440 



The Review of Reviews. 



THE PRESIDENTIAL PUZZLE. 



The editor of the North Avierican Review in 

 his September issue describes the extraordinary 

 possibilities bound up in the current Presidential 

 election. He cites the Constitution to show that 

 if none of the Presidential candidates receive a 

 majority of the whole number of electors in the 

 Electoral College, then the House of Representa- 

 tives shall immediately choose the President by 

 ballot, but the representative from each State 

 shall have only one vote. 



POSSIBLE DEADLOCK NO. I. 



As the House is now divided politically, there 

 would be 22 votes for Wilson, the Democratic 

 candidate; 22 votes between Taft and Roosevelt ; 

 with 4 States evenly divided. Wilson would 



Mr . Woodrow Wilson. 



have to gain three States in order to obtain the 

 requisite 25, which the writer describes as a 

 practical impossibility. The House would then 

 be unable to elect a President. If, therefore, 

 the House of Representatives fails to elect a 

 President, the Vice-President becomes President. 



POSSIBLE DEADLOCK NO. 2. 



But the same trouble occurs with regard to 

 the Vice-President. If no Vice-Presidential 

 candidate obtains a majority of the electors in 

 the Electoral College, then the Senate must select 

 from the two highest numbers on the list a Vico 

 President. The Senate being Republican, would 

 elect Sherman, Taft's nominated Vice-President. 

 But if Roosevelt induced four out of the so-called 

 insurgent Senators, with two new Senators from 



Colorado and Illinois, to abstain from voting, 

 the Senate would be unable to elect the Vice- 

 President. Then, according to the Law of Suc- 

 cession, in the absence of a President and Vice- 

 President, " the Secretary of State shall act as 

 President until a President is elected." 



KNOX POSSIBLY ACTING PRESIDENT. 



In the event, then, of the House of Representa- 

 tives failing to elect a President, and of the 

 Senate failing to elect a Vice-President, Presi- 

 dent Taft's lixed term of office would expire at 

 midnight on March 3rd, and the Secretary of 

 State, Mr. Knox, whose official life is indeter- 

 minate, would become Acting President. Mr. 

 Knox would be obliged to convene Congress in 

 extraordinary session on the 24th of March, and 

 Congress would determine the time of choosing 

 the electors, certainly not later than November 

 of the forthcoming year. In this manner Mr. 

 Roosevelt and his new party would have a second 

 opportunity to win the Presidency within a 

 twelvemonth. 



THE PROBABLE VICTOR. 



The editor reckons that if the various States 

 voted for President this year as they voted in 

 1910 for the House of Representatives, the 

 figures would be: — Wilson 290, Taft 156, 

 Roosevelt 63, divided 22. Necessary, to a 

 choice, 266. He says " the wildest imaginings 

 cannot accord Roosevelt a majority." Taft 

 cannot win : the probabilities are that Wilson 

 will. The two pivolal States are New York and 

 Illinois. He sums up : — 



Wilson will probably be elected. If he carries New 

 York he cannot be beaten. 



Neither Taft nor Roosevelt can win. 

 A vote for Taft is a vote for Sherman. 

 A vote for Roosevelt is a vote for Sherman. 

 A vote for Wilson is a vote for Wilson. 



THE GERMAN SOCIALIST PARTY. 



In connection with the Social Democratic 

 Congress, held in September at Chemnitz, " the 

 Saxon Manchester," the Sozialistische Monats- 

 hcjle of September 12th has issued a special 

 double number. It contains a collection of very 

 solid-looking articles by well-known writers re- 

 lating to the position and the programme of the 

 Social Democratic party ; two articles deal with 

 Imperialism and the German Colonies, and one 

 only refers to the women's movement — namely, 

 that on Calling and Marriage, by Dr. Hope 

 Bridges Adams Lehmann. 



In the introductory article, Herr Gustav 

 Noske speaks with satisfaction of the annual 

 report prepared by the leaders of the party. At 

 the last election 4J million votes were cast for 

 the party. The total membership of organised 



