ORGANIZATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
ARTICLE I.
A Congress of Two Houses.--Section i. _All legislative powers,
herein granted, shall be vested in a Congress of the United States,
which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives_.
In the Constitutional Convention, the Pennsylvania delegates were the
only ones who objected to the formation of a legislative body having two
houses. It was believed that with two houses one would be a check upon
the other, and that there would be less danger of hasty and oppressive
legislation. Another reason for the formation of a congress having two
houses was that the colonists were familiar with this kind of
legislature. It existed in all of the States, Pennsylvania and Georgia
excepted.
Term of Members and Qualifications of Electors.--Section 2, Clause
1. _The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen
every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors
in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of
the most numerous branch of the State legislature_.
A short term for representatives was agreed upon, for it was the design
to make them dependent on the will of the people. The question
frequently arises, therefore, ought representatives to be compelled to
receive instructions from those who elect them? May we not agree that
our legislation would often be more efficient if the welfare of the
nation were considered, rather than what seems, for the moment, to be
only the concern of a district or even, a State? Securing the best
interests of all may mean at times, also, the sacrifice of mere party
principles.
Who May Vote for Representatives.--By the words _people_ and
_electors_ is meant voters. With the desire to make the House of
Representatives the more popular branch, it was decided to grant the
right of voting for a representative to any person who might be
privileged to vote for a member of the lower house of the legislature of
his State. The freedom of a State to determine what these qualifications
are is limited only by the provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment:--
Amendment XV. _The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude_.
This amendment was proposed by Congress in February, 1869, and was
declared in force, March 30, 1870. It was for the purpose of granting
more complete political rights to the negroes, recently declared, by
Amendment XIV, to be citizens.
Method and Time of Choosing Representatives.--The Constitution
prescribes that representatives shall be elected by the people.
Congress has provided that representatives shall be chosen on the
Tuesday next after the first Monday in November of the even-numbered
years.[11] Congress has also decreed that representatives shall be
chosen by districts; but the State legislature has complete control of
the districting of its State. However, Congress has declared that these
districts shall be composed of contiguous territory, and contain, as
nearly as practicable, an equal number of inhabitants. Now, usage has
defined territory to be contiguous when it touches another portion of
the district at any one point. As a result of this questionable
interpretation, some States have been divided into districts of
fantastic shapes, to promote the interests of the party having the
majority in the State legislature.[12]
[Footnote 11: The only exceptions to this rule are: Maine holds its
election on the second Monday in September, and Vermont on the first
Tuesday in November.]
[Footnote 12: This process is called "gerrymandering." See, also,
"Government in State and Nation," pp. 135, 136.]
Proportional Representation.--Proportional representation,
which is coming into favor in these days, would doubtless do much
toward remedying this abuse. According to the present system of
electing representatives by districts, large minorities of voters
are not represented. Numerous plans of "Proportional
Representation" have been advocated. One such plan is in operation
in Illinois[13] for the election of members to the State house of
representatives. Each district elects three members on a general
ticket. The voter may give one vote to each candidate, or one and a
half votes to each of two candidates, or three votes to a single
candidate. Therefore, the minority, by concentrating their votes on
one candidate, may elect a representative to the legislature, when
under the district system they would not be represented.
[Footnote 13: On proportional representation, read "Government in State
and Nation," pp. 14, 15.]
Qualifications of Representatives.--Section 2, Clause 2. _No
person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age
of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State
in which he shall be chosen._
In the original States there was great diversity of qualifications for
members of the lower houses of their legislatures. But some uniform
system was necessary for the National organization, and so the few
simple requirements of this clause were introduced. It is understood,
however, that the States may not add other qualifications. While a
representative must be an inhabitant of the State in which he is chosen,
he need not, so far as the Constitution requires, be an inhabitant of
the district. But the instances have been few in which a member of the
House has not been also an inhabitant of the district which he
represents. According to the English system of representation, a member
of the House of Commons frequently represents a borough or county in an
entirely different part of the kingdom from that of which he is an
inhabitant.
May the House refuse to admit a person duly elected and possessing
the necessary qualifications? This question arose in the 56th
Congress, in the case of Brigham Roberts of Utah. He was finally
excluded.
Present System of Apportioning Representatives.--Section 2 of
Amendment XIV contains the rule of apportionment that is now in
operation. This became a part of the Constitution, July 28, 1868.
_Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of
persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right
to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and
Vice-President of the United States, representatives in Congress, the
executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the
legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such
State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States,
or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other
crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the
proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State_.
The second sentence of this section was framed in the belief that the
States, rather than lose a portion of their representatives in Congress,
would grant the right of suffrage to negroes already declared to be
citizens. But proportional reduction of representatives was never put
into practical operation, for before the next apportionment of
representatives, Amendment XV became a part of the Constitution, and
negro suffrage was put on the same basis as white. However, the
enforcement of Section 2 of Amendment XIV has been strongly urged in our
own time. This is because it is estimated that many thousands have been
disfranchised through the restrictions on the right of suffrage found in
several of our State constitutions. Some require an educational test and
others a property qualification for voting.
The "Indians not taxed" doubtless refers to those Indians who still
maintain their tribal relations or who live on reservations in the
several States. Their member, according to the census of 1910, was
129,518.
Early Apportionment.--The number of representatives to which each
of the States was originally entitled is given in Section 2, Clause 3,
of the article we are now considering as follows:--
_Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several
States which may be included within this Union, according to their
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other
persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after
the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law
direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every
thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative;
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire
shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey
four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten,
North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three_.
The three-fifths rule was rendered void by the adoption of Amendment
XIII, which abolished slavery, since there were no longer the "other
persons." That part of the clause which provides for the laying of
direct taxes is still in force.
The Census.--In order to carry out the provision of the
Constitution, an "actual enumeration" was made in 1790. Since that date
there has been a census every ten years. The taking of the census and
the compilation and publication of the statistics connected with it are
under the supervision of the director of the census. Work on the
thirteenth census was begun April 15, 1910, and required some 65,000
enumerators, 3500 clerks, and 1800 special agents. The cost was some
$12,000,000. The most important volumes found in the report are those on
population,[14] manufactures, and agriculture. The taking of the census
will, in the future, be more economical and efficient because of the
establishment of the permanent census bureau by an act of Congress in
1902.
[Footnote 14: The population of the United States, according to the
first census, was 3,929,214. The population in 1910 was 91,972,266;
including the possessions and dependencies, 101,000,000.]
Ratio of Representation.--The Constitution provided that there
should be 65 members in the first House of Representatives. After
the first census, Congress agreed that there should be one
representative for each 33,000 of the population. This gave a house
with 105 representatives. From that time the ratio of
representation has been changed every ten years. Otherwise, with
the rapid increase in population, the House would soon become too
large. The ratio adopted by the act of 1911 was one representative
to 211,877 people.[15] After March 4, 1913, therefore, there will
be at least 433 members, an increase of 42.[16]
[Footnote 15: For the method of apportionment, see "Government in State
and Nation," p. 128.]
[Footnote 16: The number of members in the English House of Commons is
670; in the French Chamber of Deputies, 584; and in the German
Reichstag, 396.]
Members from New States.--Should a new State be admitted after the
apportionment is made, its representatives are always additional to the
number provided for by law.
The Constitution provides that each State shall have at least one
representative. If this provision had not been made, the States of
Arizona, Delaware, Nevada, and Wyoming, each having a smaller
population than the ratio adopted in 1910, would not be represented.
Territorial Delegates.--The organized Territories are each entitled
to send a delegate to the House of Representatives. He is allowed to
speak on any question that has to do with his Territory, but may not
vote.
Vacancies.--Section 2, Clause 4. _When vacancies happen in the
representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall
issue writs of election to fill such vacancies_.
When a vacancy occurs in the representation from any State on account of
death, expulsion, or for other cause, it is made the duty of the
governor of the State in which the vacancy exists to call for a special
election in that district to choose a representative for the remainder
of the term.
Officers.--Section 2, Clause 5. _The House of Representatives shall
choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power
of impeachment_.
The speaker, who is the presiding officer, has always been a member of
the House, but the Constitution does not say that he _shall_ be. The
other officers are the clerk, sergeant-at-arms, doorkeeper, postmaster,
and chaplain, none of whom is a member of the House.
Number and Term of Office of Senators.--Section 3, Clause 1. _The
Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each
State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each senator
shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the
State legislature_.
As we have seen, the provision that there should be two senators from
each State was the result of a compromise. Consequently, New York and
Pennsylvania have the same number as Delaware and Nevada.[17] The term
of six years for senators was likewise a compromise measure. There were
members of the convention who favored three years; others wanted nine
years, and Hamilton desired that the term should be during good
behavior. Many States have practically lengthened the prescribed term by
the wise policy of returning acceptable senators for more than one term.
[Footnote 17: The Senate now contains 96 members; the English House of
Lords, 560; and the French Senate, 300.]
Prior to April 8, 1913, when the Seventeenth Amendment became a part of
the Constitution, through ratification by the requisite votes of
three-fourths of the State legislatures, senators were chosen by the
State legislatures. For years the demand for such an amendment was
insistent. More than two-thirds of the State legislatures had gone on
record in favor of such a reform. The House of Representatives had
passed such a resolution a number of times, but the requisite two-thirds
vote could not be secured in the Senate. The leading reasons for the
amendment were: the frequent deadlocks in the legislatures, thus
interrupting the course of regular legislation, and the use of bribery.
Classes of Senators and Vacancies.--Section 3, Clause 2.
_Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into three
classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated
at the expiration of the second year; of the second class, at the
expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class, at the expiration
of the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every second year.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate,
the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies. Provided, that the legislature of any State may
empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the
people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct_.
_This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution_.
This provision makes the Senate a permanent body, since only one-third
of the members go out of office every two years. In the first session of
the first Congress, the senators were divided into three classes. It has
been the custom to place the senators from new States in different
classes. This is done in order to preserve, so far as possible, the
equality of numbers in each class. Besides, a State is thus enabled to
keep one man of experience in the Senate. When a new State is admitted,
the senators from that State determine by lot, drawn in the presence of
the Senate, which classes they are to enter.
Qualifications of Senators.--Section 3, Clause 3. _No person shall
be a senator who shall not hove attained to the age of thirty years, and
been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that State from which he shall be chosen_.
The reasons for requiring different qualifications in senators from
those of representatives is expressed in "The Federalist" as follows:
"The propriety of these distinctions is explained by the nature of the
senatorial trust, which, requiring greater extent of information and
stability of character, requires at the same time that the senator
should have reached a period of life most likely to supply these
advantages." The attitude of Americans toward the Senate to-day differs
from that manifest during the first quarter century of our history. Has
the Senate degenerated is a question frequently asked. The presence in
that body of numerous millionaires has also excited unfavorable comment.
There have been two instances only in which senators have been
disqualified because of inadequate citizenship.
Times and Places for Electing Senators and
Representatives.--Section 4, Clause 1. _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_.
It is desirable that Congress should have the _final_ authority in
providing for the election of its own members, because the very
existence of the Union might otherwise be left, at times, to the whims
of the State legislatures.
President of the Senate.--Section 3, Clause 4. _The Vice-President
of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no
vote unless they be equally divided_.
Other Officers.--Section 3, Clause 5. _The Senate shall choose
their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence
of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President
of the United States_.
The Vice-President of the United States is the presiding officer of the
Senate. He cannot take part in debates, and has no vote unless there be
a tie. In marked contrast with the power of the speaker, he cannot name
the committees, and has no direct authority in legislation. Indeed, the
office is regarded as one of so little influence that it is sometimes
difficult to secure, as candidates for it, men of recognized prominence.
The other officers of the Senate are secretary, chief clerk,
sergeant-at-arms, chaplain, postmaster, librarian, and doorkeeper, none
of whom is a member of the Senate. It is desirable, in the absence of
the Vice-President, that the Senate should have a presiding officer. At
the opening of the session, therefore, that body chooses from its own
members a president _pro tempore_. He may vote on any question, but
cannot cast the deciding vote in case of a tie.
When Congress Meets.--Section 4, Clause 2. _The Congress shall
assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the
first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different
day_.
As we have already seen, representatives are elected for a term of two
years. This period defines the length of a Congress. Representatives, as
we know, are chosen on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November. Now the term of office of a representative begins legally on
the fourth of March succeeding the time of his election.[18] The first
regular session of the Congress to which he was elected does not begin
until the first Monday of the following December, or thirteen months
after the election. It would seem desirable that the members should be
given an earlier opportunity to express themselves on the issues upon
which they have been chosen.
[Footnote 18: The limits of the 63d Congress will be March 4, 1913, to
March 4, 1915.]
Sessions of Congress.--Each Congress has two regular sessions. The
first is called the "long session," for its length is not determined by
a definite date of adjournment. It usually lasts until midsummer and may
not extend beyond the first Monday in December, the time fixed for the
beginning of the next session. The second, or "short session," cannot
extend beyond 12 M. of March 4, the time set for a new Congress to
begin. The President may convene Congress in special session.
Organization of Congress.--The first Monday in December of
each second year is a notable day in Washington, for the formal
opening of a new Congress is regarded as an important event. The
House of Representatives must go through the entire process of
organization. To the clerk of the preceding House are intrusted the
credentials of the members, and from these he makes out a list of
those who are shown to be regularly elected. At the hour of
assembly he calls the roll from this list, announces whether or not
a quorum is present, and states that the first business is to elect
a speaker. After his election the speaker takes the oath of office,
which is administered by the member who has had the longest service
in the House. The speaker then administers the oath to the members
by States. The election of the chief clerk and the other officers
follows, after which the House is said to be organized.
The Senate is a "continuing body," and no formal organization is
necessary. At the opening of a new Congress the Vice-President
calls the Senate to order and the other officers resume their
duties. After the president _pro tempore_ has been chosen, the
newly elected members are escorted to the desk in groups of four,
and the oath is administered by the president of the Senate. Each
house, when organized, notifies the other of the fact, and a joint
committee of the houses is appointed to wait upon the President and
inform him that quorums are present and are ready to receive any
communication he may desire to send.
The House of Representatives occupies a large hall in the south
wing of the capitol. The desks of the members are arranged in a
semicircle about that of the speaker, with the Republicans on his
left and the Democrats on his right. When a member gains the floor,
he speaks from his own desk or from the space in front of the
speaker's desk. Unless the question is one of importance, but
little attention is paid to the course of debate. Consequently a
visitor can hear only with great effort because of the constant din
produced by the shuffling of papers, clapping of hands for pages,
etc. The real work of Congress, as we shall see, is done in
committees. The Senate occupies a hall at the opposite end of the
capitol. It is, of course, much smaller than that occupied by the
House, but is similarly arranged. In general, the proceedings on
the floor of the Senate are conducted in a much more orderly manner
than is usual in the House.
* * * * *
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS AND REFERENCES.
1. What is the number of the present Congress? Give the dates for the
beginning and end of each session.
2. In the States which have woman suffrage, may women vote for
representatives?
3. It is not required by law that a representative shall reside in the
district that he represents, but it is an established custom. What are
its advantages and disadvantages? Compare with the English practice.
Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, Chapter 19.
4. Are the States which allow women the right to vote justified in the
enactment of their suffrage laws?
5. Ought Section 2, Amendment XIV, to be enforced? Rev. of R's,
22:273-275, 653, 654; 24:649-651; Forum, 31:225-230; 32:460-465; N. Am.
Rev., 168:285-296; 170:785-801; 175:534-543; Outlook, 69:751.
6. State the points of likeness and of difference between the House of
Representatives and the House of Commons. N. Am. Rev., 170:78-86.
7. Give the number of representatives to which your State is entitled.
Was the number increased in the last apportionment? How large is your
Congressional district? Population?
8. Compare the area of your district with that of other districts in
your State; also with the population of other districts. Compare the
number of votes cast for representative in your district with the number
cast in districts of other States in different sections of the country.
How do you account for the variation? See New York World Almanac.
9. Some interesting facts connected with the apportionment of 1901 are
given in the Forum, 30:568-577.
10. For the Reapportionment Law of 1901, see Outlook, 67:136.
11. For accounts of the methods by which a census is taken, see American
Census Methods, Forum, 30:109-119. Census of 1910, Rev. of R's,
41:589-596; 404, 405.
12. Who are some of the best-known representatives and senators? For
what reasons are they noted?
13. Who are the senators from your State? When was each elected?
14. Give the names of the speaker and of the president _pro tempore_.
15. Would you have voted for the Seventeenth Amendment? See Outlook,
67:559-604; 73:277-285; 386-392. For other references, see James and
Sanford, Government in State and Nation, p. 137.