The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-11-20
REAL ELECTION
OF PRESIDENT
By Ernest G. walker.

(Mail Special to the Advertiser.)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2.-Although
the noise and the shouting dies away
and popular interest wanes with Tues
days balloting for President and Vice
President of the United States, it will
be more than three months before the
real, though purely formal, election of
those two highly important officials
takes place. Tuesdays presidential
election is not presidential election at
all in the strict meaning of the Consti-
tuition. The real presidential election
will be held in the hall of the House
of Representatives at Washington on
the afternoon of the second Wednesday
of next February. 1t will be very for
NAL and solemn affair, interspersed with
cheering from the galleries. 1t is such
cut and dried affair and is "pulled
eff with such precision and punctil-
iousness quadrennially that one can tell
beforehand what is going to happen.
For instance, it is entirely safe to
say that on the second Wednesday af-
ternoon of next February at 10 minutes
to i O'Clock, the Senate will take re-
cess and grave procession will form
and march along the main corridor of
the Capitol. 1t will be headed by Vice
President Fairbanks, Secretary Bennett
and Sergeant-at-arms Ransdell. There
will be an entry in the Congressional
Record of the next morning as to how
they "preceded and proceeded" to the
House and also an entry to this effect:
"The Senate returned to its chamber
at / clock and 90 minutes p. M and
the Vice President resumed the chair. -
For in recent years it has taken Just
50 minutes to hold the real presidential
election. Perhaps the existence of an
additional state, Oklahoma, whose vote
must be counted and proclaimed, will
take an extra minute or two. In any
event the Senate, in joint session with
the House and presided over by the
Senate's presiding officer, took So min.
utes to elect William Mckinley Presi.
dent and Garrett A. Hobart Vice Presi-
dent; also 50 minutes to elect Roosevelt
and Fairbanks.
Votes in Two Big Boxes.
The greatest caution is observed in
the count of the votes, which are always
trundled over to the House, along with
the senatorial procession, in two elabo
rate boxes, made on the Vice Presi
dent IS order. The votes of the electors
as decided upon at Tuesdays election
) will be cast at the respective state cap
) itals during January and then forward
ed to Washington. The Secretary o.
State and the Vice President both have
to do with the collection and guarding
3 of these votes. First and last there il
considerable formality about it. TIT
two boxes in which the votes are trans
mitted to the House become the perqui
. sites of the Vice President.
There are probably at least scor,
of families in this country that treasur,
couple oil those boxes as heirlooms
, man, who never was Vice President
but performed the duties of that offic,
Senator William p. Frye, of Maine
has had four of those ballot boxes
l which is said to be more than any
l other man ever had. That is becaus,
he was presiding officer of the Senat,
, during periods that covered two presi
! dental elections.
r The ritual for the election is quite a
exact as that of any meeting of secre
society. First there is chosen in ad
vance two tellers, one for each party
' in the Senate and in the House. Their
is no little pride among Senators an,
members in being designated for thi
, honor, Four years ago Senators Juliu
| Caesar Burrows, of Michigan, and Jo
seph Weldon Bailey, of Texas; an
, Representatives Joseph II. Gaines, o
, West Virginia; and Gordon Russell, o
E Texas, took seats at the long table il
| front of the speakers desk to serve a
tellers of the vote, which was marke,
= up ON specially prepared broad sheet
g of stiff paper.
| Entered by Totals and Tables.
Great care is exercised about marking
, up the various states correctly and il
I their alphabetical order, because tn
l. announcement of the vote alone woul
suffice to elect the President and Vie
i President. When the Senate returns t
I its chamber, its tellers take care to r,
r port the result, which is entered in tn
= Senate Journal and also printed in tn
Record. "The state of the vote TO
v President" and "the state of the vot
s for Vice President" will be noted b
l totals and also in separate table.
II AT these presidential elections tina
e Congress holds, the choice must be b
,. majority oyer all. There is no DANCE
n nf lHnsn. -o..4