APPORTIONMENT BILL

This article appears in Volume V02, Page 227 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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APPORTIONMENT BILL , an act passed by the Congress of the United States after each decennial

census

CENSUS (from Lat. censere, to estimate or assess; connected by some with centum, i.e. a count by hundreds)

to determine the number of members which each state shall send to the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Representatives. The ratio of representation fixed by
the

original

ORIGINAL

constitution was 1 to 30,000 of the free

population

POPULATION (Lat. populus,
people
- PEOPLE
; populare, to populate)

, and the number of the members of the first

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

was 65. As the House would, at this ratio, have become unmanageably large, the ratio, which is first settled by Congress before
-APPREHENSION 227

apportionment

, has been raised after each

census

CENSUS (from Lat. censere, to estimate or assess; connected by some with centum, i.e. a count by hundreds)

, as will be seen from the accompanying table.
The same

term

TERM

is applied to the acts passed by the state legislatures for correcting and redistributing the representation of the counties. Such acts are usually ,passed at decennial intervals, more often after the federal census, but the

dates

DATES

may vary in different states. The state representatives are usually apportioned among the several counties according to

population

POPULATION (Lat. populus,
people
- PEOPLE
; populare, to populate)

and not by geographical position. The electoral districts so formed are expected to be equal in proportion to the number of inhabitants; but this method has led to much abuse in the past, through the making of unequal districts for partisan purposes.
(See GERRYMANDER.)
If a state has received an increase in the number of its representatives and its legislature does not pass an

apportionment

bill before the next congressional election, the votes of the whole state elect the additional members on a general

ticket

TICKET (O. Fr. esliquet, also estiquette, mod. etiquette, from Ger. sleeken, to stick up)

and they are called " congressmen-at-large."

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