arrangement for a vote on a given date, with the understanding that each of the members shall take his own opportunity to present his views meanwhile. This arrangement is then ratified by the Senate and the measure finally passed or defeated at the time set. But it will be noticed that such a means of preventing useless waste of time depends entirely upon the good will of all the Senators. If a small faction of the membership should oppose the arrangement it could not be carried out. On all measures involving extreme partisan feeling, the minority is thereby enabled to defeat final action if it is willing to go to the extreme of "filibustering." Officers.-The officers and employés of the Senate are numerous, the "pay roll," like that of the House, being somewhat inflated. The Vice President of the United States is ex-officio President of the Senate, there are also the President pro tempore of the Senate who is elected by the body from among its members and serves regularly when the Vice President is absent, the Chaplain, the Secretary and a large staff of assistants, the clerks and messengers of Committees, the Sergeant-at-Arms and Assistant, the Postmaster, the Superintendent of the Folding Room and Assistant and the Chief Engineer and assistants. Of these, the President pro tem is the only member of the body.1 Low Salaries.-The Senator's salary is $7,500; the Vice President receiving $12,500. Each Senator is also entitled to an allowance of $1,200 for clerk hire and a mileage of 20c per mile in going from and coming to each session. The same allowances are made for members of the House of Representatives. Numerous but fruitless efforts have been made to reduce them, particularly the mileage which is admittedly excessive. Members draw their mileage even when an extra session ends immediately before the beginning of the regular session and they are thus prevented from going home. Some members even go so far as to appoint a relative or figurehead as clerk, draw the $1,200 paid for this purpose and employ a stenographer at half the amount. These allowances are looked on as harmless perquisites of the legislative office and are winked at by both Houses. The salary is far below what it should be, at least $10,000 should be paid in both Senate and House. The necessary expenses of a member of either branch of Congress are so great that the present salary frequently does not cover them. While it is possible that a very poor man might find the salary of $7,500 sufficient for his needs, a Representative or Senator who aspired to some influence in the legislative councils would be unable to make both ends meet, without some private income. Since 1800 1A full statement of the details of Senate and House organization and personnel with committee assignments, clerical force, residences, etc., is found in the annual Congressional Directory. Both the Senate and the House publish at the close of each session a history of Senate (House) bills and resolutions, from which the action taken by each House on every measure introduced can be accurately traced. This is a valuable source of information as to the details of procedure on particular bills. both parties in the government have laid great stress upon democratic simplicity and lack of ostentation. It has been considered a virtue to keep down salaries even to the point of parsimony. This was eminently fitting among a nation of pioneers in a new country. But with the general rise in the standards of living and of income in other positions, it cannot be wise to pay the national legislators proportionately on such a low plane. The necessity for a higher salary is less felt than in the House, because of the greater honor of Senatorial rank. All observers have commented on the attractiveness of Senate membership. Its political influence, social prominence, more secure tenure, and the marked ability of its members have made membership in that body, a prize to which many of the ablest and most gifted men in the political circles of all the States aspire. Some of its critics have called it "the finest club in America." New Influences in the Senate.-Until recent years our upper House has been known as the stronghold of ultra-conservative influences. Both the Democratic and Republican parties have sent to that body able lawyers and successful business men trained in the old school of constitutional law and politics. The political leader in each State, the successful corporation attorney, the wealthy manufacturer, or mine owner have been conspicuous figures in our upper House since the Civil War. It was natural that such men should act with caution in the political struggles of the national arena, and that the measures proposed by the Senate, and its influence on House bills should be conservative in tone. Such an influence is needed in every government, and the Senate has performed a function of the highest value in examining the proposals of the House, and asking regarding each measure such questions as Is it constitutional? Does it fit in with the other laws on the subject? Does it interfere with existing interests in any way? These queries can only be put and answered properly by a body of men possessing the peculiar training of our Senators. But all virtues have their limit. By its absorption in defending vested interest, the Senate gradually began to ignore the welfare of the masses. Certain of its members were known to represent the manufacturing interest, others the mining interest, while a large group were known as railroad Senators. The votes of any of these men on a given measure could be as accurately forecast as the opinions of their clients and it was not long before this unwholesome condition began to dawn on the public mind. Having gained a reputation of hostility to progressive laws, the reorganization of the Senate became only a question of time. This change has been effected along two lines,-the direct election of Senators and the change in its personnel. Responding to the popular feeling that economic and social progress must not be held up by the upper House, there have been elected to that body a number of younger men whose sympathy, aims, and ambitions are radically opposed to the fixed traditions of former times. Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and other Western States have sent to Washington to represent them, men whose tendency was not to stop with the question-is it safe or is it constitutional? but who have rather concentrated their attention on the new programs of law-making and government regulation for the benefit of the farmer, the small manufacturer, the small shipper on the railways and the masses of the people generally. The advent of these men from both Democratic and Republican States has marked a turning point in our national development and a new line-up of forces in the political arena. The significance of the new movement lies in the change which it has wrought not only in both parties but in the character and temper of the Senate; that body has been brought nearer to the people and has avoided the hostile public movement which directed itself against the House of Lords in England. By representing popular interests equally with those of concentrated wealth, by standing for the small business men and wage earners as well as the more effectively organized economic groups, the Senate has lost little if any of its real conservatism. The patriarchal rôle which the upper House has always played in every government requires that the elder statesmen shall survey with fatherly eye the entire membership of the political family, the weak as well as the strong. In resuming this rôle the Senate has strengthened its control over the government and fortified its influence as a bulwark against impracticable and dangerous forms of law. Its work is greater and more important in the new era which we are now entering than in the past, the task of analyzing with clear legal and business insight the many crude proposals for government regulations, of selecting those which are feasible and progressive and of translating them into the accurate, precise and valid terms of national law. Such a task demands the full measure of ability, ripe experience and legal training possessed by the Senate; if properly fulfilled it also means a new ideal of conservatism. REFERENCES The Congressional Directory. PAUL S. REINSCH: American Legislatures. The History of Senate Bills and Resolutions, published by the Senate. C. A. BEARD: Readings in American Government. G. H. HAYNES: Direct Election of Senators, Johns Hopkins University Studies. I. 2. QUESTIONS Who are the Senators from your State, and when do their terms expire? porting? 3. Why was the Senate originally given so much power and influence in the government? 4. Explain the ideals of the "fathers" in establishing the Senate. 5. How did they make the Senate conservative? 6. Why did it seem desirable to make the Senate somewhat aristocratic and how was this accomplished? 7. Why was so much weight laid upon representation of the State as a State and how was this arranged in establishing the Senate? 8. Explain the difference between the National and the Federal ideas as they are woven together in our National legislature. 9. Explain which of the following men are eligible to election as Senator from Illinois in 1916 and which are not, and give the appropriate portions of the Constitution: (a) Henry Higginson, Jr., born of Massachusetts parents in Boston, 1885, removed to Chicago 1914. (b) Jan Jansen, born in Christiania 1884, immigrated to Minneapolis in 1900, was naturalized an American citizen in 1906 and removed to Springfield, Illinois, in 1914. (c) Boris Romanof, born in St. Petersburg 1886, migrated to New York in 1889, was there naturalized in 1910, and removed in 1911 to Chicago. (d) Richard Roe, born 1889 of American parents in Evanston, Illinois, where he has since continued to reside. 10. Senator X is accused of bribery in securing his seat in the Senate. How can his colleagues constitutionally remove him from the body? 11. John Doe satisfies the constitutional qualifications for admission to the Senate but it is discovered after his election that several years before he had forged a check. Can he be denied admission to the Senate? Reasons. 12. The legislature of Pennsylvania passes a law providing that Senators from that State in the future must own not more than $50,000 worth of property. Is the law constitutional? Reasons. 13. Compare the term of the Senate with that of foreign upper houses. 14. Explain the advantages of a long term. 15. Compare the present and former method of electing Senators. 16. In a debate you are asked to defend the old method. Outline your arguments. 17. You are called on to defend the new system. 18. How did the Western States previous to the 17th Amendment establish a popular choice of Senators? 19. What is the difference between the Senate and House methods of choosing presiding officers? Reasons for difference. 20. How are vacancies in the Senate filled under the 17th Amendment? 21. How does the legislative power of the House differ from that of the Senate according to the Constitution? How does the Senate's legislative power exceed that of the House in practice and why? 22. Explain the Senate's position and duties as a court of impeachment. 23. What is the extent of punishment in case of impeachment? Illustrate. 24. Why are Senate bills better prepared than House measures as a rule? 25. What is meant by "executive session" of the Senate? 26. Explain the exact control of the Senate over treaties and any recent uses which the Senate has made of this power. 27. Which are the important committees in the Senate and how are they chosen in practice? 28. Why is it an advantage for a State to have its Senators serve for several terms? 29. Explain the work of the Steering Committee of the Senate. 30. Explain the most important points of difference between the Senate and House procedure in debate. 31. Why is "filibustering" so easy in the Senate? 32. What is the salary and the allowance of the Senator? 33. A law was passed in 1909 raising the salary of members of the Cabinet from $8,000 to $12,000. Can Senator X, a member of the Congress which passed this bill, resign after one year's service in the Senate and accept a Cabinet position? What clause of the Constitution applies? 34. A United States Senator while in attendance at a session of the Senate assaults a man in the streets of Washington. Can he be arrested? Suppose he commits murder, can he be arrested? What clause of the Constitution applies? 35. During a debate in the Senate, one of the members falsely charges the head of a great corporation with perjury and bribery. What redress has the latter? What clause of the Constitution applies? 36. Besides legislative powers, what executive and judicial powers does the Senate exercise? 37. Explain the most valuable service performed by our Senators in lawmaking and show how the body is peculiarly adapted to its duty. 38. Point out recent changes in the attitude and personnel of the Senate and the reasons for them. 39. Prepare a short essay on the value of the upper House in American gov ernment. |