Year: 1877

)n. PRESIDENT oil the Onlted states


'ulwEAK POINTS IY THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS
ih' While the election failed to decid,


who was elected il clearly pointed ou
~. weak places in our laws and in our Con


stitution. 1t discovered defects tha
=. must be remedied 1t suggested amend


ments that must be made if our form o


government is to be preserved Ap
rs plause. Our government is supposed tC
ne be based upon, and to rest upon, the lie
gally expressed will of the people. Ap
plause | have said it a great many


times-it will do no harm to say ii again
n. that this government is the only gov
overnment that pretends to derive all its
III powers from the people. and from no
" other source whatsoever. Applause
Before the foundation of this govern
iii ment every particle of authority was de-
! rived, or pretended to be derived, from
u on high. The kings were anointed with


holy oil and this divine petroleum trick


led from head to head until the last drop
IS resting upon the skull of the parish bea-
die constituted the only right they had


to rob mankind. In theory our govern


ment Is perfect In practice | admit


that it is imperfect There is but one
! way, so far as | know (outsire, of course,


OF the newspapers) to ascertain the will


OF the people, ID that is by ballot. But


the laws have beeh so imperfect and


fraud so easy of &C, omplishment that the


real will of the people has remained as


mysterious as most of the DEGREES Of


fate. Great cities were the mothers oil


election frauds, and New York has had


as many children of that character as


any other city in this world. Laugh


ter. They inaugurated violence and in


timidation. They produced the repeat


ers and the false boxes. They invented


fan-tailed tickets and pastors, and grad


ally these delightful and patriotic


hearts, arts, ana practices have spread
| almost over the entire country. Unless


so -Iething is done to preserve the purity
OF the ballot box our form of government


must cease. The fountain of power is
poisoned; the sovereignty of the people
Is stolen and destroyed; government be-
comes organized fraud; all respect will
soon be lost for laws and the decisions of
the courts legislators are elected in
any instances by fraud. Eve de-
pa tment of the government becomes
tainted and corrupted 1t is no longer a
republic unless some way can be devised
10 ascertain with certainty the real hon
est will of the sovereign people.


For the accomplishment of this object |
NnG EOOu anu DdNllOllC Iltil Ol All parties /
should most heartily unite To cast an |
illegal vote should be considered by all |
as a crirhe. Applause. Various States /
have passed laws for the registration OF /
voters, but they all leave wide open the /
doors Of fraud. Men are allowed to vote |
if they have been a year, say. in the
State, and thirty or sixty days in the
ward or precinct, and when they have
failed to have their names registered be-
fore the day of election, they can avoid
the effect of this neglect by making a
few afiidavits, certified to by reputable
householders. Laughter. OF course
all the necessary affidavits are made,
with hundreds and thousands to spare.


My idea is that the period of registra.
tion in the first place is too short. In
the second place, no way should be given
by which they can "ote unless they have
bC en- properly registered, affidavit or no
affidavit. Applause. Every man.
when he comes into a ward or precinct,
should be registered 1t should be his
duty to see to it that he is registered
Offices should be kept for that purpose
and never be allowed to pass a vote until
the voter has been registered at least
one year. Applause Sixty days or
thirty days-sixty days would be better
before the election the registry list
SHOULD be corrected. Every citizen
should hfve the right to enter com
plant or objection against any man
lound upon that list. Thirty days or
twenty days before the election that list
should be published-[applausel land
should be exposed in several public
places in each ward and in each pre-.
cinct, and upon the day Of election no
man should be allowed to vote whose
Al I
plause Our wards and precincts should
be made small, so that the people can
vote without loss-so that they can vote
without wasting the entire day-so that
the honest business man who wishes to
cast his ballot for the Governor of his
choice can walk to the ballot box like
gentleman, deposit his vote and 90 about
his affairs. Applause. And allow me
TO say that unless some such plan is
adopted in the United States, there will
not be another fair election in this coun-
try. During the late campaign all the
arts and articles Of the city-all the arts
nd articles of the lowest ward were
spread as it were, over the entire coun-
try, and unless something is done to pre-
serve the purity of the ballot box, and
guard, as it were, the sovereign will of
the people we shall cease to have a re-
I
plause Another thing-and / cannot
say it too often-fraud at the ballot box
undermines all respect in the minds OF
the people for the ballot. When they
are satisfied that the election is a fraud,
they despise the officers elected; when
they are satisfied il is a fraud, they des-
pise the laws made by the legislators
Tapplausel; when they are satisfied it is
a fraud, they hold in utter contempt the
decisions OF our highest and most august
tribunals CApplause.


COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTE


Let me also discuss another defect in
our form, as it were, of government, or
rather in the form of our Constitution,
and that is in the matter of counting the
Electoral vote. [Applause l believe
it is of the greatest Importance that the
Executive should be entirely indepen-
dent of the legislative and judicial de
partments of this country. / do not be-
lieve that Congress should have the right
to create a vacancy which it can fill. \
do not believe that the Senate of the
United States, or the lower House OF
Congress, by a simple objection, should /
have the right TO deprive any State of its /
Electoral vote. Our Constitution now
provides that the Electors chosen in each /
State shall meet in their respective /
States upon a certain day and there cast /
their votes for Pre-ident and Vice Presi- |
dent of the United States. They shall /
properly certify to the votes which are /
cast, and shall transmit 1t, together with /
the proper certificates, if they can get !
them, to the Vice President of the |
United States. And it is then declared |
that upon a certain day, in the presence
of both houses Of Congress, the Vice
President shall open the certificates, and
/ the votes shall then be counted IL does
not exactly say who shall count those
/ votes IL does not in 80 many words saw