Page:The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 Volume 2.djvu/47

 RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 43 Wednesday MADISON July 8 sibility in the Executive with the security afforded in the 2d. branch agst. any incautious or corrupt nomination by the Executive. Mr. Sherman, was clearl 7 for an election by the Senate. It would be composed of men nearly equal to the Executive, and would of course have on the whole more wisdom. They would bring into their deliberations a more diffusive knowl- edge of characters. It would be less easy for candidates to intrigue with them, than with the Executive Magistrate. For these reasons he thought there would be a better security for a proper choice in the Senate than in the Executive. Mr. Randolph. It is true that when the appt. of the Judges was vested in the zd. branch an equality of votes had not been given to it. Yet he had rather leave the appointmt. there than give it to the Executive. He thought the advan- tage of personal responsibility might be gained in the Senate by requiring the respective votes of the members to be entered on the Journal. He thought too that the hope of (receiving) appts. would be more diffusive if they depended on the Senate, the members of which wd. be diffusively known, than if they depended on a single man who could not be personally known to aver 7 great extent; and consequently that opposition to the System, would be so far weakened Mr. Bedford thought there were solid reasons agst. leaving the appointment to the Executive. He must trust more to information than the Senate. It would put it in his power to gain over the larger States, by gratifying them with a pref- erence of their Citizens. The responsibility of the Executive so much talked of was chimerical. He could not be punished for mistakes. Mr. Ghorum remarked that the Senate could have no better information than the Executive They must like him, trust to information from the members belonging to the particular State where the Candidate resided. The Executive would certainly be more answerable for a good appointment as the whole blame of a bad one would fall on him alone. He did not mean that he would be answerable under any other penalty than that of public censure, which with honorable minds was a sufficient one.

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