The Coolidge examiner., 1933-01-20

NJ Tedu IndL statement, 'Wny,
o15ao M thought we attended to that two
11n0lrW months ago-on November g. 1892
QlllllllnER. to be exact. when the American
SsQD' people voted Franklin d. Roose-
welt OF New York into Office as President and
John n. Garner of Texas as Vice President"
AS a matter of fact, they did nothing of the
sort. They only voted for group of men called
Presidential electors and these men presumably
have already voted for Roosevelt and Garner
for those Offices But the actual election does
not become official until the afternoon OF Feb
ruary when the two houses of congress meet
in joint session and go through the ceremony
of counting the electoral votes and the Vice
President proclaims the fact that the Demo
cratic candidates in the 1892 election had the
largest number Of electoral votes and there
fore will be nducted into office March 4
Like many other official ceremonies In gov.
ernment the February 8 "election" is moth
Ing but make-believe and under its 145-year
old load of tradition and custom. Vice Presi
dent Charles Curtis and Speaker John n. Garner
the's speaker one minute and the next minute
he's Vice PRESIDENT y become companions in
hollow, but official, pretense. Side by side and
in the presence OF several hundred people, the
two leading candidates for Vice President will
act for 80 minutes as though the result of their
contest had not already been known for four
months and everybody else will help lend
solemn dignity to the empty ceremony.
The only new thing about the whole business
will be two new boxes which carpenter an
employee of the United States senate has be-
gun preparing soon after the November election.
They are made of the finest mahogany and
have brass handles AS soon as they are fin
ished they sent to the office of Vice Presi-
dent Curtis, where they will rest until ii is time
to receive 4S huge envelopes which have ar
These envelopes contain the votes of members
of the electoral college chosen on November s
by citizens in the states from which the en-
velopes came.
The only person in the United States who has
the authority to open those envelopes is the
president of the senate (the Vice President of
the United States) and even he is not allowed
to learn their secret until the second Wednes-
day in February and then only in the presence
of the members of the two houses of congress.
But the legislative mill must grind out
certain piece Of legislation before even this can
be accomplished. So the first step necessary
to the election is taken when minor senate
committee labors and brings forth a resolution
which provides for the joint session at which
the ballots are to he counted. Then the senate
adopts the resolution.
Soon thereafter, members Of the senate line
up. two abreast and in the order of seniority
Then. with dignity setting the pace. they start
the march from their chamber to that of the
house of representatives located 800 feet in
the distance.
Grim adherence to the letter nf the rules
would call for the Vice President 10 carry the
two ballot boxes at the head Of the parade
with the secretary of the senate and the sergeant
alarms of the senate step or behind him.
The theory is that the ballots must be in the
of fho
the senate and in his custody only from the
time they arrive at fhe Capitol. In practice, how
ever, the vote-laden boxes are carried by two
boys-chosen from among the senate pages-who
march at the head of the double line of senator's
Four years ago the procession began to move
at "a minutes past noon with arrival at the
house chamber by I o'clock imperative Since
the affair has many years of guidance and ex-
perience behind ii, the sx-minute interval be-
tween the first shuffng of feet and arrival at
the destination may be regarded as an estab-
lished order.
The votes and their very consequential es-
cort initial stir mt the entrance to the
house chamber when doorkeeper announces
TO the speaker that the senate awaits The leg
islative equivalent of Tell them to come in"
brings the visiting contingent to occupancy of
seats which are assigned under precisely-worded
rules.
This stage of the proceedings will find Mr.
Curtis mounting the dais at ! O'Clock On Feb
ruary s, there to take his place at the right
of the speaker. Thirty feet above, eyes of the
press and the galleried public will gaze at the
pair of men who went into November as op-
posing political candidates and came out of that
month victor and vanQuished
Election of the President and Vice President
for the next term of four years should be COM
pleted within half hour. In 1929, the Job
was completed and the senate was back In its