The Congressional Globe, Volume 14: Twenty-Eighth Congress, Second Session Page: 14
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14
CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
Committee of the Whole to decide what business it
would first take up.
Mr. C, J. INGERSOLL referred to the special
committee appointed at the last session on the claim
of the executors of J. Reeside, and observed that he
had been requested to call the attention of the chair
to it. The duties performed by that committee had
been tery laborious and they had nearly concluded
their labors when the session closed. He wished to
know if that committee was tb hold over, or whether
another would be appointed.
The SPEAKER said the question before the
House was on the motion of the gentleman from
Virg inia, to go into Committee of the Whole.
The question was then put on Mr. Dromgoole's
motion, and it was carried without a division.
So the House resolved itself into a Committee of
the Whole, Mr. C. Johnson in the chair; when
Mr. DUNCAN moved that the committee take
up the bill to establish a uniform time of holding
elections for electors of President and Vice Presi-
dent.
Mr. DROMGOOLE hoped the committee would
first take up the President's message, both as "a mat-
ter of importance and for the sake of a more speedy-
despatch of business. He thought the message
could be disposed of to-day; and, that being out of
the way, the bill of the gentleman from Ohio could
be taken up and perfected in its details.
Mr. DUNCAN observed that this bill was the
first subject referred to the Committee of the-Whole,
and therefore he thought it had precedence over all
other businees.
Mr. HAMMETT hoped his friend from Ohio
would not press his motion. He though it im-
portant to take up and refer the President's mes-
sage, which could be done today; and to-morrow
he would be ready to go on with the bill.
Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL asked if the hill had yet
been referred to one of the standing committees.
He had never seen it before this moment.
Mr. DUNCAN replied that there was no necessi-
ty for a reference to a standing committee. The de-
tails of the bill were very simple, and the object of
going into Committee of the Whole was to give
them an examination, which could be done as well
there as by a standing committee.
The question was then taken on Mr. Duncan's
motion,, and decided in the affirmative—ayes 82,
noes 45.
So the bill was taken up by the committee, and
read as follows:
A bill to,establish a uniform time for holding elections for
electors of President and Vice President in all the States of
,the Union.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congrtss assembled, That
from and after the passage of this act, all regular stated elec-
tions for the choice of electors of President and Vice Presi-
dent of the United States shall be held on the same day, and
on one single day, in all the States of the Union.
Sec. 2. Jini be it further enacted, That the next regular
stated election for the choice of electors of President and
Vice President of the United States shall be held in each
State on the first Tuesday in the month of November, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-
eight; and on the first Tuesday in the month of November
in fcvcry fourth year thereafter, a regular stated election
shall be held in each State for the choice of electors of Pres-
ident and Vice President for the then next regular presiden-
tial election under the constitution of the United States.
And in case any special election for the choice of a Presi-
dent and Vice President by the people shall, according to
the provisions of the constitution, intervene between"the
regular stated periods for the election of those officers,
every such special election shall be held in each State on
the hrst Tuesday in the month of November of the year in
which such special election of Piesident and Vice President
is to be made.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the places and
manner of holding the elections mentioned m the two pre-
ceding sections of this act, in the several States of the
Union, together with the notifications that the same are to
be held, and the returns of the votes taken at the same,
shall be specified, regulated, and governed by the laws of
the respective States in force at the time of the holding of
each such election; and all laws and parts of laws hereto-
fore passed by Congress, inconsistent with the provisions of
this act, shall be, and the same are hereby, repealed.
Mr. ELMER moved to amend the bill by striking
out the first section and inserting the following:
Be it enacted, fyc., That hereafter, the time of choosing elec-
tors of President and Vice President shall be the Tuesday
next after the first Monday of Xovember, in any > ear when
such electors are chosen in pursuance of the constitution
and laws. Provided, That nothing herein contained shall
prevent the legislatures of the several States for directing
the appointment of electors on any subsequent day in tile
same year, to take the place of any electors who may be
prevented by sickness 01 any other cause from fulfilling the
duties of their appointment.
' Mr. E. observed that he designed this amendment
to be a substitute for the whole bill; and he believed
that it would effect the object which the gentleman
from Ohio had in view. He begged leave to
suggest to the gentleman from Ohio that the bill, as
drawn, was inconsistent with the constitution of the
United States. It would be perceived that the sec-
ond sestion, which was, in fact, the most important
section of the bill, was merely the announcement of
a general principle (in which he fully concurred)
that the elections for electors in all the States shall
be held on one day. That section provided—
"That the next regular stated election for the choice of
electors of President and Vice President of the United States,
shall be held in cash State on the first Tuesday in the month
of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and forty-eight; and on the first Tuesday m the
month of November in every fourth year thereafter, a regu-
lar stated election shall be held in each State for the choice
of electors' of President and Vice President for the then next
regular presidential election under the constitution of the
United States."
This clause (Mr. E. continued) provided that
there shall be an election in 1848, 1852, 1856, and
so en, for every four years; and then provides
that in case
"Any special election for the choice of a President and
Vice President by the people shall, according to the pro-
visions of the constitution, intervene between the regular
stated periods for the election of those officers, every such
special election shall be held in each State on the first
Tuesday in tke month of November of the year in which
such special election'of President and Vice President i.-, to
be made."
This section was founded on the ide.a that if there
should be a special election, it would be only to fill a
vacancy; but this was a mistake, as the constitution
provides that the President of the United States shall
hold his office for four years. We cannot, said Mr.
E., elect a President for less than four years; and if
there should be a special election in pursuance of
the law of 1793, it would alter the regular periods
provided for in the bill. Again, by the first section,
article 2d, of the constitution, it is provided that each
State shall proceed in the manner her legislature
shall provide to choose the number of electors to
which she is entitled. Now this choice may be
otherwise than by popular elections. It was known
that in the earlier history of our government, most
of the States appointed their electors by the action
of their legislatures. Indeed it was contended by
one of the political parties, that the States could not
lawfully choose their electors by the votes of the peo-
ple; and he remembered that such was the ground taken
in the legislature of New York by the federal party.
The mode of popular elections, however, which was
contended for by the democratic party, gradually su-
perseded the other, until at last only one State was
left—the State of South Carolina, which continues
to choose her electors by her legislature. In draw-
ing his amendment, Mr. E. said he had reference to
this fact. It simply provided that for choosing elect-
ors there shall be one and the same day throughout
the United States; and that inasmuch as some casu-
alty might defeat some of the elections, it provided
further that each State legislature might supply the
electors, the choice of which had been prevented by
such casualty. As to the particular day, he regard-
ed it as of no importance.
Mr. DUNCAN inquired if it was competent for
the gentleman from New Jersey, on an amendment
to a section, to discuss the provisions of the whole
bill.
Mr. ELMER said he believed it had always been
in order to discuss the whole bearings of a bill when
the question was simply on the 1st section; but he
merely wished to say a few words more. He only
desired that this bill should be in accordance with
the provisions of the constitution. At the last ses-
sion, a similar bill was referred to the Committee of
Elections, and he, as one of the members of that
committee, found it his duty to examine into this
subject: and such an examination had convinced
him of the necessity of the amendments which he
had proposed, of which he was desirous that the
House should have the fullest opportunity to judge.
Mr. HALE desired to make a suggestion to the
gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. Duxtcak,] and the other
friends of this bill. This bill appeared to him to
be framed on the idea that the choice of"electors
would always be perfected in one day; now it ap-
peared to him that the bill was deficient, as it made
no provision for an election, if the people should fail
to elect on the day designated. In the State which
he had the honor to represent, a majority of all the
votes east was required to elect the electors of Pres-
ident and Vice President of the United States, and
it might so happen that no choice might be made.
If such a law had existed in some of the larger
States, that would have been the position in which
they would have been placed. In the large
State of New York, for instance, a majo-
rity of all the votes given was not given
for the electors, of whom, by the laws of that State,
choice was made; He threw out these suggestions
for the gentleman of Ohio, that provision might be
made for such a contingency.
Mr. DUNCAN said, in drawing this bill his ob
ject had been to make it conform with the powers
which the constitution conferred on Congress. At
the same time, he was desirous to make it as simple ,
and as clear in its details as possible. The first
section of his bill simply declared what its intention
was—that, from and after the passage of this act,
all regular stated elections for the choice of electors
of President and Vice President of the United
States shall be held on the same day, and on one
single day, in all the States of the Union. In
that there were no details which required great
consideration. It was a simple proposition, and
the authority under which they were to act in
sucli a case was contained in the first section of the
second article of the constitution, in these words:
"The Congress may determine the time of choosing
the electors, and the day on which they shall give .
their votes; which day shall be the same throughout
the United States.'.' The second section of his bill
provided what that day should be, in these words:
"The next regular stateifelection for the choice of elec-
tors of President and Vice-President of the U. States
shall be held m each State on the first Tuesday in
the month of November, in the year 1848; and on
the first Tuesday in the month of November in
every fourth year thereafter, a' regular stated elec-
tion shall be held in each State for the choice of
electors ofPresident and Vice-President for the then
next regular presidential election jjnder the constitu-
tion of the United States. An in case any
special election for the choice of President and Vice
President by the people shall, according to the pro-
visions of the constitution, intervene between the
regular stated periods for the election of those offi-
cers, every such special election shall be held in
each State on the first Tuesday in the month of No-
vember of the year in which such special election of
President and Vice President ■ is to be made. As
Boon as it would be in order to do so, he should «
move an amendment of this section so as to make f
the day the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
'November, instead of the first Tuesday in Novem-
' ber, as the section now stood. His object in making
this change was to avoid the necessity of changing
the laws in relation to the day on which the electoral ;
colleges now meet; for the first Tuesday of November i
might, in some cases, be more than thirty days 1
from the first "Wednesday in December.
It would be seen, too, that, by that section, he
had made provision for a special election whenever
one should occur between the regular stated peri-
ods; and that, he conceived, was likewise a plain
and simple provision, without any embarrassing
details. He should however, at the proper time,
move to amend that branch of the section so as to
make it conform to the views which he had ex-
pressed. The third section of his bill was also des-
titute of details. It designed simply to secure to
the States the powers which they now7 possess un-
der laws existing in the respective States. Such
was his bill. It was exceedingly simple, without
any details, and therefore he was at a loss to con-
ceive wherein it required argument or illustration.
With the exception of South Carolina, all the States
of the Union now elect by the people the electors
of President and Vice President; but no difficulty
could occur in that State, for its legislature could
be convened every fourth year on the day to
be fixed by the bill, to discharge the duties
therein prescribed. The object of the bill was
to prevent frauds at the ballot box, as in 1840; but
such Irauds could not occur in South Carolina, for
she elected her electors by her legislature; conse-
quently there was 110 chance there for pipelaying.
If, however, there were any objection to this bill in
South Carolina, he should like to hear what it was
from some one of the representatives of that State.
With respect to the suggestions of the gentleman
from New Jersey, who professed great anxiety for
the perfection of this bill, he could only say that he
feared to allow that gentleman to get this bill com-
mitted to the Committee of Elections, of which that
gentleman was chairman; for at the last session of
this Congress that committee had, a like measure in
their custody, and he found it a ta'sk which was be-
yond his power to get it from them, or to get a re-
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United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 14: Twenty-Eighth Congress, Second Session, legislative document, 1845; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2366/m1/30/: accessed May 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.