Part 13 (1/2)

8. In general, what part of the country was in favor of the Const.i.tution and what part opposed?

9. What were some of the objections urged against its adoption?

10. Why was the Const.i.tution not submitted to a direct vote of the people as is the custom with state const.i.tutions?

11. When the draft of the completed Const.i.tution was laid before the Congress of the Confederation, did that body make any changes in it before submitting it to the states?

12. Might North Carolina and Rhode Island have remained permanently out of the Union? If so, what would have been their status?

13. Do you think the time has come when the best interests of the country require a new Const.i.tution? What is your opinion of the proposition that the country has outgrown the Const.i.tution?

14. What, in the light of more than a century's experience, do you consider some of the defects of the Const.i.tution?

CHAPTER X

THE TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS

=The House of Representatives.=--The Const.i.tution provides that the national house of representatives--the lower house of Congress--shall consist of members chosen every second year by popular election. Under the Articles of Confederation members of the old Congress were chosen annually, but that term was too short to enable them to acquire that familiarity with their duties which is essential to efficient legislation. The term of a representative begins on the 4th of March in the odd-numbered years, though Congress does not meet until the first Monday in December following, unless the President calls it together in extraordinary session earlier.

=Sessions of Congress.=--There are two regular sessions of every Congress; the long session which begins on the first Monday in December of the odd-numbered years and lasts until some time in the following spring or summer; and the short session which begins on the same date in the even-numbered years and lasts until the 4th of March following, when the terms of all representatives expire. Each Congress is numbered, beginning with the first, which began March 4th, 1789. The sixty-seventh Congress began March 4, 1921, and will end March 4, 1923. Extraordinary sessions are sometimes called by the President to consider matters of special importance which need to be acted upon before the meeting of the regular session. From 1789 to 1921 there were only nineteen such sessions, the last being that called by President Harding to meet in April, 1921, to consider tariff and revenue measures and readjustment of international relations.h.i.+ps.

=Number and Apportionment of Representatives.=--The Const.i.tution provided that the first house of representatives should consist of sixty-five members, but that as soon as a census of the inhabitants should be taken the number was to be apportioned among the several states on the basis of population, not exceeding one for every 30,000 of the inhabitants. After each decennial census is taken a new apportionment is made by Congress on the basis of the new population.

The total number of representatives at present is 435,[25] being in the proportion of one member for every 211,877 inhabitants, which is known as the congressional ratio. The largest number from any one state is forty-three, the number from New York. Pennsylvania has thirty-six, Illinois twenty-seven, Ohio twenty-two, and so on down the list. Five states are ent.i.tled to but one member each, namely, Arizona, Delaware, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. As the population of several of these states is less than the congressional ratio, they might not be ent.i.tled to a single member but for the provision in the Const.i.tution which declares that each state shall have at least one representative.

[25] Each of the Territories is represented in Congress by a delegate who is allowed to serve on certain committees and to take part in debate but not to vote. The Philippine Islands are represented by two Resident Commissioners, and Porto Rico by one. By courtesy they are allowed seats in the house of representatives, like territorial delegates, and may serve on committees.

The numbers of representatives after each census have been as follows: 1790, 105; 1800, 141; 1810, 181; 1820, 212; 1830, 240; 1840, 223; 1850, 234; 1860, 241; 1870, 292; 1880, 325; 1890, 356; 1900, 386; 1910, 435.

=Election of Representatives.=--The Const.i.tution provides that representatives shall be chosen in each state by vote of such persons as are qualified to vote for members of the lower house of the legislature of that state. Thus it happens that the qualifications for partic.i.p.ating in the choice of national representatives varies widely in the different states. But the choice must be made by the people, not by the legislature or by executive appointment, and, under the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the Federal Const.i.tution, the states cannot, in fixing the suffrage, discriminate against any cla.s.s of persons because of their color, race, or s.e.x. Subject to these restrictions the states are practically free to limit the right to vote for national representatives to such of their citizens as they may see fit. It is true that the Fourteenth Amendment declares that whenever a state shall limit the right of its adult male citizens to vote except for crime its representation in Congress shall be proportionately reduced, but this provision has never been enforced. Some statesmen hold that it was really superseded by the Fifteenth Amendment.

[Ill.u.s.tration: UNITED STATES SENATE CHAMBER]

[Ill.u.s.tration: UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES]

_Manner of Choosing Representatives._--As in fixing the qualifications of the electors of representatives, so in the choosing of them, the states are left a free hand, subject to the provision of the Const.i.tution which gives Congress power to alter the regulations of the states in regard to the manner and time of choosing members. For a long time Congress did not exercise its power in this respect and each state chose its representatives when it wished and in such manner as it pleased. Some states chose their representatives on general ticket from the state at large, while others chose theirs by districts; some chose by secret ballot, while others did not. To secure uniformity in regard to the method of choice, Congress enacted in 1842 that representatives should be chosen by districts of contiguous territory containing populations as nearly equal to the congressional ratio as possible.

In 1871 it enacted that they should be chosen by written or printed ballots (later choice by voting machine was also permitted). In 1872 it enacted that representatives should be chosen on the same day throughout the Union, namely, Tuesday after the first Monday in November.[26]

[26] By a subsequent act, those states whose const.i.tutions provided a different day for choosing representatives were exempted from the provisions of this law. In pursuance of this act, elections for members of Congress in Maine are held in September.

”_Gerrymandering._”--When the number of representatives to which each state shall be ent.i.tled has been determined, after the decennial census, it devolves upon the legislature to divide the state into as many districts as it is ent.i.tled to representatives.[27] In the exercise of this power the political party in control of the legislature may arrange the districts in an unfair manner so as to make it possible for the party to elect a larger number of representatives than its voting strength ent.i.tles it to. This is done by putting counties in which the opposite party is in a large majority in the same districts so that it may choose a few members by large majorities, while the other party carries the remaining districts by small majorities. Thus the voting strength of the party in power is economized while that of the other party is ma.s.sed in a few districts and made to count as little as possible. This practice is known as ”gerrymandering” and has often been resorted to by both the two great political parties, sometimes in such a manner as to result in flagrant injustice to the minority party.

[27] In case the legislature neglects to redistrict the state when additional representatives have been a.s.signed to it, the latter are chosen from the state at large. In 1916, for example, Pennsylvania elected four such representatives; Illinois, Texas, Montana, and Idaho, two each; Alabama and West Virginia, one each.

The requirement that the districts shall contain as nearly equal population as possible, is sometimes flagrantly violated. Thus one of the Republican districts in New York recently contained 165,701 inhabitants while one of the Democratic districts had a population of 450,000. In 1910 one of the Illinois districts contained 167,000 while another contained 349,000.

Sometimes districts are so constructed as to have fantastic shapes. Thus a district in Mississippi some years ago was dubbed the ”shoe string”

district from its long irregular shape. It followed the Mississippi River for the whole length of the state though in one place it was less than thirty miles wide.

=Qualifications of Representatives.=--To be eligible to the house of representatives, a person must have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years, must have attained the age of twenty-five years, and must be an inhabitant of the state from which he is chosen.