the other House to a similar number. In the case of legislative provisions the process is not so simple. Technically the managers cannot add any new material to the bill or omit anything which has passed both Houses; but in the endeavor to find common ground sometimes practically new legislation emerges. In fact, in recent years, provisions are adopted by both Houses which are confessedly imperfect, on the understanding that they will be corrected or altered in conference.

conference

In case the conferees cannot agree they report the fact to [Result of their respective Houses. Then action may be taken instructing committees] the managers to recede or continue their adherence to certain provisions. Finally, one House or the other gives way and a compromise is reached which is accepted by both Houses and sent to the president. The report of the conference committee is in order at any time in both Houses, being a question of highest privilege.

conference

The fact that the conferees work in secret and frequently [Criticism of recommend provisions not acceptable to either House has led committees] to charges of undue influence and even corruption. There is little evidence of the latter, but influence is undoubtedly brought to bear upon the conferees especially by the administration. For example, in 1909 President Taft refrained from interfering or exerting his influence during the passage of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Bill, but held frequent meetings with some of the members of the conference committee; and it was reported that in 1917 President Wilson utilized his whole influence, which had failed in the Senate, to compel the conferees to abandon the idea of a food commission in favor of a food controller. Without some such device it is difficult to see how two jealously independent bodies could be brought to an agreement, but the fact that it has worked so well has made both Houses somewhat careless in the original consideration of the measure. Thus, in 1917 the Democratic leader openly stated in the House that the war revenue bill was defective, but it was passed with the hope that the Senate's revision and alteration would correct some of the glaring errors. During the discussion of the Food Bill in the Senate various provisions were allowed to be incorporated with the knowledge that they would be eliminated in conference.

(9) Presiden

tial approval

When the identical bill has been passed by both Houses and enrolled and signed by the presiding officers it is sent to the president. He may sign the bill, or allow it to become a law without his signature, or return it to the House in which it originated, without his approval, stating his reasons therefor. This last, the veto message, is a highly privileged matter, and a motion to refer it to a committee or to discharge a committee from consideration of it is always in order. If two thirds of the members present in each House approve the bill, it becomes a law, in spite of the president's objections.

CHAPTER XIV

CONGRESS AND THE CONSTITUTION

THE POWERS OF CONGRESS

and mone

tary powers

The constitutional grant of authority to Congress is found chiefly in Article I, Sect. viii. Here are eighteen clauses giving certain definite powers. From these clauses as interpreted by Congress and the courts is derived the authority for all the laws of the United States. Although the functions performed by the government will be discussed in detail in subsequent chapters it is necessary to obtain a comprehensive view in order to appreciate not only the actual work of the government but the potential and latent powers granted to it as well. This survey can best be secured by a classification and a brief description of the powers granted to Congress. Congress is given ample power in financial and monetary Financial matters. The power of taxation and borrowing without limit as to amount is freely granted. This remedied one of the greatest defects of the Articles of Confederation and gave Congress the power to provide for debts, past or future, and thus to give value to bonds; and to provide for the common welfare of the nation by taxation. It is worth noting that while the legislative power. is limited to subjects granted by the Constitution, the taxing power is not. Thus Congress may not legislate for the common welfare, but may levy taxes and appropriate money for the com- Taxes mon welfare. The limitations upon the taxing power are few and are chiefly in the interest of uniformity. Two limitations, however, must be noted here. Congress may not tax any article exported by a state, thus making export duties impossible. Again, all direct taxes, which is interpreted to mean poll taxes Direct taxes and taxes on real estate and personal property, must be apportioned according to the population. As interpreted by the Supreme Court in 1895, taxes upon incomes were direct taxes,

Income taxes and since they could not be apportioned they could not be levied. This decision was altered by the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment, by which taxes on incomes from whatever source derived need not be subject to apportionment. The fact that Congress has not merely the power to lay but also to collect taxes, makes real taxes of the federal taxes, quite unlike the requisitions demanded by the Continental Congress. A federal tax falls not upon a state but on individuals and is collectible not by state but by federal machinery.

Coin money

The power to coin money and to regulate the value thereof is also a necessary one, and, taken in connection with the prohibition laid upon the states, it has given to Congress the complete monopoly in this field. It is to be remembered that the prohibition upon making anything but gold or silver legal tender applies to the states and not to Congress. Congress can Legal tender issue money of any sort, fix the value and make it legal tender for the payment of both public and private debts, or, as in the case of the greenbacks, for the payment of private debts but not for those due to the government. To protect itself a special clause allows Congress to punish counterfeiting the obligations of the United States.

Commerce and business

terpretation
of the word
"commerce ''

The entire regulation of all commerce, interstate and foreign, is in the hands of Congress. When it is seen how wide an interpretation is given by the courts to the word "commerce," the extent of this power may be realized. Commerce is intercourse, and commerce includes all agencies by which commercial Extensive in- intercourse is carried on. Again, while Congress may not legislate directly concerning the welfare of the country, it may regulate commerce in the interests of that welfare, and since practically all business is engaged in interstate or foreign commerce, Congress thus supervises and controls such business.1 Thus the Pure Food legislation, the Anti-Trust laws, the Adamson Law, and countless other acts derive their validity from this grant. In like manner, internal improvements and the large sums spent on rivers and harbors are justified by this clause.

Closely connected with the grant of commercial power is the clause which allows Congress to pass laws for the issuance

1 See Chapters XIX, XX.

of patents and copyrights. These establish limited monopolies Patents and for their holders, which within recent years have proved trouble- copyrights some in the light of the regulations against the restraint of trade.1

ings banks

To assist in commercial intercourse Congress is given power Post offices to establish post offices and post roads and hence to operate them and to prescribe their functions and the regulations controlling them. Only within recent years have these powers begun to be used to their full extent. With the establishment of rural free delivery, postal savings banks, and parcel post, the government is Postal savjust beginning to utilize some of the powers latent in this grant. Since Congress may establish a post office, it may regulate what may be sent by post. This gives another opportunity for the federal government to legislate concerning the welfare of the country. Acting on this power many laws have been passed Fraud orders excluding objectionable or fraudulent matter from the mails. In 1917 this clause was invoked to establish a quasi-censorship. By the Espionage Act it was made unlawful to mail seditious matter, and all papers published in foreign languages were required to secure permits from the Postmaster-General or to file translations of the articles they printed. Thus the provision that Congress shall make no law concerning the liberty of the press was not violated, and the interests of the government were safeguarded.

measures

Congress is also given authority to establish a system of weights and weights and measures, and might impose the metric system on the nation. So far all that Congress has done in this line is to make the use of this system lawful but not obligatory. A bureau of the government is performing a most valuable work in establishing standards of weights and measures.

defense

The military power of Congress is most adequate and far- The power of reaching. The power to declare war, which stands first on the list, is the least important of the powers granted. As has been seen, the president in his capacity as commander in chief can take such steps that war is inevitable or that war may actually exist. Hence congressional action may be confined to the passage of a resolution that a state of war does exist. The power to make peace is not given to Congress but is shared between 1 See Chapter XX.