That the next Presidential election will find the needed legislation still not enacted, and that once more, some resolution, trumped up for the occasion, will be resorted to, is more than probable. The provisions of the Constitution and laws in regard to the Presidential succession are as loose and unsatisfactory as in other particulars relative to the office of President. Though this clause of the Constitution is familiar to everybody, I nevertheless quote it: “In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve upon the Vice-President, and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall then act accordingly, until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected." The law passed to execute the above enacts that "the President of the Senate, or if there is none, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the time being, shall act as President, until the disability is removed or a President elected." But for a long time there was a necessary interregnum in the office of speaker. Congress expired by law on the 4th March, and the elections for the next Congress did not take place till after that time; so, then, during the period between the 4th of March and the meeting of the next Congress in the December following there was not only no speaker but no Congress. A vacancy occurring then would have found no speaker to take it. And the same difficulty exists at the present day, for after the expiration of one Congress there is no speaker till the next Congress meets and elects one.

In an emergency the country might likewise find itself without a President of the Senate. As a measure of precaution, the Vice-President can retire from the chair as the session approaches its end, and then the Senate can elect a President, and if the Vice-President does not resume his seat before the adjournment, then the person so elected will be President of the Senate during the recess. But this is not always, nor indeed often, done. Mr. Hendricks did not do it, and he died before the next Congress met, and there was then no Vice-President, no President of the Senate, and no speaker, and if anything had unhappily befallen Mr. Cleveland the country would have been in a bad condition indeed.

It must be agreed that the law designating for the succession two officers, one of whom is no part of the regular machinery of government, and may or may not exist, as accident or chance direct, and the other having no being or life for eight months every second year, is lame and impotent. These embarrassments, serious as they are, are not all that attend

the Presidential office. What is "inability to act," and how is it to be ascertained? What body or tribunal is authorized by the constitution, or any act of, to take jurisdiction of this question and determine it authoritatively? There is none, and if a President should lose his reason there is no way known to the law by which the fact could be authenticated, and the "inability" so pronounced upon as to enable his successor to take his place.

Looking, then, at the whole Executive Department of the Government in all its phases, and considering the various processes of electing the President and Vice-President, counting the votes and ascertaining the result, deciding contests, providing fully for the succession, ascertaining and declaring what is "inability," we are forced to the conclusion that the Constitution and laws under it relating to these matters are equally defective, and that it is the imperative duty of Congress to remedy defects which have been in existence during the whole life of the Government without further delay. The Senate and House have each passed bills regulating the mode of counting the vote, but have not been able to agree on the same measure. The bill of the Senate provided that each State should decide for itself any controversy about the appointment of electors at least six days before the meeting of the electors, and that the judgment so rendered should be conclusive. If this had been done, it would have left to Congress only the formal duty of counting undisputed votes, and would have remedied one of the existing embarrassments. But the House did not favor this plan.

The bill which became a law at this session of Congress, regulating the Presidential succession, is conceded to be insufficient, and is regarded as only another of the temporary expedients which have been so prolific. But if the same inattention still continues which has prevailed heretofore it will remain unaltered on the statute-book till some great emergency befalls the country, when probably the same scenes of excitement, the same clamorous demand for a final settlement of the whole question, that have been witnessed several times in the past, will be again repeated, and more than likely with the same impotent result.

How an election by the House, under the present system, operates in practice, was well illustrated when John Q. Adams was elected under it. There were then twenty-four States, with an electoral vote of two hundred and sixty-one; of these Jackson had ninety-nine, Adams eighty-four, Crawford forty-one, and Clay thirty-seven. But when the final vote was reached in the House, Adams had thirteen States, Crawford four, and Jackson only seven.

Of the difficulties attending the office of President, all of which are of the utmost gravity, none is so pressing and demands an early settlement so much as counting the electoral vote. So little time is now allowed between the meeting of the electors and the count of the vote, and party excitement is then usually at fever heat, that in case of a close or controverted election, we may reasonably fear dangerous or disastrous results. It is indispensable that some mode should be adopted disposing of all litigated matters before the two Houses assemble to count the vote. There is no reason why Congress itself should not do this. It would be easy enough to bring all disputes, if any existed, before that body early in the session, and let them be settled if necessary to the exclusion of all other business. And when considered, let it be done as by the defunct twentysecond joint rule “immediately and without debate"-but judicially, fully, and fairly. Take time to ascertain all the facts; allow reasonable debate. Congress meets the first Monday in December; the vote is not counted till February-a period ample to allow for the most complete and exhaustive examination of any and all questions likely to arise out of or touching a Presidential election.

Or, if deemed better, pass a law, providing, when any controversy arises, for the appointment by the joint vote of the two houses of Congress of a commission, say of nine persons, who shall immediately assemble and hear and determine, like a court, all points submitted to it. It can't be said now that this would be unconstitutional, because Congress set the precedent of delegating the decision of such questions when it constituted the Electoral Commission. The adoption of either plan would give opportunities for a full hearing, and leave to Congress, when the time for counting the vote arrived, only the duty of making a formal count and declaring the result.

Of the three departments of our Government, two-the legislative and judicial-are not required, either by the constitution, or the exigencies of the public service, to be always on duty. Congress only remains in session three months every second year, The courts have their regular terms, and their vacations, when they may be said to be in a dormant state. not so with the Executive-it can't adjourn-its duties are constant, and there is not a day, not an hour, that it has not something to do. It, in an especial manner, needs to be complete and perfect in all its parts.

But

MY FIRST AND LAST SIGHT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

There is no more vivid or apparently indelible impression on the tablet of my memory than my first and last sight of President Lincoln; and the circumstances connected therewith are equally well remembered. The first occasion was when he called on President Buchanan, in company with Senator Seward, on the 23d of February, 1861, and the last was when he excused himself from making a speech at the Executive Mansion on the evening of April 10, 1865, the next day after Lee's surrender.

It is generally known that Mr. Lincoln arrived in Washington, unannounced, several hours before he was expected by the public at large. It was supposed that he would rest at Harrisburg over night, and probably not more than three or four persons were cognizant of his intention to come directly through without stopping. Indeed, it was stated at the time that he kept this intention entirely to himself, but it was doubtless known to his traveling companions, Mr. Lammon, afterward Marshal of the District of Columbia, and Mr. E. J. Allen, as well as to Senator Seward. None of the railroad officials on the train, either from Harrisburg to Baltimore, or from Baltimore to Washington, knew he was on board. Great preparations for his reception had been made, both at Baltimore and Washington; and as late as eleven o'clock, after his arrival, in the morning of the 23d, active preparations were in progress to send the contemplated extra train for him to Baltimore. Shortly before six o'clock of that morning, somewhat to the wonder of the few around at that early hour, Senator Seward was seen waiting at Willard's Hotel, where rooms had been quietly engaged for Mr. Lincoln the previous day. He had not long to wait before Mr. Lincoln arrived, and was immediately escorted to his rooms by Mr. Seward, who left him alone for rest. At nine o'clock A.M., Mr. Lincoln received his breakfast in his private parlor, and his presence was so little known in the city that it was one o'clock in the afternoon before any callers came to see him.

with Mr. Seward, Mr. Lincoln There was a special meeting session when the door-keeper With a look of pleasant sur

About eleven in the morning, in company went to pay his respects to the President. of the Cabinet that forenoon, and it was in came in and handed the President a card. prise, Mr. Buchanan said, “Uncle Abe is down-stairs!" and immediately

went to meet him in the red room." * In the course of fifteen or twenty minutes he returned with Mr. Lincoln and Governor Seward, who were presented to the members of the Cabinet, and after a few minutes' conversation of no special importance, the visitors left to call on General Scott. Although I was living in Washington while Mr. Lincoln was a member of Congress, I had no recollection of having ever seen him before. I was at once struck by his tall, lank figure, towering, as it did, almost head and shoulders above Senator Seward, and even overtopping President Buchanan, as they entered the room. I was equally impressed, also, by his quiet, unaffected manner and placid disposition. I did not observe in him the least sign of nervousness or deep concern; and there is good reason to believe that, "with malice towards none, with charity for all," he felt confident of being able to gain the good-will of the Southern malcontents and of soon bringing the seceding States back to their proper relations in the Federal Government. The Peace Convention was then in session, and hopes of an amicable settlement had not yet been abandoned. But, alas! alas!! Instead of allowing wisdom to assert its control, the madness of folly bore sway, and for four long years the country was deluged in blood!

The news of Lee's surrender was received at the War Department just before nine o'clock Sunday evening, the 9th of April, 1865, and ere the dawn of day the citizens were awakened by the sound of cannon. proclaiming the joyful tidings. Soon crowds of people, accompanied by bands of music, passed through the streets, singing the "Star-Spangled Banner," "Rally Round the Flag, Boys," and other patriotic songs. The courts met and adjourned, and nearly all business was suspended. The clerks in the various offices were dismissed for the day, and hundreds of them, augmented by throngs of other citizens, gathered on the south steps and sidewalk of the Interior Department, and unitedly raised their voices to the grand old tune of "Old Hundred" in singing

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow."

Never in my life had I heard those words sound so sweetly or seem to touch the heart so tenderly. I was on my way to the Post Office Department, where I found Postmaster-General Dennison in the main hall of the second story making a congratulatory address to a crowd assembled around him. About ten o'clock, a line, composed of nearly two thousand persons, mostly from the Navy Yard and vicinity, and constantly increasing, passed

*[The writer of this article was one of the members of President Buchanan's Cabinet at the time.-EDITOR.]