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2. If no election has been made, the joint assembly shall then proceed to vote viva voce for Senator, and if any person receive a majority of all the votes of the joint assembly, a majority of all the members elected to both houses being present and voting, he shall be declared duly elected.

3. If a choice is not made on this day, then the two houses shall meet in joint assembly each succeeding day, at the same hour, and shall take at least one vote, as before, until a Senator shall be elected.

4. If a vacancy exist on the meeting of a Legislature, said Legislature shall proceed on the second Tuesday after meeting and organization to fill said vacancy, as in the previous case; and if a vacancy occurs when the session is in progress, it shall proceed by the same steps to fill it on the second Tuesday after it has received notice of the vacancy.

Section 4, Clause 2.-The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

301. Number of Sessions.-Accordingly, every Congress must hold at least two sessions. Some Congresses have held three, the President having called an extra session, or Congress itself having by law or by adjournment provided for one. The term of a Congress begins at 12 M. March 4, following the election of Representatives, 1893, 1895, etc., and continues until 12 M. of the next odd year, 1895, 1897, etc. Still, since 1821 the ordinary meeting day has been the first Monday of December following the beginning of the Representatives' term. There is nothing to prevent the first session, called the long one, continuing until the first Monday of the next December, when it must end, that the new or short session may begin. It cannot continue beyond 12 M. March 4 of the ensuing year.

Under the present system, any Congress, as the Fifty-third, holds one session after the members of the House of Representatives for the ensuing Congress have been elected. The constitutional interval between the election of a Representative and the beginning of his term is from the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November

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, and 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.

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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 State's; 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.

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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 Representatives': 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.

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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

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