Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-04
ELECTION REOPENS
.LAME-DUCK DEBATE
Sentiment Found FavorinG
Elimination OF Such Con-
gress Sessions.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


The Nation viii have another evi.
dence Wednesday of the great gulf that
exists between public opinion and
representative government No matter
what the mood OF the electorate IS to-
day 1t cannot be translated into action
until year from next December unless,
of course, a special session of Congress
Is called--something which is unlikely
except for an emergency.
This 13-month lapse has been the
subject OF much debate in Congress
and has been considered in the form
Of a constitutional amendment which
has twice obtained the necessary two
thirds vote in the Senate. but has been
killed in the House OF Representatives.
If adopted by three-fourths OF the
States as well as Congress 1t would
have provided for the taking of office
! in January of all members Of the House
of Representatives elected this week as
well as one-third of the Senators who
are up for election today. In order to
synchronize the presidential inaugura-
ton with the sessions of Congress the
same amendment proposed that Presi-
dents be inaugurated in January in
stead of March.
Long Trips Were Necessary. ~
The original purpose of the Constitu-
ton was to allow enough time between
an election and the induction Of new
Congress so that there would be suffi-
cient continuity and also an opportu-
nifty for the members to travel back and
forth, which $50 years ago meant
journeys Of several weeks for each menu
Der.
With modern transportation facilities
the original reasons for delay have
passed, and as for continuity, the House
as well as the Senate really retains at
each election large percentage of its
membership.
Under the proposed amendment the
so-called short session of Congress,
which begins next month and auto
matically expires on March 4, would be
abolished Congress instead would meet
in January and could stay In session
for two years. The plan was suggested
as means of stopping filibusters in
the short session, but it also was urged
on the ground that men who had been
repudiated at November election would
not remain in power throughout an
old session of Congress, as is now the
case. Thus the Congress elected in
November, 1928. meets in regular ses-
sion next month and can adopt legisla-
ton until March 4.
Lame Ducks" Able to Vote.
Many men who have been defeated
in Tuesdays election, frequently termed
lame ducks" will be able to vote In
Congress on important measures. Thus
If the election in some districts indi-
Gated a distinct wet sentiment, but the
district is at present represented by
dry, the desire of the constituency can
not be fulfilled on that particular ques-
ton until year from December.
Undoubtedly the country in today's
election viii have expressed itself on
many issues, prohibition, tariff and
party responsibility The natural
| tendency is to express protest on
economic conditions. These conditions,
however, may be entirely different in
December, 1881.
Senator George Norris OF Nebraska
| Is the sponsor of the proposed Consti-
| tutional amendment and he intends to
press it for action whenever an oppor-
| tunity presents itself, i1asmuch as the
amendment has not been submitted to
the States in any form there Is no way
of telling, of course, what the Le3tsla-
lures will think about it. But the trend
at the moment is toward the ultimate
adoption of resolution of that kind.
Ccopyrisht. 1890 hs