Veto power ident on other bills. This provision was inherited from Parliament, through the colonial legislatures. After a bill has passed both houses it must be sent to the president for approval. If he approves it, he signs it; if not, he returns it to the house in which it originated, with a written statement of his of the pres- objections, and this statement must be entered in full upon the journal of the house. The bill is then reconsidered, and if it obtains a two thirds vote, it is sent, together with the objections, to the other house. If it there likewise obtains a two thirds vote, it becomes a law, in spite of the objections. Otherwise it fails. If the president keeps a bill longer than ten days (Sundays excepted) without signing it, it becomes a law without his signature; unless Congress adjourns before the expiration of the ten days, in which case it fails to become a law, just as if it had been vetoed. This method of vetoing a bill just before the expiration of a Congress, by keeping it in one's pocket, so to speak, was dubbed a "pocket veto," and was first employed by President Jackson in 1829. The president's veto power is a qualified form of that which formerly belonged to the English sovereign but has now, as already observed, become practically obsolete. As a means of guarding the country against unwise legislation, it has proved to be one of the most valuable features of our Federal Constitution. In bad hands it cannot do much harm; it can only delay for a short time a needed law. But when properly used it can save the country from laws that if once enacted would sow seeds of disaster very hard to eradicate; and it has repeatedly done so. A single man will often act intelligently where a group of men act foolishly, and, as already observed, he is apt to have a keener sense of responsibility. QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. What is to be said with regard to the following topics? 1. The House of Representatives : a. Its relation to the people. b. The term of service. c. Qualifications of those who may vote for representa tives. d. Qualifications for membership. e. The three fifths compromise. 2. The Connecticut Compromise. a. The powers of the different states in the House. b. Opposition to the scheme of a new government. c. What the advocates of a strong government wanted the Senate to represent. d. A peculiar Connecticut system. e. The suggestion of the Connecticut delegates. f. The effect of the compromise. a. The number of senators. b. The method of electing senators. c. The voting of senators. d. The term of service. e. The maintenance of a continuous existence. f. A comparison with the House in respect to nearness to the people. g. Qualifications for membership. 4. Elections for senators and representatives: a. Times, places, and manner of holding elections. b. The power of Congress over state regulations. c. Electoral districts. d. The temptation to unfairness in laying out electoral dis tricts. e. Illustrations of unfair divisions. f. "Gerrymandering." g. Representatives at large. h. The advantage of the district system. i. The British system and its advantage. 5. The assembling of Congress: a. The time of assembling. b. The interval between a member's election and the begin ning of his service. c. The disadvantage of this long interval. 6. What is the duty of each house in respect (1) to its membership, (2) its rules, (3) its records, and (4) its adjourn ment. 7. Give an account (1) of the pay of a congressman, (2) of his freedom from arrest, (3) of his responsibility for words spoken in debate, and (4) of his right to hold other office. 8. Tell (1) who preside in Congress, (2) how the name speaker originated, (3) what the speaker's duties are, and (4) what his power in the government is. 9. Impeachment of public officers :— a. Old English usage. b. The conduct of an impeachment trial in England. c. The conduct of an impeachment trial in the United States. d. The penalty in case of conviction. 10. The provisions of the Constitution for legislation: a. Bills for raising revenue. b. How a bill becomes a law. c. The president's veto power. d. Passage of a bill over the president's veto. f. The veto power in England. g. The value of the veto power. § 3. The Federal Executive. In signing or vetoing bills passed by Congress the president shares in legislation, and is virtually a third house. In his other capacities he is the chief executive officer of the Federal Union; and inasmuch as he appoints the other great executive officers, he is really the head of the executive department, not like the governor of a state a mere member of it. His title of "President" is probably an inheritance from the presidents of the Continental Congress. In Franklin's plan of union, in 1754, the head of the executive department was called "Governor General," but that title had an unpleasant The title of "President." sound to American ears. Our great-grandfathers liked "president" better, somewhat as the Romans, in the eighth century of their city, preferred "imperator to "rex." Then, as it served to distinguish widely between the head of the Union and the heads of the states, it soon fell into disuse in the state governments, and thus "president" has come to be a much grander title than "governor," just as "emperor" has come to be a grander title than "king.' There was no question which perplexed the Federal Convention more than the question as to the best method of electing the president. There was a general distrust of popular election for an office so exalted. At one time the Convention decided to have the president elected by Congress, but there was a grave objection to this; it would be likely to destroy his independence, and make him the tool of Congress. Finally the device of an electoral college was The electoral adopted. Each state is entitled to a number college. of electors equal to the number of its representatives in Congress, plus two, the number of its senators. Thus to-day Delaware, with 1 representative, has 3 electors; Missouri, with 14 representatives, has 16 electors; New York, with 34 representatives, has 36 electors. No federal senator or representative, or any person holding civil office under the United States, can serve as an elector. Each state may appoint or choose its electors in such manner as it sees fit; at first they were more often than otherwise chosen by the legislatures, now they are always elected by the people. The day of election must be the same in all the states. By an act of Congress passed in 1792 it is required to be within 34 days preceding the first Wednesday in 1 See above p. 163. December. A subsequent act in 1845 appointed the Tuesday following the first Monday in November as election day. By the act of 1792 the electors chosen in each state are required to assemble on the first Wednesday in December at some place in the state which is designated by the legislature. Before this date the gov ernor of the state must cause a certified list of the names of the electors to be made out in triplicate and delivered to the electors. Having met together they vote for president and vice-president, make out a sealed certificate of their vote in triplicate, and attach to each copy a copy of the certified list of their names. One copy must be delivered by a messenger to the president of the Senate at the federal capital before the first Wednesday in January; the second is sent to the same officer through the mail; the third is to be deposited with the federal judge of the district in which the electors meet. If by the first Wednesday in January the certificate has not been received at the federal capital, the secretary of state is to send a messenger to the district judge and obtain the copy deposited with him. The interval of a month was allowed to get the returns in, for those were not the days of railroad and telegraph. The messengers were allowed twenty-five cents a mile, and were subject to a fine of a thousand dollars for neglect of duty. On the second Wednesday in February, Congress is required to be in session, and the votes received are counted and the result declared.1 At first the electoral votes did not state whether the candidates named in them were candidates for the presidency or for the vice-presidency. Each elector simply wrote down two names, only one of which could be the name of a citizen of his own state. 1 See note on p. 278. In |