Evening star., 1932-10-23

When the Constitutional Convention
of 1857 committed itself TO the task OF
framing a plan for choosing the Ne
tion's Chief Magistrate 1t made some
thing of a record for the number OF
times it changed its mind and also for
the number of plans that were brought
forward and considered. The one thing
that seemed foremost in the minds OF
the ma jority of the members of the con-
vention was the necessity of keeping 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 1t would
be as bad folly to trIst the people to
choose the President as it would be to
let blind man match colors. Madison
declared that he felt that to let Congress
make the choice would be to make the
President creature Of its will and
therefore absolutely lacking in backbone
in his dealing with it. Some one pro-
posed that the choice be left to Con-
gress and the eligibility of a Presid mt
limited to one term. To this Gouverneur
Morris replied that If the road to civil
glory be shut, the President might feel
himself compelled to seek renoWn by
the sword.
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 we're 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
Cipcinnati-bosSed institution This ar
gument seemed to carry conviction with
D II,
it was made. the convention seemed
unwilling to trust anvthing in the hands
Of the people themselves.
One member proposed that the Presi-
dent should be chosen by small body
of men compos of three members from
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 1t. saying it was highly i'm
portant 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
chosen by electors, but he thought the
electors. in turn, should be chosen by
the Governors Of the States. When the
question finally came up whether the
choice should be by electors. North Car
olina. South Carolina, and Georgia all
voted against it.
Objections to Electors.
There was much fear on the part Of
some members of the convention that
electors would not measure up to the
best standards of citizenship One Of
them announced 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 Ques-
ion of who should be the next President,
and that out of the four leading candi-
dates thus disclosed the United States
Senate should make the choice of the
next Chief Executive. Still another
member proposed that Is members OF
the Senate should be chosen by lot and
that thev should Immediately withdraw
and make their selection of a 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 a comparatively
small say in the choice of a President
He stated that speaking for himself
alCne. he would be willing to give up