The powers of Congress are generally those inherent in every sovereign assembly of the people; but there are two important restrictions. The President's veto (above) is a very real restraint on tyranny by a bare majority, perhaps not honestly obtained and always inviting dis honesty with such supreme power; and it re tains full vitality, while the English royal veto has perished. Still more important is its con finement by the Constitution to the powers ex pressly granted its laws are invalid if pro nounced by the Supreme Court contrary to the Constitution, while a majority vote of the Eng lish Parliament could theoretically abolish the monarchy or hang the entire population. Too much is sometimes made of this, however. The °implied powers° of caring for the national wel fare have been found in practice elastic enough for every claim of sovereignty. As to the Su preme Court, it is the creature of an act of Con gress and could be abolished by another (as a whole system of national courts actually was) more simply, it can be and has been swamped and packed to reverse an unpopular decision, and if its decisions are defied (as. under Jack son), it is powerless to enforce them. Hence it is very cautious about deciding upoliticaP is sues of burning intensity (see CHEROKEE NATION V. GEORGIA), except in the sense of the majority or opposing strong popular feeling. In a word, Congress is the ultimate sovereign. Its in hibitions by the Constitution reflect past his tory and the politics of the time curiously enough. It was not to prohibit the slave-trade before 1:0: and not to grant titles of — conversely, no one is to receive office, title or gift from any foreign potentate without its con sent; it is not to suspend the habeas corpus except on account of rebellion or invasion, not to pass bills of attainder, not to lay export taxes, nor direct taxes except in to population, not to give preferential duties be tween the States, or enforce clearances at ports outside a vessel's destined State. Not all of these things were needless fetters; and certainly the prohibition from drawing money except on regular appropriations, and the injunction to publish the disposition of the money drawn, was not one.
There being at present 48 States, the num ber of senators is 96. The number of repre sentatives has never been deternuned by the constitutional provision, whose minimum was fixed when the country had but 2,500,000 or so of inhabitants. The maximum has been slowly enlarged at each census, each State retaining all it had, while the States with increased popu lation have been given more members. The basis of apportionment under the census of 1910 is one representative to every 212,407 in habitants. This furnishes the following repre sentation for the several States: Alabama, 10; Arizona, 1; Arkansas, 7; California, 11; Colo rado, 4; Connecticut, 5; Delaware, 1; Florida, 4; Georgia, 12; Idaho, 2; Illinois, 27; Indiana, 13; Iowa, 11; Kansas, 8; Kentucky, 11; Louisi ana, 8; Maine, 4; Maryland, 6; Massachusetts, 16; Michigan, 13; Minnesota, 10; Mississippi, 8; Missouri, 16; Montana, Nebraska, 6; Nevada, 1; New Hampshire, 2; New Jersey, 12; New Mexico, 1; New York, 43; North Carolina, 10; North Dakota, 3; Ohio, 22; Oklahoma, 8; Ore gon, 3; Pennsylvania, 36; Rhode Island, 3; South Carolina, 7; South Dakota, 3; Tennessee, 10; Texas, 18; Utah, 2; Vermont, 2; Virginia, 10; Washington, 5; West Virginia, 6; Wiscon sin, 11; Wyoming, 1; and 5 delegates from Ter ritories as follows: Alaska, Hawaii and Porto Rico, 1 each; Philippines, 2. Total, 440.
2. Each house has its own system of rules for business (78 in the Senate, 45 in the House), with vital differences. The most far-reaching
is the previous question in the House and the absence of it in the Senate. The reasons for the difference are obvious: the great number of representatives, and the fact that most bills are first introduced there, would make business not merely difficult but impossible if everyone could talk at will to any length; the smaller numbers and lesser business of the Senate en able free debate to be retained. The House restricts speeches to an hour; the Senate has no restriction except that a member cannot speak over twice a day on the same question. Each system of course has its attendant possibility of evil: the suppression of needful public light on bills in the one case, °filibustering° and holding up of public business by a factious or inter ested minority in the other. The business of both houses is done by committees; neither will consider bills or memorials at once on presenta tion, except on suspension of the rules— which to be sure, during the latest days of a session, lets through vast numbers of undebated, un examined and unknown bills. But by rule they must be referred to some standing committee, of which there are now 48 in the House and 32 in the Senate, besides 10 select committees in the House and 12 in the Senate; and three joint standing committees. The functions of these committees are assigned by the rules; but as these lap over, two or three committees often contend vigorously for the possession of some one bill. In the Senate, these bills are pre sented in open session on the floor; in the House they are handed to the clerk indorsed with such reference or disposition as the pre senting member wishes made. These commit tees are appointed in the House by the Speaker; in the Senate they are chosen by caucus of the majority party and elected by a single yea and nay vote though the rules say by ballot *unless otherwise ordered.° In case of differences be tween the Houses which continually occur, they are harmonized by committees of confer ence, three senators and three representatives. The most steadily powerful of these committees, which can obtain the floor at any time, are those on Appropriations in each house, disbursing the money in the treasury, and on Privileges and Elections, deciding the right of every member to his seat; next to these, on revenue (Ways and Means in the House, Finance in the Sew ate), with enormous power to help or harm the great businesses of the country—many think too much— and on Printing, which of course is an immediate matter. Next in actual favor come, perhaps, those on Rivers and Harbors and on Pensions, branches of that on Appro priations which they involve; and when new States are to be admitted, on Territories. In formal dignity the Senate committees on For eign Affairs, on the Judiciary and on Military and Naval Affairs, take high rank; 'so in the House do those on Rules, Foreig.n Affairs, Ju diciary, Military Affairs and. Naval Affairs; and of course special circumstances at any time may temporarily make any one of these, or almost any other committee, the centre of in terest to which everything else must give way. In some respects most important of all except the Appropriations Committee are the special conference committees, which do an immense share of the actual legislation of the country: they compromise conflicting business and politi cal interests, include or exclude bills, decide on appropriations, etc., and being mutiny appointed in the crowded closing days of a session, gen erally have their recommendations heeded.