Evening star., 1928-10-02

| When the constitutional convention
of 1887 committed itself to the task of
framing a plan for choosing the Ma
tion's Chief Magistrate it made some
thing Of record for the number of
times 1t changed its mind. and also for
the number of plans that we're brought
| forward and considered. The one thing
that seemed foremost in the minds of
the majority of the members OF the
! convention was the necessity of keep
| ing the choice out Of the hands OF
| Congress on the one hand and out OF
the hands of the people on the other.
Mason OF Virginia said that it would
be as bad folly to trust the people 10
| choose the President as 1t would be TO
let a blind man match colors. Madison
declared he felt that to let Con-
gress make the choice would he TO
make the President a creature OF its
will, and therefore absolutely lacking
in backbone in his dealings with II.
Some one proposed that the choice be
left to Congress and the eligibility OF
a President limited to one term. To
this Gouverneur Morris replied that II
the road to civil glory be shut the
President might feel himself compelled
to seek renown by the sword.
Cincinnati Society Feared.
The main reason that the choice by
the people was opposed was that the
influence of the Society of the Cincin-
natl was feared. One member asserted
that if the choice were left with the
people the dominating influence of the
members of this organization In every
community would line up the voters as
the shepherd herds his flock, and that
the country would degenerate into a
Cincinnati-bossed institution. This ar
gument seemed to carry conviction with
the majority of the members, for after
il was made the convention seemed
unwilling to trust anything in the
hands of the people themselves.
One member proposed that the Presi-
dent should be chosen by small body
of men composed of three members Of
each large State, two members from
each medium sized State and one men,
Der from each small State. When
members proposed that the choice
should be reposed in Congress. Madison
opposed it, saying 1t was highly impor-
tant to keep the President free from
legislative entanglements. He said that
while he regarded the people as the
fittest source of presidential power. If
proper safeguards could be thrown
around their choice, he saw but little
chance to provide such safeguards, and
that therefore he favored the choice by
electors. Gerry wanted President
chosen by electors, but he thought the
electors in turn should be chosen by
the governors of the States. When
- anf l1a
the choice should be by electors, North
Carolina. South Carolina and Georgia
all voted against it.
Objections to Electors.
There was much fear on the part of
ccme members of the convention that
electors would not measure up to the
best standards of citizenship. One OF
them annoupnced his belief that they
would not be first or even second rate
citizens, and that consequently no one
need expect wise choices to be made in
such circumstances. Elbridge Gerry
proposed that as electors seemed to be
Objectionable. the Legislatures of the
several States should ballot on the
question of who should be the next
President, and that out of the four
leading candidates thus disclosed the
OtdtCS OCIldLS
choice of the next Chief Executive.
still another member proposed that Is
members of the Senate should be chosen
by lot and that they should immedi-
ateiy withdraw and make their selec-
ton Of President.
Madison admitted that the real rea-
son why the, South could not be brought
to the point of favoring popular choice
of President was that the slaves of the
South could not be allowed to vote. and
that. based on the white population,
the South would have comparatively
small say in the choice of President.
He stated that. speaking for himself
alone, he would be willing to give up
whatever advantage the South would
have to forego IL that could make pos
sible the election of the President by
the people directly.
State Choices Urged.
Dickinson of Delaware proposed that
each State should select its best man
and put him forward as its candidate
for the presidency, and that then the
choice from this list should be made
by some other body. either by Con-
gress or by electors appointed by Gen.
gress Think what a happy time we
would have electing President today
If the Dickinson plan had gone
through! We would have had 4S States
each choosing a presidential candidate
and then Congress meeting and ballot
ing to determine which should be
elected.
When the convention got down to a
| consideration of the question 1t would
adopt one plan. A little later some
one would suggest a new objection to
that plan and move reconsideration
This motion would prevail, and then
another plan would be adopted. Again
objections would be forthcoming, and
again the question reopened. On June
2, by vote of to States, 1t was
decided that Congress should exercise
the power of choice. That action was
reaffirmed on July II, but two days