Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-01-20
CAPITAL CHAT.
Continued from page ~

one OF the most notable having ha.,
'h" Mckinley Memorial exercise
Whtn Secretary Of State John H.1
made the address. i'll the session roII,,.E
ing the assassination Of McKinI.,.
There is always much CHEERING
much enthusiasm on the or,.,ei,.. ''
the count. The House is aly.,y MI,
NOR tolerant Of applause in the -,
lcries than the Senate ana when i,.t..
sessions occur in the House the trI..
allce OF applause prevails iust i
same. Notwithstanding the f.l,.t thu, !.
is almost y criminal ofrense 10 ;,,,,r,,t
in the Senate galleries. Ahmos, ava.,.
state has its friends ana es,,ac;.Ii..
when there is anythingain the cbarar.
ter Of the Vote 10 nsp enthnsias,,
they break forth with much anpI,r.,.
OF course the MisSourianS This ve,r MI
be the people to raise Il r1unlng VIA
the Is electoral votes for that STAT. ara
announced for Roosevelt il will u. "a
niarkable if there be not somnthi.
bordering on Il demonstration. II thara
isn't it will be because there Ara ~,
enough Missouri Republicans in Wash
Such big states as New York An
Pennsylvania generally have quite =
demonstration. when their electoral
votes are announced. There are forty.
FIVE states to be counted. The IN
menSe envelopes with certificates of
the votes. one envelope for each STATE
has to De taken out Of Senator Fryes
strong mahogany box The seal s
broken and the certificates. often tied
with beautiful ribbons, handed On IA
one of the tellers. The result is an
nounced in loud voice ana the teIlers
sitting AT the long table, immediately
in front Of the presiding officer, nut
the figures down. II matters not how
we'll everybody knows just how many
votes Roosevelt received and how
many votes Parker received. The tell
erS. in keeping with such a dignified
procedure, put the figures down ana
make believe add the columns, al
though, of course, they do not really
add.
Four years ago Senator Frye who
was then the presiding officer of the
joint session, had General Grosvenor
Ohio as a teller. That was decided
ly appropriate because of General GroS-
veror's accepted reputation as the
party statistician. There are Demo-
cratic as we'll as Republican telers. 50
that there may be every assurance Of
Il fair count.
With all the red tape and all the
formllities about the senate marching
in and marching out and with the
cheering of states it generally takes
about two hours to count the electoral
vote. The presiding officer or the
tellers may hasten the pro 'eedmg
somewhat but it takes quite Il While to
get into A. big letters and state what
the figures found there indicate. The
interest sometimes lags when the first
half or Wo-thirdS Of the states have
been counted but all want To wait ana
soc the total announced when there IS
more cheering. OF course the mem
bcrs on the floor cheer. but Their
cheering is confined entirely to inc
dominant party. This time the Demo
Gratis have nothing to cheer for ana
must be content to look on as grim
spectators.
Theoretically there should be mem
Der or a Senator present at the count
for every electoral vote east at the SEES
sion of Feb. S, which will come on
Wednesday. The electoral college ii''S
1856 votes, each state having two. IT.
number of its Senators. plus one vo'e
for each Congressional district. hut
it is very difficult to bring the comrirf
membership of Senate ana itouSf IL
gether and if there are over ~" prs
ent il will be n good attendance.