The federal government is already organized upon a plan of centralized power. The ballot which it presents to the voter is always short. The voter casts his ballot for a president and vice-president every four years and for one congressman from his district (and perhaps one or two from the state at large) every two years. United States Senators hold office for six years. Until the adoption of the recent 17th Amendment two were elected by each state legislature. Now two are elected at large in each state. The judges are appointed by the president with the approval of the Senate. The Senate has a general veto power on Executive appointments. Such in form at least is the organization of the national government. Today, however, extra-legal government has laid its hand to some extent at least upon the government at Washington. In congressional districts where extra-legal government flourishes, it has become the strongest and most persistent single force in the election of congressmen. Naturally it has its loyal supporters in the House of Representatives of Congress. As the power of extra-legal government grows and becomes more widespread its influence in that house will grow. It is, of course, entirely immaterial whether a supporter of the extra-legal government is labeled Democrat or Republican. He is a Democrat when he comes from a district where the vote-directing machine operates successfully under that name. He is a Republican when the vote-directing machine operates successfully under that name. The power of extra-legal government which has appeared in the Senate of the United States is the direct consequence of the power of extra-legal government in the state legislatures. Of course, extra-legal government does not often control a majority of the members of both houses of a state legislature. A considerable minority, however, who hold together under a strong leadership can wield a large influence. One of the reasons for the persistence of the fight upon Mr. Lorimer and its popular support throughout the country was the fact that his election represented to the popular mind in a striking manner the invasion of the United States Senate by extra-legal government. No matter how free from corruption Mr. Lorimer may have been, the power so openly wielded by those allied with extra-legal government to place him in the United States Senate presented itself to the people of the country as a menace to the nation. Yet a similar invasion has been going on steadily in quieter ways. Every gain of extra-legal government in the control of state legislatures has been a step farther toward a predominant influence in the United States Senate. It has been for the most part through senators who have supported, or at least felt that they must placate the power of extra-legal government in their states, that that government has obtained its hold upon the federal judiciary. The president’s appointments must be approved by the Senate. Senatorial