On the part & behalf of the State of Delaware, THO. M'KEAN, Feby. 12, 1779, NICHOLAS VAN DYKE, On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland, DANIEL CARROLL, Mar.1,1781. On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia, RICHARD HENRY LEE, JOHN BANISTER, THOMAS ADAMS. JNO. HARVIE, FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT Lee, On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina, JOHN PENN, July 21st, 1778, CORNS. HARVETT. JNO. WILLIAMS, On the part & behalf of the State of South Carolina, HENRY LAURENS, WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, JNO. MATHEWS. RICHD. HUTSON, THOS. HEYWARD, Junf., On the part & behalf of the State of Georgia, JNO. WALTON, 24th July, 1778, EDWD. TELFAIR. EDWD. LANGWORTHY, CENSUS OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES-1790-1890. OFFICERS OF THE CONFEDERACY. B ELOW are given the names and officers of all those who held office under the Confederate government during the years of its existence from 1861-64: THE POPULAR VOTE. TH 'HERE is no record of the popular vote of a Presidential election prior to that of 1824. This is accounted for by the fact that there were but few of the states in which any popular election was held, and therefore the results of such elections, when held, were too insignificant for preservation. Under the Constitution, the electors may be chosen either by a popular vote or by direct appointment of the state legislature. In many of the states the latter method was employed, as necessitating less political machinery. In the election of 1824, six states, Vermont, New York, Delaware, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana, had appointed their electors in this way. But in the remaining eighteen, the electors were the result of popular elections, either by the district or general ticket system, whose results were preserved. Before the next Presidential year, four of these six had adopted the popular election plan, and of the two remaining, Delaware and South Carolina, the former went over before 1832, leaving only South Carolina to cling to the old system of appointment by legislature. This method she retained until after the election of 1860. Afterward, when Florida was admitted, she chose the discarded legislative system of appointment for a time, and not until the election of 1880 were electors in all the states appointed by popular vote. *The vote for Wirt is included in Clay's vote. This count does not include the army vote, which was as follows: Lincoln, 116,887; McClellan, 33,784. There are conflicting claims as to these votes, because of the disputed election, but from a careful examination we are led to adopt those given in the life of Samuel J. Tilden, as it appears in 'Appleton's Cyclopedia of Biography." A THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE-ITS FULL history of the Electoral College is given elsewhere.* It only remains for this article to notice briefly, but clearly, the methods and manner of working of the same. The methods are as simple as possible. The entire Electoral College is made up of the electors in all the states, the number in each state being equal to the number of members sent to both houses of congress from that state. The electors of each state may be chosen under the Constitution, either by district election, by legislative appointment or by a general popular election. The latter method is now adopted in all the states, though until recently several of the states chose their electors by district elections, and one, South Carolina, made its appointments through its legislature. These electors must be chosen on the same day in all the states-the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. After their appointment they must meet at the capital of their respective states on the first Wednesday in December, and ballot for President and vice-president. The method of procedure is as follows: The members being convened, the oath is administered by a member of the state supreme court to all the electors, the necessary officers are chosen and then the balloting begins. First cast are the ballots for the President, next for the vice-president, then for tellers to count the fourth, for one of the number of electors as messenger to convey the vote to Washington; fifth, for one of the electors to act as messenger to carry the vote to the United States district court, and last, to provide for the preparation of votes as required by law. vote; The messengers are chosen as follows: As many cards as there are electors are put into a box; on two of these cards are written "messenger to the United States senate," and "messenger to the United States district court; " the others are blanks. Each elector draws a card from the box, and the ones drawing the cards containing the appointment are confirmed by the rest of the body. The balloting for For the history of the Electoral College, see Vol. III., p. 646. |