[73] From March 4 to October 10, 1881, there was no president of the senate, and from March 4 to December 15 of the same year there was no speaker, the new house not having met and organized. Had Vice President Arthur died before Mr. Garfield's death there would have been no one to succeed to the vacancy until October 10, when a new president _pro tempore_ of the senate was chosen. _Succession Act of 1886._--In 1886 Congress changed the law so as to give the succession to the presidency to the members of the cabinet, in the order of the creation of their departments, in case of the death or removal of both the President and the Vice President. As the members of the cabinet usually belong to the same party as the President and Vice President, the office in such a contingency would remain in the control of the party which elected the President at the last election. No special provision has yet been made, however, in regard to the succession in case the President elect and Vice President elect should die after their election by the electoral college on the second Monday in January and before their inauguration on the 4th of March. The electoral college could not be reconvened because it becomes _functus officio_ immediately after electing the President. As the law stands, the succession would probably go to some member of the old cabinet, who might be of the opposite party. In such a case, however, Congress might provide for a special presidential election. =References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 166-177. BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. ix. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), chs. vi, vii, lii-liv. FULLER, Government by the People, ch. vii. HARRISON, This Country of Ours, chs. iv-v. HART, Actual Government, pp. 261-267. HINSDALE, American Government, chs. xxix-xxxi. STANWOOD, History of the Presidency. WOODBURN, The American Republic, pp. 116-136. =Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Congressional Directory. 2. Copy of the call for a national convention. 3. Addresses of the temporary and permanent chairmen of the last national convention. 4. The Democratic and Republican campaign textbooks. 5. Copy of the election returns. 6. Specimen ballots containing the names of candidates for presidential electors. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. How many votes is your state entitled to in the electoral college? What proportion of the total electoral vote is that? Can you give the names of any of the presidential electors from your state at the last election? 2. What was the popular vote received by the Republican candidate for President in your state at the last election? By the Democratic candidate? 3. Name the Presidents who received only a minority of the popular vote. 4. Suppose a vacancy should occur in the electoral college of a state by the death of an elector, is there any way by which it could be filled?