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Show INAUGURATION DATE. The House committee on judiciary has reported favorably a joint resolution to change the date of the inauguration of the President and Vice President Presi-dent of the United States from the 4th of March to the last Thursday in April. The joint resolution involves another amendment to the constitution of the United States, which makes the provision that the executive officers shall be inaugurated on March 4. The proposed change, therefore, requires the indorsement of the legislatures of thirty-six states, just the same as does the proposed amendment amend-ment which would give the federal government the right to impose a direct tax on incomes. There is no other method of procedure by which so simple a change can be made. The agitation for a change in the inauguration date is an old one, some change having been urged for many years. The Senate has several times passed a resolution favoring a change, but the House has always failed to agree. Hence the prop-sition prop-sition to advance the date to a season when more propitious weather may be expected in Washington Washing-ton has never been submitted for ratification. There is probably no very serious objection to the change, and it is said there is a disposition to push the joint resolution to an early vote. There is no politics in it. The change suggested, from March 4 to the last Thursday in April, not only removes the great inaugural festivities from a date when inclement weather is very likely to interfere with the ceremonies and expose the public men to the rigors of the Washington weather of early March, but it will avoid the coincidence of Sunday and inauguration in-auguration day falling at the same time. This may not be a very serious objection in the minds of some, but laying aside the inappropriateness of Sunday inaugurals, history records extremely unpleasant un-pleasant possibilities at the Hayes inaugural in 1877. It may be the experiences at the Taft inaugural last year has caused the House committee to report favorably on the resolution. Certaintly the experiences experi-ences with the weather at that time are not a pleasant pleas-ant recollection. If Congress had been organized to transact general business at that time, no doubt the resolution would have been passed unanimously. unanimous-ly. But even now there is time to effect the change before the next inauguration. If the joint resolution resolu-tion is submitted to the legislatures before the adjournment ad-journment of the present session of Congress, it will be possible for thirty-six states to ratify the resolution during 1911. Thirty-four biennial legislatures legis-latures meet next winter, and five states whose legislatures leg-islatures meet annually, make a total of thirty-nine, three more than enough to make the constitutional amendment effective. Inasmuch as little opposition opposi-tion to the proposed change is likely to develop, there should be little doubt that the change can be made in time for the next inauguration. President Presi-dent Taft could very likely be persuaded to continue con-tinue in office the few weeks intervening between March 4 and the last Thursday in April. |