ken[110] that the Senate had
no power to punish a witness who, having been commanded to produce
papers, destroyed them after service of the subpoena, because the "power
to punish for contempt may never be exerted, in the case of a private
citizen, solely _qua_ punishment. * * * the power to punish ceases as
soon as the obstruction has been removed, or its removal has become
impossible; * * *" The Court confirmed the power to punish for a past
contempt as an appropriate means for vindicating "the established and
essential privilege of requiring the production of evidence."[111]

Criminal Prosecutions

Under the rule laid down by Anderson _v._ Dunn, imprisonment for
contempt of one of the Houses of Congress could not extend beyond the
adjournment of the body which ordered it.[112] This limitation seriously
impaired the efficacy of such sanction. Accordingly, in 1857 Congress
found it necessary to provide criminal penalties for recalcitrant
witnesses, in order to make its power to compel testimony more
effective. The Supreme Court held that the purpose of this statute was
merely to supplement the power of contempt by providing additional
punishment, and overruled all constitutional objections to it saying:
"We grant that Congress could not divest itself, or either of its
Houses, of the essential and inherent power to punish for contempt, in
cases to which the power of either House properly extended; but, because
Congress, by the act of 1857, sought to aid each of the Houses in the
discharge of its constitutional functions, it does not follow that any
delegation of the power in each to punish for contempt was involved;
* * *."[113] In a prosecution for wilful failure of a person to produce
records within her custody and control pursuant to a lawful subpoena
issued by a committee of the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court
ruled that the presence of a quorum of the committee at the time of the
return of the subpoena was not an essential element of the offense.[114]
Previously the Court had held that a prosecution could not be maintained
under a general perjury statute for false testimony given before a
Congressional committee unless a quorum of the committee was present
when the evidence was given.[115]

Section 2. Clause 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 requisit