Page:Debates in the Several State Conventions, v1.djvu/304

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CONSIDERATION OF THE REPORT.
[Sept. 4,

bling the electors, and the manner of certifying and transmitting the votes.

"'Sect. 2. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; nor shall any person be elected to that office who shall be under the age of thirty-five years, and who has not been, in the whole, at least fourteen years a resident of the United States.

"'Sect. 3. The Vice-President shall be, ex officio, president of the Senate, except when they sit to try the impeachment of the President, in which case the chief justice shall preside; and excepting, also, when he shall exercise the powers and duties of President, in which case, and in case of his absence, the Senate shall choose a president pro tempore. The Vice-President, when acting as president of the Senate, shall not have a vote, unless the house be equally divided.

"'Sect. 4. The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall have power to make treaties; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, and other public ministers, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for. But no treaty, except treaties of peace, shall be made without the consent of two thirds of the members present.'

"After the words 'into the service of the United States,' in the 2d section, 10th article, add, 'and may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.'

"The latter part of the 2d section, 10th article, to read as follows:

"'He shall be removed from his office, on impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate, for treason or bribery; and, in case of his removal as aforesaid, death, absence, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers or duties of his office, the Vice-President shall exercise those powers and duties until another President be chosen, or until the inability of the President be removed.'"

On the question to agree to the 1st clause of the report, it passed in the affirmative.

On the question to agree to the 2d clause of the report, it passed in the affirmative.

It was moved and seconded to postpone the consideration of the 3d clause of the report; which passed in the affirmative.

It was moved and seconded to postpone the consideration of the remainder of the report; which passed in the negative.

Yea: North Carolina, 1. Nays: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, 10.

After some time passed in debate, it was moved and seconded to postpone the consideration of the remainder of the