Show by JOHN DICKINSON bherman ID you know that the con of this land of the tree and home of the brave 1 likely to be enriched during the sixty ninth con gresa by the twentieth amendment 0 o well 5 ou need not feel lonesome there are others many others who have never even heard of this awen bieth amendment in fact it would be bard to find la a days search a corporals guard of average citizens who have lo 10 it 1 not an amendment prohibiting hi the broadcasting by adio of jazz it does not forbid the buying of an automobile on the installment plan it does not take away short skirts and cigarettes from the flapper it Is not that kind of an amendment at all this impending twentieth amend ment Is as different as possible it has nothing to do with the life liberty and pursuit of happiness of mr and mrs american citizen it Is concerned wholly with the mechanics of the gov of the united states of amer lea perhaps Is why it has no publicity agent and why no kropa ganda has cried its merits let this twentieth amendment Is an extremely important amendment its effects may be far reaching beyond all calculations of the experts in gov eminent it ts in a way a political experiment which may or may not prove of benefit to this nation bedl bated to representative government the proposition embodied in the amendment Is far from being new it Is an old old proposition that has in engaged the attention and consideration of congress for at least a century as the railroad and the telegraph have annihilated distance and time and the press has diffused knowledge of current events the twentieth amendment in short Is intended to establish the principle of immediate legislative responsiveness to current popular opinion by doing away with the gap called by some a hiatus between the election of members of congress and the seat ing of the elected members those supporting the amendment point out that congress does not actu ally begin under the present arrangement until thirteen months after the members have been elected it thus not infrequently happens that issues upon which they have been elected have been either settled or coraell bated by the old congress the short ness of the second session often prevents the lassige of important meas ures congressmen defeated for reflection vote without responsibility contests are seldom decided before the expiration of at least halt the term with the result that the dis brict Is misrepresented and uncle sam pays duplicate salaries those opposing the meeting of con gross within a short period after the election admit the force of these points their opposition Is based main ly upon the theory that deliberation Is an essential factor in good alon and that there Is a certain danger in the biking of laws by members fresh from the excitement of the campaign they also hold that in case a presidential election Is thrown into the house it Is better to have the oraf members of the congress determine the choice they see the possibility of two cot greases corn tor regularity the constitution art I 1 bee 4 provided that congress sli uld assemble march 4 1789 and thereafter in ev cry year on the first monday in december unless I 1 bey shall by law appoint a differ enit day up to and including may 20 1820 eighteen acts were passed for the meeting of congress oil other days of the year since that year congress has met regularly on the first mon day in december several joint resol flroa providing for this twentieth 1 nuin dment hava been introduced in thal agress representative benjamin for example introduced I 1 lit joint resola alon on the opening alny joint resolution H J re 13 pro an amendment to the constitution of the united fixing the commencement of th terms of president and vice president and representatives in congress and the term of and fixing the time ot the assembling of digress to the committee on election ot president vice president and representatives in co neresa hat these proposed constitutional amendments purpose to do is indicated by the nal amendment before the l eighth congress march 14 1024 the senate voted on tills amendment nod the vote leas ca nays 7 the did not come to a vote in th house this apparently was not hie to any bartic ular opposition to it tt simply got lost in the shuffle 0 short session it Is difficult to see bihy in view of the practical unanimity it the senate vote it should not anve the house had it coma to a the amend ment as passed by alte senate section 1 the ten a of the president and vice nt in office at the time this takes effect shall end at on the third monday in january iu d the terms of senators and then in office at noon on the first monday in january ot the in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified and the terms of their successors shall then begin section 2 the congress cok gress ahall assemble at least in and such every year meeting shall be on the monday in elret jancay imless by law they shall appoint a different day section 3 it the h use of representatives has not chosen a president whenever the right ol 01 choice upon them before tt time devolves the beginning of alu term fixed for vice president chasm for the then the term shall act as pi same house of represents alves chooses until the president but it thi house of a has not chosen a president before noon on th fourth march next following day of then the president vice shall becoate the president dur remainder of the term the congress ahall b law and in the event th vice provide that president has not been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of bis term what officer shall then act as president and such officer shall act accordingly until the house ot representatives chlost a president or until the senate choose a vice president the many attempts to change the i time of the sessions of congress have 1 usually included a provision for a change in the date f inauguration day two grounds have been advanced for the proposed changes in the date of inauguration day one la that anang day should come at a season J more likely to give pleasant weather the other Is that the presidents term a should fit logically into the plans tot 1 changing the beginning and 3 dates of congress Is a constitutional amendment necessary to cliance tho date of inaugural a alon day the constitution itself dixe J no exact date for the inauguration J the constitutional sharks appear to be at variance on this point some hold that the amendment Is necessary others hold to the contrary the ar aument in favor of the necessity of a constitutional amendment la briedy this the constitution fixes the term 0 at tour years A change in the inaugural date would result la an extension or curtailment of that period that extension or curtailment can constitutionally be effected only through an amendment to the conati gutlon the yeas appear to have it anyway since 1870 more than fifty attempts have been made to change the inaugural date in 1876 the batay fixed by a proposed resolution was may 1 ten years later an attempt was made to fix it on the anniversary of george washington s first inaugural a alon at new york april SO the weather likely to obtain on in augur atlon day Is a factor that ha been much custom ha made this inauguration of the dent an out of doors pageant which the weather can largely make or mar ichen president cooledge was rated march 4 the weather wai ideal and the vast crowd of spectator packed the entire space b the face of the capitol the con gressional gress lonal library and the senate and house domce buildings and with the powerful amplifiers used every word of the presidents inaugural addrena was distinctly heard by every person william II 11 tafta inauguration day march 4 1900 was a complete con it was so stormy that the ceremonies had to be held indoors senator boar of massachusetts la 1898 sponsored n resolution fixing the last wednesday in april as a alon day but weather bureau showed that from 1873 to 1897 the weather as little it any better on the later date |