CHAPTER VII.
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]]
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.
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.
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]]
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.
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.
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.