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Other documents randomly have
different content
electing a single representative. The The soviet basis of
people who live in a given territorial area representation.
are assumed to have a common interest by reason of their
living close together. Under the soviet system this is
considerably changed. Occupation as well as territory is the
basis of representation. Groups of voters unite in choosing
delegates because they work at the same trade, not because
they live in the same neighborhood. For example, all the
workers in a particular factory, or all the farmers in a certain
district begin by choosing one or more representatives.
These representatives come together and form the city
workers’ soviet or the township soviet. The city workers’
soviet is made up of one or more delegates from every
factory. Each local soviet, moreover, appoints delegates to
higher soviets and these, in turn, choose delegates to the
All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which is the supreme
governing body. As this congress is too large to do the
routine work of government, it delegates this function to a
cabinet or Council of Peoples’ Commissars.[308]
The Soviet Plan of Government in Practice.—This is
the theory of soviet government. The supreme political
authority is constituted by the workers alone, through a long
process of indirect election. The national executive is several
steps removed from the control of the people. He is not
directly responsible to the people as in the United States. In
actual fact, moreover, this elaborate plan of indirect
representation has become, in Russia, little more than a
scheme on paper. Many of the provincial Soviets have chosen
no delegates at all. There is no assurance that those who
now hold the reins of power in Russia are the real
representatives of the masses of the people. To keep
themselves in office the Commissars have throttled all
opposition. They have set at naught all Some results of the
the securities for personal liberty which soviet rule.
exist in democratic countries. Arrests have been made
without warrants, thousands of them; men and women have
been held in prison and put to death without public trial;
freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of
assembly have been denied. The soviet leaders admit all this
but argue that these measures are necessary in order to
prevent a counter-revolution.
The Economic Aspects of Communism.—The Russian
revolution did not confine itself to political reconstruction
alone. It was an economic revolution as well. All private
trade, of whatever sort, was, in theory at Relation of
least, abolished throughout Russia and communism to
all industries taken over by the industry.
government. The factories, shops, stores, and all other
instrumentalities of business were placed in charge of
officials to be managed for the benefit of the workers. These
workers were assigned to the various industries by the soviet
authorities, compulsory labor being decreed by law and a
fixed standard of wages established. Trade unions and co-
operative societies were put under the ban. Workers received
their pay in the form of requisitions or orders on the
government stores for food and other supplies. Strikes were
forbidden on penalty of imprisonment. All land was declared
to be owned by the state, but the peasant farmers were
allowed to retain their farms upon giving the government a
share in the produce.
Although the government did its best Breakdown of
to carry through the foregoing program, communism in
economic communism in Russia broke Russia.
down.[309] Factories and stores went out of business; the
peasants could not be coerced into supplying food for cities;
foreign trade stopped almost entirely; the railroads failed to
function; everywhere there was misery and starvation. So
the soviet authorities in 1921 decided upon a partial return
to the system of privately-managed industry. Factories and
shops, to some extent, have been reopened under individual
ownership; the trade unions have been permitted to
reorganize; the rules relating to compulsory labor have been
relaxed; and differences in the rate of wages paid to different
workers are once more permitted. The country has swung
back to a modified form of individualism and capitalistic
production.
The great lesson of communism in The Russian lesson.
Russia is that no system of economic
organization can long survive unless it succeeds in producing
enough to feed, clothe, and shelter the people. When the
incentive of private gain is taken away, some equally strong
incentive to production must be put in its place; otherwise
production will decline and there will not be enough to go
around. That is what happened in Russia. Neither
compulsion nor appeals to the loyalty of the worker availed
to keep production up. Fewer goods were produced and
there was less to distribute. Equality of distribution avails
nothing when there is too little to be distributed.
The International Aims of the Communists.—
Communism is not merely national in its aim; it is
international. Its motto is: “Workers of the World, Unite!” Its
goal is the violent overturning of the existing political and
economic organization in all countries so that soviet
governments may be established and all private industry
abolished. This is the program of the Program of the
Third International, a body made up of Third International.
communist delegates from all over the world. In order to
promote this program the Russian authorities have
endeavored to carry on a propaganda in all other countries,
sending out literature and agents wherever possible. The
communists realize, however, that the prospects for such a
revolution are not good in countries like the United States,
Great Britain, and France so long as the trade union
movement makes progress and gains advantages for
organized labor. Hence they aim to secure the destruction of
unions, to promote “outlaw” strikes, and to encourage every
form of industrial discontent.
 Moderate Socialism and Socialism and
Communism Distinguished.— communism are
Communism, as it has been exemplified widely different.
in Russia during the past few years, should be distinguished
from socialism as the latter term is commonly understood,
although extreme forms of socialism may go substantially as
far. Socialists do not propose that all except the workers shall
be excluded from a share in government. They do not
propose to wipe out the political rights of the individual, or to
destroy trade unionism, or to provide for labor conscription.
Orthodox socialism does not aim at a “dictatorship” of any
kind.
State Socialism.—The program of Socialism defined.
the moderate socialists is commonly
known as state socialism. Briefly stated, it proposes that all
the land, the mines, the forests, the factories, the railroads,
and every other instrumentality of production or distribution
should be managed in the interests of the whole people.
Under the system of individualism, according to the socialist
argument, these things are now managed primarily in the
interest of private owners. The worker creates values in far
greater proportion than the wages he receives. This surplus
value goes to the employer in the form of profits. The
socialist would abolish profits. The entire net earnings would
go to the worker. The basis of government would not,
however, be revolutionized. With some changes to make
democracy more effective (for example, the wider use of the
initiative and referendum), state socialism would leave
government about as it is. The workers, being in the
majority, would control government through their numerical
superiority at the polls; they would not deny the suffrage to
non-socialists. State socialism proposes the doing of all this
through the ballot-box, not by violence or armed revolution.
The Case for Socialism.—Many books have been written
in advocacy of state socialism and many arguments
advanced in its behalf. The case for socialism rests largely
upon certain propositions which may be briefly stated as
follows: Wealth is largely the product of The present
labor, yet labor does not get its rightful industrial injustice.
share in the product. Capital and management, on the other
hand, get more than their rightful share. Hence the rich are
growing richer, and the poor are growing poorer. The control
of industry, and with it the well-being of many million
workers, is passing steadily into the hands of a very few
men. Inequalities of wealth lead to discontent; the present
organization of industry results in unemployment; and men
are engaged in a perpetual class war with one another. Great
wastes, moreover, result from the system of competition.
Several milkmen, for instance, go up and down the same
street, each serving a few families. Think of what the
postage rates would be if we had a similar state of affairs
under free competition in furnishing postal service! Socialism,
it is claimed, would unify production and distribution, thus
preventing waste.
Now the remedy for this is to abolish What socialism
private capitalism, to have the proposes as a
government take over the industries, remedy.
divide the earnings fairly, giving every worker his rightful
share, thus securing a more nearly equal distribution of
wealth and happiness. By this means, also, poverty and
unemployment would be abolished. If all the products of
labor were given to the worker (rent, interest, and profits
being abolished), there would be enough to give everybody a
reasonable day’s work and a comfortable living. There would
be steady employment for all. The great majority of the
people are workers. Their welfare should be the first care of
organized society; but their welfare can never be secured so
long as practically complete power over the conditions under
which the workers labor and live is exercised by the private
owners of industry. Socialists also claim that a moral gain
would result, inasmuch as the present class conflict would
give way to a recognition of human brotherhood. Co-
operation, not conflict, would be the watchword of industrial
society.
The Case Against Socialism.—The advocates of
socialism, in their arguments, frequently assume something
which they have not been able to prove. Are the poor
They proclaim that the rich are growing growing poorer?
richer and the poor are growing poorer, that the middle class
is being crushed out, and that soon there will be only two
groups, the very rich and the very poor. It is true that wealth
is increasing and that there are more rich men today than
ever before in the history of the world; but it is also true that
the middle class is more numerous and the worker much
better off than at any previous time. The standard of living
among American wage-earners today is higher than it was
among well-to-do people a hundred years ago. The average
worker is better housed, better clothed, better fed, and has
more of the comforts of life than the employer of a century
ago.
But apart from this the crucial The chief argument
question concerns the way in which against socialism.
production would be maintained and how the earnings would
be distributed under a socialist system. Today the main
incentive to work is the expectation of reward. Most men
work because they expect to be paid for it. Cut down their
pay and they will usually stop work and try to persuade other
people from working. There are exceptions to the rule, of
course; but when men and women work hard and try to do
their best it is because they hope to get promoted, to get
their wages raised, to secure an easier job at higher pay.[310]
Socialism would abolish this exact relation between skill and
wages. Everyone would work at whatever task he was best
fitted to perform and would be given enough to live on
comfortably. Or, as the socialists put it, everyone would
produce according to his ability and be paid according to his
needs.
 This, however, begs some very Some practical
important questions of a practical questions.
nature. Who would determine the work that you or I should
do? Who would determine that you must labor in the coal
mines while I go abroad, as a foreign ambassador? Who will
determine your needs and mine, so that we may be
rewarded accordingly?
The answer is that authorities would Socialism and
have to be established with power to compulsion.
settle these things and to apply compulsion where necessary.
We would have industrial autocracy. Men and women would
have no complete freedom to choose their own occupations.
The socialists say that if the existing wage system were
abolished everyone would do his best to increase production
in order to make the new plan a success; but where
socialistic experiments have been tried the contrary is true;
the workers do less and produce less. Let us remember, also,
the increased danger of corruption which would come if the
authorities were given so great an increase in power. The
whole resources of the country would be placed in the
control of an official class; the entire labor-force of the nation
would be put at their disposal. The socialist answers that if
officials proved arbitrary or corrupt the people would turn
them out of office. Does our experience with other forms of
government warrant any such expectation?
Two methods of getting work done Socialism and
have been tried by the world at one time human nature.
or another. In ancient and mediæval times most of the work
was done by slaves. The slave got no wages; he did his work
because he was compelled to do it. In modern times, since
slavery and serfdom no longer exist among civilized people,
most of the work is done by free men who do it because
they expect to be paid for doing it. And since there are
differences in the abilities of different men, some get more
pay than others, even though the opportunities be the same
for all. If the capable worker were not paid more than the
less competent, he would not exert himself to do his best. To
get the best out of any free man he must be given the hope
of a reward in proportion to his efficiency, and for the great
majority of people this means a reward in dollars and cents.
That is human nature.
It is sometimes said that human Can human nature
nature may change and that, in a new be changed?
environment, men might work unselfishly for the common
welfare without reference to their rate of wages or profits.
True enough the motives of men may and do change
somewhat; but when we trace the course of human history
through twenty centuries we find that the dominant traits of
mankind have altered very little in all that time. Human
nature itself affords the greatest obstacle to the success of a
socialist system.
Socialism and Liberty.—Liberty does not include political
freedom alone. It comprises the right of the individual to
choose his own career, to make his own bargains, and to
become his own employer if he can. An industrial system in
which all men are compelled to do as some higher authority
dictates would establish the very negation of liberty. Under
socialism the complete control of all economic life would be
vested in some supreme authority. It matters little how that
authority might be chosen; the concentration of such vast
powers anywhere, in the hands of any group of men, would
make individual liberty a meaningless expression. It may be
replied that under our present system of private industry the
worker has in fact very little liberty; that many employers are
despots and that the worker is subjected to tyranny. That is
to a certain extent true. But in so far as there is an undue
and needless restriction under present conditions of industry
the remedy is to promote the liberty of the worker through
the power of his own organizations and by the laws of the
land.
Socialism and Democracy.—Socialism and democracy
can never be good friends. Democracy is government by the
people; in other words it is government by amateurs. It is
not government by a professional class. The government of
the German Empire before the war was largely in the hands
of a professional class, a bureaucracy it was called. Now a
democratic government, being managed by the rank and file
of the people, is often wasteful and clumsy in its handling of
business affairs. We have had some notable examples of this
in the United States; for example, the building of airplanes
and ships during the war, the operation of the railroads
during 1918-1920, and the construction of public buildings. A
bureaucratic government, conducted by professional
administrators, is much more efficient. It Socialism would
is not improbable, therefore, that professionalize the
socialism, by placing upon the public government.
authorities the entire management of every form of industry,
including factories and shops as well as railroads and
telegraphs, would mean the breakdown of the democratic
ideal and the professionalizing of government. The entire
industrial system of the country could not be successfully
managed by amateurs. To save it from collapse under
socialism the government would have to be reorganized on
bureaucratic lines.
Can Democracy Solve Its Problems?—But if not
socialism, what then? Certain it is that we are facing great
problems both at home and abroad today; and these
problems must be solved in the interest of human happiness.
We cannot close our eyes to them and trust that somehow or
other they will work out their own solution. Can democracy
and our present system of private industry master them?
Well, democracy and our present industrial system have
overcome a great many obstacles in the past and it is only by
studying the past that we can make any forecast of the
future. The land surveyor, when he wants to project a
straight line from a given point, walks back some distance so
that he may align his pickets in the ground. Let us for a
moment pursue the same plan, walk back a dozen decades
in American history and take a sight along the great
landmarks to the present time. What have democracy and
individualism contributed to the well-being and happiness of
the American people?
What America Has Done.—In the Democracy and
past one hundred and twenty years the American progress.
people of the United States have increased their territories
ten-fold, their numbers twenty-fold, and their wealth at least
a thousand-fold. They have, with one great exception,
composed their internal quarrels peaceably during the whole
of this long period. They have developed a government
based upon the consent of the governed and have placed
the capstone upon it by the grant of universal suffrage. They
have kept the various branches of government within their
own respective fields and have thus prevented the growth of
despotic power anywhere. The people’s direct control over
the policy of the government, moreover, has been greatly
augmented during the past generation. It is indeed doubtful
whether Washington, Hamilton, and Madison, if they were to
arise from their graves, would recognize the present
government of the United States as their own handiwork, so
far has it moved along lines of greater democracy. In the
states and the cities this steady drift to more direct popular
control has been very marked. One need only mention such
things as the initiative, referendum and recall, direct
primaries, popular election of senators, the short ballot, the
commission and city-manager forms of government, and the
extension of suffrage to women—all of which are the product
of the last twenty-five years—to indicate how strong has
been the tide of popular control.
Most striking of all American achievements, however, has
been the wide diffusion of material comforts among the
masses of the people. In no other country is there anything
approaching it. The standard of living among wage-earners
is higher than it is anywhere else, much higher. The average
American worker is better housed and better provided with
food than is the typical workman in any other country. He
and his children get better educational opportunities and a
better chance to rise in the world. The way in which
immigrants have been flocking to our shores during the past
hundred years is a proof that millions of men and women
have looked upon America as a land of opportunity. This is
not to imply, by any means, that there are no slums in
American cities, no poverty, no misery, and no industrial
oppression. We have, in truth, far too much of all these
things. But it is also the truth that we have relatively less of
them than any of the other great industrial lands.
Not all of this progress and prosperity is due, of course, to
the political and economic system which America has
maintained during the past century. The rich natural
resources of the country and the steady industry of its
people have been fundamental factors. But no matter how
vast their resources or how unremitting their industry a
people cannot achieve lasting prosperity and contentment
unless they possess a political system and an economic
organization which is well suited to their needs.
What Democracy Has Failed to Do.—It would be idle
to regard democratic government everywhere as an
unqualified success. No scheme of political organization will
of itself secure a government which is both efficient and
popular. The active efforts of the people are required to
achieve this end. Not merely the consent of the governed but
the participation of the governed is essential. By reason of
popular indifference the institutions of democracy in America
have frequently been perverted and abused by men whom
the people have placed in power. What Some examples.
passes for public opinion is at times
nothing but propaganda, organized to promote some selfish
interest. Democracy has not yet succeeded, moreover, in
preventing wars or inducing all nations to deal justly with
one another. It has not prevented the rise of opposing
classes among the people, or kept groups of individuals from
setting themselves in antagonism to each other. Democracy
has not reconciled labor and capital; it has not carried its
principles very far into our industrial organization. These are
serious failings, no doubt; but the friends of democracy can
fairly say, “Would any other system have done better?”
Democracy is what the people make it, and its faults point to
the defects of human nature.
The Citizen’s Duty in a Democracy.—No form of
government gives the citizen so much as democracy, and
none makes greater demands upon him in return. We are far
too much concerned about the rights of men and women; far
too little concerned about their obligations to society, to the
state, and to their fellow-men. Voting at elections is but a
small part of the citizen’s duty. His share in the forming of a
sound and enlightened public opinion constitutes an
obligation upon him every day in the year. When public
opinion takes an unwise course it is because the people
make up their minds hastily, without careful thought, and
without the guidance which should be provided by the
educated men and women of the land. Every individual is a
unit in the forming of public sentiment; he can be a helpful
factor if he will. Education is the chief corner-stone of
democratic government, and it must also be the chief prop to
any plan of industrial democracy which hopes to be
successful and permanent. Education makes men and
women tolerant of other people’s opinions, gives them
confidence in mankind, and faith in what mankind can
accomplish.
Democracy has passed through many raging storms. In
the dark days of the Civil War there were many who feared
that in America it was about to perish utterly. But it survived
and grew stronger than before. Without the faith of the
people in it, and the work which is the exemplification of
faith, democracy can accomplish nothing; with these things
there is no problem that it need fear to face.
 General References
E. M. Friedman, American Problems of Reconstruction, pp. 45-55;
Bertrand Russell, Proposed Roads to Freedom, pp. 186-212;
R. C. K. Ensor (editor), Modern Socialism, pp. 65-89;
N. P. Gilman, Socialism and the American Spirit, pp. 46-89;
H. G. Wells, What is Coming, pp. 96-124;
O. D. Skelton, Socialism: A Critical Analysis, pp. 16-61;
John Spargo, Social Democracy Explained, pp. 1-49;
C. J. Bullock, Selected Readings in Economics, pp. 668-705;
J. R. Commons, Industrial Government, pp. 110-134;
F. A. Cleveland and Joseph Schafer, Democracy in Reconstruction, pp.
165-192;
Sidney and Beatrice Webb, A Constitution for the Socialist
Commonwealth of Great Britain, passim;
William Macdonald, A New Constitution for a New America, pp. 127-
139.
Group Problems
1. What industrial democracy means. The traditional organization
of industry. Relations of employer and employee. The representation of
the workers in the management of industry. Methods of securing this
representation. Shop councils. Merits and defects of the plan. Other
proposals. Effects of industrial democracy upon production. References:
G. D. H. Cole, Guild Socialism Re-stated, pp. 42-77; Ibid., Self-
Government in Industry, pp. 24-47; R. W. Sellars, The Next Step in
Democracy, pp. 246-272; J. R. Commons, Industrial Government, pp. 77-
109; Ida M. Tarbell, New Ideals in Business, pp. 134-162; Sidney and
Beatrice Webb, A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of Great
Britain, pp. 147-167.
2. The worker in the socialist state. References: Hartley Withers,
The Case for Capitalism, pp. 138-168; H. G. Wells and others, Socialism
and the Great State, pp. 69-119; R. W. Sellars, The Next Step in
Democracy, pp. 135-156; O. D. Skelton, Socialism: A Critical Analysis, pp.
177-219; John Spargo, Social Democracy Explained, pp. 50-84.
3. The newer problems of democracy. References: F. A.
Cleveland and Joseph Schafer, Democracy in Reconstruction, pp. 25-66; E.
M. Friedman, American Problems of Reconstruction, pp. 447-464; F. J. C.
Hearnshaw, Democracy at the Crossways, pp. 11-78; Graham Wallas, Our
Social Heritage, pp. 158-186; L. T. Hobhouse, Democracy and Reaction,
pp. 167-187; H. F. Ward, The New Social Order, pp. 35-75; J. H. Tufts,
Our Democracy; its Origins and its Tasks, pp. 268-298.
 Short Studies
1. How the workers manage business enterprises. C. R. Fay,
Cooperation at Home and Abroad, pp. 222-237.
2. Anarchism: its teachings and methods. Bertrand Russell,
Proposed Roads to Freedom, pp. 32-55; F. J. C. Hearnshaw, Democracy at
the Crossways, pp. 262-287.
3. Syndicalism: its organization and aims. John Spargo, Social
Democracy Explained, pp. 244-277; J. G. Brooks, American Syndicalism,
pp. 73-105.
4. Communism. Leo Pasvolsky, The Economics of Communism, pp. 1-
17; 48-83.
5. Bolshevism. R. W. Postgate, The Bolshevik Theory, pp. 13-41;
Bertrand Russell, The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism, pp. 119-156;
John Spargo, Bolshevism, pp. 262-323.
6. The soviet experiment in Russia. H. N. Brailsford, The Russian
Workers’ Republic, pp. 37-79; Frank Comerford, The New World, pp. 118-
169; 281-305.
7. Guild socialism. G. D. H. Cole, Guild Socialism Re-Stated, pp. 9-41;
Hartley Withers, The Case for Capitalism, pp. 189-235; Graham Wallas,
Our Social Heritage, pp. 102-121.
8. Marxian socialism. B. L. Brasol, Socialism vs. Civilization, pp. 61-
110; John Spargo, Socialism Explained, pp. 123-157.
9. State socialism: the arguments for and against. Hartley
Withers, The Case for Capitalism, pp. 138-168; A. E. Davies, The Case for
Nationalization, pp. 12-29.
10. The individual and the new society. A. B. Hart (editor),
Problems of Readjustment After the War, pp. 98-128.
11. Women in the new social order. H. G. Wells, What is Coming,
pp. 159-188; H. A. Hollister, The Woman Citizen, pp. 142-178.
12. Fiscal reconstruction. E. M. Friedman, American Problems of
Reconstruction, pp. 427-446.
Questions
1. Why has the movement for political and social reconstruction
become stronger in recent years?
2. Explain how “the soviet form of government is a repudiation of the
entire scheme of government which has been described in this book”.
3. Make a diagram showing the organization of the soviet government
in Russia. Show how much more direct is the control of the people over
their government in the United States.
4. What is the lesson of the economic breakdown in Russia?
5. Explain what is meant by the International. What are its aims?
 6. State any arguments for socialism which are not given in the text.
Any arguments against socialism. Is it true that “as a general rule there
are only two ways of getting work done in this world”? In a socialist state
what would be the incentive to work? Would it be sufficient?
7. Would the establishment of socialism necessarily involve the
abandonment of democracy? Argue the point.
8. Name the principal achievements of American democracy during the
past hundred years. Which of them do you regard as the most important
and why?
9. Name some present-day political and economic injustices which you
would like to see set right. Suggest what might be done about them.
10. Are you a more earnest or a less earnest believer in democracy by
reason of your having studied Social Civics?
Topics for Debate
1. Representation in government should be based on occupations
rather than on territorial divisions.
2. The laborers should be given a voice in the management of their
respective industries.
3. The condition of the laborer is better under private capitalism than it
would be under socialism.
 APPENDIX
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
 PREAMBLE
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a
more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
 ARTICLE I
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
Section 1. Two Houses

1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a

Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a
Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 2. House of Representatives

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of

members chosen every second year by the people of the
several states, and the electors in each state shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors[311] of the most numerous
branch of the state legislature.
2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be
chosen.
3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned
among the several states which may be included within this
Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be
determined by adding to the whole number of free persons,
including those bound to service for a term of years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other
persons[312]. The actual enumeration shall be made within
three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the
United States, and within every subsequent term of ten
years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every
thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one
Representative; and, until such enumerations shall be made,
the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three,
Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey
four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia
ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia
three.
4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any
state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies.
5. The House of Representatives shall choose their
Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of
impeachment.

Section 3. Senate

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of

two Senators from each state chosen by the legislature
thereof[313] for six years; and each Senator shall have one
vote.
2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in
consequence of the first election, they shall be divided, as
equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of the
senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration
of the second year; of the second class, at the expiration of
the fourth year; and of the third class, at the expiration of
the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every second
year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise,
during the recess of the legislature of any state, the
executive thereof may make temporary appointments until
the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such
vacancies.[314]
3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a
citizen of the United
 States, who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of
that state for which he shall be chosen.
4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they
be equally divided.
5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a
President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President,
or when he shall exercise the office of President of the
United States.
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.
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.

Section 4. Elections and Meetings of Congress

1. The times, places, and manner, of holding elections for

Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each
state by the legislature thereof: but the Congress may at any
time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the
places of choosing Senators.
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.

Section 5. Powers and Duties of the Houses

 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns,
and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of
each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller
number may adjourn from day to day, and may be
authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in
such manner, and under such penalties, as each House may
provide.
2. Each House may determine the rules of the
proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior,
and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.
3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and,
from time to time, publish the same, excepting such parts as
may, in their judgment, require secrecy; and the yeas and
nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall,
at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the
journal.
4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall,
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than
three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two
Houses shall be sitting.

Section 6. Privileges of and Restrictions on Members

1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a

compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law,
and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall,
in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace,
be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the
session of their respective Houses, and in going to, and
returning from, the same; and for any speech or debate in
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other
place.
2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under
the authority of the United States, which shall have been
created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been
increased during such time; and no person, holding any
office under the United States, shall be a member of either
House during his continuance in office.

Section 7. Revenue Bills: Veto of President

1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House

of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur
with amendments as on other bills.
2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a
law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he
approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his
objections, to that House in which it shall have originated,
who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-
thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be
sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by
which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by
two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all
such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by
yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and
against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been
presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as
if he had signed it, unless the Congress, by their
adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be
a law.
3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the
concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives
may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment),
shall be presented to the President of the United States; and
before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him,
or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds
of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to
the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

Section 8. Legislative Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have power:

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to
pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and
general welfare, of the United States; but all duties, imposts,
and excises, shall be uniform throughout the United States:
2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States:
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among
the several states, and with the Indian tribes:
4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the
United States:
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures:
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the Unites States:
7. To establish post-offices and post-roads:
8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by
securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the
exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries:
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court:
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies, committed
on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations:
11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water:
12. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years:
13. To provide and maintain a navy:
14. To make rules for the government and regulation of
the land and naval forces:
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the
laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel
invasions:
16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be
employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the
states respectively the appointment of the officers, and the
authority of training the militia, according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress:
17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles
square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government
of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all
places, purchased by the consent of the legislature of the
state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts,
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful
buildings:—And
18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all
other powers vested by this Constitution in the government
of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Section 9. Prohibitions upon the United States

1. The migration or importation of such persons, as any of

the states, now existing, shall think proper to admit, shall not
be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand
eight hundred and eight; but a tax or duty may be imposed
on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each
person.
2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion,
the public safety may require it.
3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be
passed.
4. No capitation, or other direct tax, shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore
directed to be taken.[315]
5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from
any state.
6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of
commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of
another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be
obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties, in another.
7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in
consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of
all public money shall be published from time to time.
8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States;
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under
them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of
any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

Section 10. Prohibitions upon the States

1. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or

confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin
money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and
silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of
attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of
contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
2. No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay
any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what
may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection
laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by
any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be
subject to the revision and control of the Congress. No state
shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of
tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war, in time of peace, enter
into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a
foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or
in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
 ARTICLE II
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT: THE PRESIDENT AND
VICE-PRESIDENT
Section 1. Term: Election: Qualifications: Salary: Oath of Office

1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of

the United States of America. He shall hold his office during
the term of four years, and together with the Vice-President,
chosen for the same term, be elected as follows:
2. Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the
legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to
the whole number of Senators and Representatives, to which
the state may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or
Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit,
under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
3. [The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and
vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one, at least, shall
not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And
they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the
number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and
certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate.
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors
appointed; and if there be more than one, who have such
majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the
House of Representatives shall immediately choose, by
ballot, one of them for President; and if no person have a
majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the said
House shall, in like manner, choose the President. But in
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states,
the representation from each state having one vote; a
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or
members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all
the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after
the choice of the President, the person having the greatest
number of votes of the Electors shall be the Vice-President.
But if there should remain two or more who have equal
votes, the Senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the
Vice-President.][316]
4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the
Electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes;
which day shall be the same throughout the United States.
5. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of
the United States at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President;
neither shall any person be eligible to that office, who shall
not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been
fourteen years a resident within the United States.
6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of
his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers
and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the
Vice-President, and the Congress may by law provide for the
case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the
President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall
then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly,
until the disability be removed, or a President shall be
elected.
7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his
services a compensation, which shall neither be increased
nor diminished during the period for which he shall have
been elected, and he shall not receive, within that period,
any other emolument from the United States, or any of
them.
 8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall
take the following oath or affirmation:
9. “I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States, and will,
to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States.”

Section 2. President’s Executive Powers

1. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army

and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the
several states, when called into the actual service of the
United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the
principal officer in each of the executive departments upon
any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices,
and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for
offences against the United States, except in cases of
impeachment.
2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds
of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall
appoint ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls,
judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the
United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise
provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the
Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior
officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the
courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
3. The President shall have power to fill all vacancies that
may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting
commissions which shall expire at the end of their next
session.

Section 3. President’s Executive Powers (continued)

 1. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress
information of the state of the Union, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as he shall judge
necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary
occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in
case of disagreement between them, with respect to the
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as
he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and
other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of
the United States.

Section 4. Impeachment

1. 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.