LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

CHAPTER XLVI.
CONGRESS.

1. All government consists of three steps, series, or departments. It has a Rule by which its action is governed; and this embraces the general principles guiding all action, as well as the special rules of conduct in regard to limited classes of actions—the next step in the series is the action demanded to put its rules in actual force—to apply them—the third is, to determine the application of the rule when supposed to be violated, and the agreement of the special rule with the general principle. That is to say, government is divided into the Legislative, or law making power; the Executive, or law enforcing power; and the Judicial, or law discriminating, or judging, power.

2. In some governments all these are in the same hands, and this produces a Despotism. In others they are variously divided or mixed. In our country the separation between them is made as distinct as possible. The People are regarded as the source or fountain of Power. The Constitution represents, in its general Principles or Rules, the Will and purposes of the People; and outside of the principles or regulations of this instrument no legislation is valid. The Constitution, emanating from the people, defines the boundary of all the Departments. Congress is the law-making power, enacting within the prescribed limits. The Judiciary takes care that these limits are not overstepped by legislative enactments, or executive action. The executive power, or the President, is the concentrated force, the vigorous Arm, of the government.

It is Congress, the Legislative Authority, that we have now to consider.

3. The National Congress is a body of men representing, and acting in the place of, the people. They are elected by the people to enact laws for the public good—to do all—and no more nor less—than the people would do, if it were possible for them to assemble in one great body and make the laws by which they wish to be governed.

It was constituted as wisely, to guard against the errors to which humanity is liable, as the experience of the past permitted to the thoughtful and patriotic statesmen who had charge of the organization of the government, when the successful termination of the War of Independence left the interests of a new Nation in their hands. England, from which they had mostly sprung, and which governed them until that period, was in possession of the freest and most enlightened government of those times, in the Old World; and they copied from her institutions and general structure what they judged adapted to our circumstances; prudently avoiding untried experiments, as far as possible.

4. Congress, like the English Parliament, consists of two Houses, one, the House of Representatives, (answering to the English House of Commons) being directly elected, for a short term, by the people, so as to express their views and interests as clearly as possible; the other, the Senate, (answering partially to the English House of Lords) appointed by the State Legislatures for a longer term, and from among statesmen of acknowledged ability and mature character and experience. This was expected to supply the necessary check to hasty and ill considered action, as they were required to mutually agree on all laws enacted.

5. Both are required to assemble, at the same time, in the Capitol at Washington, on the first Monday in December of each year. This is the regular session—extra sessions being occasionally called by the President when unusual circumstances demand it.

The members of the House of Representatives are elected for two years, the members of the Senate for six. As the first contains by far the largest number, a Congress is said to exist for two years, and the 20th Congress would be the one existing during the 40th and 41st years of the Republic, dating from the first Congress in 1789.

THE SENATE

6. Is composed of two persons, chosen by the legislature of each State, to represent it as a whole. It makes no difference whether the State be large or small, whether population counts by the million or the thousand. The States are sovereign in their sphere, and this constitution of the Senate keeps that fact in view, operates against undue centralization of power, and oppression of the smaller States by the larger.

7. A Senator must be thirty years of age, must have been nine years a citizen, (he may have been born in a foreign State, and a citizen of it previously,) and must be a citizen of the State—(a voter in it) at the time of appointment. He is appointed for six years. The Senate is arranged in three classes so that the terms of one-third of the whole number shall expire every two years. They may be re-elected as often as the State legislatures choose. In one case, a Senator was continued thirty years in the Senate, without intermission. It has equal legislative power with the House of Representatives, except that it cannot originate laws for raising money, but it must approve and adopt all laws made by the House to render them valid. It has some powers that do not belong to the House. It confirms or rejects the nominations of the President, to office, and the treaties he makes with foreign powers, and is the only High Court of Impeachment.

8. When the Senate meets to consider the nominations of the President to office, it is called an Executive Session, and only a majority of votes is required to approve or confirm them; but when a treaty is to be ratified, or judgment given in a case of impeachment, a vote of two-thirds of the members present is required.

The Vice-President of the United States is the presiding officer of the Senate; but in case of a vacancy in that office, when he is acting as President, or if he be absent, it chooses a president from its own members.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

9. Is composed of persons elected by the people in the various States, in proportion to the number of inhabitants. A Representative is elected for a term of two years. He must be twenty-five years of age, must have been a citizen of the United States seven years, and must be a citizen of the State he represents. This is often called the “Lower House,” or popular branch of the National Legislature, as the Senate is sometimes called the “Upper House,” because it is more select, and greater in dignity.

10. The House of Representatives has the sole power of presenting articles of Impeachment, and it alone can originate laws for raising revenue. A larger part of the laws are actually originated in it, because it is more numerous, its members better known to the people whom they immediately represent, and the people are better acquainted with them; and more petitions for particular laws are sent to them. Each representative is voted for by the people of his Congressional District alone, and not by all the people of each State; and he specially represents the views and wants of his District.

In each branch of Congress, when a Bill, or plan of a law, has been passed, it is sent to the other House, where it is referred to a Committee who examine it, and report on it to the House; by which it is discussed and adopted, amended, or rejected according to its judgment, and returned to the House in which it originated. By this method every law is meant to be subjected to a careful and cool investigation, its defects discovered and corrected, and its appropriateness clearly made manifest. Whoever will examine, with care and thoroughness the whole structure of our government will everywhere discover traces of the same wisdom and watchful foresight. He will see reason for more admiration of the prudent statesmanship of those who organized our institutions, and feel less surprised at the wonderful prosperity of the country, and at the strength of the government when subjected to the severest trial. Everything human is more or less imperfect, and we shall never be without subjects of complaint, and opportunities for improvement; but every American, well informed concerning his own and foreign governments, will discover many weighty reasons for self-congratulation and pride that our first statesmen and people were so wise and prudent in laying the foundation, and that their successors have built on it with so much skill.

11. The presiding officer in the House of Representatives is called “The Speaker,” and is chosen by the House, at the beginning of each Congress. He serves during its two years of existence. The Clerk of the House and its minor officers are chosen by its members—and each House makes its own rules, or Parliamentary Laws. The term Congress properly covers both branches of the National Legislature; but, by custom, the members of the upper house are called Senators, and those of the lower Members of Congress, (commonly abbreviated to M. C.)

12. The Compensation of Members of Congress was originally fixed at eight dollars a day, but has, of late years, been several times changed. In 1856 it was made $3,000 per session, or $6,000 for a Congress of two years. In 1866 it was increased to $5,000 per session, and, in 1873 to $7,500 per session, the Speaker of the House, and the President of the Senate, by this last law, receiving $10,000 per year; but it produced so much dissatisfaction among the people that the law was changed at the following session, and they now receive $5,000 per annum.

13. The members of each house receive the same compensation. Mileage is allowed them in addition to the salary. This has been forty cents per mile, by the usual routes between the members residence and Washington. In 1865 it was reduced to twenty cents per mile, which still seems more adapted to the days of stages and slow traveling than to the modern improvements in rapidity and cheapness. They formerly enjoyed the franking privilege, so called, i. e.: they could send letters and documents through the mails free. This was abolished in 1873, and they now pay their postage, the same as other people.

14. The first Congress under the Constitution met in New York City, where two sessions were held, when it was removed to Philadelphia. It remained there until 1800, when Washington became the capital. The Capitol there, in which Congress meets, is one of the largest buildings in the world; and the offices for the different executive Departments are immense structures. In 1874 there were 37 States and therefore 74 Senators. The number of Representatives was fixed by a law of March, 1873, at 292, at which number it will remain until the next census in 1880.

CHAPTER XLVII.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS—CONGRESSMEN.

1. Each State is entitled to a number of Representatives in Congress proportioned to its inhabitants; but, instead of counting the whole number together, and leaving all the people in the State to vote for all the representatives of their State, it is divided into districts, each containing the prescribed number entitled to representation. The voters, then, in each district, select or nominate the men they wish to vote for—and thus they find it easy to send men they know and on whom they can rely to secure their interests. Besides, it is more convenient for them to meet and ascertain by consultation who would be most acceptable to the majority of those interested. Each Member of Congress, therefore, is chosen by a single district. The districting of States is done by their State Legislatures.

2. Sometimes a State is admitted into the Union before it has as many inhabitants as the law requires to one Congressman, in which case the law is relaxed, and they are permitted at least one Representative. Contiguous counties or towns are set apart in this way and numbered as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c., Congressional District. In large cities as many wards, lying together, as include the requisite number, are erected into Districts. In case the number of Congressmen allotted to a State is larger than the number of districts, those in excess are voted for by the State at large. They are arranged as soon as possible after every census, so that this does not often occur. In the Western States the number continually increases and changes must be made after each census. By this means the balance of power gradually follows the emigration from East to West.

CONGRESSMEN.

3. We have already remarked, in the chapter on Congress that, though the term Congressman properly applies to the members of both Houses, it is by common usage, confined to members of the lower House, those of the upper House being distinguished as Senators, so that the abbreviation M. C. (Member of Congress) is understood to specify a Representative.

4. These are the only members of any branch of the government who are chosen and elected directly by the people, and we may see herein the propriety of their having the control of all enactments for raising money, this being a point of vital interest to the people. The short term assigned them, (two years,) and their election by Districts, enables the people to interfere very soon if their purse strings are drawn too widely open—a very satisfactory reflection to the economical. Any citizen, whether native or foreign born, may become a Member of Congress, if he can obtain the consent of the voters in his district; but he must have been a citizen during the previous seven years. It is an office of dignity and responsibility, and the welfare of the country depends on the wisdom of the people in their choice.

CHAPTER XLVIII.
CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY.

1. In the capitol there is a large library, consisting of two parts; one part called the Congressional library, the other, the law library. The latter is made a part of the former by an act of Congress. Both are subject to the same laws and rules, and both are supported by appropriations made by Congress.

This institution, called as a whole, “The Congressional Library,” contains the works supposed to be useful to legislators, but is not confined to their use alone. Its use has been extended to the judges of the Supreme Court; to all the heads of departments; to the Attorney General; to all the members of the diplomatic corps, (foreign ministers); to the secretary of the Senate; to the clerk of the House of Representatives, to the chaplains of Congress, to all ex-Presidents, and to the solicitor of the Treasury.

2. It has a librarian, appointed by the President and Senate, who is allowed to appoint two assistants. No book or map is allowed to be taken out of the library by any person, except the President, Vice-President, members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives.

People in general, who are interested to do so, may obtain information from the books and records when properly authorized, under such restrictions as the circumstances require.

3. Here are kept all the laws which have ever been enacted by Congress, together with a record of all its proceedings, the laws of all the different States, with many of those of foreign countries; also a large collection of books on promiscuous subjects, useful to Members of Congress and to those who have to administer the government. No where else can so complete a history of the acts and proceedings of the government be found, as in the Congressional library at Washington.

This institution dates back to the year 1800, when an act was passed making the first appropriation of $5,000 for its establishment. The books purchased with this $5,000, with those belonging to both Houses, were placed together, and thus this library was commenced.

CHAPTER XLIX.
COPYRIGHTS.

A Copyright is an exclusive privilege given to any citizen, or resident in the United States to print, publish, or sell any book, map, chart, engraving, or musical composition of which he or she is the author or proprietor. This right is given by the laws of Congress. No State can give it. The object is to encourage authors, and to compensate them for their labors, which they could not be sure of obtaining if any one might publish and sell their productions. A copyright conveys all the rights of ownership, and may be bought and sold like other property.

Directions for Securing Copyrights under the Revised Act of Congress, which took effect July 8, 1870.

1. A printed copy of the title of the book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving, cut, print, photograph, or a description of the painting, drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, or model or design for a work of the fine arts, for which copyright is desired, must be sent by mail, prepaid, addressed, “Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.” This must be done before publication of the book or other article.

2. A fee of 50 cents, for recording the title of each book or other article, must be inclosed with the title as above, and 50 cents in addition (or $1 in all) for each certificate of copyright under the seal of the Librarian of Congress, which will be transmitted by return mail.

3. Within ten days after publication of each book or other article, two complete copies of the best edition issued must be sent, to perfect the copyright, with the address

Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.

It is optional with those sending books and other articles to perfect copyright, to send them by mail or express; but, in either case, the charges are to be prepaid by the senders. Without the deposit of copies above required, the copyright is void, and a penalty of $25 is incurred. No copy is required to be deposited elsewhere.

4. No copyright hereafter issued is valid unless notice is given by inserting in every copy published, on the title page or the page following, if it be a book; or, if a map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, engraving, photograph, painting, drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, or model or design intended to be perfected as a work of the fine arts, by inscribing upon some portion of the face or front thereof, or on the face of the substance on which the same is mounted, the following words, viz.: Entered according to act of Congress, in the year ____, by ____, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

The law imposes a penalty of $100 upon any person who has not obtained copyright who shall insert the notice “Entered according to act of Congress,” etc., or words of the same import, in or upon any book or other article.

5. Any author may reserve the right to translate or dramatize his own work. In this case notice should be given by printing the words, Right of translation reserved; or, All rights reserved, below the notice of copyright entry, and notifying the Librarian of Congress of such reservation, to be entered upon the record.

6. Each copyright secures the exclusive right of publishing the book or article copyrighted for a term of twenty-eight years. At the end of that time, the author or designer, or his widow or children, may secure a renewal for the further term of fourteen years, making forty-two years in all. Applications for renewal must be accompanied by explicit statement of ownership in the case of the author, or of relationship in the case of his heirs, and must state definitely the date and place of entry of the original copyright.

7. The time within which any work copyrighted may be issued from the press is not limited by any law or regulation, but depends upon the discretion of the proprietor. A copyright may be secured for a projected work as well as for a completed one.

8. Any copyright is assignable in law by any instrument of writing, but such assignment must be recorded in the office of the Librarian of Congress within sixty days from its date. The fee for this record is fifteen cents for every 100 words, and ten cents for every 100 words for a copy of the record of assignment.

9. A copy of the record (or duplicate certificate) of any copyright entry will be furnished under seal, at the rate of fifty cent each.

10. In the case of books published in more than one volume, if issued or sold separately, or of periodicals published in numbers, or of engravings, photographs, or other articles published with variations, a copyright is to be taken out for each volume of a book, or number of a periodical, or variety, as to size or inscription, of any other article.

11. To secure a copyright for a painting, statue, or model or design intended to be perfected as a work of the fine arts, so as to prevent infringement by copying, engraving, or vending such design, a definite description must accompany the application for copyright, and a photograph of the same, at least as large as “cabinet size,” must be mailed to the Librarian of Congress within ten days from the completion of the work.

12. Every applicant for a copyright must state distinctly the name and residence of the claimant, and whether the right is claimed as author, designer, or proprietor. No affidavit or formal application is required.

Up to 1849 the Secretary of State had the care of issuing copyrights. It was then assigned to the newly created Department of the Interior, and so remained until 1870, when it was transferred to the Librarian of Congress.

CHAPTER L.
PRESIDING OFFICERS OF CONGRESS.

1. These are the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The latter is chosen by ballot of the Members of the House. As this position gives him considerable influence over the course of legislation the party having a majority in the House are careful to select one on whose sympathy with their views and aims they can rely. When there is nearly or quite a balance of parties, it becomes an important and difficult matter to adjust; and has, in some instances, required a long struggle to elect the Speaker. The result, in such a case, usually determines which shall control the general legislation of that Congress.

2. The President of the Senate, under ordinary circumstances, is determined by the Constitution, that instrument devolving the office on the Vice-President. It is the only active duty assigned him while the President is in condition to perform the duties belonging to that office. It seems to befit his relations, being the highest honorary place in the government below that of President, subjects him to no superior, and, from the part the Senate takes in the responsibilities of the President, makes him acquainted with the general conduct of affairs; which may be an important advantage to him should he be called to act as President. In the latter case, and in case of the decease, resignation, or disability of the Vice-President, the Senate proceeds to elect its President in the same way as in the House of Representatives, i. e.: by ballot, for a candidate among its own members.

3. Their duties are to open every sitting of their respective Houses by calling the members to order at the appointed time, on the appearance of a quorum to cause the journal of the preceding day to be read, to preserve order and decorum during the deliberations, to decide questions of order that may arise, (from which an appeal may be taken to the House, at the instance of any two members,) to formally state, and call for the votes on, a question to be decided, and to declare the result of the same after the vote has been taken.

This is the regular routine duty of a presiding officer. They, as the recognized Heads of their respective Houses, have the general oversight of its interests, and a general control of the conduct of its business. They examine the Journal to see that it is correct, may order the galleries and lobby to be cleared in case of any disturbance by spectators, and have general control over the unoccupied rooms in the capitol belonging to their respective Houses. They are required to sign all acts, addresses, and joint resolutions, and appoint the members of all committees whose appointment is not specially directed by the House to be otherwise made. In all cases of ballot the Speaker of the House must vote; but he is not required to vote in other cases unless there is a tie, (an equal number for and against,) when he must give the casting vote. The President of the Senate may vote only in case of a tie.

When the House of Representatives goes into Committee of the Whole, the Speaker leaves the chair, but appoints a chairman to preside for the time being; and when the President of the United States is impeached before the Senate the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides.

4. Their duties are very distinctly defined in the rules adopted by each House for their guidance, but many opportunities for exerting great influence often arise, and many cases requiring great tact and judgment and an intimate knowledge of Parliamentary Law. They receive a much larger salary than ordinary Members of Congress.

The following are the names of all the Speakers of the House of Representatives. A list of Vice-Presidents is given in the chapter devoted to that officer.

Frederick A. Muhlenburgh, Penn.,1789to1791
Jonathan Trumbull, Conn.,1791”1793
Frederick A. Muhlenburgh, Penn.,1793”1797
Jonathan Dayton, N. J.,1797”1798
Theodore Sedgwick, Mass.,1798”1801
Nathaniel Macon, N. C.,1801”1807
Joseph B. Varnum, Mass.1807”1811
Henry Clay, Ky.,1811”1814
Langdon Cheeves, S. C.,1814”1815
Henry Clay, Ky.,1815”1820
John W. Taylor, N. Y.,1820”1821
Philip P. Barbour, Va.,1821”1823
Henry Clay, Ky.,1823”1825
John W. Taylor, N. Y.,1825”1827
Andrew Stevenson, Va.,1827”1835
John Bell, Tenn.,1835”1837
James K. Polk, Tenn.,1837”1839
Robert M. T. Hunter, Va.,1839”1841
John White, Ky.,1841”1843
John W. Jones, Va.,1843”1845
John W. Davis, Ind.,1845”1847
Robert C. Winthrop, Mass.,1847”1849
Howell Cobb, Ga.,1849”1851
Lynn Boyd, Ky.,1851”1856
Nathaniel P. Banks, Mass.,1856”1858
James L. Orr, S. C.,1858”1859
William Pennington, N. J.,1860”1861
Galusha A. Grow, Penn.,1861”1863
Schuyler Colfax, Ind.,1864”1869
James G. Blaine, Me.,1869”1873
”1873”1875

CHAPTER LI.
SUBORDINATE OFFICERS OF CONGRESS.

1. The Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives, are the officers next in rank in the two bodies forming Congress. They are appointed by vote of their respective Houses. They are not necessarily selected from among the members of the Senate or House, as is the custom in case of the presiding officers, but may be chosen by the members at will.

2. Their chief duties are in connection with a record or journal of the proceedings of their respective Houses. This is an official and correct account of all the transactions of each body, is examined by the presiding officer, and read before the members for criticism and approval. They cause this journal to be printed and a copy be delivered to each member at the commencement of every session of Congress, as also to the Executive and to each branch of the Legislature of every State. So also they arrange, cause to be printed, and distribute to the members all the current documents of each House that may be useful to them in the discharge of their duties, as often as the case requires. All contracts for furnishing anything required by Congress, or for any labor done for it, are made with, or approved by, the Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate.

3. They act also as treasurers of the special, or contingent funds of Congress, from which payments are made on their order, after the accounts, on which the order is based, are approved by the Committee of Accounts; and give bonds in a large sum for the faithful use of these funds, making a detailed report of all expenditures.

THE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS

4. Is a kind of police and executive officer, who aids or acts under the direction of the presiding officer in keeping order, and executes the commands of Congress. All arrests ordered by Congress are made by him or his deputies, and all legal processes served by him. He bears a mace as the symbol of his office when on duty. He keeps the accounts of the pay and mileage of the members of Congress, prepares checks, and draws and pays the money to them.

5. The other officers are a Doorkeeper—whose business it is to see that only the proper persons gain admission to the sessions of Congress, and watches over, and is responsible for, the furniture contained in the rooms of the capitol placed in his charge—and a postmaster, whose business it is to superintend a postoffice kept in the capitol for the accommodation of members of Congress. Various clerks, deputies, and messengers are employed under most of these officers, to aid them in the discharge of their duties.

CHAPTER LII.
CONGRESS AT WORK.

1. Congress is required by the Constitution to assemble on the first Monday in December of each year. It may, by a law duly made to that effect, change that time, but no permanent change has ever been made. As soon after that time as a quorum of its members, which the Constitution declares shall be a majority of each House, has assembled each House proceeds to the election of officers (which, however, is done only every other year,) and the arrangement of its committees, and it is ready for work.

2. As soon as the organization is ascertained to be complete the other House of Congress and the President are informed of the fact, after which propositions, or bills as they are called, of new laws, or repeals or revisals of old ones are entertained. Of these there is never any lack. They are taken up in regular order, referred to an appropriate committee for examination, a report is in due time made by the committee, discussed at such length as the members see cause for, in a regular manner, and finally are voted on. Sometimes, if the members are not satisfied with the information presented on some point or points, they return them to the committee with instructions to investigate further, and make another report; sometimes they “lay them on the table,” that is, put them aside for future action; or they accept, amend, or change them to meet their views, and then accept or reject them altogether.

3. When a bill has reached a vote and been accepted by the House in which it originated, it is sent to the other House, by which it is taken up, referred to a committee, usually passing through substantially the same course and form of consideration as in the first case, laid aside, amended, accepted or rejected according to circumstances, and returned to the former House. If it is accepted by both they then send it to the President, who carefully considers it. If it meets his approbation, he signs and returns it to Congress, and it becomes the Law of the Land, and all to whom it refers are bound to obey it, it being the duty of the President to see that it is enforced. It is called an “Act of Congress,” because it is the proper exercise of its law making authority, and because all such laws are preceded by the clause, “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled.”

4. If the President does not think it a suitable law, and is unwilling to assume the responsibility of signing it, he returns it to Congress, with his reasons for not doing so. If Congress is not satisfied with these reasons it may take another vote on it, and if the members in its favor amount to two-thirds of each House, it becomes a law without the signature of the President. This power of the President to decline to sign a law of Congress is called his “Veto.” Sometimes it is carried over the veto, and sometimes it fails for lack of the requisite number in its favor.

5. The larger part of Congressional laws are passed in this way, which is the regular Parliamentary form; but sometimes its authority is expressed by a Resolution instead of a bill. This is a kind of informal way of passing a law, though it usually takes that form because of the peculiar character of the subject of the Resolution; as an amendment to the Constitution would be commenced by a resolution passed by both Houses; but, as Congress has not the sole power over that question, it requiring the concurrence of three fourths of the States, it is put in that form. When some demand is to be made by Congress on the President, or on various officers of the government, and in a variety of other cases, a resolution has the force of law, disobedience to which would involve a penalty. Many resolutions merely express the views of Congress, and are of force and value only on account of the respectability and dignity of the body expressing them. Some resolutions require to be passed in both Houses to acquire legal force, and are then called Concurrent Resolutions.

A bill must pass through the regular forms of printing, reference to a committee, report, placing in order on the records, and calling up at a proper time for consideration and decision. This is very proper to avoid hasty action before all the bearings of the case have been examined; but would consume too much time if required in every case. A resolution may be debated and decided at once, and it facilitates the progress of business, in the class of cases to which it is applicable.

6. The amount of business to be done by Congress is immense. Each branch of the executive department makes a yearly report to it, which must be considered and suitable laws passed; many hundreds of laws are commonly asked to be passed, repealed, or revised, by the President or the people; and all the interests of a great and growing country looked after. Those who are at a distance cannot always judge accurately of the difficulties it meets with in endeavoring to give satisfaction to all, nor of the different appearance which questions may present when closely examined and looked at on all sides, and Congress has a great deal of short-sighted criticism to bear.

Congressmen cannot always tell what is best more than other people, nor always find themselves able to do what they prefer, or judge to be best, and the account to which they are held is sometimes unjust; yet, on the whole they have always respected, and sought to serve, the views and interests of the people as a whole, and deserve much praise. The country has become prosperous and free under their legislation, and what the majority of the people clearly call for is always done for them.

7. The more carefully the people whom they represent watch them at work, and study the subjects they are required to legislate on, the less reason will they find for denunciation of them, and the more intelligently will they be able to lay out their work for them. They are the servants of the people, notwithstanding they seem to command and order, and are liable to be dismissed and turned out of place if they do not give satisfaction. They are men like ourselves, with interests, temptations, and weaknesses. We should aid them in their work, and assist them to walk uprightly by our intelligence and careful regard for reason and right. Our representatives will always, in character and conduct, present a fair statement of what we are ourselves. If we are just, honest, and high-minded they will not dare to be otherwise than faithful and true, and if we are intelligent we shall never put ignorant and vile men in office. So the Congress of the United States of America will always be a truly Representative Body.

CHAPTER LIII.
PUBLIC PRINTING.

1. Among the Institutions of the government is that heading this chapter. The amount of printing required to be done for Congress, the various branches of the government, and for the benefit of the people, is very great indeed. All the proceedings of both Houses of Congress as recorded by the secretaries are required to be printed under authority; since many copies are required by the members and for general purposes. All the laws are printed in great numbers for circulation among the many millions interested; and when a bill is proposed it requires to be printed for the use of the several hundred members who need it for examination and study, although it often never becomes a law.

2. The President’s Messages, and all the reports of heads of departments and bureaus; the reports and commissions of army and navy officers, of investigating committees, of various superintendents, agents, and government employees, and many other things are printed, sometimes only for use of Congress; sometimes for extensive circulation. Thus it is easily seen that the government printing is a heavy expense, and a very large part is indispensable; though many believe that a judicious selection of documents and a careful study as to the number of some of them printed might largely reduce the expense, without injury to the public welfare. We do not wish to pay for the printing of documents that are never read. It is a waste of the people’s money; yet, we must not forget that it is of the utmost importance that the people should become intimately acquainted with all the affairs of the government. Perhaps Congress is sometimes wiser than the people, and that many documents are wisely printed, and unwisely left unread by those most interested. Economy and intelligence are to be equally regarded.

3. Until 1860, the government hired men to do this work, and a printer was employed by each house of Congress. But great complaints were made of the enormous expense to which the country was subjected in this item of its expenditures; and at the date named, Congress passed an act establishing a government printing office, to be under the direction of a superintendent of public printing. The sum of $150,000 was appropriated for the purchase of necessary buildings, machinery, and materials for the purpose. By the provisions of the act it was made the superintendent’s duty to overlook all the public printing and binding, not only of Congress, but of all the departments, and of the United States courts; to purchase all necessary materials and to employ all the workmen required. And that Congress may know how the establishment is conducted and at what expense, the superintendent is required to report to Congress at the commencement of every session, the work done, the number of hands employed, and the exact state and condition of the establishment. He is prohibited from paying more for work done in this office than is given for the same services in private printing offices in Washington.

4. The superintendent is also charged with the duty of procuring all blank books, maps, drawings, diagrams, views, and charts, which may be ordered by Congress, or by the heads of departments and bureaus. But the superintendent himself is not left to act always as he may think proper, for in many cases he must have the approval of the joint committee on printing of both Houses of Congress.

5. This is a very proper effort to curtail expenses. It remains to be seen how successful it may be. The constant watchful oversight of the Sovereign People can alone succeed in keeping all things in due order. When the representatives of the people become careless and wasteful the admonition of the people is never without its effect.

CHAPTER LIV.
THE SIGNAL SERVICE.

1. The present organization of this institution dates from the beginning of the civil war, and was originally purely military in its aims and purposes. It is still conducted by the War Department, and partly for its own purposes; but its value to agricultural and commercial interests is constantly becoming more apparent and more extensive, and will probably, in the end, so overshadow its military relations as to reduce them to a very subordinate place in importance. The civil uses of this service are based on the science of meteorology, which is largely occupied with weather changes, the origin, progress, and laws of Storms. Its value to the people consists in its accurate prediction of changes in the weather, and the warning it is able to give, sometimes many hours or even days in advance, of dangerous storms. Its estimate of weather probabilities, based on observations reported daily from prominent points covering the whole country, are published in all the daily papers, usually found accurate, and are of great value to certain classes of the people. When a storm threatens to endanger the safety of shipping a signal is displayed in the port to give warning, and much property and many lives are often saved. It makes an accurate and scientific study of the weather and all the laws controlling its changes, by a large corps of enlightened and trained observers, all whose facts, constantly reported, systematized, and studied by competent persons, are likely to produce, in time, a most important and useful body of knowledge on that subject.

2. The objects of the Signal Service require its officials to be connected with the United States army, to have the use of the Electric Telegraph, to be familiar with Meteorology, and skillful in the use of the scientific instruments employed in the study of atmospheric changes. By means of the telegraph, the army, though scattered over the whole country, and especially the frontiers and more inaccessible parts, may be almost instantaneously, and all at the same time, communicated with. It would be possible, by telegraphs, signals, and railroads, to concentrate the whole army from the numerous points where its fragments are located, from Maine to Texas, and the Atlantic to the Pacific, at one point in as short a time as it formerly took a body of soldiers to march a hundred miles.

3. It is a singularly striking instance of the vigor and effectiveness of control supplied by science, invention, and modern progress, by which our vast increase in numbers and in extent of territory are neutralized, the interests, sentiments, and habits of the people unified so that sectional jealousies and contests are made rare and slight, and the people of remote parts of the country made practically better acquainted with each other than formerly were the inhabitants of adjoining States.

4. Subordination and thoroughness of system are secured by its connection with the army, which probably also secures its advantages to the country at much less cost than would be the case were it an independent institution. The army is ambitious to be as useful as possible to the country. There is a Signal School of Instruction and Practice at Fort Whipple, in Va., which is to this Service what the Military and Naval Academies are to the Army and Navy. The most suitable persons are selected from the army or especially enlisted, and carefully schooled and tested through a sufficiently long period to render them fully competent for the delicate duties imposed on them.

5. There are about 90 Signal Stations, a few being located in Canada and the West Indies. The whole is under the direction of the Chief Signal Officer, who reports to the Secretary of War. There is a large and carefully arranged organization, under constant supervision by competent persons. Several Boards of Examination are employed in selecting suitable persons for the different duties required in the Service, and in testing their advancement toward a thorough fitness for each position to be occupied.

The first or lowest grade is for the “field” signal service, requiring a knowledge of army signals and telegraphy—this being the original military value of the institution—the second grade includes those who are competent to act as assistants to observers in the scientific or meteorological part of the work; and the third (called Observer Sergeants) includes those who have so complete a knowledge of the scientific principles involved and of the use of the instruments employed as to be fitted to take charge of Stations of Observation, and make the constant and minute reports on which the conclusions of the Central Office are based.

The Stations are from time to time inspected, and the whole system kept in the most accurate order. Very much depends on the intelligence and unremitting attention of the Observers.

This is, probably, the beginning of a work of the greatest practical value to commerce and agriculture. It will continually expand and grow more exact and useful, and from its relations to the diffusion of important and useful knowledge we have placed it with

THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

1. Though there are no doubt many minor failures to meet the wishes, and secure the interests of the people and some, perhaps, that are really serious—though in these the people bear a good share of the blame—the government has pursued an enlightened policy in respect to the encouragement of Science, and the diffusion of useful knowledge. What it can properly do in the interest of the whole people has been done. The Smithsonian Institution is not wholly a government establishment; but the official machinery by which it was at first set in motion, and is continued in operation, belongs to the government. The funds with which it was founded, were furnished by an individual, and he a foreigner. The history runs thus: A noble-hearted Englishman, whose name was John Smithson, residing in the city of London, bequeathed all his property to the United States of America, for the purpose of founding in Washington an establishment to be known as the “Smithsonian Institution,” for the purpose of increasing and diffusing knowledge among men. The United States accepted the bequest, and in 1846 passed an act for the purpose of carrying out the beneficent design of Mr. Smithson. This act created “an establishment,” as it is denominated in the act, by the name before stated. It might have been called a corporation, for it has perpetual succession, and many of the powers incident to a corporation.

2. By this act the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster General, the Attorney General, and Chief Justice, the Commissioner of the Patent Office, and the Mayor of Washington—during the time they shall hold their respective offices, together with such other persons as they may elect honorary members—were constituted the establishment under the name of the Smithsonian Institution.

3. It is located at Washington, and is managed by a board of regents, composed of the Vice-President of the United States, the Chief Justice of the United States, the Mayor of Washington, three members of the Senate, and three members of the House of Representatives; together with six other persons. The board choose their own officers, and report their proceedings to Congress at each session thereof.

4. In order to carry out Mr. Smithson’s noble design of founding this institution, rooms have been prepared for the reception of all objects of art, natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens which now or hereafter may belong to the United States, and such as may hereafter be obtained. These are classified and arranged so as to facilitate their examination and study. A vast collection has already been obtained and deposited in the institution, and it is constantly increasing by donations, by the researches and industry of its professors, and by exchanges made with kindred institutions at home and abroad. These are open to the examination of the public, and offer an opportunity to students and others to extend their scientific knowledge. This, together with the reports of its professors, of experiments and new discoveries, make it indeed an institution “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”

CHAPTER LV.
REPORTS.

1. Congress being the law-making power of the government, it is evident that, to know precisely what laws it is important to enact, to change, or to repeal, they should be kept well informed of all that is done by government officials, and the precise condition of every branch of the public service. The President’s Messages are of the nature of reports made by the Chief Executive to the legislative body for its information and guidance. So it is enacted that the Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, Navy, Interior, and Postmaster General, together with the commissioners of the different bureaus, and boards attached to these departments, shall annually report to Congress. Heads of departments report directly to Congress. So do many of the commissioners who are at the head of bureaus. Boards report to the heads of departments to which they are attached.

2. In this way Congress is kept advised of whatever is done in every department, bureau, or board, to which any of the public business is entrusted. These reports not only furnish the law-making power with such information as it needs, but serve as a check to any official misconduct. The annual reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and Navy, together with that of the Postmaster General, are State papers which rank in importance next to the annual message of the President. To them the people look for a detailed account of the state and condition of those great departments over which these Secretaries preside, and which so materially affect the pecuniary and other great interests of the nation.

3. The foregoing remarks upon reports, throw light upon the movements of the machinery by which the government is operated, and show how officials are held responsible to the superior power.

In this connection we may notice another kind of reports, which come from another source. After each Congress has convened and organized, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House appoint what are denominated the standing committees of each of these bodies.

When bills are presented to be passed into laws, or petitions are sent in, they are always referred to the appropriate committee, which examines them and reports to the body (of the Senate or House) their conclusions upon the merits or demerits, propriety or impropriety, of granting the petition, or of passing the bill under consideration.

These reports generally govern the action of Congress when they come to vote upon the passage of the law. But that is not always the case; the body of either House may think differently from its committee, and act contrary to its recommendations.

CHAPTER LVI.
IMPEACHMENT.

1. In the second article, section four, of the Constitution, these words are found: “The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

2. Impeachment is a procedure against office holders only, for the purpose of removing them from office. It inflicts no other punishment; but the guilty party may afterwards be prosecuted for his crime in a court of law, and punished in such manner as the law directs.

3. The House of Representatives alone can present charges looking to the trial of an officer of the government by impeachment. Its action, in such a case, is similar to that of a Grand Jury. It charges that the official has violated the law and should be tried, in order, if guilty, to be removed from office. It appoints a committee to conduct the prosecution before the Senate, to which these charges are presented.

4. The Senate alone has the power to try the accused party. When trying a case of impeachment it acts as a court, and from its decision there is no appeal. The President cannot pardon a criminal who has been impeached. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides, but in no other case. No person can be convicted in a trial of impeachment, unless two-thirds of the Senate concur in finding the accused guilty of the alleged offense.