The sovereign power of the United States is vested in the National government, the federal union of all the States, each self-governing, but all uniting for certain purposes. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land.
The National government, like that of the State and municipality, has three distinct divisions: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. The legislative power rests with Congress, which is composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The House of Representatives is elected every two years by the voters of the States. After the census, which is taken every ten years, Congress determines what the total number of Representatives shall be. These are then apportioned among the States according to population. After the census of 1910 the House of Representatives was increased to 435 members, which gave one member for every 211,877 inhabitants. New York has 43 Representatives, the largest number from any State in the Union. Every State is entitled to at least one Representative, although it may not have the requisite population. The Congressional District from which a member is elected is determined by the State Legislature. Greater New York has 23 Congressmen.
Qualifications for Representatives to Congress: A man must be twenty-five years old and have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years, and be a resident of the State from which he is chosen. The salary is $7,500 a year, with an allowance for a clerk, for stationery, and for traveling expenses.
The Senate is composed of ninety-six members, two members from every State in the Union, elected for a term of six years. In order that there shall always be experienced men in the Senate, only one-third of that body is elected at a time. The Senate is divided into three classes, and the men belonging to one of the three classes are elected every two years.
A Senator may be re-elected as many times as a State chooses, and many Senators have served twenty years or more. This makes the Upper House of Congress a very conservative, stable body of men. Senators, as well as Representatives, receive a salary of $7,500 a year. The Vice-President of the United States is the presiding officer of the Senate.
The election of Senators was formerly a prerogative of the State Legislature. The Seventeenth Amendment to the National Constitution, passed in 1913, provides that they shall be elected by direct voice of the voters of the States.
Qualifications of Senators: A candidate for the Senate must be thirty years old and have been a citizen for at least nine years.
Sessions of Congress: A new Congress comes into existence on the fourth day of March every odd year, although it does not meet in regular session until the following winter. The long session begins the first Monday in December in the odd-numbered year, and usually lasts until spring or summer. The short session begins the same time in the even-numbered year and lasts until the following March 4th, when the new Congress, elected the previous November, comes into existence, although it does not meet until the following December, unless the President calls an extraordinary session. A Congressman, therefore, is elected more than a year before he takes his seat. The Sixty-fifth Congress will end March 4, 1919. The members of the Lower House of the Sixty-sixth Congress will be elected in November, 1918.
Congressional Committees: The work of Congress is largely done through committees. The House of Representatives, as constituted to-day, is an unwieldy body. It is obvious that four hundred and thirty-five men is too large a number to work effectively as a whole. Every bill, even a recommendation from the President, is referred to an appropriate committee. It is only because of these many committees that it is possible to transact the very large amount of business that comes before Congress every year.