Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs/Chapter 29
XXIX
INCIDENTS IN THE CIVIL WAR
THE PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION
WHEN the Proclamation of Emancipation, of January 1, 1863, was issued, the closing sentence attracted universal attention, and in every part of the world encomiums were pronounced upon it. The words are these: “And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.” Following the appearance of the Proclamation, and stimulated, possibly, by the reception given to the sentence quoted, there appeared claimants for the verbal authorship of the passage, or for suggestions which led to its writing by Mr. Lincoln.
A claim for exact authorship was set up for Mr. Chase, and claims for suggestions in the nature of exact authorship were made in behalf of Mr. Seward and in behalf of Mr. Sumner.
The sentence quoted was furnished by Secretary Chase, after a very material alteration by the President. He introduced the words “warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity,” in place of the phrase, “and of duty demanded by the circumstances of the country,” as written by Mr. Chase.
The main credit for the introduction of the fortunate phrase is due to Secretary Chase. President Lincoln placed the act upon a legal basis, thus justifying it in law and in history. The sentence is what we might have expected from the head and heart of the man who wrote the final sentence of the first inaugural address: “The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature.” Mr. Lincoln had genius for the work of composition, and in him the poetic quality was strong and it was often exhibited in his speeches and writings. The omission of the sentence in question would so mar the Proclamation that it would cease to represent Mr. Lincoln. Thus he became under great obligations to Mr. Chase.
It was not in the nature of Mr. Lincoln to close a state paper, which he could not but have realized was to take a place by the side of the Declaration of Independence, with a bald statement that the freedmen would be received “into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.”
In the month of October, 1863, the ladies of Chicago made a request of Mr. Lincoln for “the original” of his “proclamation of freedom,” the same to be disposed of “for the benefit of the soldiers.” The letter in their behalf was written by Mr. Arnold, who was then a member of Congress. Improvidently, I think we may say, Mr. Lincoln yielded to their request for the original draft of the Proclamation to be sold for the benefit of the fair. Its transmission was accompanied by a letter, written by Mr. Lincoln.
“Executive Mansion,
“Washington,
“October 26, 1863.
“Ladies having in charge The North Western Fair for the Sanitary Commission, Chicago, Ill.
“According to the request made in your behalf, the original draft of the Emancipation Proclamation is herewith enclosed. The formal words at the top and at the conclusion, except the signature, you perceive, are not in my handwriting. They were written at the State Department, by whom I know not. The printed part was cut from a copy of the preliminary Proclamation and pasted on merely to save writing.
“I have some desire to retain the paper, but if it shall contribute to the relief of the soldiers, that will be better.
“Your obt. servt.,
“A. LINCOLN.”
In technical strictness the original Proclamation was of the archives of the Department of State when the signature of the President and Secretary of State had been affixed thereto, and its transfer by Mr. Lincoln was an act not within his competency as President, or as the author of the Proclamation.
This point, however, is wholly speculative, but the country and posterity will be interested in the fate of the original of a document which is as immortal as the Declaration of Independence. The Proclamation was sold to the Honorable Thomas B. Bryan of Chicago for the sum of three thousand dollars and it was then presented by him to the Soldiers’ Home of Chicago, of which he was then the President. That position he still retains. The document was deposited in the rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, where it was destroyed in the great fire of 1871.
Fortunately the managers of the fair had secured the preparation of fac simile copies of the Proclamation. These were sold in large numbers, and thus many thousands of dollars were added to the receipts of the fair.
The managers of the Soldiers’ Home were offered twenty-five thousand dollars for the original Proclamation.[1] The offer came from a showman who expected to reimburse himself by the exhibition of the paper.
The original now on the files of the State Department is not in the handwriting of Mr. Lincoln and it has therefore no value derived from Mr. Lincoln’s personality.
When I entered upon the inquiry, which has resulted in the preparation of this paper, I was ignorant of the fact that the original Proclamation had been destroyed, and it was my purpose to secure its return to the archives of the Department of State. That is now impossible. Its destruction has given value to the fac simile copies. Many thousands of them are in the possession of citizens of the United States, and they will be preserved and transmitted as souvenirs of the greatest act of the most illustrious American of this century.
In the early autumn of 1864 a meeting was held in Faneuil Hall in honor of the capture of Atlanta by the army under General Sherman, and the battle in Mobile Bay under the lead of Admiral Farragut. Strange as the fact may now appear, those historical events were not accepted with satisfaction by all the citizens of Boston. The leading Democratic paper gave that kind of advice that may be found, usually, in the columns of hostile journals, when passing events are unfriendly, or when there is an adverse trend of public opinion. Hard words should not be used and nothing should be said of a partisan character. Such was the advice, and a large body of men assembled who were opposed to partisan speeches. They were known as the McClellan Club of the North End of Boston and they were sufficient in numbers, when standing, to fill the main floor in front of the rostrum, which at that time was not provided with seats. The meeting was called by Republicans and it was conducted under the auspices of Republicans. Governor Andrew was to preside and Governor Everett, with others, had been invited to speak. Governor Andrew was not blessed with a commanding voice and it was drowned or smothered by the hisses, cheers and cat-call cries of the hostile audience in front of him. The efforts of the sympathetic audience in the galleries were of no avail. Mr. Everett’s letter was then read, but not a sentence of it was understood by any person in the assembly. Next came Mr. Sennott, an Irishman, a lawyer, and a man of large learning in knowledge and attainments not adapted to general use. He had then but recently abandoned the Democratic Party, but there was a stain upon his reputation, traceable to the fact that in the year 1859 he had volunteered to aid in the legal defence of John Brown at Harper’s Ferry. The city of Boston could not have offered a person less acceptable to the crowd in front of the speaker. Mr. Sennott’s voice was weak and of the art of using what power he possessed he had no knowledge. His speech was not heard by anyone in the assembly. By the arrangement I was to follow Mr. Sennott. I had had some experience with hostile audiences, and in the year 1862 I had been interrupted in a country town of Massachusetts by stones thrown through the windows of a hall in which I was speaking upon the war and the administration.
As I sat upon the platform I studied my audience and I resolved upon my course. I had one fixed resolution—I should get a hearing or I should spend the night in the hall. Something of the character of my reception and the results reached may be gained from the report in the Boston Journal, and I copy the report without alteration, premising however, that some minutes passed before I secured a quiet hearing:
SPEECH ON THE CHICAGO RESOLUTION
Fellow Citizens: It depends very much upon what we believe as to the future of this country and the rights of the people, whether we rejoice or mourn in consequence of the events in Mobile Bay and before Atlanta. If it was true on the 30th day of last month that the people of this country ought to take immediate efforts for the cessation of hostilities, then, gentlemen, we have cause to mourn rather than to rejoice. I understand that there were some people in this country who, before the 30th of August, since this war opened, had not, as an aggregate body of men, expressed their opinions in reference to this war, who then declared that it ought to cease. (A voice—“They’re few.”) I observed in a newspaper published in this city two observations within the last two days. One was that they were afraid hard names would be used; and the other was that there was some apprehension that this meeting to-night would have some political aspect or influence. (Voices—“No! No!”) I thought it likely enough that it would (laughter and applause) because I observed in the newspapers that it was called to express congratulations over the events which have taken place in Mobile Bay and before Atlanta, and I thought that I had observed that those events had rather a political effect. (Renewed laughter.) Therefore I did not see exactly how it was possible that men should assemble together to rejoice over events having a political aspect without the meeting and the rejoicing having a political aspect also. Well, now, gentlemen, I haven’t come here with any design that, so far as I am concerned, it shall have anything but a political aspect. (“Good” and applause.) These times are too serious for the acceptance of any suggestion that hard names are not to be called if hard names are deserved. (Voices—“That is it!”) The question is not whether the meeting shall have a political influence, but whether it is necessary to the salvation of the country that it shall have a political influence. (Applause.) Well, gentlemen, I observed while the person who last occupied the platform was speaking certain indications, which I thought were a slight deviation from that much talked-of right of free speech. (Laughter, and a voice—“ Hit ’em again.”) Now, then, I am going to read a resolution adopted at Chicago. I am going to make two propositions in reference to it. I am then going to ask whether this assembly assents to or rejects those propositions. If there is any man in this assembly who denies or doubts those propositions, if I have the consent of the honored chairman of this meeting to ten minutes of time in which I can engage the ear of the assembly, I surrender it to that man, that he may have an opportunity upon this platform to refute, if he can, the propositions which I lay down. (Applause.) Now the second resolution of this platform is in these words—
(At this point there was considerable disturbance in the rear of the hall, created by one individual, and several voices cried out—“Free speech!” “Out with him!”)
Mr. Boutwell continued: He will be more useful to the country if he remain here. If he goes away there is no chance for his conversion to the truth: if he remain here he may be saved. (Laughter.) “The vilest sinner may return, While the lamp holds out to burn.” (Renewed laughter and applause.) I hope gentlemen who favor free speech will listen attentively to this resolution:
“Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare as the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which under pretence of military necessity, or war power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution has been disregarded in every part and public liberty and private rights alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities with a view to an ultimate convention of all the States, or other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States.”
(The resolution was greeted with a feeble clapping of hands, a slight attempt at cheers in the rear of the hall, and a storm of hisses. Mr. Boutwell continued:)
If there are any gentlemen here who approve this resolution, I hope they will have the opportunity to cheer. (About half a dozen persons commenced to cheer, but abandoned it on hearing their own voices, when a voice exclaiming “These are the Copperheads,” caused loud laughter. The speaker proceeded:)
Now then, gentlemen, the two propositions I lay down are these, and if any one of those gentlemen who indulged in the luxury of a cheer just now chooses to come upon this platform, I fulfill my pledge: The first is that this resolution, so far as known, meets the approval of the rebels in arms against this government. (Voices—“That’s so,” and cheers.) The second is that this resolution meets the approval of all the men in the North who sympathize with the cause of this rebellion and desire its success. (Repeated cheers and “That’s it.”) Now, then, if there is any one who would deny the truth of these propositions, let him, with the leave of the chair, take ten minutes upon this platform. (Some confusion ensued, several voices shouting “Make room for George Lunt,” “Where’s Lunt?” etc., etc., etc. No one appearing, Mr. Boutwell continued:) If there is nobody to refute these propositions, I take it for granted that they meet the general assent of this vast assembly (cries of “Good” and cheers); and if so, isn’t this the time, when a great convention professing to represent a portion of the American people in time of war, not having spoken since hostilities commenced, frame a leading resolution so as to meet the assent and approval of the enemies of the Republic—isn’t this the time, when such things are done, for men who have a faith in the country and a belief in its right to exist, to declare the reasons for that belief? (Voices—“Yes.”) Now I propose to discuss that resolution in some degree. First, it proposes a cessation of hostilities. I have heard the word armistice mentioned to-night. The declaration of that resolution is not for an armistice. An armistice, according to its general acceptation and use, implies a suspension of hostilities upon the expectation and condition that they are to be resumed. Neither in this resolution, nor in the whole series of resolutions to which this one belongs, is there an intimation that when cessation of hostilities has been effected hostilities are to be resumed; and if hostilities are not to be resumed then a cessation of hostilities is an abandonment of the Government. It is treason. (Voices—“That’s so,” and loud and continued cheers.) I declare here that the proposition for a cessation of hostilities is moral and political treason (voices—“Good”); and, further, every man who knowingly and after investigation, and upon his judgment favors a cessation of hostilities, is a traitor. (Loud cheers.) The issue, gentlemen, is no longer upon the tented field. No danger there to the cause of the Union. The soldiers are true to the flag and they will fight on and march on until the last rebel has fallen to the dust or laid down his arms. The soldiers are true, but the cause of the Union is in peril at home (voices—“That’s where it is”), where secret organizations are mustering their forces and gathering in material of war for which there can be no possible use except to revolutionize this country through the fearful experience of civil war. (A voice—“Shame on them.”) O how I long for some knowledge of the English language so that I may select a word or a phrase which shall fully express the enormity of this treason! (Voices—“Hang them.” “String them up.”)
The rebels of the South have some cause. They believe in the institution of slavery,—they have been educated under its influence. They thought it in peril. They made war with some pretence on their part for a reason for war, but what excuse, what palliation is there for those men in the North, who, regardless of liberty, of justice, and of humanity, ally themselves, openly some and secretly others, with the enemies of the Republic? Spare, spare, your anathemas, gentlemen. Do not longer employ the harsh language which you can command in denunciation of Southern traitors. They of the North who give aid and comfort to the enemy deserve to monopolize in the application all the harsh words and phrases of the English language. (Applause.) Cessation of hostilities—what follows? Dissolution of the Union inevitably. Will not Jefferson Davis and his associates understand that when we have ceased to make war, when our armies become demoralized, public sentiment relaxed, when they have had opportunity to gather up the materials for prosecuting this contest, that we cannot renew the contest with any reasonable hope of success. Therefore, if you abandon this contest now, it is separation—that is what is meant, and nothing else can follow. But suppose that what some gentlemen desire could be accomplished,—a reconstruction of the Union by diplomatic relations inaugurated between this Government and Jefferson Davis’—suppose the South should return—what follows? When you have permitted Jefferson Davis and his associates to come back and take their places in the government of this country, do you not see that with the help of a small number of representatives from the North whose services they are sure to command, they will assume the war debt of the South. When you have assumed that debt, and taken the obligation to pay it, these men of the South will treat the obligation lightly, and upon the first pretext will renew secession and will march straight out of the Union, and you, with your embarrassed finances, will find yourselves unable to institute military proceedings for their subjugation. Therefore I say that by the reconstruction some men desire you render secession certain, bankruptcy throughout the North certain. The repudiation of the Public Debt is not a matter of expectation or fear, it is a matter of certainty, if you assent to any reconstruction of this Union through the instrumentality of Jefferson Davis and his associates. You must either drive them into exile or exterminate them. Break down the military power of the people, and exterminate or exile their leaders, and bring up men at the South in favor of the Union, who are opposed to the assumption of the war debt of the South—there is no other way of security to yourselves. (Cheers.) Now, then, are you prepared to cease hostilities with the expectation of negotiations with Jefferson Davis for the dissolution of the Union or for its restoration? (Voices—“No!”) Either course is alike fatal to you, for the war must go on until peace is conquered. (Loud cheers and voices—“That’s so.”) On the one side they offer you as negotiators Franklin Pierce, perhaps, and A. H. Stevens; on the other, possibly one of the Seymours, either of Connecticut or New York, Wise of Virginia, Vallandigham of Ohio, and Soule of Louisiana. The only negotiators, gentlemen, to be trusted so long as the war continues or there is a rebel in arms—the only negotiators are Grant upon one line and Sherman upon the other. (Tremendous cheers.)
A Voice—“You have left out Mr. Harris of Maryland.”
Mr. Boutwell—“According to the reports, etc., we have had from Chicago, he conducts negotiations upon his own account.”
Voice—“How are you, Mr. Harris?”
Mr. Boutwell—What does the cessation of hostilities mean? It means that the blockade is to be removed, and the South to be allowed to furnish itself with materials and munitions of war. What does that mean on the land? What does it mean on the sea? That you are to furl your flag at Fortress Monroe on the Petersburg line; that you are to remove your gunboats from the Mississippi River; that you are to abandon Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip at its mouth, that you are to undo the work which the gallant Farragut has already done in Mobile Bay, and so along the coast and upon the line from the Atlantic beyond the Mississippi River. You, people of the North, who have been victorious upon the whole through three years of war—you are to disgrace your ancestry—you are to render yourselves infamous in all future time, by furling your flag and submitting anew to rebel authority upon this continent. Are you prepared for it? (Voices—“No!” “never!”) I ask these men here, who cheered the resolution adopted at Chicago, whether they, men of Massachusetts, and in Faneuil Hall, will say, one of them, with his face to the patriots of the Revolution—will say that he asks for peace through any craven spirit that is in him? Is there a man among them all, from whatsoever quarter of this city, renowned in history—is there a man of them all who will stand here and say he is for a cessation of hostilities? If so, let him speak, and let him, if he dare, come upon this platform and face his patriotic fellow-citizens. (A call was made for cheers for McClellan in the rear of the hall, but nobody seemed disposed to respond. The speaker continued.) I am willing a cheer should be given for any man who has been in the service of the country, however little he may have done. Is there any man in Faneuil Hall for peace? (Voices—“No!”) I intended, so far as was in my power, to give to this meeting a political aspect (voices—“Good!”) in favor of the country and against traitors. (Cheers.) If there are no peace men in this assembly, then that object, as far as we are concerned, is accomplished. (Prolonged cheering.)
MR. CHASE AND THE CHIEF JUSTICESHIP
Upon the death of Chief Justice Taney the general public favored the appointment of Mr. Chase as his successor. In that view I concurred, but I had heard Mr. Chase make so many unjust criticisms upon Mr. Lincoln that I resolved to say nothing. I was willing to have Mr. Chase appointed, but I was not willing to ask the President to confer so great a place upon a man who had been so unjust to him. When the nomination had been made, I said to Mr. Lincoln that I was very glad that he had decided to appoint Mr. Chase. He then said: “There are three reasons in favor of his appointment, and one very strong reason against it. First, he occupies the largest place in the public mind in connection with the office, then we wish for a Chief Justice who will sustain what has been done in regard to emancipation and the legal tenders. We cannot ask a man what he will do, and if we should, and he should answer us, we should despise him for it. Therefore we must take a man whose opinions are known. But there is one very strong reason against his appointment. He is a candidate for the Presidency, and if he does not give up that idea it will be very bad for him and very bad for me.” At that time Mr. Lincoln had been re-elected to the Presidency.
Mr. Chase continued to be a candidate for the Presidency. He abandoned the Republican Party in 1868 and as Chief Justice he abandoned his own policy or the policy that he had adopted in regard to the legal tender currency.
It was said that Mr. Sumner, who was very earnest for Chase’s appointment, gave strong pledges to Mr. Lincoln that Mr. Chase would abandon his ambition for the Presidency.
RIGHTS OF STATES
In 1864 I introduced a series of resolutions in the House of Representatives in the form of a Declaration of Opinion in regard to the legal status of the States in rebellion. At that time the country and Congress had no doubt of our ability to crush the rebellion, and the public mind was occupied with various theories of reconstruction.
The resolutions had been already accepted by the National Union League. I prepared them at the instance of Governor Claflin and their adoption by the League had made the policy known to a large body of active Republicans. I did not seek to secure their adoption by the House of Representatives. The resolutions were in this form:
“Resolved, That the Committee on the Rebellious States be instructed to consider and report upon the expediency of recommending to this House the adoption of the following
Declaration of Opinions:
“In view of the present condition of the country, and especially in view of the recent signal successes of the national arms promising a speedy overthrow of the rebellion, this House makes the following declaration of opinions concerning the institution of slavery in the States and parts of States engaged in the rebellion, and embraced in the proclamation of emancipation issued by the President on the first day of January, A. D. 1863: and also concerning the relations now subsisting between the people of such States and parts of States on the one side, and the American Union on the other.
“It is therefore declared (as the opinion of the House of Representatives), that the institution of slavery was the cause of the present rebellion, and that the destruction of slavery in the rebellious States is an efficient means of weakening the power of the rebels; that the President’s proclamation whereby all persons heretofore held as slaves in such States and parts of States have been declared free, has had the effect to increase the power of the Union, and to diminish the power of its enemies; that the freedom of such persons was desirable and just in itself, and an efficient means by which the Government was to be maintained, and its authority re-established in all the territory and over all the people within the legal jurisdiction of the United States; that it is the duty of the Government and of loyal men everywhere to do what may be practicable for the enforcement of the proclamation, in order to secure in fact, as well as by the forms of law, the extinction of slavery in such States and parts of States; and, finally, that it is the paramount duty of the Government and of all loyal men to labor for the restoration of the American Union upon the basis of freedom.
“And this House does further declare, That a State can exist or cease to exist only by the will of the people within its limits, and that it cannot be created or destroyed by the external force or opinion of other States, or even by the judgment or action of the nation itself; that a State, when created by the will of its people, can become a member of the American Union only by its own organized action and the concurrent action of the existing National Government, that, when a State has been admitted to the Union, no vote, resolution, ordinance, or proceeding on its part, however formal in character or vigorously sustained, can deprive the National Government of the legal jurisdiction and sovereignty over the territory and people of such State which existed previous to the act of admission, or which were acquired thereby; that the effect of the so-called acts, resolutions and ordinances of secession adopted by the eleven States engaged in the present rebellion is, and can only be, to destroy those political organizations as States, while the legal and constitutional jurisdiction and authority of the National Government over the people and territory remain unimpaired; that these several communities can be organized into States only by the will of the loyal people, expressed freely and in the absence of all coercion; that States so organized can become States of the American Union only when they shall have applied for admission, and their admission shall have been authorized by the existing National Government; that, when a people have organized a State upon the basis of allegiance to the Union and applied for admission, the character of the institutions of such proposed State may constitute a sufficient justification for granting or rejecting such application; and, inasmuch as experience has shown that the existence of human slavery is incompatible with a republican form of government, in the several States or in the United States, and inconsistent with the peace, prosperity and unity of the nation, it is the duty of the people and of all men in authority, to resist the admission of slave States wherever organized within the jurisdiction of the National Government.”
The logical consequence of these positions was that upon the conquest of the States engaged in the rebellion the National Government could govern the people as seemed expedient and readmit them into the Union at such times and upon such terms as the Government should dictate. They antagonized the doctrine then accepted by many Republicans “Once a State always a State”—a doctrine that would have transferred the government at once into the hands of the men who had been engaged in an effort to destroy it.
Mr. Sumner was wiser in this respect. His theory that the rebellious States should be reduced to a Territorial condition was in harmony with the views that were embodied in the resolutions. At the time, however, they did not receive the support of all the members of the Republican Party.
Mr. Stevens maintained the doctrine that the rebel States were conquered States and wholly subject to the power of the conqueror. In his view their previous condition as States in the Union had no value. But Mr. Stevens was never troubled by the absence of logic or argument. In the case of the rebel States he intended to assert power enough to meet the exigency and he was free of all fear as to the judgment of posterity. When he had formed a purpose he looked only to the end. If he could command the adequate means he left all questions of logic and ethics to other minds and to future times.
Others maintained that the theory that the States were in a Territorial condition or that they had ceased to exist as States, was an admission of the doctrine of secession. Mr. Lincoln in his last public address cut clear of all theories and resolved the situation into a simple statement of a fact to which all were compelled to assent: “We all agree, that the seceded States co-called, are out of their proper practical relations with the Union.” On this basis Congress finally acted, but during the process and progress of reconstruction the military authority was absolute, and local and individual powers were completely subordinated to the authority of the General Government.
COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES
In 1865 and in 1869, questions were raised when the electoral votes were counted, that gave rise to debates in the House of Representatives and on one occasion subsequently in the Senate. In the House, Francis Thomas of Maryland and Samuel Shellabarger of Ohio took part. Both were able men. Thomas had the qualities of an orator but he spoke so infrequently that his power was not generally appreciated. On that occasion he spoke exceedingly well, but the attendance was small, an evening session having been assigned for debate upon that subject. Mr. Shellabarger was logical and effective but he was destitute of imagination utterly. At the bar since his retirement from politics he has enjoyed a large practice, but, unfortunately, as it appears to me, he has preserved the style of speaking which he acquired upon the stump and in Congress. A skillful speaker must adapt himself to the circumstances and to his audience. A stump speech, a speech in the House of Representatives, a speech in the Senate, an argument to a court, an argument to a jury, should each be framed on a model of its own. Neither style will answer for any other. The degree of variance may not be considerable and with a well disciplined person the change may not be apparent. Mr. Webster adapted himself to every audience, but the changes were slight. Yet there were changes. He was not over solemn in the Supreme Court, and he was never boisterous when he addressed the multitude. As far as I recollect my positions and arguments in the debates upon the counting of the electoral votes, I now discard all that I then said. My present conclusion is that upon a reasonable construction of the Constitution there is no occasion for legislation or for an amendment to the fundamental law. The Vice-President or the President of the Senate is the president of the convention. He carries into the chair the ordinary powers of a presiding officer. He rules upon all questions that arise. He may and should rule upon the various certificates that are sent up by the several States. If, in any case, his ruling is objected to, the two Houses separate, and each House votes upon the question:— “Shall the ruling of the Chair stand, etc.” If the Houses divide, the ruling is sustained. The president and one House are a majority. The decision is in accordance with our system of government. The suggestion that the president or that the Houses may act under the influence of personal or political prejudice, may, with equal force, be urged against any scheme that can be devised. The counting of the electoral votes must be left in the hands of men, and the Constitution has given us all the security that can be had that the decisions will be honestly made. The president of the convention and the members of the Houses are bound by oath as solemnly as are the judicial tribunals of the country. A judge is only a man, and he is subject to like infirmities with other men. It is a wise feature of our system that the courts have no voice in the political department of the Government. The presidential office should never be in the control of the judicial branch of the Government.
- ↑ Letter of the Honorable Thomas B. Bryan.