The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-09-23

Der elections will have become known.
If the democrats should come into
control of the house for the sixty.third
congress they would naturally resist
any effort to have the change made
by the present republican congress,
while the republicans would be as
anxious to have the service performed
while they were in control of legisla.
ton in both houses.
Apportionment i'm itself can be
used for party advantage only through
the manipulation of population frac.
tons in the various states. If the
present day plan OF fixing upon
definite number of members as the
FIRST step in the distribution is fol-
lowed many states will be found to
have Il considerable number of Citi-
Zens over the number necessary to
give them the number of members as.
signed them. The size of the house
once determined, the representation
OF each state is arrived at by dividing
the aggregate population of the coun-
try by the total membership of the
house and then dividing the population
of any given state by the quotient
thus obtained. Almost inevitably
there ensues upon each of such di
visions remainder large or small.
Aside from arbitrarily fixing the rep.
resentation on the voting rather than
the actual population. this remainder
or fraction, affords the only base OF
manipulation of the apportionment of
members.
If used to the extreme it might be
an important factor as no fewer than
tWenty-three representatives now holu
their seats on fractions That they
should do so is strictly i'm accordance
with the law which provides that, any
deficiency occurring on an even di.
vision shall be supplied from the
states having the largest remainders
on the division. This rule was strict
Iy followed in the last apportionment
in all allotments except those made
to Maine and Nebraska. In both these
states congress exercised somewhat
arbitrary power by giving each a rep
resentauve on fraction less than
the fractions of other states which
received nothing because of their own
fragments. This action was taken to
prevent the loss of representation by
any state.
If that policy should be accepted in !
the approaching apportionment it
could upset the plans of some of the
house leaders who are most anxious I
to avoid any appreciable increase in |
the size of the house. The census !
experts already understand that when /.
the figures are made public some of
the smaller eastern states will be
found to have failed to keep pace in I
growth with some of their larger
neighbors and with many of the west.
ern states. If, therefore, they are to
be protected against loss of represen.
tation in the house it will probably be
necessary to hold the ratio down to
something like the present basis or
to discriminate in favor of the smaller
states.
a loss of membership would be by
no means a new experience to many
of the states. In the first apportion-
ment, made after the census of 1870
when the house numbered, all told,
only 1O5 members, Virginia was given
-, or almost one-fifth of the entire
and in 1900 that num-
Der was increased to 30. Then there
was gradual falling away until 1870,
when there were only members from
that state. Since then there has been
a gain of l.
Barring the first apportionment,
Connecticut began with members
and now has 3. Maryland has been
reduced from to 6, and New Hamp-
shire from to 2. Vermont, which
in 1910 had 6 members now has 2.
while Maine with 8 in 1880 has been
reduced to 4. Massachusetts has the
same number with which she started
IN 1880 In 1900 the number was in.
to II, but by the next appor
.ionment it had fallen to 10, and the
original figure of IA was not regained
until 1900.
After Virginia and Massachusetts,
pennsylvania, with 13 members, had ;
he largest representation in the house
n 1890 New York and North Caro-
ina followed with 10 each. The lat
er state never rose above 10, but
he former has gone as high as 40,
which figure was attained under the
lpportionment of 1880 and is the larg-
EST representation any state ever has
lad. After 1880 the New York rep
'esentation fell to 81 in 1860. Since
hen it has been rising gradually I'M {
IL 1t is now 81. Pennsylvania pres t
mt number of 80 is the largest ever .
'njoyed by that state. From the first {
census to the present Rhode Island. |
With her two capitals and double t
lame, has been uniformly represent. S
ID by two congressman. Delaware I
lad two members during the decade i
If lSlO-lS2O, but otherwise has had I
'ut one in the house at any time. c
The first apportionment made by /
he constitution itself nrnvidad for 4