Source: "Croscup's United States History" by George E. Croscup, B.A.; 1911; pgs 55-74 Transcribed by Kathy Leigh, March 29, 2001
CHAPTER VI
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
PAGE 3
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
PURPOSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
The preamble of the Constitution shows how different the government of 1789 was from that created by the Articles of Confederation. The new government was to be very much more than a mere "league of friendship" be-tween sovereign states.
We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.
KIND OF GOVERNMENT
The new document provided for a strong national government and at the same time reserved to the states many important rights and privileges. Thus Madison spoke of the new government as being "partly national and partly federal." This result was accomplished by reserving some powers to the states exclusively and delegating others to the United States alone, some powers were to be exercised concurrently and others were prohibited to both.
The MERITS OF SUCH A SYSTEM have been summarized by Ambassador Bryce as follows:
1. It furnishes the means of uniting commonwealths into one nation under one national government without extinguishing their separate administrations, legislatures, and local patriotism; 2. It supplies the best means of developing a new and vast country; 3. It prevents the rise of a despotic central government, absorbing other powers and menacing the private liberties of the citizen; 4. It permits self-government which stimulates the interest of people. in the affairs of their neighborhood; 5. It secures the good administration of local affairs by giving the inhabitants of each locality due means of overseeing the conduct of their business; 6. It enables a people to try experiments in legislation and administration which could not be safely tried in a large centralized country; 7. It makes it possible to stop mischief-making legislation at the state frontier, so that the whole nation is not tainted; 8. It relieves the national legislature of a part of that large mass of functions which might otherwise prove too heavy for it.
After fixing the relations between the nation and the states, the Constitution makers endeavored to establish "a government of checks and balances." Three great departments of national government were instituted, the legislative, executive, and judicial, but each department was given powers sufficient. to protect it against the encroachments of the other two and each acts as a check on the others.
This general system of providing an elaborate system of checks brought out this criticism from John Adams:
"Is there a constitution on record more complicated with balances than ours? In the first place, eighteen states and some territories are balanced against the national government. . . . In the second place, the House of Representatives is balanced against the Senate and the Senate against the House. In the third place, the executive authority is in some degree balanced against the legislature. In the fourth place, the judiciary power is balanced against the House, the Senate, the executive power and the state governments. In the fifth place, the Senate is balanced against the President in all appointments to office and in all treaties. This, in my opinion, is not merely a useless but a very pernicious balance. In the sixth place, the people hold in their hands the balance against their own representatives by biennial, which I wish had been annual, elections. In the seventh place, the legislatures of the several states are balanced against the Senate by sextennial elections. In the eighth place, the electors are balanced against the people in the choice of the president. And here is a complication and refinement of balances which for anything I recollect is an invention of our own and peculiar to us."
FRAMEWORK OF GOVERNMENT
1. The Bill of Rights
All the state constitutions included a bill of rights modeled in general after the English Bill of Rights of 1688, and the State of Massachusetts and several others ratified the Constitution of the United States only with the understanding that amendments should be added to the document, guaranteeing to the people certain rights and privileges. The first ten amendments may therefore be considered as a bill of rights, preceding the framework of government. These amendments are as follows:
Article I.--Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting of the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Article II.--A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Article III.--No Soldier shall, in time of peace, he quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Article IV.--The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Article V.--No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Article VI.--In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Article VII.--In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Article VIII.--Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Article IX.--The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Article X.-The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.
2. The Executive
THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT ESTABLISHED.
Executive weakness was the chief defect of the government under the Articles of Confederation. This was particularly shown in the inability of the executive department to collect taxes and to regulate port duties and interstate commerce. Therefore there was pretty general agreement in the Constitutional Convention that there should be an executive officer with direct power to act, and, although there were various propositions for a plurality in this department, after considerable discussion it was decided that the executive authority should be vested in one man. It was finally decided that this officer should be called President, with a four-year tenure of office and with the privilege of reelection.
No limit was put on the number of times of reelection, but precedent allows only one reelection.
ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT.
The Constitutional Convention considered various modes of election: by Congress; by the state governors; by the people directly; by an electoral college. It was finally decided that the President should be chosen by electors in each state, appointed in such a manner as the state Legislature should direct--each state having as many electoral votes as it has Senators and Representatives in Congress.
This arrangement did not take into consideration the rise of parties. Since they have been created the entire method of electing the President and Vice-President is managed by political customs that have grown up. Thus the constitutional electors meet simply to vote for candidates nominated by the great national nominating conventions of the political parties and not to register their individual preferences. Another interesting feature is that inasmuch as the executive is chosen by electoral votes and not by a majority of popular votes, elections have come to turn upon the electoral votes of certain, so-called "pivotal" states.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE PRESIDENCY.
The Constitution provides that:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President, neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
COMPENSATION OF THE PRESIDENT.
The salary has been fixed by law and changed on several occasions.
In the Constitutional Convention amounts ranging from $20,000 to $70,000 were discussed as appropriate compensation for the Chief Executive (Washington on taking office desired to serve without compensation); $25,000 was agreed upon. It was later raised to $50,000, and with the beginning of Taft's administration it was raised to $75,000. Congress also makes an appropriation of $25,000 to be put at the disposal of the President for travel and entertainment. The President has use of the Executive Mansion and its furnishings during his tenure of office.
SUCCESSION TO THE PRESIDENCY.
The President may be removed from office by death, resignation, or impeachment.
The Constitution provided that the succession should devolve upon the Vice-President, but that Congress by law could determine the entire matter. It accordingly passed in 1886 the Presidential Succession Act.
POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT.
The Constitution states without qualification that all executive power is vested in the President.
The President is not simply the agent of Congress to execute the laws, but is a Chief Magistrate with power of initiative and the attributes of personal sovereignty, and a majesty personifying the dignity and greatness of the state.
His DUTIES are: 1. He has command of the Federal army and navy and militia of the several states when called into service of the United States; 2. He has charge of the management of foreign affairs, with the cooperation of the Senate; 3. He has the right to appoint (with the sanction of the Senate) and to remove many higher officials (civil service reform has led the President to give up the appointment of most minor officials); 4. He has the pardoning power; 5. He may call Congress in extraordinary sessions; 6. He may veto bills, which may be passed over his veto by a two-thirds majority of Congress; 7. He may recommend measures to Congress.
Since the Civil War the Chief Executive has gained much in prominence and power.THE VICE-PRESIDENT.
In the original Constitutional provision that candidate, who received the next highest vote of the presidential electors, was to become Vice-President. This gave rise to unsatisfactory combinations. After the fourth presidential election, when a Vice-President was elected with a policy directly opposite to that of the President, the twelfth amendment was adopted, remedying this defect and giving the Vice-President a separate place on the ballot.
He is at present nominated by the political parties at the same time that the President is nominated. The Vice-President has no power until he succeeds to the Presidency, except that he acts as President of the Senate, but he has there no vote except in case of a tie.
CABINET OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.
The executive administration is carried on by various executive departments over which the President has general direction. He appoints their heads, subject to confirmation by the Senate. There are about 250,000 employees in connection with these departments. Nine only of the department heads are included in what is called the President's Cabinet, a body of personal advisers.
This body was not created by the Constitution which simply authorizes the President to "require the opinion in writing of the principal officers in each of the executive departments." In early years attempts were made to give the Cabinet officials a voice or a seat in the legislative chambers, but such attempt failed. The nine heads of departments which constitute the Cabinet are: Secretaries of State, Treasury, and War, the Attorney General, the Postmaster General, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
I. DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
This department was created in 1789 and was called for a time the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary is charged, under the direction of the President, with the general administration of foreign affairs. He is also the keeper of the seal, the medium by which the President corresponds with the state executives, and has numerous other special duties.
DIPLOMATIC SERVICE
The President, with the consent of the Senate, appoints our diplomatic representatives abroad. They are divided into four classes: ambassadors; envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary; ministers resident; and charg�s d'affaires (subordinates temporarily in charge of legations). The ambassadorial office was not created until 1893, and such representatives are only accredited to Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Austria, and Mexico. The actions of all are directed by the Secretary of State, who practically determines the foreign policy of the nation.
CONSULAR SERVICE
The commercial representatives of the nation abroad are divided into the following grades: consul-general; consul; vice-consul; consular agent. They are accredited to particular towns and cities, especially seaports, and are expected to represent and to develop the trade interests of the country. The consular service looks after American seamen abroad, certifies invoices of merchandise, acts as notaries, and makes reports on the trade of the country, from which significant extracts are taken for an official series known as Consular Reports.
The Bureaus of the Department are as follows:
1. DIPLOMATIC BUREAU--Conducts the correspondence in connection with the diplomatic service.
2. CONSULAR BUREAU--Conducts the correspondence in connection with the consular service.
3. BUREAU OF ACCOUNTS--Has charge of the disbursements of appropriations, the custody of bonds, and the care of the property of the Department.
4. BUREAU OF APPOINTMENTS--Has charge of appointments to office under the bureaus, prepares exequaturs (without which our foreign representatives have no standing abroad) and issues warrants of ex-tradition.
5. BUREAU OF INDEXES AND ARCHIVES--Opens, indexes, and registers all correspondence and preserves the archives. It, therefore, has charge of a mass of interesting material dealing with our diplomatic history.
6. BUREAU OF ROLLS AND LIRRARY-The Secretary of State publishes all laws and resolutions of Congress, and is the custodian of the laws of the United States and of treaties with foreign nations. It is the business of this bureau to preserve such treaties, laws, rolls, and public documents.
7. BUREAU OF TRADE RELATIONS--Charged with the compilation of commercial information for the use of the Department of State and with the collection of consular reports.
Besides these permanent bureaus special temporary commissions are created from time to time dealing with international affairs. Such, for instance, are the RECIPROCITY COMMISSION, the INTERNATIONAL PRISON COMMISSION, etc.II. TREASURY DEPARTMENT
The Secretary of the Treasury, an office created in 1789, has duties connected with the management of the national finances. The Bureaus of the Department are:
1. SUPERVISING ARCHITECT--Has charge of the construction and repair of public buildings.
2. ENGRAVING AND PRINTING--Under a Director, this bureau produces all the securities and similar work of the Government printed from steel plates.
3. SECRET SERVICE--Charged with detection of counterfeiting and similar frauds on the government.
4. COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY--Construes the laws relating to appropriations and methods of rendering and stating accounts.
5. TREASURER OF THE UNITED STATES--Charged with the receipt and disbursement of all public moneys deposited in the Treasury at Washington, and the sub-treasuries at Boston, New York, etc., and the National banks which are United States depositories. He also is the agent for paying the interest on the public debt.
6. COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY--Has supervision of the national banks, the preparation and issue of national bank circulation, and the redemption and destruction of national bank notes.
7. INTERNAL REVENUE BUREAU--Is assigned the supervision of the collection of all internal revenue taxes, and the enforcement of internal revenue laws.
8. THE MINT--Is in charge of a Director, who has supervision of the United States mints and assay offices.
9. PUBLIC HEALTH AND MARINE HOSPITAL--The commissioner has supervision of the quarantine service of the United States and of marine hospitals. He is, therefore, expected to prevent the introduction and spread of contagious diseases.III. WAR DEPARTMENT
The Secretary of War (office created in 1789) is charged with the management of the military service. The general administrative work of the Department is carried on by civilians, while the staff bureaus are in charge of army officers. The chief staff bureaus are given below.
1. GENERAL STAFF--Established in 1903 to prepare plans for military operations and to harmonize the civil and military control of the army.
2. MILITARY SECRETARY--Established in 1904. His office is a bureau of records, orders, and correspondence of the army and militia; is in charge of the recruiting service; transmits military orders of the President and Secretary of War.
3. INSPECTOR-GENERAL--Has charge of the inspection of all military commands.
4. QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL--Provides transportation, clothing, equipage, horses, mules, etc.; arranges for necessary buildings, wharves, roads, and bridges at military posts; pays guides, spies, and interpreters.
5. COMMISSARY-GENERAL--Is in charge of the matter of subsistence. Besides issuing rations, he maintains large storehouses in various cities.
6. SURGEON-GENERAL--Has charge of the medical department. Maintains supply depots and several permanent hospitals.
7. PAYMASTER-GENERAL--Has charge of paying officers and men.
8. SIGNAL CORPS--Has charge of the construction, repair, and operation of military telegraph lines.
9. JUDGE-ADVOCATE GENERAL--Receives, reviews, and has a record kept of the proceedings of all courts-martial, courts of inquiry, and military commissions (he is also a legal adviser to the Secretary of War).
10. BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR RIVERS AND HARBORS--"A permanent body which investigates in their engineering, commercial, navigable and economic aspects all surveys and river and harbor improvements proposed by Congress."IV. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
This Department (not formally organized until 1870) is under the jurisdiction of the Attorney-General, who is the chief law officer of the government.
The number of persons directly connected with the Attorney-General's office is small, but he employs a large number of special attorneys and also supervises the large number of district attorneys and marshals. Also, since 1870, law officers for other departments exercise their functions under the supervision and control of the Attorney-General.V. POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT
The Postmaster-General has the direction and management of the postal service of the nation. The office was created in 1794, but the Postmaster-General was not recognized as the equal of the other department heads until Jackson's administration.
"The post office is the only notable example of a business actually conducted by the National government. More than 150,000 persons are employed in gathering and distributing the mails, over 60,000 post offices have been established, and nearly 150 pieces of postal matter for every man, woman and child in the United States are handled yearly. Unlike ordinary firms, Uncle Sam does not seek to make money through the Post Office Department, but gives the people the best service possible at less than cost, the deficit in 1907 being $7,000,000 on a total expenditure of $190,000,000."
The general management of the Post Office Department is divided up by the Postmaster-General among assistant Postmaster-Generals,who have charge of the following matters:
FIRST ASSISTANT Postmaster-General--Appointments, salaries, city delivery service.
SECOND ASSISTANT Postmaster-General--Foreign mails, railway mail service, railway adjustments, etc.
THIRD ASSISTANT Postmaster-General--Stamps, money orders, registered mail, etc.
FOURTH ASSISTANT Postmaster-General--Rural mail, dead letters, post-routes, maps, etc.VI. NAVY DEPARTMENT.
This Department, created in 1798, is charged with the construction, manning, equipment, and employment of vessels of war. It also has charge of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., the Naval Observatory at Washington, and the Naval War College at Newport.
1. GENERAL BOARD OF THE NAVY--A body of men organized to advise the Secretary of the Navy. The Admiral of the Navy is president of the Board.
2. BUREAU OF DOCKS AND YARDS--Charged with the maintenance and construction of docks and naval buildings.
3. BUREAU OF EQUIPMENT--All that goes to the furnishing of ships is provided for by this bureau: electric equipment, portable apparatus such as sails, ropes, navigating instruments, etc. Under this bureau is the HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE, which is in charge of deep-sea surveys and publication of charts, the Naval Observatory, and the Nautical Almanac.
4. BUREAU OF ORDNANCE--Has Supervision of torpedo stations, magazines on shore, and manufacturing of explosives, arms, and equipment.
5. BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR--A very important bureau, which is responsible for the plans of all vessels, and cooperates with the BUREAU OF ORDINANCE in determining the number of guns, thickness of armor, etc., of each.
6. BUREAU OF STEAM ENOINEERING--Charged with the steam engineering machinery for our ships.
7. BUREAU OF SUPPLIES AND ACCOUNTS--Has charge of supplying provisions, clothing, etc.
8. BUREAU OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY--Charged with the administration of naval hospitals and hospital ships.
9. JUDGE-ADVOCATE GENERAL--Receives and records the proceedings of courts-martial and courts of inquiry. He is also legal adviser for the department.VII. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
This Department was created March 3, 1849, and has now the following divisions:
1. GENERAL LAND OFFICE--Charged with the survey, distribution, and management of public lands.
2. PATENT OFFICE--Administers patent laws and supervises the registration of trade marks.
3. PENSION OFFICE--Has charge of the supervision of pension laws and examines and passes on the application of all claimants for a pension.
4. BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS--Has general supervision over Indian affairs in the United States.
5. BUREAU OF EDUCATION--The bureau gathers statistical information and makes reports about education throughout the United States.
6. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY--Makes classifications of public lands and examinations of geographical structure, mineral resources and mineral products of the National domain.
7. RECLAMATION SERVICE--Has general charge of all works of irrigation.
8. BUREAU OF MINES--Promotes mining industry and fosters movements for safety of miners, etc.VIII. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
This Department was created February 9, 1899. and is subdivided as follows:
1. BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY--Conducts the work of inspecting animal and meat food products. Investigates the diseases, breeding, and feeding of animals.
2. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY--Encourages development in farming by introducing new plants and seeds into different parts of the United States and by spreading information as to methods of improving crops.
3. FOREST SERVICE--Established to care for the administration of the national forests and to investigate the problems of forestry.
4. BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY--Established to analyze agricultural products and fertilizers and to investigate the composition and adulteration of foods and drugs.
5. BUREAU OF SOILS--" Charged with investigating soils in their relation to climate and organic life."
6. BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY--Organized to assist in the extermination of insects injurious to forests, fruits, and farm crops.
7. BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY--Especially charged with the enforcement of the bird and game laws and with the investigation of animal life from the economic standpoint.
8. WEATHER BUREAU--Distributes weather reports and issues forecasts for the benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation.
9. OFFICE OF EXPERIMENTAL STATIONS--Assists the experiment stations connected with the state and agricultural colleges and directly manages several such stations in Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico.
10. OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS INQUIRIES--Makes investigations and distributes information dealing with the improvement of highways.IX. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR
This Department was created February 14, 1903. It contains the following bureaus:
1. BUREAU OF CORPORATIONS-Established to investigate the organization and conduct of corporations, exclusive of railroads, engaged in interstate or foreign commerce.
2. BUREAU OF MANUFACTURES--Established to disseminate information in connection with the development of manufacturing interests.
3. BUREAU OF LABOR--Charged with the business of acquiring and diffusing among the people information regarding the problems of labor.
4. LIGHT-HOUSE ESTABLISHMENT--Has general charge of the administration of the light-house service.
5. CENSUS BUREAU--"It is the duty of the bureau to take a census of the United States every ten years and to collect such special statistics as are required by Congress." It thus publishes statistics of cities, cotton production and consumption, deaths in registration areas, and a special census on manufacturing and agriculture.
6. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY--Surveys the coasts of the United States and publishes charts showing the results of such surveys.
7. BUREAU OF FISHERIES--Charged with the propagation of useful food fishes, the investigation of the deep-sea fisheries, and the care of the Alaskan salmon fisheries and the Pribilof Islands seal herds.
8. BUREAU OF NAVIGATION--Has national supervision over the merchant marine, issuing licenses and collecting tonnage taxes, supervises shipping commissioners in the principal ports of the United States, and enforces the laws for protection and relief of seamen.
9. BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION--Has general jurisdiction over the administration of immigration and naturalization laws.
10. BUREAU OF STANDARDS--Has custody of national standards of measurements and compares with them the standards used in scientific investigations and those used in commerce and in educational institutions.DETACHED BUREAUS AND INSTITUTIONS
1. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--Established in 1846. Its purpose, according to the will of the founder, an English scientist by the name of James Smithson, is for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." It aids scientific researches, and promotes the diffusion of knowledge by lectures, scientific publications, and the maintenance at Washington of a national museum. The national government cooperates with it, by supporting under its direction the bureau of American Ethnology, an astrophysical laboratory, and a national zoological park.
2. PAN-AMERICAN UNION--Is under the direction of a Director-General and exists for the purpose of binding the republics of the Western hemisphere closer together in amity and commerce.
3. INTERSTATE-COMMERCE COMMISSION--Established by act of Congress in 1887. Its power has been increased from time to time. Its seven members pass in judgment on all matters dealing with interstate transportation. It may determine maximum freight and passenger rates.
4. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION--A Commission was created by Congress in 1871, but it was discontinued. The present commission dates from 1883. It is charged with the conduct of Competitive examinations of applicants for the classified Civil Service.
5. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE-Managed by a Public Printer. It has charge of the printing, press work, and binding of the Government publications.
6. ISTHMIAN CANAL COMMISSION--Under the direction of a Chairman and Chief Engineer, assisted by five army officers named as Commissioners. It is directing the building of the Panama Canal.
7. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS--The third largest collection in the world. It contains copies of all books copyrighted in the United States and many valuable collections of manuscripts.
8. TARIFF BOARD--Established by Congress in 1909 by one of the sections of the Payne Tariff Law. Its duty is to collect data to assist the President and officers of the Government in the administration of the customs laws.
9. COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS--Established by Congress in 1910 to pass upon the art and architectural features submitted for beautifying the District of Columbia.
3. The Congress
The National Congress is provided for by Act I, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States, which reads as follows:
"An legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives."
These bodies are coordinate bodies in law-making, with the exception that the House of Representatives has the sole right of initiating money bills. As the Senate exercises freely the right of altering or amending such bills the right is not of the greatest importance.
POWERS GRANTED TO CONGRESS.
(1) To collect taxes. (2) To borrow money. (3) To regulate commerce. (4) To establish a uniform rule of naturalization. (5) To establish uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States. (6) To coin money. (7) To fix the standard of weights and measures. (8) To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States. (9) To establish post offices and post roads. (10) To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. (11) To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court. (12) To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and offenses against the law of nations. (13) To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water. (14) To raise and support armies. (15) To provide and maintain a navy. (16) To make rules for the regulation of the land and naval forces. (17) To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union . . . and repel invasion. (18) To exercise exclusive legislation over the District of Columbia. (19) To determine the time of choosing the Electors for President and Vice-President of the United States. (20) To provide for admission of new states into the Union.
The powers of Congress have been much increased by appeals to two clauses of the Constitution which are known as "elastic clauses": Congress shall have power: 1. To provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; 2. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.POWERS WITHHELD FROM CONGRESS.
(1) To suspend the writ of habeas corpus. (2) To pass a bill of attainder. (3) To pass an ex post facto law. (4) To levy taxes unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken; i.e., there must be uniform rates in all ports of the United States. (5) To grant a title of nobility.
THE SENATE.
The Constitutional provisions dealing with the Senate are as follows:
Section 3.--The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
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 shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse 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.
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.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy 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.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
The lower branch of Congress is composed of Representatives chosen directly by the people of the different states, voting in congressional districts. The number of Representatives varies with the population, the present ratio as determined by the census of 1910 being one to 211,877. A Representative must be twenty-five years of age, a resident of the state where elected, and have been for seven year's a citizen of the United States.
The SPEAKER, chosen by the House from its members, is its presiding officer. Having the power to appoint the chairmen of the numerous committees of the House, this officer, next to the President of the United States, probably wields the greatest power over legislation.
Some attempt was made in the 61st Congress to limit his power by taking from him the right to appoint the Committee on Rules and vesting it in the House itself.
All bills for raising a revenue must originate in the House of Representatives; other bills may originate in either House. The House has also the exclusive right of impeaching officials. It may choose a President in case no candidate at the presidential election receives an absolute majority of the votes of the electors.
LAW MAKING.
That a bill may become a law it is necessary either: (1) that it receive a majority in each House and then be signed by the President; or, (2) that it receive a two-thirds vote in each House without being signed by the President; or, (3) that it be passed by a majority of both Houses and be kept by the President ten days without being signed or returned. The actual work of lawmaking is done by various committees. Both Houses have a series of standing committees to which most all bills introduced by individual members are referred. The meetings are supposed to be secret, though secrecy is not adhered to, and no records of their meetings are published.
4. The Judiciary
The United States courts were created by the Constitution of the United States, Article III, Section 1:
"The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office,"
Besides the Supreme Court there now exist the following national courts: 1. The Circuit Court of Appeal; 2. Circuit Courts; 3. District Courts; 4. The Court of Claims; 5. Commerce Court; 6. Court of Customs Appeals.
The jurisdiction of these courts covers the following variety of cases: 1. Cases in law and equity arising under the Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made under their authority; 2. Cases "affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls"; 3. Cases arising out of controversies to which the United States shall be a party; 4. Cases arising out of controversies between two or more states, between a state and citizens of another state, "but no state shall be sued without its own consent"; 5. Cases arising "between citizens of different states, between citizenS of the same state claiming land under grants of different states"; 6. Cases arising "between a state or the citizens thereof and foreign states, citizens, or subjects."
Most of such cases are tried in the inferior Federal courts and may be appealed, but the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in cases which affect ambassadors and whenever a state is a party.
The most interesting phase of the activities of the national courts is the right to interpret the Constitution. In their exercise of this right they have quite freely influenced the character and power of the national government through their judicial decisions. Some of the most famous of these decisions have been:
1. Chisholm vs. Georgia; 2. Marbury vs. Madison; 3. McCulloch vs. Maryland; 4. The Dartmouth College Case; 5. Worcester vs. Georgia; 6. The Dred Scott Case; 7. Texas vs. White; 8. The Slaughter House Cases; 9. The Civil Rights Cases; 10. The Legal Tender Cases.
5. Amending the Constitution
The Constitution provides as follows for its own amendment: Congress by a two-thirds vote of both Houses or by a convention called on the application of two-thirds of the states may propose amendments, which become a part of the Constitution through the ratification of three-fourths of the state legislatures or Constitutional Conventions called in the various states.
By this method the Constitution has been amended only on four occasions. The first ten amendments were made at one time and constitute a Bill of Rights; Amendments XI and XII corrected minor defects in the Constitution; while the remaining three may be considered as one inasmuch as they were all the outcome of the Civil War.
The Constitution may, however, be changed by the following means:
1. By the broad or narrow construction of that document by the Supreme Court; 2. By the use of unusual powers, not granted specifically in the Constitution, by the executive or legislative branches of the government, which are popularly approved of and not declared unconstitutional by the court; and, 3. By custom.
6. Omissions in the Constitution
The following matters were not foreseen and provided for: 1. Annexation of territory; 2. Need of an extensive civil service; 3. Rise of political parties; 4. Possibility of attempts of states to secede.
The Constitution, Created May 7, 2000, by Kathy Leigh Copyright 2003
This website is maintained by Nathan Zipfel
