The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-05-11

the sTiIden- Heyes contest, which vas
enc Of disputed election districts ana
not the lack Of majority Amohg eIee
tors the H0hses has elected two Presi
dents. These were Thomas Jefferson.
who was chosen on the thirty-sixth baIs
lot and John Quincy Adams.
Providing for Just such an emereencx
as might develop this year, an, amend
ment to the Constitution has passed the
Senate and is now pending in the
House. 1t: vas presented BIZ Senator
Norris of Nebraska and. was reported
fayerably last month by the Honse
committee on election. Of President,
Vice President and representatives. ia
Congress. 1t advances the ,inaneura-
ton Of the President to January "a
and the terms Of members of Congress-
to January and then provides
II the House Of Representative
has not chosen President, when
ever the right Of choice deFozyes
upon them, sbefore the. time fixed
for the beginning of his term, then
the Vice President chosen for the
same term shall act as President
until the House Of Representatives
chooses a President and !. the Con
gress may by law provide for the
i case where the Vice President has
not been chosen before the time
fixed for the beginning of his
term, declaring what officer shall
them act as President. and such
officer shall act accordingly until
the House of Representatives
CHOOSES a President, or until the
= Senate chooses a Vice President.
Another Norris Amendment
Another amendment proposed BY Sen.
ator Norris does away with the Presi.
Dental electors, provides for a direct
vote within the states for President and
Vice President and allows each state
the same voting strength as the present
System, As a matter of fact, the Con
stfIution leaves the states free as to the
manner in which they. make their choice
fer President. Custom rather than. Con.
lstttution has brought about the popular
vote for electors, and it rests within
the power of any legislature to depriye
the people Of that state Of their nriv.
ilege Of registering their preference for
President of the United States.
Although there are numerous histor-
ical instances of the election Of Presi-
dents who had minority popular votes
the Constitution lays down a rough
principle of proportionate representa-
ton in selecting Presidential electors
But under the method Of giving each
state an elector for each senator and
! representative it has in Congress the
more populous states are the greatest
sufferers. The combined population Of
Is states, for instance, equal the num-
Der Of people living within New York
state. They have As representatives
in the House to New .York's al VET
| IN the vote for President these states
muster 81 electors to New York's as.
| In other words, New FORKS 10000.
600 people are entitled to q little more
than half the electoral vote Of the.same
population within the following is
states: Arizon, Colorado. Delaware.
Florida, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Ne
braska, Nevada, New Hampshire. New
Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode
Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont
and Wyoming. On the other hand,
when a Presidential election is thrown
into. the House, where each state has
one vote, New, York's 10000, 900 are
outnumbered is to 1 by these same
states.
In view of the situation that may de-
velop in 1924-25, involving the less
familiar constitutional election. pro-
visions, the New York Times presents
herewith the opinions on the subject by
various constitutional lawyers and pub
lie men. Their discussion is conferred
around the, following questions: ~
Is the present Arrangement permit
ting the elevation of Vice Presidential
candidate to the Presidency desirable ::
If not, what should be done to prevent
such a, situation in the fHtures
How, If the electoral college cannot
decide, should the President Be elected ?
Is direct election .advisahle2 .---. 6
II the Senate were deadlocked over