The Washington times., 1924-11-07
JAN. "a IS
URGED IN
BILL !.
Constitutional Amendments Is
Proposed New Congress
to Sit January 4
BY WILLIAM HARD.

Especially because Of this last
election there will be numerous
Senator's and Congressman in the
approaching session Of Congress
who will do their best to lay pro-
fame and desecrating hands upon
the Fourth Of March. In fact,
they win attempt to abolish the
Fourth of March as a political
holy day and to substitute for it
another day in the calendar to be
the day on which Presidents shall
come into office and on which
Congresses shall come into being.
Amendment Required.
In previous articles we have seen
that with the election Of q Presi.
dent going into the House Of Rep
resentatives, the House by present
statute cannot even begin ballotinE
for its choice for President till the
second Wednesday in FAbruarv.
which means till three months have
elapsed from the time when the
voters voted for the Presidential
electors.
We have seen that under the I'd.
called "Peckham plan" this period
OF uncertainty would be Shortened
by moving election day up from No.
vember into January, so that of1lv
one month, instead of three, would
elapse between the electing OF the
Presidential electors and the count
ing of their ballots by Congress.
We, have noted, however. that
even under the "Peckham plai1" the
counting Of the ballots of the eiec.
tors and the choosing Of a Presi-
dent would be done by the ''old''
Congress-namely, the Congress
elected not in the preceding Noyem-
Der, or January. but two years be-
fore.
The problem is: How can we set
rid of the 'told" Congress?
How It Works Out.
The answer is that we can get
rid Of it only by doing something
to the Fourth of March.
The Congress now in existence,
the Congress- which was elected in
November of 1922, has life ia IL
which constitutionally cannot be
extinguished and cannot come Is
an end until the fourth Of March
OF next year.
This is not because the fourth
of March is mentioned ana favored
and fixed and sanctified by the
constitution. In preceding article,
IN fact, we have seen that the Con
toll
the fourth of March.
How then did the Fourth OF March
become so famous and so binding?
In the following way. o
When the Constitution In the year
li.S finally got ratified by a suf-
Ilclent number OF States to make
" a going document, we still had a
Congress of the old "Cofifederti-
ton" which had united the original
thirteen American colonies and which
had fought the war Of liberation
against Great Britain.
First Date Fixed BY Law.
This Congress" Of the old "Con.
federation" proceeded to say what
day the Presidential electors under
the new Constitution should be
appointed and on what day they
should cast their votes and on what
day the first President of the United
States under the new Constitution
should come into office along with
the first new Constitutional Con.
gress.
In performing this duty the Con
gress'' Of the old Confederation
enacted that the electors should be
Amounted ON the first "Wednesday
in january of 1889 and that they
should cast their votes on the first
Wednesday in February and that
the new President and the new
Congress should take office on the
first Wednesday in March.
Now it happened that the first
Wednesday in March in 1889 was
the Fourth.
It further happened that the Con-