The semi-weekly messenger., 1900-12-25
REINFORCEMENT BILL
THREE DIFFERENT REPORTS FROM THE
COMMITTEE
THE BILL OF THE MAJORITY
Provides tor a House With same Num-
Der as at Present-Minorfty Report
Provides for an Increase OF Twenty
Nine-Mr. Crumpaeker Makes an In
dependent Report, Severely Criticiz-
ing DistranchIsement OF the Negro at
the South and Cutting Down Repre-
sentation OF Certain Southern States.


sentation OF Certain Southern States.
Washington, December 20.-Repre-
sentative Hopkins, chairman of the
committee on census, today filed in the
house the majority report on the reap
portionment bill reported by his COM
mittee, fixing the membership of the
house for the next decade at 3s7. Rep
resentative Burleigh, of Maine, filed a
minority report signed by six members
in favor of a house to be composed of
3S6 members.
Representative Crumpacker, of In
diana who signed the Burleigh report,
also submitted an Independent report
in favor of reducing the representation
in the southern states to the extent of
the abridgement of the suffrage. His
Independent report favors a house to
be composed of 374 members.
Mr.. Hopkins in the majority report,
cites many instances to snow that the
loss of seats by states under reappor-
tionment bills was not uncommon.
Massachusetts, for instance, which,
under the third census had twenty
sixth, seventh and eighth, and Virginia,
which had twenty three in the third,
had but nine under the ninth. The re-
port says the committee followed the
plan adopted under the sixth census
and followed continuously since.
1t mas the sanction and approval OF
sixty years of national existence. The
plan is to divide the constitutional pop
ulation by 357, the proposed member
ship. The quotient, 20S, S6S, is the ratio
of the representative of population.
This ratio applied to the population
of each state will yield in the aggregate
a number somewhat less than 357, the
number determined upon as the men,
bership of the house. The difference
is made up by assigning to the states
having the largest major fractions
representatives until a sufficient num-
Der have been assigned to bring the
total up to 357. A membership of more
than 357, the report says, would make
the house unwieldy.
The minority report is signed by
Messrs. Burleigh, Russell, Heatwole,
Crumpacker. Griffith, and Wilson. Re-
ferring to the Hopkins apportionment,
the minority report says:
The anomalous character of this
proposed apportionment as we'll as it's
obvious injustice is clearly demonstrat-
ed by the fact that it is necessarily
based, in part, upon major fractions,
and yet Colorado with majority fra
ton of 21,367, Florida with a majority
fraction of 110,S07. and North Dakota
with majority fraction of 105, $50, do
not receive a representative based
upon such majority fraction, while
every other state with a majority frd,-
lon receives representative for such
majority fraction
We believe that every state should
De treated alike with reference to i+s
majority fraction as no valid reason
mas Deen or can be assigned for the dis
crlmlnatlon between them We also
believe that in the new apportionmenr
no state should lose representative
We therefore recommend house con-
sisting of 3S6 members.
I'm reaching this number we have
| adopted the method used by the COM
mittee and have followed the precedent
established by the house in 1872 when
| the house added to the whole numbar
of representatives a representative
| each for the states of New Hampshire
/ and Florida by reason oil the fact that
! they each had almost a majority
| fraction after the whole number of rep
/ resentatives had been apportioned.
/ 1--WE take the computation based upon
| 3S6 representatives upon a ratio of one
representative for every 194,1S2 of pop
| ulation. Nebra ska, with a majority
! fraction of 97629 and Virginia, with q
| majority fraction of LOG SAC. each lose q
| representative and get no representa-
tive for the majority in either case
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Con-
1 necticut, Florida, Louisiana, Massa
/ chusetts, Mississippi. Missouri. Nortt
1 Carolina, North Dakota. Washington
i West Virginia and Wisconsin gain one
/ representative each: Minnesota, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania gain two; II
linois, Texas and New York gair
| three
The independent report of Mr.. Crum
\ packer goes exhaustively into TIL
abridgement Of the right of suffrage il
Il the southern states.
i He quotes the Fourteenth amend
!, ment to the constitution providing tha
when the right to vote is abridged, ex
cept for participation in rebellion Q
other crime, the representation shall b
reduced in such states in proportion t
such abridgement. Congress in thi
matter" Mr.. Crumpacker says, mus
take cognizance of current history an
of facts disclosed by official records
There is not member of either houS
of congress who does not know to
/. moral certainty that by direct operatio
t of law the states of Louisiana, Missis
sippi. North Carolina and South Caro-
. lima have disfranchised sufficient mum
| Der of citizens to deprive each of ther
j of several representatives they woul
( otherwise be entitled to. to say moth
ing of the largely increased suppress
sion of votes caused by unfair partisa
oi administration of the laws.
RI Mr.. Crumpacker then takes up tt
constitution of Louisiana and adduce
nj figures to show that in that state 49,
per cent Of the citizens are disfrar
chised. The representation shoul,
therefore, he argues, be reduced frol
:, seven to four. In North Carolina. fC
the same reasons he figures that th
representation should be reduced frol
= to s; in Mississippi from to and
South Carolina from to 4.
He then proceeds to a severe arraigr
ment OF the south in many localities
which "the trampling under foot
laws calculated to secure the exercis
of political privileges to the negro he
'sl continued for so long that it is show
al ing its vicious fruits in the prevalent
,-f of mob law.
I'll Harvard to Play Trinity