the dangerous excess of party feeling in our
councils.

But I propose to refer to the condition of the law and the
Constitution as we now find it. The second article of the first
section of the Constitution provides for the vesting of the
executive power in the President and also for the election of a
Vice-President. First it provides that "each State" shall, through
its legislature, appoint the number of electors to which it is
entitled, which shall be the number of its Representatives in
Congress and its Senators combined. The power there is to the State
to appoint. The grant is as complete and perfect that the State
shall have that power as is another clause of the Constitution
giving to "each State" the power to be represented by the Senators
in this branch of Congress. There is given to the electors
prescribed duties, which I will read:--

The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least,
shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves: they
shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and
in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and
of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of
votes for each; which lists they shall sign and certify, and
transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United States,
directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate
shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted.

Then follows the duty and power of Congress in connection with this
subject to 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 next clause provides for the
qualifications of the candidates for the presidency and
vice-presidency. The next clause gives power to the Congress of the
United States to provide for filling the office of President and
Vice-President in the event of the death, resignation, or inability
of the incumbents to vest the powers and duties of the said office.
The other clause empowers Congress thus to designate a temporary
President. The other clauses simply relate to the compensation of
the President and the oath he shall take to perform the duties of
the office. Con