with the latter, without affiliation, during our present troubles. The inference is, that there is or ought to be much more of genuine conservatism, of loyalty to the Constitution, and the principles upon which it was formed, in the ranks of the Abolition than in those of the Democratic party.

Let us briefly consider the action of the Democracy at its late Chicago Convention. There never was, there never can be an occasion when party interests could be more imperatively required to yield to patriotism. The contest to be inaugurated involved everything dear to Americans. It involved Constitution supremacy, and with it the whole of American liberty. The contest was of most doubtful issue, however wisely shaped. The party had to contend against the influence of a billion of patronage and the army vote, and also a noted prejudice in the minds of many against the party as the not altogether guiltless instigators of the civil war. It was well known that very many believed that they had wittingly or unwittingly instigated the war by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the management of Kansas affairs; also by the suspected procurement, or at least by the publicly avowed party approval of the disastrous Dred Scott decision. Under these circumstances, then was the time, if ever a political party could be induced to do so, for laying aside the ingrained selfishness of all parties, and making the nation believe that it was influenced altogether by disinterested patriotism, and not at all by hopes of party aggrandizement. How did they act? They placed two Democrats on their ticket, instead of selecting for one of the positions some Conservative who had never belonged to their party. They gave no promise not to use power for party advantage, not even to cease or mitigate their abominable proscriptive party policy, showing that the country might go to perdition, unless in the process of saving it their party should be restored to power. Fearing that they might censure something that was popular, they made no specification of usurpations and tyrannical abuses of power, but contented themselves with vague, pointless generalities for a platform, showing the want of even that courage for which alone the party had theretofore obtained honorable distinction. The effect of their action was little more than courting a comparison of the trustworthiness of their party with that of the Abolitionists, instead of advice to lay aside, for the occasion, all

party ties, in a grand patriotic rally for the salvation of our country.

Nor, in this connection, should there be a total omission of the former Whig party. Its leaders were sufficiently bold and frank in the private avowal of conservatism, but the party was ever timid and time-serving in its action. Never willing to breast and resist what might prove to be a too popular current, they permitted, without even a struggle, those important conservative outpoststhe State Constitutions-to be broken down by the Destructives; showing that the most intelligent and least vicious of modern parties was not to be relied on for a manful maintenance of the test of its own principles; showing that political parties are not to be relied on for that mutual check which is the only conceivable benefit they can be supposed to render a republic. In all else they are evils, and nothing but evils. Whatever can serve to mitigate the amount of mischief they necessarily inflict by their contests, deserves the earnest attention of American statesmanship. Partyism is the great root of all our political ills, which, as it cannot be eradicated, must be restrained, or in some way obviated, before we can have a rational belief in the permanent restoration of American liberty and prosperity. To the solution of that great problem all American intelligence should be earnestly devoted. The subjoined plan for electing our Presidents is one man's contribution to the general national stock of many supposable expedients.

So

The result of the late Presidential election, with its accompaniments, afford the amplest proof that the present plan does not entirely secure to a majority of the nation the election of our Presidents. It stands fully proved that an unscrupulous party, having control over a billion of patronage and a million of voting soldiers, cannot be deprived of power by the ballot-box. thorough has been the author's long-felt conviction of this, that, in February, 1864, he wrote to leading Democrats in Congress, earnestly recommending an immediate cessation of all party opposition, accompanied with the declaration that there should be no Democratic or Conservative candidate for President. This would have left the dominant party liable to those splits which are the inevitable fatality of all unopposed large parties. Their seceding minority, opposed to the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, would have

VOL. II.-10

shaped their nomination and platform to conciliate the support of Democrats and Conservatives, and their candidate, if elected, would have been compelled to lean upon them for support. By this sort of pis aller something would have been accomplished for the country much better than the retention of power by the incumbents. The answer given to this solicitation was, that the argument was good, and the scheme plausible, if it were only practicable; but that it was impracticable, for the Democracy could not be induced to cease party action for the brief space of only two years.

It is not probably true that the actual frauds had any very material influence upon the result of the election; but there is scarcely a man of the million and a quarter of Opposition voters who does not believe that gross frauds were used; not one who does not believe that the fraudulently obtained electoral votes of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana would have been counted if necessary to Mr. Lincoln's election, and that they were obtained with that express object. Such being the unanimous belief of the one side, it is fair to presume that very many of the other side concur in the belief; enough, at least, to make the believers a majority of the nation. From this time forth a majority of the nation can have no trust in the truthfulness or purity of the ballotbox. How long can such a system last? It cannot be very long before it finds its overthrow in some violent popular explosion, to be followed by another civil war, ending in despotism; or by other oft-recurring civil wars, to the utter destruction of all our national happiness and prosperity.

It is a melancholy reflection, based on probable fact, that for the votes given at the last election in protest against Abolition usurpation and misrule we were indebted in very large measure more to party ties than to patriotism or true allegiance to our country. This is undoubtedly true as to most of the foreign and very large part of the more ignorant native voters. This places our national patriotism and intelligence at a very low point, showing how deficient has been our teaching in political morality and political information. This must be all equally true as to a large part of that better class of more intelligent, non-fanatical voters who voted for the continuance, and thereby a seeming approval of Abolition misrule, whose predominant motive was as much dis

approbation of the Democracy as approbation of the Abolitionists. Lamentable is the condition of any republic which shall have to depend upon party spirit, instead of patriotic spirit, for its preservation. If, indeed, this substitution of partyism for patriotism be due to our party conflicts for the Presidency, then nothing can be plainer than that something should be done to remove the office from the immediate certain reach of party effort, thereby removing the greatest of all incentives to the formation of national parties and their disastrous collisions.

Much pains have been bestowed upon the details of the following plan, to obviate the only objection, with few exceptions, ever yet stated by candid intelligence against the plan-that is, its supposed liability to be thwarted by fraudulent management of the lot. With this view, all the details will be found, on careful consideration, to be necessary to the prevention of fraud or the success of any sort of party management toward controlling the result. It is confidently believed that those details will stand the test of the severest criticism.

JOINT RESOLUTION PROPOSING CERTAIN AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Constitution of said United States be amended as follows:

ARTICLE NO.

SECTION 1. Congress shall, at the first session after the adoption of this amendment, and from time to time thereafter, apportion among the several States the electors of President and VicePresident according to the ratio of population, in Federal numbers. One elector to each State having less than a million; two to each having one but less than two million; three to each having two but less than three million; four to each having three but less than four million; five to each having four but less than six million; six to each having six but less than eight million; and seven to each having eight million of population. Each State having

but one elector shall be an electoral district, and each of the other States shall be divided by Congress into districts equal to the number of its electors, to be composed of coterminous territory, and, as near as may be, the districts to have equality of population.

SEC. 2. The voters of each district qualified to vote for members of the most numerous branch of the legislature shall elect an elector. The elections for electors shall be held during the month of October next preceding the commencement of every Presidential term. The several State Legislatures shall prescribe the time and manner for holding those elections and making returns thereof; also for deciding them when contested, and making new elections therein; but Congress may discharge this duty, in whole or in part, when deemed necessary.

SEC. 3. The electors shall convene in the Senate chamber, at the seat of government, at noon of the first Monday in February next preceding the commencement of the ensuing Presidential term and form an electoral college. Two-thirds of all the electors shall be a quorum of the college. The Chief Justice of the United States, or in his absence the President of the Senate, or in the absence of both the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall be the presiding officer of the college. The presiding officer shall cause all the electors elected, whether present or not, to be listed in the alphabetical order of their names, and in that order divide them into six classes of equal numbers; distributing by lot separately among the several classes such electors at the bottom of the list, if any, as are left out in the division. He shall by lot, under the supervision of one from each class, designate the several classes by numbers from one to six. When a quorum is present he shall announce that the college is formed, and note the time at which the enunciation is made; but, when necessary, the enunciation shall be postponed until after the verification, by a majority of the electors present, of the returns and qualification of members.

SEC. 4. After the college is formed, the electors present of each class shall, after the college is formed, choose an elector from the class next succeeding it in number, except class six, which shall choose from class one. In open session of the college, the presiding officer, under the supervision and control of