1. Each State is entitled to a number of Representatives in Congress proportioned to its inhabitants; but, instead of counting the whole number together, and leaving all the people in the State to vote for all the representatives of their State, it is divided into districts, each containing the prescribed number entitled to representation. The voters, then, in each district, select or nominate the men they wish to vote for—and thus they find it easy to send men they know and on whom they can rely to secure their interests. Besides, it is more convenient for them to meet and ascertain by consultation who would be most acceptable to the majority of those interested. Each Member of Congress, therefore, is chosen by a single district. The districting of States is done by their State Legislatures. [406]
2. Sometimes a State is admitted into the union before it has as many inhabitants as the law requires to one Congressman, in which case the law is relaxed, and they are permitted at least one Representative. Contiguous counties or towns are set apart in this way and numbered as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c., Congressional District. In large cities as many wards, lying together, as include the requisite number, are erected into Districts. In case the number of Congressmen allotted to a State is larger than the number of districts, those in excess are voted for by the State at large. They are arranged as soon as possible after ............