*BP ^ o ■'■■■*■-'. - , . 9HHBI Photornount CONGRESS AND ITS WORK UNDER THE PARTY SYSTEM BY MARJORIE SHULER STEBBINS & COMPANY BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 1W7 Union Street CONGRESS AND ITS WORK UNDER THE PARTY SYSTEM BY MARJORIE SHULER STEBBINS & COMPANY BROOKLYN, NEW YORK I • • • ." Ssr Copyright, 1922 BY STEBB1NS & COMPANY m &~ CHAPTER I CONGRESS AND ITS POWERS The Two Houses.— The most discussed, the most criticized and the least understood institu- tion in American politics is the national law-mak- ing body, Congress. It consists of two houses. The upper house, or Senate, has a fixed member- ship of ninety-six, two members from each of the forty-eight states. The lower body, the House of Representatives, has a changing membership based on the population of the various states. The number is now set at four hundred and thirty-five, New York having the greatest repre- sentation, forty-three, and Delaware, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming, the small- est number, one. Alaska and Hawaii each have one delegate, who is allowed to serve on certain committees and to take part in debate, but not to vote. The Philippine Islands and Porto Rico have resident commissioners with privileges simi- lar to those of the territorial delegates. Senators and Representatives receive the same 132. Congress and Its Work salary, .seven thousand five hundred dollars an- nually.-, 'In* addition they are allowed traveling expenses of twenty cents per mile for each mile from their homes to Washington and return each session. They also have stationery and office sup- ply allotments, are permitted to send all except personal letters without paying postage and are given the services of clerks and secretaries. Representatives are elected every two years. The states are divided according to population into congressional districts, the voters of each district choosing their own representative. All the voters of each state may participate in the election of the senators, who are given six-year terms, one-third of the ninety-six being elected biennially. The longer term and the common re- election, — three former senators served continu- ously for thirty-two years each — aid in keeping that house the more conservative of the two. The Sessions of Congress.— Although mem- bers are elected to Congress in November of the even-numbered years, they are not called into regular session until a year from the following December, thirteen months later. This provision of the constitution is a survival of the days when it took six weeks for the news to reach Andrew Jackson at his home near Nashville, Tennessee, that he had been elected President of the United Congress and Its Work 133 States, and another three months for him to travel by coach to the national capitol. In later years it has been subjected to much criticism, experience having demonstrated that when the voters turn one party out and put another in power in No- vember, the Congress of the succeeding Decem- ber to March does practically no work at all. This is true even when the incoming party al- ready has a majority in Congress for Senators and Representatives wait for the new adminis- tration to take the initiative in framing policies. The nation thus suffers from the delay of needed legislation and is put to the expense of an extra session to do what should have been done in the regular session. The session which convenes in December of the odd-numbered years continues so long as there is business to be transacted and is called the long session. The session which convenes in Decem- ber of the even-numbered years continues until noon on the following fourth day of March, when the members elected the preceding November take office and is called the short session. The President of the United States, who is empowered to adjourn Congress when it can come to no such agreement on its own account, may also convene extraordinary sessions. So fre- quently has this been done recently that during 134 Congress and Its Work the ten years from 1910 to 1920 there was but one year, 1915, when the regular interval elapsed be- tween sessions. Historical Development of Congress. — Con- gress was created to be to the nation what the legislature was to the state. Although the situa- tion then was such that Madison complained that 'the backwardness of the best citizens to engage in the legislative service gave too great success to unfit characters/ the founders of the republic saw no better model than that offered by the state legislatures. The federal constitution was not framed to re- quire Congress to hold public sessions, but it does provide that "each House shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, except such parts as may in their judg- ment require secrecy." At first the Senate took advantage of its pre- rogative to keep its sessions secret, but in 1799 it admitted spectators to its debates. The House of Representatives practised no such conceal- ments and during the first thirty years of its ex- istence was the center of public interest and authority. It exercised considerable control over both federal and local political affairs. During the first years of Congress practically all the political questions of the day were dis- Congress and Its Work 135 cussed in their relation to the constitution. The opening of lines of transportation and communi- cation, the admission of new states and the an- nexation of territory, the tariff and international affairs were all made matters of constitutional interpretation and argued from the viewpoint of that most fertile cause of controversy in this country, federal versus state's rights. Although the abolition movement brought orators forward in political affairs, it is lawyers who have pre- dominated in Congress from the beginning down to the present time. A recent survey of the mem- bership showed that of the ninety-six Senators, no fewer than sixty-eight were lawyers. Thir- teen were business men, six newspaper pub- lishers, three doctors, two farmers, and four unclassified. Of the four hundred and thirty- five Representatives, two hundred and sixty-eight were listed as lawyers. The Powers of Congress. — The confirmation of treaties and presidential appointments is vested solely in the Senate. Charges of impeach- ment of high public officials are laid first before the House, which decides whether the charges shall be preferred before the Senate. Revenue- raising bills also originate in the House. The legislation which Congress is empowered to enact and which requires the consent of both 186 Congress and Its Work houses includes control of money-raising, taxing, etc. ; commerce, naturalization ; bankruptcy ; money coinage; weights and measures; punish- ment of counterfeiting and piracy ; postoffices and postroads; copyrights; tribunals below the supe- rior court; declaration of war; raising and pro- viding for army and navy; organizing of militia and control of certain conditions ; government of the nation's Capitol. Congress also exercises considerable control over the members of the cabinet. In addition to the Senate confirmation of their appointments, the two houses of Congress decide the salaries and duties of each, the number of their assistants and their duties, the creation of subordinate bureaus and appropriations for their entire departments. Besides their direct work in Congress, mem- bers also look after the interests of their constitu- ents in other respects, especially in connection with the federal departments. Thus a member of Congress may spend several hours each day seeking appointments or pensions for individuals, urging the establishment of a federal institution in a certain locality or the transference of a pro- posed institution away from a locality at the re- quest of the community itself, or in answering dozens of other requests. CHAPTER II THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS The Struggle for Leadership. — The months preceding a session of Congress are filled with what is termed * wire-pulling,' the efforts of mem- bers to secure positions of party leadership and chairmanships and memberships of the important committees in both houses. New members go to Washington and old members gather as well to pledge votes for themselves. The party in power has the positions of greater importance. It se- lects from its membership the officials of the two houses, all of the chairmen of committees and the majority of memberships on all committees. Men who are ambitious for these appointments enlist the aid of important party leaders both in- side and outside of Congress and sometimes the struggle continues down to the very hour of the party caucus at which the election is made sure. In the House the Republicans appoint what is called a 'committee on committees,' which guides the choice of the caucus. The Democratic mem- 137 138 Congress and Its Work bers of the committee on rules perform a similar service for their party. In the Senate the caucus itself makes its own decisions. / A member who is not in harmony with the leaders in his party, or who displays any considerable amount of in- dependence finds it impossible to secure caucus endorsement for any important position. Organization of the House of Representa- tives.— In the House the leading position to be filled is that of presiding officer, or speaker, who ranks in Washington official life immediately after the President and Vice-President. The Speaker, as a matter of course, is always a mem- ber of the party in power. In addition, both parties appoint what are purely party officials, a floor leader, one or two 'whips' and a steering committee. The majority floor leader, or some one he asks to represent him, always makes the motion to adjourn or take recess. Whether the House adjourns or takes recess at the end of the day is exceedingly important, since this deter- mines the order of business for the succeeding morning. Sometimes the minority party protests vigorously against the decision as to recess or ad- journment; and toward the close of a session, when it is difficult to secure the floor for any busi- ness, this motion has the greatest significance. It is also the duty of the majority leader to see that Congress and Its Work 139 the policies determined upon by the steering com- mittee of his party are carried out upon the floor ; and to this end it is essential that he should be a good parliamentarian, to take advantage of tech- nicalities of floor procedure and to outwit oppo- nents. The steering committee decides what is good party policy on all party questions, and which bills it is wise to push. It greatly depends upon the qualifications of the members of this committee what legislation is actually passed. The 'whip' has a great responsibility since he must see that when a vote is to be taken the mem- bers of his party are present or accounted for. Great indeed is his wrath and that of his party if he fails to see that a sufficient number of mem- bers are 'whipped into line' to vote in accordance with the policies decided upon by the steering committee and guided by the floor leader. The minority party 'whips,' steering committee, and floor leader fill the same positions for their party, only with less power than those of the majority party, and the minority floor leader is always recognized as the spokesman for his side of the House. Organization of the Senate. — The Senate is presided over by the Vice-President of the United States, but it also elects a president pro tempore from the majority party, and each party 140 Congress and Its Work has its floor leader, steering committee, and one whip. The party positions are not ratified by the body of either House, but the Speaker, presi- dent pro tempore, committee chairmen, and mem- bers must all be voted upon after the caucus re- ports are submitted. The nominations made by the caucus of the majority party always prevail, although there is sometimes fear that this will not be so. When the party in power has a scant majority of one or two, there are sure to be some members who take advantage of the situation, either to exact desired positions or the promise of certain legislation to secure their vote, or independent members who object to the giving of offices to no- torious conservatives or reactionaries. There was a recent instance of this kind, where one indepen- dent member of the Senate, by voting with the minority, could defeat all of his party candidates. It had been threatened that he would do so, unless certain nominees of his party were withdrawn. When the actual moment to vote came, he stood by his party, and there was an audible murmur in the Senate galleries while members of his party who had not spoken to him for months rushed down the aisle to shake his hand. In another re- cent instance the successful candidate of one po- litical party was considered to be at heart more Congress and Its Work 141 friendly to the opposing party and it was believed possible that he might start his senatorial career by voting for the nominees of the opposing party. He did not do so, however, and it may be assumed with great certainty that the members of each party will almost inevitably vote for the nominees of their own caucus. Although it is clear that the party leaders under such a system of organization have tremen- dous control over both Houses, their power is considerably less today than it has been in the past. In the House it was the procedure for many years up to 1911 for the Speaker to appoint the committee members and until 1910 to have the right to recognize only such members as he chose to allow the floor in debate. A revolt against domination by the Speaker caused the curtailing of much of his power. Standing Committees. — So great is the power of the committees and their chairmen that the United States itself has been called 'a gov- ernment by chairmen.' Recently exceptions have been made to what was formerly a hard and fast rule, which contributed greatly to the power of committee chairmen. This was the seniority sys- tem, by which the representative of the party in power, who had been longest a member of the committee was given the chairmanship, regard- 142 Congress and Its Work less of fitness. The argument in favor of the seniority system was that when a man had been a committee member for many years he was toler- ably familiar with the work of the committee. On the other hand, a weak or illy-equipped man may retain his seat in Congress, or a man whose ideas are not at all in accord with those of the majority of the people along a certain line may stay for years on a committee, and not even be a good member of the committee, much less fitted to act as its chairman. Another innovation which is regarded with favor was made in the House of Representatives, where the majority party ruled that no man who was on one of ten principal committees should serve on any other committee. Previous to that time a group of strong and powerful members could hold between them all the places on all of the important committees. Most of the legislation enacted by Congress is determined by committees. Their recommenda- tions usually decide the action in either House and so they either may make practically certain the victory of a bill or may assure its defeat or its delay so that no action at all is taken upon it. While most of the committee proceedings are conducted in secret or executive session, it fre- quently happens that a committee will hold open Congress and Its Work . 143 hearings where interested citizens may declare themselves for or against bills. As a source of general information these hearings sometimes prove of the greatest value. On the other hand members wishing to delay legislation will drag out hearings, stimulating the introduction of new witnesses, cross-examining those who appear and devising such means of delay that the proposed legislation is never passed. CHAPTER III THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS The Introduction of Bills. — Each Congress passes a relatively small number of the bills pre- sented to it. In a recent session, for instance, 22,594 bills were introduced and 543 passed. Causes of the Defeat of Bills.— There are two contributing causes to the defeat of bills. One is the opposition by members themselves or by interested citizens outside of Congress who for various reasons desire to have certain bills killed. The other cause is the slow-moving pro- cedure of Congress, by which bills are smothered, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintention- ally. Those who are working from outside to defeat bills will have hundreds and thousands of letters and telegrams sent from voters to mem- bers of Congress. They circulate petitions and get signatures in opposition to the bills, which they present to the members of Congress. They hold mass meetings and prevail upon newspapers to attack the bills. Sometimes the opposing in- 144 Congress and Its Work 145 fluences brought to bear upon them are so strong that members of Congress are compelled to fight the bills, either through secret arrangements with their colleagues or in open debate on the floor. Those who favor bills are obliged to resort to similar methods in order to prove that the voters desire the bills passed. It must always be borne in mind, therefore, that bills introduced before Congress have this double struggle, both to prove to members of Congress that the people really desire this legis- lation and to survive the tedious, long-drawn-out processes which characterize the deliberations of our national law-making body. Referring of Bills to Committees. — In the House of Representatives a member introduces a bill by placing it in a basket and rising on the floor to announce that fact. The bill is then referred to a committee. The presiding officer may wish to make the reference to a committee known to be friendly or unfriendly to this par- ticular piece of legislation, but he has far less latitude in this regard than the presiding officer in a state legislature. For Congress is governed not only by rules but by precedents, which are so seriously regarded as to be printed for reference. If a member can point to either a rule or a prece- dent for the reference of a bill or for any other 146 Congress and Its Work proposal he wishes to make, he is fairly certain to be upheld. Once in committee the bill may be smothered and no action taken on it at all, or it may be de- feated in the committee, or amended, or reported back to the House with a favorable recommenda- tion or an unfavorable recommendation. If re- ported back to the House the bill goes to one of two calendars. Appropriation bills or private bills, such as those relating to pensions and awards, go to what is called the Calendar of the Whole House or the Calendar of the State of the Union, which has certain rights of precedence over the other calendar. Other bills go to what is called the House calendar. Procedure in the House. — Then comes the struggle to get time for discussion on the floor, except in the matter of reports or bills from the committees on printing, elections, ways and means, appropriations, which are termed 'privi- leged' and in both House and Senate have certain rights of precedence over all other bills. Under ordinary conditions, the chairman of a committee in the House of Representatives who has reported a bill of which he is in favor applies to the rules committee for a rule to bring the bill on the floor. The rules committee may or may not have hearings on the bill, but it does decide Congress and Its Work 147 whether or not it will give place to the measure. If it decides to allow it time, the committee re- ports that fact to the House, announcing also the date, the hour and the period allowed for debate with the names of the two members who will con- trol the division of the time between the affirma- tive and negative speakers. When the appointed day and hour arrives there may be debate on the acceptance of the report from the rules commit- tee. But once the report is adopted the time is controlled as it has provided and no member is permitted to have the floor except those listed by the two members in control of the time. At the conclusion of the alloted period the vote must be taken on the bill. Procedure in the Senate. — The procedure in the upper House is entirely different. There the difficulty is not so much in getting the bill on the floor for discussion, as in getting a vote once the bill is on the floor. Appropriations and a few special bills have a separate calendar. Other bills go to the calendar of general orders and are called by number once a week, usually on Monday. Suppose this bill which is so much needed by the country has survived all this procedure and gets as far as the general calendar. It is called by its number on a Calendar Monday. If one member objects, the bill must go over. 148 Congress and Its Work On the other hand, if there is no objection a bill may be adopted without debate and once recently with just five senators on the floor a very contro- versial bill was so adopted. As an indication of the amount of attention which even these five members were paying to the country's business when a few minutes later other Senators rushed on to the floor to demand a reconsideration, all but one of the five stated that they did not know what the bill was that they had just acted upon. Perhaps this important bill which the people want has two or three strong enemies among the members of the Senate. It may be clear to all that if the bill comes to a vote it will be passed, yet those two or three men can postpone its pas- sage by prolonged discussions, since the Senate has no limit on debate such as that in the House. Using debate to delay legislation is termed 'fili- bustering.' Sometimes it is the party dictators themselves who resort to filibustering to defeat a bill which may be desired by many good citizens. Filibustering to Kill Legislation. — Filibus- tering was resorted to by the southern senators in the administration of the second Harrison to defeat the 'force' bill. It has frequently been invoked since then. In fact the four Congresses from 1914-1918 each closed with a filibuster. Senator LaFollette has been one of the most Congress and Its Work 149 noted exponents of the filibuster, Senator Allen is given credit for twenty-one hours of speaking when the Sherman act was under consideration, Senator Carter held the floor for eighteen hours during the vote on a rivers and harbors bill and Senator Smoot has a record of fifteen hours dur- ing the discussion of the shipping bill. In 1917 the Senate passed what is called the cloture rule to stop filibustering. Sixteen sena- tors must sign a petition to get cloture. The pe- tition must lie over for two days. Then the vote is taken and two-thirds of the Senate must be present and two-thirds of that number must vote in favor, in order to adopt cloture. After cloture is applied no member may speak for more than one hour. Since a filibuster usually develops at the close of a session, and ninety-six senators may each speak for one hour, cloture is not a great help in saving time for the passage of legislation. The Three Readings. — Every bill must go through the formality of three readings in each House. Sometimes only the title is read, some- times the amendments- made in committee. But the vote is not taken until the presiding officer announced the three readings. Minor points of difference are settled by viva voce vote, but bills are usually submitted by roll call so that each member is on record. 150 Congress and Its Work The Bill in the Other House.— Providing the bill is passed in spite of all these difficulties, it is sent from the House which passes it to the other one. If the second House amends the bill, it is then returned to the one where it originated for acceptance. Refusal to accept forces a con- ference. Each House appoints its conferees and they may report several times before they are able to effect a compromise. The report of a con- ference committee is not subject to amendment and must be accepted or rejected as presented. Appropriation Bills. — Appropriation bills merit special consideration, since they occasion more frequent controversy than any other legisla- tion. The constitution provides that revenue- raising bills shall originate in the lower House and it has been the custom for appropriation bills to be framed there likewise. The procedure is for each federal department to send annually to the Secretary of the Treasury the estimates for its expenses. Since the amounts are always cut down, the departments pad these estimates to the fullest extent and the Secretary of the Treas- ury is only the compiler, with no authority to cut out duplications or to check undue extravagances. This list is then sent to the House, where it is divided between ten different committees. This separation has not tended to cut down extrava- Congress and Its Work 151 gance or eliminate duplication. In 1920-21 the House formed a joint appropriation committee with thirty-five members to handle all appropria- tion bills, the Senate continuing to divide the work among seven committees. This reform was considered preparatory to the adoption of a na- tional budget system by which the method of handling might be made still more efficient. Veto.— r-Bills passed by both Houses are sent to the President of the United States for his sig- nature, before they may become law. If he re- fuses to sign a bill, he returns it to the House which sent it to him and it then requires a two- thirds vote by both Houses to pass it over his veto. If ten days elapse without the President of the United States taking any action whatever the bill becomes law without his signature. If, however, the President has not signed the bill and Congress adjourns before the expiration of the ten days, the bill is killed by what is termed a "pocket veto." Congressional Record. — Stenographic re- ports are taken of every session of Congress and committee hearings. The committee hearings are published separately, but the account of each day's session is printed in what is called the Con- gressional Record, the reports for any day always being issued the following morning. Each Sena- 152 Congress and Its Work tor has eighty-eight copies and each Representa- tive sixty copies of the Congressional Record daily. Constituents may sometimes be placed on the free list of a member, receiving the Record each day during the session, but members prefer to send the copies bound to the libraries in their districts. It is also possible to subscribe for the Record, which is an excellent way of following the proceedings of Congress. The public distri- bution of the Record and the reprinting from it at small cost of speeches made by members gives rise to the making of speeches solely for the Rec- ord. That is, a member may secure the floor and talk for some time with no intention of affecting pending legislation, but only of affecting the votes of his constituents. In the House members 'ask leave to extend their remarks,' which means that men who have taken no part whatever in a discussion carefully write out a speech and it is printed in the Record exactly as though it had been delivered on the floor. Pairing. — While it is true that members have much work to do for their constituents in the va- rious federal departments, the general habit of leaving the floor in both Houses while the session is in progress is much to be deplored. Often business is being transacted when only five or six members are present and it is a constant habit in Congress and Its Work 153 the Senate for all but two or three members to leave the floor when a long speech is made. It seems reasonable to believe, if members were re- quired to be in their seats all during the course of the day, that means would be devised to check undue debate and delay. Absentee members are greatly aided by the pairing system. Pairing is not a rule, but is a much-honored custom of both Houses. It is usual for members at the beginning of the year to make what is termed a general pair. That is, two men with opposing views, practically always of opposing parties, will pair. That means that if one of the pair is absent, the other will withhold his vote. Thus any man may be away from the floor, secure in the knowledge that his absence will not affect the fortunes of his cause. When members expect to be away from the city for several days they may arrange spe- cial pairs, covering certain votes which will come up during their absence. In addition to encour- aging absence from the floor, pairing is con- demned as enabling men to evade responsibility for their votes in a way which they could not do if they were present. CHAPTER IV LEGISLATIVE ABUSES Wasting Time. — The abuses of Congress may be divided into three classes, those which waste the public time, those which waste the pub- lic money, and those which are destructive of public interests. The ways of wasting time are principally making speeches for the Record and filibustering, already mentioned, and the calling of the roll in the House. It requires about forty minutes to call the roll in the House, and a favor- ite method of delaying proceedings is to demand frequent roll calls. There is agitation for the substitution of an electrical system of roll call which would take less time. Waste of time means waste of money to the nation, for it has been esti- mated that it costs about ten thousand dollars a minute to run Congress. Waste of Public Money. — One of the great- est wastes of money is the abuse of the franking system, or the free use of the mails to which mem- bers are entitled. It was brought out recently 154 Congress and Its Work 155 that a member of Congress, who desired to be elected governor in his own state, was sending out packages of books as gifts to voters. In one day alone he was said to have sent out 640,000 of these packages. The government must have paid a large amount for the printing; and the postage alone at regular rates would have been forty-five cents a package, or $325,000. Many members have adopted the custom of sending a piece of literature to each of their constituents once a week or once every few days. Another gift made frequently, especially in country districts, is bound copies of the funeral orations which are delivered in Congress and whose bindings make them desirable ornaments. Then there are the garden seeds, for which ap- propriations of hundreds of thousands of dollars are made annually. Garden seeds are the special gift of members of the House of Representatives, but any voter who receives a package may well remember that it is the public funds, the taxes of the people, which have been spent in this effort to attract votes to Representatives. Patronage and the Pork Barrel. — Still more expensive to the public purse are patronage and 'pork barrel' possibilities. All of the positions about the Capitol are given as patronage. Every doorkeeper, every elevator man, every attendant 156 Congress and Its Work in the dressing rooms, is on the patronage lists of some member. The two greatest 'pork barrel' projects have always been the public buildings appropriations and the rivers and harbors ap- propriations bills. Members who wanted to get new buildings, postoffices, revenue collectors' of- fices, or bridges, found it necessary to be good friends with the chairmen of these committees. Recently the steering committee of the party in power in the House has ruled that these bills may contain no projects not already secured by bills passed by Congress ; so this particular form of graft has been somewhat curtailed. Members still lobby to increase appropriations for their dis- tricts and trade votes with each other on bills, the latter being called log-rolling.' Loss of Public Interest. — Of the practises destructive to public interest, none is more seri- ous than that of control of members by a spirit of sectionalism. Members are usually concerned in getting what their constituents want and advanc- ing the interests of that particular part of the country from which they come, instead of looking to the welfare of the nation as a whole. Few take the point of view of Daniel Webster, who re- ferred to himself not as the representative of his state, but of the United States. CHAPTER V SOME SUGGESTED EEMEDIES Reforms in Committees.— To regulate the use of power by committees, it has been urged that greater publicity be given to committee proceed- ings, that committees be required to make some report on all bills and be prohibited from smoth- ering any. The election by each committee of its own chairman, rather than the choice of chairmen by the party caucus is also advocated. Decreasing the Power of the Lobby.— The pressure which is brought to bear upon members of Congress to vote for measures for private in- terests rather than the public good is one of the most destructive phases of the entire system. Lobbying is the technical term applied to the work of those who are present during legislative sessions, seeking to influence members of Con- gress. Certain strong commercial interests main- tain a permanent lobby in Congress. Their rep- resentatives are always present in the galleries. They watch all that goes on and by frequent let- 157 158 Congress and Its Work ters and visits they seek to impress their views upon members. Sometimes lobbyists are them- selves former members of Congress, with the right to go on the floor and mingle with the pres- ent members. In fact, so widespread has the sys- tem become, that a member of Congress will often talk or even dine with an old friend, who seems sincerely interested in a certain bill and cleverly presents arguments which carry much weight. Later the congressman will discover that the sup- posedly unprejudiced citizen was a highly paid employee of some concern with a vital interest in the proposed legislation. Bills have been intro- duced requiring all lobbyists to register their names, the names of the organizations they repre- sent and the amounts of money which they spend during a session, but no such bill has been passed. While a law of this kind might be helpful in en- abling members to sift prejudiced opinions from disinterested ones, the only effective way to coun- ter-balance the efforts of lobbyists is for citizens generally to formulate their own opinions on po- litical questions and then to inform their repre- sentatives in Congress how they wish them to vote. The Responsibility of Voters. — Burke's comment, in 1770, on the English political sys- tem is applicable to our American institution Congress and Its Work 159 today. "Where there is," he said, "a regular scheme of operations carried on, it is the system, and not any individual person, who acts in it, that is truly dangerous." "Political leaders," he con- tinued, "contrived to form in the outward admin- istration two parties at least, which, whilst they are tearing one another to pieces, are both com- petitors for the favor and protection of the cabal ; and by their emulation contribute to throw every- thing more and more into the hands of the interior managers."/ Later, after the founding of our own republic, Madison observed that "in all legislative assem- blies the greater the number composing them, the fewer will be the men who in fact direct the proceedings." This control by a few leaders, whose operations are hidden from the general body of voters, and the difficulty of placing responsibility upon the individual members of Congress or the party in power, have led to a serious defect. The voters, becoming dissatisfied with conditions and not realizing the underlying evils of the system itself, have turned one party out and put another in. Questions of national policy, platform principles, efficient administrators, have all been thrust aside at times and elections have been carried on the sole issue of a change of party. It has been said 160 Congress and Its Work that the two major political parties are exactly like bottles with different labels — both empty. Voters who have turned one party out to put an- other in, defeated one man to elect another, with- out any effect upon the system, are likely occa- sionally at least to agree with this statement. Until the voters realize that it is the system which is at fault, they will be powerless to effect any real reform. Men are elected to Congress and go to Washington with high ideals. \ They come in contact with the system which has been working these many years. They feel themselves helpless against it. One of two things happens. Either they accept the system and in time become so accustomed to it that they think it the only system, or they rebel, in which case political lead- ers make them ridiculous in the public eye and at the next election such men decline to serve again or suffer defeat at the hands of their constituents. The solution is with the voters. With intelli- gent support from their constituents, a very few men could make much-needed reforms in the sys- tem. With every voter willing to work for it, good government would quickly become an estab- lished fact. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO 50 CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $I.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. PC APR 18 1941 11 ^$m m£ ::_ : 23X i V62QP < > No v'68P sX R EC'D LD m 2 7 '63 -yAN LD 21-1007/ 520N.96 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY