Mr. SCHENCK. I do not propose to ask the attention of the House long to this bill. I hope that the House will not deem it neces. sary to occupy much time in disposing of a matter requiring, on some accounts, imme diate attention. If this bill, or anything like it in its main features, is to become a law, it is important that it should be enacted into law as speedily as possible in order to afford to some 3 or 4 States, which have not held their elections for members of the next Congress, and whose present election laws will not permit them to be represented in that Congress as early as the month of March, an opportunity, either by extra meeting or regular session of their Legislatures, of making the change. The bill which I have presented provides in the 1st place, as its main object, for the assembling of each Congress hereafter on the 4th of March, being the 1st day of the term for which the members of such Congress are elected. The reason for that must be ob vious to every one. We have now an executive dept represented by the President as the Chief Magistrate, with that officer inaugurated on the very day upon which his term begins, to take the place of his immediate predecessor. Thus there is a continuity given to that which represents the executive power of this country. In the same way the judiciary is continuous by successive appointment of the members who compose our Supreme and other courts. But the legislative dept has, up to this period of our history, presented a very different condition of things, the inconvenience of which now makes us feel for the 1st time, perhaps, that a reform is necessary. That inconvenience so presses upon us now that I have very little doubt every one must have come to the conclusion that a change is needed. Congress is elected for a term of 24 months, and yet under the existing laws providing for the meeting of Congress a period of 9 months, from M?on to December, must expire without any organization of the legislative dept of the Government. It consists for more than 1/3rd of its time, therefore, of a number of persons elected to be representatives of the legislative power of the country, but who are without power to meet together even for the purpose of organization, so that the powers of the Government with which they are to be invested cannot be exercised unless they shall be called together at the pleasure of the executive dept. There is therefore in regard to the legislative dept of the Government no permission to continue until we change the law. There is an interregnum extending over 1/3rd of the congressional term at each succeeding 2 years. I propose to cure this by providing that Congress shall hereafter, as the regular time of meeting, assemble on the 1st day on which the term of Congress commences. This meeting will ordinarily be, perhaps, for not much more except for organization. It is not likely that this 1st session of Congress provided for in the scheme which I propose will last much more than ten, 20, or 30 days, depending upon the czigencies of the country, but it will give Congress an opportunity to organize by the election of a Speaker and the appointment of its officers and its committees so as to be prepared for business. It will enable them at their discretion to meet afterward at their own desire, and, in short, put them in a position to have, as it were, the command of the situation. The bill provides for a meeting at that time, and the length of the session will depend upon the will of Congress itself. It does not seem to be necessary or proper to dispense with the other meetings of Congress as they now exist, although perhaps it may be, and, I have so thought and provided in the bill, probably expedient to change the time of those present meetings. The Constitution requires that congress shall meet at least once in each year. I have a provision for 2 other meetings, but for the sake of expediency and convenience I propose that the 1st session, as it now stands which will then be the 2nd session, instead of taking place on the 1st Monday in Decem ber, shall be thrown beyond the holidays, so as to get rid of a period of time in which not much business is ever done. Some gentlemen have suggested to me that instead of throwing the meeting of Congress into January it would be better to bring forward the meeting of what is ordinarily the long session to November, and thus enable Congress to transact its business and adjourn before the dog days of the following summer. I am willing to submit that question to the House, and therefore I leave it open that an amendment to that effect may be offered and the sense of the House taken upon it. So far as the 3rd session, now the 2nd, or short session, is concerned, I have thought it expedient to bring it forward to the 2nd Monday in November. The fixing it at that date will avoid any interference with the present time of holding elections in 12 or 14 States. I propose to fix the 2nd Monday of November as the day for the commencement of that session. Some gentlemen say that will interfere with the NewYork election. I think not. I think the election in that State is held on the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November.. I have considered that point, and if I am right, this bill cannot by any possibility interfere with the election. For that reason I took the 2nd Monday in stead of the 1st Monday. I think it exceedingly probable that either the present or some future Congress may change altogether the time for the election of members of Congress in the different States, so as to have uniformity in all the States by requiring the elections to take place everywhere at the same day; but that is a matter for future consideration. At present we have no uniformity in the day of election. I have conformed this bill to the rule in the greater number of States, whose elections do not come off until November. There are, as I said at the outset, some 3 or 4 States which do not elect their members until after the term when the Congress for which they are elected commences. We should reform that by passing a bill of this kind. It has always seemed to me that, it is a very anomalous condition of things that members should be elected to a Congress and should receive pay for a period antecedent to the time when elected. I hold that under all the circumstances the election should take place prior to the time when the term commences.