Page:Cambridge Modern History Volume 7.djvu/322

290 Special committee on election of the President, [my making the executive consist of one person, was next referred to the committee of detail. A motion now prevailed reinstating the clause that the executive be appointed for seven years and be ineligible a second time ; and then the whole resolution, as it had first been reported by the committee of the whole House, was passed and sent to the committee of detail, to prepare from it a formal article in the draft Constitution. There it appeared, August 6, as Article X. The article contained also a provision for the removal of the executive, now named President, by impeachment, in case of misconduct a provision not in the Randolph resolutions. On August 4 a motion was made once more to substitute election by the people for election by the national legislature; but only two States voted aye. Election by State votes in the legislature was rejected by a majority of one, and election by a majority vote of the members present in the legislature was provisionally accepted, only one State voting nay. An attempt to change the decision in favour of election by the legis- lature into appointment by electors to be chosen by the people having been rejected by a majority of one, further consideration of the subject was postponed ; and later a special committee of eleven, one from each State present, was appointed to consider and report some substitute for the whole plan. The Committee reported on September 4, in substance as follows. The President and Vice-president were to hold office for four years, and were to be chosen by electors, as the State legislatures should direct, equal in number to the total of senators and representatives in Con- gress to which the States respectively were entitled; these electors to vote for two persons, one not of their own State, and to send their votes to the Senate to be counted. The one having the highest number of votes, if a majority of the electors, was to be the President; if no election resulted, the Senate was to choose as President one of those having a majority if more than one had a majority, or one of the five having the highest number if no one had a majority; and after the choice of the President the person having the greatest number of votes was to be Vice-president, the Senate deciding the question in case two or more had the same number of votes. Strong opposition to the plan was made by Charles Pinckney, Rutledge, Williamson, and Randolph; while others, among them Wilson and Madison, desired one modification or another. The chief objection was that the plan would give too much power to the Senate, laying the foundation there for an aristocracy. However a motion made by Wilson to strike out " Senate " and insert " legislature " failed ; three States voting for it, seven against. It was still a question largely of the greater against the smaller States. King observed that the influence of the smaller States in the Senate was somewhat balanced by the influence of the large States in bringing forward candidates, and also by