ADAMS: THE CONTROL OF THE PURSE. 1 95 



bills for the support of the government, or of adopting other measures 

 with a view of obtaining more speedy action on said bills." The 

 resolution was adopted on January yth, 1856. Mr. Brodhead urged 

 in its favor: first, that the House is accustomed to retain the general 

 appropriation bills for about two hundred days, on the average, 

 leaving the Senate only ten days in which to consider such bills; 

 second, that such procedure is practically denying to the Senate its 

 constitutional right of consideration; third, that the Senate possesses 

 the power of originating appropriation bills, for the constitutional 

 provision reads "All bills for raising revenue," whereas the original 

 proposition in the federal convention was definitely extended to 

 appropriating money also, and that since mention of this power was 

 omitted afterwards it was evidently the intention of the framers of the 

 constitution to leave it with the Senate;* fourth, that the Senate 

 already exercises the power in bills which render necessary the 

 expenditure of money. The resolution aroused little discussion at 

 the time it was voted upon. When introduced there seemed to be 

 some excuse for it as the House was undergoing a protracted contest 

 over the election of Speaker, so that public business was greatly 

 delayed. But when the finance committee, on February 4th, 1856, 

 introduced a resolution in accord with Mr. Brodhead's proposal, 

 some members were strongly opposed to the innovation. The reso- 

 lution provided: "That the committee on finance be instructed to 

 prepare and report such of the general appropriation bills as they may 

 deem expedient, "f 



Mr. Seward of New York stated the principal objection to the 

 resolution, and as this was the first occasion upon which the Senate 

 debated its right to originate a general appropriation bill, the essen- 

 tial portions of his argument are given at length. "The govern- 

 ment," he said, "has been in operation since the year 1789, a period 

 of more than half a century, and never yet has a general appropria- 

 tion bill been prepared, or reported or submitted to the Senate, or 

 sent to the House of Representatives from this body. On the other 

 hand the practice has been that all appropriation bills of that char- 

 acter have originated in the House of Representatives and have been 

 sent to this house for its concurrence and amendment. As this, then, 

 is a proposition, made not only for the first time within our own expe- 

 rience, but for the first time since the foundation of the government, 

 we are to presume that it will be admitted that what is proposed is an 

 innovation, a direct, specific and effective innovation. * * * I am not 

 going to contend that the provision of the constitution, which I have 



♦See Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, p. 206. 

 tCong. Globe, 1835-56, pt. I, p. 376. 



