Abstract :
The Constitution of the United States requires a census every ten years for the purpose of re-apportioning the membership of the House of Representatives. Although the census has been taken every ten years, the House of Representatives was not re-apportioned after the 1920 census. The technical and political reasons assigned for the failure of Congress to comply with this Constitutional requirement are numerous, but the outstanding fact seems to be that in the last twenty years the large cities and industrial centers have gained very rapidly in population, while the rural sections of the country have gained only slightly. Many of the Members of Congress from states thus adversely affected by a reapportionment have opposed and thus far prevented a reapportionment being made.