Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/165

Bassctt : The Federalist System 155 gravest questions which a presidential election might easily produce, e.g., the choice of an ineligible elector. The historical discussion closes with two chapters, in some respects the most informing of all, on the his- torical development of the appointment of electors, the evils of the gen- eral-ticket system, and the amendments relative to the electoral system presented in Congress. Mr. Dougherty has little difficulty in proving — if there were need of proving — that the electoral provisions of the Constitution are hopelessly antiquated, that existing laws are no bar to the recurrence of difficulties such as have already convulsed the nation, and that the only safety lies in a constitutional amendment. What he proposes is to abolish the electoral college altogether, and while continuing to allot electoral votes to each state on the same basis as at present, to divide the electoral votes among the several candidates in exact proportion to the total vote cast for each candidate in the state. The person receiving the highest num- ber of electoral votes in all the states would become President. The provisions for the return and count of the votes, too elaborate even for summary here, aim to cover all possible disputes incident to a tie, leaving to each state the canvass of its own vote by designated officials, and re- quiring the authentication of the returns of the canvassers by the execu- tive of the state. All controversies being thus left to the determination of the state, the count at Washington would be reduced to a mere enu- meration, and a formal declaration of the result of the vote. This is not the place to discuss at length the merits of Mr. Dough- erty's plan. Apparently, it covers the principal conditions from which controversy has hitherto sprung, save that of dual returns from rival state governments: and here the author frankly admits its insufficiency. It goes far to give minority representation in the choice of President, though we doubt if the average voter, if he be in the minority, values his vote as highly as Mr. Dougherty seems to think he does. Lastly, the plan attacks the existing difficulty in the only right way, that of amending the Constitution. To amend the Constitution, however, is a serious matter. It is a striking commentary on political thinking in this country that Mr. Dougherty's book will probably receive from Congress or its members no consideration whatever. Only students and reformers will see in it a valuable contribution to the history of our electoral system, a clear and forcible exposure of dangerous political and constitutional de- fects which ought to be cured, and a sensible suggestion of remedy. ViLLi.M MacDonald. The American Nation: A History. Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart. 'olume 11. The Federalist System, ij8q-i8oi. By John Spencer Bassett. (New York and London: Harper and Brothers. 1906. Pp. xviii, 327.) It would be much to ask from a writer on the administrations of Washington and John Adams a novel presentation of the facts or a new