網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

THE MONROE DOCTRINE.

The Secretary of State of the United States, Charles E. Hughes, in an address delivered before the American Bar Association at Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 30, 1923, restated the genesis and scope of the Monroe Doctrine as it stands to-day, one hundred years after its promulgation. The Secretary's main points were:

The Monroe Doctrine had its dramatic setting as a striking and carefully formulated announcement, but it was in no sense a departure or something novel or strange engrafted upon American policy, The people of the United States had watched with deep sympathy the long struggle of our Southern neighbors for independence. The Republic of Colombia was recognized in 1822, the Government of Buenos Avres and the States of Mexico and Chili, early in 1823. Deeply interested as we were in the development of republican institutions, the United States did not hesitate because of the political form of government and was the first to recognize the independent Empire of Brazil in May, 1824, and this was followed by the recognition of the Federation of Central American States in August of the same year. Meanwhile, the Holy Alliance formed by the sovereigns of Austria, Russia, and Prussia had sought to enforce the divine right of kings against the progress of liberal principles. Joined by France, they undertook "to put an end to the system of representative government" and after France had proceeded accordingly to restore the rule of Ferdinand VII. in Spain, it was proposed to direct their efforts to the overthrowing of the new governments erected out of the old colonies of Spain in the Western Hemisphere. This was the situation 100 years ago-in August, 1823-when George Canning, British Foreign Secretary, wrote his celebrated letter to Richard Rush, American Minister in London, suggesting a joint declaration, in substance, that the recovery of the colonies by Spain was hopeless; that neither Great Britain nor the United States was aiming at the possession of any portion of these colonies; and that they could not see with indifference any portion of them transferred to any other power. Great Britain, however, had not at that time recognized the new States in Spanish America, and this made a point of distinction. Correspondence followed between Presidents Monroe and Jefferson and Madison, whose advice he sought. It was after mature deliberation by the President and his Cabinet, which contained not only John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, but John C. Calhoun and William Wirt, that the American position was formally stated. It was deemed advisable to make a separate declaration of policy and this was formulated in President Monroe's message of December 2, 1823.

The doctrine is set forth in two paragraphs of this message. The first of these had a genesis distinct from the situation of the former colonies of Spain. It grew out of the question of Russian claims on the northwest coast of North America. The Russian Emperor had issued a ukase in 1821 prohibiting citizens of other nations from navigating and fishing within 100 Itallan miles of the northwest coast of North America from Bering Straits to the fiftyfirst parallel of north latitude. Protests had followed. In July, 1823, Secretary Adams informed the Russian Minister that the United States "should contest the right of Russia to any territorial estabishment on this continent, and that we should assume distinctly the principle that the American continents are no longer subjects for any new European colonial establishments." It was in connection with this pretension of Russia that President Monroe, after adverting to the proposal of arranging the respective rights and interests on the northwest coast by amicable negotiations, declared in his

message:

"In the discussions to which this interest has given rise, and in the arrangements by which they may terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for asserting as a principle, in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers."

The other paragraph of President Monroe's message bore upon the situation of our neighbors to the south, as follows:

"We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence and have maintained it and whose inde

pendence we have, on great consideration and en just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States."

Properly understood, it is opposed (1) to any nonAmerican action encroaching upon the political Independence of American States under any guise and (2) to the acquisition in any manner of the control of additional territory in this hemisphere by any non-American power.

The Monroe Doctrine is not a legislative pronouncement; it has been approved by action of Congress, but it does not rest upon any Congressional sanction. It has had the implied indorsement of the treaty-making power in the reservations to the two Hague conventions of 1899 and 1907, but it is not defined by treaty and does not draw its force from any international agreement. It is not like a constitutional provision deriving its authority from the fact that it is a part of the organic law transcending and limiting executive and legislative power. It is not a part of international law, maintained by the consent of the civilized powers and alterable only at their will. It is a policy declared by the Executive of the United States and repeated in one form or another by Presidents and Secretaries of State in the conduct of our foreign relations. Its significance lies in the fact that in its essentials, as set forth by President Monroe and as forcibly and repeatedly. asserted by our responsible statesmen, it has been for 100 years, and continues to be, an integral part of our national thought and purpose, expressing a profound conviction which even the upheaval caused by the Great War, and our participation in that struggle upon European soil, has not uprooted or fundamentally changed.

The Monroe Doctrine is not a policy of aggression: it is a policy of self-defense. It was asserted at a time when the danger of foreign aggression in this hemisphere was very real, when the new American States had not yet established a firm basis of independent national life, and we were menaced by threats of old world powers directed against republican institutions. It still remains an assertion of the principle of national security.

As the policy embodied in the Monroe Doctrine is distinctively the policy of the United States, the Government of the United States reserves to itself its definition, interpretation and application. This Government has welcomed the recognition by other Governments of the fact and soundness of this polley and of the appropriateness of its application from time to time.

But the United States has not been enter into engagements which would ha ele e of submitting to any other power or to an of powers the determination either of th upon which the principles of the Moniv shall be invoked or of the measures t.. taken in giving it effect. As President Wise os served: "The Monroe Doctrine was proelatret the United States on her own authority has been maintained and always will be r upon her own responsibility."

This implies neither suspicion nor e

It simply means that the United States: a separate national right of self-defense te the exercise of this right it must have an

discretion.

The policy of the Monroe Doctrine de fringe upon the independence and s other American States. Misconceptic point is the only disturbing influence inc with Latin American States. The decla purpose to oppose what is inimical to o not imply an attempt to establish a any more than a similar assertion by any great southern republics of opposition the part of any of the others endangerin would aim at the establishment of a We utterly disclaim as unwarranted tions which occasionally have been n.. claim on our part to superintend the sister republics, to assert an overlordsh the spread of our authority beyond ou as the aim of our policy and to make. test of right in this hemisphere.

"In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when our nights are involved or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. With the movements in this hemi-a sphere we are, of necessity, more intimately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. * * *

Such assertions do not express our

d

:

12

our right of protection or would menace the freedom of our communications.

pose: they belle our sincere friendship; they are false to the fundamental principles of our institutions and of our foreign policy which has sought to reflect with rare exceptions, the ideals of liberty; they menade us by stimulating a distrust which has no real Joundation. They find no sanction whatever in the Monroe Doctrine. There is room in this hemisphere, without danger of collision, for the complete recog-dition of certain countries in the region of the Carib

mition of that doctrine and the independent soversignty of the Latin-American republics.

*

So far as the region of the Caribbean Sea is concerned it may be said that if we had no Monroe Doc trine we should have to create one. * • The United States has rights and obligations which that doctrine does not define. And in the unsettled conbean it has been necessary to assert these rights and obligations as well as the limited principles of the Monroe Doctrine.

*

The disturbed conditions and revolutionary tendencles in some of the Central American republics have given great solicitude to the Government of the United States, and its efforts have been directed to the promotion of tranquillity and stability. This is in the interest of the maintenance of the unim

We have grown rich and powerful. but we have Bot outgrown the necessity. In justice to ourselves and without injustice to others, of safeguarding our ture peace and security, By building the Panama Danal we have not only established a new and conmient highway of commerce but we have mested exigencies and new conditions of strategy ddelense. It is for us to protect that high-paired integrity and sovereignty of these republics.

[ocr errors][merged small]

It is apparent that the Monroe Doctrine does not stand in the way of Pan-American co-operation; rather it affords the necessary foundation for that co-operation in the independence and security of American States.

*

With the passing of 100 years it remains a cherished policy, inimical to no just interest and deemed to be vitally related to our own safety and to the peaceful progress of the peoples of this hemisphere.

SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

(Compiled by Simon Newton, Detroit.)

[blocks in formation]

Heyward, Thomas, jr... S. C.... Lawyer.

Hooper, William..

Hopkins, Stephen.

Hopkinson, Francis.
Huntington, Samuel
Jefferson, Thomas..
Lee, Richard Henry
Lee. Francis Lightfoot.
Lesis, Francis..
Livingston, Philip
Lynch, Thomas, jr.
McKean, Thomas.
Middleton, Arthur.
Morris, Lewis.
Morris, Robert.
Morton, John..
Nelson, Thomas, jr..
Paca, William..

Palne, Robert Treat
Penn, John.

Read. George.

Rodney, Caesar.
Ross, George..
Rush, Benjamin.
Rutledge, Edward.
Sherman, Roger..
Smith, James.

Stockton, Richard.
Stone, Thomas.
Taylor, George.

Thornton, Matthew.

Walton, George
Whipple, William.
Williams, William

Wilson, James.
Witherspoon, John.

Woleott, Oliver.

Wythe, George.

Hopewell, N. J.

Kingston, N. J.

St. Luke's Parish, S. C..

N. C... Lawyer.

Boston, Mass

R. I.... Farmer.

Scituate, R. I..

N. J.... Lawyer.

Philadelphia, Pa.

Conn... Lawyer.

Windham, Conn.

Va

Va... Lawyer.
Soldier.

Shadwell, Va...

Stratford, Va.

[blocks in formation]

Stratford, Va.

[blocks in formation]

N.Y... Merchant.. Llandaff, Wales

N.Y... Merchant.. Albany, N. Y

Del. Lawyer.. New London, Pa.

Farmer. Morrisania, N. Y.

Merchant.. Liverpool, England

Surveyor... Ridley, Pa.

Statesman. Yorktown, Va.

Lawyer. Wyehall, Md..

S. C.

N. Y

Pa.

Pa.

Va

Md.

Mass

Lawyer.

[blocks in formation]

N.C... Lawyer.

Boston, Mass

Caroline County, Va.

Cecil County, Md.

Dover, Del

Newcastle, Del.

Physician.. Byberry Township, Pa

Lawyer.... Charleston, S. C..

Conn... Shoemaker. Newton, Mass
Pa

Lawyer.

N. J.... Lawyer.

Md.

Pa

Lawyer.

Physician.

N. H... Physician..

Ga

Lawyer.

N. H... Sailor

Conn.

Pa

., Ireland.

Near Princeton, N. J.

Charles County, Md.

Ireland

., Ireland

Frederick County, Va.

Kittery, Me...

Statesman. Lebanon, Conn.

Lawyer.... Near St. Andrews, Scotland

N. J.... Minister... Gifford, Scotland.
Conn... Physician.. Windsor, Conn.
Va..... Lawyer.... Elizabeth City, Va.

The oldest signer when the signatures were affixed was Benjamin Franklin, the next oldest was Stephen Hopkins.

The first of the signers to die was John Morton; the second was Button Gwinnett.

The earliest known attempt in the American cochies of a declaration of independence was at a town meeting at Mendon, Mass., in 1773.

There was also the Mecklenburg, N. C., declaration for independence, May 31, 1775.

[blocks in formation]

Mar. 11, 1731 May 11, 1814

May 17, 1741 Sept.... 1788 Sept. 17, 1733 Sept. 21, 1798 Oct. 7, 1728 June 29, 1784 1730 July 1779 Dec. 24, 1745 April 19, 1813 Nov. 23, 1749 Jan. 23, 1800 April 19, 1721 July 23, 1793 (About) 1720 July 11, 1806 Oct. 1, 1730 Feb. 28. 1781 1743 Oct. 5, 1787 1716 Feb. 23, 1781 (About) 1714 June 24, 1803 1740 Feb. 2. 1804 Jan. 14, 1730 Nov. 28, 1785 April 18, 1731 Aug. 2. 1811 Sept. 14, 1742 Aug. 28, 1798 Feb. 5, 1722 Sept. 15, 1794 Nov. 26, 1726 Dec. 1, 1797 1726 June 8, 1806

A signature of Burton Gwinnett, attached to a will as a witness, the document having been tiled in Georgia, was sold at auction at New York City in April, 1926, for $22,500.

In May another of his signatures was discovered in Georgia by Miss Ruth Blair, State Historian. It was appended to a confirmation of a land grant. Evidently the actual grantee was unable to write, for the signature reads "Button Gwinnett for John Barber." The item is dated June 30, 1767.

Declaration of Endependence.

(Unanimously adopted, July 4, 1776; signed by 54 delegates, Aug. 2, 1776.)

and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our legislature.

WHEN, in the Course of human events, it becomes | sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the pre ent King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained, and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formid able to tyrants only.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to s jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unse knowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For Imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, estab lishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once afl example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Law and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legisla tures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against the Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us. and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destrue tion of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated Petitions have been answered by repeated infur A Prince, whose character is thus by e act which may define a Tyrant, is 1 to be ruler of a free people. Nor have den war. in attentions to our British bret We he warned them from time to time of seniors legislature to extend an unwarranturis over us. We have reminded then the circum

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the deposi-stances of our emigration and settle tory of their public Records, for the sole purpose of

fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions

within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and

[ocr errors]

ma

The bes of o

have appealed to their native just
nimity, we have conjured them b
common kindred to disavow these usurp
which would inevitably interrupt er soarec
and correspondence. They too hay both der
the voice of justice and of consanguini.y

which

therefore, acquiesce in the neces
nounces our Separation, and hold the s as woh
the rest of mankind, Enemies in war, la Pe

Friends.

the g

F

[ocr errors]

WE THEREFORE, the REPRESENTA FIVES the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN CRYED CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Rupy Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intent o do, in the Name, and by authori People of these Colonies, solemn DECLARE, That these United Colon Right ought to be FREE AND INDEF that they are Absolved from all A British Crown, and that all polita between them and the State of Go Pr tar and ought to be totally dissolved; and tha AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Pos to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliance establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts.

[ocr errors]

Things which INDEPENDENT STATE sof
do. And for the support of this Declaration wi
a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Provlec
we mutually pledge to each other our Lives,
Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

[ocr errors]

Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution originally consisted of a Preamble and seven Articles, and in that form was ratified by a convention of the States, Sept. 17, 1787. The Government under the Constitution was declared in effect on the first Wednesday in March, 1789. The signers of the original Constitution, by virtue of Their membership in Congress, were:

Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce Butler. GEORGIA-William Few, Abr. Baldwin. Attest: WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. The Constitution was ratified by the thirteen original States in the following order:

Delaware, December 7, 1787 (yeas, 30), unanimous. Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787, vote 43 to 23. New Jersey, December 18, 1787 (yeas, 38), unani

mous.

GEO. WASHINGTON, President and deputy from
Tryinta. NEW HAMPSHIRE - John Langdon,
Meholas Gilman. MASSACHUSETTS-Nathaniel Connecticut, January 9, 1788, vote 128 to 40.

Gorham, Rufus King. CONNECTICUT-Wm. Saml. Ahnson, Roger Sherman. NEW YORK-Alexander Hamilton. NEW JERSEY-Wil. Livingston, David Brearley, Wm. Patterson, Jona. Dayton. PENNSYL SLA-B. Franklin, Robt. Morris, Thos. FitzSasons, James Wilson, Thomas Mifflin, Geo. Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Gouv. Morris. DELAWARE-Geo. Read, John Dickinson, Jaco. Broom, Gunning Bedford jun, Richard Basset. MARYLAND-James McHenry, Dani. Carroll, Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer. VIRGINIA-John Blair, James Madison, Jr. NORTH CAROLINA-Wm. Blount, Hu. Williamson, Richd. Dobbe Spaight. SOUTH CAROLINA-J. Rutledge,

PREAMBLE.

168.

Georgia, January 2. 1788 (yeas, 26), unanimous. Massachusetts, February 6, 1788, vote 187 to Maryland, April 28, 1788, vote 63 to 11. South Carolina, May 23, 1788, vote 149 to 73. New Hampshire, June 21, 1788, vote 57 to 46. Virginia, June 26, 1788, vote 89 to 79. New York, July 26, 1788, vote 30 to 27. North Carolina, November 21, 1789, vote 194 to 77.

Rhode Island, May 29, 1790, vote 34 to 32. (Vermont, by convention, ratified Jan. 10, 1791; and Congress, Feb. 18, 1791, admitted that State into the Union.)

THE CONSTITUTION.

We, the people of the United States, in order form a more perfect Union, establish justice, Insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and ure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTON for the United States of America.

ARTICLE I.

Section 1-(Legislative powers; in whom vested:)

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested a Congress of the United States, which shall conof a Senate and House of Representatives. Section 2-(House of Representatives, how and by whom chosen. Qualifications of a Representative. Representatives and direct taxes, how apportioned. Enumeration. Vacancles to be filled. Power of choosing officers, and of impeachment.)

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of The most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 2. No person shall be a Representative who shall ot have attained to the age of twenty-five years And been seven years a citizen of the United States, sad who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

1. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apporned among the several States which may be cluded within this Union according ng to their repective numbers, which shall be determined by sdding to the whole number of free persons, Including those bound to service for a term of years, and exriading Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representaloves shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 3; Massachusetts, 8; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1: Connecticut, 5; New York, 6: New Jersey, 4; Pennsylvania, 8; Delaware, 1: Maryland, 6: Virginia, 10; North Carolina, 5; South Carolina, 3, and Georgia, 3.*

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole

Legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that onethird may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointment until the next meeting of Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who s all not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 7. Judgment of cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy by any office of honor. trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law.

Section 4-(Times, etc., of holding elections, how prescribed. One session in each year.) 1. The times, places, and manner of holding

elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof: but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to places of choosing

Senators.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 5-(Membership, Quorum, Adjournments. Rules. Power to punish or expel. Journal. Time of adjournments, how limited, etc.)

1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide. 2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a member.

Dower

of impeachment. Section 3 (Senators, how and by whom chosen. How classified. State Executive, when to make temporary appointments, in case, etc. Qualifications of a Senator. President of the Senate, his right to vote. President pro tem., and other officers of the Senate, how chosen.

Power to try impeachments. When President tried, Chief Justice to preside. Sentence.)

Dosed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the

1. The Senate of the United States shall be coming such parts as may in their judgment require

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, exceptsecrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of

[blocks in formation]

either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses sha I be sitting.

Section 6-(Compensation. Privleges. Disqualification in certain cases.)

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 respecttive 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

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.

Section 7-(House to originate all revenue bills. Veto. Bill may be passed by two-thirds of each House, notwithstanding, etc. Bill, not returned in ten days, to become a law. Provisions as to orders, concurrent resolutions, etc.)

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. 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 objections 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 two-thirds of that House it shall become a law. w. 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 (Sundays 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.

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 the House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

Section 8-(Powers of Congress.)

1. The Congress shall have power:

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United

[blocks in formation]

measures.

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, 7. To establish post-offices and post-roads.

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries.

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations.

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years.

13. To provide and maintain a navy.

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.

15. To provide for calling forth the militis to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and dis ciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline pre scribed by Congress.

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ter miles square) as may, by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be. for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, drydocks, and other needful buildings.

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Consti tution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Section 9-(Provision as to migration or importation of certain persons. Habeas Corpus. Bills of attainder, etc. Taxes, how apportioned. No export duty. No commercial preference. Money, how drawn from Treasury, etc. titular nobility. Officers not to receive presents, etc.)

No

1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid. unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State.

6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another, nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.

7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law and a regular statement and account of the receipte and expenditures of all public money shall be pub lished from time to time.

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States. And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any king. prince, or foreign state.

Section 10-(States prohibited from the exercise of certain powers.)

1. No State shall enter into any tre confederation, grant, letters of marq coin money, emit bills of credit, mal gold and silver coin a tender in payt pass any bill of attainder, ex post fanta Lw impairing the obligation of contracts title of nobility.

2. No State shall, without the conse gress, lay any impost or duties on imp except what may be absolutely neces ing its inspection laws, and the net duties and imposts, laid by any Stat exports, shall be for the use of the " United States; and all such laws sha the revision and control of the Cong

of

or graa

3. No State shall, without the consta lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops in time of peace, enter into agreemen

with another State, or with a foreign p in war, unless actually invaded, or in. danger as will not admit of delay.

ARTICLE II.

Section 1-(President; his ter

[ocr errors]

Electors of President; number a brap

pointed. Electors to vote on same cation of President. On whom volve in case of his removal, deat ident's compensation. His oath o

1. The Executive power shall be ident of the United States of America his office during the term of four year? with the Vice-President, chosen for be elected as follows:

2. Each State shall appoint, in such Legislature thereof may direct, a nur

[ocr errors]

و

P.

« 上一頁繼續 »