alone have the right to originate money bills.  We, the House of Representatives, have alone the right to originate bills which grant the money of the people.  The Senate represents States; we represent the taxpayers of the Republic.  We, therefore, by the very terms of the Constitution, 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.