approval of the
committee it is favorably reported to the Senate or House, as the case
may be--_i.e._, the bill is returned, accompanied by a report advising
the passage of the accompanying bill. If the bill is not approved by the
committee, an unfavorable report is made; bills are seldom passed after
such an adverse report. These reports which accompany the bills, are
printed, often at great length, giving reasons for the proposed action
in regard to the bills. When reported by the committee back to the house
in which it was introduced, a bill is voted upon, and, if passed, is
sent to the other branch. If passed there, it is ready for the
President's signature; if vetoed, the bill is lost, unless passed over
the veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses. But frequently one house,
while not wishing to defeat a measure sent to it from the other house,
may desire to change it by some amendment. If this is done, the bill, as
amended, is sent back to the house from which it came, and if then
agreed to as amended by it, it is sent to the President for his
approval. Thus by repeated amendments it may pass to and fro between the
House and Senate several, times. In the House of Representatives, many
bills are passed through all their various stages by a single vote, by
what is known as a "suspension of the rules," which may be ordered by a
two-thirds vote.

The Senate is now divided into between fifty and sixty committees, but
the number varies from session to session. The principal committees are
those on (1) Foreign Relations, (2) Privileges and Elections, (3)
Judiciary, (4) Commerce, (5) Finance, and (6) Appropriations. The Senate
selects the members for the different committees by ballot, though it is
pretty well determined beforehand how each committee shall be
constituted by means of party caucuses (informal meetings of members of
the same party to determine upon lines of action that will be supported
by all). A committee is always composed of an odd number of members, and
both political parties are always represented on every committee, though
the majority is, in almost all cases, from that party which has the
majority of the members of the Senate.

The House of Representatives is organized into sixty committees,
ranging, in their number of members, from thirteen down. As regards
party representation, their constitution is similar to that of the
Senate Committees. The Committee of "Ways and Means," which regulates
cust