4. What bills were introduced by the North Dakota Senators in the last session of Congress? (See Index to Congressional Record.) 5. What is the "check and balance" theory? Name eight checks and balances. REFERENCES Bryce, "American Commonwealth," Vol. I, Chs. 10–12. Wilson, "Congressional Government," Ch. 4. Hart, "Actual Government," Ch. 13. Woodburn, "The American Republic." Bourn, "How to Spend a Billion Dollars," Outlook, 93, pp. 297–302. CHAPTER IX THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES "There is something impressive about it [The House of Representatives], something not unworthy of the continent for which it legislates. This huge gray hall, filled with perpetual clamor, this multitude of keen and eager faces, this ceaseless coming and going of many feet, this irreverent public watching from the galleries and forcing its way to the floor, all speak to the beholder's mind of the mighty democracy, destined in another century to form one-half of civilized mankind, whose affairs are here debated. If the men are not great, the interests and the issues are vast and fateful. . . Of what tremendous struggles may not this hall become the theatre in ages yet far distant, when the parliaments of Europe have shrunk to insignificance?" BRYCE, “American Commonwealth," Vol. I, p. 149. Composition of the House. The House of Representatives, now numbering about four hundred men,1 is made up of Representatives chosen directly by the people of the States. In some States women may vote for Representatives, in others only men; this is a question left for the States to settle for themselves. Each organized Territory (and Alaska) is entitled to send one Delegate, who may speak, but cannot vote in the House. States that have population enough are divided into two or more "Congressional districts," the average district including about 200,000 inhabitants. Each State is entitled to at least one representative, no matter how small the State. Thus Nevada, with its population of 42,000, has one Representative, the same 1 In the 61st Congress, (1909-1911) the House had 395 members, including four delegates from Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico. as Utah, with a population of 277,000. After the decennial census is taken, Congress makes a new apportionment of Representatives, so that a State may increase the number of its congressional districts if its population shows a sufficient increase. The Representatives are chosen in November in most of the States-and take their seats in the following oddnumbered year. The term of office is two years. The salary is the same as that of a Senator; the Speaker's salary is $12,000 a year. A Representative must be twenty-five years of age, and seven years a resident of the United States. He must reside in the State he represents, and, according to custom, in the district electing him. The short term-two years-makes the House a changeful body. A serious criticism of the House is that the successful candidate must make his campaign and be elected thirteen months before he takes his seat. Thus the issues he fought for may become stale before he has a chance to take his seat in Congress. For instance, the members elected in November, 1906, took their seats in December, 1907, in the first session of the 60th Congress. If, however, the President calls together a special session of Congress, the members may take their seats as early as March. The House at Work.-Among the powers peculiar to the House are three: the sole power of impeachment; the sole power of introducing bills for raising revenue; and the power of choosing the Speaker. This last power is the one which is most significant of all. The House also elects its other officers, and adopts its own rules. The House, like the Senate, is the judge of the election returns of its own members and of their qualifications. The Speaker. Bryce describes the power of the Speaker as "power which in the hands of a capable and ambitious man becomes so far-reaching that it is no exaggeration to call him the second, if not the first, political figure in the United States, with an influence upon the fortunes of men and the course of domestic events superior, in ordinary times, to the President's, although shorter in its duration and less patent to the world." 1 The Speaker appoints the standing committees of the House; he presides over the House. These are his two duties, and they look innocent enough. And yet in the exer 1 Bryce, "American Commonwealth," Vol. I, p. 136. cise of these two powers, ambitious Speakers, like Reed and Cannon, have been denounced the nation over as "Czar" and "Autocrat." The whole country has at times been aroused to a high pitch of excitement over the alleged arbitrary actions of the Speaker. The Speaker now has the custom of sitting with a little memorandum before him-a list of names of those whom he will recognize during the day as having a right to the floor. The list is made up, somewhat arbitrarily, by the Speaker in his office. The Speaker may ask, and frequently does ask a member why he rises on the floor. If the member's purpose does not suit the Speaker, he merely replies, "The member is not recognized for that purpose." Every bill introduced in the House is referred by the Speaker to the appropriate committee, appropriate, that is, in the judgment of the Speaker. The power of the Speaker is one of the peculiar and debatable features in our form of government. Has he too much power? Would it be possible for such a large House to do any business at all if the Speaker had less power? Congressmen have sometimes complained that the real powers of the House have been merged in the Speakership; that he is indeed the House. Both Speaker Cannon and Speaker Reed have defended the power of the Speaker. Speaker Cannon writes as follows: "The Speaker is the servant of the House. The Speaker is elected by a majority of the members, and he can be deposed and another man elected any hour of any day that he fails to fulfill the duties of the office as the majority would |