4. Weight, Fineness, and Value of Foreign Gold and Silver Coins.* * Taken from the Report of the Director of the Mint, November 2, 1859, and found in the Report on the Finances of the Secretary of the Treasury of December 22, 1859, pp. 89, 90. XV. CONGRESS.* THE Congress of the United States consists of a Senate and House of Representatives, and must assemble at least once every year, on the first Monday of December, unless it is otherwise provided by law. The Senate is composed of two members from each State; and, of course, the regular number is now 66. They are chosen by the Legislatures of the several States, for the term of six years, one third being elected biennially. The Vice-President of the United States is the President of the Senate, in which body he has only a casting vote, which is given in case of an equal division of the votes of the Senators. In his absence, a President pro tempore is chosen from among the Senators by the Senate. The House of Representatives is composed of members from the several States, elected by the people, in separate districts composed of contiguous territory, for the term of two years. The Representatives are apportioned among the different States according to population, as follows. After each decennial enumeration, the aggregate representative population of the United States is ascertained by the Secretary of the Interior, by adding to the whole number of free persons in all the States, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. This aggregate is divided by 233, and the quotient, rejecting fractions, if any, is the ratio of apportionment among the several States. The representative population of each State is then ascertained in the same manner, and is divided by the above-named ratio, and this quotient gives the apportionment of Representatives to each State. The loss by fractions is compensated for by assigning one additional member to as many States having the largest fractions as may be necessary to make the whole number of Representatives 233. If after the apportionment new States are admitted, Representatives are assigned to such States upon the above basis, in addition to the limited number of 233; but such excess continues only until the next apportionment under the succeeding census. The present number of Representatives is 237, an additional representative being temporarily assigned to California, two being allowed to Minnesota, and one to Oregon. There are, besides, five Delegates, one each from Utah, New Mexico, Washington, Kansas, and Nebraska, who have a right to speak, but not to vote. For table of apportionment, &c. among the several States, see post, p. 242. The compensation of members is, mileage (being $8 for every twenty * The American Almanac for 1844, p. 149, contains a complete list of the Senators and Representatives in Congress from the several States, from the commencement of the government under the Constitution to the end of the 27th Congress, March 23, 1843. with the beginning and termination of their respective periods of office. The American Almanac for 1854, p. 213, brings down the list from the commencement of the 28th Congress to the end of the 32d Congress, March 3, 1852. miles of travel in the usual road, in going to and returning from the seat of government), and $6,000 for each Congress, payable as follows: on the first day of each regular session, the mileage and the pay then due from the beginning of the term, at the rate of $250 a month, and, during the session, compensation at the same rate; on the first day of each subsequent session, mileage, and pay at the same rate that has accrued since the adjournment, and during said session at the same rate. Members dying before the commencement of the first session receive no pay or mileage ; dying afterwards, their representatives receive what was then due them. Deductions from the monthly pay of each member are made for each day's absence, unless the cause of absence be his sickness or that of some member of his family. The pay of the Speaker, and of the President of the Senate pro tempore, is $12,000 for each Congress. THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. 2D SESSION. THE SENATE. [The figures denote the expiration of the terms of the Senators.] Asbury Dickins, Secretary. Alabama. William Hickey, Chief Clerk. Indiana. Benj. Fitzpatrick, Wetumpka, 1861 Graham N. Fitch, Logansport, 1861 Clem. C. Clay, Jr., Huntsville, 1865 Jesse D. Bright, Jeffersonville, 1863 Wm. M. Gwin, San Francisco, 1861 †John J. Crittenden, Frankfort, 1861 Milton S. Latham, San Francisco, 1863 Laz. W. Powell, Henderson Co., 1865 *Lafayette S. Foster, Norwich, 1861 John Slidell, New Orleans, 1861 James Dixon, Hartford, 1863 J. P. Benjamin, New Orleans, 1865 James A. Bayard, Wilmington, 1863 Lot M. Morrill, Augusta, 1863 Willard Saulsbury, Georgetown, 1865 Wm. Pitt Fessenden, Portland, 1865 David L. Yulee, Homossassa, 1861 *James A. Pearce, Chestertown, 1861 Steph. R. Mallory, Key West, 1863 Anthony Kennedy, Baltimore, 1863 * Re-elected for six years from 4th March, 1861. ↑ John C. Breckinridge elected for six years from 4th March, 1861. In place of Hannibal Hamlin, elected Vice-President of the United States. Minnesota. Henry M. Rice, St. Paul, Pennyslvania. 1863 § William Bigler, Clearfield, 1861 Morton S. Wilkinson, Mankato, 1865 Simon Cameron, Harrisburg, 1863 Mississippi. Rhode Island. James F. Simmons, Providence, 1863 South Carolina. 1863 Jas. H. Hammond, Beech Isl'd, 1861 James Chesnut, Kershaw, John P. Hale, New Jersey 1865 Manchester, 1861 Tennessee. John R. Thomson, Princeton, 1863 New York. Wm. H. Seward, Auburn, North Carolina. *Jacob Collamer, Woodstock, 1861 Thos. L. Clingman, Ashville, 1861 Solomon Foot, Rutland, 1863 Thomas Bragg, Northampton, 1865 Winchester, 1861 Charles Durkee, Kenosha, 1861 1865 James R. Doolittle, Racine, Edward D. Baker, Salem, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, which will expire on the 3d of March, 1861. 1863 [The Second Session of the 36th Congress commenced on the 3d of December, 1860. The numbers prefixed to the names of the members show the District in each State from which they are chosen. The number after the name of the State indicates the number of Representatives to which, under the present apportionment, the State is entitled.] 1. Scott, Chas. L., Sonora. 2. Burch, John C., Weaverville. 4. Gartrell, Lucius J, Atlanta. * Re-elected for 6 years from 4th March, 1861. † Salmon P. Chase elected for 6 years from 4th March, 1861. James W. Nesmith elected for 6 years from 4th March, 1861. Edward Cowan elected for 6 years from 4th March, 1861. |