The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-21
ELECTION OF NEW POPE IS OBSERVED
 UNDER OLD RULES

The tonab-iike seclusion of the con- cIave to which the members of the college of cardinals retire to elect ths new pope-the brick and mortar bar world, the cells adjoining the Sistine chapel, the wicket through which the food is passed. all the medieval safe guards which are presented -origi- mated in the papa1 constitution Ubi periculum, which was promulgated by Gregory x in 1274 as a reform for the fraud and intrigue and delay that had attenssa the election of the pontin in times antiquity. This fornals cere- monial procedure is observed today, says the New York Evening Post, with a few codifications and notifications and rnino- changes made necessary because Of the greater convent ences of travel and communication. and its eff1- cacy, indeed. the admitted necessity for it's rigors, even at this time, is a tribute to the wisdom and far-sight- edness of it's author.
 Before the time of Gregory x, the general nature of the election of the pope by the heads of the clergy in a large assemblage often caused blood shed, quarrels. schisn1s, elections of antipopes, and frequently delays of years before choice was achieved. Gregory,s legislation ended all this. and although there were returns sew . his death, the recurrence of the in- triguIng and the auarre1ing led to the issuance of bulls which fixed Pope Gregory legis1ation firmly in the laws of the church.
 Briefly this is the substance of the Uni periculum: At the death of the pope the cardinals present in Rome were required to wait 10 days until their co11eag in other countries could arrive; then they were to meet sn closed conclave-the original and obsolete meaning of the word con clave is locked in with a key''-each h attsndsd by only one servant, and. if il, by two, at the most: in the con- claye they were to lead q life in com mon, not even. having separate cells. and to hold no communication with i the outer world on peril of excom- nunication, and were to receive their !; food througha a wicket which was un- der constant guard.
 After the cardina1s had been in se- cIusfon three days their meals con sisted Of only one dish. and after they : had been in cone1ave five days they received only bread and water. with a AttIe wine As a further means of ac- received no ecclesiastical revenues while they were in conc1ave+every provision was devised to make their sole bssinese that Of electing a pope.
 Plus " in his efforts to check the intriguing and plotting for the election of a new pope while his pre- decessor was still living, in 1862, made the 1eg1sIation of the conclave mod 4el of precautionary precision and wisdom. He it was who prescribed the daily scrutiny and the solemn voting. by specially prepared ballots in which the name of the voter was concealed, also the t.accessft,'' the sec ond voting by which the cardinals might transfer their suffrage to those who received the greatest number of votes on the first ballot. Plus like wise provided for the drawing for cells by lot.
 Notifications and minor changes continued as the years passed. Tn 1891 Gregory xV compelled each car dinaI to take solemn oath before each vote that he purposed to elect him whom he judged to be the most worthy. On March 12, 1922, this pope issued the bull, Decet Romanum ton the ceremony of the conclave has not been changed since.
 Under the procedure that was sob- served at the elections of Leo XIII and Plus x, and that will undoubt- edly prevail in the present instance each cardinal. when he enters the conc1ave is accompanied by a clerk and one servant Counting the off cfals of the concIave, this makes something under 300 persons who en- ter the temporary prison within the walls of the Vatican, and who have no further comm unication with the outer world, save by means of the .'rota,,t the turning-box.
 The elaborate and i'm pressive pub- lie cerAmonials and processions have