CHAPTER XII.

THE UNITED STATES--(Continued).

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

CONGRESS.--The legislative authority of the national government is vested in the Congress of the United States, consisting of a senate and a house of representatives. The senators represent the States, and the representatives represent the people. Congress holds annual sessions at the city of Washington, the seat of the national government. A measure must pass both houses, and be approved by the President, in order to become a law; or if vetoed, it fails, unless it again passes both houses by a two thirds vote.

Senators and representatives receive an annual salary of seven thousand five hundred dollars each; and are allowed mileage, or traveling expenses, of twenty cents for each mile in going to and returning from the session of Congress.

PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSES.--There are certain constitutional privileges guaranteed to Congress in order that its action in legislation may be free from undue influence from other departments of the government.

"The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.

"Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members;" that is, each House declares who are entitled to membership therein.

"Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly conduct, and with the concurrence of two thirds expel a member."

Each house keeps and publishes a journal of its proceedings, "excepting such parts as may, in their judgment, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal."

"Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting."

PRIVILEGES AND DISABILITIES OF MEMBERS.--The Constitution of the United States sets forth the following privileges and disabilities relating to membership in both the Senate and the House of Representatives:

(1) "The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States.

"They shall in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in any other place."

(2) "No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either house during his continuance of office."

The purpose of the first part of this clause is to prevent members of Congress from voting to create offices, or to affix high salaries to offices, with the hope of being appointed to fill them.

(3) "The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

(4) "No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such disability."

The purpose of the clause was to exclude from office all those who had sworn, as officers of the State or the nation, to support the Constitution of the United States, and who afterward engaged in war against the Union. An act of Congress enabling them to hold office was called a removal of their disabilities. This clause of the Constitution is practically void as regards all past offenses, as the disabilities of nearly all to whom it applied have been removed by Congress.

POWERS OF CONGRESS.--Congress has power:

(1) To _levy and collect taxes_, duties on imported goods, and revenues from articles of manufacture, "to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States."

(2) "To _borrow money_ on the credit of the United States."

The usual method of borrowing money is to issue government bonds, which are promises to pay the sums specified in them at a given time, with interest at a given rate. The bonds are sold, usually at their face value, and the proceeds applied to public purposes. United States bonds can not be taxed by a State.

(3) "To _regulate commerce_ with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes."

(4) "To establish a uniform rule of _naturalisation_, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States."

(5) "To _coin money_; regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin; and fix the standard of weights and measures."

(6) "To provide for the _punishment of counterfeiting_ the securities and current coin of the United States."

(7) "To establish _post-offices_ and post-roads."

(8) "To promote the progress of _science and useful arts_, by securing for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;"

That is, to grant _copyrights_ to authors, and to issue _patents_ to inventors.

(9) "To constitute _tribunals_ inferior to the supreme court."

(10) "To define and punish _piracies and felonies_ committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations."

_Piracy_ is robbery committed at sea.

(11) "To _declare war_; grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water."

_Letters of marque_ are commissions issued to private parties, authorizing them to cross the frontiers of another nation, and to seize the persons and property of its subjects.

_Reprisal_ is the forcible taking of the property or persons of the subjects of another nation, in return for injuries done to the government granting the letters. Vessels carrying letters of marque and reprisal are called _privateers_.

(12) "To raise and support _armies_."

(13) "To provide and maintain a _navy_."

(14) "To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces."

(15) "To provide for calling forth the _militia_ to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrection and repel invasions."

(16) "To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States."

(17) "To exercise exclusive legislation" over the _District of Columbia_, "and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings."

(18) "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof."

(19) "Congress may determine the time of choosing the _electors_" for President and Vice President of the United States, "and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same throughout the United States."

(20) "Congress may, by law, provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President."

(21) "The Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of such _inferior officers_ as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments."

(22) "The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of _treason_."

(23) "Full _faith and credit_ shall be given in each State, to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof."

(24) "_New States_ may be admitted by the Congress into this Union, but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress."

(25) "The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and to make all needful rules and regulations respecting the _territory_ or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular State."

(26) Congress has "power to enforce, by appropriate legislation," all provisions of the Constitution.

Under the authority "to provide for the general welfare of the United States," Congress exercises powers which are implied--that is, understood--but which are not expressly named in the Constitution. The grants of public lands to railway and canal companies, the annual appropriations for the improvement of rivers and harbors, and numerous similar laws are based upon implied powers.

FORBIDDEN POWERS.--The following powers are expressly denied to the national government:

(1) "The privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ shall not be suspended unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it."

_Habeas corpus_ means "Thou mayst have the body." A person in prison, claiming to be unlawfully detained, or the friend of such a person, applies to the judge of a court for a writ of _habeas corpus_. The judge issues the writ, which directs the officer to bring the body of the prisoner into court at a certain time and place, in order that the legality of the imprisonment may be tested.

The case against the prisoner is not tried under the writ of _habeas corpus_, but the judge inquires whether any crime is charged, or whether there is a legal cause for the arrest. If the imprisonment is illegal, the judge orders the prisoner released; if the prisoner is lawfully held, the judge remands him to prison. This writ secures the freedom of every person unless detained upon legal charges. Therefore, there is no power in this wide country that can arrest and imprison even the humblest citizen except upon legal grounds. The writ of _habeas corpus_ is the most famous writ known to the law, the strongest safeguard of the personal liberty of the citizens, and is regarded with almost a sacred reverence by the people.

(2) "No bill of attainder or _ex post facto_ law shall be passed" by Congress.

A _bill of attainder_ is an act of a legislative body inflicting the penalty of death without a regular trial. An _ex post facto_ law is a law which fixes a penalty for acts done before the law was passed, or which increases the penalty of a crime after it is committed. Laws for punishing crime more severely can take effect only after their passage; they can not affect a crime committed before they were passed.

(3) "No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No preference shall be given, by any regulation of commerce or revenue, to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another."

(4) "No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time."

(5) "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State."

(6) "Congress shall make no law respecting establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

(7) "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void."

The Constitution of the United States forbids the national government from exercising certain other powers, relating principally to slavery; but such denials are rendered useless by the freedom of the slaves.

THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

The Senate is composed of two senators from each State, elected by direct vote of the people;[1] and therefore each State has an equal representation, without regard to its area or the number of its people.

The term of a United States senator is six years, and one third of the Senate is elected every two years.

A senator must be thirty years old, for nine years a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be chosen.

A vacancy which occurs in any State's representation in the United States Senate is filled by an election for the unexpired term; but the legislature of any State may empower the governor to make temporary appointments until such election is held.

The Vice President of the United States is _ex officio_ president of the Senate, but has no vote except when the Senate is equally divided upon a question. The Senate elects its other officers, including a president _pro tempore_, or temporary president, who presides when the Vice President is absent.

The Senate is a continuous body; that is, it is always organized, and when it meets it may proceed at once to business.

When the House of Representatives impeaches an officer of the United States, the impeachment is tried before the Senate sitting as a court.

The Senate has the sole power to try impeachments, and it requires two thirds of the senators present to convict. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.

All treaties made by the President of the United States with foreign countries must be laid before the Senate for ratification. If two thirds of the Senate vote for the treaty, it is ratified; otherwise, it is rejected.

Treaties are compacts or contracts between two or more nations made with a view to the public welfare of each, and are usually formed by agents or commissioners appointed by the respective governments of the countries concerned.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

The House of Representatives, often called the lower House of Congress, is a much larger body than the Senate. The last apportionment of representatives, made in 1911, gave the House four hundred and thirty-five members, and this went into effect with the Sixty-third Congress, beginning on the 4th of March, 1913.

A census of the people is made every ten years, and upon this as a basis Congress fixes the number of representatives for the entire country, and the number to which each State shall be entitled for the next ten years thereafter. Each legislature divides the State into as many Congress districts as the State is entitled to representatives, and each district elects a representative by direct vote of the people.

The term of office is two years, and the terms of all representatives begin and end at the same time.

A representative must be twenty-five years old, must have been a citizen of the United States seven years, and must be an inhabitant of the State in which he is elected.

A vacancy in a State's representation in the lower house of Congress is filled by special election called by the governor for that purpose.

"All bills for raising revenue"--that is, all bills providing for taxation--"must originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as in other bills." Taxation is called the strongest function of government, and therefore the Constitution provides that the first step must be taken by the House of Representatives, because all its members are elected every two years by the people, and are supposed to represent the people's views.

The Constitution provides that "the House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment;" that is, the House of Representatives must formulate and present the charges to the Senate, and prosecute the accused at its bar. An impeachment by the House of Representatives corresponds to an indictment by a grand jury; specific charges must be made before a trial can be held in any court.

THE SPEAKER.--The speaker is elected by the representatives. He is a member of the House, and is nominated for the speakership by a convention, or _caucus_, of the representatives who are of his political party. In rank he is the third officer of the government. He presides over the House, preserves decorum, decides points of order, and directs the business of legislation. He is the organ of the House, and because he speaks and declares its will is called the _Speaker_. He formerly appointed the standing committees of the House, and thus largely shaped legislation; but this power was taken from him in 1911. As almost all laws are matured by the committees, and are passed as the result of their work, the power to appoint the committees was considered too important to leave in the hands of one man. The speaker's salary is $12,000 annually.

The clerk of the preceding House presides during the election of the speaker. Immediately after his election, the speaker is sworn into office by the representative of the longest service in the House. He then assumes the direction of business, and administers the oath to the members as they present themselves by States. The House of Representatives is reorganized every two years at the opening of the first session of each Congress.

OTHER OFFICERS.--The other officers of the House are the clerk, the sergeant-at-arms, the doorkeeper, the postmaster, and the chaplain. They are not members of the House. The sergeant-at-arms and the doorkeeper appoint numerous subordinates.

The sergeant-at-arms is the ministerial and police officer of the House. He preserves order, under the direction of the speaker, and executes all processes issued by the House or its committees. The symbol of authority of the House is the mace, consisting of a bundle of ebony rods surmounted by a globe, upon which is a silver eagle with outstretched wings. In scenes of disturbance, when the sergeant-at-arms bears the mace through the hall of the House at the speaker's command, the members immediately become quiet and order is restored.

The doorkeeper has charge of the hall of the House and its entrances. The postmaster receives and distributes the mail matter of the members. The chaplain opens the daily sessions of the House with prayer.

[1]After 1913. Before 1913 the senators of each State were elected by the legislature.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

1. Why do not the people of the United States make their laws in person, instead of delegating this power to Congress?

2. Is it right that the President should hold the veto power?

3. Why is each House "judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members"?

4. Why are the yeas and nays entered on the Journal?

5. Why are senators and representatives privileged from arrest during the session, except for certain specified offenses?

6. Is it right to grant copyrights and patents?

7. What is counterfeiting?

8. Should United States senators be elected by the legislature or by the people?

9. How many senators in Congress now?

10. Who are the two United States senators from this State?

11. What is an impeachment?

12. How many representatives in Congress from this State?

13. Give the name of the representative from this district.

14. Who at present is speaker of the national House of Representatives?

15. Of what State is he a representative?

16. Name six of the most important committees of the House of Representatives.

QUESTION FOR DEBATE.

_Resolved_, That the members of the President's cabinet should be members of the House of Representatives.