s it thought best in the matter of
persons for the offices, unbiased by the probability of success or failure
which would be shown if the elections occurred on different days in
different states.

It may be desirable to know in this connection that:

The president of the senate sends for missing votes, if there be any, on
the fourth Monday in January.

The counting of votes is begun on the second Wednesday in February and
continued until the count is finished. (See page 334.)

In case the electors have not given any one a majority for the presidency,
the house proceeds at once to elect. In a similar case the senate proceeds
at once to choose a vice-president.

The provisions of the continental congress for the first election were:

1. Electors to be chosen, first Wednesday in January, 1789.

2. Electors to vote, first Wednesday in February.

3. The presidential term to commence first Wednesday in March. The first
Wednesday in March in 1789 was the fourth day of the month, and on that
day the presidential terms have continued to begin.

_Clause 5.--Qualifications of President and Vice-President.

No person except a natural born citizen,[1] or a citizen of the United
States at the time of the adoption of this constitution,[2] shall be
eligible to the office of president; neither shall any person be eligible
to that office, who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five
years,[3] and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.[4]_

[1] The importance of the office is such as, in the opinion of the framers
of the constitution, to necessitate this requirement. And it does not seem
unjust to make this limitation.

[2] This exception was made from a sense of gratitude to many
distinguished persons, who, though not native citizens, had placed their
lives and fortunes at the service of this country during the revolution,
and who had already become citizens of the young republic. This provision
is now, of course, obsolete.

[3] Age should bring wisdom. The age specified is great enough to permit
the passions of youth to become moderated and the judgment matured. As a
matter of fact, the youngest president yet elected was much older than
this minimum. In monarchies the rulers are sometimes children. It cannot
be so with us.

[4] But a "natural born citizen," even, may live so long in a foreign
country as to lose his interest in his native land. This provision is
intended to preclude the election