El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-01

count Of its stewardship. the house Of
representatives STANDS as the nearest
approach TO a reflection of the will Of
the people that is to be found in the
American governmental system, Sen
ators are elected for a term Of six
years. and are therefore less subject to
the fuctuation of public opinion than
representatives. The president is elect
ed for a term of four years. and pub
lie opinion may swing as a pendulum
to one extreme and back again before
the country has a chance to pass upon
his administration. Only the house re-
fleets every change OF sentiment which
comes over the people.
Next House VIII Have 435 Members.
The house Of representatives in the
Sfxty-third congress Will be made up OF
435 members, not counting delegates
from the territories and resident com
nissioners from the Philippines and
Porto Rico. The membership of the
house is fixed by congress The consJi-
tuition provides for decennldl census
to determine the population of each
state in the union, in order TO deter
mine exactly what proportion or the
total membership shall be assigned 10
each of the several states After the
census returns at the beginning OF each
decade are in hand, congress takes up
the problem Of determining the size or
the house during the 10 years 10 IOI-
low. SO long as the population or the
country continues to grow as rapidly
as il has in thc past it IS inevitable
that either the number OF members
must be largely increased, or else that
the number Of people who shall constl-
tute the average congressional district
shall be correspondent increased o
Increase the membership of the house
in proportion to the growth Of the
country would result in that body pc
coming so large as 10 be unWelldy- On
the other hand. to maintain II at the
same number would result in such a
large increase in the number OF people
who would constitute a congressional
constituency that states with slowly
expanding populations would lose
members, while states with rapidly
growing populations would gain cor
responding number of members SO
con gress faces the problem OF deter
mining upon a membership which is
not excessive and representation
which does not too greatly cut down
the existing representation of any
state. Therefore it has nearly always
increased both the membership of the
house and the ratio of the population
entitled TO one representation. For in
stance. the house under the appOruon-
ment Of 1901 had q member ship OF 391,
as compared with the membership OF
435 under the appOrtiOnment Of 1911
while the ratio OF population was
III
compared with Pills for the census Of
1910.
Not all congressional districts have
the same population in practice. al
though theoretically they should have
This Is due in part TO the fact that con-
gressiOnai districts usually follow
county lines, or ward lines in cities. so
that the population cannot therefore be
divided with exactness- Congress sim
ply apportiOns representation among
al ND al n1r d
state to fix the limits Of the congress
siOnal districts TO which il is entitled.
In fixing these lines the state legisla-
lures frequently resort TO what IS
known as gerrymandering. That is,
II the Republicans happen to control
the legislature of a state when a re-
districting bill is pending, they aim
to crowd all Of the strongly Democratic
counties into as few districts as posi-
bic thus inSuring Republican repreSen-
satiOn in the greatest possible number
Of districts for the decade ahead On
the other hand, If the Democrats are in
power. they try to crowd as many OF
the Republican voters into one dis strict
as they can This some times results in
remarkable variation from the ratio OF
representation fixed by congress. Tor
instance, under the 1900 census the
ratio was 1941S2 Yet in the 18th dis
trict OF Pennsylvania there was a pop
ulatiOn Of only $4,000, while in the
third district there was population OF
PSI, 900.
Not q Continuing Body.
The house Of representatives is not a
continuing body. Each house dies with
the fall Of the speakers Eavel at noon
on the fourth Of March of every alter
nate year. The new members are elect
ed in November before the old house
dies, and they go upon the payroll on
March 4, the day OF the death Of the
old house Except when an extra ses-
sion Of congress is called, the new
members do not begin their real duties
as legislators until the first Monday OF
the following December
Just before a new house Of represen-
tatives assemblies the members Of each
political party hold a caucus to nOmi-
nate candidates for the elective off
GERS Of the house. the speaker, clerk,
chaplain sergeant at arms and door
keeper OF course, il IS known long
in advance which party will control the
house and elect its officers, and the
nominations made by the other party
are merely perfunCtOry.
Elect a Speaker First.
When the house cOnvenes il is called
TO order by the clerk of the preceding
house, and no other business is in or
der until a speaker Is elected Once
the clerk acted as presiding officer
from the first OF December to nearly
the middle Of February, while the
house could do nothing but ballot Tor
speaker, none OF the political factions
In the house being able to muster a
majority for its candidate for the
speakership. When the clerk Of the
former house calls the new one to or
der, the chairmen of the party eau
cuses- nominate the caucus candidates
for the speakership and a ballot is
taken TO determine which shall be
CHOSEN, OF course, the candidate of the
party which has a majority in the house
wins A committee is then appointed
10 notify him Of his election, and to
escort him to the speakers chair.
Amid loud and long applause, the way
ing OF thousands Of flags, ana the
click Of dozens Of cameras. ne accepts
the gavel from the clerk. and In a Few
words thanks the members and pledges
himself to fulfill the duties OF speaker.
AFTER this the caucus chatrmen erlng IN
their respective resolutions naming the /
minor elective officers Of the house, |
and. OF course, the resolution OF the /
majority party is adopted. The house /
Is then organized.
The Biennial Lottery.
The next step after the house has 4
chosen its staff Of officials Is that Of I
holding the great biennial lottery TO /
determine the choice Of seats IN the I
house for the congress then begin I
ming. When a new congress comes in Z
TO being all Of its members are sup I
posed to be equal and no member is I
entitled to advantage over others In I