The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-03
WILSON OR SHERMAN

1 Now, as then, he is practically assured a I plurality of votes in the electoral college and now, as then. his defeat can be &C., complished only by withholding from him
 an actual majority over all, thus again | imposing the election of a President upon
 the House of Representatives"
 If the states should vote in the electoral | college as they are now represented po- | l:tically in the House of Reprez zentatives elected in 1910 the result would be: Will
 son, 29s; Taft 167; Roosevelt, Gs The editor continues:
 Without assuming that the voting in
 November will follow closely the lines cs- dicated, we nevertheless find in these | actual results of 1910 the best basis obtain able for intelligent speculation. Certain deductions, for example, seem fully war ranted-to wit:
 q. Roosevelt cannot be elected.
 He may expect with reason to obtain
 the 66 votes allotted to him in the above table. Give to him from the Taft column l: | Illinois, 29; Pennsylvania, 3S; Wisconsin, IS; Michigan, 15; Massachusetts, IS; and Delaware, ga total, with the original ej, of 1S2. Add from the Wilson column:
 Arizona, 3; Colorado. 6; New York, 45; l North Carolina, 12; Oklahoma, 10-tota
 16 grand total, 25S, or 8 less than the requisite number. The widest imagining cannot accord Roosevelt a majority
 ''2. Taft cannot win.
 "Allot to him 167, as recorded above jr- cluding the doubtful 54 from Illinois, Min
 nesota and Wisconsin; from the Roosevelt
 column: Utah, 4; from Wilson: Mary
 land, s; New York. 45; Ohio, 24; West Vir-
 ginia, S-total, 256, or 10 less than a ma
 1ority. This must be regarded as the top
 most of MT. Taft's possibilities"
 Tn case Wilson should not obtain ma
 jority over both Taft and Roosevelt the
 House of Representatives would be called upon to elect a President on the second Wednesday of February. Each state would have one vote, and tho result would be: For Wilson, 22 opposition, a.;
 divided. 4-Maine. Nebraska, New Mexico
 and Rhode Island. Necessary to choice, 9. Only Taft, Roosevelt and Wilson could be voted for. Obviously neither Taft
 nor Roosevelt would have a chance. Will son would have to win over three non uciiiocIdtiC SldleS-d N1TIudl iifDOSS1DIl1IN.
 The House of Representatives, therefore, would be unable to elect a President. The editor continues:
 Meanwhile the Senate, acting under the same provision of the constitution would be engaged in choosing vice president, since Marshall necessarily would have
 failed to obtain majority in the electoral college, in common with Wilson. Choice would be restricted to the two persons
 who had received the largest number nr electoral votes-Marshall surely and Sher- man proba bly-and the senators would vote individually instead of by the states, as in the House of Representatives. Forty-nine votes would be required tp | elect. The Senate is now ciasslfied po- litically as follows: Republicans, 50; dem ocrats, A. vacancies, 2. The vacancies | will be filled presumably by the lesisla- lures of Colorado and Illinois in January. Apparently, therefore, the republicans would have surely one and possibly three | more than the 49 required for the election of a vice president who would become President on the 4th of March. This seems to mean that, in the event of Will son falling to obtain 266 electoral votes, Sherman would succeed Taft.
 But here enters another factor. The re- publican majority in the Senate Is not only scant, but also nominal rather than actual. Promising that both Illinois and Colorado return republicans, the total re- publican vote would be 52. If for any
 reason four of these senators should ab- stain from voting. the Senate would be
 unable to elect a vice president. Now. 1t is quite conceivable that Roosevelt might consider it advisable to present the cleo ton of Sherman. If so, 1t would be most surprising of four out of the so-caled
 insurgent senators-Dixon, Clapp. Poin- dexter, Bourne, Works, Borah. and the
 two new senators from Colorado and H. llinois--should refuse to act in conformity
 with his wishes, especially in view of the position which Sherman holds in their
 estimation as a pronounced req :tionary. Precedent for their refraining from vot-
 ing is found in the abstention of the Yer
 mont and Maryland federalist members
 0, the House. whose refusal to vote gave the presidency to Jefferson in 1s00.
 But the question arises immediately: What, aside from their disapproval of
 sherman. could be the motive of koose-
 welt and his adherents in preventing ,ie election of a vice president under circum-
 stances which would constitute him Pres- ident for four years? A possible answer
 is to be found in the law of succession fchapter of the acts of the forty-ninth Congress), which provides that:
 " In case of the removal, death. resig- nation or inability of both the President
 and vice president. then the Secretary of
 State shall act as President until the dis ability of the President or vice president is removed or until President 1iis elect ed The acting President must. up- i on taking office, convene Congress, if not at the time in session. in extraordinary session, giving 20 days notice.'
 This statute was enacted by authority
 of article ?. section 6. of the constitu-