When Congress Meets.—­Section 4, Clause 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

As we have already seen, representatives are elected for a term of two years.  This period defines the length of a Congress.  Representatives, as we know, are chosen on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.  Now the term of office of a representative begins legally on the fourth of March succeeding the time of his election.[18] The first regular session of the Congress to which he was elected does not begin until the first Monday of the following December, or thirteen months after the election.  It would seem desirable that the members should be given an earlier opportunity to express themselves on the issues upon which they have been chosen.

[Footnote 18:  The limits of the 63d Congress will be March 4, 1913, to March 4, 1915.]

Sessions of Congress.—­Each Congress has two regular sessions.  The first is called the “long session,” for its length is not determined by a definite date of adjournment.  It usually lasts until midsummer and may not extend beyond the first Monday in December, the time fixed for the beginning of the next session.  The second, or “short session,” cannot extend beyond 12 M. of March 4, the time set for a new Congress to begin.  The President may convene Congress in special session.

Organization of Congress.—­The first Monday in December of each second year is a notable day in Washington, for the formal opening of a new Congress is regarded as an important event.  The House of Representatives must go through the entire process of organization.  To the clerk of the preceding House are intrusted the credentials of the members, and from these he makes out a list of those who are shown to be regularly elected.  At the hour of assembly he calls the roll from this list, announces whether or not a quorum is present, and states that the first business is to elect a speaker.  After his election the speaker takes the oath of office, which is administered by the member who has had the longest service in the House.  The speaker then administers the oath to the members by States.  The election of the chief clerk and the other officers follows, after which the House is said to be organized.

The Senate is a “continuing body,” and no formal organization is necessary.  At the opening of a new Congress the Vice-President calls the Senate to order and the other officers resume their duties.  After the president pro tempore has been chosen, the newly elected members are escorted to the desk in groups of four, and the oath is administered by the president of the Senate.  Each house, when organized, notifies the other of the fact, and a joint committee of the houses is appointed to wait upon the President and inform him that quorums are