The strong executive of this government," he added, "ought to be balanced by a full representation in this house." Similar sentiments were advanced by Mr.Findley.
After a long and animated discussion, the amendment was lost, and the bill passed in its original form.
In the senate, it was amended by changing the ratio, so as to give one representative for every thirty-three thousand persons in each state; but this amendment was disagreed to by the house of representatives; and each house adhering to its opinion, the bill fell; but was again introduced into the house of representatives, under a different title, and in a new form, though without any change in its substantial provisions.

After a debate in which the injustice of the fractions produced by the ratio it adopted was strongly pressed, it passed that house.

In the senate, it was again amended, not by reducing, but by enlarging the number of representatives.
The constitution of the United States declares that "representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this union according to their respective numbers;" and that "the number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative." Construing the constitution to authorize a process by which the whole number of representatives should be ascertained on the whole population of the United States, and afterwards "apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers," the senate applied the number thirty thousand as a _divisor_ to the total population, and taking the _quotient_, which was one hundred and twenty, as the number of representatives given by the ratio which had been adopted in the house where the bill had originated, they apportioned that number among the several states by that ratio, until as many representatives as it would give were allotted to each.

The residuary members were then distributed among the states having the highest fractions.

Without professing the principle on which this apportionment was made, the amendment of the senate merely allotted to the states respectively, the number of members which the process just mentioned would give.