Proclamation of Amnesty in the Philippines.

WHEREAS, During the course of the insurrection against the kingdom of Spain and against the government of the United States, persons engaged therein, or those in sympathy with or abetting them, committed many acts in violation of the laws of civilized warfare (bit it is believed that such acts were generally committed in ignorance of those laws and under orders issued by the civil or military insurrectionary leaders); and

WHEREAS, It is deemed to be wise and humane, in accordance with the beneficent purposes of the government of the United States toward the Filipino people, and conducive to peace, loyalty, and order among them, that the doers of such acts who have not already suffered punishment shall not be held criminally responsible, but shall be relieved from punishinent for participation in these insurrections and for unlawful acts committed during the course thereof of a general amnesty and pardon;

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the constitution, do hereby proclaim and declare, without reservation or condition, except as hereinafter provided, a full and complete pardon and amnesty to all persons in the Philippine archipelago who have participated in the insurrections aforesaid, or who have given aid and comfort to persons participating in said insurrections, for the offenses of treason or sedition, and for all offenses, political in their character, committed in the course of such insurrections, pursuant to orders issued by the civil or military insurrectionary authorities, or which grew out of internal political feuds or dissensions between Filipinos and Spaniards, or the Spanish authorities, or which resulted from internal political feuds or dissensions among the Filipinos themselves during either of said insurrections:

Provided, however, that the pardon and amnesty hereby granted shall not include such persons committing crimes since May 1, 1902, in any province of the archipelago in which at the time civil government was established; nor shall it include such persons as have been heretofore finally convicted of the crimes of murder, rape, arson, or robbery by any military or civil tribunal organized under the authority of Spain or of the United States of America; but special application may be made to the proper authority for pardon by any person belonging to the exempted classes, and such clemency as is consistent with humanity and justice will be liberally extended; and, further,

Provided, That this amnesty and pardon shall not affect the title or right of the government of the United States or that of the Philippine Islands to any property or property rights heretofore used or appropriated by the military or civil authorities of the government of the United States or that of the Philippine Islands, organized under authority of the United States by way of confiscation or otherwise; and,

Provided, further, that every person who shall seek to avail himself of this proclamation shall take and subscribe the following oath before any authority in the Philippine archipelago authorized to administer oaths, namely:

"I, solemnly swear (or affirm) that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America in the Philippine Islands and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto, that I impose upon myself this obligation voluntarily without mental reservation or purpose of evasion, so help me God."

Given under my hand at the city of Washington, this fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and two, and in the one hundred and twenty-seventh year of the independence of the United States.

By the President.

ELIHU ROOT, Secretary of War.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. All legislative powers granted by the Constitution of the United States are vested in a Congress, composed of a SENATE and a HOUSE of Repre

SENTATIVES.

The two Houses are independent of each other and of the Executive. The power of Congress is absolute within the scope of its authority. The only check on the power of Congress to legislate within its authority is the President of the United States; his right of veto (see “Veto," in Index). The President in this connection is sometimes spoken of as the "Third House."

Legislation of each, exceeding the constitutional power of Congress and

of the President, can be declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court on an appeal to that body by any affected party.

In the House, the influence of the people is felt directly, according to their numbers; while the Senate provides the means of defending the smaller States from the possible encroachment of the larger, and assures their safety. (Constitution, Art. 5.) The House represents the people, the Senate represents the States.

The Representatives being elected more frequently than the Senators, and directly by the people, are apt to be more fully informed of the present feelings of their constituents, and therefore more likely to be swayed; thus, it is known as the popular, or Lower, or younger House. The Senate, on account of the long term of the Senators, is more conservative, and therefore it is spoken of as the Upper, or eldest, House.

The names Upper House and Lower House originated about the year 1718, in Massachusetts, when the Representatives gave the designation to the Council "as a fleer, and to intimate that they might consider themselves in another capacity than as a Privy Council." -Drake's Hist. of Boston, p. 558.

Each House of Representatives lasts for two years; this period is known as "a Congress."

Each House is the judge of the election returns, and qualifications of its own members; may punish disorderly conduct; may expel by a vote of two-thirds.

Members of Congress cannot legally have any interest in any contract with, or claim against the Government; they are forbidden to prosecute cases before the Court of Claims, or to present claims to any of the Departments. No military or naval officer, and no person in the civil service of the government, is eligible to Congress.

Congress is required to meet the first Monday in December ferent day." There must be at

every year- the Constitution appointing "unless they shall by law appoint a difleast two sessions of each Congress.

The two Houses must adjourn without day when the two years' term of the members of the House expires. During a session, neither House can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses are sitting; in case of disagreement between the two Houses as to the time of adjournment, the President may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper.

The place of meeting of Congress is not fixed by the Constitutionthe law regulates this. The Act of 1790 locates the seat of Government in "all that part of the territory of the United States included within the present limits of the District of Columbia" (Rev. Stat. Sec. 1795) - this is not, in a restricted sense, the City of Washington. The President can assemble Congress at some other place, when the prevalence of a contagious disease, or other circumstances, endangers the health or lives of its members (Rev. Stat. Sec. 34).

First Session begins on the first Monday of December of the oddnumbered years, and continues until adjournment, ordinarily in August. There is nothing to prevent the "first session," called the "long session," continuing until the first Monday of the next December, when it must end. If Congress is assembled by special proclamation of the President before the first Monday in December, and does not adjourn by that day, the coming of that day does not interrupt the session.

Second Session begins on the first Monday of December in the evennumbered year, and continues until twelve noon of March 4th following. By a law, the Congress elected under the Articles of Confederation (passed September 13, 1788), Wednesday, March 4, 1789, was appointed for the Assembly of the first Constitutional Congress, and the inauguration of the new government. There was no quorum, so that the House did not organize until March 30, 1789, and the Senate until April 6, 1789.

Until 1851 it was understood that the limit of the Congressional term, and the legislative powers of each succeeding Congress, were presumed to cease at midnight of March 3d of each alternate odd-numbered year. At the close of the 31st Congress in 1851, the propriety of this limitation was called in question, and the point was made that since in the Presidential years a new administration is not inaugurated until 12 o'clock on the 4th of March, the interpretation of the law commonly received would create an interregnum of twelve hours' duration. It was ruled by Speaker Howell Cobb, of Georgia, that the term of an outgoing Congress did not expire until 12 o'clock noon of March 4th, and that rule has since stood. A statute was passed (approved January 22, 1867): :

"In addition to the present regular terms of the meeting of Congress, there shall be a meeting of the Fortieth Congress of the United States, and of each succeeding Congress thereafter, at 12 o'clock meridian, on the fourth day of March, the day on which the term begins for which the Congress is elected, except that, when the fourth of March occurs on Sunday (see Index, "Inauguration Day"), then the meeting shall take place at the same hour on the succeeding day."

The above repealed April 20, 1871, but as an authoritative declaration of the limits of the Congressional term it must be regarded as still in force. (See Congress 40, Ses. 1, page 147.)

The political day throughout the sessions of Congress properly begins,

for legislative purposes, at 12 o'clock noon; if the calendar day of same falls on Sunday, then the succeeding day; consequently the duration of each Congress expires by law on the 4th day of March of each alternate odd year.

Congress may be convened at any time, when not in session, by proclamation of the President, "on extraordinary occasions" (see page 146). He has no power to adjourn it, or to prorogue Congress, except in case of disagreement. No President has ever had occasion to adjourn Congress.

An Act of Congress may control the acts of the State legislature as to place, time, and manner of elections; except as to place of choosing Senators, in which the State legislature remains supreme.

Executive sessions, for the consideration of certain communications from the President, are held with closed doors, and the record kept in a separate journal, which is not published.

From the organization of the Senate, March 4, 1789, until December session in 1794, its sessions were all held with closed doors, except during the discussion in February, 1794, of the right of Albert Gallatin, as Senator from Pennsylvania, to a seat, when it was insisted he was an alien and ineligible. No reports of the debates of Congress prior to 1799 have been preserved.

When considering treaties and nominations, the sessions are with closed doors.

One of the rules of the House provides for secret sessions to consider confidential communications. There is no instance in which the House has excluded the public from its debates.

The Territories are represented in the House of Representatives by a delegate elected by the Territory; he has the right of debate, but no vote, not being recognized by the Constitution. His admission to the floor is by statute. Territorial legislation is subject to Congressional control, their courts are provided for, the judges being appointed by the President of the United States, and confirmed by the Senate, and over which the Supreme Court of the United States has appellate jurisdiction. Constitution," on the Porto Rico decision, in “Political Vocabulary.”)

64

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When the rules of the two Houses of Congress conflict, the House of Representatives rules are of greater authority than those of the Senate in determining the parliamentary law of the country, but of no authority in any other assembly.

THE SENATE, or "upper house" of Congress, consists of two Senators

from every State, regardless of size or population of the State, chosen by the respective State legislatures for a term of six years, in such a way that one-third of the whole body of the Senate goes out of office every two years; so that there is never a complete alteration of its membership at one time, but at all times members in the Senate familiar with the legislation, under which plan it is less liable to the effects of political excitement than the House. It is regarded as a permanent body; continual and perpetual in existence.

There is never a new Senate.

When the first Senate was organized, ten States were represented. May 14, 1789, they were divided into three classes; one of six members, the other two of seven each. The members of each class then drew lots, the class drawing number one to serve two years, number two to serve four years, and number three, six years. The classes were so arranged that no two Senators from one State fell in the same class. As the other three States sent Senators, they were assigned by lot in the same way, a blank being so used as to keep the classes even. As the terms of the classes expired, then successors were elected for six full years. Senators from new States are assigned by lot in the presence of the Senate so as to keep the three classes nearly even.

The Act of Congress, 1866, provides that in every State each branch of the legislature shall first vote separately, and viva voce, for Senator. These votes are declared in joint Assembly on the following day, and if no candidate has received a majority vote of each House, both Houses in joint Assembly elect a Senator by ballot. If a vacancy occurs in the Senate, when the legislature of the State interested is not in session, it may be filled by appointment of the Governor, until the legislature next meets, when a Senator is chosen for the unexpired term. If a legislature fails to elect, having had an opportunity, the Governor cannot fill the vacancy: so decided by the first regular session 51st Congress, in the cases of Montana, Wyoming, and Washington.

The Vice-President of the United States acts as Chairman of the Senate (Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 3), his only function. He appoints no committees, has no vote (unless in the case of an equal division), he decides no questions of order, this being within the authority of the Senate; he is not, strictly speaking, a member of the Senate.

The Senate elects of its members a President pro tempore, to cover an absence of the Vice-President, as in the event of sickness, death, or succession to the Presidency. The President pro tempore votes on all questions. His office is held at the pleasure of the Senate. When there is no Vice-President, the President pro tempore of the Senate receives the salary of the Vice-President.

The Senate has three functions:-
:-

Legislative. To pass bills, which alone with the action of the House of Representatives become acts of Congress, on the assent of the President or passage over his veto.