The Pleasantville press., 1924-10-18
Vote Is by States.

proceeding to the selection OF the vice
president
Vote Is by States.
AS each state, no matter how large
its population and its representation
in the house, has only one vote, 1t Is
obvious that those states having
majority of representatives of one po-
litical faith will cast the vote of that
state for their party nominee. AS
there are 48 states, and majority
of all of them is necessary to the
selection of President, a successful
aspirant must have the votes of at
least 25 states.
1t should be emphasized that it is
the present house of representatives
and the present senate that vote for
President and vice president in the
event cf the election being thrown into
the conqr.ss. New congressman and
senators elected this fall viii have
nothing whatever to do with it,
The present house of representa-
ives is so made up that there is little
likelihood it can make choice. Dem
ocrats make up majority Of the
delegations of 20 states, while % state
delegations have Republican majori-
ties. In 5 other states the repre-
sentation is evenly divided, and those
states would have no vote to cast.
Those states are Maryland, Montana,
Nebraska, New Hampshire and New
Jersey.
Some Not Regular.
The % states showing a nominal Re
publican majority might not all vote
for Coolidge. There are few where
the Republicanism of some representa-
tives is open to question, and if La
Toilette should carry those states, it
is not unlikely that their votes in the
house would go to LaFollette, despite
the Republican label borne by such
congressman. Should any of these
states vote for LaFollette or if the
states should vote as they line up
on paper-20 Democratic. % Repub-
lican, and unable to vote, no
choice could be made, as % states are
needed to elect the President.
Attention would then center on the
senate Here the state rule does not
apply. Each senator of the 96 has
separate vote. For aIquorum, two
thirds of the 96 must be present, or
64 and for a choice of vice president,
a bare majority. or 40, is necessary.
However, in the senate only two
candidates for vice president having
the highest showing in the electoral
college may be voted for. and this
would narrow the choice down to Cen
eral Dawes and Governor Bryan.
Present Situation important.
As the present senate would select,
the situation there now is important
There are nominally 81 Republican
senator's but this number includes La
Toilette of Wisconsin and Brookhart
of Iowa, and others who of late have
seldom voted with the Republicans
Forty-three senators are listed as
Democrats, and two, Ladd and Frazier,
are listed as Farmer-Laborites.
If Bryan can hold the 43 Democratic
senators in line and get the votes OF
the two Farmer-Labor senators, this
would give him nucleus of 40 votes.
By securing four of the so-called Re-
publicans, such as Brookhart and La
Toilette, this majority would put into
the White House man for whom the
American people had not voted for
President, and who would be a minor
ity choice.
If Bryan could secure only the AZ
/ Democratic senators, the two Farmer
Labor senators, and three such men
as LaFollette, the election would be
deadlocked, and the country thrown
into a state of chaos never before
faced Throwing the election into the
congress would of itself have terrific
effect upon business and industry the
/ country over, causing wave of de-
preston which would affect everyone,
as this would cause months of uncer-
| tainty before a choice by the congress
was attempted. II, on top Of this, the
senate should get into a deadlock as
the house Is certain to, the depres-
sion might easily became panic, with
| terrific and far-reaching results.
Other Possibilities.
There is the outside chance, in the
event of Coolidge failing to receive a
majority of the electoral votes, that
when the matter came to the senate,
such Democrats as Glass of Virginia,
Bruce of Maryland and Underwood OF
Alabama would vote for General
Dawes, the Republican nominee, rather
than put such a man as Bryan in the
White House.
large body of thought in the
United States holds to the opinion that
the whole purpose of LaFollette is
to throw the electisn into the con
/ gress. where he and his followers
probably would WELD the balance OF
! power, and this small group would