THE UNITED STATES THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

New Zealand Tablet, 29 October 1908, Page 13

THE UNITED STATES THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

On the third of November the great electoral contest in the United States will be fought and won. The people of this Dominion and of the Commonwealth of Australia -have little idea of the excitement which this contest occasions among the levelheaded, practical, and progressive people of th& great Republic. Business, which is unceasingly followed with, we might say, feverish .anxiety the whole year round, is now almost wholly neglected, and for some time before the election stocks and shares are as little heard of as if they had never existed. The Americans are nothing, if not thorough, and this is fully exemplified by the whole-hearted manner in which they enter in the excitement incidental to a presidential election. Their action is in direct contrast to the matter-of-fact — we might say indifferent — manner in which a general election is regarded in New Zealand. There are, generally speaking, only two parties to a contest in the United States— Republicans and Democrats— and to an outsider there seems less difference in the platform of these parties~~than there is between- the .Government and Opposition in this Dominion. This is only a surface view. Behind these parties are powerful interests and factors that are using all their powers in favor of the candidate of their choice. Nothing is left undone to forward the interest of the chosen candidate of a party, and nothing overlooked which would assist in lowering the* prestige of his opponent. The license of the press during election time is something to marvel at, and were the newspapers of this Dominion* to treat and lampoon candidates for Parliament in such a manner at the general election there would be a crop oMibel«and slander actions to follow that would Iceep our -Supreme Court judges fully occupied for the following twelvemonths. But, strange to say, such actions are very rare in the United States.

It is expected that over 14,000,000 voters will record their votes for the two leading candidates— William Howard Taft and William Jennings Bryan. To reach this large number oTvoters with arguments, spoken or written, that may change or decide their opinions,- has been the work of the national committees on both sides for some months past. Besides collecting and disbursing campaign funds the party committees send out speakers carefully distributed where they will "So most good for their side,' issue millions of printed leaflets, and attend to vast correspondence. To give an idea of the cost of a presidential election, it is said that each party spends no Jess *. sum than in postage alone during a campaign. For the preparation" and management of campaign literature, a literary bureau is formed early in the campaign, usually under the dire'etion of an experi-

enced uewspaper man. This bureau makes up the campaign text-books, for .the use of party speakers. Ever)' argument that may be employed ..to strengthen the party and confuse opponents is suggested in this book, which is closely conned by campaign writers as well as speaker^. ~" The two leading parties have different methods of preparing campaign books. If is customary for the Republicans to dwell upon the record of the party, while the Democrats .denounce the results of Republican administration. The speakers' bureau, of the national committee also begins work early in the campaign. A list of available ' spellbinders ' is drawn up, with "The merits of each man, carefully " noted. This one can_make a good tariff argument, another is strong on finance, another is a fluent .story-teller or a good debater in general. Senators and ** representatives in Congress usually volunteer as speakers, but most of them desire to be kept as close as possible to their constituents, especially those" who are candidates for, reflection. Most of the speakers' receive pay for their services and go where they are assigned, without question. They get salaries up to ~£so a week and expenses,- some being paid a night. They usually travel in pairs, speaking on different subjects. The local party organisation is expected to furnish at least one other speaker. Tlie average salary of the campaign ' spellbinder ' is probably about .£2O a week, not counting his expenses,- which are paid by the national committee. Ii is estimated that the speakers alone may cost in a national campaign. r By the Constitution the Government of the United States is entrusted to three separate authorities — the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. The executive power is vested in the President, who holds office for a term of four years, and is elected, together with a Vice-President chosen for the same term, in the following manner : — Each State appoints, in such a manner as the Legislature thereof directs, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and representatives to - which the Stale is entitled in Congress ; but no Senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, is appointed an elector. The practice is that in every Stale the electors allotted to that State are chosen by direct vote of the citizens on a general ticket. The voting takes place on the same day throughout the country. The successful candidates compose what is known as the Electoral Colleges. The result " of the election of these .colleges decides who the President and* Vice-President are to be for the next four years, and also the party — Democratic or Republican — that is .to be in power. The method appears to be rather complicated, and it would seem that the simpler plan would be to lake a direct vote of the people. However, the method has been tried now for over one hundred years, and has apparently given satisfaction to those most interested in the result. The election, ,. as previously slated, takes place on November 3t3 t but the -Presidentelect is not installed until March 4. No person except a naturalborn -citizen, who has attained the age of years is eligible for the office of President. The President is Com-mander-in-Chief of the army and navy, and of the militia in the service of Union. The Vice-President is ex-officio President of the,. -Senate, and in case of the death or resignation^of the President, he becomes President for the remainder of the term. It will be remembered that Mr. Roosevelt was Vice-President at the time of the assassination ,of President McKinley, and accordingly succeeded the latter in office. The - election, takes place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which this year will. fall on- the third day- of the month. -President ""^R-oosevelt^ is the 26th who has presided at the White House since 1789, when George Washington was elected. The administrative business of the ration is -.conducted by eight chief officers, or heads of departments, but none' having seats in Congress.-. They -ace. chosen by the President, and form what is called' the Cabinet. They arc the Secretary of State, the Secretary of thn Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Navy, the Secretary of the Interior, the" Postmaster- . General, the Attorney-General, and the Secretary of Agriculture. " Congress consists of the Senate and the' House of Representatives. Senators are apppointed, two from, each State, by the several State legislatures, and hold office for six years. The Senate- has the power of confirming or rejecting treaties with" foreign Powers. The House' of Representatives is composed of members- ejected biennially' by the citizens of the several States. Usually the electors are all male citizens of 21 years of age and ' upwards.'. The representatives for each State are in the proportion of one for 17.3,000 inhabitants. " The Senate is composed of 92 members elected by the various State Legislatures. A third of the number retires every twoyears. Each Senator is paid a year, and mileage once

each way to and from Washington. Besides this he receives £50 a year for stationery. He is also provided with a private secretary at the expense of the country, and has a private room at the Capitol. The House of -Representatives consists 0/ 391 members, who are elected by the people of 'the various States for .a term of two years only. Like Senators, members of the House of Representatives are each paid, and each Representative can employ a private secretary, whose salary is paid by the State. The term .' hon. member ' is not applied in either House. They simply say Senator So-and-so (naming him) in one branch of the Legislature, and in the other ' the gentleman from Mobile,' or elsewhere, when they refer to a brother legislator;. The salary of the President is fixed at a -year, or about one-fourth more than the allowance to the Governor of this Dominion. Some time ago he was granted an additional sum to cover travelling expenses, as President Roosevelt declined to be under obligation to the railway companies for free railway trains which they placed at his disposal. He considered that it was undignified for the ruler of eighty millions of people to be the recipient of concessions from corporations whose methods he might be called upon to criticise, and perhaps legislate against. The President, during his term of office, resides at the Executive Mansion, popularly known as the White House, so-called from its color. The White House was built over one hundred years ago. In 1814 it was set on fire, but the flames were extinguished before serious damage was done. At its restoration the walls were painted white to conceal the ravages of the fire on the freestone wall — hence its name. The architect and builder of the White House was an Irish Catholic, John Hoban, who went to the United States after the War of Independence. He was a native of Kilkenny, where he was born in 1758. He also superintended the building of the Capitol, and had much to do with the erection of the principal business places and residences of Washington. He died in 1831.

As previously stated, the salary of the President is per annum, whilst the Vice-President and the other members of the Cabinet receive each ;£i6oo a year, so that in the aggregate the President and the members of his Cabinet do not receive much more than the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for governing over eighty millions of people. It cannot be said that the people of the United States err on the side of liberality in paying their Executive officers, and certainly the salaries attached to such offices are not of a character to tempt men to seek them for monetary gain