The Two Houses, For Instance,
Of The State Of Massachusetts Meet Together And Elect By Their Joint
Vote To The Vacant Seat For Their State.
It is so arranged that an
entirely new Senate is not elected every sixth year.
Instead of
this a third of the number is elected every second year. It is a
common thing for Senators to be re-elected, and thus to remain in
the house for twelve and eighteen years. In our Parliament the
House of Commons has greater political strength and wider political
action than the House of Lords; but in Congress the Senate counts
for more than the House of Representatives in general opinion.
Money bills must originate in the House of Representatives, but that
is, I think, the only special privilege attaching to the public
purse which the Lower House enjoys over the Upper. Amendments to
such bills can be moved in the Senate; and all such bills must pass
the Senate before they become law. I am inclined to think that
individual members of the Senate work harder than individual
Representatives. More is expected of them, and any prolonged
absence from duty would be more remarked in the Senate than in the
other House. In our Parliament this is reversed. The payment made
to members of the Senate is 3000 dollars, or 600l., per annum, and
to a Representative, 500l. per annum. To this is added certain
mileage allowance for traveling backward and forward between their
own State and the Capitol.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 58 of 531
Words from 15337 to 15587
of 142339
