Congress
Congress names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Congress the lawmaking body of the United States
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the lawmaking body of the United States . The Constitution provides that the Congress shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives . Our Congress is founded on the British Parliament. The members of the British House of Lords hold their positions for life. Our senators are chosen by the legislature of each state for a period of six years. The members of the House of Commons are elected to serve for seven years, or until the ministers (cabinet) decide to dissolve Parliament and order a new election. Our representatives are chosen by popular vote to serve for two years. In order that small states may not be crowded to the wall by the large ones, they are allowed equal representation in the American Senate. The number of representatives sent by each state is proportionate to the population. The vice-president of the United States presides over the sessions of the Senate. The House of Representatives chooses a speaker from its own number. The life of a Congress is for two years, the length of time for which representatives are elected. A Congress begins with the inauguration of a president. There are two Congresses for each full time administration. The old Congress expires on the fourth of March in odd numbered years. A new Congress, however, does not meet until the second Monday in the following December, unless called together by the president. The legislative body corresponding to our Congress is, in Austria, the Reichsrath, or Imperial Council; in Sweden, the Diet; in Norway, the Storthing, or the great thing; in the Netherlands, the States General; in France, the National Assembly; in Spain, the Cortes, or courts; in Brazil, the National Congress; in Canada, the Parliament consisting of a Senate and a House of Commons; in the Commonwealth of Australia, the Parliament, consisting of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. In Italy the legislative body is a Parliament, consisting of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. Even Russia and Turkey have recently adopted constitutions in which the people are given representation they did not before enjoy. The following table gives the representation of the various states in the Sixty-First Congress, commencing March 4, 1909. In addition, a delegate with a voice, but no vote, was seated from each of the territories,--Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, and New Mexico . Congress consists, therefore, of 92 senators, 391 representatives and 4 territorial delegates. For convenience, the electoral vote is given as well. States Senate House Elec. Vote Alabama . . . . . 2 9 11 Arkansas . . . . . 2 7 9 California . . . . . 2 8 10 Colorado . . . . . 2 3 5 Connecticut . . . . . 2 5 7 Delaware . . . . . 2 1 3 Florida . . . . . 2 3 5 Georgia . . . . . 2 11 13 Idaho . . . . . ..2 1 3 Illinois . . . . . 2 25 27 Indiana . . . . . 2 13 15 Iowa . . . . . ...2 11 13 Kansas . . . . . .2 8 10 Kentucky . . . . . 2 11 13 Louisiana . . . . . 2 7 9 Maine . . . . . ..2 4 6 Maryland . . . . . 2 6 8 Massachusetts . . . . . 2 14 16 Michigan . . . . . 2 12 14 Minnesota . . . . . 2 9 11 Mississippi . . . . . 2 8 10 Missouri . . . . . 2 16 18 Montana . . . . . 2 1 3 Nebraska . . . . . 2 6 8 Nevada . . . . . .2 1 3 New Hampshire . . . . . 2 2 4 New Jersey . . . . . 2 10 12 New York . . . . . 2 37 39 North Carolina . . . . . 2 10 12 North Dakota . . . . . 2 2 4 Ohio . . . . . 2 21 23 Oklahoma . . . . . 2 5 7 Oregon . . . . . .2 2 4 Pennsylvania . . . . . 2 32 34 Rhode Island . . . . . 2 2 4 South Carolina . . . . . 2 7 9 South Dakota . . . . . 2 2 4 Tennessee . . . . . 2 10 12 Texas . . . . . . 2 16 18 Utah . . . . . . 2 1 3 Vermont . . . . . 2 2 4 Virginia . . . . . 2 10 12 Washington . . . . . 2 3 5 West Virginia . . . . . 2 5 7 Wisconsin . . . . . 2 11 13 Wyoming . . . . . 2 1 3 Total . . . . . .92 391 483 Territories Delegates Alaska 1 Arizona 1 Hawaii 1 New Mexico 1
Congress LIBRARY OF, an institution in Washington
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LIBRARY OF, an institution in Washington, D. C., established in 1800. It was destroyed in 1814 at the time of the burning of the Capitol by the British. It was again burned in 1851. It was housed in the Capitol until 1897, when it was removed to a building nearly $6,erected for it at a cost of near nearly $6, 500,000. This building is the largest and most magnificent library building in the world. The library has grown constantly and in 1919 contained 2,710,556 books, 163,484 maps and charts, 848,292 volumes and pieces of music, and 409,029 prints. A copy of each book printed in the United States under the copyright laws is deposited in the Library of Congress. The library is supported by an nual appropriations made by Congress. From 1899 Herbert Putnam has been librarian. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, the legislative branch of the Federal Government, deriving its powers from the Constitution. It consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The powers of Congress are enumerated in Article 1, section 8, of the Constitution, and all powers not granted to Congress, or prohibited to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people; but the power of Congress is absolute within the scope of its authority. The Senate is composed of two members from each State, regardless of size or population; the members of the House are apportioned on the basis of population. Thus, while in the House the influence of the people is felt directly, according to their numbers, the Senate provides the means of defending the smaller States from the possible encroachments of the larger; and to assure the safety of the smaller States, the Constitution, Article 5, provides that "no State without its consent shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate." Bills that have passed both Houses are sent to the President, who may either sign or veto them, or do neither, in which case the bill becomes a law after 10 days unless Congress has previously adjourned. The veto of the President is the only check upon the power of Congress to legislate within the scope of its authority. Legislation exceeding the constitutional power of Congress will be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, if that body is appealed to by either party to any controversy arising in an attempt to enforce such laws. Each House is, by the Constitution, "the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members." In 1910 the 48 States were represented by 96 Senators and the ratio of Repre sentatives was fixed at 1 to every 212,407 population. The 17th Amendment to the Constitution provided for a direct vote for Senators by the people.
Congress an assembly either of sovereign princes
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an assembly either of sovereign princes, or of the delegated representatives of sovereign States, for the purpose of considering matters of international interest. Even in the United States, though the term has now a different meaning, it had a similar origin, the first congress being that of the delegates from the various British colonies, who met on Oct. 7, 1765, for the purpose of considering their grievances. Previous to signing a treaty of peace, a meeting of plenipotentiaries usually takes place, to which the name of a congress is sometimes applied. It is more properly reserved for important meetings to decide great European questions. To this class belonged the famous Congress of Vienna in 1815; that of Carlsbad in 1819, for regulating the affairs of Germany; that of Paris at the end of the Russian war of 1854-1856; and that at Berlin after the Russo- Turkish war of 1877-1878.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 statement that "our senators are chosen by the legislature of each state" was overturned three years later by the Seventeenth Amendment (1913), which put senators to a popular vote; the Twentieth Amendment (1933) then abolished the March 4 expiry and the long wait until December, moving Congress's opening to January 3. The chamber sizes in Aiton's table have also settled: the House has been fixed at 435 members since the 1929 Apportionment Act, and the Senate reached 100 when Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959, while non-voting delegates now come from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas rather than from Arizona and New Mexico. Aiton's note that British MPs serve seven years was already out of date: the Parliament Act of 1911 cut the maximum to five. Collier's 1921 figure of 2.7 million books in the Library of Congress has grown to a collection of well over 170 million items across several buildings, the original 1897 structure now named for Thomas Jefferson; Herbert Putnam stayed on as Librarian until 1939, forty years in the post.
Written for this edition, 2026.