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419,649 of which the soldiers' vote was 37,350, or about 9 per cent of the entire vote. At the presidential election in 1864 the entire vote was 470,722 of which the soldiers' vote was 50,903 or about 12 per cent of the entire vote. At the State election of 1863, Vallandigham the Democratic candidate received 2,288 soldiers' votes in the field, while Brough the Republican candidate received 41,467, being a majority of 39,119. At the October election in 1864 for Secretary of State, the democratic candidate received 4,599 votes of soldiers in the field, while the Republican candidate received 32,751, being a majority of 28,152. At the presidential election in 1864, McClellan received 9,757 votes of soldiers in the field, and Lincoln received 41,146, being a majority of 31,389.

In 1864 nineteen Congressmen were elected from Ohio. The soldiers' votes were as follows:

In the first district the Republican received 865 soldiers' votes and the Democrat 163; in the second district the Republican received 788 and the Democrat 135; in the third district, the Republican received 1358 and the Democrat 92; in the fourth district, the Republican received 1416 and the Democrat 144; in the fifth district the Republican received 1820 and the Democrat 334; in the sixth district the Republican received 457 and the Democrat 48; in the seventh district the Republican received 1582 and the Democrat 292; in the eighth district the Republican received 1488 and the Democrat 217; in the ninth district the Republican received 1849 and the Democrat 234; in the tenth district the Republican received 2165 and the Democrat 419; in the eleventh district the Republican received 2511 and the Democrat 462; in the twelfth

district the Republican received 2021 and the Democrat 305; in the thirteenth district the Republican received 1634 and the Democrat 187; in the fourteenth district the Republican received 1478 and the Democrat 226; in the fifteenth district the Republican received 2029 and the Democrat 170; in the sixteenth district the Republican received 1797 and the Democrat 247; in the seventeenth district the Republican received 1566 and the Democrat 28; in the eighteenth district the Republican received 1623 and the Democrat 29; and in the nineteenth district the Republican received 1932 and the Democrat 9. Showing a total of 30,379 Republican, and 3,741 Democratic, being a total vote of 34,120 or 16,783 less than the total vote for President.

AT

CHAPTER X

VERMONT

T the October Session of the Vermont Legislature in 1863 the Governor made the following recommendation:—

"I would earnestly recommend the passage of a law securing to the soldiers who are now already, or who may hereafter be called into the service of the United States, from this State, the right to exercise their elective franchise, as guaranteed and secured to the freemen of this State by its Constitution; and I would respectfully urge this measure upon your consideration, as an act of justice to the brave sons and freemen of Vermont, who are so nobly doing battle in the cause of the country, and as a fitting testimonial of the appreciation in which those services are held by the people of the State.

"Moved by an earnest patriotism, and in the holy ardor of an undying love for the great blessings of civil liberty, restrained by no mean circumstance of personal cost or sacrifice, and with a devoted loyalty to that government which has been their shield and protection, they have gone forth from among us, a noble brotherhood, to imperil life, and all that life holds dear, to battle, not for glory or renown, but to maintain for and perpetuate to us, in common with all the country, the great and glorious principles of constitutional liberty, the heritage of a free people.

"Enduring all the hardships and privations of the camp, denying themselves the comforts, the luxuries and privileges of home communions, which we are permitted to enjoy, far away from us, on a stranger and hostile

soil, worn and wasted by many sufferings, yet nobly bearing up under them all with a patience and fortitude worthy of the cause for which they suffer, knowing but one duty, service to their country, they appeal in language too strong to be resisted, for that privilege which all freemen so highly prize, which, whether at home or on the field, is ever dear to their hearts, the right to exercise the elective franchise, that distinguishing mark of freedom and freemen. It surely needs no words of mine to urge this upon your consideration, and while I am deeply sensible of the difficulties that surround the question, and of the opportunity which would be afforded for abuse of the privilege, yet, I am fully confident, that it is in the power of the Legislature to frame a law, which, while it will secure the State to all reasonable extent against frauds and abuse, will also secure to the citizen soldiers a privilege which it is ungenerous to deny, and which can, in all soundness of convincing argument, be urged and claimed as a right. They are rendering high service to the country, in the stupendous conflict which is now stirring the nation to its foundations, by their presence on the field; and shall they be denied a voice at the ballotbox, where preeminently the measures which are to affect, for weal or woe, these great and pending issues must of necessity be decided.

"None, more than they, have a vital interest in these great questions, none have a higher appreciation of the merits involved. Ours are no hireling soldiery, who blindly execute the will of superiors, without knowing for what they fight. They have gone from among the sovereign people, intelligent freemen, constituent elements of the government, to contend for a cause in which they have a personal interest, and to maintain principles which, when the contest is finally closed, will affect them in common with all the rest, and are fully entitled to the privilege of exercising this right."1

Journal of the House of Representatives, 1863, pp. 44-46.

On October 14 a bill to authorize soldiers to vote in the field was introduced in the House, and numbered House 44.1 On October 21 it was referred to the Committee on Elections. On October 28, the Committee on Elections made a report, and the bill and report were laid on the table and 300 copies printed. Apparently

the matter had been argued before the Committee, and the acts passed in Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin brought to their attention, for they referred to these acts in their report. They say that "it is due to the soldier, to the supporters of the bill, and to the General Assembly that we state some of the reasons for our opinion that the act is unconstitutional." They then say, "The important inquiry is, whether the Constitution has so prescribed the time, place and manner of holding elections, or either of them, as to leave no power in the General Assembly to prescribe them, or either of them, in the manner proposed in the bill in question." Then follows an elaborate discussion of the provisions of the Constitution upon this question. The conclusion of the report was that the Committee were of the opinion that the provisions of the bill "in respect to the election of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Senators and county officers are unconstitutional." They said:

"The bill in question proposes to give the Governor authority to appoint and commission some person or persons and send them out of the State to receive votes in other States, and bring or send them back to elect a governor (possibly to elect the governor who appointed the commissioners), and the other officers named in the bill. But the intelligence and sense of the framers of our Constitution enabled them to guard against such voting and

1 House Journal, pp. 63, 68.

2 Ibid.,

p. 86.

3 Ibid., p. 138.

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