Show 4 A N ew e IP tips dl e ir A ajr elected cil e d A A 11 Z X A J airl session of congress ty C A salice S alice pr sic lent charles C V artis 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON N FEBRUARY 8 1033 1933 a new president and vice president of tho the united states will be elected what I 1 you exclaim as you read that statement why I 1 thought we attended to that two months ago on november 8 1932 to be exact when the american people voted franklin D roosevelt of new york into loftice as president and john N garner of texas as vice president As a matter of fact they did nothing of the tort sort they only voted for a group of men called presidential electors and these men presumably have already voted for noo roosevelt sevelt and garner for those of offices flees but the actual election does not become off official leial until the afternoon of february 8 when the two houses of congress meet in joint session and go through the ceremony of counting the electoral votes and the vice president proclaims the fact that the democratic candidates in the 1032 election had the largest number of electoral votes and therefore will be inducted into office on oil march 4 like so many other official ceremonies in government e ern rame ment nt the february 8 election Is nothing but a make believe and under its year old load of tradition and custom vice president charles curtis and speaker john N garner hes hels speaker one minute and the next minute lies hes vice president become companions in a hollow but official pretense side by side and in the presence of several hundred people the two leading candidates tor vice president will net act for 30 minutes as though the result of their contest had not already been known for four months and everybody else will help belp lend a bolean dignity to tile the empty ceremony the only new thing about the whole business wll wil be two new boxes which a carpenter nn an employee of the united states senate has begun preparing soon after the november election they are ninde made of the fenest anest mahogany and have brass handles As soon as they are finished they them are sent to the office of vice president curtis where they will rest until it Is time to receive 48 huge envelopes which have arrived in washington some time during duranl january these envelopes contain the votes of members of the electoral college chosen on november 8 by citizens in the states from which the envelopes came the only person in the united states who has the authority to open those envelopes is Is the president of the senate the vice president of the united states and even he Is not allowed to learn their secret until the second wednesday in february and then only in tie presence of the members of the two houses of congress but tile the legislative mill must grind out a certain piece or of legislation before even this can be accomplished so the first step necessary to the election ts is taken when a minor senate committee labors and iraln brings s forth a resolution which provides for the joint session at which the ballots are to be counted then the senate adopts the resolution soon thereafter members of the senate line up two abreast und in the order of seniority then thea with dignity setting the pace they start tho the march front from their chamber to that of the house of representatives located feet in the distance grim adherence to 0 o the letter of the rules would call for the vice president to carry the two ballot bores at the head of the parade with tile the secretary of the senate and the he sergeant at arms of the senate a step or so behind him the theory Is that the ballots must be in the custody of the vice prisident as president of the senate and in his cust custody ridy only from the time they arrive at the capitol in practice ce however the vote laden boves bores are carried by two boys chosen from among the senate pages who march at the hp head ad of the double line of senators four years ago the procession began to move at 54 minutes past noon with arrival nt the house bouse chr chamber imber by 1 imperative since the affair lum lin many years of guidance gul dance and experience peri per lence ence behind it the six minute interval between the first shuffling of feet and arrival at tile the destination may be regarded as an established order the votes and their very consequential escort cause adf an initial stir at the entrance to the house bouse chamber when a doorkeeper announces to the speaker that the senate awaits the legislative isla tive equivalent of tell them tc come in brings the visiting contingent to occupancy of seats beats which are assigned under precisely worded rules this stage af pf of the proceedings will find mr air curtis mounting the dais dala at I 1 en feb roary 8 there to take taka tits his place at the right of the speaker thirty feet above eyes of the press and the galleried public will vill me gaze at the of who ho went into pair trien men november as ol 01 opposing political candi candidates daes and camhout came out of that month as viator find and vanquished election of the president and vice president tor for the next term of four years should be completed within halt half an hour in 1020 1929 the job was comp leteff and the sk senate nate was tas b bach ack in its ita g 3 4 S ICI 41 q A president elect D roosevelt own hall 88 minutes after the joint session opened at the rate less than one minute will be devoted to consideration of the votes cast by the electors chosen in each state within that minute Is to he included the time required to move the envelopes from the t h e mahogany boxes and to place them in the hands of the vice president it as well as a s the seconds which will pass while the presiding officer opens the envelopes eriv elopes and while tellers scan the contents and tell what they see under the venerable plan the tellers finally discover the identities of the men who next nest are to be president and vice president the names of those tho semen men are then announced by the president of the senate only when no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast does this procedure go awry but to return to the off official lelal pretense of electing a president february 8 connected with its early history are two significant its 11 if the roads between georgia and philadelphia back in 1787 been so rough and it if a certain delegate to the constitutional convention from georgia named william houston suffered so much discomfort from the condition of the roads the whole system might have been different the convention had almost decided to have electors chosen by the people of each state journey once every four years to the national capital to meet for the purpose of voting among themselves to decide who should hold the two high positions but mr houston rose to his feet during a session on a hot july afternoon and with in memories emo of the road still fresh in Ms mind told the assembled delegates what he thought about the idea he directed the conventions conven tlona attention to the expense and extreme inconvenience of drawing together men from all states for the single purpose of electing the chief executive lie he said gald also it seemed improbable to him that capable men would undertake the service under the penalty of having to travel far from home only to turn right around and go back to the journeys starting point A suggestion was made that called for electors of ench each state to travel only to their state capital to east cast their votes mr air houston approved of that development of the plan then progressed producing the proposal that each state appoint a messenger to bring the votes of its electors to the sent nt ef the national government the dele gates gatesh worn out ont after many weeks of debate welcomed the compromise these periodical trips were continued for more than years the messengers usually relatives of the lending leading campaign contributors statehouse employees political news writers and such received afi 2 cents a mile for their travels to washington about four years ye ars ago it was found that this quadrennial sending of messengers was costing the national government more than economy demanded a change so a law was wag passed i providing that the ele electoral ceoral votes or certificates as they are forni formally ally called be sent by mall majl instead of by messenger this act approved may alay 29 WAI 1028 reads as follows the ille electors of president and vice president of each state shall meet and give their votes on the first wednesday in january next following their appointment at such place in each state as the legislature of such i state shall direct it shall be the duty of the executives of each state as soon as practicable after the conclusion of tile alie appointment of the electors in such state by the final ascertainment under and in pursuance of the laws lawa of such state providing for such ascertainment to communicate by registered mall under ruder the seal ceal of the state to the secretary of state of the united states a berti Z rhema ach oath um pa elector cleate of such ascertainment of the electors ay pointed setting forth the names of such electors and the canvass or other ascertainment under the laws of such state of the number of votes given or cast for each person for whose appointment any and all votes have been given or cost cast and it shall also thereupon be the duty of the executive of each state to deliver to the electors of such state on or before the day on which they are required by section I 1 of chii act to meet six duplicates original of the samo same certificate under the seal of the state a and n d if there shall have been any final determination tn lit a state in the manner provided for by law of a controversy or contest concerning the appointment of all or any of the electors of suc such it sta state te it shall be the duty of the executive of such state as soon as practicable after such de atlon to communicate under the seal of the state to the secretary of state of the united states a certificate of such determination in form and manner as the same shall have been made and the certificate or certificates so received by the secretary of state shall be preserved by him for one year and shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be ba open to public inspection and the secretary of state of the united states at the th first meeting of congress thereafter shall transmit to the two houses of congress copies in full of each and every such certificate so received at the state department the electors shall make amrice and sign st six x certificates of all the votes given by them each of which certificates shall contain two distinct lists one of the votes for president and the other of the votes totes for vice president and shall annex to each of the certificates one of the lists of the electors which shall have been furnished to them by direction of the executive of the state the electors shall dispose of the certificates s so 0 made by them and the lists attached thereto in the following manner first they shall forthwith forward by registered mall mail one of the sa same meto to the president of the senate at the seat of government Sie second cond two of the same shall be delivered to the secretary of state of the states stated one of which shall be hold held subject to the order of the president of the senate the other to be preserved by him for one year and shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection third on the day thereafter they shill shall for ward by registered mall mail two of such certificates lind and lists to the secretary of state at the seat of government one of which shall be held sub eject to the order of the president of the r senate enate the other shall be preserved by the secretary of state for one year and shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection fourth they shall forthwith cause the other of the certificates and lists to be delivered to the judge of the district in which the electors shall have assembled when no certificate of vote and list mentioned in this act from any state shall have been received by the president of the senate or by the secretary of state hy by the third wednesday in the month of january after the meeting of the electors shall have been held the president of the senate or if he be absent from tha sent seat of government the secretary of state shall request b by the most expeditious expeditions method available the tha secretary of state odthe of the state to send up the certificate and list lodged with him by the electors of such state and it shall be b his duty upon receipt of such request immediately to transmit same by registered mall to the prel dent of the senate at the sent seat of govern government mea when no certificates of votes from any state shall have been received at the seat of govern ment on an the fourth wednesday of the month of january after the meeting of the elector shall have been held the president of the sen ate or it if ile he be absent from the seit seat of gov eminent the secretary of state shall send a special messenger to the district judge in whose custody a certificate of votes from that state has heen been lodged ani and such judge snail forthwith transmit that list by the hand band of such messenger to the sent seat of government G V by western newspaper union |