It will be readily perceived that, in a country developing so rapidly as ours, producing, thereby, an almost unbroken series of new situations, requiring a cautious application of old laws and the constant enactment of new ones, and so, a danger of confusion of legislative rules, that the President and his Cabinet would need a legal adviser of eminent ability, and of extensive acquirements in legal affairs, to give instruction and counsel on various lines of action contemplated by the executive branch of the government, and of the lawful course to be taken in the numerous particular cases constantly coming up for determination. Besides, various suits require to be instituted or defended in the courts, by the government, and some officer is needed to prosecute or defend them in its name and interest.

To answer these requirements, the office of Attorney General was created by the first Congress in 1789. He is a member of the Cabinet, is nominated by the President, and confirmed by the Senate, and is removable at the pleasure of the President. He has an assistant and various clerks to aid him in the discharge of his responsible duties.

By an act passed in 1861 he is made Superintendent of all the Attorneys and Marshals in all the Judicial Districts of the United States. His office is at the seat of Government.

The following is a complete list of the Attorneys General:

ATTORNEYS GENERAL.

CHAPTER XLIII.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.

An Elector, in the sense of the Constitution, is one who has been appointed to choose or elect the President of the United States. Electors have been chosen in various ways. At first they were often appointed by the State Legislatures, or these passed a law directing their election by the people. This has gradually disappeared, and now the people, by law of Congress assemble on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November preceding the close of a presidential term, and vote for the electors. The electors in each State are called its Electoral College. They meet on the first Wednesday in December following their election, in their respective States, and vote by ballot for a President and Vice-President. These cannot both, according to the Constitution, be citizens of the same State. They count, certify, and seal these votes and send the sealed package by a messenger, appointed for that express purpose, to the President of the United States Senate. On the second Wednesday in February following, the members of the Senate and House of Representatives assemble together, the packages are opened and the votes counted in their presence, and the result is officially proclaimed. It is evident that this is now a mere form, and the President and Vice-President are virtually determined by the people in November. It is not in harmony with the other parts of our system of government, which aims at simplicity and practical usefulness, and it will probably soon be dispensed with. It was originally designed, by those who framed the Constitution, to act as a check to party spirit, and was expected to serve a very useful purpose. They felt the great importance attaching to the office of Chief Magistrate, on whom they had conferred so much power, and thought, by this means, to raise his election above disturbing influences. It was not expected that the candidates for those offices would come in question, in the popular elections. The choice was designed to be left with the electors, with whom, being chosen by the people for that purpose, it was supposed they would feel safe in leaving it. It was believed that a select body of eminent men would act with more prudence and wisdom than the people at large. But the people felt themselves competent to judge for themselves, and have, like imperious sovereigns, imposed their choice on the Electors, so that that part of our constitutional machinery has become a dead letter. The people know their own minds better, and are more resolute in imposing their will on their representatives than was expected; and they have favorably disappointed the best hopes of those who believed most in their discretion. So we see that the failure of the Electoral System, planned by the Fathers of the Republic, is an honorable commentary on the ability of the people for self-government.

Their success in making their own choice authoritative has led them to overlook the incongruity of the system, so that they have never resolutely required it to be abolished. Perhaps the idea that it might be useful in some important crisis of national affairs has had an influence to prevent interference with it. As its retention is attended with considerable expense, when questions of Economy come to take a leading place in public policy it is likely to be laid aside, in form, as well as in fact.