until the 4th of March following, while the practical interval extends to the first Monday in December next ensuing. It often happens that a House of Representatives, at its last session, does not represent the political opinion and feeling of the country as expressed at the election held the previous November, while the new House, which does represent them, cannot, save in case of a called session, act for more than a year. It has therefore been suggested with much apparent reason, that the Constitution should be so changed as to make the election of a Representative and the beginning of his term coincide, aud to bring on a session of Congress soon thereafter.

NOTE.-By an act approved February 28, 1871, the Nationa? Government undertook to extend its authority in a general way over the elections of Representatives. It was made the duty of the several Circuit Judges to appoint in each judicial district in their circuits a chief supervisor of elections; also, under certain conditions, to appoint supervisors of elections for the several election-districts and precincts within the districts. These supervisors were required to guard and scrutinize the registration lists of voters, to attend the elections, to challenge voters of doubtful qualification for the franchise, to inspect, scrutinize, and count the ballots, and to make returns of certificates and returns to the chief supervisor of the judicial district. The same act also required the marshal of the district and his general deputies to preserve order at the registration and voting places, and to support and protect supervisors in the discharge of their duties; he was also required in certain places, under certain conditions, to appoint special deputies for the express purpose of performing these duties. An attempt made in the Fifty-first Congress to carry National regulation of elections still further failed; while the Fifty-third Congress, at its first regular session, passed a bill, which President Cleveland also approved, that repealed all statutes and all parts of statutes then in force relating to supervisors of elections and special deputy marshals for election purposes.

CHAPTER XXI.

IMPEACHMENTS.

Section 2, Clause 5.-The House of Representatives shall . . . have the sole power of impeachment.

Section 3, 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.

Section 3, 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.

Article II., Section 4.-The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article II., Section 2, Clause 1.- -The President . . . shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

302. An Impeachment Defined.—An impeachment, under the Constitution, is a solemn declaration laid before the Senate, that, in the view of the House of Representatives, the person impeached is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors committed in office and should be tried therefor. It is similar to the indictment of a grand jury. It determines nothing as to the guilt or innocence of the person against whom the charge is made. The House of Representatives, in 1867, impeached President Johnson, but the Senate acquitted him.

303. Steps to be Taken.-The following are the principal steps taken in an impeachment case, as laid down

in the Manual of the House of Representatives1: The House having resolved that Mr. be impeached, sends a committee of its members to the Senate to impeach him in the name of the House of Representatives and of all the people of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors in office, to acquaint the Senate that the House will in due time exhibit articles of impeachment against him and make good the same, and to demand that the Senate take order for the appearance of the said Mr.

to answer

to the impeachment. The House receives from the Senate a message that it will take the order demanded, and will give the House due notice. The House adopts articles of impeachment, appoints by ballot five managers to conduct the trial on the part of the House, and orders the managers to lay before the Senate the articles agreed upon, which is duly done. The Senate now notifies the House that it has issued the proper notice to Mr. with an order to file his reply within a given time, and on the day appointed it gives further notice that it is ready to proceed with the case. The House now proceeds to the Senate Chamber to witness the opening of the trial, and then returns to its own chamber and adopts a replication to the answer and plea made by Mr. - which is also laid before the Senate. The preliminaries over, the trial proceeds day by day, the House at first attending as a Committee of the Whole, but afterwards leaving the case wholly to the five managers.

304. Trial Court.-In the trial the Senate sits as a court of justice; and to remind him that he is not now a legislator, but a judge, each Senator is required to take an oath that he will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws. The Vice-President or President pro tempore of the Senate presides in ordinary cases, but the Chief Justice presides in the case of the President of the United States. The reason for this special rule is, that the Vice-President is personally interested in the issue, as

1 Government Printing Office, 1895, pp. 397-399.

he will succeed to the Presidency in case the President is found guilty.

305. Mode of Trial.-The trial is conducted according to the rules observed in criminal trials in courts of justice. The House managers maintain their cause; the accused, in person or by counsel, makes his defense; witnesses are sworn and examined, and other competent evidence is presented pro and con; the managers and counsel submit their arguments. Throughout the trial the doors of the chambers are open, but at its close they are shut and the Senate proceeds to consider the case.

The voting is conducted according to rule XIV. of the Senate Rules for Impeachment, viz. :

"On the final question whether the impeachment is sustained, the yeas and nays shall be taken on each article of impeachment separately, and if the impeachment shall not, upon any of the articles presented, be sustained by the votes of two-thirds of the members present, a judgment of acquittal shall be entered; but if the person accused in such articles of impeachment shall be convicted upon any of such articles by the votes of two-thirds of the members present, the Senate shall proceed to pronounce judgment, and a certified copy of said judgment shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State."

306. Judgment. One of the above quoted clauses says the judgment pronounced upon the accused, if found guilty, shall not extend further than his removal from office and disqualification to hold office under the United States; another says it must extend to his removal. It is for the Senate to decide whether the disqualification to hold office in the future shall be pronounced or not, but that is the limit of its discretion. At the same time the person convicted may be proceeded against in the courts, just as though he had not been punished by impeachment, provided he has been guilty of an offense punishable by law. The reason for denying the President power to grant reprieves and pardons in these cases is, that such a power would be peculiarly liable to abuse. The question whether an officer may be suspended from the exercise of his office

while an impeachment against him is pending, has been often asked but never answered by any competent tribunal.

307. Limitation of the Power. The second of the clauses quoted limits impeachment to the President, VicePresident, and civil officers of the United States. Who are, and who are not, civil officers, are questions that have been much disputed. In 1797 the House of Representatives impeached William Blount, a Senator from Tennessee; the Senate decided by a vote of 14 to 11 that Senators are not civil officers in the sense of the Constitution, and dismissed the case without trial, although it expelled Blount under clause 2, section 5, of Article I. If Senators are not civil officers, neither are Representatives. The result is that, according to this view, impeachment is practically limited to the Executive and Judicial Departments of the Government. Soldiers and sailors are tried and punished for offenses in connection with such service by military and naval courts.

The action of the Senate in 1797 rests on two or three clauses of the Constitution that appear to exclude Senators and Representatives from the category of officers of the United States. Thus, clause 2, section 6, of Article I., says, "No person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuation in office," and "No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office," etc.

308. Grounds of Impeachment.-Section 4, Article II., states the grounds of impeachment, but not with such clearness as to prevent some uncertainty. Treason and bribery are perfectly well understood. Not so the other high crimes and misdemeanors of the section. It has been maintained, for instance, that the impeachment and conviction of a civil officer is constitutional only when he is guilty of an offense that has been made punishable by an act of Congress. This is a narrow view; the proper one is that such an officer may be impeached for offenses relating to his official conduct that are not defined, and that cannot be defined, in the law at all, since they cannot be anticipated.