Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

32. The president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairman of the committee of the whole, or of any standing or select committee of either house, shall be empowered to administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses in any case under their examination; if any person shall wilfully, absolutely, and falsely, swear or affirm, touching any matter or thing material to the point in question, whereto he or she shall be thus examined, every person so offending, and being thereof duly convicted, shall be subjected to the pains, penalties, and disabilities, which, by law, are prescribed for the punishment of the crime of wilful and corrupt perjury.(1)

33. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such part as may, in their judgment, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.(2)

34. There shall be printed two hundred copies of the public journals of the senate, and of the house of representatives, and of the documents printed by the orders of the respective houses, beyond the number usually printed; of which twenty-five copies shall be deposited in the library of the United States, at the seat of government, to be delivered to members of congress during any session, and to all other persons authorized by law to use the books in such library, upon their application to the librarian, and giving their responsible receipts therefor. And so many other copies shall be transmitted, as the acts of congress are transmitted, to the executives of the seve ral states and territories, as shall be sufficient to furnish one copy to each executive, one copy to each branch of every state and territorial legislature, one copy to each university and college in each state, and one copy to the historical society incorporated, or which shall be incorporated, in each state; and the residue of such copies shall be deposited in the library of the United States, subject to the future disposition of congress.(3)

[ocr errors]

35. One copy of such journals and documents shall be annually furnished to the executive of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, for the use and benefit of the American Antiquarian Society of such commonwealth ;(4) one copy to the executive of the state of Maine, for the use and benefit of the Gardiner Lyceum, in such state;(5) and one copy, together with a copy of the laws and state papers which shall be published by the authority of congress, to the Washington library.(6)

36. 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 shall be sitting.(7)

37. 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 respective houses, and in going to or returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.(8)

(1) Acts 3d May, 1798.

8th Feb. 1817.

(2) Con. Art. 1. sec. 5.

(3) Resolution 27th December, 1813. (4) Resolution 1st December, 1814.

(5) Resolution 3d March, 1825.
(6) Resolution 3d March, 1823.
(7) Con. Art. 1. sec. 5.
(8) Ib. sec. 6.

dence is not indispensable: nor is the same degree of proof requisite, as in the conviction of crime. The power of expulsion is in its nature discretionary, and its exercise of a more summary character, than the power of judicial tribunals.Case of J. Smith, 1807.

38. At every session of congress, each senator, and representative and delegate, shall be entitled to receive eight dollars for every day he shall attend his respective house, and eight dollars for every twenty miles of estimated distance, by the most usual road from his place of residence to the seat of congress, at the commencement and end of every session. And if he shall be detained by sickness on his journey to or from such session, or after his arrival shall be unable to attend his house, he shall be entitled to the same daily allowance: And each member of the senate shall be entitled to the same daily pay and allowance, for his attendance on, and travelling to and from every meeting of the senate in the recess of congress; and, in case he shall be detained by sickness, on his journey to or from such meeting, or after his arrival shall be unable to attend the senate. But no member of congress shall be allowed a sum exceeding the rate of eight dollars a day, from the end of one session or meeting, to the time of his taking his seat in another.(1)

39. The president of the senate pro tempore, when the vice-president shall be absent, or when his office shall be vacant, and the speaker of the house of representatives, shall, during the period of their services, respectively, receive, in addition to their compensation as members of congress, eight dollars for every day's attendance on their respective houses.(1)

40. The compensation which shall be due to the members of the senate, shall be certified by the president thereof, and that to the representatives and delegates by the speaker, and shall be passed as public accounts, and paid out of the public treasury.(2)

41. 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.(3)

42. No member of congress shall directly or indirectly, himself, or by any other person in trust for him or for his use, undertake, execute, hold or enjoy in the whole, or in part, any contract to be made with any officer of the United States in their behalf, or with any person authorized to make contracts on the part of the United States.(4)

43. Every member, for every such offence, upon conviction before any court of the United States or its territories, having cognizance thereof, shall be adjudged guilty of a high misdemeanour, and shall be fined three thousand dollars; and such contract shall be absolutely void.(4)

44. When money shall have been advanced by the United States, in consideration of such contract, the same shall be forthwith repaid; and, in case of refusal or delay to repay it, when demanded by the proper officer of the department under whose authority such contract shall have been made, every person so refusing or delaying, together with his surety or sureties, shall be forthwith prosecuted at law for the recovery thereof.(4)

45. In every such contract, there shall be inserted an express condition, that no member of congress shall be admitted to any share or part thereof, or to any benefit to arise therefrom.(5)

46. The foregoing provisions shall not extend to any contract made by an incorporated company for its general benefit; nor to the purchase or sale of

(1) Act 22d Jan. 1818, sec. 1, 2.

(2) Ibid. sec. 3.

(3) Con. Art. 1. sec. 6.

(4) Act April 21, 1808, sec. 1.
(5) Ibid. sec. 3.

bills of exchange, or other property, by a member of congress, where the same shall be ready for delivery, and for which payment shall be made, at the time of contracting therefor.(1)

47. If any officer of the United States, on behalf of the United States, shall, directly or indirectly, make any contract in writing or otherwise, other than as above excepted, with any member of congress, such officer, on conviction thereof, before any court having jurisdiction thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanour, and be fined three thousand dollars.(2) 48. The printing of congress, unless when otherwise specially ordered, shall be done in the following form and manner, viz:

Bills, as heretofore, with English type, on foolscap paper. Rule or tablework, in royal octavo size, where it can be brought into that size by any type not smaller than brevier; and where it cannot, in such form as to fold conveniently into the volume. All other printing with a small pica type, on royal paper, in pages of the same size as those of the last edition of the laws of the United States, including the marginal notes.(3)

It shall be the duty of the secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of representatives, so to regulate and direct the printing of the respective houses as to abolish the practice of making " title pages" to executive documents, reports of committees, memorials, or any other documents, unless the same shall be so directed by them, and that the whole matter shall follow in close order, from the first page. And they shall further direct, that the printing of the yeas and nays of the journal shall be in consecutive order, as ordinary matter. They shall also so regulate the printing of the executive documents, as to have the respective communications from the president and heads of departments bound in distinct volumes; and they may also so change the form of the volume, by increasing its size, as to combine the greatest quantity of matter, with the greatest economy in the execution of the work.(4)

49. The following prices shall be allowed and paid for the above described work: For the composition of every page of bills, one dollar; of every page of small pica, plain work, one dollar; of every page of small pica, rule-work, two dollars; of every page of brevier, rule-work, three dollars and fifty cents; and for a larger form of brevier rule-work, in proportion.(3) For the press-work of bills, including paper, folding, and stitching-for fifty copies, twenty-five cents per page; for four hundred copies, one dollar and twenty-five cents per page; for the press-work of tables other than those in the regular octavo form, for six hundred copies, including as above, five dollars and fifty cents per form; for the press-work of the journals, of nine hundred copies, including as above, one dollar per page; for all other printing, in the octavo form, of six hundred copies, including as above, eightyseven and a half cents per page; and for a larger or smaller number, in proportion.(3)

50. As soon as this resolution shall have been approved by the president of the United States, each house shall proceed to ballot for a printer, to execute its work during the next congress; and the person having the greatest number of votes shall be considered duly elected; and shall give bond, with sureties, to the satisfaction of the secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of representatives, respectively, for the prompt, accurate, and neat execution of the work; and in case any inconvenient delay should be, at any time, experienced by either house, in the delivery of its work, the se

(1) Act April 21, 1808, sec. 2. (2) Ibid. sec. 4.

(3) Resolution 3d March, 1819.
(4) Resolution 24th May, 1828.

cretary and clerk, respectively, may be authorized to employ another printer to execute any portion of the work of the senate or house, and charge the excess, in the account of such printer, for executing such work, above what is herein allowed, to the printer guilty of such negligence and delay: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall preclude the choice of the same printer by the senate and by the house of representatives.(1)

Within thirty days before the adjournment of every congress, each house shall proceed to vote for a printer to execute its work for and during the succeeding congress, and the person having the majority of all the votes given shall be considered duly elected; and so much of the resolution, approved the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, entitled, "A resolution directing the manner in which the printing of congress shall be executed, fixing the prices thereof, and providing for the appointment of a printer or printers," as is altered by this resolution, be, and the same is hereby rescinded.(2).

To lay taxes

Borrow money

SECTION IV.

Of the General Powers of Congress.*

51 To determine the time for choosing

[blocks in formation]

Regulate commerce

53

Make naturalization and bank

Prescribe mode of proving re

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
[ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed]

Make laws for executing its pow

62

ers

ib.

Declare war

Maintain army, navy, militia
Legislate in certain districts

ART. 51. 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.(3)†

52. To borrow money on the credit of the United States.(3)

53. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.(3)

(1) Resolution 3d March, 1819.

Resolution 5th February, 1829.

(3) Con. Art. 1. sec. 8.

*The powers granted to congress are not exclusive of similar powers existing in the states, unless where the constitution has expressly, in terms, given an exclusive power to congress, or the exercise of a like power is prohibited to the states; or there is a direct repugnancy or incompatibility in the exercise of such power by the states.-Houston v. Moore, 5 Wheat. 49. Sturgis v. Crowninshield, 4 Wheat. 122, 192.

The power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, is co-extensive with the territories of the United States.-Loughborough v. Blake 5 Wheat.317. The power to regulate commerce, granted by the above clause, is exclusively vested in congress; and no part of it can be exercised by a state. It is general, and has no limitations not prescribed by the constitution: it extends to the regulation of navigation by vessels propelled by steam or otherwise, by vessels exclusively employed in transporting passengers, and to every species of commercial intercourse between the United States and foreign nations, and among the several states. It does not stop at the external boundary of a state.-Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheaton, 186, 189, 193, 196, 198, 215, 216, 219.

54. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcy, throughout the United States.*

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.(1)

55. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.(1)

56. To establish post offices and post roads.(1)

57. 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.(1)

58. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court.(1)

59. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations.(1)†

60. To declare war; grant letters of marque and reprisal; and make rules concerning captures on land and water.(1)

61. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money, to that use, shall be for a longer term than two years.(1)

To provide and maintain a navy.(1)‡

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.(1)

To provide for calling forth the militia, to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.(1)

To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining 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 prescribed by congress.(1)

62. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square,) as may, by cession of particular states, 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

(1) Con. Art. 1. sec. 8.

Hence the several acts of the State of New York granting to Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton the exclusive use of the waters of that State for steam-boats, were unconstitutional and void.-Gibbon v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1, 209, 210.

State inspection laws, health laws, and laws for regulating the internal commerce of a state, and those which respect turnpike roads and ferries, are not within the powers granted to congress.-Ib. 203.

Under the power to regulate commerce, congress may lay an embargo of unlimited duration.-Acts of December 22d, 1807, and supplements. See the opinion of Davis, D. J. of Massachusetts district, in the case of the Brigantine William, September, 1808. 2 Hall's L. J. 255.

The power of naturalization is exclusively vested in congress.—United States v. Villatto, 2 Dall. 370. Chirac v. Chirac, 2 Wheaton 269. Houston v. Moore, 5 Wheat. 48.

But its power in relation to bankruptcies, is not exclusive. Until congress legislates on this subject, the states may severally enact bankrupt laws, not impairing the obligation of contracts. By a general bankrupt law, the right of the states is suspended, but is revived by a repeal of such law: and the state right exists at all times over cases not embraced by the act of congress.-Sturgis v. Crowninshield. 4 Wheat. 122. Golden v. Prince, 5 Hall L. J. 502. Ogden v. Saunders 12 Wheat. 213.

† Congress may provide for the punishment of pirates, though they be foreigners, and have committed no particular offence against the United States. United States v. Palmer, 3 Wheat. 630.

[And to authorize the enlistment of minors for the army and navy of the United States.-United States v. Bainbridge, Mason 71.]

« ForrigeFortsett »