Your vote and how to use it

by Gertrude Foster Brown

How a Bill Is Passed: The procedure in Congress is similar to that in the State Legislature. A bill may be introduced by any member in either house, and must pass through both houses.

Powers of Congress: Congress has absolute power to levy and collect taxes. Revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives. Congress has the exclusive power to declare war, to raise and support an army and navy, and to regulate commerce. It controls naturalization laws and immigration; it establishes post-offices; grants patents and copyrights. It has the power to coin and to borrow money. It also governs the District of Columbia and the Territories.

An Amendment to the Constitution of the United States must be passed by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast in both houses of Congress. It is then submitted to the States for ratification by the State Legislatures. When the Legislatures of three-fourths of the forty-eight States have ratified such an amendment by a majority vote of their members it becomes law.

The Executive: The President of the United States has greater powers than have the heads of many other nations. He is the Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy; he conducts official business with foreign nations and makes treaties with them, subject to the approval of the Senate; he appoints, with the consent of the Senate, ambassadors, ministers, high officials of Army and Navy, justices of the Supreme Court, and a vast number of other officers. He may veto measures passed by Congress, but they can be passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote.

The President has power to initiate legislation by sending a message to Congress, giving them information about important affairs and recommending legislative measures for their consideration. The degree to which he can force legislation through Congress depends both on the strength of the party in Congress to which he belongs, and on the personal power and prestige of the President himself. President Wilson is the first President, for more than a century, to appear in person before a joint session of Congress and read his message.

Election of the President: The President is chosen by presidential electors, elected by the voters of the various States, the number of electors for each State being the same as the total number of Representatives and Senators in Congress from that State. The electors of a State meet at the State Capitol on the second Monday of January following the election, to cast their votes for President. The electors are merely machines to register the vote of the State, and usually the entire electoral vote of a State goes to one candidate, although the majority of the popular vote for him may have been small. This system makes the presidential election virtually an election by States. A State “goes” Republican or Democratic. The struggle is concentrated in a few doubtful States. To win or lose them may mean to win or lose the election. It has happened that one candidate has actually received a larger popular vote than his opponent, and yet has not been elected, because the number of votes in the electoral college from the States that gave him a majority was smaller than the number of electoral votes from the other States. There is a movement toward the abolition of the electoral college and direct nomination and direct election of the President by the voters.

The Vice-President must be eligible to the office of President. He is elected for the same term, and his salary is $12,000 a year. His only duty is to preside over the Senate and to succeed the President in case of need.

The Cabinet consists of ten officials appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate to conduct for him certain departments of public business. The salary of a Cabinet member is $12,000.

Cabinet members have no vote in either House of Congress, and are not responsible to it in any way. Like the President himself, they may belong to the party which is in the minority in Congress. The Cabinet is an advisory body to the President, but its members have no legal standing in that way, and he may ignore them if he chooses. Each Cabinet officer is the administrative head of his department.

The Secretary of State heads the Department of State, and is responsible for all official negotiations and relations with foreign governments. He is the medium of communication between the President and the Governors of the States.