STATES, Admission of. No specific form of procedure is provided in the National Con stitution for the admission of new States to the Union. Different methods of admission have marked the addition of the 35 States to the original 13. For admission, however, certain conditions must exist. The community must be organized with a population in numbers and character capable of upholding self-govern ment, and Congress is the final judge whether these requirements are in evidence. The de cisions of Congress, however, have often been influenced by party reasons, and in 1872 it was enacted that no State should be admitted there after unless 'having the necessary population to entitle it to at least one representative ac cording to the ratio of representation fixed by this The action of a Congress, however, does not appear to have a binding effect on subsequent Congresses, for in contravention of this act Nevada, Wyoming and Idaho among other States were admitted. To gain admission, a petition is presented to Congress, which grants an enabling act if the request is favorably re ceived. While these acts vary in details, the
general principles define the boundaries of the new State, authorize the people to frame a State constitution, fix the mode of its forma tion and adoption, prescribe rules of suffrage for election purposes, set forth such provisions as Congress requires to be inserted in the document and provide for its submission to Congress or the President for approval. When all the terms of the enabling act have been complied with, Congress by resolution, or the President by proclamation, declares the new State admitted to the Union. Consult Beard, C. A., 'American Government and Politics' (1910) ; Dunning, W. A., 'Essays on the Civil War and Reconstruction' (1898) ; Hart, A. B., 'Actual Government' (1908); Poore, B. P., 'Charters and Constitutions' (1877) ; Thorpe, F. N., 'Federal and State Constitutions' (1909) ; Willoughby, W. W., 'American Con stitutional System' (1904).