But we can pay only a brief visit to the House of Representatives, for there is another body of lawmakers in the northern end of the Capitol which we wish to see. Back to the rotunda we go and then walk along a corridor leading to the northern, or Senate, end of the Capitol. Each day, for a number of months in the year, an interesting ceremony takes place in this corridor promptly at noon. Nine dignified men, clad in long black silk robes, march in solemn procession across the corridor and enter a stately chamber which, though smaller, resembles Statuary Hall in shape. These men make up the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court of justice in the land. Often in cases at law a person does not feel that the decision of one court has been just. He may then have his case examined and passed upon by a higher court. This is called "appealing," and some cases, for good cause, may be appealed from one court to another until they reach the Supreme Court. Beyond the Supreme Court there is no appeal. What this court decides must be accepted as final. The room in which the Supreme Court meets was once used as the Senate Chamber, and many of the great debates heard in the Senate before our Civil War were held in this room. The Senate Chamber of to-day is further down the north corridor. This room is not unlike the Hall of Representatives in plan and arrangement, though it is somewhat smaller. Instead of having a chairman of their own choosing, as is the case in the House, the Senate is presided over by the vice president of the United States. This high official, seated upon a raised platform, directs the proceedings of the Senate just as the Speaker directs those of the House of Representatives. There seems to be an air of greater solemnity and dignity in this small group of lawmakers than in the House of Representatives. It is smaller because each state is entitled to send but two senators to the Senate, whereas the number of representatives is governed by the number of inhabitants in the state. The populous state of New York has thirty-seven representatives and but two senators, the same number as the little state of Rhode Island whose population entitles it to only two representatives. The purpose of having two lawmaking bodies is to provide a safeguard against hasty and unwise legislation. In the House of Representatives the most populous states have the greatest influence, while in the Senate all states are equally represented, and each state has two votes regardless of its size and population. Since every proposed law must be agreed to in both the Senate and the House before it is taken to the president for his approval, each body acts as a check on the other in lawmaking. [Illustration: INAUGURAL PARADE ON PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE]