The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-11-21
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
nov THE PKESIDENT md VICE
President ARE CHOSEN.
Proyision of the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Change In the Function OF Electors
The Appointments.

IL classes and both sexes nave
N been taking "A direct ana intense
~ interest in political matters thls
| ~ year. and the Star Is often III
- receipt OF queries showing the
general desire for information rciauVe
the country. The writer generally ue-
sires to know how the electoral cohese'
| so-calcd is constituted. Briefly. II de-
ponds upon the population OF the State'
This is called "apportionment ana Il
| based primarily upon the third paragraph
| Of Section 2 Of Article / Of ,he Constitu-
| ton of the United States, as changed by
tbe rorrteenth amendment. Thus
| amended II provides that Representa-
! tfves 0n Congress- shall be arportioned
among the several States according To
their respective numbers, counting the
whole number OF persons in each state
excluding Indians not taxed. the actu-
al enumeration shall be made withln
three years after the first meeting or the
Congress Of the United States, and with
i'm every subsequent term OF ten years,
in such manner as they shall by law d.
rect. The number Of Representatives,
shall not exceed one for every SO,vp but
each State shall have at least one Rep
rcsentativo."
This. minimum number was, Of course,
never reduced because the population
steadily increased. 1t Is interesting In
this connection TO state that under the
original apportionment there were six
ty-five members Of the House. though
this was based on a somewhat arbitrary
reckoning Of population contained in the
Constitution The first census showed
such q population that the basis OF APP
portionmcnt was 5000 and this gave 100
members The second census made no
change in the ratio but the number Of
Represcntativos was increased TO III.
The ratio based on the third census was
one member TO 5000 people, and az this
rate there were Isl Representatives.
The fourth census showed such gain
i'm population that In order 10 prevent Inc
undue crowdng Of the House the ratio
was raised TO one TO 1000. and even at
this the membership jumped 10 2l3 Ten
years later the ratio went to 1900 and
the membership TO 30. Under the re-
turns Of the sixth census the ratio was
carried up to 1000 and Tor the first time
in tho history OF the country the mem
lorship Of the House was decreased. fan
ing 10 223. Another increase in the basis
of representation followed the taking OF
the seventh census. and IL was placed AZ
g. 323 and the membership was increased
to 23i Tho eighth census fixed the ratio
az 1275Sl. and fhc House contained 2i3
members i'm consequence. and under the
ninth counting of the people the ratio
stood at one TO 13l, 49, and the member
tenth. gave such returns that the basis
Of representation was fixed at l3l.al.
and the House held 3Zj members. The
lest ccnsls fixed the ratio at one to lia,-
g0l. and the present House is entitled to
$50 members.
What has this to do with the election
o. the President? Simply this: The cleo
toral college consists Of one person for
each member Of the House and one as
,,..N for eagb Capafor Therefore the
number Of electors depends almost di-
rectly. upon the size Of the nation.
though not quite. Were the college
measured Y the size Of the House alone
the ratio that exists by law between the
population and the number Of Repre-
sentativcs would be always preserved
and this relationship would be trans
mitted directly TO the college The adj
dition Of one olector for each Senator.
however disturbs the ratio. inasmuch
as I'm certain States thc total population
does not equal the large basis Of rep
resentation For instance. in 1890 Del
aware had but 16S ig3 people. or about
$500 less than the ratio; Idaho the same
year had A33 people. or nearly @.ND
less than the average congressional dis
trict: Montana had 1872 i59 people. Ne
vada. 1851. and Wyoming. 6O,105. yet
each Of these States has three Repre-
scntatves i'm the electoral college, total
Of fifteen electors for a total Of 49l sol
people whereas If each had the bare
limit of 1891 those fifteen electors
would represent S69505 people. Therein
lies the difference between the theoreti-
cal and the real relationship of the pop
ulation and the electoral college.
This latter body. whose name of "col-
lcge" Is the growth of usage and has no
strictly legal meaning, is founded upon
the second paragraph Of the first section
Of Article IT, Of the Constitution, which
reads as follows
Each State shall appoint. I'm such
manner as the legislature thereof may
direct a numi or Of ELECTORS equal 10 the
whole number Of Senators and Repre-
sontativos to which the state may he
Crtitled in Congress; but no Senator or
Representative. or person holding an Of
fee Of trust or profit under the United
states. shall be appointed an elector.'
Therefore. the present electoral college
consists Of Az members. based on 81
Representatives and ninety Senators.
there being now fOrty-1ve States. each
with two Senators. To secure the prcs-
idency candidate must have pa cleo
toral votes. Thus the size Of the college
is fixed by law, ana is not a matter de-
pending upon the success or failure OF
political manoeuvres.
The correspondent asks: who decides
tilS important lnlllS me Congress
has the POWER. When the grand
total OF the census is known i'm
each state. and for the whole country.
the houses set 10 work each tenth year
10 pass an "apportionate bin" which
takes effect March 9Th in the third year Of
the decade. This often brings about a
conflict between the parties. each side
struggling for advantage that might ac-
crue from the effect OF the new enumor-
Il
ratio being once established. the States
must be restricted in order TO 1T the
new proportion to the counties and
cities, so As TO preserve the balance and
TO maintain tho equality commanded by
the Constitution. This Is a difficult task,
and herein lie the possibility Of trickery.
which, however can hardly affect the
presidential election. Few States have
in the extreme sections Of the country
present even political conditions
throughout their borders. Here %in be
a Republican stronghold, there a Dem
ocratic. and occasionally a county VIII
tend strongly toward third-party views.
Sometimes industrial conditions pro-
duce this result: sometimes IL is The
work OF an unfathomable chance. To
take advantage of these discrepancies
partisan Legislatures are prone 10 out
line congressional districts so as TO make
some of them certain for their party
that before were lost. perhaps, under
the general prepondcrance of the other.
Ihis is called "gerrymandering.
ic "A