
direct form as in this proposition 10 make
the President the choice Of majority ol
plurality Of the voters Of the Nation insteat
of the choice OF the voters Of the States
that make up the Nation.
From the practical side OF the case ,her
is danger that ought not to be- ignored
Garfield was elected by plurality of onl!
1000 votes over Hancock, although he ha,
q majority Of fifty nine electoral votes. Tn
change of one vote from Garfield 10 Hancocl
| 4, ooch elect;op division IN .ho ,>,ct-