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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 143, 4 November 1912, Page 4

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. To-morrow (November 5) is an important day in the annals of the United States, for then the Presidency that has occupied so much newspaper space for months past will be decided. The procedure is somewhat involved and does not do credit to the acumen and progressiveness the Yankee is supposed to possess in such a marked degree. An election in the British colonies is a straight-out process, but in the Land of Hustle the procedure is circumlocutory. The actual machinery for selecting a candidate is set ill work on November 5; that terminates the campaign, but there are numerous formalities yet to be gone through. On that date the States take what is constitutionally the preliminary step of holding a popular vote to select the electors, who are to choose the President. The electors, on the second Monday in January next, are to meet in the capitals of their respective States, and then give their votes. On the second Wednesday in February the votes are opened and counted in the presence of both Houses of Congress, and the new President begins his term on March 4. The electors number 531, and in the absence of a clear majority, or 2Gf3 votes, for any one candidate, a deadlock will result, and the electoral college will have to resign to the House of Representatives the function of selecting the President. Should such a contingency arise, it will be for the First time in the history of the United States. At the outset a possibility of the kind was not taken into serious consideration, but it is now acknowledged that there is more than a remote chance of it happening. Mr. Roosevelt, from all accounts, is making considerable progress, and the recent attempt on his life is probably the best advertisement he has had, and should be worth a good many votes to him. The Republican supporters of Mr. Taft are not, happy, and acknowledge that the "bull moose party"—Roosevelt's partywill poll a vote which, three months ago, would have been thought impossible. Mr. Roosevelt may not win, but his backing may be strong enough to deprive Mr. Taft of a majority in the Electoral College, and either let in Dr. Wilson, the Democrat nominee, or throw the electioD on the House. Speculation in regard to the prospects reveals a further peculiar possibility. Should the voting be thrown into the hands of the House of Representatives, the balloting will be in the hands of the present House, elected in November, 1910. The voting then will be by States, each State having one vote. But a clear majority of the States is necessary to a choice, and there can be no assurance on that point. A calculation of the state of parties shows that there is a fairly equal division, 22 States being represented by delegations whose majority is Republican, an equal number being Democratic, and the remaining four being equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. Then there is the additional complication that some of the 22 Republican States are represented by Roosevelt Republicans, thus making more remote the chance of anyone obtaining an absolute majority. The constitution provides another means of overcoming the dead-

lock, but even in that quarter trouble may be expected. In the event of the House failing to elect a President, the Vice-President takes that office. That seems a simple solution,' until it is realised that if the country fail to elect a President it fails likewise to elect a Vice-President. Then the Senate will have the privilege of selecting a VicePresident, the choice being restricted to the two highest Vice-Presidential candidates in the Electoral College. That also seems an easy way to solve the problem. But the Senate has the same divisional groups as characterise American politics, and it is doubtful whether finality could be reached on such an issue. Should the deadlock remain unsolved until March 4 of next year, the final appeal would be made to the Secretary of State, it being his duty in such a contingency to call Congress together to make arrangements for a special election. The situation is delightfully uncertain, and invests the voting to-morrow with extraordinary interest. The news we get from America regarding the strength of the parties is quite unreliable, so that estimating the chances of the rival candidates Is out of the question. That President Taft has not been a success is generally acknowledged. He lamentably failed to take the honest and statesmanlike course in the matter of the Panama Canal Bill, whilst he has shown all along that he is on the side of the bloated, greedy trusts that are busy exploiting the public. We will not be sorry if he is defeated. Both Mr. Roosevelt and Dr. Wilson appear to be on the side of the people and are likely to give them a "fair deal." That being the case, it l-eally matters not who wins, though the Democratic candidate is, on personal grounds, the more desirable, inasmuch that he is less given to the drum-beating and kite-flying so characteristic of the otherwise estimable Colonel.