ADA^rS: THE CONTROL OF THE PURSE. iS,-; 



agree to have money bills originated and forced upon this House by a 

 man destitute of legitimate authority, while the constitution gives such 

 power solely to the House of Representatives."* 



These objections seem to have taken the House rather by surprise 

 and there were not many representatives prepared to discuss the 

 point. The debate lasted the greater part of the day. Mr. Benson, 

 tlie first to defend the wording of the clause, declared that 'if the 

 proposed amendment prevail the bill will be entirely nugatory. The 

 most important service that can be rendered by a gentleman who is 

 at the head of the department of finance is that of digesting and re- 

 porting plans for the improvement of revenue. * * * For ray 

 part I am at a loss to see how the privilege of the House is infringed. 

 Can any of the Secretary's plans be called bills ? Will they be re- 

 ported in such a form even ? " f In a similar way, Mr. Lawrence 

 argued that any bill "cannot be originated in my opinion until the 

 sense of the House is declared; much less can a plan for the improve- 

 ment of the revenue be said to be a money bill.";}; 



This discussion of the exact meaning of the constitutional question 

 aroused a wider interest when those who were most prominent in 

 discussing Art. I, Sec. 7, in the constitutional convention undertook 

 to interpret it in the halls of Congress. As in the convention Mr. 

 Gerry had been for the exclusive privilege of the House and Mr. 

 Madison opposed to it, so now these two men took opposite sides in 

 the debate. The speech of the former was the strongest argument 

 made against the bill as it stood and in favor of the amendment of 

 Mr. Page. He expressed himself in favor of the object of the clause, 

 that is, to get all the information possible for the purpose of improv- 

 ing the revenue, "but," said he, "do gentlemen consider the import- 

 ance of the power they give the officer by the clause? Is it not part 

 of our legitimate authority ? And does not the constitution expressly 

 declare that the House solely shall exercise the power of originating 

 revenue bills ? Now what is meant by reporting plans? It surely 

 includes the idea of originating money bills, that is, a bill for improv- 

 ing the revenue, or in other words, of bringing revenue into the 

 treasury. For, if he is to report plans, they ought to be reported in 

 a proper form and complete. This is giving an indirect voice in 

 legislative business to an executive officer. * * * But if my con- 

 struction is true, we are giving up the most essential privilege vested 

 in us by the constitution." § In a later speech Mr. Gerry partly 

 confessed that his "construction" might not be entirely logical, 



* Auuals of Congress, Vol. I, p. 593, 

 tibia., p. 593-94, 

 ;lbl3., p. 631. 

 ^IWd, p, 801. 



