At the Council meeting in Boulder in September, 1955, Professor Norman J. Padelford, Chairman of the Nominating Committee in 1954–55, presented a proposal for revising the provisions of the Constitution governing the election of officers of the Association. The Nominating Committee was itself divided on the question of the recommendations and the Council, after voting down the proposals, referred them to the Executive Committee for further study.

The Executive Committee decided to ask Professor Padelford to write a brief statement setting forth the proposals and the arguments for them to be published in the Review. At the same time it decided to ask one member of the 1954–55 Committee, who had been opposed to the proposals, to set forth the arguments against them; Mr. Howard R. Penniman was asked to do this. The Executive Committee decided to send these statements to several people from different sections of the country for comment and to print the Padelford and Penniman statements along with the comments in the Review. Not all those asked to comment did so; five replies, however, were received and are printed here along with the two main papers.