should be a reduction in the representation in
Congress from such State or States in the manner and for the purpose
expressed in the Fourteenth Amendment. A point of order was immediately
made against the amendment, but the occupant of the chair, Senator
Lodge, stated that he would hold his decision in reserve pending an
explanation by me of the amendment I had submitted. At that time a
suggestion was made that the whole subject be postponed until the next
day, to which I assented, and then yielded the floor. But it was not
again called up, hence my speech was never delivered. Since it may be of
some interest to the reader to get an idea of what I had in mind, I
shall here set down in the main what I intended to say on that occasion
had the opportunity been presented.

"Mr. Chairman, while there may be some doubt, in a parliamentary sense,
as to whether or not the amendment I have submitted can be entertained
as a substitute for the original proposition, it cannot be denied that
it relates to the same subject matter. I hope, therefore, that the
Convention will have an opportunity in some way of voting upon it in
lieu of the one that has been presented by the distinguished gentleman
from Pennsylvania. It is a well-known fact that under the present system
each State is entitled to double the number of delegates that it has
Senators and Representatives in Congress. The plan now proposed is that
the apportionment in future conventions be based upon the number of
votes polled for the candidates of the party at the last preceding
National election, according to what is known as the 'official returns,'
although it may be a fact, as is unquestionably true in some States,
that the 'official returns' may not be free from fraud,--that they may
represent in some instances not the actual party vote polled, but the
party vote counted, certified, and returned. This plan, therefore, means
that representation from some States in future National Republican
Conventions will not be based upon Republican strength, nor determined
by Republican votes, but will be fixed and determined by Democratic
election officials. In other words, Democrats, and not Republicans, will
fix and determine in a large measure, representation in future
Conventions of the Republican party.

"The proposed change is predicated upon the assumption that elections
are fair and returns are honest in all the States at each and every
National election. If that were true