The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-05-16

Tne 0fieln Of tne long wAit h.
tween the election Of . presiAss.
and the time Of his taking 49,
dates back to the beginning q ~
nation. After the Is Original =,
onies freed themselves from Hriiss
rule and formed the United rst.s
Of America, It was found tAsl-s.
territory Of the new nation ~ :.
vast and conditions of trayel
primitive that . considerable ~
was necessary to travel from ~
capital from the more remote -.
gions. For that reason, the elsk
crate system for the election -
the president and vice president
Was built up.
This system, still in operat,o,.
provided that electors for presidsn,
should BE- chosen on the. first Tues.
day after the first Monday in M.
vember at intervals Of four years
This IL still the election DAY.
The next step il the meeting ~
The electors on the second MONDAY
in January following the election
They convene In the various stats
capitals. These are the people vhc
actually vote for the president anS
vice president.
The Original System.
Three reports are made Of N.
results Of these meetings Of tia
electors. From each state capital
one report il sent to the congress
Of the United States by special
messenger. A second report n
forwarded to congress by mail, 4
third report in each case is fled
with the United States district
Judge presiding in the various dis.
tricts In which the state capitah
lie. The original purpose Of this
was to insure q record Of the ac.
ton Of the electors in each state
being preserved, If anything han.
pened to the special messenger
from any state. there would be he
sttested record of the electors Il.
ton which would reach congress
by mail. Should both records BE-
lost. the record filed with the dis.
trfet Judge at the state capitai
would then be conveyed to wash
ington as the official record for
that state.
/. The reason for building IN this
elaborate system was the difficulty
Of communication and transports
ton in the early days of the na-
ton. Even then, the territory Of
the country extended west Of the
Appalachian mountains. Roads
we're Of the crudest sort. The only
, means Of travel was on horseback
! or in horse-drawn vehicles.
This condition existed for a great
many years. The steamboat was
not invented by Fulton until 1907,
and did not COME into general use
as a common carrier for years aft
erward. Even when it did, it was
Of assistance only to the people
Of a portion Of the new nation.
The locomotive followed in 1880.
After its perfection and until rail.
roads we're built across the noun
tains the difficulties Of travel re-
manned and no reason appeared to
congress for changing the meet
ing date.
! Now these barriers to a speedier
convention Of congress after its
election have disappeared. With
the perfection Of railroad and
steamship systems and modern
methods Of communicating news,
1.-THE summoning Of special session
OF congress is known all over the
country today in a few hours
An idea of the state of the roads
The only channels Of travel in the
early days of the republic, may be
gathered from the correspondence
Of John Quincy Adams. when he
was president. He records thai
once. travelling along Pennsylvapn
Iavenue in Washington. between tht
capitol and the White house. hi!
carriage overturned. greatly ruff
fling his executive dignity. On an
tother occasion it is recorded thai
President Adams attempted tt
reach the capitol, but found TIL
main thoroughfare Of the capita
of the nation in such condition tina
he was forced to return to his ON
cial residence. With Pennsylvania
avenue. q city street, in this condi
ton, travel between western Penn
sylvania, for instance. and Wash
ington. was often q slow and I'm
certain undertaking.