New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1920-10-22
NEW BASIS DUE
FOR THE HOUSE
APPoRTIoNMENT BILL WILL BE
PREPARED WHEN COMMITTEE
GETS CENSUS FIGURES.
THESE ARE NEARLY COMPLETE
Congress Will Discuss Changing the
Number OF Representatives n Also
the Old Time Issue of Southern
Representation.
BY JAMES p.

BY JAMES p. HORNADAY.
Washington.-The bureau of the cen,
sus has promised to supply the commit
tee on the census of the house of rep
resentatiyes with the complete 1926
population figures for the United
States soon after congress r~econvenes
in December. With these statistics in
hand the committee will prepare a bill
for n new house of representatives ap.
~portionment. Under a provision of the
federal Constitution this apportion-
lnent must be made every ten years
Immediately following the decennial
census.
1t will he incumbent on the various
tate legislatures to r%eappOrtion the
-tates for congressional purposes In
accordance with the basis of represen-
alton fixed by congress. About 40 per
rent of the state legislatures will meet
next January and congress will agree
m the new basis of representation I'm
line to enable the legislatures to make
he state reappOrtlonments before
heir sessions.
Two questions will present them
elves to the federal legislators In
iealing with the subject. The first
md the really important one will be
whether the size of the house of rep
'esentatives shall be changed. Under
lhe 1910 apportionment the house of
representatives is made up of 435
members. The membership is 50 large
rs to make the body unwieldy and II
S reasonably certain that there will
De argument put forth in favor of re-
ducing the membership 10 about 400.
On the other hand there are advocates
Of IA larger house, and the committee
on the census when it sits down to
write the new apportionment bill will
be confronted by Il demand that the
membership be increased to 500.
Basis Of Representation Higher.
The present basis of representation
is 2ll 1877. This is to say that under
the 1910 legislation there Is n mem
Der Of the house for every 211,S77 in
habitants. The basis of representation
VIII u|iuouDieuiy ne iHcftuscu III the
new appOrtionmeht. 1t will probably
90 up to 100000 or 100000. The 1920
population statistics for a large num-
Der Of the states are now complete by
congressional districts and they show
that a number of states, under any
such apportionment as congress Is
likely to make Will lose members. The
census bureau unofiicially estimates
the total population of the United
States ut lO6,OOO,OOO. This would lie
an Increase of approximately 1900
900 In the ten years. If any states are
to lose representatives, under the new
apportionment, then 1t Is evident that
some 60 or 40 new members must be
added to the 435 now provided for.
Every decade since 1870, with the ex-
ception of 1910, the house membership
has been enlarged TO keep pace with
the growing population. Now the house
floor Is crowded when all the members
are present. So 1t will be G e there
Southern Question to Come Up.
The old issue of Southern represen-
tatiOn In congress Will be raised when
the new a~pportionment bill is brought
before the Legislative body. 1t is a sub
ject that has been brought up and de-
bated In connection with every con-
gressional reapportionment since the
Civil "A Ten years & f.. d.. Crum-
packer of the Tenth Indiana district
led the fight for a reduction of South
ern representation. He was chairman
of the house committee on the census.
He was supported by a large number
of representatives, but failed TO gain
sufficient support to get the legislation
through.
Up to this time the present commit
tee on the census, so Representative
Siegel of New York, its chairman, says,
has not given any thought to the ques-
tion of Southern representation. The
public men who advocate a change In
the basis of representation would en-
force the fourteenth constitutional
amendment. Such a change In the
basis of representation would, of
course. cut down the representation in
n good many of the Southern states.