The Mena weekly star., 1913-04-10

The amendment primarily trans fers the powers of electing senators from the state legislatures to the people at the polls To effect this change it was necessary to alter the machinery for the filling of vacan- cies i'll the Senate.
 For more than 60 years proposals have been made to change the con- stltutlOn so as to provide for the direct election of senators. It was not, however, until June 24, 1911, that the Senate was induced for the first time in it's history to give it's consent to the change. On that day it voted 10 submit to the states the proposed amendment The resolu- ton to submit had already passed the House in a somewhat different form. Before adjournment of the session. both houses agreed to the language to be employed, and the resolution was deposited with the secretary of state May 16, 1912, for distribution among the states.
 The original theory in establish ing the choice of senators was that they represented the states, where as the members of the House repre- senLed the people of their districts. It was because of this theory of the stale as a unit that all states, large and small, were given equal repre- sentation in the Senate. Rhode Is- land had the same number as New York or Pennsylvania In the the Ory of the constitution framers, this entity of the state was thus made more distinct under the federal system, and the state legislature was regarded as a suitable medium for expressing this state entity. Later it was Gontended that state entity would still be preserved if the peo- pie of the entire state. instead of the legislature chose the senators, and this view has now been accept ed as the basis of the new system.
 In 1926 the first action was taken in Congress looking to a change. In that year Representative Storrs of New York introduced a resolutions making senators elective by the people. Another resolution of sim liar import was introduced by Rep resentatiVe Wright of Ohio in 1929. In 1850 Senator Clemens of Alabama introduced the first senatorial di- rect election resolution in the Sen ate. Nothing resulted from these 
 It was Andrew Johnson who re- vived congressional agitation for the direct election of senators. As member of the house of represen- tatiVes, he introduced two resolu- tiOns for the change. and in 1860 re- newed the agitation as a member of the Senate. In 1868, as president. he sent special message to Congress the measure, and then his recommendation in his annual message.
 The subject was revived in iS73 1876, 1886 and 1888. but without sue cess. Tn 1893 the House agreed to the proposition, as it did in the suc- reeding congress, and still again in l89S 1900 and 1902. The proposed change on none of these occasions won a favorable report from the in the Senate
 With the House thus arrayed year after year in favor of the change. the Senate became the battle-ground. Senator Bristow of Kansas took the lead in advocacy of amending the constitution along this line. In De- cember, 1909, he introduced his first resolution. A year later he ob- tained report from the commit tee, but a feature had been tackled onto his proposal which brought on a fight in the Senate and threatened to kill the entire proposition. This interposed feature was to amend other provisions of the constitution SC as to deprive the federal govern ment of power to supervise the state regulations as to the time and manner of election The votes of southern senators threatened to de- feat the main proposition if the
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