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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1960-10-26, Page 2Two. WAR VET • THE LUCKNOW . SENTINEL; LUCKNOW, ONTARIO 'WEDNESDAY, OCT. 28th, 1960, DIED SUDDEN.'1 • _Donald Roy (Sandy) MacDon-- d, one of ..Smith Falls widely eWn citizens, passed away •soddenly in •-the Smiths. Falls & District Public Hospitall on 1VIgn- yi September 12th., Ne 'was 65 'ea r?s , old, . He' was . one of the papular' members of the local Post Office staff for the past. 21 Years: '. ' He suffered a •heart-. attack. on Labor Day • and succumbed . a week, -later: Mr, MacDonaldwas lborn in Lucknow, . the son of the . late Donald Stewart MacDonald and the former ` Mary Jane MacIvor. He married the fanner .Greta Helen. 'Gray in Smiths Falls on January 1st, 1930 A resident of the town: for the vast. 30'.years, Mr.. MacDonald gained many friends,. as the large floral tributes : attested.. He was a pastpresident of the Curling Club; a :member. of Branch 95, Canadian Legion, and, St. Francis ENGAGEMENTS Mr, and' Mrs, Donald Mason;• Ripley, wish to announce • the engagethent of their, daughter, Trudie Ann to Mr.. William Ron- ald Nelson, son' of Mrs. Lenore Nelson,, 'R. 3. Kincardine.- The. marriage to take place in . St;. Andrews United .Church, Ripley, on' Saturday, Novemmber 12th at 2 o'clock: BORN MffeCER--At Wingliam General Hospital` on Tuesday,' October 18, 1960, to ' Dr. and Mrs. ` Donald; Meter (nee Sybil ''Barger) • of Southampton, ' a , son, David Al- lan. • Masonic Lodge, No. 24,, AF and AM. • Mr. MacDonald was a member of .Westminster . Presbyterian Church, :and :a former member of the Board of Directors -of that church. Surviving besides . his wife are three brothers, W., J . MaeI on- ald, ' Thornbury; A. E. MacDon- ald, Kitchener; Ross L. MacDon- ald, acDonald, Kapuskasing; five 'Sisters;;, Mrs. J. F, (Alexandria). • McKee, Mrs.' Seymour MacDougall (Sa- die); Mrs. F. J.., (Marie)" Bromley & • Miss. Jean . MacDonald; all of ,Toronto, & : Mrs, K. W • . '(Vina) Jamieson, of Montreal. He • was predeceased ' by two brothers, Toni and Alex, both veterans of World War•'1 and a sister, Mrs.: Wm.,. Cole, (Alda), Kenalda. Funeral service was •held September. 14th at, Westminster • FOR SALE. illage : o ebentures REARING' 51/2% INTEREST , Paculars .obtained From; Agnew, • Treas. Lucknow Mmiicipil Office. 'Presbyterian '.Church with Rev. � Dan.. was one of the•••first 'three officiating. G. MacInnes ffici' iating. In- terment was , at Maple Vale cem- etery, em -etery. from Lucknow to enlist in World , War I. He,' Huntley Gordon and Alf Mortin enlisted in . August 1914 in the 18th' "Battalion at , London. The E!ecti�n 42f_ a .J:.2resi (The . Bank of Montreal Business Review) constitutional provision .that has, been used only ' once, .in ' 1824. ., The office 'of • President of , the. United ,States of America' has long, been one of great power and influence.' ' Events 'in recent years, ,particularly, have combined :.to" extend the. direct :effects of the President's influence to every . corner of . the ; earth. In 'these •uneasy times, Canadians, and people ;in other count- ries, will naturally ::follow this ,year's presi ' dential election with ' keen interest; but to' many 'the mechanics of. the United States electoral procedure are something , of a. my- stery. The : sole intention .of : this Review is to ,describe` the .. sequence of .events that occur every four years and which culminate in' the election Of the Chief' Executive ,of the United :: States of America,, 'in order •'to • assist readers •:: in following developments. in this • presidential election year. 'It . is important to bear in mind frim the outset that in, <1960 the, President will be elected, not directly by :some 115 .million United States citizens of voting age, nor .by. 'the' '65 ; million or moreexpected togo to' the polls, but by 537 persons • who, though they never meet . ` as a, ' body are known as the Electoral College: The Constitution of :the United:'States pro- vides .for this method;. of electing .the Presi-. dent, whereby .each .state ."appoints"a-number of Electors, . equal to " the total number of Senators ; and • Representatives which' .the state 'sends to Congress.' At present, : there • are 437 Representatives ; and -100 'Senators . in. Congress;: thus, there will be 53' members . of the Flee • toral College, with 269electoral votes regiur- ed for a presidential candidate to' . aohieve victory. Since 1789; the method of choosing these Electors ' °has changed,, largely as a .result.,, of the, evolution '•of Political Parties. Iri practiee,, •state legislatures .have directed that. the 'Elec- •tors_• be chosen by. popular", vote within the ' state: The`'slates •of candidates for Electors are now nominated, •through., various procedures, • by the party. organizations within. each state:. When a .voter ` goes., tothe polls on Election ' • Day lie, does not vote for just one Elector. Instead he' indicates on' the ,ballot the slate of .: 'Electors within his state he wishes`to . support. A simple majority P P , of the o` ular votes : cast's .. in a .•state will carry• all, that state's electoral votes for the. candidate of one party: ` Although the name of the winning : presidential candi- date is . usually • known by, the end of Election Day, ,he is not"•then, legally elected.. The number'' of electoral votes '(by• state) in 1960 are arranged in order of ` magnitude, and are also shown on a map, • .m the aceom- - parrying :.supplement: New York _ State, for in- . 'stance, has 45 'Electors since it is entitled : to elect 43 Representatives' and 2 Senators to the United States Congress.. .Sinceeven the • six states with the smallest population have two Senators • and one Representative, apiece, the minimum' number' of electoral' vote's. to. which each state is entitled is three.. Those . chosen .Electors by'. popular, 'vote' meet on' the first Monday after :the second Wednesday in December in their respective . states to cast their .ballots for President and for Vice . President. The Constitution requires that eachElector 'must with for at. Yeast one presidential or • :vice-presidential candidate who is nota .resident of the Elector's . °state Corti- lied copies • of the Electors' ballotsare 'l P • �mar ed ' to the President of the .Senate • and to 'various other officials. Early in January, the Senate.' an �'d the House of Representatives will sit as ` one' body to•'wrtness' the counting of the ,bale ..• lots and the. candidate • :who obtains 269 or more electoral ,votes will • be legally elected .+ • President of the United States, If no Candie date for President' Should receive a Majority cif the electoral votes, the election would be referred to the House 'of Representatives, It is customary; although, not constitution- .ally required, ,,for each slate. of Electors to vote en bloc . for the presidential candidate ., nominated bythe national convention of its , party and, since 1820, only, six Electors have failed to -vote for the candidate whom they had been :pledged to, support. The most .re • cent deviation was in 1956, when one Alabama. '. Elector refused to vote for' the Democratic. candidate. , . As : a result of . the traditional' procedure. of the :slate of Electors from each of the fifty states . voting en bloc,' the successful candi- date need not receive a majority ; of the nat- jonal popular ' votes, in order to obtain• a ma jority of the electoral . votes. There have been several . ' "minority" • presidents in, American history. For example, in 1888 Harrison re- ceived 100,000 fewer popular' votes than Cleveland ` but '65 more electoral votes: -:.Tile` most recent occurrence of this .• was'.in : 1948 '- whenr • Mr. Truman received : just under 50% 'of ; the '. popular' :vote's, but secured 57% . ,of the Votes : of the ,Electoral.. College.. • Prior.:. to and . during the sequence ' of .events described . above; there are other stages m choosing the President, notably the primar- ies, the national `conventions and the, camp Maign: Presidential primary:.'elections :'. 'emerged b'. shortly ` after the beginning:of .this. century, • Like other features of :the American election; system, these primaries are, in effect, largely controlled at the state level by 'party Organi- zations and regulated by state legislature In about one-third of the states' party voters are given the opportunity to dlioose delegates to " the . national' nominating ..conventions and, in some states, to express their preference among party aspirants for presidential nomination: .a • The results of these- '.direct primaries ' do not as a rule influence the decisions of the nation al conventions •' as much as they affect the. ' choice' of patty candidates for state ;and, local offices. , .. The national ' party nom'inatiing : convien,- tions, first 'held in the 1830's have evolved' ,. outside the United States Constitution The. size • of 'each : delegate fluctuates ,from" • conven- :tion to convention but is ,weighed roughly ac .cording to 'the population; and, the' number. of. party supporters in• each ' .state.I , The selection of delegates and alternates. is made ' by state party. organizations through • the use. -of pri- maries as mentioned' above, , or by other means such.:as°.state `'conventions: The three -main__ purposes of a national convention are ; to write the party platform, to organize the party for the :election' cam- paign to follow and most important, to choose the party's presidential •candidate.' It is on this Iast item of business that the attention of ' some 4,000 delegates•. and the public is centred in July of a presidential election ,year. .The Constitution requires only that the: President ' of the United States shall ', ,be a natural-born citizen, at least •35 years of age and resident ',within the' United ' States for 14 Years. It goes withcdut saying, . however, that • they personal and political requirements' fora presidential candidate ' are :manly and varied, Apart from the obvious criteria of character and ability, it is perhaps significant ..that, with one or two notable exceptions, certain tradi- tional ":background qualifications". appear ao apply,* For instance, of the' ten presidential. candidates elected since 1900, it is noteworthy that' eight have been Governors or Senators,. • . d. and silt have hailed, from states with more than 20 Electoral College votes. , ' 'Usually by the third day the national coni vention has completed its other . business, and, •e takes'' up its principal task' -' the nomination of presidential and , Vice-presidential • •candi-• dates; The secretary of the convention begins ` a roll Call. of stats to place . names ' in nom- ination': Often a state listed at the :beginning of the ,alphabet . will "yield" its nominating position to a state listed later, so that ''`a can- didate mayhave,the advantage of being nom- inated, . by a key state early . in the proceed- ings. The'qualifications of each candidate are extolled; in the nominating .:and seconding ''speeches,. and these speechesare often follow ed .by noisy; colourful demonstrations: This • :procedure, frequently lengthy, is followed. by a " second roll call by state When, delegations • .cast: ' • their votes for particular candidates. ::When; 'there are .a number. of 'candidates it® • • maybe necessary totake several roll calls of the: states, on the convention: floor•. - often' a dramatic• procedure -- until one, candidate achieves a majority of. the . votes. As • a rule, '4 'state delegations vote as a: unit- although vote legates;, from.' many states 'are::free.., to. vote' as. individuals if they. wish ,The • rules covering , the Republican, and,,, Democratic. national conventions `differ con- siderably on siderably • but both now require a simple ma- jority' of the :delegates' votes to select. a presi- dential candidate. This, candidate now assumes the •.:leadership of his: party;'for at least the duration Of the election eainpaign, :concentrate ed in: September • and_ October, and serves ;as its, national . standard-bearer: • The Americanvoter has an • unusually heavy, responsibility on ElectionlDay. Not only does he choose the Electors for President. and ;dice -President, but he also votes for his Re- • ..presentative, to •Congress, often for a Senator and .usually for a, number of '•state .officials. The ballot which • he uses to ' record these choices may include over 100 names and may. . ` be over• 500 ;sq, in. in site. The voting machine, ' yvhict was 'introduced in New .York State in 1892, is new used in a number of 'states: and facilitates ' the recording and counting o f • .votes. Unlike ; Canadian ballots, American. • ballots usually.: carry' political ' party designa= tions • in the form of.. a .symbol .or party name. Like most other .regulations 'governing elect- ions .rn ,the United States,. the 'type of ballot used Is determined by each • state. •` • In summary,.. the major eventa Which lead ' to the 'choice of a Chief Executive; begin with the' presidential .primary elections, held in cer tain ..states ,during the months of March through ' June: • ' During July of a presidential election year, the major political''parties hold their national nominating ,conventions to choose their candidates .for. Presiderit•and Vice -Presi- dent This year• ,the Democrats , met 'at Los - Angeles;,starting. July llth, ,and:''the 'Repiibl cans convene at' Chicago: starting July' 25th. Active election campaigning usually be- gins after. Labour Day and is concluded, just, before Election Day, which 'this year falls 'on November. '8th. ` The members of the Electoral College will., meet in their several state capitals on. Decent- ber 19th, 1960, to cast their' ballots for' Presi- • dent and Vice President. Orr January 6th, ,1961, the • 537 Electoral ballots 'will be, counted before the new . Con- gress' and; in compliance with the, Constitu- tion, the candidate who receives a 'simple, ma- •jority will be legally: elected President, of the United States of America: On Inauguration Da two weeks' later, a: ' man chosen,• in effect if indirct1y, by 'the pea pindirectly, Year-long sequence'traditional and legalin rocedures will be invested with the powers, responsibiities and heavy burdens of one of'the most exacting Offices, in the modern , world,