A Non-Partisan Family {S
volume xxxv. <
If the Election Should
be Dead-Locked?
Wc'think it fitting at this time to
copy the following detailed explanation
of the procedure should the election
of the Fresident fall to Congress,
taken from the Charlotte Daily
Observer:
Much has been said and written
about the possibility of the forthcoming
election being thrown into Congress.
Speculation of the possibility
continues, and people are apparently
becoming more and more interested
0 in the question of what would happen
in the event of a deadlock, in the electoral
college. Even in Charlotte we
hear frequent discussion of the question.
And while the course to be
pursued has been often explained, at
least briefly, we have seen nothing
on the subject more comprehensive
ami clear than the treatment of the
subject by the Atlanta Journal, which
act? forth <4a summary of the legal
aspect- of the problem." which it
says has been submitted to eminent
Authorities on the Constitution and
pronounced substantially correct. The
Journal's summary in th- form of a
set { questions and answer:. will be
read with a great deal of interest by
a lot of people who have b.-oor.v interested
in the question:
In the first place, what doc - a dead
loch mean ? ?
The Constitution requires that the i
President must have a majority of'
the electoral college to he elected.;
A deadlock i- always possible with
thrc-i candidates in the fit*
row \Yil????* was a mm*
%
7,600.1)00 lor KOOSOVei. attu i ???v.
W hy wasn't the 1012 election dead
lock i d.
Taft. however made so poor a show
ing on the basis of states carried (he
captured only Utah and Vermont)
that in the electoral college he had
but eight votes Roosevelt had 88
votes. \\ il.-OTi had 430 and in the electoral
college was an easy winner.
It i > on the bash yf -t.vv;s a*. units
then, that the election is decided.
Yes, Coolidge and Davis might have
a total of 210,000 votes in Nebraska (
as against 130,000 for LaFolIettee; j
1 * : C I k...; .MAl>n UnfA. tlv.n
VU1 l 1AII Ulirnv mill muii: Minn uiiiu
^ithor Coolidge or Davis individually,
then aij of Nebraska's eight electoral
votes, and not just a proportionate'
?hare of them, would go to the third
parly ir the electoral college.
What would deadlock the election
* now ?
There are 531 votes in the electoral
college. Of these 531. 191 are votes
in the Solid South and bordering
States which a Democratic candidate
is reasonably sure of carrying. That
leaves a remainder oi 337.
A majority of the college is 260.
Accordingly this is the situation.
If Davis carries the 19 1 votes of
the solid South and the border States
then Davis and LaFollette between
them need 72 additional votes to
block the election of Coolidge.
LaFollette is usually credited, as
a minimum, with chances of carrying
the five Northwestern States of Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Montana and the
two Dakotas. That is a block of 39
votes. Thirty three more for either
Davis of LaFollette, any wh tee out
jride the Solid South would prevent
the election of Coolidge.
Endless combinations can be suggested
which provide those 33. New
York alone, for example has 45 votes
** to deliver.
On the other hand. Davis cannot
win his own election in the electoral
college unless to his 194 he adds 9;
more. Ar.d if LaFollette is given 39
then to win in the college, Davis mu3t
cut the Coolidge total to 226.
You can guess the answer any way
you like, but it is clear that with evcrv
state LaFollette carries, both oi
his opponents have an increasingly
smaller margin to play with. LaFol
lelte's strength is probably not spree
evenly throughout the country a:
Taft's was in 1912, but massed ii
operate states. That is why there i:
talk about a deadlock.
If no candidate in the electoral co
lege, receives a majority, what hap
pens next?
The first step is for the House o
Representatives to attempt to choos
a Preside lit from among the thre
high candidates. But first the hous
does not vote as it ordinarily does, b
i individuals, but votes by states.
Second, each state counts one vot
aiid only one?New York for instanc
with its 43 members, counts no mor
th -.n Wyoming v/i'h its one
Third, it is not the ? House tha
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docs the voting, but the old House, 'u*
that is, the existing House, even tho <' 1
-the election may have changed its ant
membership substantially. j *-ul
Who wins . hen the House votes ' '
Once more a majority and not a po<mere
plurality is necessary for the I ?*' !
election of a President. How large a j th?
fraction of the present house LaFol- . lov
cue coum control in suen a comvsi.
is debatable. Bat for the sake of il-! for
lustration, grant him his five states me
again. There are 48 States in ail; pin
25 are noce>. ary for a majority, each not
State counts o:u vote; set LaFolletts!
five aside and all either Davis or Coo- i Hii
lidjre has to do to Mock the other's fal
election in the house is to tally It): tin
votes. For these It*, with Lafollette's I th<
five, would leave the other party on-, I,
Iv 24, and 24 is.one shy of a major- Lit
itv. hi?
Assume this happens. What follows gri
next? thi
The House has until March 1 to ?
break its deadlock if a deadlock shall fir
arise. The break could come either idi
. by LaFolletie surrendering enough of
his state delegations to Cooliage or Si
! to Davis to furnish a majority or by pa
enough Coolidge states going over C(
, to Davis, or vice versa, on the theo- of
I ry that a victory for the other side ed
I was better than confusion. dc
I Suppose, however that party lines pr
hold fast. What happens in that case? qt
The question goes to the senate? jq
Does the Seriate choose a president
Xo. what the Senate does is not to G|
I elect a president, but to elect a Vice pC
President from among the two high- as
| est candidates. The Twelfth amend- to
| ment to the Constitution provides: cl
j "A quorum . . shall consist of two ?
thirds of the whole number of Senators,
and a majority of the whole
number shall be necessary* to a choic'
What happens if a vice president
is elected?
He proceeds to act as President
~ and the incident is closed,
j But it is not difficult to believe if
I the deadlock was carried thus far it
might go one ^age further.
To be sure the contest is n arrows,
ed down by this time; one man is
11 ruled out, and the choice before the
' Senate is now between the two highi
est candidates for vice president. But
nose these two highest candidates .are
~! Dawes and Bryan. There are three
1 Republican votes (Lafollette's, Fra*
zier*s and Ladd's) which would alp
most certainly go to Bryan; there
e!are two farmer-labor votes (Ship(*
stead's and Mangus Johnson's) which
y wo'dd ro ir? the same direction. That
y - old tie the voting 48 to 48. Or, to
e a majority until party lines
c; broke, these three Republicans, two
c Farmer-Labor men and perhaps sovoi
e.? moie insurgent colieait
guvs, nnght refrain from voting ei1
femji*
tor Boone and Watauga
TAUGA COUNTY. NOR 1H CAR<
R L.ATL THAN NEVE
BY BILLY t*OkNE
^ CHE
I //V {
- #>:#
fVr -, yfflff/M
i??ue .%
i way The Constitution requiresj ft
majority of the whole membership'
i not merely a quorum, for an el-!
ion.
For the sake of .Hast rat lap al) the
ssihilities which the situation holds ^
tnt that another deadlock blocked. ^
Senate's action. What would fol-i ^
after that? *
It would take a fortune teller to p
I certain. For the Twelfth Amend- f.
lit. which lays down all these com- y
rated rulings. leaves off here and
thing: takes its place. ; T
It has b"en suggested that Mr. {
ighes, as Seeretary of State would ,,
! heir to tin* presidency, thanks to
^residential succession act and
provisions of Article II, section
of the Constitution. But if that is. ,
le, the same statute also requires |
II to call a special session of Con- i ^
l-s>, and in this case it might lit* ^
i> dutv of the* incoming: Congress
!
the statute doesn't specifically atm
o?" deny it?-to elect, anew Present
and Vice President. .
It has also been suggested that the
ipremt- rourt might he asked to {
ss 011 both the interpretation of the :
institution and the constitutionality J
the statute. But the question rats-1 ,
i, the method of electing: a Presi- ' (
'tit might be regarded by the Su-.
ome Court as a non-justiciable
K-stion over which it would decline
risdiction.
Other theories suggest ail manner
emergency mcuioas, irom tne ap.ir.t
ment of an electoral commission
i in the Hayes-Tilden controversy
the theory that the present oc- <
ipant of the White House simply
t Probing Politic?."
cD ^ ^
This is the group on the Senato
is probing charges and counteraver
rhaf huge sums arc being r
" mas ... in
ar.U . Si:., i.
x M
County, the Leader of ]
JLINA. THURSDAY OCTOBER
LR I"
Eft UP.
"OH/HQ!
_ I
rourt**sy of tho AshovUIe Ciiiton.
dail Service Now Boone
to North Wilkesboro
The new mail service that was put
nw.khe 27ih between Boone and N
bilker-bore almost completes a pored
sjstem for Boone and othei
arts of the country.
The mail is scheduled to arrive ir
loom- at 10:30 a. m. and leave on it:
'turn at 12:30 p. m.. reaching No
i ilkesboro in time to connect with
he train earning mail down state
he Winston-Salem .Journal and the
ireensboro Daily N?*ws now read
ere the morning they are puhlishec
hile all lector mail from these anc
intervening cities reach here tin
norning after they are mailed. Evci
Cv\v York papers are being read ii
5oone the day after they are takei
rem the presses. Friends of th
harlotte Observer are sorry indee<
hat it gets ii late in the afternooi
1 iter the two dailies have precede
: here by sc ei .il hours. If this civ
remedied it would please many n
>m people greatly.
Postmaster Farthing says that a
nail going on the Wilkesboro rout
h.ould be in the office by noon a
he .*10 minutes will be occupied i
making up the mails.
BLOND BESS OPINES
1 told Dick he was getting bette
looking every day and he said tht
ivas a habit he had ever}; year shorl
y before Christmas.
:ontinues to hold office until his su<
e-osor is elected.
^ ''Slush FuikIs''^
TfW - . J
rial Investigating Committee which
charges oi the rival parties, who
vsed to back the candidates. Left
*yaid, T. H. Caraway, \V. E. Borah
nttfjtt;
Northwestern North Carolii
30, 1924. 5 Ct*. ?Copy
"
Amendments and ]
Acts to be Voted On
Five proposed acts ana amendmentp
to the State Constitution of 1
North < arolina arc to be submitted <
(to a vote of the people at the general ,
; electior next Tuesday. The substance t
of these is as follows1.
Rai fication of the act known ]
as the Port Bill. It is the Port
Commission Bill It provides for the, <
establishment of ship and water tran!
spoliation along the coast and the ;
inland waterway of the state; crea- ^
tes a port commission to direct the t
affairs. It authorizes the state treasurer
to issue eight million five* hun- ^
j dred thousand dollars of bonds to ]
procure funds for this purpose. Sev- 5
en million is to be used for the coo- \ .
struction of ports and terminis (do- ,
pots* while the remaining SI,500,- (
000 will he held in reserve for con- j
struction of a merchant ship line. ]
should ;t be necessary for the success
of the project. j
2. Second b *he proposed amend-1
ment to the state const ution relating
to the inviolability " tf sinking! ^
fund, allowing the u>? of revenue
collected from taxes oh automobiles
and sale of gasoline for retirement
; highway bond.
->. The Patterson bill to increase i
the pay of the leg . ator- from $1
to ? t> r day.
4. The proposed amendment which
! would allow the owner of a mod- j ?
; gaged r > me stead valued at less than !
1 $S.(?00 to list only the value of the I
im-i . : for taxation a; ?i the mort j ;
s-iKf uit listing inr otner nan, .
jcharging the present rate of interest
of f?ve and one half per cent. : i
on the mortgage to the full legal rate c
of ^ix per cent. i
The soldier homestead Act, in- i i
troduced by representative Frank (
Grist of Caldwell, passed hv the rog- j ]
ular s? ?ion of 192.*;, provides for the! <
t issuaiu- of by the treasurer of two
million dollars of bonds for the pur- j
chase of homes in sums not to exceed
$2,500, to soldiers of the World War
residents of North Carolina.
News Items from
the Training School
The Training School was indeed
" glad to have Capt. K. F. Lovill, Chair
man of the Board of Trustees of the
School, at chapel exercises a few days
ago to hear his encouraging voice in
j ix most sensible ta k to the students '
j Prof. I' 1). Dougherty, treasurer!
and busim - manager of the school j
has not been well for some time hut4
the doctc. ay< he is improving and
will doubtless be well soon
(> The Mi lonary ladies and young
, people of the Methodist church hail
'their District Missionary meeting at
. Valle Cruets on Tuesday of the past
week. A ? mber of ladies and young
^ people from Boone attended the meet
big and report a most excellent and
j. inspiring program.
Prof. K. M Loy. who was a tea
vher in ch> school during" the past
( summer, principal of Tryon High
: School in Gaston County, brought
i his senioi class, the young ladies and
i the young men? basket ball teams,
some teachers and other friends on
1 a mountain trip to Boone and the
lt .-unrounding country on Friday and
L" ^Saturday. On Friday night both of,
the teams played the Training School
- teams in basket ball The score for
the young ladies game was 36 to 7
in favor of the Boone team and that
- of the young men. which was a very
line game, resulted in a scor?* of 38
to 34 in favor of Boone. The spirit
was fine and everything moved along
nicely, .he school gave a reception
in their honor at Lovill home on Saturday
night.
A rather peculiar incident occurred
at Mrs. J. M. Moretz' kitchen about
two weeks ago. All unexpected
to Mrs. Moretz and without warning
a young colored girl walked up to
the door and said she had come to
j stay a while with her. The girl had
' never seen Mrs. Moretz but her fa!
thor hml worked for Mrs. Moretz* fa
ther for a long time and the girl had
heard them talk of Mrs. Moretz as
Miss Ida Farthing and became deeply
interested, so much so that she decided
sh _ would come to see her as
soon as she was old enough. So wher
she was about fifteen she started
She walked from the western pari
1 of the county to Cove Creek the firs
day and the next walked into towi
and to Mrs. Moretz'. The girl is i
bright, rather unique character am
eenv- as happy as a lark in her net
i c pi :>r'*
ia.? Established in 1888
NUMBER 43
Mew Power Plant
Goes into Oceration
The people of the town are very
lighiv pleased with the new plant
f the New River Light and Power
L'ompany. which first gave service
o the town this morning.
The plant is located on Middle
fork of New River three miles from
.own and is said by experts to be
>ne of the most modern in North- %
.vest em Carolina. The machinery is
all new and improved to the last
vord The plant was ready for opera:ion
last week, but it was deemed
vise by those in charge to have the
.vcrk inspected by Mr. David Shearer
Electrica' Kpgineer who installed the
-mall plant for the school. Mr. Shear
?r came Saturday night and left Monlay,
having given I no job an official
u>. K. Hi- was load in his praise of
:he work of installation c ; by U
F. Tate and McKiniey A.
After the machinery i.- thoroughly
'broken in" we will navt 21 hour
e:vice. The .urrenl is fine.
Woodman Chiefs Meet
With, the Bocne Camp
On Frida\ ntgrbt. October :M the
iloo le camp of Modern Woodmen of
America met with M. L. (remain.
!alt Deputy and the following of
he Di$tr:<-1 Deputies: F. M. Brown,
ireeiulior<.. H. Wi ami Kinston;
I. G. Smith. Karniville; i C. Evans,
decry Ii i; T. I. Moore Charlotte,
i *i <i R. S. Owens who has charge of
he work in the local camp.
Dr. Evi rett A. Lockett, State Medea!
director of the M. W. A. was
hief speaker of Uu evening, It was
lis first trip to Boone and he was
lolightcd with the beautiful scenery
-f tne country. Too he was very much
pleased with the substantial quality
if the membership of the camp here.
His address was well received by the
Boone members.
Mr. Tremain and his associates together
with Mr. R. C. Rivers, local ed
nor ana nr. w. jones, utcai examiner
for the Modern Woodmen,
stopped for a fcroup photograph in
front of the Daniel Boone monument
<<n Saturday morning, after which
Mr. Tremain and the District Deputies
returned to Winston-Salem.
On Friday night a elas> of nine
members were initiated into the local
camp. The candidates wore very
vouch pleased with the high type of
the society and expressed themselves
as one hundred per cent Modern
Wood men.
The interests of the Modern Wood
men of rnerica are being very energetically
looked after in the State
by State Deputy Tremain and his
cro ps of District Deputies. They nrc
without exception men of high standing
in thei rown communities and
are deeply interested in promoting
this fraternal order that as many men
as possible in the state may become
acquainted with its principles and
profit through its benefits.
Recent Proceedings
in the Mayor's Court
! James Miller, drunk, fined $5.00
j and cost.
J James Miller, having liquor in pes
session. Bond required lor appearance
at spring term of Superior
Court.
Burt Godsev, having liquor in posession.
Bond required for appearance
at the spring term of Superior
Court.
Carl Payne, operating car without
license. Fined ?5 and cost. Appealed
to Superior Court
Letcher Teague. operating car with
out license. Fined $5 and cost. Appealed
to Superior Court.
J. H. Cook, operating car without
license. Fined $5 and cost.
R. L. Honeycutt. Afffray. Released
on payment of cost.
Zeb Farthing. Affray. Released on
j payment of the cost.
i
GEE?YES!
Clerk (driven to desperation by a
J bargain hunting boy) : "Listen, young
. man why don't you take that top?
^1 Do you want to got the world with a
fence around it for a nickel?"
> Boy: "I dunno! Let's see it."
t j
i friends in an interesting manner with
i conversation and song while she con1
tinties her work. Mr.-. Moretz is greatv
ly pleased with her new help,
d J. M. Downum