The more important committees of the House consist of from fifteen to twenty-one members. The principal standing committees-committees which are provided for by the rules, and which continue in existence through the entire session are those on ways and means (p. 274), appropriations, the judiciary, foreign relations, currency, commerce, pensions, military affairs, elections, manufactures, agriculture, and rivers and harbors. The committees are elected by the House but before the vote is taken the membership of each committee is determined by party action.

The work of the House is effected through these committees. When a bill is introduced upon the floor of Congress it is promptly referred to the appropriate committee. Friends of the bill may appear before the committee and speak in its behalf. The committee may amend the bill, or reject it outright, or pay no attention to it whatever. If a bill is rejected in committee, it has little chance of becoming a law. If it is reported favorably to the House, it has a chance at least of receiving serious consideration. A committee, besides reporting upon measures that have been referred to it, may report bills originating with itself. In practice, before a bill can become a law it must first receive the favorable judgment of a committee. For this reason much of the most important work of Congress is done in the committee rooms.

(3) The Rules. When a bill is reported favorably by a committee it is usually placed upon the calendar along with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other bills. The calendar is a kind of catalogue or register of bills, and has been called "the cemetery of legislative hopes," because so many bills are never heard of again after they reach it. When a bill has found its way to the calendar its fate henceforth rests with the rules of the House. The rules of procedure are determined by the House itself (28), and are framed with the view of conducting business in a fair and orderly manner. The general rule in reference to a bill on the calendar is that it must wait its turn for con

sideration, a rule which if strongly enforced might postpone action indefinitely.

Foremost among the agencies for controlling procedure in the House is the committee on rules, which consists of eleven members, six of whom belong to the political party which is in a majority and five of whom belong to the minority party. The committee on rules has the high privilege of bringing in at any time "a special rule" or order, by which a certain time may be appointed for the consideration of a bill. It can thus at any time without discussion or delay order any bill to be taken from the calendar for immediate consideration. This committee on rules can also determine the conditions of debate, how long members may speak, whether amendments to the bill may be offered or not, when a vote shall be taken. The course of legislation in the House is thus practically determined by the committee on rules. The first of committees, therefore, is the committee on rules and the first of rules is the special rule. The committee on rules, like all the other committees, is elected by the House. Its membership, however, is first determined by party action.

The Senate at Work. When a Congress expires two thirds of the members of the Senate retain their seats in the next Congress (16). The Senate is thus in part a continuous body; "always changing it is forever the same." It is not reorganized at the opening of every Congress. The Constitution provides for it a permanent presiding officer (20); the temporary President (21) and other officers hold their positions for indefinite periods. Senators on an average are much older 1 than members of the House, and they exert a greater personal influence by reason of their right to be consulted in reference to the appointment of important executive officers (96).

1

The continuity of its existence, the stability of its organization, the maturity and experience of its members, 1 The average age of senators is sixty.

and its great power are all reflected in the Senate's proceedings. The Senate goes about legislation in a reposeful, dignified way. It does not have to hurry, for it always has at least four years in which to accomplish its purposes. Senators take hold of legislation with a masterful hand, for they bring to the work the lessons of a long public career. The Senate sometimes wields power in a manner that appears to be arbitrary, and it is sometimes accused of ignoring the rights of the House. It will ignore the rights of the House, of course, if the House does not defend itself, just as the House will ignore the rights of the Senate if it is permitted to do so. We must expect encroachments, and if a contest between the House and the Senate should arise the people should not be surprised, but should cheerfully settle the matter by supporting at the polls the branch which happens to be acting in accordance with the American spirit.

The course of legislation in the Senate is smoother than it is in the House. The committees are not appointed by the presiding officer, but are elected by the vote of the Senate. On the floor of the Senate there is the utmost freedom of debate. Any senator may talk as long as he pleases on any subject that comes up for discussion. The Senate could adopt rules (28) that would curtail debate and hasten measures to a conclusion, as is done in the House, but it has not cared to do so. It proceeds upon the principle that the more fully a subject is discussed in a serious way the better, and it assumes that no senator will abuse the privilege of unlimited debate and talk merely to kill time. Senators, however, occasionally do talk to kill time. In 1890 a senator, in order to keep a measure from coming to a vote, spoke for fourteen hours without interruption. In 1903 a senator, wishing to force the Senate to yield on a certain point, placed Lord Byron's complete works upon his desk and threatened to read every word of them if the Senate did not do what he wanted it to do. The Senate yielded because the demand

was made in the closing hours of a Congress and important business was ahead.

The Powers of Congress. The strictly legislative powers of Congress have been referred to in a general way heretofore. They are enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. These powers will receive particular attention at appropriate points in subsequent chapters. At present it is sufficient to notice that the powers granted by the framers to the new federal Congress are quite like the powers granted to the Congress of the old Confederation (p. 42), the most important additions being (1) the taxing power, which gave the new government its dignity and strength, and (2) the power to regulate commerce, the subject, it will be remembered, which led up to the calling of the Convention of 1787. As far as the legislative powers are concerned the House and Senate are coördinate branches: a bill passed by one house is not a law until it is passed by the other also, and either house can originate and pass such bills as it chooses, excepting that bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives (36).

Two matters not of a strictly legislative nature must receive attention here:

I. Impeachment. When high public officials are charged with gross misconduct in office, as when the President is charged with not enforcing a law, or a federal judge is accused of habitual drunkenness, they may be reached by the process of impeachment. Impeachment begins in the House of Representatives, where the charges against the unfaithful officer must be laid (14). If in the judgment of the House the accused person is guilty, the impeachment, or accusation, is carried to the Senate to be tried (22). The Senate, while trying the impeachment, sits as a court of justice. Witnesses are summoned and examined and evidence pro and con is presented. If by a two-thirds vote the Senate sustains the impeachment the

accused person is deprived of his office (23). He may afterwards be tried and punished in a court of law for his offense, but such a trial is not a part of the process of impeachment. The main object of impeachment is to protect the government from the acts of faithless officers, not to punish crime. Its purpose, therefore, is fulfilled when the offending officer is removed. Impeachment is plainly a judicial rather than a legislative function.

II. Confirmation of Treaties and of Presidential Appointments. A treaty (p. 260) is a law of the land (126). It is only right, therefore, that the legislature should participate in the treaty-making power. The Constitution recognizes this principle to the extent that treaties shall be confirmed by a two-thirds vote of the Senate (95). The Constitution also provides that certain presidential appointments must be confirmed by the Senate (96). In the exercise of this power the Senate has established a custom of confirming only those appointments which are agreeable to the senator from the State in which the appointment is made. The senator to be consulted belongs to the President's party. If the State in which the appointment is made has no senator of the President's party, the party leaders of the State must be consulted. This deference to the wishes of individual senators in the matter of confirming appointments is called senatorial courtesy. The application of the rule of senatorial courtesy almost doubles the power of the Senate, for it has the effect of taking federal patronage from the President and bestowing

it upon senators. When confirming appointments and treaties the Senate regards itself as acting in an executive capacity. It holds its executive sessions behind closed doors. All purely legislative sessions, both of the House and of the Senate, are open to the public.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. How is Congress assembled? How is it adjourned? Why were these methods of assembling and adjourning adopted?