Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-13
Mr.. Hoover Is Elected.

In conformity with the provisions of
law the vote for President and Vice
President cast by the electoral college
was formally canvassed by the two
houses of Congress, meeting in joint
session today. 1t occasioned no sur
prise when the count of the vote showed
that Herbert Hoover had been elected
President and Charles Curtis had been
elected Vice President.
The Constitution of the United States
provides that each State of the Union
shall choose presidential and vice
presidential electors, equal to the num-
Der of Senators and Representatives in
Congress. Members of Congress and
persons holding Office under the Fed
eral Government are not eligible for
choice as electors. To Congress the
Constitution assigns the duty of select
ing the day on which these electors shall
be chosen, and to the Legislatures Of
the States the manner of appointing"
the electors.
The original conception of the Con-
stitution was that the final selection
Of a President and Vice President should
be vested in electors chosen by the
States; that the electors would use
their own Judgment in picking the
Chief Executive With the advent of
political leanings and political parties,
which were unavoidable, the opposing
candidates and their friends placed in
the field candidates for electors, pledged
to vote for the respective candidates.
In consequence, the action Of the
electors-the electoral college is the
collective TERMS foregone conclu-
sion, known as soon as the results OF
the election in November have been
ascertained.
- The canvass of the electoral votes
cast by the electors in the various
States, which was made by Congress
\ today. is in effect the formal act of
determining the result of the general
election. 1t is one of those forms which
are necessary to the conduct of the
Government in an orderly manner.
Furthermore, it is necessary SO that it
may be determined that candidate
for the presidency shall have received
q majority of the electoral votes. 1t is
conceivable that no candidate, with
! three in the field, shall receive a
majority of the electoral votes. In
such event the duty of selecting
President is thrown into the House of
Representatives and the duty of select
ing a Vice President into the Senate.
During the campaign of 1924, with
President Coolidge, the late Senator La
Toilette of Wisconsin and John w. Davis
in the field as major candidates for
the presidency. some of the opponents
of Mr. Coolidge openly were urging
that the division of strength be made
so as to throw the election into the
House, and it was urged on the other
side that Mr.. Coolidge should be elected
50 as to prevent such chaotic" con-
dition.
The duty of the joint session Of Con-
gress today was merely formal. Only
two candidates for President, Herbert
Hoover and Alfred E. Smith, received
electoral votes of the States, and Mr..
Hoover had 444 to 81 for Mr.. Smith.
There was no betting on the result OF
the canvass. It was known in advance.
In the end, however, the Vice President,
presiding over the joint session of the
two houses, formally declared that Mr..
Hoover had been chosen President and
Senator Curtis Vice President. and his
was the official pronouncement to the
country Of the fact