_Method of Choosing Committees._--In the senate committee assignments are nominally made by the senate itself, but in reality they are made by two committees on committees selected by a caucus of the members of each party, the recommendations of the two committees usually being accepted by the senate without debate. Both parties are represented on each committee, the dominant party, of course, being given a majority of the places. Thus on a committee of thirteen members, the majority party is usually represented by eight members and the minority by five; on a committee of seventeen, the numbers are eleven and six respectively, and so on. In the house of representatives, from the beginning until very recently, all the committees were appointed by the speaker, a power which gave him great influence in shaping and determining the course of legislation, since he might constitute the committees with reference to their friendliness or unfriendliness toward legislative measures that were referred to them for investigation and report. In making committee assignments, however, the speaker was not entirely free to follow his own individual preferences. Thus the tradition of the house required that he must take into consideration the claims of members whose service had been long and distinguished, while political gratitude led him to reward with desirable committee assignments those to whom he was especially indebted for his election as speaker. Seniority of committee service was also taken into account when the chairmanship of an important committee became vacant, the next ranking member of the committee having a strong claim to be promoted to the vacancy. In 1911, however, the house, then controlled by the Democrats, adopted a rule providing for the election of all standing committees by the house; thus making the method of choosing committees the same as in the senate. In the house, the chairmanship of every committee, whether important or unimportant, is given to a member of the dominant party, and of course also a majority of the other places on the committee, the proportion between the representation of the two parties being about the same as on the senate committees. =Introduction and Reference of Bills.=--After the appointment of the committees the house is ready for the transaction of legislative business. Bills are introduced by sending them, indorsed with the name of the introducer, to the presiding officer's desk, where the fact of presentation is entered on the journal and the bill is given a number.[34] Thus the first bill introduced at the beginning of a new Congress is designated as "S. 1," if presented in the senate, and "H. R. 1," if presented in the house of representatives.