The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1950-04-26
WHY DID MR.. TAFT OPPOSE THE
LODGE AMENDMENT?

has generally been against Taft leadership. If the Lodge move
Turks. Moreover, MI. Taft is probably not convinced that the
Republican party is a minority party in the great pivotal states.
WHY THE LODGE AMENDMENT MUST
BE STOPPED IN THE HOUSE
Should the Lodge Amendment get past the House of Rep
resentatives, it has an excellent chance Of being adopted by the
states. The southern Democrats will vote for it as a block. Solid
Republican OF near solid Republican states will vote for it.
Generally the rural states in America will vote for it since the
effect of the Lodge proposal is to decrease the influence of the
great urban states. I is also obvious that a great deal of con-
flict now exists between urban and rural population over the
question of the cost of food and the farm price support program.
The large urban states constitute only IL of the nations 48
states. Of these. 8 are normally Republican. Constitutional ratifi-
cation requires the adoption of three-fourths of the states. The
House of representatives alone represents population and
largely urban population. It is the best place, then, to fight the
Lodge Amendment which must be adopted by the House by a
two-thirds vote.
CAN THE SOUTH STEAL THE PRESIDENCY IN 1862?
I am not impressed with the traditional arguments that
the Dixiecrats are going to try to steal the presidency in 1852,
by splitting up the electoral vote and throwing the election into
the House of Representatives.
The Constitution requires that the President must be chosen
by a clear majority of the electoral votes. If no candidate gets
this majority, the matter is decided by the House of Repre-
Dixiecrats bolt the Democratic party in 1862, they can perhaps
prevent any candidate from getting a majority of the electoral
votes. The election would then be thrown into the House OF
Representatives. Voting as states, the southern states would
undoubtedly have more influence than if they had to rely on
their electoral votes, but they cannot elect a President in the
House of Representatives without the support of conservative
Republicans. The Constitution requires . majority vote in the
House of Representatives. If the conservative Republicans and
the Dixiecrats should agree on a President, it would be the
last election they would win for a long time. Exactly this kind
of thing happened when the Clay and John Quincy Adams
forces ganged up to take the election away from Jackson. The
popular reaction was tremendous. The people took the attitude
that the election had been stolen. At the next election Jackson
was voted in overwhelmingly. The American people cannot be
tiGked except now and then.
It is far better to allow the southerners the opportunity
now and then of an advantage when elections are thrown into
the House of Representatives than to give them a consistent
advantage by adopting the Lodge proposal.
It seems to me that at most the Dixiecrats can take only
nine states in an election carried out in the House Of Repre-
sentatives. They will probably be able to take only three or
four states. What they really would like to have is the Lodge
proposal. as they have shown by their vote in the Senate. Their
threat IN a House election of the President, I think, is insignifi-
cant.