In 1886 (January 19) was enacted the following law:

"Be it enacted, etc. . . . That in case of removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Secretary of State, or if there be none, or in case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the Secretary of the Treasury, or if there be none, or in the case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the Secretary of War, or if there be none, or in case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the Attorney-General, or if there be none, or in case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the Postmaster-General, or if there be none, or in case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the Secretary of the Navy, or if there be none, or in case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the Secretary of the Interior, shall act as President until the disability of the President or Vice-President is removed or a President shall be elected: Provided, That whenever the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States shall devolve upon any of the persons named herein, if Congress be not then in session, or if it would not meet in accordance with law within twenty days thereafter, it shall be the duty of the person upon whom said powers and duties shall devolve to issue a proclamation convening Congress in extraordinary session, giving twenty days' notice of the time of meeting.

"Sec. 2. That the preceding section shall only be held to describe and apply to such officers as shall have been appointed by the advice and consent of the Senate to the offices therein named, and such as are eligible to the office of the President under the Constitution, and not under impeachment by the House of Representatives of the United States at the time the powers and duties of office shall devolve upon them respectively."

By this measure, it will be seen that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem, of the Senate no longer figure in the succession, and, furthermore, that there is no longer, as there was in the act of 1792, a provision that an intermediate presidential election shall be held. There is a provision, however, that if Congress be not in session at the time of the happening of the vacancy or if in regular course it would not assemble within twenty days, then an extraordinary session shall be called.

As originally introduced by Senator Hoar, the bill had provided especially that the acting President should hold office for the balance of the unexpired term, but this provision was struck out. It is, therefore, apparent that by this action, or by providing that a Congress should be assembled, the intention of those who voted for the measure of 18S6 was that Congress, if it should so see fit, might order an intermediate election. The act thus leaves it to the determination of each Congress, as the occasion may arise, whether or not such an election shall be held, or the acting President permitted to hold office for the unexpired portion of the presidential term.5

5 Politically this would seem to be a most unwise provision. As to this we would agree with the judgment of Mr. Hamlin who writes:

"The acting President, under the law, must call Congress together, and that body will then decide whether it deems a special election desirable and incidentally constitutional. If it decides in the affirmative, it will frame an act which may speedily oust the acting President from office. Such an act the acting President can veto, and if vetoed, the usual two-thirds vote will be necessary to overcome the veto. Even a death-blow might be administered by a pocket veto.

"It is not disputed that consequences disturbing to business and injurious to the prosperity of the country might follow under the act of 1792. I fear, however, that under the act of 1886 disturbance to business and injury to the prosperity of the country are to be feared almost as acutely, if of different kind. Let us suppose, for example, that a Republican President holds office but that the Republican party is in a minority both in the House and Senate. Such a condition existed under President Hayes in the 45th and 46th Congresses, and, the parties reversed, under President Cleveland in the 54th Congress. Let us further suppose that the Democratic majority wishes to reduce the custom duties; that the Republican President dies; that there is no Vice-President; that the Secretary of State succeeds as acting President, that the Democrats in Congress, believing that the people desire radical reduction of taxation, yet know that the acting President will veto a tariff reduction bill: and that they are confident that a Democratic President can be elected on this issue. Can any one doubt the inadvisability of