1 A president pro tem of the Senate is elected by the Senate to preside in the absence of the Vice-President.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

what

Alexander, D. A. S. History and Procedure of the House of Rep
resentatives, 1916.

MCCALL, SAMUEL W.

The Business of Congress. 1911.

REINSCH, PAUL S. Readings on American Federal Government. 1909.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. What Article of the Constitution treats of Congress? Art I Sec 8 2. Congress consists of what two houses? What does each house represent?

3. What are the advantages of a two-body legislature?
4. Do you favor equal representation in the Senate?

Check each at the.

5. When does the long session of Congress begin? When does the short session end?

6. How is the membership of the House of Representatives determined? Of how many members does it now consist? Each represents how many people?

7. Do any States have more senators in the Senate than representatives in the House?.

the

8. When are congressional elections held? How long is it after
election until the members take their seats? What is the term of

office?

9. Explain gerrymandering. (ash Helena Mang

Mary

10. What are the qualifications of membership in the House of Representatives?

11. Of how many members does the Senate consist? What is the term of office?

12. When are senators elected? Who may vote for them? What are the qualifications for office?

13. What special functions are performed by the Senate?

14. What salary do congressmen receive? What other compensation do they receive?

15. What special privileges have congressmen? May a congressman defame the character of a person in a newspaper article?

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Do you favor equal representation of States in the Senate?
2. The number of any Congress can be determined by subtracting
1789 (the year the 1st Congress met) from the year in which the Con-

gress of which the number is desired ends, and dividing the remainder by 2, because a Congress lasts two years. As a Congress always ends upon an odd-numbered year the number from which 1789 is subtracted is necessarily an odd number. By what number is the Congress now in session known?

3. The first woman representative, Miss Rankin, was elected from Montana in 1916. Give arguments for and against electing women to Congress.

4. How are the political parties represented at present in the Senate and in the House of Representatives?

5. Is your State gerrymandered?

6. To how many representatives is your State entitled? 7. In what congressional district do you live? Who is your representative? How long has he been in Congress? What party does he represent? What stand has he taken in regard to tariff legislation, woman suffrage, national prohibition, or any matter in which you are interested? (You can learn how congressmen vote from the Congressional Record or by writing to the National Voters' League, Washington, D. C.)

8. Discuss in regard to your senators the same matters that you have considered in regard to your representative.

9. Do you believe that popular election of senators will make them more responsive to popular opinion? Do you think they should respond as readily as representatives do, or should they decide measures according to their own individual opinions?

10. In 1913 President Wilson's special session of Congress merged into the regular session, and a mileage allowance was not voted by Congress because the President opposed it. A few years previous thereto, under similar conditions, mileage was voted with the approval of President Roosevelt. This is known as "constructive mileage," because it is not actually travelled. Do you favor or oppose constructive mileage? Why?

11. Members of the House of Commons in England receive a salary of $2000 a year; those of the House of Representatives in the United States, $7500. Which members are more likely to voice the will of the people?

12. Men of eminent ability in the United States engaged in other professions and commercial pursuits earn much more than we pay the members of the House of Representatives. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a high salary for a legislator?

13. Do you believe in the unrestricted use of the "franking privilege"? In 1914 Senator Root franked 715,062 copies of his speech opposing tolls exemption of American coastwise vessels. This speech advocated an honorable compliance with our treaty obligations with England, but the frank is also used by congressmen representing special interests.

14. A Super-Senate Plan has been suggested by Frank A. Vanderlip, ex president of the National City Bank of New York, for discussion. It is proposed that a constitutional amendment create a new arm of the government, with about thirty members chosen at large for terms of ten years, three members retiring every year. Half of the members would sit continuously in Washington, and the other half would be abroad carrying America's good-will and obtaining good-will for us. This would build an intelligent body to deal with foreign affairs. This plan would take the treaty power from the Senate, but the President's relations to foreign affairs would remain unchanged. He would initiate treaties, appoint the Secretary of State, and appoint ambassadors and ministers. Their confirmation would lie in the hands of the Super-Senate. What arguments can you advance for or against this suggestion?

CHAPTER VI

THE POWERS OF CONGRESS

39. Interpretation of the Constitution. When our thirteen States united to form the United States of America they limited Congress to certain expressed powers enumerated in the Constitution and those " necessary and proper" to carry the expressed powers into execution. Persons who favor strong State governments and a weak National government would restrict the powers of Congress to the bare letter of the Constitution, while those who favor a strong National government would interpret these powers liberally, thus increasing the legislative powers of Congress.

Fortunately for the National government Chief Justice Marshall, who dominated the Supreme Court during the formative period of our government (1800-1835), gave a liberal construction to the Constitution, thereby permitting Congress to do many things which Jefferson and other strict constructionists would have reserved for the States. Such men as Washington, Hamilton, Lincoln, and Roosevelt have favored a liberal construction, believing that the government of the United States can govern more efficiently and with less annoyance to the people than the numerous States whose different laws often conflict.

I. EXPRESSED POWERS

40. Expressed Powers Interpreted. The expressed powers of Congress are enumerated very briefly; and without courts to decide exactly what they mean and what they include, Congress would often be tempted to exceed its authority. To illustrate, the Constitution (Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 3) provides that "Congress