Year: 1873

1
| Votes,


Dir. Morton called up his resolution in


structing the Committee on Elections to


inquire into the defects of the present


electoral system and the best means for


remedying them.


Mr.. Morton reviewed the constitutional


position of the States in the matter of


choosing electors for President and Vice


President as matter entirely beyond the
jurisdiction OF the National Government


and entirely without remedy or redress on


its part, whatever disorder, Irregularities


or failures may occur in the appointment


OfelCctors in any State No provision is


anywhere made for contesting the election


of electors and whatever returns shall be


made up, although produced in the whole


or in part by fraud or violence, must stand,
and the vote be counted upon them, if re-


turned in time There is imminent dam
ger OF revolution to the nation whenever
the result of the Presidential election is
to be determined by the vote of State in
which the choice of electors has been If


regular, or is alleged to have been carried
by fraud or violence. There ought to be
such machinery of government provided
that it would be impossible that any man
should ever reach the Presidential chair
who was not legitimately chosen thereto.
He recapitulated the transactions with ref
erence to the electoral vote in Wisconsin
1887, when the electors OF that State hav-
ing been prevented by snow storm from
assembling on the day provided by law,
had nevertheless sent up the vote of the
State to be counted, and though objection
was made on constitutional ground, Ma
son, President. of the Senate, decided that
the two Houses had no jurisdiction over
the counting of the vote, but were met
together simply as Witnesses of the accu-
racy of the count and of its result, The
vote of Wisconsin was counted and the
decision of Mason was not afterward call
ed in question. Clearly the trainers of
the constitution did not contemplate that
the President of the Senate in opening
and counting the vote tor President and
| Vice President should exercise discretion
ary orjudical powers in determining be
tween the votes of two sets of electors or


upon the suf1iciency or validity of the rec


ord of votes of electors in any State, but
that he should perform merly minister
al act of which the two Houses were to be
witnesses, and to make record. But the
exercise OF these high powers may devolve
upon him et-RecesSitdte rel, and " hltever
decision he may make between two sets of
electors or upon the sufficieney and val
idity of the records of votes, whether on
evidence Of the right of electors to cast
votes, or whether they have been cast in
the manner prescribed by the constitu-
ton, his decision is final


There are said to be two sets of cleo
toral votes at this time in the hands of
the Vice President from the State of Ar
kansas and two from the State of Louisi-
ana, and whichever of these sets he de-
cldes is the proper electoral vote, and
brings forward, opens and causes to be
counted, must be so received, and from
his action there is no appeal. The action
o. the two Houses in 1921, in regard to
counting the vote of Missouri, is no ex-
ception to this view of the power of the
President Of the Senate for the question
Ill that case was not as to any irregularity
III regard 30 the electoral vo,e of Missouri.
but whether Missouri was at that time a
State in the Union and entitled To partic-
pate in the Presidential election at all,
which is also question in the election of
1917 in regard to Indiana and in 1863 i'll
regard to Georgia. The President of the
Senate may indeed be impeached for high
crimes and mIsdemeanors should he
grossly violate his duty and thus fraud
uleutly count or reject electoral votes, but
that would not amend the record which
had been made under the wrong or help
the Presidential candidate who may have
been cheated out Of the office, nor protect
the nation from disorderand civil war.


If it should happen upon recurrence of
any one of the cases considered that
the decision of the President
of the Senate should determine the
result and give the Presidency to a candi-
date who would otherwise have been de-
feated, or throw the election into the
House Representatives, where the can
didate who had been rejected by the peo-
pie should be elected by vote of States all
can understand the imminent peril in
which the nation would be placed.


By the the twenty second JOINT rule of
the two Houses, adopted in 1865 in the
speakers judgement the most dangerous
contrivance to the peace of the nation ev-
er invented by Congress, it is provided
that whenever an electoral vote is object
ed to the Senate shall retire to its cham
Der and each House shall separately con-
slider the objection, and the vote shall not


be counted unless the two Houses concur
to that effect. If the two Houses disagree
the vote of the State is lost. This may
result in tie or in the election of candi-
date who would otherwise have been de-
feated, or in preventing either of the can
didates from having majority of all the
votes, and thus throwing the election into
the House of Representatives Each
house is to decide the question without
fdebate in a summary manner, without in
vestigation and without adjournment.
Here is powerful temptation for the
House of Representatives by non-eoncur-
renee to throw the election into its own
body, and thus perhaps secure the cleo
ton of candidate who may have been
Overwhelmingly beaten at the polls. The
two houses may be under the control of
different parties, as in 1856, led by politi-
clans ambitious, exasperated and thirsting
for power, who are thus enabled by mere
non-concurrence to defeat an election by
the people End seize the administration of
the Government into the hands of their
party He did not believe the Constitu-
ton conferred power upon Congress to
make the right of the people of State to
participate in Presidential election de-
nend uoon the contingency of the agree