Word: methods
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1920-1929
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...problem of computing the proper assignment of a specified number of representatives to the forty-eight states in proportion to their populations was an unsolved problem in Congress for over a hundred years. Up to 1921, no scientific tests of a good apportionment were known; a variety of empirical methods were tried and later discarded, and the decennial debates in the House were often bitter. On one occasion, after a long speech by Daniel Webster, the Senate reversed the action of the House on purely mathematical grounds. If the House is to be kept at its present size...
...method called the Method of Equal Proportions became available, which provides for the first time a simple and obvious test of a good apportionment--that is, a test which shows at once whether each state is as nearly as possible on a parity with every other state in the matter of representation, as the Constitution intended...
...disparity" betwen two states is defines as the percentage by which the congressional district in one state exceeds the congressional district in the other state, then an apportionment made according to the Method of Equal Proportions is one which cannot be improved by any transfer of a representative from any state to any other state; that is, in such an apportionment, any proposed transfer will be found to increase, rather than decrease, the "amount of disparity" between the two states...
There is a vigorous discussion in Congress between these favoring the Method of Equal Proportions, which pats all the states on an equal footing, and those favoring an older method called the Method of Major Fractions, which gives a marked advantage to the larger states. For example, the 1920 population of North Carolina is 2,559,123 and of Vermont 352,428. Under the Method of Equal Proportions, North Carolina receives 10 and Vermont 2 representatives, and the "disparity" betwen the two states is 45 percent. Under the Method of Major Fractions, North Carolina receives 11 and Vermont 1 representatives...
...prohibition law in its own country, now finds the American system of tremendous financial benefit. Furthermore, its decision to allow so powerful a neighbor to fight its own battles to a finish cannot be criticized on this side of the border. Only too often, this has been the method of procedure employed by the United States...