The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-06-28
CHOOSING U. S. SENATORS.

Not long since, In commenting upon
the awkward and aboritive efforts be-
ing made in Congress to change the
method of electing u. S. Senators from
the present TO a method Of electing by
popular vote, we urged that the con-
tentious language which now appears
to be stumbling block should be left
out altogether, and the constitution
tampered with as little as possible in
this respect. We urged also that it
was not fair to require all of the
States to come under a rigid rule
whether they wished to or not in this
respect, since some are opposed to the
popular election of Senators, and some
not only favor 1T but have already,
in effect, established it, We suggest
cd that, ia place of the cumbersome
language that is now proposed on this
proposition, section 8 Of article l OF
the Federal constitution should simply
be changed to read: "The Senate of
the United States shall be composed
Of two Senators from eacE State chosen
rs said State may direct" instead Of
"chosen by the legislature thereof, -
as the constitution now reads, We
urged that an amendment in this form
would probably ECt lie opposed by any
Senator: that it would allow every
State It's Just preference in this mat
ter, and that, if the propositions had
been submitted III that form In the
fits1 place, it would no doubt by now
have been adopted as portion OF the
constitution, and hc liz effect through
the ratification of three-t tourths of the
States
We find precisely the same idea in
The current number Of Harper's Week
ly, which says, after giving brief ac-
count of various propositions and
and the present status of
the proposition:
The amendment that should be adopted
is the following:
The Senate of the United States shall
State. elected by the people. or by the
Legislature thereof. as the people shall
determine, for six years, and each Sen
in each State shall have the uuallfica-
tions requisite for electors OF the most
branch OF the State Leglsla-
tures.
That precisely conforms to the sug-
gestion which we made on the same
subject, The editor of Harper S
Weekly reinforces his proposition by
the following argument;
That is, each State should be allowed
10 elect it's Senator'S in any way 1t sees
lit. II the people of Oregon want-as
they do--to choose them by popular vote
ct them do So If the people OF Vermont
on the other hand. prefer-as they do
their wish also should be respected and
upheld To enforce upon a sovereign
state a method obnoxious TO the people
of that State is an outrageous violation
of the spirit OF our institutions and of
The principle of home rule upon which
1ur Government stands
A Senator is an ambassador OF a state
TO The Federal Congress. How he is
selected is the business Of nobody out
side of that State. 80 long as the method
II choosing be orderly and calculated to
safeguard true expression OF the people s
iesire.
If an amendment to the effect pro-
posed should come out of conference. we
Sa SSad iee that tnad faith ssie had been kSPi
could find single good reason for COM
olaint? Political reform? Yes. by all
means, but ever and forever in strict
with the course marked by
The intelligent discernment of communi-
lies themselves. not by arbitrary and
lespotic authority exercised from with
1ut.
Can It be that we arc tho only real
Democrat left in this country? What,
The editor of Harper's Weekly in
Inmates that his suggestion is TINT of
perhaps "the only real Democrat left
in this country" But the suggestion
in The Tribune. was prior to that in
the Weekly, and was not made by Il
Democrat, either. Still, whatever party
name may be claimed for it, we hold
that this is The true idea If the con
stitutiou is TO be amended at all on
this question.
But, as we have said before. since
every State is at liberty to make it's
Senator's elective by popular vote,
either on the Oregon system or by !
nominations, the legisla- |