Part 67 (1/2)

It sometimes happens, however, that the cabinet introduces a measure which, after discussion, a majority of the House of Commons rejects. This means that on this question the cabinet no longer represents the majority in the House. Then one of two things happens. EITHER THE CABINET RESIGNS in a body to make way for a new cabinet that does represent the majority; OR THE PRIME MINISTER ASKS FOR A GENERAL ELECTION FOR MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. If at this election a majority is again returned that is opposed to the cabinet, it means that the cabinet no longer leads the people, and it resigns. If a majority is returned in support of the cabinet, it means that the old House was no longer representative of the people, and the old cabinet retains its leaders.h.i.+p.

This system gives the English people MORE DIRECT CONTROL over their government than we have in our country; it is very much like the method of RECALL that is used in some of our states. At the same time, it a.s.sures a real executive leaders.h.i.+p WITHIN THE GOVERNMENT, a leaders.h.i.+p that is both responsive and responsible to the people.

GROWTH OF IRRESPONSIBLE LEADERs.h.i.+P

Not only does our Const.i.tution fail to provide clearly for responsible leaders.h.i.+p within the government, but our system of ”checks and balances,” our party system of government, and the organization and rules of Congress, all taken together, have tended to confuse our leaders.h.i.+p, and to impose upon us an irresponsible leaders.h.i.+p, OUTSIDE of the government as outlined by the Const.i.tution. To understand this it will first be necessary to examine the organization of Congress.

THE CONGRESS

Congress, like the state legislatures, consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate; this being another instance of ”checks and balances.”

The creation of two chambers in the Congress made possible a satisfactory settlement of a dispute in the Const.i.tutional Convention with regard to the basis of representation. The larger states wanted representation proportional to their population, while the smaller states, insisted upon EQUAL representation for all the states. It was settled that there should be equal representation in the Senate, and proportional representation in the House of Representatives. This is one of a series of compromises that had to be made between the two parties in the convention. In fact, the Const.i.tution is a series of compromises from beginning to end. Only thirty-nine of the fifty-five delegates in the convention signed the Const.i.tution, and it is probable that no one even of the thirty-nine was wholly pleased with it.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The number of representatives in the first Congress from each state was fixed in the Const.i.tution, and provision made for a census in 1790 and every ten years thereafter, on the basis of which a reapportionment should be made. At present there are 435 members of the House, one for about every 212,000 of the population. They are elected by direct vote of the people, one from each of the CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS into which each state is divided, and for a term of two years.

THE SENATE

There are two senators from each state. The Const.i.tution provided that they were to be elected by the state legislatures, another evidence of distrust of the people. In 1913, the seventeenth amendment to the Const.i.tution was enacted, providing for the election of senators by popular vote, showing the growing spirit of democracy and the distrust of the state legislatures. Senators are elected for six years, but the term of only one third of them expires at the same time, so that at least two thirds of the Senate have always had at least two years' experience. No citizen may become a senator until he is thirty years of age, while one may become a member of the lower house at twenty-five.

EXCLUSIVE POWERS OF EACH HOUSE

The House of Representatives has one important power not possessed by the Senate: it alone can originate bills for raising revenue.

This is because the representatives were supposed to be more directly representative of the people than the senators. However, the Senate may amend such bills, and often succeeds in forcing the House to accept such radical amendments as practically to destroy the advantage possessed by the latter in its power to originate the bills.

In addition to its lawmaking powers, the Senate was intended to be an advisory council to the President. Only with its ”advice and consent” may the President make appointments and treaties.

Investigate and report on the following:

The compromises of the Const.i.tution.

The census of 1920.

The number of congressional districts in your state, and the number of the one you live in.

The names of your representative and senators.

The qualifications for election to the House of Representatives and to the Senate (Art. I, secs. 2 and 3). Compare with the qualifications for election to the two houses of your legislature.

The characteristics of the Senate that make it more conservative than the House of Representatives. The meaning of ”conservatism.”

Why the Senate should be more conservative than the House.

The ”long” and ”short” sessions of Congress.

How vacancies in Congress are filled between elections.

Legislation in which the representative from your district has been especially interested during the last session of Congress.

In England a member of the House of Commons is not required to be a resident of the district which he represents. Arguments for and against this plan.