Page Eight
MAY 1925
THE UNITED AMERICAN
Becoming an American
By A. C. STRANGE, Superintendent, City Schools of Astoria
V.
JN THIS LETTER I shall write upon the making
of laws, which, in my judgment, is the govern
mental responsibility that demands from our citizens
closest study and most careful attention.
There are three functions of government:
(1) the making of laws,
(2) the enforcing of laws and the directing oi
the machinery of government, and
(3) the Explaining of the laws and the punish
ment of those who break them.
In olden times all three of these functions were
exercised by one person—the chief or the king, As
long as this ruler used his vast power wisely and
fairly, his government was satisfactory and his sub
jects contented, but when his rule became autocratic,
as it often did, there was thus enkindled in their
hearts a desire to overthrow his power and many
times there followed revolution and change in the
government.
Our nation is the product of such
revolution and such change.
The makers of the plan of our government, con
tained in the United States Constitution, were very
fearful of a government in which the three responsi
bilities were combined in one office or one department.
Hence they gave them to three entirely separate and
distinct departments—the legislative, the executive
and the judicial departments. It is with the first of
these departments that this letter has to do.
Our legislatures, both national and state, are
organized according to what is called the bicameral
system; that is, there are two houses, each serving as
a check against hurried and unwise legislation on the
part of the other.
The men who wrote the Con
stitution were familiar with the two types of legis
latures—that is, legislatures of one house and legis
latures of two houses.
Certain colonies had used
the one-house system and had found it unsatisfactory
in that its members were more prone to enact laws
without sufficient consideration. Hence the tendency
particularly among many of the- colonists of English
descent, was to favor the two-house plan. Moreover,
a difference had arisen between the more thickly
peopled colonies and those of few people over the
number of representatives each should be given. This
difference of opinion aroused among people and in the
constitutional convention much discussion and dissen
sion. Finally a compromise plan of having two
houses, one a senate of two members from each state
and the other a house in which representation should
be according to population, was adopted.
Formerly, all members of the senate were elected
by the state legislatures. This plan proved not wholly
satisfactory in that now and then there was free use
of money in bringing about elections and it came to
to be rather freely charged that state legislatures
were thereby corrupted and rich men, rather than
men chosen for ability alone, very often elected tc
the senate. To prevent this, in 1913 the Seventeenth
Amendment, providing that senators shall be chosen
by direct vote of the people, was adopted. Members
of the lower house, or house of representatives, have
always been elected by direct vote of the people oi
the districts or states which they represent.
As was said before, it is the work of these two
bodies, the two together being called Congress, to
make laws. To do this they meet in regular session
annually the first Monday in December and, in addition
in special session whenever the President sees fit to
call them together. The election of the members ol
Congress, that is, of the lower house and at least
one-third of the senators, takes place on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November each
even-numbered year. The newly elected Congress
however, does not assemble the following month. In
stead, unless called in special session, it does not meet
until December of the next year, thirteen months after
the election. This long delay is strongly objected to
by many poeple and it is very probable that in the
near future efforts may be made to change it. Con-1
gress then usually remains in session for six or eight
months. The second session, convening the follow
ing December, (there are two sessions of every con
gress) is called the short session, in that it must
adjourn on the fourth of the following March when
the terms of its members expire.
In the meeting of this body any member has the
right to introduce for the consideration of his associ
ate members any bill he thinks should be enacted into
law. After he has written the proposed law out in
proper words and form, he does this by reading its
title and explaining what he hopes it will accomplish.
It is then ordinarily printed and placed in the hands
of the members. After a day’s time, it is read a
second time by title and referred to the proper com
mittee, whose business it is to study its wording and
meaning carefully, to consider its effects upon the
country and to recommend either for or against it.
In the early days of our country, there were nc
committees in Congress. It was soon found, tho,
that much time was lost thru the efforts of the entire
body to consider all bills offered; so the plan of having
smaller groups to study the various bills was devised
and is in use today. As a consequence, much of the
work of Congress or of a state Legislature is done by
committees.
When the committee is ready to report, a time is
set for the discussion of the bill and for a vote of the
house upon its adoption. At this time, there comes
the third and final reading, usually only by title.
After such discussion as there may be, a vote is taken.
If the bill passes this house, it then goes to the second
house where the same plan is followed. If it is
passed also by this house, it is submitted to the Presi
dent or to the Governor, who will either sign it or veto
it. If he vetoes the bill, it can be enacted into law
by a two-thirds vote of both houses.
So you see that the making of a law is a slow and
tedious process, requiring hard study and careful at
tention. It was hoped by the makers of our nation
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