Show A new N e uj preside IP i r I 1 d I 1 e IDA i r 60 r leciej A 10 wi ll 11 W T 41 zb AN MN X adjoin session of cota tess sped her ce pre aident john N chaales curtic 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON N FE FEBRUARY 8 1033 1933 a new president and iund vice president of the tha united states will be elected what I 1 you exclaim as you 1 read that statement why 1 I tb thought ought 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 office as president and john N garner of texas as vice president As a matter of fact they did nothing 1 of the sort gort they only voted for a group of men called presidential electors and these men presumably have already voted for roosevelt and garner tor for those offices but the actual election does not become off official lelal 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 1932 election had the largest number of electoral votes and therefore will be inducted into office on march 4 like so ninny many other official ceremonies in government ern ment the february 8 election Is nothing but a make believe and under its year old load of tradition and custom vice president presie charles curtis and speaker joho john N garn garner e r hes bes speaker one minute arid and the next minute hes bes vice president tl 1 become companions in EL a hollow bollow but offic official lall pretense side by side and tn in the presence of several hundred people the two leading candidates for vice president will act for 30 minutes as though the result of their contest had not already been known for four months and everybody else will help lend a solemn dignity to the empty ceremony the only new thing about the whole business will be two new boxes which a carpenter an employee of the united states senate has bits begun preparing soon poon after the november election they are made of the finest mahogany and llave have brass handles As soon as they are finished they are sent to the office of vice prest president curtis where they will rest until it ts Is time to receive 48 huge envelopes which have arrived in washington some time during 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 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 tn in february and then only in the presence of cf the members of the two houses of congress but the legislative mill must grind out a certain piece of legislation before even this can be accomplished so the first step necessary to the election Is when a minor senate committee labors and brings forth a resolution which provides for the joint session nt which the ballots ore are to be counted then the senate adopts the resolution soon thereafter numbers members of the senate line up tip two abreast and in the order of seniority then with dignity setting the pace they start the march from their chamber to tant of the house of representatives located feet in the distance grim adherence letter of the r ules rules would call for the vice Pr president Ident to carry the two ballot bores tit at the head of the parade with the secretary of the senate and the lie sergeant ot at arms of the senate a step or so behind him the theory Is that the ballots must he be in the cu custody of the vice president as president of the senate and in ills custody only from the time they arrive at the capitol in practice h however OW the vote laden boxes are carried by two boys chosen choen from among the senate pages who march nt the liend head of the double line of senators four years ngn ago the procession began to move at 51 54 minutes past noon with arrival nt at the house bouse cha chamber tuber by 1 I 1 imperative since the affair ahra many years of guidance and experience Per peri lence ence bebing it the alx minute interval be tween the first shuffling of feet and arrival tit at the destination may bp be regarded as an order ohp votes and their very consequential escort cause 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 hem tc come in brings the visiting contingent to occupancy of teats spits which tire as signed assigned under precisely worded rules this stage of the proceedings will find mr air curtla curtis mounting the dais at I 1 on n fob feb auary 8 there to anke tits place at the rl right ht of the thirty feet above eyes of the press and the gal felled public will enze at the pair of mm luell who went into november as opposing political candidates anti anil camhout came out of that month as aa victor anti and shed I 1 Elect electron lon of the ar president eul t and vice president tor for thu next next term of four years should be completed within half an hour in 1921 the job was and the senate was back to in its I 1 6 Y t 7 0 n A r A 11 the barcli of uie the electors elector W pi president e gidej L eler elect A 0 D roosevelt own hall 38 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 move the envelopes from the mahogany boxes and to place them in the hands of the vice president as well as the seconds which will pass while the presiding officer opens the envelopes and while official tellers scan the contents and tell what they see under the venerable plan the tellers finally discover the identities of the men who next are to be president and vice president the names of those 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 hut but to return to the official pretense of electing a president february 8 connected with its early history are two significant its if the roads between georgia and back bach in 1787 t been so rough and if a certain delegate to ilie 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 air El houston rose to his feet during a session on a hot july afternoon and with memories of the road still fresh in Ms his mind told the assembled delegates what he thought about the idea lie ile directed the conventions ht attention to the expense nod and extreme inconvenience of drawing together men from all states for the single purpose of electing the chief executive ile he said also it seemed improbable to him that capable men would undertake the service under the penalty or 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 each state to travel only to their state capital to cast their votes ur mr houston approved of that thal development of the plan then progressed pra procuring durIng the proposal that each state appoint a messenger to bring the votes of its electors to the spat of the national government the delegates worn out 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 25 2 i cents a mile for their travels to washington vas hington about four years 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 passed providing that the electoral votes or certificates as they are formally called be sent by mall mail instead or of by messenger this act kcf approved may 29 20 1928 roads reads as follows the electors of I and vice president of each sante 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 state shall direct it shall be the duty of the executives of each state as soon as practicable after the con conclusion chislon of the appointment of the electors in such state by the final ascertainment under and in n pursuance of the laws lawa of such state providing for such buch ascertainment to communicate by beg registered st ered mail under the the state to the secretary of state of the united states a berti ficare falcate of such ascertainment of the electors appointed setting forth the names of such electors and the canvass or other ascertainment the laws of such state of the number of votes rotes given or cast for each person for whose a appointment p any and all votes have been given or 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 1 of thin act to meet six duplicates original of the same certificate under the seal sea of the state and tf if there shall have been any final determination in ill 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 such state it shall be the duty of the executive of such state as soon as practicable after such determination 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 bare 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 bt be open to public inspection and the secretary of state of the united states at the farst 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 and sign six 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 for vice president and shall annex to each of f 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 so made by them and the lists attached thereto in the following manner first they shall forthwith forward by registered mall mail one of the samo same to the president of the senate at the seat of government second two of the same shall be delivered to the secretary of state of the state one of which shall be held subject to the order of the president of the senate the other to be preserved by him for one year and shall be il a part odthe of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection third on the day thereafter they shall for ward by registered mall two of such certificates and lists to the secretary of state at the seat of government one of which shall be held sub eject to the order of ft the president of the senate the other shall be preserved by the secretary spere tary 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 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 the tha sent seat of government the secretary of state shall request by the most expeditions method available the secretary of state 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 wall mall to the president of the senate at the seat of government when no certificates of votes from any state shall have been received at the seat of govern went on the fourth wednesday of we th e month of january after the meeting of the elec electors torr I 1 shil shall 11 have been held the president of the sen ate or tf if be be absent from the seni seat of gov clement the secretary of state shall send a special messenger to the district judge in whose custody a certificate of rotes from that state has been lodged and such juige judge snail forthwith transmit that list by the hand of such messenger to the seat of government 0 by bi western union |