The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1919-11-20
SPEAKER CLARK TO
REMEDY SITUATION
IF President Elect Should Die Before
Inauguration No Provision Made.

who vote for their choice for Presl
dent and Vice President every foul
years ever have stopped to think wha1
q mess this country would be in Il
the successful candidate should dle
between election day and the. date OF
his Inauguration
There is one man who is giving the
matter much thought and he IS. Chang
Clark. speaker of the House OF Rep
.resentatives from 1911 to this year
and he proposes to introduce some
bills to remedy the Situation SO that
the nation never will be confronted
with the three or four serious prob
lens that are easily possible but
which the greatest good fortune has
kept from the United. States during
its history: s...%s
These three dates Should be re-
nembered as vital points in the curl
Gus and unattended situation as re-
CARDS a possible tangle over the pres
idential succession in the event of the
death of the President-elect:
: 1.-The election of presidential cleo
tors is held on the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November.
2-The electoral colleges of the 48
States meet at their State capitals to
cast their votes on the second We'd
nesday in December.
3-The two houses of Congress
count the vote of the electors on the
third Wednesday in February.
And here are some of the possible
perplexities that might arise, as fig
ured out by ex-Speaker Clark: "a
Suppose the successful candidate
dies before the electors meet in De-
camber? How would the electors of
the 48 States determine who to vote
for? 1t might be possible to recon
vene the national convention of the
successful party, or to hold an lnfor-
NAL convention of the electors from
the various States.
The problem arises from the failure
of the Constitution of the United
States to cover this point in any man
ner. No such occasion, has, as yet,
arisen, but that does not mean that
none ever will. The nearest approach
was in 1872 when Horace Greeley,
candidate of the coalition in orposi-
ton to President Grant, died less than
a month after his defeat at the polls.
The 66 electoral votes that would
have been cast for him had he lived
until December, were distributed
among a half-dozen men.
After the State electors have cast
their ballots they prepare three cop
les of the formal vote, one going to
Congress by regular mail, another by
special messenger and the third IS
fled with the United States district
court of the locality in which the vote
is taken. Then the electors power
expires. If the successful candidate
should die after they have formally
voted for him there is no authority
to be found anywhere that can call
them together again. Congress,
when it meets in February, has no
right to change the names on the bal
lots in such contingency as just
noted.
AS a third possibility, suppose that
after Congress had formally canvass
ed the vote in February the president
elect should die before the inaugural
in March? The Constitution pro-
vides for no power that could recon- |
vene the electoral college, or Congress |
for that purpose, if it should have
adjourned
In addition to having discovered
these grave possibilities of future i
troubles Mr.. Clark has provided what
he believes would be remedy. He
suggests that~the governors of the
States be given the power to recon-
l.. l. 11Li
or that the Secretary of State be au-
thorized to call another join meeting !
Of CONGRESS- to take some action to-
straighten out the tangle. The for
icler speaker proposes to introduce
resolution shortly which will bring
about threshing out Of the matter
by Congress and possibly foresta:l
such catastrophes as have been de-
scribed.
Another curious omission of the
Constitution is that there is no pro-
vision 6or the successful candidate he
ing notified of his election. The nom
inee Of tae national conventions al |
ways is notified of the honor done
him, and in an impressive manher. I
but there is no such ceremony for the
President-elect. He is supposed t.
'just hear" it, and it is a fair as
sumption that he will. In the much
disputed election of 1876. Rutherford
B. HAYES, who was counted in over
Samuel J. Tilden by special election
commission, did not learn of that
bodys' action until he was on a rail
road train travelling from Columbus
to Washington.