Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1910-09-28

| WASHINGTON. sent lN.-OnC OF
the first ducatiuns with which the ap.
preaching session of congress will be
called upon To grapplc will be to dc.
tcimiue when the next apportionm nj
Of members OF the House OF Repre-
sCntativcs under the recent census
shan he made.
| While Il IL not actually required by
tho Constitution that instrument i'm
lies that rcapportiunmcnt shall follow
| each dgccnnai enumeration of the PEG.
pie, and accordingly redistribution
Of seats in the House membership has
taken place hitherto soon after the
| conclusion Of each census.
Up to 1890 the reappOrtiOnmCnt was
uniformly postponed until the first
session of the congress succeeding the
enumeration. but after the nth Cen.
sus change was made and the APP
portiunmcnt bills for the nth and
/ 18th census were brought In and pass
cd in each case during the short SEES
sion of the current congress immedi-
atcly followin gthe census. II will
rest with the approaching session to
determine whether Il shall follow the
old or the new precedent. 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 CON
troll of the House for the 63rd Con-
1 gross they would naturally resist any
effort to have the change mad by
\ the present Republican congress, while
| the Republicans would he 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. II the present
day plan of fixing upon definite
number of members as the first step
In the distribution Is followed many
states will he found tn have n con-
siderable number of citiz"ns over the
number necessary to give them the
number of members assigned them.
The size of the IIousa once determine.
ed, the representation of each state
Is arrived at by dividing the aggrc-
gate population of the country by the
total mcmb rship of the House and
then dividing the population of any
given state by the ouotient thus oh.
tanned Almost inevitably there en-
sues upon each of such divisions n
remainder, large or small. Aside from
arbitrarily fixing the representation on
the voting rather than the actual po,
pulation this remainder, or fraction,
affords the only base of manipulation
of the arportionment of members.
| II used to the extreme II might be
an important factor as no fewer than
90 representatives now hold their
seats ON fractions. That they should
do so Is strictly in accordance with
the law which provides that, any def
cheney occurring ON AN even division
shall be supplied from the states hav'
ing the largest remainders on the divi'
sion This rulo was strictly followed
In the last appOrtionment in all allOt'
ments except those made to Maine and
Nebraska. In both those states Con
Rress exercised somewhat arbitrary
power by giving each representative
on n fraction less than the fractions
of other states which received moth
ing because of their own fragments
This action was taken to prevent the
loss of representation by any state
II that policy should be accepted In
the approaching apportionment II
could upset the plans of some of the
House leaders who are most anxious
to avoid any appreclable 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
growth with some of their larger
neighbors and with many of the ives
tern states. If, therefore, they are &c
be protected against loss of reprcscn
tation In the House II will probably
l.