Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/411

 Haynes : The Election of Senators 40 1 The author is thoroughly impressed with the importance of his subject, owing to the position which the Senate has secured in our sys- tem as " the dominant branch of Congress, the controlHng influence in the government ". " Whether the Senate be regarded as the sheet anchor of the republic in the troubled seas of democracy, or as the stronghold of corporate interests — as the country's only safeguard, or as its chief menace — the question becomes one of paramount importance : how do men come to their membership in this overpowering body ? " To the answer of this question Dr. Haynes devotes the first portion of his volume. After presenting the considerations which led " the fathers " to place the election in the control of the state legislatures, and giving an account of the act of 1866 for the regulation of senatorial elections, he reviews the unsatisfactory results of the system, the most obvious of which has been the serious deadlocks in at least one-half of the states within the past fifteen years. " The personnel " of the Senate during five recent Congresses is subjected to a searching analysis. With the assistance of five " close observers " Dr. Haynes attempts an interesting classification of the sen- ators. As a result of this examination only seventeen fall within the class notable for their " statesmanship ", while " one senator out of every three owes his election to his personal wealth, to his being the candidate satisfactory to . . . the ' System,' or to his expertness in political manipulation ". These conclusions simply confirm the current belief that there has been a general decline during the last half-century in the ability, fidelity, integrity, and independence of the members of the Upper House. Owing to the dissatisfaction with both the method of election and the resulting choice of men, the past two decades have witnessed a significant movement for the popular control of senatorial elections. Chapters v. and vi. show that this movement found expression in two ways, either through " a loose construction of the present law. or in accordance with a constitutional amendment" (p. viii). The first method, that of consulting the people in advance of the election by the legislature, has been adopted so fully that in almost one-third of the states it amounts to an unwritten amendment, as the election of senators has in effect ceased to be indirect. This has been accomplished by several methods, through the party convention nominating the candidate, by the direct primary system, and by ballot at the regular state elections. The rapid extension of the primary system to other states would make it possible for this system to become general. The inherent weakness of this method of control both in theory and in the light of experience has strengthened the demand for a Consti- tutional amendment. Five times between 1893 and 1902 has such a proposition received the approval of the House of Representatives, only to encounter the seemingly insurmountable objection of the Senate. In the face of this obstruction there has been, since 1899, a significant movement on the part of the state legislatures to demand the calling