tee on rules, and the first of the rules is the "special rule."

It

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.' is not reorganized at the opening of every Congress. The vice-President is the permanent presiding officer. A temporary President (21), chosen by the Senate from among its members, holds office for an undefinite period and takes the place of the permanent presiding officer during his absence. The committees of the Senate are elected by the Senate itself, although before the vote is taken the membership of each committee is previously determined by party action.

In both Senate and House each of the leading political parties elects a floor leader, whose special duty is to direct and manage for his party the debates on important measures. The floor leader when advocating the passage of a measure sees that the bill is written in the most acceptable form, safeguards it from the dangers of parliamentary procedure, arranges the list of members who are to speak in its behalf, and allots to each speaker the time to be consumed. Frequently before a bill is brought upon the floor to be voted upon a caucus, or private conference, of the members of each party is held, and it is determined what the action of the party in respect to the proposed measure shall be. As a rule, all the members who attend a caucus vote on the bill in accord

ance with the decision of the caucus but sometimes its decision is disregarded.

If a high public official should be charged with gross misconduct in office, if, for example, the President should be charged with not enforcing a law, or a federal judge accused of habitual drunkenness, he could 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.

A treaty 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 senatorial courtesy increases the power of the Senate, for in many instances 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 generally holds its executive sessions behind closed doors. All purely legislative sessions, both of the House and of the Senate, are as a rule open to the public.

CHAPTER IV

THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET

THE framers of the Constitution made the President of the United States commander-in-chief of the military forces (92); they gave him the power of pardoning offenses against the government of the United States (94); they conferred upon him jointly with the Senate the treaty-making power (95) and the power of appointing foreign ministers, consuls, judges of the Supreme Court and many other federal officers (96); they imposed upon him the function of receiving foreign ambassadors and representatives of foreign governments (101); they gave him authority to deliver to Congress in person or to lay before that body in writing, messages setting forth the condition of public affairs and recommending measures for legislation (100); they gave him power to convene Congress in extraordinary session and to adjourn Congress when the two Houses cannot agree as to the matter of adjournment (101); they gave him the veto power (38).

The highest and the chief duty of the President is "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed" (102). This is a purely executive duty and one that the President cannot escape. A law may be distaste

ful to the President, he may regard it as hurtful or unconstitutional, yet as long as it is a law he must enforce it. "As the citizen may not elect what laws he will obey neither may the executive elect which he will enforce." Should the President wantonly refuse to execute a law he would be removable by the process of impeachment.

While the President is bound to carry out laws that have been made whether he is in sympathy with them or not, he at the same time may do much to prevent the enactment of laws obnoxious to himself and much to secure the enactment of favorite measures. His power of prevention lies in the veto. How great this power is may be seen by a simple calculation. A bill may pass in the present House of 435 members by a vote of 218 to 217, and in the Senate by a vote of 49 to 47. Now if the President should veto the bill it would require 72 more votes in the House and 15 more in the Senate (40) to pass the measure over his veto. The legislative weight of the President, therefore, is nearly one-sixth as great as that of Congress. itself.

The President's share in law-making does not end with the negative power of the veto; he possesses several legislative powers of a positive nature. In making the laws known as treaties he takes the initiative and is coördinate with the Senate. By convening Congress in extra session he can present to that body subjects for its special consideration. In annual and special messages he can give his views in respect to needed legislation, and through his influence as a