Term of Members and Qualifications of Electors.—­Section 2, Clause 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.

A short term for representatives was agreed upon, for it was the design to make them dependent on the will of the people.  The question frequently arises, therefore, ought representatives to be compelled to receive instructions from those who elect them?  May we not agree that our legislation would often be more efficient if the welfare of the nation were considered, rather than what seems, for the moment, to be only the concern of a district or even, a State?  Securing the best interests of all may mean at times, also, the sacrifice of mere party principles.

Who May Vote for Representatives.—­By the words people and electors is meant voters.  With the desire to make the House of Representatives the more popular branch, it was decided to grant the right of voting for a representative to any person who might be privileged to vote for a member of the lower house of the legislature of his State.  The freedom of a State to determine what these qualifications are is limited only by the provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment:—­

Amendment XV. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

This amendment was proposed by Congress in February, 1869, and was declared in force, March 30, 1870.  It was for the purpose of granting more complete political rights to the negroes, recently declared, by Amendment XIV, to be citizens.

Method and Time of Choosing Representatives.—­The Constitution prescribes that representatives shall be elected by the people.  Congress has provided that representatives shall be chosen on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November of the even-numbered years.[11] Congress has also decreed that representatives shall be chosen by districts; but the State legislature has complete control of the districting of its State.  However, Congress has declared that these districts shall be composed of contiguous territory, and contain, as nearly as practicable, an equal number of inhabitants.  Now, usage has defined territory to be contiguous when it touches another portion of the district at any one point.  As a result of this questionable interpretation, some States have been divided into districts of fantastic shapes, to promote the interests of the party having the majority in the State legislature.[12]

[Footnote 11:  The only exceptions to this rule are:  Maine holds its election on the second Monday in September, and Vermont on the first Tuesday in November.]

[Footnote 12:  This process is called “gerrymandering.”  See, also, “Government in State and Nation,” pp. 135, 136.]