the
framers can scarcely be denied. But the political beliefs of the framers
are not the generally accepted political beliefs of to-day. It is
immaterial to the people generally that the attitude of the Senate on
public questions is in line with the purpose for which that body was
originally established. The criticism of the Senate's policy expressed
in the phrase "all brakes and no steam"[193] indicates not so much a
change in the character and influence of that body as in the attitude of
the people toward the checks which the Constitution imposed upon
democracy. Conservatism has always been characteristic of the United
States Senate, which, as Sir Henry Maine says, is "the one thoroughly
successful institution [upper house] which has been established since
the tide of modern democracy began to run."[194] Measuring success by
the degree of resistance offered to the will of the majority, as this
writer does, the conclusion is correct. This is the standard of judgment
which the framers of the Constitution would have applied, but it is not
the generally accepted standard according to which the success of that
body would be judged to-day. We have now come to accept the view that
every organ of government must be approved or condemned according as it
furthers or thwarts the ends of democracy. Applying this test, the
conclusion is inevitable that the Senate as now constituted is out of
harmony with present-day political thought.

What, then, can be done to make that body an organ of democracy? There
are three distinct evils in the Senate as it is now organized. The first
pertains to the irresponsibility of its members due to their method of
election and long term of office. But inasmuch as this could be remedied
only by a constitutional amendment, it is not likely that anything short
of a revolutionary public sentiment in favor of such change could compel
the preliminary two-thirds majority in that body which the Constitution
makes necessary. A body made up of men who for the most part realize
that they owe their political advancement to a minority would naturally
be loth to support a change in the system which would place the election
to membership in that body directly in the hands of the people. It is
improbable that any such reform can be accomplished at present. Any
such direct attack upon the system would under present conditions be
almost certain to fail. Some method of accomplishing this object must be
employed whic