dent; but if no
person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list
the Senate shall choose by ballot the President. And in every
case after the choice of the President the person having the
greatest number of votes shall be Vice-President. But if there
should remain two or more who shall equal votes, the Senate shall
choose from them the Vice-President. (See 'Madison Papers.' page
506. etc.)

Here we discover the reason why the President of the Senate was made
the custodian of these certificates. It was because in that plan of
the Constitution the Senate was to count the votes alone; the House
was not to be present; and in case there was a tie or failure to
find a majority the Senate was to elect the President and
Vice-President. The presiding officer of the body that was to count
the votes alone, of the body that alone was to elect the President
in default of a majority--the presiding officer of that body was
naturally the proper person to hold the certificates until the
Senate should do its duty. It might as well be said that because
certificates and papers of various kinds are directed to the
President of this Senate to be laid before the Senate that he should
have the control to enact those propositions into law, as to say
that because the certificates of these votes were handed to him he
should have the right to count them and ascertain and declare what
persons had been chosen President and Vice-President of the United
States.

But the scheme reported by Mr. Brearly met with no favor. In the
first place, it was moved and seconded to insert the words "in the
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives" after the word
"counted." That was passed in the affirmative. Next it was moved to
strike out the words "the Senate shall immediately choose by ballot"
and insert the words "and House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President, and the members of each
State shall have one vote," and this was adopted by ten States in
the affirmative to one State in the negative.

Then came another motion to agree to the following paragraph, giving
to the Senate the right to choose the Vice-President in case of the
failure to find a majority, which was agreed to by the convention;
so that the amendment as agreed to read as follows:--

The President of the Senate, in the presence of the Senate and House
of Representatives, shall open all the certificates, and the vot