even as it lays down the first of the limitations upon State power
voluntarily accepted by the ratifying members of the Union: “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 place of choosing Senators.”
In Section 5, the first of many limitations upon the central
government appears: Each house of the Congress must keep a journal
of its proceedings, and at the desire of one-fifth of the members
present, must record the individual yeas and nays. Close study of
the Constitution will disclose many such restrictive provisions, for
the Constitution is in many respects a negative instrument; almost
every delegation of power is followed at once by a snatching back, or
by a qualification, or by a jealous and suspicious prohibition. The
Constitution abounds in reservations, in neithers, noes, and buts.