tion, are charged with the duty of originating the
bills which grant the money of the people. We claim the right,
which the House of Commons in England established after two
centuries of contest, to say that we will not grant the money
of the people unless there is a redress of grievances."

Upon the assembling of this Congress, in pursuance of a call for
an extra session, which was made necessary by the failure of the
Forty-fifth Congress to make the needful appropriations for the
support of the Government, the question was presented whether the
attempt made in the last Congress to ingraft by construction a new
principle upon the Constitution should be persisted in or not. This
Congress has ample opportunity and time to pass the appropriation
bills, and also to enact any political measures which may be
determined upon in separate bills by the usual and orderly methods
of proceeding. But the majority of both Houses have deemed it wise to
adhere to the principles asserted and maintained in the last Congress
by the majority of the House of Representatives. That principle is
that the House of Representatives has the sole right to originate
bills for raising revenue, and therefore has the right to withhold
appropriations upon which the existence of the Government may depend
unless the Senate and the President shall give their assent to any
legislation which the House may see fit to attach to appropriation
bills. To establish this principle is to make a radical, dangerous,
and unconstitutional change in the character of our institutions. The
various departments of the Government and the Army and the Navy
are established by the Constitution or by laws passed in pursuance
thereof. Their duties are clearly defined and their support is
carefully provided for by law. The money required for this purpose has
been collected from the people and is now in the Treasury, ready to
be paid out as soon as the appropriation bills are passed. Whether
appropriations are made or not, the collection of the taxes will go
on. The public money will accumulate in the Treasury. It was not the
intention of the framers of the Constitution that any single branch of
the Government should have the power to dictate conditions upon
which this treasure should be applied to the purpose for which it was
collected. Any such intention, if it had been entertained, would have
been plainly expressed in the Constitution.

That a majority of the Senate n