1. In what way are voters responsible for the government of the country?
2. Do you believe in frequent elections? Why?
3. Do you believe in public voting or in secret voting? Why?
4. Why should election officers be fair and honest men?
5. What do you think of vote-buying and vote-selling?
ORIGIN.--The idea of the secret ballot system, now known under its various modifications as the Australian Ballot System, was first proposed by Francis S. Dutton, member of the legislature of South Australia from 1851 to 1865. At that time the vices frequently accompanying open elections had begun to flourish in Australia. Bribery, intimidation, disorder, and violence were the order of all election days. The plan was elaborated, and became a law under the name of the "Elections Act" in 1857.
The beneficial results of this method soon became evident to other countries, and the movement spread to Europe, Canada, and the United States.
IN THE UNITED STATES.--A similar system to that originally adopted in Australia was first introduced into the United States by its adoption in 1888 in the State of Massachusetts and in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. The next year the legislatures of Indiana, Montana, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, and Connecticut passed laws providing for new systems of voting, more or less resembling the Australian system; and now their example has been followed by almost all the other States.
PRINCIPLES.--Although there are many modifications of detail in the statutes of the various States, there are two essential features of the ballot-reform system which are everywhere observed:
First, An arrangement of polling, by which compulsory secrecy of voting is secured, and intimidation or corruption of voters is prevented.
Second, One or more official ballots, printed and distributed under authority, on which the names of all candidates are found.
REQUIREMENTS.--The following are the requirements of the system: Ballots must be provided by public expense, and none but these ballots may be used. On these ballots should be printed the names of all candidates who have been nominated previously to the election, with the names of the offices for which they have been nominated and of the parties they represent.
There are two forms of ballots: the blanket ballot and the individual ballot. The former is arranged in some States so as to group candidates by parties, and in other States by the offices for which they are nominated. In many cases the names of candidates are alphabetically arranged, so that there can be no accusation of giving one party or candidate precedence as to position on the ticket. In a few cases, the name of the party to which the candidate belongs does not appear on the ballot at all, but only the name of the office for which he has been nominated; but in most cases the name of each party is printed either at the head of the ticket or opposite the name of each candidate, or in both places.
Where individual ballots are used, a separate ballot is printed for each party or independent ticket.
VOTING.--Special sworn clerks are engaged to distribute these ballots to voters at the polls.
The voter is allowed a limited time--say five or ten minutes--to retire into an election booth erected for the purpose, to make his choice of candidates or ballots. If the blanket ballot is in use, he does this by placing a cross opposite the name of the desired candidate or list of candidates; or by crossing out all others; or by means of pasters for the substitution of names. If individual ballots are provided, he selects the one he prefers, or corrects it to his liking by pasting upon it a single name or an entire ticket. If he prefers, he may write the names of candidates of his own nomination in place of those already printed. He, then, without communicating with any one, deposits his ballot as his vote. Only one man is allowed to enter a booth at a time, and none but the ballot clerks and the man about to deposit his ballot are allowed within the enclosure erected for the purpose.
In some States the booths are separated one from the other merely by partitions, as indicated in the cut, page 181; but in other States each booth is a separate compartment with a door, which is closed to prevent even a suspicion of any external observation.
In many States, assistance is rendered to the illiterate or the blind. In some cases, in order to aid those who can not read, each party adopts a device, as an eagle or a flag, which is printed on the ballot. In most States a voter who declares that he can not read, or that by some physical disability he is unable to mark his ballot, may receive the assistance of one or two of the election officers in marking it.
Every ballot must be strictly accounted for. If any person in preparing a ballot should spoil it, he may obtain others, one at a time, not exceeding three in all, provided he returns each spoiled one. All ballots thus returned are either immediately burned or else cancelled and preserved by the clerk.
ADVANTAGES.--The advantages which have already accrued from the adoption of these laws are manifold:
First, A secret ballot offers an effectual preventive against bribery, since no man will place his money corruptly without satisfying himself that the vote is placed according to agreement.
Second, It secures the voter against the coercion, solicitation, or intimidation of others, and enables him to vote according to the dictates of his conscience.
Third, Bargaining and trading at the polls is prevented, and with these much tumult, riot, and disorder must of necessity disappear.
Fourth, Money is made less of a factor in politics, and the poor man is placed on a plane of equality with the rich as a candidate.
In addition to these obvious advantages, the ballot reform movement promises to have much wider effects, and to pave the way and lay the foundation for other political reforms.
FORMS OF BALLOTS.--On pages 185, 186, and 187 are given forms of ballots and other matter illustrating various methods employed in carrying out the ballot laws of the States. It will be observed that each of these three ballots is representative of a different method.
In the first ballot shown, no party name appears, and the names of candidates for each office are arranged in alphabetical order. On this form of ballot, which most resembles that used in Australia, the individual candidate is made prominent, and party connection does not appear at all.
Second, In the Massachusetts ballot, the names of the candidates are arranged alphabetically under each office, but in addition to this, the party name appears opposite the name of each candidate. On this form of ballot, while the party connection of each candidate is indicated, greater prominence is given to the individual, and the voter is required to make choice of a candidate for each office separately. He cannot vote a straight ticket by a single mark.
Third, In the Indiana ticket, the names are grouped according to party, not according to office, the party name appearing at the head of the ballot as well as at the side of each name. On this form of ballot, the party connection of the candidate is made most prominent, and while provision is made for voting for individuals representing different parties, still the voting of a straight ticket is made most easy.
Many States use the party-column principle of the Indiana ticket, but modify the form of the ticket in various details. The party emblem is sometimes omitted from the circle used in voting a straight picket, or placed just above that circle. The square opposite each candidate's name is sometimes placed after the name instead of before it; and is usually left blank.
A fourth form, namely, that of the individual ballot as used in the State of New Jersey, can not be here shown, as a separate ballot is required for each party or each independent nomination. These separate ballots are all official, and are furnished at public expense; but the use of an unofficial ballot is practically allowed, since the voter is permitted to take to the voting booth a paster ballot containing a complete party ticket, printed and furnished at party expense. This he can paste over the official ballot and deposit as his vote.
1. What is meant by the Australian ballot system?
2. Name some places in the United States in which a similar system of reform has been adopted.
3. What are the essential principles of the system?
4. What are the necessary requirements for carrying out the law?
5. What is the object in providing official ballots?
6. Describe two kinds of polling booths used.
7. What are the obvious advantages of the reform?
8. Describe the characteristic forms of ballot used in various States which have adopted the reform.
9. Mention the advantages and the disadvantages of the city ballot shown on page 185.
10. Compare the Massachusetts ballot with the Indiana ballot, and note their differences.
Which system of voting is likely to secure the best public officers: that represented in the city ballot of 1890, in the Massachusetts ballot, or in the Indiana ballot?
Wherever the right to vote exists, the people naturally form themselves into political parties.
A political party is an organization of voters maintained for the purpose of impressing its principles upon the public policy of the country. Men have divers views as to the duties, scope, and proper measures of the government, and these divers views lead to the formation of opposing parties. In a free country the majority must rule, and parties are the means by which majorities are ascertained.
ORIGIN.--Parties usually grow out of questions of legislation, rather than out of questions of executive management or judicial interpretation. In other words, a party is formed to influence the passage of laws, rather than their execution or their application by the courts. But, when parties are once formed, they usually extend their influence to the selection of officers of all grades and all departments, even the least important officials of a township or civil district.
The presidential election has come to be the most exciting and bitter of all political contests, because of the large influence which the President exerts upon national legislation, and because of the immense patronage of his office.
NECESSITY.--Parties appear to be a necessity in all free governments. They serve as check upon one another, as the party in power is responsible for the public policy of the country. If the people are dissatisfied with the party in power, they can displace it and elect another in its stead. Parties are therefore placed upon their good behavior, and made to feel their responsibility to the people.
If there were no party organizations, many of the views of a candidate would not be known, and there could be no assurance that he would be true to the interests of the majority electing him. The fact that a public man is a member of a certain party shows many of the views which he entertains and the principles which he may be expected to support.
Party government is often bad, but as the party is responsible for the conduct of all officers elected by it, party government, especially in legislative affairs, is better than personal government, in which no one but the officer himself is responsible for his official conduct.
PARTY MACHINERY.--The machinery of parties in this country is very complex, and is closely interwoven with our system of government. Each party must select candidates for the various offices in the gift of the people, in order that it may exert its greatest power in elections and in public affairs. The people in each party must have a voice in the selection of candidates for township offices, district offices, county offices, State offices, and President and Vice President of the United States. Therefore each party has a system of committees, conventions, primary elections, and caucuses, for ascertaining the choice of its members for these various offices.
Parties and party machinery are not generally provided for in the law, but they exist by a custom almost as old as the government, and are firmly fixed in our political system.
COMMITTEES.--Each of the great parties has a national committee, consisting of one member from each State and Territory, chosen by its national convention. The national committee is the chief executive authority of the party. It calls the national convention, fixes the time and place for holding it, and the representation to which each State and Territory is entitled. It appoints a sub-committee of its members, called the campaign or executive committee, which conducts the political canvass or campaign, for the party.
The campaign committee distributes pamphlets, speeches, newspapers, and other political documents among the voters of the country; selects public speakers; makes appointments for them to speak; arranges for party meetings; collects funds to bear the expenses of the campaign, and has a general oversight of the party work in all the States.
Each party also has a State committee in each State, usually consisting of a member from each congressional district, in some States consisting of a member from each county; a district committee in each congressional, judicial, senatorial, and representative district, consisting of a member from each county composing the district; a county committee, consisting of a member from each township or civil district; and in some States, various other committees.
Each of these committees performs for the division for which it is selected duties similar to those which the national committee performs for the whole Union.
CONVENTIONS.--The method of ascertaining the choice of a party in the selection of candidates is either by a primary election or by a convention.
A political convention is an assemblage of the voters of a party, either in person or by representatives called delegates. If the voters assemble in person, the convention is called a primary or mass meeting.
The purpose of a convention may be to select candidates for office, to send delegates to a higher convention, to adopt a declaration of principles, or to decide upon a party policy. It is common for two or more of these purposes to come before the same convention.
CALLING CONVENTIONS.--In the year of the presidential election, the national committee calls a national convention, naming the time and place, and the representation of each State. The State committee calls a State convention to send delegates to the national convention; and, if a State election is approaching, it may direct that the convention shall also select candidates for State offices. In response to this call, the county committees order county conventions in all the counties of the State to send delegates to the State convention, and perhaps to select candidates for county offices. In some States the township committees order township conventions in all townships for the purpose of sending delegates to the county conventions, and perhaps to name candidates for township offices.
It will be seen that the calling of the various conventions connected directly or indirectly with the selection of candidates for President and Vice President proceeds from the highest downward. The same order is observed in other conventions, the call always beginning with the highest committee concerned and proceeding to the lowest.
LOCAL AND STATE CONVENTIONS.--The order of holding a system of conventions, however, proceeds from the lowest to the highest. The township holds a convention and sends delegates to the county convention. The county convention sends delegates to the State convention, and the State convention sends delegates to the national convention.
DELEGATES CHOSEN BY PRIMARIES.--In many states the delegates to all conventions are elected by the members of the party at primary elections. In some states even the delegates to the national convention are chosen in this manner.
NATIONAL CONVENTION.--A national convention is an important assemblage. It contains many distinguished men, and exerts great influence on the history of the country. A national convention usually consists of more than a thousand delegates. In a Democratic convention, for instance, there are four delegates from each State, two from each congressional district, and a few from the Territories.
In the selection of delegates to the national convention, the State convention often selects four, representing the two United States senators, and the members of the convention from each congressional district select two, representing the lower house of Congress. For each delegate the State convention also selects an alternate delegate, who attends the national convention in case the regular delegate can not be present.
The national convention is called to order by the chairman of the national committee. It then elects a temporary chairman, and afterward a permanent president. The convention appoints the national committee, calling upon the delegation from each State to name its member; adopts a declaration of principles, called a platform, for the approaching campaign; nominates candidates for President and Vice President, and performs various other work connected with the party organization.
PLATFORM.--The declaration of party principles adopted and issued by a convention is called a platform, and each separate statement of a principle is popularly called a plank.
The platform is an announcement of the policy to be pursued by the party if its candidates are elected, and is presumed to contain all the important principles upon which the voters of the party are agreed. Upon these principles the party claims the right to administer the public affairs of the country.
The platforms of State and local conventions are usually based upon the national platform of the same party, but also contain statements of principles upon local questions.
NOMINATIONS.--To nominate a candidate is to name him for office; that is, to place his name before the public. The person nominated is called the nominee, and all the nominees for a certain election constitute a ticket. A nomination usually secures to a candidate the general support of the party. Voters may vote for other persons than the nominees, but the great body of voters usually support the tickets of their respective parties. Nomination serves to prevent a great number of candidates, and thus simplifies the election.
PRIMARY ELECTIONS.--Candidates for township, county, and other offices are frequently chosen by means of primary elections.
A primary election is an election in which the members of a party choose their candidates for office. As a rule, none but the members of the party holding it can vote in a primary election. Many persons prefer the primary, to a convention, believing the former to be a fairer and more impartial method of ascertaining the choice of the party. The voting is usually by ballot.
In many States primary elections are under the control of the law, and are guarded by the same restrictions that pertain to other elections.
CAUCUSES.--A meeting composed of the members of a legislative body who are of the same party, and assembled for party purposes, is called a caucus. Ward conventions in cities are sometimes called by the same name.
The usual purpose of a caucus is to nominate candidates for offices within the gift of the legislative body, or to consider questions of legislation. A caucus elects a chairman and other officers, but rarely if ever adopts a platform of principles. The great political parties of the country have caucuses in each branch of Congress, and usually in the legislatures of the several States.
1. Name the great parties that have existed in the United States.
2. Who are the respective chairmen of the national executive committees of the two great parties?
3. Read the last national platforms of the two great parties.
4. Which do you like better, primary elections or conventions? Why?
5. Should a member of a legislative body be influenced in his vote by the decision of the caucus of his party?
Legislation, the act or process of making laws, is the most important function of government. It is the most important, because it is the first step, and the enforcement and interpretation of laws depend upon their enactment. The laws of a country should be as few in number, as simple in construction, and as uniform in their application, as will meet the needs of the people. It is a great misfortune for the laws to bear unequally upon the people; to grant special privileges to one class, or to impose special hardships upon another class.
The great variety and volume of laws made by the national and the State legislatures of the United States have led to a close study of legislation. In no other country is the process of making laws so thoroughly mastered, or parliamentary law so generally understood.
BILLS.--The process of enacting a law, from its introduction to its final approval, is an intricate and interesting study. Until its passage and final approval, a measure is called either a bill or a resolution.
Bills and resolutions are very similar, the latter usually being simpler, and beginning with the words, "Be it resolved" or simply "Resolved," while the former begin with the words, "Be it enacted." A joint resolution as well as a bill requires the concurrence of both houses of a legislative assembly to make it a law.
INTRODUCTION.--The introduction of a bill is the first presentation of it to a legislative body for action. This is usually done by asking "leave" of the body, either orally or in writing, to bring the measure before it. This leave to present is rarely if ever refused.
The rules require that after its introduction it shall be three times read aloud before its passage. These three readings do not refer to readings for information as to its provisions. The constitutions of nearly all States require that the three readings shall be on three different days; but in most of them this rule, may be suspended by a two thirds, three fourths, four fifths, or unanimous vote, the requisite majority varying in different States.
COMMITTEES.--When a bill or resolution is introduced, it is usual to refer it to a committee for a critical consideration. A committee usually consists of from three to thirteen members, of whom the first named is usually chairman, presumably selected for their knowledge of the subjects to come before them.
A standing committee lasts during the entire session. Most legislative bodies have from twenty to forty standing committees.
A special or select committee is raised for a special purpose, and is usually adjourned when its report is made.
A committee of the whole consists of all the members of a body sitting as a committee. In committees of the whole the regular presiding officer usually vacates the chair, calling some other member of the body to act as chairman. The principal part of the work of a legislative body is perfected by its committees. They discuss the merits and demerits of bills, and perfect such as, in their judgment, should pass.
REPORTS.--The committee to whom a bill has been referred critically examines it, and usually reports it to the body, either favorably or unfavorably, recommending that it should pass or should not pass. If the members of a committee are equally or nearly equally divided as to the merits of the bill, it may be reported without an expression of opinion.
When important bills are reported by a committee they are usually discussed by the members of the body. The debate on the measure usually brings out the reasons for, and those against, its passage. Many bills are several times recommitted--that is, again referred to a committee--before their passage.
In some legislative bodies, especially in the Congress of the United States, a great many bills are pigeon-holed by committees; that is, are filed away and never reported. The reports of the committees, whether favorable or unfavorable, are usually adopted by the body, and therefore have an important bearing upon legislation.
AMENDMENTS.--In most legislative bodies a bill may be amended at the pleasure of the majority, before it is read the third time. Amendments are made for the purpose of perfecting the measure. A bill may be amended by striking out some of its provisions, by striking out and inserting, or by inserting.
A bill passed by one house of a legislature maybe amended by the other house, but, if amended, must be returned with the amendment to the house in which it originated, in order that the amendment may be considered. If one house amends and the other refuses to accept, the bill is often referred to a conference committee of members of both houses. If this does not secure agreement, and both adhere to their original action, the bill fails.
PASSAGE.--When a bill passes the house in which it originated, the clerk transmits and reports it to the other house for action. The house to which it is transmitted may pass it without commitment, but usually refers it to a committee, and, when reported, may pass it or reject it, or amend it and return it with the amendment to the house in which it originated.
When passed by both houses, the bill is engrossed--that is, rewritten without blots or erasures--and transmitted to the President or governor, as the case may be, for his approval. If approved and signed, or if not returned within a fixed time, the bill becomes a law. If vetoed, it must be again considered by both bodies, and is lost unless again passed by each, and in Congress and in many States by a two thirds vote.
1. Obtain from any convenient source and present in the recitation a sample of a bill, and also of a resolution.
2. Why should a bill have three separate readings on three different days?
3. Why is the report of a committee generally adopted by the body?
4. Why are chairmanships of committees usually much sought after in legislative bodies?
5. Present in the recitation a copy of the report of a legislative committee upon some subject.
Revenue.--The regulation of revenue and taxation is one of the most important and difficult questions of government. One of the wisest of modern statesmen has said that the management of finance is government.
Government, whatever its form, is an intricate and expensive machine, and therefore sure and ample sources of revenue are as necessary to it as blood is to the human body. The necessary expenses of a local community, such as a village, a city, or a county, are heavy; while those of a State are immense, and those of a nation almost beyond conception. These expenses must be promptly met, or the government becomes bankrupt, lacking in respect, without power to enforce its rights even among its own people, and finally ceases to exist.
TAXATION.--The chief source of revenue in all governments is taxation. A tax is a portion of private property taken by the government for public purposes. Taxation, the act of laying taxes, is regarded as the highest function of government. It is also one of the most delicate, because it touches the people directly, and is therefore frequently the cause of discontent among the masses.
The government makes no direct return to the citizen for the taxes it exacts, and in this respect only does taxation differ from the exercise of the right of eminent domain. How much revenue must be raised? what articles should be taxed? what should be the rate of taxation? are questions that concern every government.
As a person may be at the same time a citizen of a village, a township, a county, a State, and the United States, so he may, during the same year, pay a separate tax to each of these five governments.
NECESSITY OF TAXATION.--Taxation is one of the necessary burdens of society. A government as well as an individual must have money to pay its expenses, and the principal part, if not all, of this money must be raised by taxation of one kind or another. Men may differ as to the kind and the rate of taxation, but taxes must be paid in order that government may exist. The tax payer receives no immediate return for his taxes, but has a constant return in the way of protection to life, liberty, and property, the enjoyment of public conveniences, and the improvement of society.
By means of taxes each person bears his part in the cost of maintaining the social compact. He gives up a portion of his property in order that what remains may be the more secure and valuable, and that he may enjoy many other blessings that would otherwise be impossible. Although the rate is often high, even higher than necessary, it is safe to say that every tax payer of the country receives from the government more than he contributes by taxation.
Taxes are direct or indirect.
DIRECT TAXES.--A direct tax is levied directly at a given rate upon property or polls. Taxes levied by villages, towns, townships, cities, counties, and States are for the most part direct taxes.
A poll tax is levied upon the polls, or heads, of the male inhabitants who have attained a certain age, usually twenty-one years.
A property tax, as the name indicates, is levied upon property. Property is of two kinds, real and personal.
Real property, usually called real estate, consists of lands and buildings.
Personal property is that which can be moved from place to place, and includes everything that a person can own except real estate.
In all systems of taxation, much real estate, such as churches, cemeteries, colleges, charitable institutions, and public buildings, is exempt from taxes.
Five times in its history--namely, in 1798, 1813, 1815, 1816, and 1861--the United States levied a direct tax upon the people, but in each case the law was in force but a single year. From 1861 to 1871 there was also an income tax; that is, a tax of a given per cent. upon all annual incomes that exceeded a certain amount. In 1913, Congress passed a new income tax law, with additional taxes on very large incomes.
INDIRECT TAXES.--An indirect tax is assessed upon the property of one person, but is indirectly paid by another. The owner of the property at the time of assessment pays the tax to the government, but a part or all of the tax is ultimately paid by the consumer of the goods. All taxes now levied by the national government are indirect.
The indirect taxes levied by the national government are customs, or duties, and internal revenue.
CUSTOMS, OR DUTIES.--Customs, or duties, are taxes levied upon certain goods imported from foreign countries. The Constitution prohibits the taxation of exports.
The schedule or list of articles taxed and of duties to be paid is called the tariff. Custom dues are collected by officers of the national government at the custom-houses, located at the ports of entry, usually, but not always, on or near the sea-coast. By far the larger portion of the national revenue is derived from customs.
INTERNAL REVENUE.--Internal revenue, sometimes called excise, is a tax levied upon certain articles produced in this country, such as tobacco and spirituous liquors. It is collected by officers of the national government, called collectors, stationed in different parts of the country.
1. Name some of the items of expense in village government.
2. In township government.
3. In city government.
4. In county government.
5. In State government.
6. In national government.
7. What is the rate of property taxation in this country?
8. What is the rate in this State?
9. Where is the nearest custom-house?
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, 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.
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Clause 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states; and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.
Clause 2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.
Clause 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
Clause 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
Clause 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Clause 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the [Legislature][1] thereof for six years, and each senator shall have one vote.
Clause 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 expiration 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.][1]
Clause 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.
Clause 4. The Vice-president of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
Clause 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro tempere, in the absence of the Vice-president, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.
Clause 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.
Clause 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.
Clause 1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.
Clause 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Clause 1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.
Clause 2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.
Clause 3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts 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.
Clause 4. 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.