1. each state is entitled to a number of representatives in congress proportioned to its inhabitants; but, instead of counting the whole number together, and leaving all the people in the state to vote for all the representatives of their state, it is divided into districts, each containing the prescribed number entitled to representation. the voters, then, in each district, select or nominate the men they wish to vote for—and thus they find it easy to send men they know and on whom they can rely to secure their interests. besides, it is more convenient for them to meet and ascertain by consultation who would be most acceptable to the majority of those interested. each member of congress, therefore, is chosen by a single district. the districting of states is done by their state legislatures.
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2. sometimes a state is admitted into the union before it has as many inhabitants as the law requires to one congressman, in which case the law is relaxed, and they are permitted at least one representative. contiguous counties or towns are set apart in this way and numbered as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c., congressional district. in large cities as many wards, lying together, as include the requisite number, are erected into districts. in case the number of congressmen allotted to a state is larger than the number of districts, those in excess are voted for by the state at large. they are arranged as soon as possible after every census, so that this does not often occur. in the western states the number continually increases and changes must be made after each census. by this means the balance of power gradually follows the emigration from east to west.
congressmen.
3. we have already remarked, in the chapter on congress that, though the term congressman properly applies to the members of both houses, it is by common usage, confined to members of the lower house, those of the upper house being distinguished as senators, so that the abbreviation m. c. (member of congress) is understood to specify a representative.
4. these are the only members of any branch of the government who are chosen and elected directly by the people, and we may see herein the propriety of their having the control of all enactments for raising money, this being a point of vital interest to the people. the short term assigned them, (two years,) and their election by districts, enables the people to interfere very soon if their purse strings are drawn too widely open—a very satisfactory reflection to the economical. any citizen, whether native or foreign born, may become a member of congress, if he can obtain the consent of the voters in his district; but he must have been a citizen during the previous seven years. it is an office of dignity and responsibility, and the welfare of the country depends on the wisdom of the people in their choice.
