Show T won it s M n men MIT 1 W 1 T ME g 4 xa 1 VO 7 provides fior imp 4 ge til sin mechanics k by JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN i ID you know that tile tho constitution ution of this land of 0 tile hie D free and home 0 of the bravo brave Is likely to bo be enriched during the alio sixty ninth congress by tile twentieth amendment no well y you oil need not feel lonesome thero there aro others many 0 outliers ot liers who have never 1 even heard of tills this twentieth 1 amendment in film fact it would be hard to mid in a days search a corporals guard of average citizens who have no it Is not nn an amendment prohibiting hi hibit biting ilig the broadcasting by radio of jazz it loco does not forbid the buying of nn fin automobile on the installment plan i it dots does ejot take awny snort short skirts find anil cigarettes from the flapper it Is not that kind of nn all amendment tit at all tills this impending twentieth amendment Is ns as different as possible it lias has nothing to do with tile lie life liberty and pursuit of happiness of mr air and mrs american citizen it la is concerned wholly with tho the mechanics of tile the government of the united states of anler america perhaps tills this la is wily it lias has no publicity agent and why no propaganda ling has cried its merits yet blila twentieth amendment la is nn an extremely important amendment lit its effects nifty may be far reaching beyond all of tho experts in government ern ment it Is in it a way a political experiment which may or may not prove of benella to this his nation dedi bated to representative government the proposition embodied in tile the amendment 14 W far from being new it la Is fill an old old proposition that ling has increasingly crea singly eil engaged the attention and consideration of congress for tit at least a century as the railroad find and the telegraph have annihilated distance and time and tile the press ling has diffused hilow knowledge ledge of current events event the twentieth amendment in n short Is intended to establish the lie arl principle of ill alato legislative noss liess to current popular opinion uy liy doing away wily with will tile he gap called by some frome 8 Ilat hiatus lIA beli between veen the election of in members embers of congress and tile the seat boating of tile elected in embers those supporting the amendment point out flint congress does doea not actually begin under tho the present resent il arrangement until months after tho mein bers linc have been elected it thus not infrequently happens that issues upon which they have been elected have been either cither settled or con complicated by the old congress the shortness of tile the second session often prevents the passage of important measures congressmen defeated for reelection vote without responsibility election contests are arc seldom decad decided ed before the expiration of at least half the term with tile lie result that the district is misrepresented find and uncle sam pays duplicate salaries those opposing the meeting of congress within a short period after the election admit the force of these thesa points their opposition Is based mainly upon the theory that deliberation Is nn an essential factor in good legislation anil and that there la Is a certain danger in the making of laws by members fresh from the excitement of the campaign they also hold bold that in case a presidential election n Is thrown throw n into j the house it is better to have bare the I 1 N 4 4 A k Gr aa rii I 1 members of the preceding congress con gresa determine the choice they see the possibility of two congresses competing for regularity the constitution art 1 I sec 4 provided that congress should assemble barch march 4 1789 and thereafter in every year on the lie first monday I 1 in december unless they shall by law appoint a different day up to and including may 20 1820 eighteen acts were passed providing for tile the meeting of congress on other days of the year since that year congress has met regularly on tile the first monday in ili december several joint resolutions providing for this his twentieth amendment have been introduced in tills this congress representative benjamin L fairchild for example introduced t is joint resolution on the opening day joint resolution H J nes lies 13 proposing an amendment to the constitution of the united states fixing the commencement of the terms term 9 of pr president es I 1 and vice president and representatives ta tives in congress and the terms of representatives and fixing the time 0 of f the aset aing of congress to the committee on election of 0 president vice pres dent and representatives in congress what these proposed constitutional amendments purpose to do Is indicated liy by tile the constitutional amendment before the sixty eighth congress march 14 1924 tile the sell to voted on tills this amendment note the vote yeas ca nayl 7 the amendment did not come collie to a vote in tile the house this apparently was not tile duo to tiny any partle gilill opposition to it it simply got lost iott in tile lie shuttle of a short session it Is lini dif fleIt cult to see wily why in ili view of the practical unanimity of the senate vote it should not have passed gassed the houwse had it come collie to a vote the amendment its as passed by the senate section 1 the tha terms of the president and vice president in office at the time this amendment takes effect shall end at noon on the third monday in january and the terms of s senators t a tors and representatives then in at noon on the farst monday in january of the year in which such euch terms would have ended if this article lind had not been ra ratified tilled and the terms of their successors shall then begin section 2 the congress shall assemble at least once in every yea year and such meeting shall be on the first monday in january unless they shall by law appoint a different day section 3 if the house of representatives has not chosen a president whenever the right of choice devolves upon them before the time fixed tor for the beginning of his term then the vice president chosen for the same term shall act as an president until th the house of representatives chooses a president but it the house of representatives senta tives has not chosen a president before noon ori on the fourth day of march next following then the vie vico president shall become president dur ing the re remainder of the term and the congress shall by law provide that la in the he vent event the vice president hu has not been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term lerm ahm officer shall ahn act as president and such officer shall act accordingly until tile the house of representatives choose it a president or until the senate choose a vice president ilie many attempts to change the time of tile the sessions of congress havo have usually included it a provision tor for a change lu in the date of inauguration day two grounds aae have been advanced for the proposed changes in the date of inauguration day one Is that inaugural bratton ion day should come at a season morn more likely to give pleasant weather iho kotlier Is that tile the presidents term should fit logically into the plans for changing tile beginning and ending dates of congress I 1 la Is a constitutional amendment necea sary to change the date of tion day dav the constitution itself fixes no exact date for the inauguration the constitutional sharks appear to be lit at variance on this point some hold that the amendment Is necessary others hold to the contrary the argument in favor of the necessity of a constitutional amendment Is briefly this tile the constitution fles fixes the term of the lie president at four years A change in the inaugural date d lie would woud result in an extension or curtailment of that period 1 that lint extension or curtailment can constitutionally be effected only through an amendment to the alie constitution the yens veas appear to have it anyway since isag more than fifty attempts have hae boon been made to change the inaugural date in 1870 the date fixed by a proposed resolution was may 1 ten years later an attempt was made to fix it on the anniversary of george first gnau urn tion at new york april apall 30 the weather r likely to obtain on inauguration augu ration day Is a factor that ling liaa been much discussed custom has ninde made this inauguration of the president dent an out olit of doors pageant which chic h the weather w cither can largely make or mar when president coolidge was rated ma march ach 4 1925 tile the weather was ideal and the vast crow crowd d of spectators packed the entire space by the east face of the capitol the congressional library and the senate and house office buildings and with the powerful amplifiers used every word of 0 tile the presidents inaugural address was distinctly heard by every person william H tafts inauguration day march 4 low was a complete contrast it was so stormy that the ceremonies had to be held indoors senator hoar boar of massachusetts in ILM 1893 sponsored a resolution fixing the last wednesday in april as inaugural a tion day but weather bureau report showed that from 1873 to 1897 th weather was waa little it any better ox oll the later date |