Evening star., 1940-08-04
Capital SideIiehts
By Will P. Kennedy.

Abolition of the electoral college is
again being discussed Jefferson pro-
posed it as early as 1901 and jackson
urged it in each of his eight annual
messages to Congress; after the Civil
War such leaders as Charles Summer of
Massachusetts and Oliver P. Morton of
Indiana advocated direct presidential
elections. On November the voters
cast their votes. "Appointed' in Novem-
Der in each State, presidential electors
meet at the 48 State capitals on De-
cember 16 to choose" a President and
Vice President. Then on January 5, the
day after the Seventy Congress
convenes, the President of the Senate.
in the presence of the combined men,
bership of House and Senate will canvass
the ballots submitted by the States and
announce the result. constitutional
amendment is necessary to effect a re-
form of this method of electing a Chief
Executive. Sixteen States have shown
their disapproval of the present system
by eliminating electors names from the
ballot, letting the voters check the candi-
date Of their party persuasion. The Con-
stitution provides that each State shall
appoint - electors" in the manner
designated by the State Legislature.
Fourteen years ago member of Con-
gress pointed out that State Legislature
could vest the appointment of electors
in "a board OF bank directors, turnpike
corporation or a synagogue" The elec-
toral college has never worked as the
Founding Fathers expected-with the
possible exception of the first two presi-
Dental elections. The original method
OF selecting the Vice President proved
unsatisfactory and was changed under
the 18th amendment to the Constitution
adopted in 1904. With the rise of DO
litical parties the electors" have become
rubber stamps" In 1924 Jackson re-
ceived SO electoral votes to "a for John
Quincy Adams, with 78 divided between
w. H. Crawford and Henry Clay: the
election was thrown into the House and
Adams was chosen. TWO Presidents have
taken office who had smaller popular
vote than their opponents-Tilden had
more than Hayes in 1876 and BENJAMIN
Harrison had 100000 fewer than Cleve-
land in 1888 Nine times in the %
presidential elections since 1928. under
popular choice of electors. the winner
merely had a plurality and not a ma
Jority of the popular vote After the
1882 election Senator Norris. independ-
ent, of Nebraska and Representative
Lea, Democrat, of California sponsored
a constitutional amendment to abolish
the electoral college. Lea got favorable
report, but the House did not act upon
it. The Senate rejected the Norris res
olution, AZ to 24-two less than the
requisite two-thirds majority.
49, -
Echoes of the past
Only few years ago-as decades fly
the Mayor of Washington" was Repre-
sentative Ben Johnson of Bardstown, XIV.
Rare Ben johnson" his colleagues some
times called him. He was tall, SQUARE
shouldered, a powerful man physically
and mentally, and with dominant per-
soEality. He had a kind heart which
he tried to hide. Before coming to Con-
gress he had been Speaker in the Ken
lucky Legislature, was appointed COL
lector OF internal revenue by President
Cleveland and had served in the State
Senate. He served in Congress from
1907 to 1927 and was chairman of the
House District Committee. After volun-
tarlly retiring from the House he was
chairman of the Kentucky Highway
Commission and still is active there.
Next May he will be SO years Of age.
He has recently corresponded with old
frlends here and expects to come to
Washington soon to renew old ac-
quaintanceships and particularly to visit
his daughter, Mrs. r. c. Crawford whose
husband is commandant at Fort Belvoir.
His old friends in Congress are going to
throw party for abstemious Ben" when
he gets here.
The congressional secretariat again is
waving its banners-another veteran
secretary is coming into Congress in his
own right. Some of the ablest members
of both House and Senate earned their
way to Congress that way. Now it is
Herbert c. Bonner, secretary to the very
able and popular Representative Lindsay
c. Warren, chairman Of the Committee
on Accounts, who has just been con-
frmed as the new Controller General.