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“gerrymandering." Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, at one time contrived a scheme by which one of the districts looked like a lizard. The celebrated painter, Gilbert Stuart, seeing a map of Gerry's districts in the office of an editor, added a head, wings, and claws to the peculiar district and exclaimed: "That will do for a salamander." "Call it a Gerrymander," said the editor, and the name has been in use ever since. The first attempt at this sort of political trickery was made by Patrick Henry, who tried in this way to keep Madison out of the first Congress.

It sometimes happens that a State does not rearrange its districts immediately after its number of Representatives is increased by Congress. Until the Legislature attends to the matter the additional member or members are then elected by the State at large. Chosen in this way a Representative is known as a Congressman-at-large.

15. The Speaker.-The Speaker of the House of Representatives is one of its own members, and therefore may vote on all questions, but the rules do not require him to vote, except in case of a tie or when a vote is by ballot. He is the third officer of the Government in point of rank; but the second in point of power, because through his appointment of the standing committees he determines, to a great extent, the character of the laws to be passed. Furthermore, when a member wishes to speak or make a motion he must first be recognized by the Speaker, and when two or more rise at once he names the one that is to have the floor.

16. Other Officers.-The other officers are not members of the House. The Chief Clerk has the records and bills in his keeping. His term does not expire until after

the new House has been organized, for he makes up its roll and presides at its opening until the Speaker has been elected. In a few instances the Chief Clerk has presided for six or eight weeks before the House could agree on the election of a Speaker. Other officers of importance are the Sergeant-at-arms, the Doorkeeper, the Postmaster, and the Chaplain.

17. Impeachment.-The power of impeachment is judicial in its nature. By this power the House may resolve that an officer shall be impeached for specified offenses, and bring the charges, or articles of impeachment, before the Senate. These articles are like an indictment in a criminal court.

Questions on the Section.-The term of a Representative? Age? How long a citizen? How long in this country? Where must he live? Why not have merely the age of a voter? Why require him to be a citzen for a number of years? Why an inhabitant of the State? How is the number of people on which Representatives and direct taxes are based determined in each State? When had the census to be taken first? How often must it be taken? When is it taken? How many Representatives would the House have now if there were one for every 30,000 people? Which States have but one Representative? Find out, also, whether any States have the same number now that they had in the first Congress. How are vacancies in the House filled? Which two States had the most Representatives in 1789? Which two have the most now?

SECTION 3.-THE SENATE

CLAUSE 1. 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.

CL. 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the ex

piration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

CL. 3. 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.

CL. 4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. CL. 5. The Senate shall choose their 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.

CL. 6. 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.

CL. 7. 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.

18. Nature of the Senate.-The Senate is the Federal branch of Congress. Its members represent the States, but are not subject to instruction as to their votes by any State authority, not even by the Legislature, which elects them. Every Senator may and should vote as his judgment and conscience dictate. The framers of the Constitution intended the Senate to be an exalted body, and therefore made the term of office long and the age limit high.

19. Voting in the Senate.-The first clause of this section is a part of the first great compromise in the Constitution (see p. 34). When equality of representation in the Senate had been decided upon by that

compromise the next question was, How many Senators shall a State have? Two, the number agreed upon, was the smallest number of Representatives a State was entitled to under the Articles of Confederation. Each Senator having one vote there can be no tie resulting in the loss of the vote of a State, as was so often the case in the Continental Congress.

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20. The Senate a Continuous Body.-Two-thirds of the Senators having respectively two or four more years to serve at the end of every two years the Senate is continuous; that is, as a body it never expires. This provision prevents the Senate from being entirely new and inexperienced, as it is possible for the House to be. 21. Failure of the Legislature to Elect.-In case the

Legislature fails to fill a vacancy in the course of a meeting, the Governor cannot fill it by appointment afterwards.

22. The Vice-President and the Senate.-If the VicePresident had a vote in the Senate, as the Speaker has in the House, the State to which he belongs would have three votes, which would destroy the equality of representation. He does not, like the Speaker of the House, appoint the standing committees. They are selected by the Senate. By reason of these facts he has much less power than the Speaker of the House.

23. Other Officers and the President Pro Tempore.The other officers of the Senate are practically the same as those of the House (see p. 46). In the absence of the Vice-President—and he generally absents himself for this purpose at the beginning of his term-the Secretary of the Senate takes the chair while an election of a President pro tempore is held. He serves for an indefinite time, generally until his term expires, unless his party is reduced to a minority in the meantime. By providing for this officer of the Senate the Constitution makes it possible for the Vice-President to evade the performance of the only duty assigned to him.

24. The Trial of Impeachments.-When the House of Representatives agrees upon articles of impeachment (see p. 47) 'it appoints a committee of managers from among its own members to prosecute the case before the Senate. Both the committee and the accused may employ attorneys, and both sides may have witnesses. The Senate is both judge and jury; otherwise the trial is conducted in the same way as before an ordinary court.

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