The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-09-27
APPORT|ONMENT
QUESTION IS UP
Census of 1910 Will NeCessitate
REIMBURSEMENT of Repre-
SentatiOn in House.

ia fpl odcuIhS seSSlOu OF congress VIII be
called upon to grappIe viii be to de-
termlne when the next apportionment
of members OF the house Of representa-
tives under the recent census shall be
made
While it is not actually required bv
the constitution that instrument inn
Plies that a eapportiOnment shall fol
| low each decennlal enumeration of the
| people, and accordingly redistribution
| OF seats in the house membership has
| taken place hitherto soon after the con.
clusIon of each census
| Up to 1890 the reapportionment was
uniformly postponed until the first SEES
sion OF the congress succeeding the
enumeration, but after the 18th census
a change was made and the apportion-
ment bills for the 18th and 18th census
We're brought in and passed in each
case during the short session of the cur
rent congress Immediately following the
census. 1t will rest with the approach
ing session to determine whether it
shall follow the old or the new prece-
dent. Politics may determine the
| choice
Before the time for the meeting of
congress the result Of the November
elections will have become known. If
the Democrats should come into control
| of the house for the 63d congress thew
would naturally resist any effort to
have the change made by the present
Republican congress, while the Repub-
licans would be as anxious to have the
service performed while they were in
control of legislation in both houses.
Apportionment in itself can be used
for party advantage only through the
manipulation of population fractions IN
the various States. If the present day
| plan of fixing upon definite number
| of members as the first step in the dis
tribution is followed, many States will
| be found to have considerable num-
| Der of citiZens~over the number neces-
sary to give them the number of mem
| bers assigned them. The size of the
house once determined, the representa-
ton of each State is arrived at by di
| viding the aggregate population of the
country by the total membership of the
| house, and then dividing the population
of any given State by the quotient thus
obtained. Almost inevitably there en-
| sues upon each of such divisions re-
mainder, large or small. Aside from
arbitrarily fixing the representation on
the voting, rather than the actual, popu
lation, this remainder, or fraction, af-
fords 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 hold
their seats on fractions. That they
should do so IS strictly in accordance
with the law, which provides that any
deficiency occurring on an even division
shall be supplied from the States hay
ing the largest remalnders ON the d.
vision. This rule was strictly followed
in the last apportionment in all allot-
ments except those made III Maine and
| Nebraska. In both these States con-
gress exercised somewhat arbitrary
power by giving each representative
on traction less than the fractions Of
other States which received nothing be-
cause of their own fragments. inns
action was taken to prevent the loss
of representation by any State.
If that policy should be accepted in
the approaching apportlonment 1t could
upset the plans of some Of the house
leaders who are most anxious 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 viii be found to have failed to
keep pace in growth with some of their
larger neighbors and with many of the
western States. If, therefore, they are
to be protected against loss of repre-
sentation 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.
/! 4 less of membership would be by
no means a new experience 10 many of
the States. In the first apportlonment,
made after the census of 1880, when
the house numbered, all told, only l05
members, Virginia was given nineteen,
or almost one-ffth of the entire mem
bership, and in 1900 that number was
increased to twenty-three. Then there
was a gradual falling away until 1870,
when there were only nine members
from that State. Since then there has
been gain of one.
Barring the first pportionment, Con
necticut began with seven members
and now has five. Maryland has been
reduced from eight to SIX. and New
| Hampshire from 10ur TO TWO. NttluOht.
which in 1910 had six members. now
has two, while Maine with eight in
| / $50 has been reduced to four. Massa-
chusetts has the same number with
! which she started in 1890. In 1900
| the number was increased to seventeen,
but by the next apportionment it had
fallen to thirteen, and the original
! figure Of fourteen was not regained I'M
til 1900
After Virginia and Massachusetts,
! PENNSYLVANIA, with thirteen members,
| had the largest representation in the
/ house in 1890. New York and North
| Carolina followed with ten each Tie
! latter State never rose above thirteen,
bat the former has gone as high as
forty, which figure was attained under
the arportionment of 1890 and is the
| largest representation any State ever
has had. After 1880 the New York rep
resentation fell to thirtv-one in 1860
| Since then it has been rising gradually,
until now it IS thirty-seyen. PennSvl-
vanja 5 present number of thirtvtwO is
| the largest ever enjoyed by that State.
/ From the first census to the present
/ Rhode Island, with her two capitals and
! double name. has been uniformly rep