" These provisions are reminiscences of the evil days when the
king strove to interfere, by fair means or foul, with free speech in
parliament; and they are important enough to be incorporated in the
supreme law of the land. No person can at the same time hold any civil
office under the United States government and be a member of either
house of Congress.
[Sidenote: The Speaker.]
The vice-president is the presiding officer of the Senate, with power
to vote only in case of a tie. The House of Representatives elects its
presiding officer, who is called the Speaker. In the early history of
the House of Commons, its presiding officer was naturally enough its
_spokesman_. He could speak for it in addressing the crown. Henry
of Keighley thus addressed the crown in 1301, and there were other
instances during that century, until in 1376 the title of Speaker was
definitely given to Sir Thomas Hungerford, and from that date the list
is unbroken. The title was given to the presiding officers of the
American colonial assemblies, and thence it passed on to the state and
federal legislatures. The Speaker presides over the debates, puts the
question, and decides points of order.
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