Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-25

n the branch Of the AIlerlcdii
~ Congress which is closest 10 the
~ people. receiving its authority
directly from them, ana going
back to them every two years 10
give an account of its stewardship 'ie
House of Representatives STANDS as tiie
nearest approach to reflection OIL Tue
will of the people that is to be founu IN
the American governmental system. SEN
ators are elected for a term of six years.
and are therefore less subject 10 the iiuc-
tuation of public opinion than are repIe
sentatives The President IS elected LOT
term of four years. and public OPINION
may swing as a pendulum to one extreme
and back again before the country mas
chance to pass upon his administralio'c
Only the House reflects every chahge Oh
sentiment which comes over the people;
,rhe House of Representatives in the
Sixty third Congress will be made up OF
40 members, not counting delegates from
the territories and resident commissioners
from the Philippines and Porto fsiro.
membership of the House IS fixed by Con-
sress. The Constitution PROVIDES TOT
decennial census to determine the popu-
alton of each state in the mon, IN oroe.
to determine exactly what proportion .,
the total membership snail nc asSiSH"u
TO each of the several states. Alter tie
census returns at the beginning OF edcH
decade are in hand. Congress takes up
the problem of determining the size OIL Tue
:
long as the population of the country con-
tinlles to grow as rapidly as it has IN
the past. it is inevitable that either the
number of members must be largely IN
creased or else that the number OF people
who shall constitute the average congress
sional district shall be corresponhnsiy
increased. To increase the membership
of the House in proportion to the grown
of the country would result in that pody
becoming so large as to be unWieidy- On
the other hand to maintain 1t at the same
number would result in such large IN,
crease in the number of people VINO "ouiu
that states with slowly expanding popula-
lions would lose members. While states
with rapidly growing populations would
gain corresponding number OF members
So Congress faces the problem OF deter
mining upon membership which is not
excessive and representa- ton which does
not too greatly cut down the existing rep
resentaton of any state lneIeIore' ~
has nearly always increased Doth tne
membership of the House and the ratio
of the population entitled to one repre-
sentation. For instance. the House under
the apportionment of 1901 had MEMBER
ship of SOL. compared with the mem
hership of 435 under the apportionment
of 1911, while the ratio of population was
1914 $50 under the census OF lWO, as CONF
pared with 211 ST. for the census OF I9lo
Not all congressional districts have the
same population in practice, anhoush
due in part to the fact that congressional
districts usually follow county lines, town
lines or ward lines in cities. so that tne
population cannot be divided with exact
ness Congress simply apporuons rep
resentation among the various states. and
allows each state to fix the limits OF the
congress onal districts to which 1T is en-
titled. In fixing these lines the STATE
legislatures frequently resort to what Is
known as gerry Wandering; that Is, II the
republicans happen to control the hgls-
lature of state when a redlStrlct!ng Dill
is pending they aim to crowd all OF the
strongly democratic counties INTO as rev
districts as possible, thus insurlng
republican representation in the greatest
possible number of districts Tor the
decade ahead. On the other hand, II the
democrats are in power they try TO CROWD
as many.of the republican voters INTO one
district as they can This sonnet mes re-
suits in remarkable variation from the
ratio of representation fixed by Congress.
For instance under the 1900 census the
ratio was 1914 49, Yet in the fourteenth
district of Pennsylvania there was a
population of only 10000, while in the
tn I'd district there was a population OF
251 600.
The House of Representatives is not
continuing body. Each House dies with
the fall of the Speakers gavel at noon
on the 4th OF March of every alternate
wear. The new members are elected In
November before the old House dies, ana
they go upon the pay roll on March 4, the
dav of the death of the old House. Tx
cept when an extra session OF Congress
is called, the new members do not begin