THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1912. THE U.S.A. PRESIDENCY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10672, 29 June 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1912. THE U.S.A. PRESIDENCY.

A great deal of interest is /being ceil- I toed -in mil parts of the world in the contest which is inow beginning for thej Presidency of the United States. This 1 is probably the highest gift - at the di«posajli of amy■ nation. "By the Oo'nstitutioin of the United States,''the . government is entrusted to three sepairate authorities—-the Executive, the Legislative, and' tie 'Judicial. The lExeoutive pdwefr iis vested rjn, the President, who is elected every .four years,'and is eligible lor re-election. The content •wliioh is taking place in the States' at the present time is not for t'he Presidency itself/ .ibtsfc; of the great parties. Far the purposes of nomination, each of the dominating parties lidlds ia Convention, and selects •its candidate. The retiring President is iMr Taifit, who is a Republican, and who appears to have secured the Re-". puWlcm nomination in spite of the. strenuous efforts' put forward .by Mr Roosevelt. On the Delmoeratic i side there is also a division, Mr. Bryan, who 'has previously unsuccessfully contested, the Presidency, being apparently in ft'he .minority. If there were a straight out (fight between a •RepubSli-l cla-n and a Democrat, as there has for the la'st fifty years/it is not improbable that the (Republican would win, notwithstanding that the Legislature is dominated !by. the Democrats at t3ie. present, time. Mr Grovfir Cleveland 1 lias 'been the only Democratic President elected) since 1861. The mode ofeleeting /the. President, is ia,s follow,&Each State appoints, in such' (maiwner iais the Legislature- thereof' directs, a ommber of electors, equal tp ithe whole number of Senators and ißepre.sentative.s to which the 'State may be entitled in the Congress; but

too Senator or /Representative, or anyone holding office tinder Goveirnimeint Shall :be appointed an elector. The electors for each State meet at their respective State capitals on. a day appointed, and there vote for ;a. Bresidi eait <by ballot. Ths .ballots are then j sent to Washington,, and openied' by j ihe iPfresident of .tho Senate in ihe presence of Congress, and the cantdid!ate who has received a majority of (the? whole manmbetr of electoral votes oast is declared President for the ensuing term. If mo one has a majority, then tfrcan itlhe three highest on the list the House of Representatives 'elects a President, the votes being taken (by States, the representation from each State having one vote.' It will thus- be seen, that if there be a substantial split in the Republican., o>r the Democratic Party, and a, mundxa■of candidates are nominated l , the choice may rest with the House of Representatives, of which there are at '' present 392 memberis. As there are. at present 226 Democrats and 165 Re- ' publicans an'(the House of Representatives., the chance eff 'a Republican being elected President should the first baljot fail to ehow a .majority in his favour, is exceedingly reraoite. It nvil thus ibe readily (Understood why '! (the ißepubhcato .are anxious for only one (nomination. It may be mentioned that Mr: Taft lipids office until March, 1913.