Officers.--Section 2, Clause 5. _The House of Representatives shall
choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power
of impeachment_.

The speaker, who is the presiding officer, has always been a member of
the House, but the Constitution does not say that he _shall_ be. The
other officers are the clerk, sergeant-at-arms, doorkeeper, postmaster,
and chaplain, none of whom is a member of the House.

Number and Term of Office of Senators.--Section 3, Clause 1. _The
Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each
State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each senator
shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the
State legislature_.

As we have seen, the provision that there should be two senators from
each State was the result of a compromise. Consequently, New York and
Pennsylvania have the same number as Delaware and Nevada.[17] The term
of six years for senators was likewise a compromise measure. There were
members of the convention who favored three years; others wanted nine
years, and Hamilton desired that the term should be during good
behavior. Many States have practically lengthened the prescribed term by
the wise policy of returning acceptable senators for more than one term.

[Footnote 17: The Senate now contains 96 members; the English House of
Lords, 560; and the French Senate, 300.]

Prior to April 8, 1913, when the Seventeenth Amendment became a part of
the Constitution, through ratification by the requisite votes of