OCR Text |
Show COUNTING THE VOTE, The question of counting the clec-l toral certificates by congress is Btill. worrying the press fraternity and the statesmen and nearly everybody who I is as ever written for the ppera, ! attended a session of a legislative body, or read tho constitution of the United States, is giving a profound opinion upon the subject, until the number of these documents has become be-come quite bewildering, difleriug os they do in essential particulars. Republican authorities generally follow fol-low Senator Morton's opinion, that the presiding officer of the Benate ia the only counting officer, and that to his discretion is committed the function of deciding as to the legality of the certificates placed in his custody. Of course this a purely partisan claim, arising from the fact that that officer will bo the appointed ot the rephbiiean majority ma-jority of the senate. It involves so monstrous au oss-umptiou of authority and consequences so momentuous that we apprehend the theory will find no democratic and few nonpartisan non-partisan supporters, and it may be dismissed as not likely to be seriously entertained by the house of representatives. repre-sentatives. Many forcible arguments have been made in support of the theory (hat the two houses constitute not only the returning board, but are necessarily the judges of the verity of the certificates, certifi-cates, and therefore responsible tc the people that no glaring frauds shall bo Jcousum mated by theii action or their failure to act. The majority of democratic authorities appear to hold "with Hon. Clarkson N. Totter, that it i within the constitutional prerogative of either house to object to the counting count-ing and to reject the voles of any state in regard to which there is satisfactory satisfac-tory evidenco of their fraudulent character. Mr. Potter argues that disputed votes cannot constitutionally be counted without the concurrence of both houses. This conclusion, it is needless for the Herald to say, coincides with the views it has heretofore here-tofore expressed, and seems to be the only tenable view which can be taken consistently with the language of the constitution and the powers conftrrtd upon both houses of congress in joint session. The best newspaper argument that has come under our notice denying the right, or rather the practicability, of the exercise by eitner house of congress of tho power to reject any of the electoral certificates, appeared in a recent number of the New York Sun. That piper, while holding that while the president of the senate ha. to perforin the mere ministerial duty of breaking tiie s-aid of lue certificates, certifi-cates, without any power whatever over the counting and declaration of the vote, which it admits belongs to congress, yet denies the riiiht of enquiry en-quiry by eV:er house into "the !e-gilitv, !e-gilitv, sufficiency or regularity of the appointment of the electors who-' app-jHiUumt is du'.y eititi'-d by th-' state authorities whose duly it is t give to tho two houses of conprc.--legal information of that appoint' ment. " Any attempt at-tempt by the two bouses, or cither ol '.hem, to go behind tho ctrt;tr:at and to determine thj right of electors to give the t.jI-"b which they have certified, when the state has decided de-cided that right by its competon! authorities, will lead to conciuawus in which the people of this country wiil not arqi.ie.-cc." F-irtiivr, the Sjn siji thtt if it be hrmd on the coint in the prcs?n-? of the two hou-es "that Mr. lUys b..s received ISj vuVi, or more, that resuit rcual be accept-.-1 by the pe.--p.e ii the h gal result, wn.il ever may have been the fravidi cxuirnilled in Louisiana or any other jtate in taking tak-ing or returning or counting the popular vote. Mr. Hay. a must I! inaugurated and aeknowl edged ae prei b nt, even if the l- C d result is a tainu.d with fraud that honest men revolt at th v. ry tlrurht of what thy must submit to." We decidedly obj Met to this df-clrine t-olh in theory and practice, irrrxpec-live irrrxpec-live of iu party features. It is abhorrent abhor-rent to every principle of right and justice. Once admitted as thi rule gove.ningtho count of presidential electors, and it would plaoo our high-fat high-fat election! at tho mercy of dHhoncil partisan state oflieiala in every cknt-ly contested canvas. The true American Ameri-can doctrine is that Incrc can be no fraud so cntrchChtd tint it is beyond tho reach of a legal remedy, and if tho two houses of congn as arc obliged to be present nt the count and declaration decla-ration of a vole notoriously fraudu lent, without the power to protes and correct the wrong, our eleelinni might will ns be dispensed witli altogether. |