The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1957-08-22
A One-House Congress?

quite frequently, L am asked
by people in Ohio if two Houses
of Congress are necessary. 1t has
been suggested that unicameral
legislature such as exists in Neb-
raska would be satisfactory for
the Federal Government. The
idea of a two-House legislature
is based upon tradition and COM
promise. Although the American
colonies declared themselves in
dependent of Great Britain IN
l776, when it came to forming the
new government, a great num-
Der of British precedents were
retained.
For instance, the great body
of American law is merely a
continuation of the English Com
mon Law. Great Britain had a
two-House Parliament, namely
the House of Commons and the
House of Lords and tradition
suggested a similar division for
the new nation. However, the
conflict between the principle OF
equal representation of the peo--
pie and equal representation of
the states gave added reason for
the American Government to
contain two Houses of Govern
ment. The small states, before
they would agree to become a
part of the United States, insist
ed upon equal representation
whereas the large states, by
reason of their size, insisted that
they should have more represen-
tation in Government than the
smaller states. Hence it was that
representation in the House of
Representatives was established
on the basis Of population, that
is, the larger states having a
greater number Of representa-
tives in Congress than the small
er states, whereas In the Senate,
each of the states had equal
representation, that IS, each state
was allotted two seats.
But, is there a present need to
continue the British precedent?
Is there reason to have two
bodies of Congress, one in which
the states have equal representa-
ton and one in which the people
are represented more or less
equally? I think that the answer
is clearly evident when one
looks at the state Of present leg
islation such as the Civil Rights
Bill. Both the House and the
Senate took similar legislation
and by their own processes, de-
bated and discussed and voted.
The resulting bill from each
body is different. Thus, the
people of our nation have the
benefit of having had that bill
considered by two deliberatlve
bodies. Now procedures are
available to allow delegates from
each of the Houses to meet to-
gether in an effort to find a
common ground upon which both
the House and the Senate may
agree. The purpose, of course,
is to select the best parts Of both
bills as a suggested civil rights
enactment.
In the Civil Rights bill we can
see examples both of careful
study and of obstructionism, de-
pending on ones viewpoint,
However we feel about this bill,
| the two Houses of Congress are
part of the check and balance
system of our American Gov
ernment. That each may apply
the brake to the activity Of the
other and may scrutinize, refine
and improve the legislation
which the other has considered
is over the long-term most advis.
able. Nevertheless, it has beer
suggested that if there were but
one House of Congress-, the same
results would be accomplished
inasmuch as closer scrutiny
would be given to legislation a:
it passed through this single body
of the legislature. / admit tha
| have noted on occasion Whe1
legislation was being hurried
through one of the bodies O
Congress a feeling that if ther.
is anything bad in the bill, it will
be caught in the other Hous'
and that were it not for the fac
that it would have such safe
guard, more deliberation ant
| debate and smore careful consid
Grafton would have been givel
to particular bills in the frs
instance. Another charge Otter
made with justification, is tha
powerful groups in one Hous'
may work to obstruct Legislation
desired by majority. Thes'
criticisms may pinpoint a weak
ness, but they do not, in m,
opinion, justify change.
Veterans Compensation
The possibility of increase'
compensation for veterans suf
fering from disabilities incurre'
while they were in the servic
frightened last week when tn
Senate passed a bill to increas
present compensation rates. TIL
, House agreed to similar legisla
ton earlier this year.
If this legislation is approves
by the President, compensation
for men with war time injurie
will be increased according to
scale provided for in the Law
This will range from an increas
from SIT to $40 per month TO
a l0-percent disability to an in
crease of $181 to 1925 for veter
ans who are totally disabled fo
service-connected causes.
Photo Observation-Disclosures