The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1913-04-17
DIRECT SENATORIAL ELECTIONS.

iiSA S"AN>h Nv oIOIS' iSSoAcAottiC AL ia
United States will ever elect Unite
States senator. By vote of the legi.
nature Of Connecticut approving tn
constitutional amendment providin
for the direct popular election of ser
stors the amendment was made e1
fective, there being favorable actio,
by three-fourths of the states as prC
yided by law. A provision of the con
Stltutlon over which there was ami
mated debate a century and a quartz
ago, and which was adopted because
the trainers of the constitution die
not believe it wise to entrust the PEG
pie with the election of their senators
Aas thus been overturned. and after
all these years the nation has com
mitted itself to the doctrine that the
people are competent to choose di
rectly these very important public
servants.
The reason for the adopting of the
ate method of electing senator's have
been confused with the doctrines of
state sovereignty and the equal rights
Of states. Each Of the original col
onies was Jealous of its rights as a
sovereign commonwealth, and the
smaller the colony the greater was
the insistence on the recognition of
the equality of the states. It devel-
sped quite early in the proceedings of
the convention that it would be i'm
possible to form union of the col.
enies iii which some recognition were
not given to this principle The small
Ter colonies felt that if all representa-
sion in the legislative body were on
The basis of population their influence
IN the affairs of the new federation
would be lost as the vote of one such
state as New York would be equal to
chat of several such states as Rhode
island. A compromise was affected
BY which representation in the house
Of representatives should be on the
basis Of population, while representa-
ton in the senate should be equal for
all states, each state, regardless of
size, being given two senators. In tina.
there was full and complete recog-
milton of the equal sovereignty of the
states. The manner of electing sena.
sHs was detail which did not in any
hut sentimental way affect the state
sovereignty idea.
It was decided that the senators
should be elected by the legislatures
rather than by the people direct for
exactly the same reason that it was
proposed that the president should be
elected by electors and not by the
people at large, namely, because the
office was such as important one, and
the ability Of the people to choose
wisely was so generally doubted, that
it was thought wise to arrange for the
selection Of senators by select bodies
of men who We're to be the wisest and
most patriotic of their states. that is,
by the state legislature.
AS we look back over the situation
there appears to be little reason to
question the correctness of the view
which thus found expression in the
constitution. AS matters stood then
the masses of the people were not
hkely to be able to choose as wisely
as state legislatures could do. Means
If travel and means of communica-
zion We're poor. Newspapers and
other sources of public information
we're few. There was good reason,
therefore, to make some such ar
rangement as that which was made.
But that reason has disappeared long
ago, and for years most of the oppo-
sition to the popular election of sena-
tors has been due either. to an illogi-
cal and unreasoning adherence to
outworn traditions or to desire to
make easy the manipulation of sena-
torial elections which have become
such a scandal in late years.
The change does not effect in any
manner the equal representation of
the states in the senate, or the doc.
trine Of state equality on which that
equal representation is based. It
simply places in the hands of the
5s0ple of each state the right to say
For themselves, and by their own
votes, whom they will have to repre-
sent them in the senate of the United
States. 1t leaves untouched all the
arrangements which have been made
in the. various states for the nomina
ton Of senatorial candidates, but it
wilt make necessary the placing of the
names Of candidates nominated on
axe fall election ballots when there
are selections to be made.
It might have simplifed matters a
little had the North Dakota legislat-
ere which has lust adjourned antici-