sentatives from Montana in 1916. Women first voted on a national scale in the presidential election of 1920, and apparently their total vote was about 6,000,000. It is believed that at least 12,000,000 women voted in 1932. (See page 561.) XX The Twentieth Amendment was adopted primarily for the purpose of abolishing "lame duck" sessions of Congress. It changes the dates when the terms of the President, senators, and representatives shall begin and end. The presidential term now begins on January 20 every fourth year, and the terms of senators and representatives begin on January 3, the length of term remaining six and two years, respectively. Consequently a new Congress convenes in the January following the presidential election of the preceding November. Since only seventeen days elapse between the meeting of Congress on January 3 and the inauguration of the President on January 20, it is possible that confusion may arise in case of delay in counting and declaring the electoral vote, or in electing a President by the House in the event of failure of the electors to elect. The amendment provides that if the President-elect shall have died before inauguration day the Vice President-elect shall be President; and that if a President shall not have been chosen or shall have failed to qualify by inauguration day, the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified. Congress is authorized to provide for filling a vacancy occurring through failure of both a President-elect and Vice President-elect to qualify, and the person selected shall act until a President or Vice President shall have qualified. Congress has provided that it shall meet in joint session on January 6 following a presidential election, to count the electoral vote and declare the result. This allows only three days for organization of the House of Representatives by the election of a Speaker. Serious difficulties might arise if the House should fail to organize in time to count the vote, or to elect a President if that duty should fall upon it. Failure of the House to elect a President might be attended by failure of the Senate to elect a Vice President. It is quite conceivable, also, that passions might be aroused if failure to elect a President by a House controlled by one political party should be followed by election of a Vice President by a Senate controlled by another party. It is also conceivable that the two houses of Congress might deadlock upon the selection of a person to fill a vacancy in the Presidency. (See page 561.) The Twenty-first Amendment repeals the Eighteenth Amendment and prohibits the transportation or importation into any state of intoxicating liquors in violation of its laws. (See page 562.) CONCLUSION THE SYMMETRY of arrangement and beautiful coordination of motion in the several governments constituting the American system may be compared with the solar system. As the Sun is the center of attraction and controlling power that binds and moves the planets in one system, so the People are the center and controlling power that binds and moves their governments in one system. The Law which the solar system obeys is not written, but its operation is partly disclosed and partly understood. The Law which the American political system obeys is partly written, for all men to read. It is the Constitution of the United States. The limits of the powers of the Sun and the People are not known. They have never been tested to the limit. The composition of the Sun is hidden in Nature. The composition of the People is hidden in human nature. Reason assumes that the Sun has powers beyond those known to us. Reason reinforced by knowledge asserts that the People have reserved powers which never have been expressed in written law. The United States and the States may be compared to planets revolving around their Sun, the People. In order to comprehend the peculiar nature of the American system it must be borne in mind that the States existed before the United States was created. It was to bind them together, to swing them into their coordinated orbits that the Union was perfected. Some of the powers possessed by the People are exerted in the States. Others are kept in reserve. The powers necessary to bind the States together in one solar Union are set forth in the Constitution. All other powers are kept in reserve. The States perform certain functions which the United States cannot perform. The United States performs functions which the States separately cannot perform. The People retain a sphere of personal liberties into which neither the States nor the United States can enter. The Law which controls the solar system is divine, and there fore perfect. The Law which controls the American political system is human, and therefore imperfect. But under a trial of 150 years it has been found to approach more nearly the symmetry of the Law that rules the universe than any other emanation of the human mind and will. Several unique features of the Constitution distinguish it from any previous inventions in the art of government. Among these are: The Constitution binds individuals as well as States. Under it all individuals have equal duties and rights. The legislative, executive, and judicial powers are lodged in separate bodies of public servants whose powers and duties compel them to check and balance one another. No uncontrolled power is lodged in any one. The written Constitution is made paramount to any legislative, executive, or judicial authority. A court is created with power to hold all authorities within their allotted spheres, and this court itself is bound to remain within its allotted sphere. The Constitution contains within itself a method whereby it may be amended by the People. These principles, never practiced before, are the bone and sinew of a fabric suitable to a nation whose government obeys those whom it rules, and whose people rule the government which they obey. Portraits and Sketches of the Signers of the Constitution NOTE THESE PORTRAITS and brief facts appertain, it should be borne in mind, to the thirty-eight deputies who signed the Constitution, and an absent deputy, Dickinson of Delaware, who requested his colleague, George Read of Delaware, to sign for him; the other sixteen men who attended and had more or less to do with framing the document are not given here. There is no known portrait of FitzSimons or Broom. Others, though included, are not entirely authenticated. These are the portraits of Brearley, Livingston, and Wilson. The statements concerning the careers of the men are intended to emphasize the public services and to show, by dates, length of participation in activities of the Union. Each one is called, in connection with the Constitutional Convention, by the title given him in his credentials. In various cases other portraits with sketches will be found of the signers in the catalogue issued by the Commission as a guide to its exhibit of portraits of the members of the Convention and other leaders. Planter, soldier, statesman; colonial officer in French and Indian War; Virginia Legislature; Continental Congress, 1774-75; Commander-in-Chief of Continental Army; "Deputy" to Constitutional Convention, President of it; President of the United States, 1789-97; Commander-in-Chief of United States Provisional Army. WASHINGTON, by Stuart, in Boston Museum of Fine Arts, property of Boston Athenaeum. |