The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-05-19
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HASKIN, Director,
Washington, D. G..
WAsTE OF CONGREssIONAL TIME

WASTE OF CONGRESSIONAL TIME.
Washington, D. c., May 1.-THE
old evil of permitting defeated mem
bers of congress to continue to sit and
enact the nations laws for four
months after their successors have
| been elected is again causing great
| deal of discussion in congress. OrdI-
narily, this discussion is revived every
/ two years, during the prediction
campaigns. The fact that it is now
under discussion at the beginning oil
a new administration, is taken as an
indication that there is a better chance
than ever before of changing the ex-
4 listing law. and remedying the diff
Guilty.
Another thing which is condemned
! almost unanimously by public men,
| but which has never been changed, is
| that a newly elected president does
not take office until four months.
sometimes to a day, from the date of
his election. But this occurs only
once in four years. and often only once
/ in eight years. Therefore, despite the
greater in portance of the presidential
position, the situation as it AFFECTS
congress is generally regarded by
members of that body as in more vital
need of remedy by legislation.
| There is a widespread belief that
an amendment to the constitution
|
vention date. of congress. This is not
so, and is proved by the simple words
of the constitution itself. The second
paragraph of section 4, article 1, pro-
vides
! 1.-THE congress shall assemble at
least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday
in December, unless they shall by law
appoint a. different day"
| ''They'' refers to the members of
1 T4 11vr Cd a
the meeting date of congress can, by
authority of this section of the consti-
| tuition, be changed to any time the
majority OF it's members may select,
if the president approves of the.
change.
the present system is that under or
| binary conditions, a member of the
/ house or senate elected in November
| of one year does not take his seat in
| congress until December of the fol-
| lowing year. In the case of members
of the house, this leaves them but
| eleven months before they must be
tup for reelection. 1t has worked out
in hundreds of cases that newly elect
| ed members of the house, coming to
Washington for the first time under
such conditions, have to give nearly
all of their time to the business of
| politics in order to keep their coveted
positions. Their strictly congressional
duties naturally suffer from this neg
| lect and the whole country is the
| loser.
Defeated Congressman Hold Seats.
Another objection often brought for
ward is that members of the house and
senate continue to serve for four
months after their defeat at the polls
When this is combined with an over
turn of the party holding the execu-
tive power, it has always resulted in
the government being practically dead
until after the inauguration of the
new president and the convention of
the new congress. A case in point has
just occurred. While there was, of
course, 6 Republican majority in both
| branches of the congress, this ma
jority was materially increased on
both sides of the capitol as a result of
the elections last November. Also, the
Dem ocratic aspirant for the preS1-
dency was overwhelmingly defeated.
| With this expression of the will of
| the American people registered, the
waning Wilson administration was
forced to sit and twiddle its thumbs
could the cogs of the governmental
machinery start again. A parallel
situation developed when Woodrow
Wilson was first elected. The then
president, William Howard Taft,
| feeling an obligation not to enbarrass
the man who would succeed him, was
forced to sit with idle hands, despite
the fact that the Mexican situation
was then an acute matter of foreign
policy.
The origin of the long wait between
the election of a president and the
time of his taking office dates back
to the beginning of the nation. After
the thirteen original colonies freed
themselves from British rule and
formed the United States of America,
| hat he ter Of IA
new nation was SO vast and condi-
tions of travel So primitive, that a
considerable time was necessary to
travel to the capital from the more
remote regions. For that reason, the
elaborate system for the election of
the president and vice president was
built up.
This system, still in operation, pro-
vided that electors for president
should be chosen on the first Tues
day after the first Monday in Novem-
Der at intervals of four years. This is
still the election day.
The next step is the meeting of the
electors on the second Monday in jan
uary following the election. They con-
vene in the various state capitals
These are the people who actually vote
for the president and vice president.
The Original System.
Three reports are made of the re-
) suits of these meetings of the electors
From each state capital. one report is
sent to the congress of the United
States by special messenger. A sec
: ond report is forwarded to congress
| by mail. The third report in each
case is filed with the United States
district judge presiding in the various
districts in which the state capitals
lie. The original purpose of this was
to insure a record of the action OF
the electors in each state being pre-
| served. If anything happened to tht
? special messenger from any state
: there would be the attested record OF
: the electors action which would
Z reach congress by mail. Should botf
. | records be lost, the record filed will
e the district judge at the state capita
2 would then be conveyed to Washing