considered, and whose proceedings are published once in about fifty years. The House may at any time be cleared of all visitors if any confidential communication has been received from the President or some other source.

35. The Two Houses Not to Obstruct Each Other.-By requiring both houses to work on the same days and at the same place, neither can delay or obstruct the work of the other. But it was wise not to make the requirement absolute; for one house may have less work than the other at certain times and may then want to adjourn for more than three days. Furthermore, in time of danger, such as Congress faced in Philadelphia when the yellow fever raged there, or in Washington during the war of 1812 and the Civil War, both houses may be anxious to adjourn to some other place. That Congress has thought of such contingencies is shown by the fact that it has authorized the President to convene it elsewhere than at Washington if its safety should be at stake.

Questions on the Section.-What constitutes a quorum in Congress? What may be done with less than a quorum? How may a quorum be secured? What officer brings in absent members? How many members need vote for a penalty less than expulsion? For expulsion? How does the public learn what Congress does? Why should anyone want to call for the yeas and nays? How many must call to have them taken? What good does it do to record them in the journal? Can either house adjourn from Thursday to Tuesday?

SECTION 6.-COMPENSATION, PRIVILEGES, AND
DISABILITIES

CLAUSE 1.-The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective

houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

CL. 2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office.

36. Salaries of Congressmen.-Both Senators and Representatives receive $7,500 a year; the Speaker of the House, $12,000, and the President pro tempore, $12,000, in case there is no Vice-President. Mileage at the rate of twenty cents a mile is allowed, once for each session, for travelling expenses to the Capital and return by the most direct route of usual travel.

37. Extent of Freedom from Arrest.-Freedom from arrest extends only to minor offenses; nor can a Congressman be detained by a summons as a witness or juror. If he is under arrest for a petty offense when Congress is about to meet, he must be set free, that his constituents. shall not be deprived of representation. There have been times when two political parties were so nearly equal in number that a few arrests of members in the majority would have put the minority in power in one or both branches of Congress.

Questions on the Section.-Do the States pay the Congressmen? How are their salaries fixed? For what crimes may a Congressman be arrested when on duty? When is a Congressman free from arrest for other crimes? Can he be arrested for assault and battery? To whom is a Congressman not accountable for what he says in Congress? To whom is he accountable? Why this freedom of speech? Does it apply also to the speeches in the "Record” published by Congress? Under what conditions can a Congressman not resign to accept an office under the United States? Can he resign to

become an army or navy officer under the same conditions? Can a postmaster be a member of Congress?

SECTION 7.-THE MAKING OF LAWS

Clause 1.—All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.

CL. 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objection at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by twothirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

CL. 3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

38. The Committee on Ways and Means.-This is the committee to which all revenue bills are referred for consideration before final action is taken on them by the House. It frames the tariff and other important revenue bills. A tariff act generally takes its name from the Chairman, as the Dingley Bill, the McKinley Bill. The Senate has no such committee, because it

does not originate revenue bills. When revenue bills come to the Senate from the House they are referred to the Finance Committee.

The revenue from all sources, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1905, was $697,100,000; while the expenditures were $720,100,000. The excess of expenditures over revenue was due to a deficit in the postal department, which is a usual occurrence.

Bills for the expenditure of money may originate in either house; but the practice is for most of them to originate in the House of Representatives. Before 1865 the Ways and Means Committee had charge of the appropriation bills as well as of the revenue bills. Since then there has been a separate Appropriation Committee in the House-in fact it has several associate committees. The Senate, too, has an Appropriation Committee.

The Secretary of the Treasury, at the beginning of each regular session, sends to Congress estimates of the funds needed in the various departments for the next fiscal year. These estimates form the basis of the appropriation bills.

39. Other Committees.-There are from fifty to sixty standing committees in each House-one for every subject of legislation that comes up regularly in every session. Each member is on a committee and some are on several.

40. Mode of Passing Bills.-The mode of procedure in passing bills is nearly the same in both houses. After the committee, to which a bill introduced by some member was committed for consideration, makes its report the clerk takes the bill as reported by the committee and has it printed for distribution among the

members. The bill is then read three times on three separate days (the three readings, by unanimous consent, may all be ordered on one day). After the second reading the bill is debated and amendments may be made. The bill is then read a third time, when it is voted upon as amended. If it receives a majority of the votes it is passed and taken to the other house for concurrence. There it goes through the same process. If it passes with amendments the bill is returned to the house in which it originated, for concurrence in the amendments; but the original bill, having been once debated by the first house, is not again the subject of debate. If the amendments are adopted the presiding officers of both houses sign it and it goes to the President for his signature. If the house in which the bill originated does not adopt the amendments of the other house the bill fails to pass; unless a conference committee, composed of a few members from each house, is appointed and succeeds in arranging a compromise. In that event each house will pass the bill as reported by the conference committee.

41. "A Pocket Veto."-If Congress sends a bill to the President less than ten days before adjournment, and he does not sign it, his not signing it amounts to a veto. This is called "a pocket veto." It was first employed by President Jackson. In order to avoid "pocket vetoes" of bills which the President wants to become laws he has to work very hard during the last hours before adjournment, signing such as were delayed to the last day of the session.

42. No Laws to be Passed in Disguise.-Either house may pass an order or a resolution affecting itself only, or