Lame Ducks' End

What may yet become the 20th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution moved swiftly through the House of Representatives toward probable passage. It was the hoary old proposition to rearrange the regular sessions of Congress so as to exile the "lame duck" from the legislative barnyard.* Also involved was a change in the date of the Presidential inaugural.

Chief sponsor for this Constitutional amendment is Nebraska's grizzled old Senator George William Norris. His purpose (with which no disinterested person has ever disagreed) is twofold: 1) to eliminate the legislative influence of Senators & Representatives whose constituencies have already repudiated them; 2) to close the 13-month gap between an election in which voters express their sovereign will and the first meeting of a new Congress in which that will is to be executed.

Undismayed by six defeats in the House, Senator Norris this year got the Senate to approve his resolution for the seventh time. Last week it looked as if his persistence would be rewarded by favorable House action at last.

Presidentially the 20th Amendment would advance the inaugural from March 4 to Jan. 15. A new Congress, convening on Jan. 2, would thus have two weeks to sit and organize before a new President took office. If a Presidential election were thrown into Congress, the House would use this fortnight to select a White House occupant.

* "Lame duck": a Congressman who, though defeated for reelection, continues to serve out his term in the final short session of the House.

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