Year: 1876

The present grave situation Of Nation
n tpolisics is such that thinking men ofall
parties cannot help seeing the imperfec-
tioHs of :he system by which the results
of Presidential election are determined
ii is undeniable that the present plan OF
choosing Electors is subject to serious OBJ
jections, inasmuch as it may not follow
that the choice of the Electoral Colleges
is necessarily the choice of the people,
On more than one occasion the popular
vote has been largely against the success
ful candidate-nor does it follow that a
different result would be obtained if the
candidates were voted for directly, in
stead of through the medium of Electors.
We have had minority governors in ma
ny of the States, and numerous instances
can be found in which Congressman and
other subordinate officers are elected by
a bare plurality. But Of one thing we
may be certain-that we would come
nearer getting the choice of the people
where they have the opportunity to speak
directly, than we can through the inter-
vention of third parties. For instance,
the States Of Michigan and Iowa are
entitled TO about an equal number of
electoral votes. Yet one may choose
its college by bare majority the
other by n majority of many thous-
and. This was illustrated in the last
election, by the difference in the votes of
Kansas and New Hampshire, each OF
which States is entitled to five Electors.
New Hampshire elected the Hayes ticket
by a majority of four or five thousand
Kansas by nearly thirty thousand, but
the preponderance Of the popular vote for
the candidate Of its choice avaied moth
ing to the people Of Kansas, for her pow
er IN the college was no greater than if
the college had been elected by only "a
majority of as many hundred. But in
State so overwhelmingly Republican
AS Kansas or Iowa, or 50 strongly Dem
ocratic as Kentucky or Texas, it is by
no means probable that anything like
full vote of its people can be called out.
80 far as either one of the States we have
named are concerned, and there are sew
eral Others in the same situation MS re-
CARDS the numerical strength Of parties,
the result in them is accepted in each one
as n foregone conclusion, and the necessity
for n general attendance ut the election
whicha close contest would make manifest
cannot be said to exist. While the cleo
ton of a President by the popular vote
would undoubtedly be subject to many
abuses, of one thing we may feel certain,
that the temptations to fraudulent colo
nlzatiOn of voters which now exist, could
not be practiced with the same effect as
now. If each vote counted one and one
only, and counted the same in one place
as in another, there would be no great in
ducement to the chivalry of the Border
States, to display their generous feelings
toward their less fortunate neigh bors, by
sending n few thousand of their immense
majorities over to the States sof Ohio,
i""'"h"t anu iiIiIoiS, W carry tHOst
States in the interests Of "reform. !"
But where State is overwhelmingly
partisan, on one side it can easily spare
few thousand to help out their party
friends elsewhere.


Without doubt the Presidential vote,
large as it was, would have been much
larger if it had been direct. The Sep
tember elections in Maine and Vermont
showed the Democrats the utter hope
Iessness Of their party carrying those
States, hence there was no practical rea-
son why the Maine and Vermont Dem
ocracy sLould leave their avocatons for
the sake Of depositing useless ballot.
And the same may be said Of the Re-
publicans Of Kentucky and Georgia.
On the other hand the nominant party,
feeling sure of success, loses many votes
which would be called out under differ
ent circumstances. This feeling pre-
vailed in California to such an extent
in 1868 that it came near losing the
State to the Republicans, while the
fact that the general result was looked
upon as a foregone conclusion, kept
both parties from turning out in their
strength and the same may be said
of the election of 1872.


Again, if the popular vote be the
method of electing the President, 1t will
do away with the opportunities of fraud
which offer under the present system
and of which we have had practical
Illustration in the case of the Oregon
Elector, whore the Executive of II State
deliberately violated the law he wa.
sworn to maintain that his party might
reap an advantage. Where one or two
Electoral votes turn the scale the temp
tations to dishonest practices may be.
come too great to be resisted, and as il
has passed into saying that "every
man has his price," it might be found
that in the one hundred and eighty five
men elected to represent a certain prin.
ciple one or more could be found ven.
al enough to barter their trust. That
such attempts have been made this yeal
is one OF the current rumors, whether
true or false we are not prepared to say
But that inducements, such as some mer
may not be prepared to resist can be hec
out, is an irrefutable proposition. Wheth
er, however, the present muddle abou
the election, be solved peacefully or no
it will be certainly the part of wisdom t
guard against any such possible contin


gencies in the future.


"GIYE ME LIBERTY & ETC. ."-Tht