an!) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES SCHOOL OF LAW LIBRARY THE GAVEL AND THE MACE THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Parliamentary haw in Kasy C/japters By FRANK WARREN HACKETT Tbus janglen they and demen and devise —THE SQUIERE'S TALE LONDON SWEET ^5 MAXWELL, Limited 3 CHANCERY LANE Law Publishers M CM I T Entered at Stationers' Hall By McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 1900 o, ri 3n (^cmorg of ^amuef ®dna potion (HARVARD 1864) Leader in Europe and America of the Cause of the International Parity of G«i/<^ and Silver These Pages That took i'/?^?/)^ under the Smile Of His Approval (^re (^ffecfionafefp Jnecrifie^ 7797B8 PREFACE rHE present is a period of public and private meetings. Not to speak of the many who are actually members of a legislative assembly, we observe that nearly every man zve know — and for the matter of that, zvoman, also — belongs to a society, of some sort or description, that has its by-lazvs, rules of order, and debates. One ought to feel positively thank- ful at possessing even an inkling of the mode zvhereby the proceedings of a meeting are conducted after a par- liamentary fashion. If, for the purpose of increasing a moderate stock of knozvledge upon the subject, one resorts to manuals or treatises of the day — admirable as they are in many respects — it is only to come across a text that is dry, technical, and consequently unattractive. It has oc- curred to the zvriter that principles of parliamentary practice are capable of being treated so as to make a work interesting and entertaining, no less than instruc- tive. In other zvords, that an experiment might be made to impart to the subject a literary form. I have tried to zvrite a book that shall be readable; that shall engage the attention and sustain the interest of what is knozrni as " the general reader." Legislative experien\ce is not zuithout its humorous incidents. These I have not hesitated to use, in order to keep the reader fairly zvell entertained. The treat- 8 PREFACE ment, I feel sure, will nowhere be found lacking in seriousness. Let me add that great pains have been taken to ren- der this work, unpretending as it is, a correct and rea- sonably complete guide to ivhat is nozu the approved practice of our va/rious legislative bodies, state and national. R W. H. Craighfen New Castle, New Hampshire 24 September, 1900 CONTENTS Chapter I. Introductory : Of Meetings II. How Meetings Get Under Way III. More About Meetings IV. A Legislature : How Composed V. More of Early Stages VI. The Sources of Parliamentary Law VII. Law-makers at Work VIII. Quorum IX. The Gavel and the Mace X. Other Officials and What They Have to XI. Legislative Etiquette XII. How to Make a Motion . XIII. Petitions XIV. More Petitions ; and Such Like XV. Of Legislators Themselves XVI. Subsidiary Motions . XVII. Talk .... XVIII. Postponement . XIX. Laying on the Table XX. Commitment XXI. Amendment Do Page II 15 21 25 29 35 40 46 51 55 62 66 71 76 86 90 96 lOI 105 III lo CONTENTS Chapter Page XXII, More About Amending . . . .117 XXIII. Division 121 XXIV. Privileged Questions 129 XXV. A Talk About Privilege . . . .138 XXVI. Orders of the Day 148 XXVII. Order 154 XXVIII. Reading Papers 160 XXIX. Suspension of the Rules . . . .163 XXX. Debate 167 XXXI. Debate— Continued 175 XXXII. Something Else About Debate . . .181 XXXIII. Debate— Concluded 186 XXXIV. The Effect of Speeches . . . .197 XXXV. Putting the Question 202 XXXVI. The Yeas and Nays 210 XXXVII. A Point, or Two, About Voting . . 215 XXXVIII. The Minority 220 XXXIX. Reconsideration 225 XL. Committees— How Appointed . . .230 XLI. Committees— Their Functions . . . 234 XLII. Committee of the Whole House . . 242 XLIII. Conference Committees .... 248 XLIV. The Calendar 252 XLV. On Contempt 255 XLVI. Adjourned Sine Die 259 THE GAVEL and THE MACE CHAPTER I introductory: of meetings Started— like a guilty thing. —HAMLET. MAN is a gregarious animal. This much is settled. Man himself ad- mits it. Herbert Spencer has not denied it. Indeed, at this late day to shut our eyes to the fact would be simply futile. It is perhaps not too much to go farther and declare that no animal, when we strike an average right through the year, makes a more gregarious showing than man. * Examine man in the state of develop- ment now reached by him, and you will dis- cover a propensity, not to say a mania, on his part, for huddling together his fellow- men, and presiding over them. It will be seen, moreover, that this propensity knows no abatement, no postponement on ac count of the weather. You shall find him ever ready, at a moment's notice, to lay aside business and borrow the use of the nearest telephone, in order to drum up neighbors and acquaintances, and lay them under promise to attend " the meeting." A nthropo- logical 12 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Congenial talk Growth Seems fossessea * He likes it. The prospect of a gathering animates his spirit. The stir and bustle of a caucus suits him. In his eyes the post of delegate wears a halo of fascination. He spies out happiness in being named to serve upon a committee ; while it is joy outright to him to be elected to some office, or other, even though it carry with it not a cent of salary. To hear himself mentioned in a list of possible candidates is to experi- ence a glow of pleasure. Going home he imparts to his wife as a profound secret that they are talking of him for the nomi- nation. He smiles upon his offspring more benignly. The outlook keeps him for a while in the best of humor. Soothes him. * This same individual, when a boy at school, was never once suspected of endan- gering a blood-vessel in his efforts to stand at the head of the class. But now that he has attained man's estate, he wants to stand at the head of a delegation ; to stand up somewhere and respectfully address the chair ; or, at the very least, to be toward the front where somebody else is doing it. He yearns to be identified with what is going on at the meeting, even if it be nothing more than to pass the hat. * A deep-seated craving in man, I repeat, is to get the floor, to get himself appointed on a committee ; or, at any rate, to have his name put up so as to be voted upon in Introductory : Of Meetings 13 some lodge, club, or society. He feels un- comfortable until he has tried a hand at making a motion, acting as teller, or per- forming some similar part, by way of as- serting his manhood in the presence of his fellows. * These longings, to be sure, are in some Harmless instances gratified with a very simple ser- vice. There are aspirants whose careers have closed at an early stage of public per- formance, with entire satisfaction to them- selves. I have heard of an old gentleman who, in his younger days, had upon one occasion made a motion to adjourn, in the House of Representatives of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts. He never forgot that day. His memory clung to it. Hail- ing, I believe, from one of those amphibi- ous localities down on the Cape, his occu- pation was to follow the sea. Summer visitors in later years would report that when the discourse chanced to turn upon handling a vessel, Captain A. was modesty itself ; but it was his wont to steer the con- versation into a channel that would permit him to allude in blufif and hearty tones to that memorable date when, by adjourning a session of the General Court, he, so to speak, brought to anchor the ship of State. * In view of the drift that human nature invariably takes, are we not justified in the assertion that the earth moves, and that man seconds the motion? 14 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Moral * Citizens of the United States of America, among sundry guaranteed blessings have a constitutional right ^ to assemble peace- ably when and where they like, of course being liable at the common law for rent of the hall. ' Articles in addition to, and amendments of, the Constitution of the United States of America: Article I: Washington, Govern- ment Printing Office. CHAPTER II HOW MEETINGS GET UNDER WAY / would by and by have some speech with you. -MEASURE FOR MEASURE. WE shall assume that certain defi- nitions had best be laid down once for all, so that we can have a distinct idea of what it is that we are talk- ing about. Such was Daniel Webster's custom, after he had been tossed about for many days without an observation in thick weather, sir, upon an unknown sea. At least, Mr. Webster is reported as having re- marked as much to Colonel Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, in 1830, while interchanging views with that distin- guished gentleman, in the Senate of the United States, in regard to the best method of carrying on the government. * To begin with, then, a public meeting may be defined as an assemblage of people brought together for the purpose of getting at an opinion upon a subject of local or of general concern, and of taking action thereon. Ostensibly a meeting deliber- ates. As a matter of fact, one or more managers are good enough to take in ad- vance the burden of deliberation upon their shoulders ; so that all that is left ordinarily for a meeting to do is, to ratify their con- 15 What a meeting is i6 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Place aux dames Lots of 'em "Mr. Moderator ' elusions. Especially is this true of a con- vention called to nominate candidates for political office. The labor of determining what particular man the office shall seek has come to be known as " fixing the slate." * In earlier and more degenerate days the duty of going to public meetings and listen- ing to speeches was left, like other hard- ships, to the men. But an era of reform has wrought its changes. No longer does lovely woman shrink from gracing the scene of public assemblies with her milli- nery and her radiant presence. She is to be seen on the platform and her voice, sometimes mingled with that of others, is heard carrying forward the discussion. * Of meetings there are divers kinds. They can, however, be conveniently divid- ed into two great classes, those where a collection is taken up ; and those where it is dispensed with. Upon the whole, the latter I should say hits the popular taste. * The town meeting (an institution warmly praised by writers who never go to one), will have a variety of topics under discus- sion ; such as, for instance, shall the town vote to repair the bridge? Or, how many feet of new hose ought to be purchased? and the like. Each question in turn re- quires a certain anK)unt of talk from the more fluent among the assembled voters and taxpayers. How Meetings Get Under Way 17 * An indignation meeting is a gathering where people grow furious, and scold col- lectively, instead of its being left to the local editor, or to each individual, to boil his own pot of wrath. * A rally may be defined as a conglomera- tion of men and boys, brought together upon the eve of election, for the purpose of having their enthusiasm fired up by a stump speaker, who gets purple in the face while demonstrating how " our side " is going to save the country, in spite of the machinations of an unscrupulous opposi- tion, provided only that we succeed in get- ting out a full vote. At a rally, noise fig- ures largely as an element, alike on the rostrum and on the floor. * Before a meeting can proceed to transact business it must have an organization ; and, as a first step in this direction, it has to be called to order. * The hour named draws nigh. The hall is getting pretty well filled. Men, old and young, from varied walks of life have re- sponded to the summons. They elbow their way to the front, or stand in animated groups here and there. Anon we may detect three or four small boys creeping along, and suppressing with a fine sense of propriety their tendency to giggle. They steal furtive glances around, intent on giv- ing a wide berth to the solitary policeman on duty. Near the platform a knot of Outra- geous" Vote early! Begins Come one- come all ! i8 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE IVeli- The chair Order, gentlemen In embryo lookers-on are exchanging words. One of the number ostentatiously consults his watch. * More people stream in, and early comers have begun to wonder why their punctual- ity has not been rewarded by having the meeting opened. At this point, there en- ters a stoutly built gentleman, plainly ex- cited at the thought that he may be late, and much astonished to find that he is not. Taking off his hat, and nodding to an ac- quaintance, he lets himself become calmer, and then pressing forward settles down into a prominent seat in front. A buzz travels around, a sure sign that something is about to happen. The stir increases. The ex- pectant throng, it is plain to see, are in a state of ferment. * At last there steps upon the platform briskly, as if not a second should be lost, a man evidently well known, who coming forward, hat in hand, presents a general aspect of having in his possession facts that he would be pleased to communicate. A lull ensues ; at least it should ensue. * He raps on the table, — this gentleman does, as a signal for quiet, as well as a hint that hats had best come off. Then he stands still for a moment, to watch the effect. * The raps executed on these occasions are usually moderate in tone ; but once in a while there appears an individual who does How Meetings Get Under Way 19 his rapping after a fashion that startles.! Here is a somebody who means business,] Mark him! He has a career in prospect. 1 If not already a leader in the community he is bound, if he lives, to become one. Of such stuf¥ is local greatness made. | * Waiting till the ripples of excitement ^^wwr/tj have died away, our pioneer friend delivers himself of an announcement, as follows : * " The hour having arrived for which this meeting has been called, gentlemen will please be seated, and come to order." If unable to check himself, it would be tol- erated, I suppose, were he to add half a dozen more words in the same general line of observation ; but the law says that a brief formula, substantially as here given, will answer. It has in fact answered for a great many years. * What would happen, should any one. Query upon this reasonable request, neglect or refuse to come to order, the books do not tell us. In newly settled regions, where a chairman in accepting the honors of the position lays his six-shooter in plain sight upon the table, as emblematic of official authority, the course likely to be pursued may easily be imagined. To the credit of mankind, it is to be observed, the unvaried custom has always been to seat one's self and come to order. Indeed the principle may be laid down as admitting of no ex- ception, that after a meeting shall have 20 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE been called to order, it is unparliamentary for one to keep on making a noise, unless he furnish the noise in the shape of a speech. CHAPTER III MORE ABOUT MEETINGS Here tve ivill sit. —MERCHANT OF VENICE. THE first and indeed the only duty of the temporary occupant of the chair, — for this gentleman occupies the chair in contemplation of law, though you never see him actually sitting in it, — is to have the proper steps taken to determine who the officers of the meeting shall be. The recipients of this distinction have al- ready been agreed upon, and the time-hon- ored method is for a committee of nom- ination to be appointed by the chair, upon a motion and vote to that effect. The com- mittee do the perfunctory work with due gravity. They retire and soon re-enter with a list of the names of those whom it would seem they have selected for the coveted positions. The names are read aloud, and being put to the question the entire number is, as a rule, voted in without a dissenting voice.^ * It is characteristic of men thus brought together that they are disposed at the first send-off to be docile and tractable. They accept what is offered. Nevertheless the editor who has political virtue in his keeping still continues to warn his subscribers against the wickedness of "the machine." Thus far, however, "the machine " shows no signs of going out of fashion. Sometimes I wonder what we had better do about it. 21 22 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Knowledge is poiiier V.P's Why is it ? * It is desirable that the gentleman chosen to act as chairman of the meeting should know how to preside. Should he prove deficient in this respect, he is likely to have an uncomfortable time of it ; and what is more he will succeed in making everybody else uncomfortable. Not that a presiding officer must necessarily be steeped in the learning of the law parliamentary ; but he ought to be on easy terms with at least the rudiments. * Where the occasion is of a formal char- acter, custom lays hold upon it to lift into distinction above their fellows other per- sonages than the honorable chairman. There is a background to be filled ; and the spectator is favored with an imposing view of a picked number of gentlemen stowed away upon the platform, in solid pha- lanx, serenely important and ponderously pleased. These worthies are styled vice- presidents. * I am not aware that a specialist has ever applied himself to investigate into the why and wherefore of the vice-presidents. We are accustomed to take it for granted that they are an institution that comes along with a free government ; and therefore that a row of vice-presidents is essential to the carrying forward of proceedings in a meet- ing of the people. They remain a good deal of a mystery ; but there is no denying the fact that they constitute a system that More About Meetings 23 has been firmly built in and rivetted to the fabric of our civilization. * The reader, however, must not be left to conjecture that every one upon the list of vice-presidents is put there merely as an ornamental appendage. Such is not the fact. An emergency may arise when the presiding officer can continue no longer to perform the duties of that office. Perhaps he has been intrusted with the door key un- der a promise not to miss the last train. He lives in the suburbs. There are fam- ilies who do. At such a juncture the chair- man beckons to the first vice-president, and withdraws quietly. The first vice-presi- dent takes the chair, with the appearance of a man coming into possession of his own. The countenance of the next vice-president brightens a little, while the business of the meeting goes ahead- without perceptible jar. * Men no sooner organize themselves mto a public meeting than the idea seizes them that the world outside is waiting to hear from them, through the medium of a set of resolutions. Accordingly a committee re- tires to prepare a preamble and the verbi- age that usually follows it. The meeting is conscious of' a lonesome feeling, while they are gone. * Soon, however, these gentlemen solemn- ly file back again, bringing in as a result of their deliberation a paper aglow with senti- O/use Resolved Loaded 24 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Fired ments that find vent, as likely as not, in sonorous phrase. It is so easy to resolve. The louder the resolutions ring, the better the meeting Hkes it; whether in terms of compliment or of denunciation, it is all one. The resolutions are spoken to; and then passed. * Resolutions invariably provide that a copy shall be transmitted somewhere, for resolutions untransmitted are as harmless as heat lightning. The office of authenti- cating the copy, and seeing that it is sent off as directed, falls to the lot of the secre- tary. This officer records the action of the meeting. What becomes of the record af- ter he has prepared it, nobody seems to know. CHAPTER IV A legislature: how composed Let not, however, the ingenuous youth imagine, etc. —MR. JUSTICE STORY, in his Equity Jurisprudence, Section 1532. PASSING on to take our first look at a legislative assembly, we shall find it convenient to say a word upon the topic of the election of members, with par- ticular reference to personal qualifications ; and then we may go forward to consider some of the more important rules of pro- cedure. * The law parliamentary, I am obliged to confess, deserves not to be extolled for gal- lantry ; since we discover that, when it comes to prescribe qualifications for a seat in a deliberative body, it includes the fair sex among those to be kept out, — the list being, minors, idiots, lunatics,^ paupers, women, and aliens. For what reason the law in its wisdom does not permit lovely woman to invade the legislative hall, and have her say there, I shall cautiously ab- stain from even venturing to guess. A ter- ritorial delegate in Congress finds himself but little better off than womankind — for A ivkward very • The reader need not be reminded that convicts also are not eligible, it being thought sufficient that they serve' the State in another capacity. 25 26 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE A bout this time vxpect, etc. although he can talk, he cannot vote. Who may predict how much longer the other sex going to let man keep to himself the honors and perils of a legislative career?^ * Legislatures meet at stated periods ; and it is the business of the member-elect to find out the precise date when his presence is needed at the seat of government. A few days before that fixed for the convening of the assembly sundry stray visitors, of serious mien, are to be observed alighting at the railroad station, and taking up their line of march, valise and umbrella in hand, to the Capitol. Your new member, alive to the responsibilities of the situation, is not going to let the country suffer from tardi- ness on his part. He knows full well what a burden it is to take charge of the public welfare. He is willing to try it. * When the momentous hour is at hand for the session to open, both floor and gallery present a scene of great animation. A crowd of spectators, including ladies in bright array, look on approvingly. Mem- bers bustle about, precisely as though a crisis had arrived. To the clerk of the last House there is usually assigned the duty of calling the assembled throng to order ; but sometimes this honorable ofifice is, as a > Possibly there is something prophetic in the words of Carlyle : " Nay, might there not be a Female Parliament, too, with screams from the opposition benches, and the honorable member borne out in hysterics." 1. French Revolution, 302. A Legislature : How Composed 27 mark of respect, entrusted to the oldest member present. The first thing to be done is to ascertain who are in attendance claiming to represent the sovereign will of the people as expressed through the medium of the ballot-box, aided by a well- organized machine. Inasmuch as success at the polls is a matter of notoriety, the task of preparing a roll of the names of mem- bers-elect, is comparatively simple. In the few instances where a seat is to be contest- ed, a certificate has already been given to some one, and for the purpose of organiza- tion this gentleman becomes clothed with a frima facie right to be recognized as the sitting member. * The roll of names is called. All that is re- quired of a member-elect upon hearing his name, is to speak up like a freeman, and answer " Here." Even if he does nothing else, this act on his part entitles him to a day's pay. After getting through with a calling of the roll, there is no more popular move to be started than that of adjourning for dinner. * Another step early to be taken is to in- spect the credentials of such persons as shall have presented themselves. This precaution is resorted to in order that no- body may meddle with legislative machin- ery who has not been duly sent forward for the purpose. Every house constitutes itself a judge of the qualifications of its own Calling the roll Sa/ei 28 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE members. A good degree of circumspec- tion has to be exercised at the threshold ; otherwise who can tell what improper char- acters might effect an entrance, such as men addicted to the use of stimulants, out late nights,^ and the like. * This business ended, the members in solemn array hold up their right hands and take the oath of office. CHAPTER V MORE OF EARLY STAGES I'll be a candk-Iwlder, and look on. —ROMEO AND JULIET. WHERE am I to sit, is a question that a member asks himself the first time he sets foot in the cham- ber destined to be the scene of his pubhc service. Our aspiring young friend, who has designs upon the eye of the Speaker, and who means upon every important oc- casion to electrify the country with re- marks, is not blind to the advantage of hav- ing a conspicuous spot from which to sparkle. A speech delivered about midway of the House, or well down to the front, seems more effective than when your orator is forced to take his stand a long way off, at the outer fringe of seats. The average member feels that his talents en- title him to strive for the best seat he can lay hold of. It is a duty, too, which he owes to his constituents. Yet, after all, there is not much freedom of selection, since a distribution of seats is commonly made by lot. At the same time, new members are quick to discover that the able leaders are not to be banished to the region of the back rows. If you chance to be a new- comer, it may prove worth your while, to 29 30 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Miscellaneous assume an air of special importance. By so doing, yoii, perhaps, may, so far, impose upon some unsuspecting fellow-member, that he will consent to exchange for yours the better seat he has had the good luck to draw. * A time-honored usage of the House of Commons permits an old member to retain a seat which at former sessions he had been in the habit of occupying, — a deference to seniority that is not without example on this side of the Atlantic. * It is an established custom, in some bodies, for members of like political faith to sit together. This practice tends to divide the chamber in half, each party taking its own side, with due provision for those in excess who make up the majority. The plan is convenient. One obvious advan- tage is that opponents are thus enabled to glare at each other across the line of di- vision, commonly an aisle. Besides, mem- bers when fenced off, as it were, in this manner find it more feasible to carry on those hasty consultations upon the floor that are often needful during a political de- bate. Such arrangement works well so far as the two great parties are concerned, but occasionally a nondescript appears, under the name of independent, or reformer, whose presence threatens an upset, and who may be presumed to incur risk of con- tamination should he be required to pitch More of Early Stages 31 his tent in either camp. Since architectural limitations, as a rule, do not admit of his going off and sitting all by himself, the gentleman in question is compelled to make the best of a bad business, and take up with one or the other divisions of his misguided brethren, as the wheel of fortune shall have determined. * In accord with good, old, democratic The speaker notions, the furniture on the floor of the House is the same for all members. But there is one chair in the chamber that is much coveted. Not that it is more com- fortable than the rest, but because of the distinction that its occupancy implies. I refer, of course, to the chair set apart for the presiding ofificer to fill. One of the earHest inquiries to be answered is, who is the patriot that stands ready to sacrifice himself at the altar of his country, by con- senting to serve as Speaker. To settle this momentous question, it is customary for each political party to hold a caucus. The nominee of that party which happens to be in the ascendancy, is the coming man. The minority caucus contents itself with dealing in compliments instead of substan- tial favors. At an hour previously named, the House proceeds to ballot for Speaker, with the result seldom failing that the choice of the caucus is declared the choice of the House. As soon as a Speaker is elected, the House conceives it to be neces- 32 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Escorted The rising sun sary that the recipient of its honors shall be conducted to the chair under an escort. * Whether satellites upon this impressive occasion are to be viewed as a body-guard, affording- a member protection while en route from his seat to the chair which he is to adorn as presiding officer ; or whether the successful candidate is presumed, by a pleasing fiction, to be unaware of the pre- cise locality of the chair itself, it is perhaps hardly worth the while to speculate. Suf- fice it to say custom dictates the selection of two members (of whom the extinguished candidate of the minority is usually one), who march down the aisle in stately pro- cession, one on either side of the child of fortune, guarding jealously his sacred per- son until he reaches the desk and grasps the gavel. There he takes the oath of office, after which he is left to shift for himself. * As soon as the distinguished incumbent has arrived in position, and bowed his ac- knowledgments, he is expected to turn a radiant face first toward the reporters, and next to his brother members (not forget- ting a glance at the ladies in the gallery), and to favor the House with a few remarks, — the fewer the better. He can hardly avoid letting fall a word or two of thanks, in which he expresses, honestly, no doubt, a distrust of his fitness for the exacting duties of the post. He promises good be- haviour, and pledges himself to treat every- More of Early Stages 33 body in the handsomest manner possible. After all this is accomplished, he faces to the front, and standing as if about to have a camera flashed upon him, he seems to say : " Now, bring on your business." * The imposing ceremony over, everybody is agog to learn who are to be named as the standing committees. The Speaker ought to lose no time in getting ready his list, since legislation is at a standstill until com- mittees are announced. Of the nature of this duty, and its performance, something will be said in a later chapter of this in- genious work. * At the proper juncture in the opening hours of the session, the Executive sends in his message, which is read for the infor- mation of the body, and for the welfare of mankind. His Excehency reminds the legislature that time has gone on its flight ; and he pauses to congratulate the country that they and he are animated with patriotic purposes ; together with much more, in the same pleasing line of reflection. He re- cites what work he has done ; goes on to tell them what remains to be done, and mentions a few reforms that he has the honor to recommend. He states how much money there is in the Treasury, and accounts for what is not there by a refer- ence to accompanying tables of figures ar- ranged after the order of official arithmetic, imposing and unintelligible. The message The King's speech Next 34 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE How disposed of alludes likewise to the State penitentiary; and mentions by name one or two persons yet outside of it. * Not knowing what better to do with this mass of information, statistical and other- wise, legislative assemblies long ago con- tracted the habit of referring an executive message by piecemeal to appropriate com- mittees. The committees are supposed to digest what they thus get. At their leisure, they decide what of its recommendations they can most appropriately neglect. Cus- tom has ordained also that the document be printed for perusal by the members, and for circulation through the school districts. Thus does it go upon the shelf (or make its way sooner or later to the junk shop), as a part of the solid literature of the age. CHAPTER VI THE SOURCES OF PARLIAMENTARY LAW The House of Commons is a sort of ■whispering gallery to all Europe. — HAZLITT. THE Congress of the United States of America, as well as our State leg- islatures, when they have no special provision to cover the case, govern them- selves by a sort of parliamentary common law% an heirloom which, like that mass of mingled wisdom and absurdity, the com- mon law itself, has been handed down to us from Great Britain. " Parliaments," says that popular and entertaining writer. Sir William Blackstone, Knt., " are coeval with the kingdom itself." Seeing that Sir William's statement has appeared regularly in various revised and annotated editions of his standard work,^ we are safe, I pre- sume, in relying upon it as literally correct. At all events, one may detect in the parlia- mentary style of doing business at the pres- ent day, a pleasing flavor of antiquity. * There are rows of books labelled " Han- sard's Parliamentary Debates," that are packed full of solid reading matter, war- ranted to keep in any climate. We may ' Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. 35 A library in itself 36 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Definitions Resolved not overlook our Annals of Congress, The Congressional Debates and Congressional Globe, or its peerless successor. The Con- gressional Record. A complete outfit of the Record with the Index thereto, neatly bound, would make, I should imagine, in the absence of anything better, an appro- priate and beautiful holiday gift. Oda volumes of these several works can be picked up at the second-hand bookstores ; though the man who picks The Congres- sional Record up, soon puts it down again. * Decisions of presiding officers, I may here as well as anywhere remark, become precedents, just as do those of judges in courts of law. * The sense of an assembly is expressed by a resolution, an order, or a vote. A resolu- tion may be defined as a flourish of trum- pets, put into words. For example : Re- solved, That we are a great people ; Resolved, That we point with pride . . ; Re- solved, That we arraign the party of the op- position ; we denounce, etc., etc. * While the term " vote " may be applied in general to a result reached by the decision of an assembly, it designates also the proc- ess of expressing the will of each individual. The expression itself of the will is likewise a vote. I cite to this point a definition that I am confident must be correct, for I came across it only a day or two ago, in a calf- bound law-book, that once belonged to The Sources of Parliamentary Law 37 The way it is done Charles O'Conor, years ago the distin- guished head of the New York bar: " Vote: The will of a member of a body, formally manifested towards the decision of a question by the body, is his vote." * Getting at a vote consists in nothing more nor less than submitting a proposi- tion to the members of the assembly, to ac- cept or reject, as they shall see fit. The course pursued is somewhat as follows : Those who support it make speeches, wherein they prove not only that an af- firmative action will secure untold advan- tages ; but that, if it be not taken, all sorts of disasters are morally certain to ensue. The view entertained by their opponents is different. Bringing to bear the artillery of irresistible logic the gentlemen on the other side startle themselves, if no one else, by disclosing what awful results will follow the adoption of the measure. The dearest rights of the people are seen to be in im- minent danger, and every lover of his coun- try is implored to rescue that country from the doom to which the madness of the op- position is fast hurrying her. The elo- quence, I should judge, upon an average, will be about as lurid on one side as on the other. * Then the bill passes ; or, it fails to pass. The sun, with a careless indifference, rises and sets as theretofore, in compliance with|'^''"«''' figures tabulated for it at the Nautical Al IVhat happi'ns. Also, -wliat 38 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Two sides Tactics nianac Office. The pastime of alternately praising a bill, and of going into hysterics over it, is called " debate," of which more anon. * The majority of an assembly is elxpected to bear the responsibiHty, and consequently has the greater portion of the work to do. It is to the party of the majority that the country looks for the results of legislation, a fact that its members are not likely to for- get from any omission on the part of the other side to remind them of it. * A minority is free to take the floor, and deal out denunciation in the loudest of tones. Indeed, at the last extremity, ex- cept where positively forbidden by the rules, they can fly to certain dilatory mo- tions, the use of which is known as " fili- bustering." Sometimes by a frequent call of the yeas and nays, a minority may stave off action, and by consuming time kill the bill. In some assembhes a small number of fluent talkers can " talk a bill to death." When a final vote is reached, a minority may expire decently " in the last ditch " by entering a protest upon the pages of the journal. This portentous act, however, is reserved usually for dire emergencies. * We learn from experience that time works changes in public opinion, so that the Httle handful of to-day, who have the courage to stand firm against the many, may perhaps come before long to be looked The Sources of Parliamentary Law 39 upon as a faithful few, who were wise above their brethren. Where all that a man asks is, that he may have his name recorded as appealing to the future for vindication, it is so slight a labor for the clerk, and con- sumes so little of the public stationery, that it were almost cruel to say him nay. CHAPTER VII Launching lulls LAW-MAKERS AT WORK Since ive cannot attain to greatness, let us have our revenge by railing at it. — MONTAIGNE. THE object for which citizens are in- duced to leave their respective call- ings, and bring their wits together as law-makers is (aside from drawing the salaries), to transact public business. They construct the statutes. Almost every mem- ber is impressed with an idea that he must figure as the champion of some measure or other during the session, else those who voted for him will suspect that he is not the statesman they had taken him for. As a result, legislation may be described as a bellows that is never let alone for blowing ; since legislators think nothing of having numerous irons in the fire in the shape of bills and resolutions of various descrip- tions. * To present a bill demands little more of a member than to wait till the hour arrives when the introduction of bills is in order. Then, rising in his place, he is to address the Chair, mentioning the bill by its title. It is not incumbent upon him to indicate where the Chair is, by pointing a forefinger in that direction. Men have succeeded in 40 Law-makers at Work 41 going right through pubhc Hfe, in at one end and out at the other, without once adopting this expedient for catching the eye of a presiding officer. The rnoment a page detects that a member who is getting up has a bill in hand, he glides thither, and taking the paper, conveys it quickly to the clerk's desk ; where that official receives it, and casts an eye over it, preparatory if need be to reading aloud the title. ^ * Because a member introduces a bill, it does not follow that he is its author. By asking, however, the reference of a bill to a committee, a member assumes a fatherly care over its fortunes ; he is held to approve of the legislation which it proposes. Still, it sometimes occurs that a gentleman may be willing to present a bill, and yet not be disposed to take upon himself the respon- sibility of endorsing it : in which event it is his privilege to explain that " by re- quest " he introduces the bill. In so say- ing he leaves his hearers at liberty to regard it much as if it had been left, so to speak, upon the doorstep of the House, to be taken in, out of charity. * Not so, however, when a member means to pledge to a bill his hearty support. Here a certain animation of tone and manner an- 1 In the House of Representatives at Washington time is now saved by not offering petitions, bills, and resolutions in the open House ; they are delivered to the Speaker, or, if of a private nature; to the clerk. The putative /either Knight in a I Dior 42 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Drafting bills nounces plainly that a champion has en- tered the lists. Perhaps his advocacy may come to be so ardent and persistent, that the measure gets to be known as his bill. At rare intervals in the history of legisla- tion, it is the fortune of a bill, or motion, to leap to the front rank of importance, carry- ing along with it the name of its sponsor ; as, Foote's Resolutions ; The Wilmot Pro- viso ; or. The Plimsoll Act. * What with the capacity for invention that marks our people, and the energy displayed in the line of material development, it seems a pity that American genius has not as yet invented a machine for drafting bills, pub- lic and private. Such a contrivance would save a vast amount of tedious work, now done by hand. The volume of bills manu- factured annually in this country is im- mense. At the National Capitol, and at every State House one sees bills and bills pouring in ; bills upon every conceivable subject under the sun ; and bills for the re- lief of all sorts of people, or their heirs. Looking at results from a statistical point of view, it seems really as though the peo- ple of the United States are favored year by year with a greater crop of bills than they need for current consumption. The attention of the Department of State can- not be invited too urgently to the impor- tance of taking steps for cultivating friend- ly relations with unsuspecting countries, Law-7nakers at IVork 43 at distant parts of the globe, such as by the adroit wording of a treaty might be obHged to take ofT our hands a portion of this sur- plus product. * No one accustomed to behold a member at work with official harness on, would dream of holding him responsible as the author and perpetrator of all the bills that he introduces. As a rule, senators and representatives do not draft bills. Outsid- ers do the work. Were members them- selves to undertake to draft bills, they would soon find out that they had no time left to run of errands for constituents, or to look after their own re-election. Parties wanting legislation are expected to call up- on the honorable member with a bill al- ready put into shape. * Sometimes, such is the mysterious nature of the workings of the human mind, there are more men in their seats who want to talk than there are of those who are anx- ious to listen. When an array of gentle- men rise at the same moment, and vocifer- ate in concert, it becomes the instant duty of the presiding officer to quell the gale. He will see to it that all sit down again. His efforts to this end will consist largely of vigorous rappings, done with a hammer furnished for the purpose at the public ex- pense, As soon as the Chair becomes mas- ter of the situation, he will decide who shall have the floor. Too busy Babel 44 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE A way out Recognition A bout chairs * There exists in Parliament a custom of awarding precedence, at such a juncture, to a new member, who as yet has not spoken. To do so may open the door to fresh talent. It has the effect, at any rate, to prevent new members from getting dis- couraged. In the United States no such tender consideration has been thought necessary ; and a new hand at the business is let alone to take his chances with the rest. * A member secures the floor, then, by ris- ing in his place and addressing the occu- pant of the Chair as " Mr. Speaker," or Mr. Chairman," or " Mr. President," as the appropriate title may be. * Chairs are in such common use at the present day, that in one sense every person who occupies a chair is a chairman, unless it be a chair-woman. It was not thus in early times. A chair was a scarce article ; and it was thought to be well enough that so long as the single individual on whom was conferred the honor of presiding over the assembly, could have at his disposal a piece of furniture of this description, the rest of the company might be left to stand up. The House of Lords (the members of which for decorum and good behavior will compare very favorably with the United States Senate, at No. i Pennsylvania Ave- nue, Washington, District of Columbia), is kept in the path of rectitude by a bewigged Law-makers at IVork 45 gentleman called the Lord High Chancel- lor, who sits solemnly on the woolsack/ sustained by a salary, of a great many pounds, together with sundry perquisites. The Lord High Chancellor of Great Brit- ain is pensioned off in his old age, so that altogether he is to be considered as having come into an uncommonly good situation. The place, I hear, is much sought after. * The presiding officer of the lower House, alike of Congress and of State Legislatures, is termed the Speaker ; of the upper, the President ; whereas in the House of Lords a peer addresses himself directly to the whole body, and says, " My Lords." ' So named from its inventor, Cardinal Woolsack. Tertninology CHAPTER VIII The British Lion QUORUM Ay, and rato-lorum, too. —MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. WHERE a meeting- assembles for the first time, there is no need that any particular number of persons shall be present, before the meet- ing is called to order. But in cases where an organization is designed to be per- manent, and meetings are to occur at suc- cessive intervals, it is usual to fix upon a certain number of members who must be present in order to constitute a quorum. This is done by a by-law, or rule ; if the number be not fixed by positive rule, the law steps in and says that for a quorum a majority of the whole number of members is necessary. * The House of Lords have established a rule that three of their Lordships shall con- stitute a quorum, while in order to proceed with business in the House of Commons, forty members must be present. * Six hundred and seventy of Her Ma- jesty's loyal subjects are privileged to write after their signatures the honorable initials, " M. P." Such is the numerical strength of the Commons. The visitor at Westmin- ster, however, who peeps over the gallery 46 % 4-7 rail, with a becoming awe, and beholds rows of heads beneath, filled with wisdom, must not be disturbed should his count of the noble Britons that adorn the benches, fail to reach the handsome number of six hundred and seventy. To the glory of the British Constitution be it said, by a simple device of allowing forty good men and true to keep the wheels in motion, a gracious re- lief is afiforded the remnant of six hundred and thirty members, each one of whom may for a brief season feel at liberty to turn elsewhere to duties of an engrossing char- acter, in the assurance that meanwhile the country will pursue its career as usual, and the immortal principles of Magna Charta be kept unimpaired — at least for a day or two until they can get back to their seats. * The Constitution of the United States The provides that a majority of each house shall £^J,^/"'"'" constitute a quorum to do business ; but a /^"^t^^ smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide. This language, or its equivalent, is to be found in the constitu- tions of nearly every State. * As we look around through the States and Territories constituting this happy re- public, we observe everywhere a disinclina- tion to let a minority lord it over their more numerous fellows. A minority may pos- Beating the toiH-toin 48 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE ■ ' / thank you. No ' ' sess all the wisdom ; the " better element " may be there — to a man — but the others have the votes ; and it is the greater vote that passes a bill. This doctrine, sound as it is, our friends of the minority are dis- posed at times to ignore. The moment a political party has been relegated by popu- lar vote to a minority in the legislature, that moment it begins to manifest intense solici- tude for the Constitution. It sounds the alarm. It sends forth the solemn warning that to the minority the people must look for the preservation of their Hberties. In its zeal to save the country from impending destruction, it assumes that a misguided and headstrong majority cannot by any possibility be right; hence that a gallant minority must step to the front and shape legislation, or else stop proceedings until its advice is heeded, and its views substan- tially adopted. * Now it happens that under our theory. of government the people hold the majority responsible for enacting laws, or for a fail- ure to enact them. Upon adjournment of the legislature, the party of the majority must render an account of stewardship, whereas to the minority is left the easy of- fice of proving how much better things would have come to pass had only they been in power. It is usual for the dom- inant party under a sense of such a respon- sibility, to conduct business according to ^u 49 their own interpretation of the rules, pay- ing attention at least to what their brethren of the minority may have to say, but de dining to yield to dictation. Such is the ever-recurring contention between the ** outs " and the " ins." A minority talks and fulminates ; the majority acts, while it is left for the people to pass judgment on the result. * The rights and wrongs of a minority is a topic of more than ordinary interest. With the leave of my reader, I shall take occasion to revert to it in a subsequent chapter. * A useful fiction prevails in legislative circles to the effect that under ordinary cir- cumstances a quorum will be presumed to exist, so long as nobody says a word to the contrary. The truth is, much routine busi- ness is dispatched under what really amounts to unanimous consent. The question is put in the usual manner, no- body cares to object, and the Speaker de- clares that the ayes have it, whereas perhaps not a single voice has responded. When objection is raised, however, that a quorum is not present, the Speaker must look sharp to ascertain what the fact may be, though up to that moment he has viewed with un- concern the circumstance that a mere hand- ful of members are transacting business. Should it become necessary, in order to create a quorum, for the Speaker to include Lack of a quorum Dumb 50 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE himself in the count, he has a right, indeed it is his duty, so to do. * Upon principle, there would seem to be no doubt that the visible presence of the fleshly tabernacle of a legislator in his seat in the House imphes necessarily that the legislator himself is present officially for the purpose of being counted to make up a quorum. To argue that an able-bodied representative may be present in person, yet must be regarded as theoretically ab- sent, is to introduce a metaphysical subtlety of a character that plain matter-of-fact peo- ple are not disposed to relish. Yet at one time just such a doctrine prevailed in Con- gress ; and it had grown to be a custom for members to sit in their seats, and decline to answer to their names upon roll-call ; whereupon they were considered to be ab- sent. This curious usage at last became the means in the hands of a minority of obstructing seriously the public business. Speaker Reed put an end to it. CHAPTER IX THE GAVEL AND THE MACE By the by, what a capital article qf/umiture ati amt-chair is, and above all, fwTV convenient to a thought/ul man. -A JOURNEY AROUND MY ROOM. AMONG the sayings attributed to the first Napoleon is the famous maxim : " Every French soldier carries in his knapsack the baton of a mar- shal of France." To declare of every member of a legislature that he brings in his valise the gavel of a presiding ofificer, is to put the case strongly. There is no tell- ing though when the honor may arrive of being asked to take the chair ; for while there is but one Mr. Speaker, it often hap- pens that a member is called temporarily to preside, or to act as chairman in a commit- tee of the whole. * My fellow-countrymen, therefore, nat- urally want to know what are the principal duties of the Speaker, so as to be prepared against all possible emergencies. They may be summed up briefly as follows : * To take the chair, and call members to order. To announce in proper succession the various matters of business coming before the House for consideration. To hear motions stated, and submit to the 51 '4^ hat lie has to do 52 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Lo, the ynace! A busy man House such as deserve recognition. To put the vote, when tired of waiting longer ; and to announce the result of the vote. To use the symbol of the State, in the shape of a gavel, or hammer, wherewith to rap members to order. * As a last resort for this purpose Great Britain arms the Speaker of her House of Commons with a mace, built of soHd silver, and reputed to be a terrible weapon at close quarters. Our House of Representatives at Washington has adopted a like emblem of parliamentary authority. The American mace ajso is a formidable affair. It may be described as a bundle of ebony rods, bound with bands of silver, and bearing at the top a silver globe, on which perches the national eagle, in the act of spreading his wings. Following the custom of Parlia- ment this mighty utensil is brought in, and set upon a pedestal at the right hand of the Speaker, when the House assembles. When the House goes into committee of the whole, the mace is removed. At a sea- son of hubbub and commotion the spectacle of the sergeant-at-arms seizing the majestic implement, at the order of the Speaker, and starting up the aisle en route for an of- fender, is designed to strike the beholder with unspeakable awe. * His further duties are to receive messages from the outside world, and deliver them to the assembly. To affix his signature to The Gavel and the Mace 53 bills that the House shall have passed. This by way of authentication, like the name blown upon the bottle, to prevent counterfeits. In general he is to act as the mouth-piece of the assembly — its chief spokesman. This officer was early called " The Speaker " in the House of Com- mons, for with true Anglo-Saxon grit he spoke up and let the King and the Lords know what the Commons would have him say. Lastly, it may be added, in a word, that it is the duty of the Speaker to see that the rules of the House are not infringed, a duty that demands prompt action ; and ad- mits of no delay, debate, shufliing, or tem porizing. * According to the authority of the " Lex Parliamentaria," the Speaker ought to be " religious, honest, grave, wise, faithful, and secrete." This is the reason why there is no lack of men ready to step into the ofifice. * With its cumbering cares, the Chair is not without privileges. To begin with, the pay of a Speaker is better. He is shown to a front seat at public ceremonies, and is made a good deal of. Moreover, should he de- sire to vacate the chair for a while, he can hand over the honor temporarily to such member as he chooses, who presides pro tan. The Speaker relapses thereupon into the status of an ordinary member, except that his salary keeps running on at the higher rate. Musi be up to standard Privileges 54 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE * A presiding officer may read sitting, but to state a motion he must stand. Repre- senting- as he does the whole House, and not the majority merely, he will be careful to avoid leaning to either side. CHAPTER X OTHER OFFICIALS AND WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO Eiiter 071 my list of/rie>uis. -THE TASK. ANOTHER functionary of impor- tance in legislative work is the clerk. This officer is expected to display the cardinal virtues. He should possess good looks, wear good clothes, evince good nature, have a good memory, and write a good hand. The clerk's business is to keep a record of what the assembly does. Not only has he no occasion to record speeches that never have been delivered, but he is not expected even to take minutes of par- ticular men's speeches at all. It is what the House does, not what it says, that he is to look after. * The clerk reads such papers as the House may wish to hear ; or, rather, that the House pretends that it wishes to hear; for few attend nowadays in the slightest de- gree to the reading of a bill, except pos- sibly the member who has introduced it. * The roll of members is called by the clerk, who puts a mark against absentees. To the clerk is committed the custody of papers and documents, in addition to the journal of proceedings, all of which he is 55 Trippingly on the tongue On the alert 56 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE A standing rule The i7iajesty of iJie laiv paid a monthly salary for watching with a jealous eye. The charge of the table is likewise entrusted to this official ; and, in- asmuch as a great many bills and motions in the course of a protracted session are laid upon the table, it is a task of no small difficulty to keep it in order. The clerk, as well as the presiding officer, authenticates bills that have passed the House. * The clerk should stand when reading, or when calling the roll of the assembly. He ought to be afifable towards the members, and quick to produce a pigeon-holed paper when called upon suddenly. The clerk has a deputy officer appointed to assist him in the performance of his many arduous duties. * We observe next that there is the ser- geant-at-arms, a sort of sheriff, or con- stable, on whom rests the duty of carrying into effect the orders of the assembly. This functionary acts as a police officer to pre- serve order. In a crisis of disorder, as stated already, he wields the mace. He it is who sternly clears the gallery when, in spite of warning from the Speaker, its oc- cupants continue to be demonstrative. The sergeant-at-arms is sent after members who are playing truant. He serves proc- esses and summons witnesses. He has the pleasure of arresting such offenders as the assembly shall direct to be taken into cus- tody. These culprits he shuts up, nor does Other Officials SI he let them out until he is told officially so to do. * From time immemorial it has been the custom for legislative bodies to elect a chaplain. Upon the duties of this officer I need not enlarge. In Massachusetts, for- merly, it was the usage of the General Court to march in a body, upon the first day of the session, to a church, or meeting- house, and listen to an election sermon. The theory is, that a few hours of this sort of thing does the legislature good. They are managing now, however, to get along without it. * An indispensable appendage to an assem- bly and a busy official is its printer. They put him under solemn oath not to divulge the contents of such papers and documents entrusted to his care as are designed to be kept secret. The precaution of an uplifted hand is taken because of a fear that having once been of the newspaper fraternity, the printer from force of habit might convert official material into sensational dispatches in order to appease the public. It is the printer who is responsible for the issue of those bulky and indigestible volumes known as " Pub. Docs." He is supposed to read them through in proof. Thus we see that no walk in life is free from trials. * The people of the United States like to feel themselves in touch with the great men whom they have sent to transact business The Chaplain Ink and type The Postmaster 58 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Doorkeeper for them at Washington. That a repre- sentative in Congress finds time, amid the pressure of great national duties, to send into his district through the mail, a public document, or a package of seeds, is proof positive that his heart still beats true to principle. The United States Senate and the House of Representatives each has its postmaster, who deals with an immense quantity of mail matter. There is assigned to these officials a room, in the respective wings of the Capitol, fitted up for all the world like a real post-office, with rows of boxes, having glass fronts, neatly num- bered. Here the postmaster, withdrawn from public gaze, can read the newspaper, or sit and talk politics, while his assistants sort the mail, hasten off the huge bags, and perform post-office work generally. Any free-born American citizen has the priv- ilege of dropping a letter into either of these post-offices at the Capitol, and of hav- ing it duly transmitted, provided it be ad- dressed legibly and has its northeast corner adorned with a suitable stamp. * A legislative assembly can ill afford to keep an inefficient servant at the door. The doorkeeper has many duties to dis- charge which, though they seem to be sim- ple enough, require a high degree of promptness and energy. It is his business to stand guard over the entrances, and maintain a sharp lookout that no intruder Other Officials 59 manages to slip in ; it being necessary to frown with official severity upon colpor- teurs, mendicants, life-insurance agents, small boys, reformers, railroad presidents ; in fine, upon suspicious characters of what- soever description. He also has to be ex- tremely vigilant to recognize members of the third house in good standing, so as not to mistake them for mere outsiders. De pend upon it, an incumbent of the genuine stamp has to have his wits about him. The ideal doorkeeper possesses the urbanity of a hotel-clerk, combined with the firmness of a newly appointed street-car conductor. I once saw such a man. He is dead.^ * Nor should we omit the official reporters. Certain important bodies (Parliament and the Houses of Congress, for example) em- ploy stenographic reporters, to take down in shorthand what is uttered upon the floor. Whether this be worth the pains or not, the work itself is at times a signal triumph of human skill and ingenuity. In the House of Representatives at Washington there are occasions when debate waxes warm, fierce and furious, members storming at each other, all talking at one and the same time. ' It has passed into history that an appointee from a Southern State as a doorkeeper of the House of Representatives, at Wash- ington, after being confronted with a week's experience, unbosomed himself in a letter to friends at home to the effect that he was " a bigger man than Old Grant." At that particular time "Old Grant" was living at the White House, attending cabinet meetings, approving bills, and otherwise hammering away at the public busi- ness, as the Eighteenth President of the United States. "JVa^aiP' 6o THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Our friends of the press regardless of rules, or of the rapping of the Speaker's gavel. Words are hurled to and fro, whizzing by each other in a perfect cyclone. Where the blast grows most tempestuous, indeed at the very storm-cen- tre, can be discovered one of the faithful corps of stenographers, his nimble pencil filling page after page of his note-book, los- ing not so much as one elegant expression, and giving to each remark its own author, by name. Though interruptions from every corner of the chamber come thick and fast, the alert reporter must work on, creating column after column of intelligible speech out of a chaos of jargon, and of dis- located sentences. The marvel is that he loses not so much as a punctuation point. Posterity gets it all.^ * There is " a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft," who likely enough may be mis- taken for one of the ofBcials of the assem- bly. He is a journalist, and his vocation it is to skim over the surface of events. His trained ear catches here and there a some- thing that, after slight embellishment, will suit the local market ; and away over the ' On one occasion the House met at ten o'clock ni the forenoon, and the session did not close until seven o'clock of the next morn- ing. During all this time things were going on at the liveliest rate; a tumult of debate was surging ; questions and quickly parried in- terruptions, were boiling over from every part of the hall. And yet thirty minutes after adjournment, the MS. was in the hands of the Congressional printer. When the House met again that day at noon, a full verbatim report, printed in the Record, was lying upon every member's desk. Other Officials 6i wires it goes in the shape of a " special." A good fellow is this same quill-driver. He makes it his business to be on speaking terms with everybody ; he keeps quiet oc- casionally, and is precisely the young man that a member who means to succeed in public life, wants to keep on the right side of. In fact, your experienced news re- porter understands members better than they understand themselves." * There are sundry minor officials that busy themselves beneath the dome of a capitol who are not to be left out of our inventory. Bright, nimble lads who act as pages ; mes- sengers and janitors — men who sweep out, and build the fires ; the restaurant-keeper, and others. All have their humble yet useful parts to play in the great drama of legislation. 1 Newspaper reporting is a product of evolution. We read that in 1694 one Dyer who had presumed to report the Parliamentary de- bates in his " News Letter." was brought tu the bar of the House of Commons, and upon his knees was reprimanded by Mr. Speaker for his great presumption. It was resolved "That no news letter- writers do in their letters or other papers that they disperse presume to intermeddle with the debate or any other proceedings of this House." Barnett Smith, Vol. II., page 50. At a later period, when reporting was winked at, the reporter still had a hard time of it. Of William Woodfall (known as "Memory Woodfall") it is re- corded that he would stand at the bar of the House of Lords all night, or sit on a back bench in the gallery of the House of Com- mons, with no refreshment but a hard-boiled egg, and reproduce a whole debate, without having taken a note. Ibid., page 604. A few r,i07-e CHAPTER XI Intercourse between members LEGISLATIVE ETIQUETTE A very proper tnan. —MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. IN the preceding chapter an attempt was made to describe the offices with which a legislative assembly usually equips it- self. It now becomes appropriate to direct the reader's attention to the members themselves, with a view of ascertaining what they have to do, and how they are ex- pected to behave while performing legis- lative functions. * It is manifestly of prime importance that one who enters the halls of legislation for the first time should acquaint himself with the rules of deportment there chiefly in vogue. * There are sundry little amenities with which one desires to become familiar. For instance, it is not deemed proper, in the course of debate, for members to refer to each other by name. Such a practice might lead to personalities. Instead, there- fore, of alluding to remarks as having been made by Mr. Smith, or Mr. Jones, the member who means to be en regie will designate the individual he has in mind by a periphrasis of some kind. He may say, " The honorable gentleman who has just 62 Legislative Etiquette 63 taken his seat " ; or, " My distinguished friend over there in the corner " ; or, " The eloquent orator who so ably represents Libertyville on this floor." There is a neat and happy way of putting these things, and one cannot too early set about acquiring it. * Where a member is charged with com- mitting a breach of decorum, his attention is invited to the subject by the presiding ofBcer in a few well-chosen remarks, after which the offender is permitted an oppor- tunity to offer an explanation, should he happen to have one on hand. Old stagers know how to explain things away in short order. The standard method is to assume an air of contrition, and observe, in a sub- dued tone, that " no man's intention could have been better than mine," or that " the honorable gentleman, I deeply regret to learn, has wholly misapprehended the pur- port of my remarks." A word or two of apology, after some such formula as this, will commonly end the matter. * An offence, however, may be really grave. The assembly then requires something more to repair its injured dignity than mere apology. It concludes upon the whole, that justice will be satisfied by inflicting a reprimand. The " painful duty " of ad- ministering the reprimand falls to the pre- siding officer. The culprit (who, if the truth were known, may very likely trace his downfall to an early neglect of pious in- A /ormality The way of the transgressor 64 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Expulsion Figure of speech. Poetry struction, learning to smoke behind the barn, and the Hke) is admonished to stand in his usual place, to receive the censure of the House ; whereas a guilty party, who is not a member, is brought to the bar of the House by the sergeant-at-arms. * Extreme cases of disorderly behavior justify the House in imposing the penalty of expulsion. In Congress, to administer so severe a punishment requires, under the Constitution, the concurrence of two- thirds of the House. It is a penalty rarely inflicted. A member on the point of be- ing expelled does not feel like staying any longer. The place has grown monotonous. His system craves a change. The farm, or the family at home, allures him. It occurs to him that matters and things there need looking after. The miserable being gazes around him pensively upon scenes to which he is about to bid a choking farewell. In circumstances such as these it is not un- manly to exhibit emotion, nor unparlia- mentary. He exhibits it. Then he col- lects his presence of mind, his papers and documents (not overlooking such public stationery as may be within reach) and withdraws noiselessly. * He is off. The ripple caused by his de- parture fades away. The clatter starts up again ; and business jogs along as before. So soon are we forgotten, when we are not remembered. Legislative Etiquette 65 " Like the dew on the mountain, Like the foam on the river; Like the bubble on the fountain, Thou art gone, and forever." Forever indeed; unless the outcast should be chosen again, expulsion not being a personal disqualification, save when made so specially by law. The Commons in the case of John Wilkes, who was expelled and thereupon re-elected, decided that Mr. Wilkes could not be seated. Junius has been kind enough to favor us with his views upon this transaction. ■ He speaks of it as unfair.^ 1 p. S. Explanation is due to the reader that, up to the hour of our going to press, it has not transpired who Junius really was. Even the Encyclopaedia Britannica (last edition) does not know for a certainty. CHAPTER XII HOW TO MAKE A MOTION Let us tJun be up''a>id doifig. —PSALM OF LIFE. IT must have fallen under the reader's observation that there is a critical order of mind which shrinks from going for- ward unless first given a definition to cling to. For the encouragement of persons whose mental organizations are of this de- scription, I would submit the following ex- tract from my note-book. " Motion : A proposition made to an assembly by a member that the assembly do something, or order something to be done, or express an opinion with regard to some matter or thing." 1 1 It may gratify some of us at this stage to welcome a familiar acquaintance in the shape of the following " anecdote," which has of late been making its regular round of travel through the press. Who can tell what a debt American literature owes to the "small town in Western Texas " ; and will continue to owe, until the genius of invention shall think it time to remove the basis of operations to a locality still further off. A citizen of Seguin, a small town in Western Texas, was elected justice of the peace, and the only law-book that he had was " Cushing's Manual. " The first case before him was that of a cowboy for stealing a steer. When the case was called the leading lawyer of the town was there to defend the prisoner. " As there is no counsel for the other side," he said, " I make a motion that the case be dismissed." The justice looked over his manual. " A mo- tion has to be seconded," he said. " I second the motion," promptly responded the prisoner. "The motion has been seconded that the case be dismissed," said the court ; "all in favor will say aye." The prisoner and his attorney voted '■ aye." " All opposed will say no.'' Nobody voted. " The motion is carried and the case is dismissed," repeated the court. " A motion to adjourn is now in order." The prisoner made the motion, and the court adjourned to a saloon in the vicinity. 66 How to Make a Motion 67 * The right to submit a proposition ht-^Give longs to all members alike. There can be 'wf "'^ " no monopoly of motion-making. On the opening day of the session, however, one or two gentlemen, of apparent conse- quence, are apt so far to forget this truth as to take upon themselves the entire bur- den of starting the public business. The delusion they are under seldom lasts longer than twenty-four hours. | * Doctor Samuel Johnson, who figures Literary so conspicuously in Boswell's world-re- nowned biography, has left behind him a rich legacy of remarks, and among them may be cited the following celebrated couplet : " How small, of all that human hearts endure, That part which laws or kings can cause or cure." The justness of the observation, I presume, will scarcely be questioned. Yet there is a class in the community, by no means small in number, who think otherwise, including, I am bound to say, many individuals who manage to get themselves chosen to seats in the legislature. * Holding fast to the philosophy of the great Doctor's lines, let us turn for a mo- ment to the consideration of motions in general. A motion to carry out a proposi- tion is styled a principal motion. When a motion is designed to dispose of a principal As to motions 68 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE In black and ■white motion, it is termed a secondary or sub- sidiary motion. A principal motion should be expressed in writing, whereas a sub- sidiary motion may be orally made. Thus it is unnecessary, we perceive, to reduce to writing- a motion to adjourn. * Unless the language of a principal mo- tion or resolution be reduced to writing, an assembly would talk away with no concep- tion of what it all might be about. Noth- ing would be at issue. A proposed motion has to be committed to a form of words in order to furnish a " text," as it were, and keep members within reasonable limits of debate. Similarly, an amendment seeking to change the language of a principal mo- tion, ought itself to be submitted in writ- ing. The motion to amend is an exception to the general rule, that secondary motions need not be written. * A member who proposes to submit a motion should take pains to write legibly, unless he can get a clerk at the desk to put the wording into shape. The law favors a liberal distribution among the members, of pens, ink, paper, erasers, and lead-pencils, thus implying a capacity on the part of every legislator to write. But a repre- sentative of the people is not precluded from exercising the constitutional privilege of introducing a principal motion, or reso- lution, simply because he happens to be an indifferent penman, or backward in the art How to Make a Motion 69 of spelling. I avail myself of this oppor- tunity, however, to remind coming genera- tions that a statesman will stand higher in public repute, if he follows precedent when he spells, and if he evinces a disposition to conform to good usage in the matter of grammar. Plain words will do. For ex- ample, you wish to provide that a sum of money be voted as a gratuity ; you can say " give " ; you are not compelled to use the term " donate." * Commentators upon the law parliamen- tary agree that, in order to make a motion, a member must rise in his place, and re- spectfully address the Chair. In Congress, a member may get the floor, even if he rises from a seat belonging to another member, more attention being paid to who he is, than to where he is. The require- ment that a member shall rise in his place before addressing the presiding officer, is founded in convenience. It might be dif- ficult for the Chair to make out who is the individual that proposes to enlighten his fellows, unless an accustomed locality can be counted on to help determine it. In the French Assembly, a deputy goes to a raised platform or rostrum, in the front of the chamber, and there speaks his piece. The rostrum is so arranged that the orator can execute in safety those gesticulations that play so prominent a part in the Gallic method of conveying ideas. On his legs 70 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Seconding motions * After a motion has been read, it should be seconded with promptitude. By this is meant that a member, other than the mover, should address the chair with the phrase " I second the motion," or its equiv- alent. No mystery about it. A new- comer can acquire in twenty-four hours the art of seconding motions. Under pressure of business, strict formality may be dis- pensed with. The Chair inquires " Is the motion seconded? " and upon a member re- plying without rising in his place that he seconds it, the Chair puts the motion. Of late years it has not been the practice of either branch of Congress to require a mo- tion to be seconded. Some legislative bodies, and nearly all pubHc meetings, however, still adhere to the old custom. CHAPTER XIII PETITIONS So thai every mortaVs complaint , i/ it cannot get redressed, may at least hear itself complain. — CARLVLE'S FRENCH REVOLUTION. WE have just observed how simple is the method by which a member puts himself into communication with the House. We have seen that a gentleman who has something to say (or imagines that he has) rises in his place, if he cannot longer keep quiet, and addresses the Chair, whereupon the Chair introduces him to the assembly. The Chair is by no means so familiar as to mention the name with which the gentleman walks the street, or registers at a hotel, or signs his bank checks. The Chair designates him po- litico-geographically, as it were, and in- forms the assembly that the gentleman from this or that town, or district, or (in the Senate) the Senator from such a State, naming it, has the floor. * The great talkers of a legislative body quickly discover themselves. There is a school of orators who are forever coming to the front to let the country hear from them ; and they can be depended upon to start early in the session upon the work of enlightenment. After a while, let one of 71 72 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE IVe, the undersigned A ntique these gentry get the floor for a sustained speech, and his opening sentence is a signal for a concerted movement into the lobby. * Occasionally the spectacle is afforded of a new-fledged statesman who conceives the outside public to be so very far outside that he need put himself to no trouble whatever about consulting their wishes. It does not take long for him to learn a little wisdom. He discovers that where his constituents have a grievance which they think a good deal of, they are apt to draw up a petition, and send it forward to him to present. The incident sets him on a train of thought, and he concludes that the subject of petitions is worthy of his distinguished and oft-repeat- ed meditation. * Now, if there be a rehc connected with parliamentary doings, that deserves the epithet of " moss-grown," it is the right of petition. Like the " pursuit of happiness " (a privilege which most of us enjoy without being aware of it), it is a right that dates from a long way back ; and it is venerated accordingly. Moreover it is a " sacred " right. There are petitions in the Tower of London of the date of Edward the First. So says Sir Erskine May, and I presume that his statement can be relied on ; since he had probably seen the documents with his own eyes. That the people shall be free to put ink to paper in the form of a petition, is an Anglo-Saxon idea. The Petitions 73 forefathers brought it over with them in the Mayflower, a circumstance that accounts for the prominence given to the right of petition in our State constitutions. * The objective point of a petition is, that those who sign it, wish to have the legis- lature do something. Or, as Grey puts it, with no waste of words : " A petition prays something. A remonstrance has no prayer." The strict rule of the law is, that it is beneath the dignity of a parliamentary body to receive a paper from the outside, which expresses opposition to a pending act, and does not pray or ask that the same be defeated. If the paper be in effect a protest, in the shape of a petition, or prayer, it is treated as unobjectionable. Though such be the nice distinction upheld by the learned text-writers, it does not ap- pear that our legislatures have paid any considerable degree of attention to such a refinement ; it being the custom throughout the United States to receive every kind of petition, if it be respectful in tone, and if from the chirography it can be made out that the document has reached the address intended. * There is more or less erudition in the books as to how a petition shall be pre- pared, on what substance written, how signed, and the like. In England, peti- tions must be written on parchment or paper; lithographed or printed petitions ll'liat Grey t/tinki How gotten up 74 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Neat, not gaudy Personally conducted will not be taken in. In America it has not occurred to us to enforce so strict a rule. In our plain way, we act upon the sugges- tion that printing will answer well enough ; and in fact, when it comes to reading, we rather prefer print. So far as I have had opportunity to look into the matter, I find that this more liberal view has not proved too great a strain for our institutions. The fact is, petitions spring up with such exu- berance in our soil, that life seems too short for us to stop and peruse them, much less to enquire into their mode of preparation. * There should be no erasures or interlinea- tions in a petition, unless they are explained on the face of the paper. Everything must be fair and above-board. If a petition consists of several sheets, each sheet should bear at least one signature, to prevent de- ception. The signatures must be the genu- ine article, and must belong where they are found. Should a gentleman happen to be not at home with the pen, he will be per- mitted to ornament the document by afBx- ing thereto his mark, which should be duly attested. * Where one can present himself before a committee in propria persona, he stands a better chance of having his wishes com- pHed with, and of getting something done, than if he appear by petition merely. In the earlier days of the republic people hav- ing business before Congress preferred to Petitions 75 send their names, rather than to come in person, Hke the Gauls, to the Capitol, to hear the cackling. All this is changed now. So admirable are the accommoda- tions at Washington, that men glib of speech are employed at every incoming train, to greet the traveller and tell him what can be done for him ; electric-cars, cabs, and district messenger-boys are numerous ; while accomplished guides ^ to the Capitol are so affluent of information that no true American can afford to stay away. The petitioner may send forward his petition, and then come on himself by a later train. If he would learn how Con- gress seems to be impressed thereby, the proper course to pursue is to buy an ex- cursion ticket and start at the advertised time. When he has arrived and " fixed up," he can make his way to the great white-marble building upon Capitol Hill and tell the doorkeeper, in a husky whisper, that he is here on business. The usage is to send in his visiting-card to the member from his Congressional district. When the honorable member comes out, it is eti- quette to let him shake hands warmly. He (petitioner) can consume the best part of several days in waiting to see about it (peti- tion) and then he can go home. This is one of the many inestimable blessings to which we, who are trying the experiment of living under a popular form of govern- ment, are entitled. CHAPTER XIV It is all ?'ight MORE OF petitions; and such like They know not -well the subtle ways I keep, and pass and come again. —EMERSON. AS has been already said, a peti- tion should be respectfully worded.^ Fair words, it is true, butter no parsnips ; but for all that a petitioner will not be likely to accomplish much, if he fail to show due deference to the honorable body he is addressing. It will not answer to apply opprobrious epithets to legislators in the document that craves their gracious intervention. So long as the language of a petition be respectful, it is no objection that it provokes a smile. When the im- mortal three tailors of Tooley Street sent their prayers to Parliament headed : *' We, the people of England," they got laughed at all over the Kingdom, but none the less was the document taken in at Westminster, and put on file. ^ The member to whom a petition has been entrusted should by all means look it over so as to familiarize himself with its con- tents. This precaution is absolutely need- > An intelligent jury not long since sent in a letter from their room to the Court, beginning : " To the Onard Jug." This was respect- ful, but not happy. 76 More of Petitions ; and Such Like 7 7 ful. The gentleman who offers a petition, acting, so to speak, as its sponsor, is held to vouch for its being expressed in fit lan- guage, and in a tone of due respect. More- over, he is thus enabled to state briefly the nature of the paper, when presenting it, and to reply to any questions that its introduc- tion may evoke. * A member who is about to present a peti- tion rises in his place at the proper moment, with the document in his hand ; it is not material in which hand. After stating what the petition is, he moves that it be ac- cepted. Ordinarily no one objects ; indeed, as a matter of fact, petitions are commonly received without a motion, or vote to that effect.^ In the House of Representatives a member presents a private petition by silently depositing it in a box at the clerk's desk, whence it is taken and referred by the clerk to its proper committee. * What becomes of petitions? Numbered by the thousand, it is hard telling where they eventually go. According to the rules, the paper with its weight of sig- natures is handed to the clerk, who is popu- larly supposed to read aloud its contents in an impressive tone for the edification of the listening assembly. Only the clerk does 'Time was when the indomitable John Quincy Adams could throw Congress into an uproar, by standing in his place, and hold- ing up a paper that looked like a petition. But with the wiping out of the institution of slavery, there has passed away every trace of a disposition to abridge the "sacred right of petition." hitroducing Wliai-.viUhe do -with it ? Cautio7t 78 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE nothing of the sort. He glances at the paper, sees what it is, and tosses it on the desk, for an assistant to mark and file away. The assistant clerk enters a memorandum, and then tickets it for the committee to which it properly belongs. Then he sends it to the clerk of that committee, who straightway makes a memorandum on his books and tucks away the petition snugly in the committee's files, for whatever use the future may have in store for it. With rare exceptions the carefully prepared document slumbers for a period more or less long. What happens to it few ask, and nobody seems to know; though as throwing some light upon the question, I might venture to suggest that while life is notoriously short, official life is even shorter. * Let a motion once get fairly on its way, and the man who makes it may wish he had not started it; but it is too late. So long as a motion has not been stated by the Chair, it may be said to belong to the per- son making it. He may amend it, or even withdraw it, if he choose, for the seconder not objecting to such disposition is pre- sumed to favor it. In Congress, one who makes a motion may withdraw it at any time before a vote ; but this is not the nor- mal rule of parliamentary law. Ordinarily when the Chair has stated a motion it be- comes the property of the House. The More of Petitions ; and Such Like 79 mover, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, lose all right, title, and owner- ship in and to it. A member who values his reputation will move therefore with dis- cretion and caution, like the elephant in the summer season about to cross a country bridge.^ ■^ The man who moves a resolution has a perfect right to vote against its adoption. It may not look well for him to do so. Sud- den conversion may seem unaccountable ; but if the legislator chooses to take the step, the law will uphold him. In order that they who make our laws may exercise en- tire freedom of action, there is presumed to exist, up to the latest moment, an opportu- nity for a change of opinion. The idea is, that a member shall have the chance to see in full force any error of judgment into which he may have inadvertently fallen. The law recognizes the fact that the human mind is not infallible, even when it takes up its temporary home in a legislator. Hence the law views with composure a disposition of that mind to tremble in the balance. Again, instances are not infrequent where a member who has introduced a measure simply to please a constituent, retains a purpose of voting when the time shall A mover's pri7 Section 1449. Laying on the Table 103 \ to a growing boy to keep out of mischief, would be of no efYect. * In the House of Representatives at Washington, and in many other bodies, it is customary for the member who has a measure in charge to move, after it has been passed, to reconsider the vote, and to lay that motion on the table. Affirmative ac- tion upon this last motion removes all dan- ger of the original vote being reversed ; since a vote to lay a motion to reconsider on the table, cannot itself be reconsidered ; nor can the motion be taken from the table, except by unanimous consent. This is an instance where a motion to lay a mo- tion to reconsider on the table, does not carry with it the pending measure. * Unless some positive rule forbid, a mo- tion that has been laid upon the table may be taken up and proceeded with at any time, even on the same day on which the motion to lay on the table has prevailed. This action is in strict conformity with the original purpose of a motion to table, viz, to give the right of way to certain business, which may be dispatched then more con- veniently, leaving the other to be brought forward at a later stage. Should no one move to take it from the table, it lies there for the entire period that the assembly sits. * Under the later practice of the House of Representatives, when a Senate bill comes up for consideration, it is not in order to Nailing it Suiting convenience Good idea 104 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE lay it upon the table. The polite way of gratifying a disposition on the part of the more popular branch of Congress to get rid of the measure, other than by squarely voting it down, is to recommit, or postpone indefinitely. By resorting to one or the other of these expedients, a becoming show of courtesy is kept up, and the harmony that is presumed to exist between the two bodies is likely to continue undisturbed. CHAPTER XX COMMITMENT / 'will debate this matter at more leisure. —COMEDY OF ERRORS. PARLIAMENTARY wisdom is ac- customed to entrust to a few, rather than to " all hands " the conduct of business in what may be called its prepar- atory stage. A body made up of a hundred constituents or more would find itself large- ly at cross purposes, were it to attempt in open session to put into shape a bill need- ing revision. Obviously, the proper course to pursue is to send the business to the few who understand it (or who, from familiar- ity with the class of subjects that the bill deals with, may be presumed to understand it), and to let that select few take the sub- ject under consideration, and report at a convenient season. By this device not only do those make the measure a subject of careful examination who are likely to be competent to deal with it, but opportunity is had for a quiet comparison of views, so as to reach a result in which all may con- cur. A calm and thorough deliberation in the open House is seldom practicable. The essential advantage, therefore, as we per- ceive, of transacting business by means of a committee, is subdivision of labor, and 105 io6 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Two sorts Importance o/cormnittees time enough given for a small number of members to discuss the matter in hand with due circumspection. * Two kinds of committees are engaged in the work of putting into shape bills and resolutions ; namely, standing and select committees. The former, composed of a fixed number of members, are appointed at the beginning of the session to continue as permanent organizations. The latter may be created, from time to time, as occasion demands, to treat of such special objects of legislation as the assembly may see fit to entrust to them. Of the appointment of standing committees, as well as of their functions, I shall have a word to offer in a later chapter. * Nearly all the work of legislation nowa- days is done in committee ; for the House finds so many subjects claiming its atten- tion, that it is compelled in passing upon individual cases, to rely to a large extent upon what a committee may say, or recom- mend. The House cannot look into the merits of every measure that comes before it ; it must borrow the eyes of its commit- tee. * The fate of a bill, we see, therefore, may not unfrequently hang upon the reference to a committee that shall be made of it. Oc- casionally a struggle is fought out between the friends and enemies of a measure, to determine how it shall be referred. A bill Commitment 107 it not usually entrusted to a committee that is avowedly hostile, provided there be an- other and a friendly committee that will take it in charge. A member who speaks against the body of a bill virtually an- nounces that he is not to be made one of a select committee to consider it; for, as a quaint phrase has it : " The child is not to be put to a nurse that cares not for it." Should it be a subject over which either one of two committees may properly assert jurisdiction, and should both stand ready to take the bill (like rival cab-drivers after the same fare), the House by vote decides to which it shall be referred. * At the time reference is ordered, the htsir^tctions House may instruct its committee, or it may leave them free to pursue their way, according to the best of their judgment. A committee, I need hardly add, must obey the instructions given them by the House. What w^ould happen were they to disobey, is not laid down in the books. I am not aware, however, of a single instance of mutiny on the part of a committee, to be found indexed anywhere in parliamentary annals. Let me confess, that it affords me pleasure to testify to a record so creditable. * Committees usually are left free from in- structions ; though sometimes a bill report- ed from a committee will, after a discussion in the House, be sent back to the commit- tee, with instructions to report a somewhat io8 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE different measure. As a rule, however, as- semblies sustain the action of their commit- tees, and this is particularly the case where a conclusion has been reached unanimously after full deliberation. * Under the committee system the advan- tage of working by majorities is to be seen at its best, a majority having power to de- cide upon measures submitted to them for action, and the result so attained standing as the conclusion of the committee. The chairman, or some member of the commit- tee designated for the purpose, returns to the House the bill, or resolution, and ac- companies it with a report, ordinarily in writing, which sets forth the action they have agreed upon, and the reasons there- for. The report is usually printed, so that each member of the House may have a copy. * In this world of sin, of suffering, and of minorities, people do not always agree. So in cases where a committee have failed of unanimity, there is permitted to those who cannot subscribe the report, the privilege not only of dissenting, but of preparing a report of their own. This recognition of the right of a minority has been of late years engrafted as a custom, a '' minority report " (as it is called) being received by courtesy of the House. It must be con- fessed that the minority sometimes con- trive to bring forward the better argument. Commitment 109 The document, however, is strictly no re- port at all ; nor is it treated as privileged in a parliamentary sense, but like a poor re- lation at the board, it is tolerated, not welcomed. Upon measures involving po- litical issues, committees are expected to divide upon party lines. They will prob- ably continue to do so until the arrival of the millennium is officially announced. It is to be remarked of a minority that they can be counted upon at all proper seasons to maintain their stand with sturdiness and vigor. They make up in activity and ad- jectives what they lack in numbers ; and never more so than when engaged in the congenial duty of " denouncing " the ac- tion of the majority. * A committee derive their authority from the orders of the assembly. They cannot, therefore, change by amendment the form of a proposition that has been sent to them, unless the subject be referred as well as the form of a measure. In the latter case, the committee may go to work upon a bill, and so change its features that even its intimate friends would be at a loss to recognize it. Qr, if they so determine, they may report back a substitute that has no likeness what- ever to the original proposition. Such are the plastic powers of a committee. * You may amend a motion to commit. Or, you may change the reference, and sub- stitute therefor a different committee; or, Their powers Liable to antetidment no THE GAVEL AND THE MACE if you choose, you may have the number of those who compose the committee changed ; or, you may add instructions, in order to make it plain sailing for the com- mittee. CHAPTER XXI AMENDMENT / see a good amendment. -KING HENRY IV. WE are now come to deal with the motion to amend, — a motion fruitful in rules and precedents. There is something peculiar about this mo- tion ; and that is, — so easy does it seem to set a motion to amend in operation, that everybody fancies that he is just the man to take the matter in charge. The civilized world, indeed, is so made up that pretty much everyone of its inhabitants thinks himself competent to draw up and offer a " little amendment." * A deep-seated and a well-nigh universal sentiment of our nature is this conviction that we can improve upon the work done by another's hand. As to the converse of the proposition, that another's hand can improve upon our work, there may be room to doubt ; but depend upon it, any sugges- tions coming from us are sure to be pre- cisely what is needed. Nor is the race yet extinct of those who " Will never follow anything That other men begin." PsycJiological 112 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Better go slow Decapitation Small wonder is it then that a bill is obliged to run the gauntlet of amendments. Some amendments are conceived wisely ; others, not. Instances are by no means rare, we shall find, where a change in phraseology, or the addition of a few words, adopted with little thought at the time of their true significance, or under a wrong conception of their legal effect, is engrafted into the law, only to work mischief, and in the sequel, consummately to plague the in- ventor. * This outcome is in part to be attributed to the haste with which the final wording of a bill is sometimes agreed to. A prop- osition to amend may appear on the sur- face to further the purposes of the bill. It renders the language more explicit, or pro- vides for a condition of affairs apparently not before thought of; but as debate pro- ceeds the newly proposed words turn out to be a clog and a hindrance. Or, at the last moment, in order to overcome some- body's objection, an amendment seemingly harmless, is tacked on by unanimous con- sent, and the bill gets its final vote. * If a member feel bloodthirsty, and can- not restrain himself, he may move to strike out the enacting clause of a bill. Should the motion prevail, the vital part of the bill is gone. A bill without an enacting clause is of no earthly use to anybody ; it is only so much waste paper. The same may be Amendment "3 said of an enacting clause without a bill. A motion to strike out the enacting clause has precedence, in the House of Represent- atives, of a motion to amend. * To the young but ambitious statesman, who, after he has taken his seat at the peo- ple's bidding, is impatient to " figure in the fray," it may be well to offer here a single word of caution. Be not over-hasty about meddling in this somewhat perilous busi- ness of moving to strike out an enacting clause. Unless you have been chosen to make the motion, and have the votes be- hind you, it is better at this point to look wise and keep quiet. This unpretending treatise of ours aims to supply nothing else than a concise statement of what legis- lative rules and practice really are ; but while doing this, it can at rare intervals drop a seed of wisdom by the way-side. * The reader will learn to his satisfaction that an amendment may be itself amended. This is no new-fangled doctrine. Our fathers practised it. Not a legislative as- sembly in the known world, however, has sanctioned an amendment to an amend- ment of an amendment. Nor is the reason far to seek. Such a privilege could not escape abuse. The door once thrown open, daring schemers might go on piling amendments to an amendment of an amendment, upon amendments to an amendment of an amendment — up to such Stonn signal Must stop someivhere 114 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Wait Starting right Frontispiece a dizzy height of top-heaviness that the en- tire fabric would totter and tumble with stupendous crash to utter ruin. * Another imperishable principle for which our revolutionary sires fought, bled, and took continental currency, is that a bill can- not be amended on its first reading. At least, this is true of our national House of Representatives and many of our State legislatures. * A long-established canon of parliamen- tary law enjoins that when a bill, resolution, or motion, is to be amended, the work shall be begun at the beginning; and if there be several paragraphs, each paragraph shall be taken up, and considered in succession. Beginning at the beginning, let me remark, is a habit that cannot be too warmly praised. Some of our most successful bus- iness men have acted in accordance there- with. You may have heard them mention the fact, occasionally. * A preamble may be defined as a soft of introduction, — an overture, so to speak, to a resolution. It sounds the key-note. In- asmuch as a resolution may be modified to a considerable degree by successive amend- ments, it is usual, in cases where it requires alteration, to wait until it has been passed through the amending stage before shap- ing anew the preamble. The way it is done is as follows : The clerk first reads through the paper to be amended — a ceremony that Amendment i 15 the clerk relishes ; the longer the paper, the more he seems to be pleased. Then the privilege is given to the clerk of taking up each paragraph, and reading that by itself. The House amends it here and there, as it sees fit. Finally, the Speaker puts the question on the whole paper as amended. Thus by paying strict attention, and keep- ing an eye fixed on the reading-clerk, a member not in the secret may comprehend possibly what is going on. * Should a committee, upon reporting a bill, recommend amendments thereto, the clerk (as soon as the bill is taken up) first reads* through the several amendments. Then the presiding officer directs the clerk to read each amendment by itself, after which he separately puts each to a vote. The House may amend the amendment, but no new independent amendment to the main question is yet in order. As soon as the presiding officer has thus disposed of all the amendments reported from the com- mittee, he gives an opportunity to members eager to display their ingenuity at bringing in new amendments. Finally, when all this is through with, he puts the question upon the entire bill. * The House of Representatives of the United States maintains yet another rule, well calculated to preserve our liberties, and to hand them down unimpaired for generations to come ; and that is, that no Steervig Riders ii6 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE An illustration A c(mtrait amendment by way of rider shall be re- ceived to any bill on its third reading. One sees at a glance that this is as it should be. A free people want no rider on their bills, — on their third reading. The rider on the ten-dollar national-bank bill, is De Soto discovering the Mississippi ; at least he used to be there, the last time I saw one. * While an amendment is pending, it is proper to speak of it as a " pending amend- ment." Of course, it cannot be " pend- ing " until after it has been offered. This simple explanation will, I trust, throw a flood of flight upon a phrase of frequent oc- currence in legislative reports, and in news- paper paragraphs, that I dare say has puz- zled the casual reader (and possibly other readers not casual), namely, " Pending the amendment, the House adjourned." Noth- ing gives me greater pleasure, I may add, than to clear up, one after another, these little mysteries that abound in the reports of legislative doings. * Most men have an opportunity in various ways to amend their habits ; but curiously enough there are only three ways in which a motion can be amended, viz. : By adding new matters ; by striking out ; and by sub- stitution. Yet statistics will show that a much larger percentage of motions get amended than of men's habits. Here is a fact about which Social Science ought to get somebody to prepare and read a paper. CHAPTER XXII MORE ABOUT AMENDING Again. —MR. BURKE'S Reflections on the Revolution in France. THE main object of amending a prop- osition is, as we have already seen, to put it into a better shape. We look naturally, therefore, for an amend- ment to accord with the proposition in re- spect to which it is offered. We expect it to aid in making the purport of that prop- osition more distinct. The task of im- proving the original form of a measure, we would imagine, would be left entirely to those who profess to be its friends. Such indeed is ordinarily, but by no means al- ways, the case. We must bear in mind that a motion when once made belongs to the assembly, and that it may fall into the hands of enemies as well as friends. Even the humblest and most obscure member of the body has a right to try his hand at al tering it. An evil-minded opponent may move to amend so as wholly to change its meaning; he may propose to interpolate words which, if accepted, would so trans form the original proposition that its friends would be driven to vote against it. In fact, under the manipulation of a skilful 117 ii8 THE CiAVEL AND THE MACE A liberal view A /act! and rem'.iseless parliamentarian, a meas- ure mav become, as the late Mr. Burton, in his great impersonation of Captain Edward Cuttle, with a moral wave of his hook, used to say of the conduct of a child who, after having been trained up to go in the way- he should, had attained the requisite age, — " on the contrary, quite the reverse." * Legislative bodies do not look favorably upon any rule that curtails the useful power of amendment. They prefer that up to the last moment the way should be kept clear for a change in the wording of a proposi- tion, or in the methods by which it may be disposed of. To A. it may occur that the business ought to go to a different commit- tee ; or B. may be struck with the fact that the postponement is set for an inconvenient hour. In every such case, it is manifestly an advantage that an amendment may be brought in, like the rich uncle in the last act, to set things to rights. Most assem- blies are disposed to encourage this free- dom of action, since it facilitates the trans- action of business. Generally speaking, to amend is to alter the form, rather than the nature of the original motion ; for Snug was none the less plain Snug, the joiner, though he wagged an amendment in the shape of a hon's tail. * But you may not amend the previous question, nor a motion to lie upon the table. Each of these two motions stands or falls More About Amending 119 by itself, unique, unchanging- and un- changeable. Party strife and blind ambi- tion may attempt the experiment of hawk- ing at it, the King himself may whistle around it, but the man does not live who can amend it, and not be out of order. * Not to pursue the subject further in de- tail, lest I might fatigue the reader, I would observe merely that while a motion to amend is itself subject to amendment, it resembles a tax-bill, in that it cannot be indefinitely postponed. Nor can the pre- vious question be sprung upon an amend- ment. I would be pleased also to impress upon the minds of the youth of America that this motion is secure against being laid upon the table. It must be met squarely and voted upon, to the exclusion of other methods that might have been brought for- ward just as well at the first. The main question, however, may, while an amend- ment of it is under consideration, be post- poned to a day certain ; and when the date comes around, the amendment will be found as alive as a toad in a rock. The main question likewise may be referred to a committee, because that body can take it and the amendment together, into their dis- tinguished consideration. * Many assemblies have laid down the rule that no motion or proposition upon a sub- ject different from that under considera- tion shall be admitted under color of A fe-M more fragmetits One ihi>ig at a titne 120 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Gone amendment. The reason for this restric- tion is, that the House does not propose to be led a wool-gathering. The House is quite right. * It may be useful to bear in mind that after a proposition is amended, its maker has no right to withdraw it. Like the nickel which under a passing impulse you have just dropped into the slot, — you may be- come the lawful proprietor of an article you do not want, but you do not get your nickel back again. CHAPTER XXIII DIVISION A II Gaul is divided, etc. , etc. — CiESAR'S COMMENTARIES. THE problem of dividing' a legis- lative measure into parts presents to the inquiring and candid mind cer- tain features worthy of careful considera- tion. Of course, it sometimes happens that a proposition when first offered is com- posed (like a proprietary article at the drug- store) of various ingredients ; and the as- sembly is not prepared to swallow it as a whole. Accordingly some one makes a motion to divide the proposition into ques- tions, to be dealt with singly. In order to determine whether a proposition is sus- ceptible of division in a parliamentary sense, the proper course is to divide it, and note the result. If the parts are entire and complete by themselves, the division will be allowed. While highly desirable, it is by no means necessary that the divided parts shall make sense ; for more than one enactment gets as far as the statute-book without answering that requirement. But should one of the parts be fragmentary and incomplete, it follows as a logical result that the division cannot be sustained. An assembly may, if it see fit, approve of one 121 122 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Right \ divide part, and disapprove of another. The cor- rect method of accompHshing a division, we observe, therefore, is to make a motion to divide the bill thus and so, describing each part by itself. * It was formerly taken for granted that a member had the right to have a complicat- ed question, which is susceptible of di- vision, resolved by division into its several parts, so that he could enjoy the gratifica- tion of voting separately on each part ; and this, too, on his mere demand. But with the wider diffusion of knowledge, it has come about that the learned writers now entertain the conviction that there is no such right. It seems that the House of Commons had the question before them in 1770, during one of those lively disputa- tions engendered by the habit that John Wilkes, Esquire, about that time had con- tracted of appearing, disappearing, and re- appearing as a member from Middlesex. The right to such division was ably argued ; and the House by a decided vote reached the conclusion that it could not be permit- ted to a member to exercise the privilege as a matter of right. But Congress by special rule provides, that if a question include propositions so distinct that one being taken away a substantive proposition remains, a member may demand a division of the question before it is put. Thus we clearly perceive that after all the world moves. Division 123 * Upon introducing a bill, it is not inirc-lfJKng' quently found convenient to leave certain spaces blank, to be filled by the assembly with such names, dates, amounts, etc., as it shall in its wisdom deem proper ; much as a stone-cutter will fashion gravestones for his ready-made department, with a " Sacred to the Memory of," and adding a few con- ventional virtues — such as relatives will not grumble at the estate's paying for, — come to a halt. To fill up blanks in a bill re- quires a motion, unless the addition be in the shape of a new provision, in which case the effect is reached through an amend- ment. Usually several motions are made, comprehending the respective numbers, amounts, and so forth, to be filled in, before any one motion is put to the question. * On this side of the Atlantic, the usage prevails to put first to the question the larg- est sum mentioned, and the least time ; whereas the English practice is just the reverse of ours. Possibly it is because America spends more money, and takes less time in doing it, than John Bull. * The matter contained in two propositions may be brought into a single measure, by rejecting one proposition, and adding to the other in the form of an amendment Sidney Smith, it will be remembered, ad- vises the young waiter to draw the pen through every other line, as a means of im- parting vigor to style ; which, of course, the Ours and theirs Smith 124 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Patchivork A sudden spasm A vzassive truth young writer never does. Few will ques- tion that terseness is greatly to be desired in framing bills. ^ * Should it become necessary to transfer a paragraph to another part of a bill, a pre- liminary motion is made to strike it out, and then a second motion to insert it in the place desired. * There are occasions when a member, after moving a resolution, is seized with a de- sire, for some reason or other, to modify its terms. Out of courtesy he may be permit- ted to change the language, just as if the resolution actually had belonged to him. Strictly speaking, however, a motion once put by the presiding officer becomes the property of the assembly ; and a change of wording can be effected only upon motion. Gentlemen would do well, therefore, to get their motions into the exact shape that is wanted before they offer them. It is more business-like. * When a proposition to amend by insert- ing a paragraph is made, the proposition * It is related of General Zachary Taylor, while serving his country in Mexico, that he was once outnumbered by Santa Anna's army in the proportion of about four to one. The Mexican general thereupon sent a polite message to the American camp, demanding a surrender. Taylor glancing at the communication went on eating his dinner, simply remarking off-hand to an aide; " Give him Gen- eral Taylor's compliments and tell him to go to ." (Here op- portunity offers to "fill a blank" with the name of certain head- quarters, not unheard of in military circles.) " Put that into Spanish, Mr. Trist." Herein Old Rough and Ready exhibited a quality that would have ensured him success at the business of drafting bills. Division 125 itself may be amended by striking out and inserting, or by inserting- simply. This seems to be one of those shining truths that cannot be impressed upon the rising gen- eration too firmly. Our young men, I should say, ought by all means to be taught betimes to strike out for themselves. If a member who desires to amend an amend- ment by inserting words therein, waits un- til after the question has been taken upon the amendment, he will discover to his chagrin that he is left in the lurch, inas- much as the effect of a decision either way upon the amendment is to prevent future alteration. * To those who have a fondness for dab- bling in amendments, there are perhaps few exercises more attractive than striking out and inserting all in one motion. It is a quick way of accomplishing what might require otherwise two distinct processes. The motion is to strike out certain words, and to insert others in their place. For in- stance, a debating society has a resolution before it to the efifect that a " printing press is the fittest emblem of an advanced civili- zation." A member, with a view to improv- ing matters, moves to strike out the words " a printing press " and insert (what it is always a pleasure to insert) "a cork-screw." Should the assembly prefer to pass upon the two questions in a divided form, they can do so, either by their vote, or upon the Striking out 126 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Not Jiopdess A 7'ista of possibilities A restriction request of a single member, if there be, as is often the case, a special rule to that effect. * A motion to strike out and insert may be designed to make the original proposition read better, though occasionally it is em- ployed to defeat it altogether. When used for the latter purpose, it is capable of various modifications, so that the mover, if he fail of a majority at the first, need not fold his hands, and give up the task in de- spair. Opportunity is yet left for him to distinguish himself. * He may move to strike out the same words and (i) insert nothing; or (2) insert other words ; or (3) same words with other words. Failing this, he may smile still and appear undismayed ; for it is open to him to move to insert (4) a part of the same words with others, or he may move to (5) strike out the same words with others, and insert the same ; or (6) strike out a part of the same words with others and insert the same ; (7) strike out other words and insert the same ; or (8) insert the same words without striking out anything. After ranging through this entire series, if he re- mains unsatisfied, it must be that he is hard to please. * But suppose the motion to strike out cer- tain words and insert others be carried, it is not allowable afterwards to insert the words stricken out, or a part of them ; or to Division 127 strike out the words inserted, or a part of them. If it were, the assembly might be made sometimes to eat its own words, which, of course, it can hardly be expected to do. The member who approaches the subject candidly learns that he can try and live during the session by the following rule: It may be moved (i) to insert the same words with others ; (2) to insert a part of the same words with others ; (3) to strike out the same words with others ; (4) to strike out a part of the same words with others. * The indefatigable reader who has accom- panied me through these intricate passages of the law, must feel himself fully prepared for revelations still more inexplicable. He is implored to receive in as calm a state of mind as possible the intelligence that an amendment by striking out and inserting may itself be amended in three different ways ; both in the paragraph to be stricken out, and in that to be inserted, by striking out, by inserting, and by striking out and inserting. Let there be no mistake about this. * I do not feel like complicating matters by adding a word of my own to what has been stated. But I consider it a duty to those who look to this standard work to guide their footsteps aright, that I should explain how members are expected to find out what it is they are asked to vote upon, when the Timely observation. A last word 128 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE House has reached the somewhat arid region of which the present chapter at- tempts to treat. Upon a motion to amend, by striking out certain words and inserting others, the Chair first causes the whole passage to be read as it stands ; then the words proposed to be stricken out ; next the words to be inserted, and lastly, the en- tire text as it will read if amended. By a rule of the House of Representatives, at Washington, a motion to strike out and in- sert is, like the Union of States, indivisible. Some of our State legislatures, on the other hand, provide by rule that the motion shall be treated as divisible. This interesting fact not only demonstrates what a great country we are living in, but proves that the practice on this point is very much a matter of taste, after all. CHAPTER XXIV PRIVILEGED QUESTIONS IV/iat's trumps ? —POLE ON WHIST. A PROPOSITION submitted by a member to the whole body in re- gard to a subject under considera- tion, is termed, as we have seen already, a motion. When once a motion has been made, and is before the assembly, no other can take its place, unless it be an incidental question or motion. * Privileged questions, as the term is em- ployed by a legislative body, are so called because they take precedence of the main question. They are of four kinds : First, motions to adjourn ; second, motions relat- ing to the rights or privileges of the assem- bly ; third, motions for the order of the day ; and fourth, the presentation of a conference report. * The motion to adjourn is one of the old- est motions known to the law. Its origin (so they say at the British Museum) is lost, together with a good many other things, in the obscurity of the past. This circum- stance is unfortunate in the eyes of those indomitable spirits who want tO' feel sure about the precise date when everything that is now a going was originally started. 129 7' —DOGBERRY. A PRIVILEGED motion which for the time being supersedes all oth- ers (except the motion to adjourn) is that relating to the rights and privileges of the assembly, or of one of its members. It is to be observed that from the first it has been the unvarying custom of the members of a deliberative body to consider them- selves of no small consequence. They feel it a duty to magnify their office. Constitu- ents expect it. By the unwritten law, for instance, the moment a man steps out of private life into one of these positions, he is to be addressed through the mail as " Honorable." Could we gauge the pre- cise quantity of respect that belongs offi- cially to a single one of these " Honor- ables," and multiply the same by the whole number of seats, we might approximate a result capable of being expressed mathe- matically. It would enable us to compre- hend perhaps of what transcendent impor- tance all questions must be that involve the rights and privileges of members, whether taken individually, or as a body of digni- taries. An enquiry of this nature is termed 138 A Talk About Privilege 139 The people s right a question of privilege. It may be raised at any time ; and if the presiding officer de- cides it to be well taken it has a clear right of way. All other business must stand aside to let this momentous question be agitated. * Much of the freedom and vigor that should attend the actions of a legislative assembly is due to the readiness with which it can be counted on to uphold and defend its privileges. The public behold grate- fully a display of this spirit by its servants upon proper occasions. It sees that the privileges of the assembly is but another name for the rights of the people. That fraction of the public which occupies the gallery is sure to look down approvingly, as the House lays aside other business, and with more or less bustle proceeds to vindi- cate those rights. * It is apparent that no special rule can be laid down in advance to determine what shall, and what shall not, constitute a ques- tion of privilege. Every cause of com- plaint must be judged by itself, upon its I own facts. A presiding ofificer ought to hold fast to all the calmness he can com- mand, and determine the case as fairly as possible. * That an assault, made by one member up- Assault and on another, raises a question of privilege, j'^'^''''''^ nobody doubts. I do not mean an onset | of words, but a vulgar, corporal assault,! A medley I40 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Scrimmage continued where it may be said that the defendant with force and arms, then and there, with great violence, did beat, bruise, wound, and ill-treat the plaintiff. To the credit of legislatures, be it remarked, such scenes are of extremely rare occurrence. In fact, one might sit in an assembly for years, and not witness anything of the kind. Still, it is proper that the student, who aims to ac- quire a comprehensive knowledge of par- liamentary practice, should learn what is the appropriate procedure in such cases. The first step then, let me impress upon him, is to separate the parties. This done, it is well perhaps, should signs of serious injury be observed, to send the unfortu- nate man home in a hack, and have the doctor summoned at once. As for the re- mainder of the procedure, the House will pursue the usual course. * So a hand-to-hand encounter between re- porters in the presence of the House is highly obnoxious ; an offer to bribe a mem- ber ; an offer to shoot a member, giving him nominally a similar privilege in return, i.e., a challenge to fight a duel ; a refusal by a member to take his seat, when the Chair orders him to do so ; violent and threaten- ing language used toward a member in de- bate, — all these are considered to give rise to a question of privilege that has to be looked into on the spot. The report of a Committee that a witness refuses to answer A Talk About Privilege 141 a proper question put to him by the Com- mittee is privileged.^ * The most frequent phase of the question of privilege presents itself when a repre- sentative of the people, as soon as the clerk has finished reading the journal, gets the floor, for a personal explanation. The dis- tinguished gentleman, we are to under- stand, is to the last degree jealous of the rights of his constituency, and of its untar- nished honor. Were his own fair fame alone concerned, he might suffer the base calumny to pass unnoticed, but the duty he owes to those whom he has the honor to represent on this floor, Sir, will not permit him to remain silent. This seems to be the way he feels about it. * He voices these lofty sentiments in a tone so solemn, and follows them up with a pause so utterly impressive, that to one who has not heard the same thing before, it appears as if a crisis in the afTairs of the nation had arrived. Entrenched in his virtuous pur- pose, he sends to the clerk's desk a news- paper clipping, and he asks the Speaker to have the goodness to direct the clerk to read " with due emphasis and proper accent," the extract from a certain sheet (naming it) ' Newspaper reporters have been ordered into imprisonment by the Senate of the United States for the offence of sending to their journals for publication copies of certain documents that were official secrets, such as treaties and the like. These hardships marked the latter half of the nineteenth century. A vindicatioK List, oh, list 142 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE The storm rages Getting even that reflects upon him, — upon him in his ofificial capacity — aye, as an occupant of a seat in this honorable House, — with terrific stress upon the word House. By the exer- cise of an exemplary self-control the gentle- man, at whom the entire gallery is now gaz- ing, restrains himself until the clerk has recited the obnoxious article, of which, it is safe to say, not half a dozen of those present had ever before heard a word. This ac- complished, the injured statesman proceeds to repair damages. He frees his mind. * It is a question of privilege he is working under. He repeats slowly the slanderous article, word after word, and treats the House to a running comment thereon. He denies. He denounces. He explains. He throws his arms about. His voice quiv- ers with indignation. He winds up by hurling back with scorn something or other into somebody's teeth. Then having got- ten through, he takes his seat, and no one is killed. Whereupon his countenance gets back its usual placidity, heightened somewhat by a radiance that comes of the consciousness of duty well performed. He retires to the cloak-room to receive the handshaking of admiring friends, — the hero of the morning hour. Business re- sumes. * It is by no means every newspaper vili- fication of a member that entitles him to constitute himself a central monumental A Talk About PrioUege H3 figure by rising to a personal explanation. If it were, little time would be left to pass appropriation bills, and transact the rest of the public business. An attack rnust be upon a member in his representative ca- pacity affecting his reputation, and charg- ing him with improper conduct, or mo- tives, in respect to pending or proposed legislation. The member who is fortunate enough to have an ungrounded charge of this character set in circulation in his dis- trict, will not be slow to seize the oppor- tunity to roast his traducers. I think " roast " is the appropriate w^ord. It may not be elegant, but it conveys the idea. * The presence of a mob with intention to overawe the assembly is, of course, very ir- regular. Likewise, it is highly improper to obstruct a member who is making his way to or from the House. Even a cab or electric-car has no right to run over him, while Congress is in session. Such mis- behavior is to be classed with breaches of privilege.^ * Though a matter of privilege supersedes Breach of privilege 1 One of the most celebrated disturbers of Parliamentary tran quillity known to historj-, was Guy Fawkes, who, as everybody re- members, went to work in his own pecuUar way to move Parliament. He selected the fifth of November, 1605, as the date of operations. Had he succeeded in his nefarious attempt to blow sky-high the legislative workshop of England, he would have committed a great breach of privilege— a breach measuring how many feet across I will not undertake to say. But Fawkes failed. He was drawn, hanged, and quartered ; and he now stands in opprobrious wax- work, as an example of the villain of the period. 144 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Further talked about Other privileges a consideration of the original question, and must be taken up first, it is not neces- sary that final disposition be made of it, on the spot. Nor is it one of those sub- jects that exclude talkative members from ventilating their views ; for the question whether it be really a matter of privilege is open to debate. Often the prudent course is to defer action for the time being, in a hope that, with the coming of calm reflec- tion, proper apologies may be got ready, and resort be had to easier ways out of the difficulty. The subject may need full in- vestigation, and therefore, to be referred to a committee, with power to send for per- sons and papers. Or, as happens not infre- quently, the cooler heads of the House may agree that the occurrence after all is of no great moment ; and by general consent, the motion that deals with it is laid upon the table. * There remain to be noticed certain priv- ileges, personal in their nature, to which I need make only a passing allusion. Such, for instance, is freedom from arrest. A representative of the people cannot in his official capacity be pounced upon by the sheriff, and arrested on civil process, while the assembly which he ornaments is in session. Legislative dignity forbids. His fleshly tabernacle may be needed in the House, nobody knows at what moment, for the purpose of making a quorum. The A Talk About Privilege 145 people have the right to be represented by him every day of the week, and every hour of the day — a right that nothing short of illness, under a regular physician, can sus- pend. The intelligent reader sees at a glance how impossible it would be to get word to a sheriff, or deputy, at the precise moment when the bodily presence of the distinguished gentleman is peremptorily demanded. Private business, and espe- cially that part of it which consists of inter- views with creditors, must wait until sub- jects of public concern are disposed of. * Nor can the men who make laws be com- pelled to sit on a jury. That dollar-and-a- quarter-a-day work is not for them. No matter how hard it may prove to get to- gether an intelligent and unprejudiced twelve, the legislator is safe from a sum- mons. Nor can you drag him into court as a witness in a civil action, for he has su- perior duties in another place. As a mat- ter of fact, however, this exemption is usu- ally waived. The truth is, a willingness to talk in public gets to be so ingrained with your average member, that it takes no great amount of urging to induce him to appear upon the witness-stand. Should he con- sent to testify, the lawyer on the other side has just as much right to try to harass and perplex him, on cross-examination by a running fire of questions, as if the witness were only an ordinary man. A n escape Franking Its pervasive quality Like the rest of us 146 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE * A substantial privilege of a Congress- man, which time has sanctioned, and tax- payers have come to tolerate, is that of sending speeches, and other heavy docu- ments of a pubHc nature, together with packages of seeds, through the United States mail, free of postage. This boon is one of the great rights that bolster up our liberties ; a boon which the Barons would have wrested from King John at Runny- mede gladly enough, if any gentleman rep- resenting the party of the second part, on that historic occasion, had happened to think of it. The benign effect of the franking priv- ilege, it is to be observed, can be felt in the remotest corner of a member's district. It is safe to say that no man living can cipher out the gross amount of statistical, finan- cial, and other useless and voluminous in- formation, that is dispensed profusely to an intelligent constituency, during the several weeks that precede an election, all owing to this happy adjunct of civilization, the art of franking. * There remain sundry other duties and obligations in respect to which a legislator resembles the rest of mankind, in not being exempt therefrom by virtue of his ofificial position. For instance, he is, with the rest of us, exposed to the breezy incursion of the book-agent, as well as the insidious or the open attack of the subscription paper. A Talk About Privilege 147 When he travels by rail, he has no superior chance of escaping the importunities of the train-boy. Perhaps it may be as well for our statesmen thus to be put on a level with ourselves ; they may to some degree come to understand what people at large have to endure. One privilege, however, remains to a Congressman, in which his constitu- ents may not expect to share ; and that is, the right at his decease, to be buried with- out charge, under a monument of granite, with suitable inscriptions, in the Congres- sional Cemetery. CHAPTER XXVI ORDERS OF THE DAY Childreti of a larger growth. — DRYDEN. THE holder of an excursion ticket to Washington, stimulated by a laud- able desire of getting through with all the sights of the Capital within the period that the contract specifies, will not fail to assign a fraction of his time to the study of that branch of the federal govern- ment which is to be inspected from the gal- lery of the House of Representatives. He will want naturally to tell the people at home how " our member " compares with the rest. In the capacity of a constituent, he will have sent in his name by one of the doorkeepers to the distinguished man him- self. In due time that gentleman coming out manifests extraordinary delight at see- ing him, shakes hands cordially, asking " Now, what can I do for you? " and closes the interview promptly by putting into his hand a card for presentation to another doorkeeper in the upper regions, which card is an open sesame to the members' gal- lery. Our friend goes up in the elevator, proud to think he has been complimented thus handsomely; and fully satisfied that 148 Orders of the Day 149 the Honorable Mr. A., whatever his views on the tariff, is at heart a good man. * As the spectator surveys the scene be- neath him, how multitudinous and varied are the thoughts and emotions that crowd upon him, especially if he has brought a guide-book along. At first, he is bewil- dered, and loses himself in admiration at the animated scene below. It is like an open beehive, he fancies. Perhaps he muses over the curious revelation that a majority of the heads upon which his gaze for a moment rests are nearly, if not wholly bald ; and he is at a loss to conceive why a head that is busied with making laws should lose thatch in the process. The ferment beneath him is unintelligible. It strikes him as singular, for example, that yonder elderly gentleman, respectable, al- most dignified in looks, should be permit- ted to work himself into a state of frenzy, with nobody to take notice of what he is saying. Confusion seems to reign, sev- eral men on their feet, all talking at the same moment, while the great body of the members keep on reading newspapers, or writing letters, or look around in the most unconcerned manner possible. Occasion- ally some one contributes a little more noise by clapping his hands for a page to run to him, the entire scene being an odd mixture of tempest and indifference, that our friend can make nothing of, and finds The gallery I50 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE impossible to reduce to description. The stout red-faced man, who with an air of au- thority stands behind the desk, keeping up a lively rat-tat with a small hammer, is (so a stranger in the next row says) the Speaker pro tern. From a gallery point of view the looker-on fears that the Speaker pro tern, has never had experience at keep- ing school, or he would insist upon less of the go-as-you-please style in front. * Presently there ensues a moment of quiet ; and looking for the cause our excur- sionist sees two men standing in the aisle near the centre door, just inside the rail. One holds an armful of great, white papers, of which he seems only too willing to be rid. He is a messenger from the other end of the Capitol. After having bowed to the Chair, he makes it known that he is charged with an announcement of what his employ- ers, the Honorable Senate, have been do- ing. In a clear tone, he recites, galloping like a thoroughbred through the titles, that the Honorable Senate have passed this, that, and the other bill. Then, as he hands over the bundle to the House official at his side, he executes a wonderful conge, that implies no end of profoundest respect for this, co-ordinate branch of the legislature, — and takes his elegant departure. The House ofificial, with a firm tread, comes down the aisle and passes the bills over to the clerk, who lays them, after a fashion no Orders of the Day 151 less solemn, upon the Speaker's table. The ceremony is the occasion for a not ungrate- ful pause. * This over, the buzz and clatter start up again. Little of what is said (or attempted to be said) is our eager listener likely to catch. He is sorry to lose so much, — for he would like to take it home with him. Nothing, so he fancies, would furnish a more welcome staple for conversation at the village post-office, while awaiting the sorting of the mail — than some of these wise sayings fresh from the lips of leading statesmen, could he only carry away sam- ples, and be able to afftrm that with his own ears he had heard them uttered. In a few moments, our friend's observation fixes it- self upon a tall man near the front who ex- tends a forefinger authoritatively, and ejac- ulates in a shrill voice, " Regular order — regular order." Magic words these appear to be, for they are reiterated by others ; and of a sudden the sea of almost angry con- tention grows smooth and calm ; or, as some writers prefer to say, when they em- ploy this stock figure of speech — " the bil- lows subside." * The regular order means the order of business prescribed by rule to be pursued each day. If there were not a regular routine fixed for the disposal of business, nobody could tell what might become of a session. Time would be worse than More turbulence A nced/ul program 152 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE How it •works thrown away. The order of business, for instance, requires that Fridays shall be set apart for the consideration of a certain class of bills ; or that, on the second and fourth Mondays of the month, it wall be in order to take up bills from a certain committee. An order of the day, the reader perceives, is just as necessary to a legislature, as a Notice to Guests " is to a hotel-keeper, who has it fixed on the bedroom doors to tell the traveller what to do with his jew- elry, his dog, his children in arms, gas after midnight, and other perplexities. It is found to be of unspeakable advantage to members to be advised beforehand what subjects are to come up for deliberation at particular hours. Under such an arrange- ment, A. may wait till the night before, to put the finishing touches to his great speech. B., on the other hand, whose con- stituents care nothing for A., or his great speech, can get safely out of range, being warned in season of what is going to hap- pen. * To call for the regular order, then, is to ask the presiding of^cer to switch off, so to speak, upon a " siding " the subject-matter before the House, and leave open the main line for a discussion of the measure that a previous order has assigned, or that shall have come along as unfinished business. Some matter of more than usual impor- tance may have been set down as the Orders of the Day 153 special order of the day and hour that has now arrived. There need be no fear that the date will be overlooked. The clerk, with the aid of a patent calendar, attends to that. * By virtue of the previous vote, a subject Ow« /<>//<« assigned specially takes precedence of all ■^""" others ; that is to say, a motion to proceed to the consideration of that subject is a privileged motion. When the hour arrives, a motion to take up the subject must be made ; for although the House two weeks ago was of opinion that it would like to dis- cuss the Fog-signal bill on Thursday, the 29th, at one o'clock p.m. precisely, it may not be of the same opinion still. There may be weighty reasons why the House is not disposed to lay to one side the attractive subject of convict labor, now engaging its attention, and take up a bill that has not so much politics in it. Whatever be the rea- son, should the majority happen not to be of the humor, they will vote down a motion to proceed to the order of the day. When this occurs, the order of the day stands dis- charged ; and business with which the House was occupied at the time the motion was made to proceed with the order of the day, continues in order, and is entitled to be disposed of. CHAPTER XXVII ORDER Gentlemen luho are through ejitptying their revolvers will please come to order. —THE CHAIR. IN his Manual of Parliamentary Prac- tice, Mr. Jefferson remarks aptly: " There are several questions which, be- ing incidental to every one, will take the place of every one, privileged or not ; to wit, a question of order arising out of any other question must be decided before that question." To sustain this lucid proposi- tion the author cites Hatsell, volume two, page eighty-eight. I see no reason what- ever to doubt that Messrs. Hatsell and Jef- ferson are right, and all the more readily do I fall into line, when I observe the late Mr. Gushing moving up and occupying exactly the same position. * We expect naturally a good deal from a presiding officer. One quality at least the public have a right to demand, and that is promptitude and firmness in keeping those before him in order. This is what he is paid a salary for. He must preserve order, without debate, or parley. The very first moment he detects a violation of a rule of the House, that moment he must act, just as a locomotive engineer, dashing around 154 Order 155 a curve, must work the throttle the instant I that he sees a cow on the track. A mem- ber, who knows that a breach of order has been committed, may rightfully insist that the rule applicable thereto shall be en- forced. He may rise in his place, and by addressing the Chair, call another member to order ; i.e., ask the Speaker to declare the offender out of order. In performing this office the breast of member number one is supposed to be palpitating with a sense of duty to his country, and to the Constitu- tion. * Where it is apparent that a member has overstepped the line, no inquiry can be raised as to the duty of the presiding officer. Circumstances, however, sometimes render it doubtful whether the conduct complained of does in reality violate the rules. This inquiry, as the reader surmises, is itself a question of order. For the time being it supersedes the consideration of the subject- matter, out of the discussion of which it has arisen. The House, therefore, lays aside for the time being the business with which it is occupied, and requires all hands to con- centrate attention upon the point of order. * The practice in some quarters is for the presiding officer himself to decide the ques- tion, subject of course to an appeal ; while in other bodies it is made the duty of the Chair to submit the question to a vote. In the House of Representatives, at Washing- Is it a breach? They go right ahead ^^ 156 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE On the jmnp ton, a point of order that a proceeding is in violation of the honor, dignity, or privilege of the House, is a question not for the Speaker, but for the House itself to deter- mine. Where it is left to an assembly to pass upon the subject, the question may be debated ; while debate, as a matter of course, is allowed upon an appeal taken from the ruling of the Speaker, upon a point of order. Debate, I need scarcely re- mark, must be confined strictly to the in- quiry whether a breach of the rules has been committed. Those who favor the House with their views responsive to this inquiry, have no right to discuss the main question, out of which the point of order has arisen. * It has already been said that the presid- ing officer must rule upon a point of order, without debate. This saves time. " Use- less discussion," says an acute writer of an essay on Schopenhauer, " is a waste of words." When the Chair is satisfied that the point of order is well taken, the Chair promptly sustains it ; when the Chair is satisfied that it is not well taken, the Chair overrules it. Such is the uniform practice. An occasion may arise where the Chair finds itself in the midst of grave doubts. Upon an emergency he may call to his aid the opinion of individual members, who are able, perhaps, to refer him to previous de- cisions with which he may chance to be not Order 157 familiar. The presiding officer, if he so choose, can refer the question to the House in the first instance for its decision. * Some good people are so fixed in \\\t\v'Fiy,>mess- own way of thinking that it is impossible '''^^' for them in the remotest degree to conceive how anybody who differs from them can be right. At times a man endowed with adamantine firmness manages to get him- self elevated to the rank of a legislator ; and he takes his peculiar habits along with him when he goes up to the Capitol. Should he have the gift of speech-making, it is more than likely that the session will not have gone far before this individuality of his becomes distinctly visible. Possibly some question arises upon which he and the Speaker do not agree. To guard against such a catastrophe, the law pro- vides that an appeal may be taken from the ruling of the Chair. This provision is not framed, however, for the exclusive benefit of those who are rock-bedded in their con- victions ; it is meant to meet the case of possible error, into which even the ablest presiding officer may fall. * Hence it may be said in general that a Apf>eai member who believes that the conclusion reached by the presiding officer is not well- founded, has the right to appeal from his decision. Upon taking an appeal the form in which the question is put usually is, Shall the ruling of the Chair stand as the 158 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Human nature again May get in award decision of the House? As we have just seen, the question is open for debate. It affords a fine opportunity for those who are crammed full of the learning of the law par- liamentary to display an easy superiority over their fellows. * Of course, the natural inclination of an assembly is to side with the Speaker, upon an appeal from his decision upon a point of order. That distinguished official is the choice of the majority. He has been se- lected for the honored position because of his ability. Aptitude at applying the rules had already rendered him conspicuous as a leader upon the floor. Daily experience in the Chair counts for a great^ deal. He has trained himself to a familiarity with the law parliamentary. He buys the new books. Besides, he makes a heavy draft upon the Library for literature bearing on the sub- ject. All of which tends to render it highly probable that when the Speaker decides a point, he is right. But there are cases, of course, where his conclusions are found up- on close examination to be incorrect. Or, it may happen that a ruling is made while the Speaker himself is not in the chair, and the decision called in question is that of some member who is not so well grounded in the practice of the House. * It is open to the Chair to take part in a debate upon an appeal ; and he may support his decision by argument, setting forth the Order 1 5 9 grounds more explicitly, and citing the authorities. I have never myself spent much time presiding over assemblies, but upon general principles, I should imagine that the man who does so is somewhat sen- sitive about appeals, and that he does not enjoy having his rulings reversed. Reso- lute, energetic men excel as Speakers — such as Julius Caesar, Catherine of Russia, Oliver Cromwell, and Andrew Jackson. * An appeal may be laid upon the table. The usage has obtained in Congress of sus- taining the decision of the Chair by laying the appeal on the table, as the quickest dis- position to be made of it ; for under the rules a motion to lay on the table must be decided without debate. In the Senate of the United States the presiding officer may decide a question of order without de- bate, or he may submit it to the Senate. From all of which it is to be gathered that the object of rules of procedure is to secure prompt decision on points of order, they being merely incidental in their nature, and designed to facilitate the transaction of business in an orderly way, and not to ob- struct it ; and, further, that advantage comes of leaving a considerable latitude to the good sense and deliberate judgment of the presiding officer. A speedy remedy CHAPTER XXVIII READING PAPERS He that knows anything, knows this in the first place, that he need not seek longjor instances of his own ignorance. —LOCKE. THE law parliamentary acts upon the theory that the representative of the people hungers and thirsts after de- tails, the more of which he gets the sharper grows his appetite. Thus can we account for bulky documents, in soHd type ; re- ports elaborate, and well-nigh interminable ; statistics and estimates, maps, diagrams, exhibits, balance-sheets, and the like. Hence come investigations, helped forward by the aid of stenography, page after page of explanations, vindications, counter-alle- gations, and what not, all designed to il- luminate dark recesses of the legislative mind, and store it with a clarified product. The government printing-office keeps its fast steam-presses running day and night to supply the cravings of the congressman. Yet, in spite of this lavish expenditure, members are forever taking the floor and beginning with the remark, " I rise. Sir, for information." * Before a member can be compelled to vote upon a proposition, he has the right to have any papers thereto appertaining 1 60 Reading Papers i6i which have been laid before the House, or referred to a committee, read at least once. He may go to the clerk's desk and read papers as they come in ; or, by applying to the Speaker, he may obtain an order for the clerk to read them aloud in open session. All this is no more than saying that papers laid before the House are open to the in- spection of every member, and that their contents are not to be concealed. Or, in other words, whenever a member asks to have a paper read, not for purposes of de- lay, but for his information, the assembly will ordinarily grant a request so reason- able ; and the Speaker will direct the paper to be read, unless objection be made. Should anyone object, the question is put. * In the olden time, before it had grown to be a custom to send bills to the printer, and when there was not very much work to be done, all bills were read aloud at three separate stages.^ By no other method could members be expected to find out the text of a bill. But now so innumerable are the bills and resolutions that pour upon the clerk's desk that nobody cares if they be kept enveloped with a profound silence. There is no estimating how much wear and ' " Such parleyings or consultations — always two in number in regard to every matter, it would seem, or even three ; one sober, one drunk, and one just after being drunk — proving of extreme service in practice, grew to be Parliament, with its three readings, and what not." Carlyle's "Frederick the Great," vol. i (iSgg), page 612, Reading of bills i62 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE We aim to please tear of a reading-clerk has been saved by the invention of printing. In order to pro- vide against the loss of time that might otherwise ensue, it is the usage of many assembHes to accompHsh the "first and sec- ond reading of a bill, by an actual reading of the title only. Some States, by way of safeguard, have inserted a provision in their constitutions that a bill shall include but one subject only, which shall be expressed in its title. The constitutions of a few States, however, make it imperative that every bill shall be read in full three times before its passage. * Where it is the custom simply to an- nounce a title, any member who expresses a desire to have the contents of a bill read at length for his information, will be grati- fied, as a matter of course. Generally, however, members find themselves able to curb their curiosity ; at least, they are con- tent to wait twenty-four hours until they can consult a printed copy. To be sure, it will happen sometimes that an indiscreet brother may arise with the purpose of in- troducing a bill, whose terms as soon as disclosed would be considered by the whole House as highly objectionable. In such a case no time is lost before a reading of the bill is demanded by some member, in order to put a quietus upon it. CHAPTER XXIX SUSPENSION OF THE RULES Nor yet at eve his note suspended. — COWPER. WE have had occasion hitherto to inform ourselves that a bill, reso- lution, or motion, when once launched, goes beyond the control of him who starts it, so that he cannot withdraw it from the consideration of the assembly, ex- cept upon leave obtained for the purpose. * It is an idiosyncrasy of some people that no sooner do they set a piece of work to one side and pronounce it complete, than they fancy they see where they can improve it greatly. Let a man of this stamp intro- duce a bill or motion into an assembly, and the moment it has gone out of his hands, he sees, as clearly as the noonday sun, where a stroke of the pen would improve the wording. In ordinary cases, if the mover of a bill asks leave to change its phraseol- ogy, it is granted as a matter of course. No one cares to object. But the principle remains, as stated, that the mover of a bill or motion may not withdraw it, or alter its terms, unless by unanimous consent, or un- less upon motion a vote is had to that ef- fect. * Our House of Representatives at Wash- ington allows a member to withdraw a bill, 163 Tinkerini^ Withdraw- ing Clearing the -way 164 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE or motion, at any stage before the question is decided, or amended, except after the previous question has been seconded ; in fact, the House is rather pleased to have him do it. Instances have been known un- der the operation of this Hberal provision, where a bill has been withdrawn entirely, and yet nobody has seemed to miss it. The reason for withdrawal is entered usually upon the journal ; and it appears not infre- quently that a new bill is introduced at once thereafter to cover the ground. * No matter how wholesome a rule of pro- cedure may be, cases will from time to time arise, when, though applicable, it had best not be enforced. Unforeseen events, or peculiar circumstances, may justify a tem- porary change of the rules. Surely it ought not to be expected of a legislative body that it will everywhere, and at all times, live up to its standing rules, regard- less of consequences. On the contrary, a common practice obtains to suspend the rules upon occasion by unanimous consent. It is a convenient practice, the result being that the assembly goes ahead, and deals with the situation, precisely as though no such rule had existed. This method is re- sorted to when a very large majority are known to favor an immediate disposition of a bill or a resolution, which, by reason of a rule whose operation it is proposed to suspend, is not in order at the time. Suspension of the Rules 165 * Unanimous consent is a happy state for an assembly to get into — a sort of parlia- mentary honeymoon, so to speak. Where all hands work together, business can be dispatched at a merry rate. " Is there ob- jection ? " asks the Speaker, scarcely stop- ping to have the query answered. " The Chair hears none, — there is none " — and that functionary, rattling off the formula at the highest rate of speed consistent with the dignity and grandeur of his elevated office, sends bill after bill through the legis- lative hopper. Such felicity further resem- bles the honeymoon in that it is likely not to last long. * In order to effect a suspension of the rules, it is necessary that a motion be made ; and, according to the rule prevailing in many assemblies, be carried by a two- thirds vote. Some bodies require that three-fourths of the members voting shall favor it. In case the motion fails, it cannot be renewed upon the same day, except some business shall have intervened ; or unless the new motion be varied in terms from the former. This restriction seems fair. An assembly that has said distinctly that it does not wish to suspend a rule, ought to be let alone on the subject, at least long enough for a breathing spell. I do not hesitate to lend to this feature of the law my hearty approval. * In the House of Representatives at Wash- H ale yon days Two-thirds Nick of tune i66 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE A remi niscence ington, a motion to suspend the rules can be entertained only on the first and third Monday of the month, or during the last six days of the session. A motion to sus- pend the rules, my readers will be pleased to hear, is not debatable ; nor can it be amended ; nor laid on the table, nor post- poned indefinitely ; nor can the vote there- on be reconsidered. At least, this seems to be the idea entertained of it in the columns of the Congressional Record. * Memory brings fondly back the fact that while I was getting my floggings, and the rest of my education along with the other boys, in the old brick school-house on the hill, it was a pleasing custom for us young gentlemen, when the master, upon being called to the door, had concluded to step out into the hall for a moment, — it was our custom, I say, to transact a good deal of miscellaneous business inside, by unani- mous consent, under a suspension of the rules. CHAPTER XXX DEBATE Truly, there is much to be said on both sides. -FIELDING. THE assembled Solons, we will sup- pose, have at last reached the point where all is in readiness for debate to begin in downright earnest. The house is animated with one stirring purpose ; it wants to get to work. Somebody has led off already by taking the floor, and offering a resolution, which he sends to the desk for the clerk to read. The clerk has begun to read it aloud. * In theory a debate consists of a free and what debate full interchange of opinion, with plenty oi'%'^/^'""^ room for diverse expressions and ample time for enlarging thereon. The law de- tects no inequality among members, as re- gards intellectual capacity, wisdom, and talent. A subject comes up for discussion. Since all are equal, each member is entitled to take the floor, and state his views. We have more than once had occasion to ob- serve, however, that life is short. A limit must be set to the time that shall be em- ployed in the ventilation of opinions ; as well as to the frequency with which one gentleman may favor the others with his remarks. 167 i68 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Brevity The clock * It has taken years of experiment to hit upon a plan whereby debate in an assembly may be suffered to go on so as to eHcit the opinion of many, and yet save the time of the House from being wasted in tiresome talk. To a certain extent, it is safer to err on the side of too much rather than of too little freedom ; for the public interest is best served when a measure is open to be dis- cussed from various standpoints, — its mer- its extolled by those who favor, and its de- fects pointed out by such as oppose it. This, too, even where the speaker is not sure that he is making himself understood, or even where he does not understand the question very well himself; for the chief benefit of discussion is plainly that it sets everybody to finding out what he thinks about the subject ; and opens a possible way to thinking correctly. * In applying the rule to limit the time of a speaker, a narrow margin is left within which tlie presiding ofBcer can display not a little tact. When an occupant of the floor appears to be impressing his hearers favorably, is sticking to the point, and mak- ing a sound argument, the Chair may fitly hesitate to break him off in the middle of a sentence, in order to announce that the gentleman's time has expired ; the favor of a fraction of a minute may be granted. Whereas, should the time be occupied by one who seldom is known to offer anything Debate 169 in particular worth hearing, it seems emi- nently fair that others should have their turn ; the assembly expects the Chair to look to it that the hammer drops upon the second. A presiding officer should be keen to note from the row of faces before him the difference between an aspect of genu- ine interest, and a half-suppressed yawn. Where a member is cut off short before he has fairly made his point, the House is dis- posed not unfrequently to present him with a few more minutes, by unanimous consent. This is accomplished by a motion, a gra- cious suggestion, by the way, to come from an opponent. * Though the presiding officer is styled the Speaker, he is not expected to take the floor and make a speech. He stands ex- cused. It has been thought that it is enough for him to be obliged to look after the brethren who are engaged in that ardu- ous duty. Inasmuch as the Speaker is re- garded as the servant of the whole House, it is considered proper that he should hold himself aloof from controversy. The Pres ident of the Senate of the United States does not participate in debate. But John Adams, in the first Congress, we are told, used to make frequent speeches, in positive terms, too, in the body over which he pre sided. ^ When the Speaker throws a cast ' "Up now got the Vice-President, and forty minutes did he harangue us from the chair." Journal of William Maclay, 27. Does not speak lyo THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Across the •water ing vote, he may,, if he choose, give his rea- sons. This modest step in the direction of oratory custom sanctions upon the ground that his speaking is not in any sense a harangue designed to influence votes, is not taking part really in the debate. The Speaker is human, like the rest of us. Per- haps, were he to take sides with either party in the discussion he might be tempted in the he'at of debate to enforce the rules less strictly against them, than against their op- ponents. Still, there is no canon of the law legislative that in terms forbids the Speaker from participating in debate, if he sees fit ; and in this country he sometimes, though not often, takes the floor. Upon such an occasion, the Speaker calls a member tem- porarily to the chair. * In Parliament, the Speaker may of right speak to matters of order; and though he is to be heard first (out of respect to the ofifice) he is not permitted to talk upon any other subject. That august personage, though not at liberty to resign his ofifice for the time being into the keeping of a mem- ber, and go down upon the floor to mingle with his fellows, may at any time state from the chair facts that are peculiarly within his knowledge; or, if he think it worth while, he may announce his reasons for a ruling from which an appeal has been taken. So our British friend does not hold such an irksome position after all. Debate 171 * As for other legislative bodies, the prac- tice is uniform that all who have remarks to ofifer are expected to address themselves to the Chair. A member may be design- ing to utter something that will interest no- body but his constituents at home ; neither the Chair, nor anybody else present, cares a brass farthing to hear him, but this cir- cumstance makes no difference in the modus operandi of starting off. So when a messenger comes over from the other House to announce what that House has been doing, he stands in the aisle, and waits quietly until the Speaker shall throw a friendly nod in his direction. Everybody has to recognize the Speaker before the Speaker will recognize him. Speakers are punctilious in this respect. * A member who purposes to take the floor arises in his place, and ejaculates the words " Mr. Speaker." It is then his duty to re- frain from entering upon a course of re- marks until the Speaker has signified a recognition. After once having broken ground, there is no objection to his taking his eye ofif the Speaker, and turning around so as to impart the ardor of his countenance to his fellows on either side, or even to the rear, if by this means he can further the work of conversion. * Custom has ordained that in the House of Commons a Quaker is allowed to speak covered. During the early days of Con- The way they do it elsewhere The polite method Apparel 172 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE ■ ' No stnok- itig on these premises " gress, it seems that members used to sit in the House of Representatives with their hats on, after the immemorial practice of the Commons. But wearing hats indoors is an observance that disappeared long ago upon this side of the water, it being the Pan-American idea that hats, canes, um- brellas, and overcoats, not appearing to be necessary instrumentalities of legislation, should be stored in the cloak-room. In- deed, a rule of the House of Represent- atives at Washington provides that during the session of the House, no member shall wear his hat. * Even in England there are times when the Commons are good enough to take off their hats. Such an instance occurred at the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, when, on the day after the House had met to take the oath of allegiance to the new sovereign, Lord John Russell appeared at the bar of the House, charged with a mes- sage from the Queen. There was a cry of " Hats off," and all the members uncov- ered. A little incident like this serves to show that, when it comes to doing the cor- rect thing, our English cousins are not such bad fellows after all. * Another inhibition is that a member must not smoke upon the floor of the House, for the reason perhaps that, under the soothing influence of pipes and cigars, now and then a question would be lost in clouds of to- Debate 173 bacco, and debate might run the risk of quietly subsiding into pointless chit-chat.^ Nor are members allowed to pass in front of a fellow-member who is speaking. With these few salutary hints as to deportment, a Congressman is left free to regulate his manners at the Capitol just like other peo- ple, subject to the Constitution with the amendments thereto, and all laws and mu- nicipal regulations now in force in the Dis- trict of Columbia. * Let me close this chapter by saying a word about " unanimous consent." It may surprise the reader, seeing that few days of a session pass that unanimous con- sent is not asked for, to learn how small is the space that is devoted to a discussion of the subject of unanimous consent in works upon parliamentary law. Any young man who has started to obtain the unanimous consent of a family, to be allowed to marry into it, knows something of the difificulties that lie across the path. When unanimous consent is required of an assembly in order to introduce a motion, or to adopt a prop- osition, no member will be heard to argue in the negative. I am led here to remark that it is no proof of greatness that a man ' The reader may possibly be reminded of Carlyle's chapter in the " Life of Frederick the Great," upon the Tabagie or Tobacco Parhament, as he calls it, of Frederic Wilham, "The substitution of tobacco smoke for Parliamentary eloquence is by some held to be a great improvement." Vol. i (ed. 1859), 610. Obvious enough 174 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE can be counted on to distinguish himself by objecting when not a single other member does. He may imagine that it is ; but the opinion of what the French call tout le monde, is the other way. CHAPTER XXXI DEBATE {Continued) Great 7vords in the House on Saturday. -PEPYS' DIARY. A HOUSE, I make bold to remark, can do nothing without " a floor." In- deed three articles are essential to the carrying forward of legislation, namely, the gavel, the table, and the floor. How to get the floor is the first lesson an aspirant for fame in the political arena has to learn ; the next, how to hold it. When he has at last gained recognition from the Speaker, and " got the floor," he has a right to congrat- ulate himself upon having acquired a tan- gible piece of property. * A member is not to be dispossessed of the floor easily, that is, if he be on his guard. I need not assure my fellow-countrymen that there are times when to have the floor is a great advantage ; and the holder is not going to give up possession until he is ready, or unless his time has expired. He may, if he see fit, yield the floor temporarily for a brother to make an explanation, or to submit a motion to adjourn, or postpone ; or, if in Committee of the Whole, he may yield for the Committee to rise ; and if the House (or Committee) decide not to pro- 175 ' Tivas mine 'Tis his Who's who 176 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE ceed in that line, he will, barring accidents, get back the floor again. * But if, in the goodness of his heart, or in the simplicity of his nature, from a belief in the righteousness of his cause, or, from any other exalted motive he lets go his hold, for the purpose of allowing somebody to ofifer, or withdraw a motion, or to make a report, he will to his amazement discover that his right to reclaim the floor is gone. The sensation of having the floor taken from under one, is said to be vertiginous. * Should it happen (and it does — often enough) that two or more members are on their legs at the same moment, exhibiting symptoms of starting to throw ofif a speech it becomes the duty of the Speaker to select which individual of the number he purposes to invest for the time being with the pro- prietorship of the floor. Frequently it has been found convenient to enter beforehand into an understanding that a particular gentleman shall be recognized, upon rising in his place, to the exclusion of others. Such an arrangement leads occasionally to won- derful optical results, enabling the Chair, as it does, to look clean through a stout, big-lunged fellow who is clamoring for recognition, and to see behind him the quiet gentleman standing in what, to an ordinary observer from a like direction, would appear to be the path of a total ecHpse. Debate {Continued) 177 The courtesy 0/ Westminster * The usage has long prevailed in both Houses of Parliament, on occasions when several gentlemen are on their feet, of ac- cording preference to a new member. With us, where the American eagle has ac- customed himself and his family to soar in a freer atmosphere, no such tenderness pre- vails. * When we speak of debate, we usually refer to that free interchange of views in favor of a proposition, or against it, which is effected by brief, oral remarks, designed to influence votes. They who inflict upon their fellow-men long and prosy harangues are not debaters. They are bores. Upon subjects of large extent and of universal importance, where many members desire to speak, set speeches, as they are termed, may be allowed. There is no precise limit fixed for the duration of a speech. Tlie longest one on record, in modern times, is said to have been made in the legislature of British Columbia, by a representative named DeCosmos, who to defeat a bill spoke uninterruptedly for twenty-six hours I presume that a representative named De- Cosmos, or anybody else, would hardly talk for that length of time at a stretch, un- less he had some object in view. * The law parliamentary, it seems, has al- ways been disposed to favor a generous speech crop. Perhaps it would be nearer the mark to say that the law assumes that Pro and con Tolerant 178 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE MS. every member is capable of making a speech. The member himself assumes it too. The law does not care who writes the speech, so long as a member sees fit to make it his own, by coming into the House and delivering it. Sometimes we see a member so much engrossed with business that he cannot spare the time needful for the preparation of a speech. Still, he feels ambitious to make an oratorical display. He therefore sets about accomplishing this end through methods purely business-like. When a legislator is overwhelmed with pressing aflfairs of state (so busy in fact that he cannot even do the family market- ing), what harm is done, if he consult a friend, who has a knack of getting together at short notice a speech that sounds well? If the former can stow away in his memory sentences and paragraphs that another has written for him, do they not become his? Upon this point the law entertains liberal views. * Mr. Fox upon one occasion said that " if the practice of reading written speeches should prevail, members might read speeches that were written by other peo- ple, and the time of the House be taken up in considering the arguments of persons who were not deserving of their attention." This criticism, it must be confessed, looks like an intimation that parties outside of the House of Commons could not prepare Debate {Continued) 179 SO choice an article by way of a speech as the members themselves. However true this may have been in the days gone by, circumstances, at least on this side of the water, have changed materially the condi- tion of affairs. From an excess of good nature it happens that the law in question .is practically a dead letter. No sooner does a member produce a roll of MS., and take up a position with the design premedi- tated to favor the assembly with its con- tents, than everybody seems to be seized with paralysis, so far as objection is con- cerned. By a tacit consent the member is allowed to proceed. He proceeds. * Were I asked by a young man who as- a hint pires to become influential as a debater to offer a grain of advice, I should bid him remember that he ought never to attempt making a speech, unless he have some rea- son for it. The celebrated John Wilkes persisted once in talking in the House of Commons, though it was plain that the House would not listen to a word he was saying. But he had a reason. To a friend who insisted that his attempts to be heard were fruitless, Mr. Wilkes is said to have remarked in an undertone : " Speak it I must, for it has been printed in the news- papers this half hour." ^ ' Brougham's Historical Sketches. A somewhat similar occur- rence is recorded in the annals of Massachusetts legislation. An am- bitious member had written out a speech, and given it to the press i8o THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Again — a hint * It needs no great wisdom to predict with reasonable certainty that the member who is jumping up continually to say some- thing, — who can never let a debate go on without taking part in it, — will soon have earned the reputation of being tedious. A distinguished English statesman, who talked a good deal, wrote the following lines, as an epitaph. They are a warning. So I quote them : " Here, reader, turn your weeping eyes. My fate a useful moral teacfies : Tfie hole in which my body lies Would not contain one-half my speeches." in advance, to appear in the Boston evening papers. While he happened to be called out of the House for a few minutes, the bill came up and was passed without debate. The orator hurried back to discover that the bill had gone through, and nobody's eloquence had been called upon to help it along. His fellow members were persuaded to view the situation with much good nature, for they let the bill be put back again ; and his speech was delivered after all according to program. One can't help liking Boston. CHAPTER XXXII SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT DEBATE Behave yourself be/ore /oik. -ALEXANDER RODGERS. AMONG the improprieties that mem- bers are expected to refrain from in debate, as we have seen, is that of uttering remarks of a personal nature. No matter how exciting the topic, or how warm the controversy, there must be no personal crimination or abuse. Were members permitted to attack and vilify each other, like political editors, or theo- logical disputants, the great object of all rules, namely, the speedy transaction of public business, would be defeated. Meas- ures of urgent importance would encounter new delays, and matters generally would be brought to a standstill, to await the ad- justment of some petty dispute. Men's motives would be constantly under the fire of criticism, their characters aspersed and their words distorted, with the result that legislative procedure would degenerate straightway into a fracas, instead of, as now, occasionally resembling one. * To avoid drifting into controversies of a personal character, it is forbidden to men- tion members by name. A legislator, it cannot too often be repeated, is an official No names i82 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE How you doit personage, in whom for the time being the private individual is merged. The state knows no Brown, no Smith, no Jones, no Robinson. When it becomes necessary to single out a member for reference, there is a plain way open without bringing the name of that member to the front. * Let me illustrate. Suppose, in the dis- charge of your duties, you have plunged headlong into the thick of a fight, and are going to make a terrific onslaught upon a gentleman across the aisle, who has just spoken against your bill. You purpose to demolish him. You mean to show how unfounded are his assertions, how worthless his alleged arguments. You are going to handle him in a style that shall make him wish that he had never been born. The law permits you to do all this, but it says per- emptorily that while engaged in the enter- prise, you must let alone that man's name. You can talk at him, and allude to him in terms that will let every hearer know per- fectly well who is the forlorn, unhappy creature that is undergoing scathing tort- ure, — but his name must not pass your lips. The law wisely provides that a delicate periphrasis shall veil the object of your animadversion with an ineffable, though none the less substantial sanctity. You can render him the focus of all eyes, by em- ploying a phrase that means him, and no- body else, such as " my esteemed friend, Something Else About Debate 183 who last spoke," or " the gentleman who ha» just favored the House with his views," etc., or, " the distinguished representative from ," or " the honorable member, who has succeeded in working himself into a state of mind," etc. Any form of words will answer the purpose, so long as they tend to lift the individual concerned into the higher sphere of calm, legislative im- personality. * Such is the rule. Nothing short of strict enforcement at all seasons can be counted on to preserve that becoming demeanor which should mark the conduct of our magnates who make the laws. But truth compels me to admit that there have been periods in the annals of the Congress of the United States of America, where under a stress, it may be, of a great public exigency, this rule for a brief moment has gone out of sight, like an anchor-buoy under the waves of a passing tug-boat. Such occa- sions are likely to be lost to the searching eye of the future historian ; and perhaps it is as well that they should be.^ ' One incident of the kind. I strongly suspect,^ however, has " passed into history." I refer to an occasion in Congress, when General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, declined to be in- terrupted by Mr. Samuel S. Cox, of New York. The General, with a wave of the hand denoting impatience, ejaculated, " Shoo tly," and proceeded in the line of his great constitutional argument This reference, borrowed from a popular song of the day, to the genial statesman from New York City, whom everybody knew and liked as Sunset Cox, was, I need not explain, in palpable violation of Jefferson's Manual, of Cushing's Manual of Parliamentary Law, and of Mr. Cushing's larger work on the same subject. Will transgress i84 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Etiqurtte in the House of Lords A civil tongue * My reader will be pleased to learn that peers expect to be alluded to by their re- spective titular rank, as " His Grace," " The Noble Marquis," and the like. It is an ancient custom of the realm, and it has been found to work smoothly. The habit, I am told, tends to preserve in peers a maximum of awe for each other. It may be remem- bered, however, that Thurlow, Lord High Chancellor of England, once upon a time while discussing the right of the lowly born to climb into the peerage, astonished one of the peers, who went by the name, I be- lieve, of the Duke of Grafton, by an out- burst of indignation that thrilled Parlia- ment, and is to-day thundering around the walls of school-houses, wherever the Eng- lish language and boys are employed in declamation. Though in terms addressed as " The Noble Duke," it was not unpar- liamentary in Thurlow, it seems, to charac- terize that scion of nobility as " the accident of an accident," whether he meant fire, or marine, we are not informed. It must have been a lesson to Grafton. * Everybody will agree that a resort to personalities in the conduct of legislative business, cannot be too emphatically con- demned. It is an offence not only against the individual at whom the words are lev- elled, but against the dignity of the assem- bly itself. Upon such an occasion the Chair has a plain duty to perform, and that Something Else About Debate 185 is, promptly to check the first step taken in the direction of violating the rules. More- over, the Chair must be constantly on guard, for there is no telling at what mo- ment interference may be needed. Men get excited sometimes very quickly as well as needlessly ; and words will find utterance upon the floor, in spite of the best efforts of the Chair, words provoking replies that deserve rebuke. * A scene of this description, which has been known to come on suddenly even in the best regulated assemblies, imparts to the debate a spicy flavor. It likewise affords an opportunity to the newspaper reporter to favor the public with specimens of his finest work at embellishment. There are seasons, it must be confessed, when a House lets itself grow careless, possibly owing to the weather and overwork. Still, it re- mains for the Chair to see to it that spar- kling repartee does not go too far; nor in- deed is it always easy to draw^ the line between allowable sarcasm and direct per- sonal attack. Appropriate reflection CHAPTER XXXIII In black and white DEBATE {Con t i nu e d) ♦ A iring his vocabulary. -CURRAN. A PRESIDING officer must decide upon the spot whether, when one member is called to order by an- other, there be really a just cause of com- plaint. This is a delicate duty that admits of no delay; and it calls for whatever wis- dom the Chair may happen to have avail- able. The tone and gesture accompanying a remark may have much to do with its true significance, and the Chair ought not to be hasty to condemn. While the assem- bly is ordinarily disposed to uphold his de- cision, it is open to be appealed from, like any other ruling upon a point of order. * When a memi3er is discovered to be upon the brink of uttering disorderly language, some one may start up in the " nick of time " to check him, and by this means suc- ceed in preventing the words from being actually spoken. Inasmuch as few of us, however, are gifted with the power of di- vining with any degree of precision what a man in the ardor of debate is going to say, obnoxious words may escape into the hall before the speaker can be called to order. Where the call to order seems to demand i86 Debate {^Concluded) iSj " heroic treatment," it becomes the duty of the clerk to reduce to writing the objec- tionable language, as nearly as possible, in the very words that have fallen from the speaker's lips. The written words will then constitute the text, upon which are to be based such subsequent proceedings as may be found needful. * A rule of the National House of Repre- \T/un and sentatives provides that no member shall ''''*''^^ be held to answer, or be subject to the cen-i sure of the House, for words spoken in de- bate, if any other member has spoken, or other business has intervened, after the words complained of shall have been ut- tered, and before an exception to them shall have been taken. This is a wise pro- vision. It tends to keep Congressmen sharply up to their duty, by encouraging them to finish up their little misunder- standings then and there. It assigns to the deceased past, as the poet neatly recom- mends, the duty of attending to its own mortuary ceremonials. * Gentlemen whose propensities huvry CauHo'utry them into the thick of the encounter, will; do well to bear in mind that to render lan- guage disorderly, it is by no means neces- S3.ry that it should be uttered in debate. Words used in any parliamentary proceed- ing, as in making a motion, or answering a question, stating a fact, or even in reading from a book or paper, may prove equally i88 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Cakes and ale liable to animadversion on the part of the House. Nor, in the " give and take " of debate, does it matter whether the objec- tionable expressions be spoken boldly ; or introduced covertly by innuendo, or in dis- guised and mysterious phrase. So long as there be a manifest intent to ridicule, or to disparage a fellow-member, or to impugn his character, the party ofifending may be called to order. Nor can he hope to avoid censure by ingeniously incorporating the obnoxious words into a case put hypotheti- cally. * In saying this, I will not of course be un- derstood as laying down the proposition that under no circumstances shall a parlia- mentary orator unlimber his battery and pour grape and canister into the ranks of the opposition ; that he may never ridicule an opponent's position, or even allude to his personality, in phrase of cutting sar- casm. A dull day for the galleries, and for newspaper readers, will it prove when a rule so rigid as this goes into operation. But language which is susceptible of no other interpretation than that it is de- signed to be personally offensive, will not be tolerated, whether it be plain Anglo- Saxon, or only a cloud of circumlocution and mixed metaphor. Proud and soaring spirits of oratorical instincts, who have a vein of irony within, would do well to work that vein as lightly as possible. Debate (Concluded) 189 * Of course, it is to be expected, reader, r/uiack that when you begin to take part in debate, ''''^ you will have the good sense not to allow yourself to be found in a muddle of this description. Should you, however, plunge into one, you will agree that the sooner you plunge out of it the better. The quickest way out is to retract any remarks, clearly not in order, that may give offence, and say you are sorry that you should have uttered them. This course has the advantage of being the manly thing to do ; but as human nature is at present constituted, a road so hard to travel is not frequented. The offender must utter something, sooner or later, by way of apology, or he will subject himself to the censure of the House or to punishment of a graver nature. There is much good sense in what has been re- marked by the Earl of Sandwich, — a title that suggests a quiet moment with the re- freshing accompaniment of a glass of sherry. " Personal altercations," says Sandwich, " always impede public busi- ness, answer no one substantial or bene- ficial purpose whatever, and are only pro- ductive of ill-humor." * A fundamental principle governing de- bate at every stage is, that the speaker must confine his remarks to the question at is- sue. He must not ramble. This require- ment is kept before the mind of the legis- lator usually by means of a clock, with a Siici to the point A chance to scatter 190 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE large dial, fixed at some conspicuous point in the chamber. In extreme cases it is easy to apply the rule. Where the di- vergence is less marked, it often becomes difficult to determine whether a speaker be in order. We are not all made alike ; one man's method of elucidating a subject dif- fers from that of his neighbor. For the purpose of laying hold of an illustration, a speaker may explore a by-path or touch upon this or that topic, whose relevancy at first may not be obvious. It is reasonable to allow a considerable latitude to the range of the discussion. If you, my young friend, in your efforts at speech-making dis- cover yourself as it were " floundering around," do not be discouraged. Remem- ber Father Taylor, who in a burst of in- spiration once cried out from his pulpit, at the Sailor's Bethel, " I have lost my nom- inative case, dear brethren, but I'm going to glory just the same." * Some people, as already intimated, pos- sess the gift of talking at random. A Con- gressional orator, whose forte lies in this direction, may derive consolation from the thought that when it comes to a discussion in a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union he is not bound to adhere to the question under debate. A glorious op- portunity is offered to him for freeing his mind, and soaring into the empyrean. He is apt to accept the offer. Where a special Debate {Concluded) 191 order is pending, however, all debate in the committee must be confined strictly to the measure under consideration. * Most legislative bodies limit by positive rule the length of time that a single speaker may occupy the floor. As to the number of times that a member can be heard upon the same question, it is usually provided that once shall suffice. The rules of very few assemblies allow a member to be heard twice. Where one has reported a bill from a standing or select committee, he is re- garded as having charge of the bill. Be- cause of this responsibility, he has a right to open the debate, and the further right is accorded him, after others shall have con- cluded their remarks, of making the closing speech. It is only fair that the friends of a measure have the chance, before a vote is taken, to reply to such objections as may have been brought forward against it. * The House of Representatives by rule provides that no member, with the excep- tion just mentioned, shall occupy more than one hour in debate upon any question, whether in the House or in the committee. The provision does not mean that each member has a vested right to talk steadily for sixty minutes, upon every occasion when a measure comes up for discussion. Far from it. An hour is a precious com- modity, in this great body. A few gentle- men, and they because of their exalted po- How long' The lu'ur and the man 192 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE May I ask the gentleman a question ? sition with respect to the bill, are entitled among themselves to occupy an hour. To the chairman of the committee having jurisdiction of the bill, or to the member of that committee who has reported it, the hour is intrusted ; and that gentleman has a right to " farm out " the time. That is, he may if he please yield a certain number of minutes to this member or to that, for getting up and telling the House what he knows (or thinks that he knows) about the measure. Five minutes is the usual allot- ment. The man who is able to compress what he has to say into five minutes, who can make his point in four minutes and three-quarters (leaving fifteen seconds in which with an air of leisure to resume his seat), is destined sooner or later to be a power upon the floor of Congress. * Whoever sets himself up for a debater must expect to be interrupted every now and then by those who are anxious to ask questions. Our friend need not feel irri- tated, — it is a sign that he is being listened to. These guardians of the public weal are sure to be on hand, with whom a habit of breaking into another man's speech is chronic. They mean well ; they are patriots, but for their lives they can't help interrupting. There are times, it is true, when a pertinent question helps to clear the atmosphere ; but where one man can ask a pertinent question, there will be a dozen Debate [Concluded^ 193 who do not seem to notice whether their questions be pertinent or not ; they keep on asking- them just the same. * A well-worn phrase is " Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield for a question ? " If the gentleman happens not to be in an af- firmative mood (and at times it is wise to refuse), he politely but firmly signifies an unwillingness to give way. Frequently, however, he is conscious that he will come out all right, and so he answers with a faint smile : " Certainly." The other fires off the question, his face wearing a grin of tri- umph, as much as to say " That settles him." If the member thus interrupted proves equal to the occasion, he either sends back a lively rejoinder to the other's discomfiture ; or else neatly dodging around the inquiry, with a passing- remark quite irrelevant, he goes ahead just as if nothing whatever had occurred. * Your hearers are always more ready to sympathize with you (I am not speaking now of political discussions) than with the man who would break in upon your line of remark. These are the opportunities of- fered the keen-witted to get the better of their opponents. Only let a reply come back on the instant, and the assembly, or such part of it as is listening, is disposed to accept it as a complete answer. But have a care when an old campaigner takes a hand at the sport. If you are talking, you ffflW to interrupt A rencontre 194 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE The locus in quo will do well to keep a close lookout for one of these wary interrupters. In case of sud- den attack, there is one mode of warding off the adversary that can be recommend- ed ; and that is, to take on an expression of superior wisdom, and respond good-nat- uredly : " If my friend will only have a little patience, he will see how I dispose of that question before I get through." * While the friends of a measure may at- tach importance to the circumstances where this or that member stands in reference to it, the particular spot where a member stands when he lifts up his voice in debate, to favor or oppose a measure, is of no con- sequence whatever. One may stand at his own seat ; or, at that of another member ; or, step into the aisle ; or, if he prefer, he can occupy the open space in front of the Speaker. The fact is, listening to members of Congress in the act of communicating their ideas orally, is regarded at Washing- ton as such a privilege, that by rule it is provided expressly that a congressman may do his talking from any place on the floor, or from the clerk's desk. Should the place selected be a long way off to the rear, one of the reporters will hasten toward him, note-book and pencil in hand, so that no precious utterance may be lost to the coun- try. * Perhaps it may not be averred that " they order this matter better in France," though Debate {^Concluded) 195 they order it differently there. Members of the corps Icgislatif have not the right to harangue each other promiscuously from all over the floor; but each in turn, if he has anything to offer in the shape of a speech, is expected to trip down to the front, and mount a raised platform, called the tribune. Here he can throw his arms about, and get excited in a regular parlia- mentary v^^ay. Considering the explosive nature of French oratory, this regulation appears to be a wise precaution, but it is a restriction that could hardly become popu- lar, should an attempt be made to intro- duce it here. In Paris, gentlemen who de- sire to join in the debate are required to furnish their names in advance to the Presi- dent, who at the proper time calls up alter- nately first a member favoring, and then one opposing, the proposition under dis- cussion. * Wherever man is in the habit of getting to be writ the floor, it is an axiom that when he Z^'^'^"/%fr through — he is to sit down. How many a young man of acknowledged talent, start- ing out in the morning of life with bright prospects who might have had a career (and his " picture " in the daily papers) has come to disastrous shipwreck, simply from not heeding this one short precept. * Though occasionally a member, cajoled by the sound of his own voice, goes plung- ing ahead, to the annoyance of his fellows. Back-seat etiquette 196 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE it is not etiquette for them to greet his re- marks with coughing, jeering, cat-calHng, scraping the floor, or any other outward and audible sign of discontent. The law parliamentary, adopting the theory that members all stand on a plane of equality, is pleased to take it for granted that the oc- cupant of the floor, before he gets through, may let fall a grain of wisdom, or impart to those around him an idea of value. It fol- lows logically that, while exercising, his in- tellect with a possibility of this beneficent outcome, the gentleman who is doing the talking must be listened to with respectful attention. And yet CHAPTER XXXIV THE EFFECT OF SPEECHES While words, like treacle, trickle from his tongue. —THE ROLLIAD. THE main object for which American citizens give up for a season their business of farming, hotel-keeping, practising law, etc., and sit together, week in and week out, under the dome of a State House, or Capitol, is not to accomplish a certain amount of talking; it is to vote, and thereby to enact measures into laws. We have been considering how useful is debate, calling out, as it does, from various quar- ters an expression of opinion. Nobody will deny that a comparison of views affords valuable aid in coming to a proper conclu- sion. It is so in every well-regulated pri- vate family. A good and thoughtful wife, for example, after she and the children have decided it, will consent kindly to let her husband put in a word as to where they had best " go for the summer." * At this point I cannot refrain from re- marking that the transaction of public busi- ness is not due exclusively to the labor of the speech-makers. The truth is, the mem- ber whose voice is not heard upon the floor is often the man who really determines a 197 A compliment to a deserving class 198 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Public speakers The press measure's fate. Such a man may congrat- ulate himself on never being found in the ranks of friends who are guilty of having talked a bill to death. Whoever imagines that the silent member is not a power, may find himself greatly mistaken. The art of being silent at the right time is an accom- plishment, here as elsewhere, that is worth more than a mastery of all the treatises on elocution and gesture, ever copyrighted from volume one of the speeches of De- mosthenes, down. * Let me not, however, be suspected of un- derestimating the effect of a persuasive speech. I would have it brief. So would its hearers. And logical. The day of par- Hamentary oratory is not destined soon to pass away. True, under pressure of mod- ern methods, the immediate effect of a speech in winning votes is frequently un- perceived. The legislative mind has al- ready been made up, so that logic and elo- quence in vain spend themselves to effect a change. There is a miscellaneous class of questions, purely political in their char- acter, where it is safe to count upon every man as sure to vote with his party, — a solid front. But, this range of subjects aside, there remains a wide field where the " sil- ver-tongued " orator may to-day practise his powers of persuasion with as good a prospect of success as in former times. * On the other hand, somebody with a Tht Effect of Speeches 199 genius for ji^etting ahead of other people has originated the saying that the present is the age of electricity. The wires, it is plain to see, have worked marvellous changes in the methods by which public men keep in touch with the people. The reporter in the gallery magnifies his office, at the expense of the statesman on the floor. The newspaper at breakfast usually serves a few scanty crumbs from Congress. We are expected for the most part to content ourselves with a paragraph of comment, a dash of personal mention, the merest outline of what was done, and little or nothing of debate. Be the cause what it may, it has now got to be the fashion for editors to provide us with the stream of leg- islative talk distilled exceedingly fine. * Still, apart from all that the newspaper r/i^^z',.^^ may do, or leave undone, there is in Con- -'^^'''''''^ gress and in every State legislature, a chance that words uttered in debate may sooner or later reach the ears of the Amer- ican people, or attract the notice of a few intelligent voters. Besides, the congress- man who would arrest the attention of the public will not forget that the franking of speeches to constituents is a contrivance that bids fair to last as long as leather can be shaped into mail-bags. That eminent statesman of years gone by knew well enough what he was doing, when to a re- minder that all the seats around him had 200 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE On to victory become empty, he replied, " Sir, I am talk- ing for Buncombe." ^ * In a previous chapter I have alluded to the practice of franking speeches by the wholesale, as a custom of American growth, that flourishes in the soil of our free re- public. The sudden irruption into the post-office of a mass of printed matter of this description is sure proof that the po- litical campaign is opening, — if not already upon us. These valuable documents are intrusted to the United States mail, in sea- son to reach the horny-handed son of toil at a critical moment. They stir within his manly bosom the fervid glow of political zeal, unless the postal clerk makes a mis- take, and sends Democratic literature into a Republican household, or vice-versa. In plain English, these messengers keep him straight for the regular ticket. So it is that, although an immediate purpose of a political harangue upon the floor is to hold the party in the assembly well up to the alignment, a second and no less important object, is to disseminate orthodox political doctrine, at all points of the compass, through the medium of an executive com- mittee, and a legibly addressed wrapper. The member, therefore, who can in stirring terms praise his own party, and denounce 'A southwestern county of North Carolina; area 450 square miles ; soil, fertile ; excellent pasturage. Noted for raising corn, rye, wool, tobacco, and this particular member of Congress. The Effect of Speeches 201 the unrepentant character of the opposi- tion, will find his eloquence to be in steady demand at regular seasons, so long as po- litical parties continue to exist and to fight their battles in order to get control of the offices. CHAPTER XXXV The chair PUTTING THE QUESTION Ho7v quickly men of sense agree ! I side with him, ivho sides with me. —ANON. READERS who have struggled through the later chapters of this imperishable work, naturally want to learn what happens when a debate is closed. I seem to hear them uniting to ask what are the several methods by which a House sig- nifies its assent to the measure under de- liberation, or the reverse. They shall be told. * Now that members upon the floor have got through, the chance comes for the pre- siding officer to take a hand. He will pro- ceed as quickly as possible to find out what may be the opinion of the House on the subject. If the debate has lasted for some time, he may think it advisable to state the question anew in precise terms. The standard works on parliamentary practice, as well as the cheap editions, agree in say- ing that a presiding officer while stating a question may remain seated, but for the purpose of putting the question he should rise, and continue in a standing posture.^ 1 In view of the fact that the Speaker of the House at Washing- ton is obliged to get up and sit down again so many times a day Congress has allowed him a salary of $8,000. Other members get $5,000. Putting the .Question 203 * The moment a man is elected Speaker, or Metamorpiw- President of the Senate, whatever innate "^ modesty that he possesses comes to the sur- face. He shrinks from making official use of the pronoun of the first person. Should occasion require him to allude to himself, he sinks his individuality, as it were, and employs a figure of speech, known in lit- erary circles as metonomy, by which he is enabled to substitute the arm-chair at his desk, for the man who occupies it. This explanation (which perhaps I ought to have introduced earlier) accounts for the recur- rence of such expressions as, " The Chair thinks otherwise " ; " The Chair overrules the point of order " ; " The Chair hopes the gentleman will see the propriety of resum- ing his seat " ; and so on. In the early and formative period of legislative customs, a Speaker, I dare say, might with equal pro- priety have adopted the expedient of identi- fying himself with the gavel, or even with the mace. It seems, however, that he did] not. * It is a common practice for presiding |>i /^/v?/ officers before actually putting a vote to "^"'"'"^ enquire " Is the House ready for the ques- tion ? " A House rather likes to be de- ferred to in this manner. The words con- vey a flattering intimation that the Chair continues to be its humble servant, and stands prepared to wait and to endure more oratory should the House be of that humor. 204 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE A sis them Encouraging As a matter of fact, however, the Chair well knows that the House is as tired of the talk- ing as he is. The polite enquiry, therefore, meets with no response save respectful si- lence ; unless indeed (as sometimes occurs at the close of a debate already too long) impulsive voices from different parts of the chamber exclaim, — " Question, question." * The Chair thereupon announces : " As many as are in favor will say ' Aye.' " Af- ter a moment's pause, to measure the vol- ume of ayes, the Chair continues, " Those opposed will say ' No.' " At this, another shout arises. Have you ever noticed, gen- tle reader, how difificult it is to say " No," when for instance you are cornered at a church-fair, or in a bar-room? Quite the reverse is it, I assure you, on the floor of a legislature ; those who answer " No " do it in thunder tones. The noise they succeed in creating is far more out of proportion to their numbers than that of the affirmative. The Chair, however, soon acquires a trained ear that can allow for difference in lung power. * This mode of reaching a result is called voting viva voce ; a term that would indicate that the process was known to the ancient Romans. Such is the fact. Some of our college-educated young men will, I am sure, take a deeper interest in their labor of reforming politics, when they perceive how slightly our modern form varies from that Putting the Question 205 which was in daily use in the Roman Sen- ate. According to Pliny, it was the custom of the Consul presiding to put the question to vote as follows : " Qui hacc sentititis in hanc partem; qui alia omnia, in cam partem, ite, qua sentitis." ^ * The occupant of the chair, as I have said, Aw/>mg has to judge by the ear on which side the '"'^'^ larger number is voting. A formula much in vogue is — The ayes (or the noes, as the case may be) appear to have it ; then after a slight pause, The ayes (or noes) have it. So strong is habit, that even where there is a shout of " aye," and no opposing sound in the negative, the Speaker will cautiously say that the ayes appear to have it, before he declares that the ayes do have it. If at a loss to determine on which side the pre- ponderance lies, the Chair may ask another vote by voices, or may call for a show of hands. * Necessarily there are many motions tO:,^,,^^^ which the individual member pays scant at- tention, content to rest assured that they come from committees whose recommend- ation is to him a sufficient guaranty that they ought to be agreed to. Knowledge of this fact may reconcile a constituent to the conduct of his representative, when up- on his visit to the gallery he looks down and sees that honorable gentleman, instead « Epistolae, Lib. VIII., ep. 14. 2o6 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE One man Division of actively voting upon every motion as it comes up, — absorbed in writing letters, or talking and laughing with his brother mem- bers, in apparent unconcern of what is go- ing on. * A solitary voice in the affirmative is enough to pass a bill, in cases where no op- position exists.^ The larger the body, the more is it likely to happen at times that but a single member takes the trouble to go through the form of saying Aye. Indeed, it is not uncommon to hear a feeble " Aye " followed by half-a-dozen straggling " Noes," and yet the Speaker says the ayes appear to have it, and after the usual pause announces that the ayes in fact have it. When the real sentiment of the House is thus readily apparent, it may be said that only where a nearly equal division discloses itself, or where for some reason it is desired to learn just how many are on each side, is it thought worth while to take a further step for the purpose of ascertaining and an- nouncing in precise terms the state of the vote. * A member who is not satisfied with the result as declared by the Speaker, can de- mand a division, whereupon the Speaker 'Toward the close of the last centuij the Duke of Somerset divided the House of Lords on the question of ijoing to war with France. There appeared only himself in opposition to the motion, and he afterward caused a medal to be struck to the memory of " The Glorious Minority of One." Random Recollections of the House of Commons, page 84. Putting the ^estion 207 says " A division is called for ; all those in favor of the motion will rise and be count- ed." After these votes have been enumer- ated, the opponents of the motion are called up. This performance, I may add, can be resorted to at the Speaker's own instance, should he find himself in doubt, after a call of voices. The purpose of a division, we are told, is not to take a vote anew, but to ascertain how members have already de- clared themselves by voice. Accordingly the rule has been laid down that where a member gives his vote with the ayes, and upon a division goes with the noes, the Speaker (his attention being called to the fact) will direct that the vote of that mem- ber be counted aye. * A more elaborate method of accomplish- ing the arithmetical task involved, is that of counting by tellers. Nobody of men now living retains a recollection of the time w^hen tellers came into fashion in America. We are familiar wdth that standard parlia- mentary anecdote related by Gilbert Burnet in his " History of his Own Times " (1680), where Lord Grey and Lord Norris (the lat- ter being subject to vapors) figure as tellers. " A very fat lord coming in, Lord Grey counted him for ten, as a jest at first, but seeing Lord Norris had not observed it, he went on with his misreckoning. So it was reported to the House, and declared that they who were for the bill were the majority, Teller; 2o8 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE How tellers tell though it indeed went for the other side." The bill, as the reader very likely remem- bers, was a strict act, for the due execution of the writ of habeas corpus, and its pas- sage was a triumph for the cause of lib- erty. This playful incident furnishes one more illustration of the good that is done in this world by the presence of the fat man. * As a count by tellers consumes no little time, and thus may be used for purposes of obstructive delay, it is provided generally by rule that a certain fixed proportion of a quorum must unite in order to justify a de- mand for it. In the House of Represent- atives, it is one-fifth of a quorum. When the House evinces a desire for a count in this manner, the Speaker appoints to the office two gentlemen, representing the two sides of the question. The appointees come to the front, and shake hands cordi- ally, as two prize-fighters might. This by way of indicating how pleased is each to have the tete-a-tcte, and as a guaranty that there shall be an honest count. This in- troductory ceremony over, the two plant themselves facing each other, like gate- posts, far enough apart for members to walk between in single file. Then, all who vote in the afifirmative swarm down into the area in front, and begin one by one to pass between the tellers, who count each member as he goes through. The tellers Putting the ^/estion 209 figure up the total, and report the result at the clerk's desk. * After the affirmative hosts, and a strag- gler or two besides, have gone through, the honorable members of a contrary mind are expected to pour down the aisle, and in similar manner to pass between tellers. More arithmetic is applied. The main body is disposed of, late-comers are accom- modated to the tune of " one more in the negative," " two more in the affirmative," and so on. A total being reached at last, the figures are written down and handed to the presiding officer, who declares the vote. * The ceremony of taking a vote by tellers enables our statesmen to get a little exer- cise, and promotes good fellowship by bringing those of a like way of thinking into close contact for the moment. The procedure has the further merit of letting everybody present see who it is that is vot- ing for, and who against, the measure. T/ie Caudim Forks CHAPTER XXXVI A safeguard YEAS AND NAYS You were best to cail them generally, man by man, according to the scrip. —MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. WHERE a vote is divided some- what evenly, and the assembly is a large one, a resort to tellers is a more accurate, and therefore a more sat- isfactory method of numbering the voters on either side, than is a mere counting by the presiding officer, however carefully done. Then too it is to be remembered that the people outside are interested in the record of the vote. The taxpayers want to know what is going on. As sovereign people they demand to be kept informed whether A. voted right ; how B. behaved when the crisis came ; whether C. dodged, or D. did what he promised to do. For the purpose of making a record, a contrivance known as calling the Yeas and Nays, was invented, — a notable feature in the machin- ery of legislation. * The framers of the Constitution, keeping an eye on the great problem of how to pre- serve our liberties, took special pains to in- sert in that immortal document a clause providing that each House should keep a journal of its proceedings ; and that the Yeas and Nays of the members of either Te^is and Nays 211 House, on any question, should, at the de- sire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.^ There is no telHng what would have become of us, if they had for- gotten to attend to this. As it is, a plain American citizen can drop into the gallery after twelve o'clock, while Congress is in session, and generally count upon being afforded the pleasure of beholding a mem- ber rise, with the air of a statesman dis- charging a lofty constitutional function, and call impressively for the Yeas and Nays. * Every member, properly in the House when the question is put, has a right to vote, and he must cast his vote upon one side or the other. Should a member have a pecuniary interest in the result of the vote, he may by leave of the assembly be excused from voting. But everybody else must say yes, or no. * The right to vote, we ought constantly to bear in mind, is not a personal privilege that a member may exercise or not, as the whim seizes him. Behind the represent- ative stands a constituency. A member's constituents are alive to the questions of the day. They mean to be felt, as well as heard from, on the floor. Hence it appears that it is no hardship whatever to a mem ber that he is compelled to vote. W/to may vote The people > Article I, Section 5. 212 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE " IVAere was Vigilance * Being " properly in the House " is a phrase that the great constitutional lawyers have had to take under advisement. The conclusion they have arrived at is, that it means a bodily presence, either in the room where the assembly sits, or in some room adjacent, reached only by passing through the assembly chamber. We perceive, there- fore, that a member may be in the build- ing, but not in the House. Alike, whether working over a bill in his committee- room, over a meal in the restaurant, or an obtuse constituent in the lobby, he may properly be regarded as not in the House. In the House of Representatives, at Wash- ington, a member, to claim the right to vote must have been on the floor of the hall when the question was put, and not outside any of the doors leading to it. A member of a deliberative assembly ought to keep a sharp eye on himself, so as to know pre- cisely where he is, at least until the hour of adjournment. * Representatives are not slow to learn how vital it is to be promptly on hand when the yeas and nays are called. Legislative chambers are fitted with wires running to electric bells in the committee-rooms, and in other retreats, so as to signal to members when they are wanted. Often a com- mendable energy is displayed to reach the floor. It is a legend of the Capitol that, a good while ago, an eminent statesman Teas and Nays 213 chanced at one of these critical moments to be seated somewhere in the great, white marble building, in the seclusion of a bar- ber's chair — his distinguished chin hidden under a cloud of lather, and his somewhat jaded, but still powerful, intellect passing slowly under the soothing influence of ton- sorial shop-talk, tempered by the gentle re- currence of razor stropping. Word came that the fate of a bill of great import to the people of his locality was trembling in the balance, upon a call of the yeas and nays. With a leap from his seat the honorable gentleman vanished from view, and speed- ing to the scene of action appeared upon the floor at the very moment when a single vote would snatch the bill from defeat. He snatched it. It was a close shave. * The practice of " pairing," it is to be ob- served, is not sanctioned by all legislative bodies. Where the usage prevails, how- ever, the clerk is directed to announce the pairs, at least once during the legislative day, after he has concluded reading the names of all who are recorded as having voted. A pair may be general, i.e., upon all political questions ; or it may be a special pair arranged for a single question only. So, it may extend through a considerable period, or last but for the day. We owe to England the custom of arranging a pair; and it has now come into general use upon this side of the water. Pairs 214 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Pleases both two mem- in opposite * By a mutual understandinjr bers who would have voted ways agree that one shall not vote in the absence of the other. Such an agreement, while it leaves the result unaffected, brings into mind the comforting reflection that the couple in question need not worry about the country at large while they are not on the spot to take care of it. Pairs were not recognized by the rules at Wash- ington, it seems, until the year 1880, the second session of the Forty-sixth Con- gress. In Parliament pairing has long been conducted upon an extensive scale ; and absenteeism is a practice so common as to excite little or no comment. It is un- derstood, however, that pairs are treated there as a private arrangement purely, and that they are not recognized by any rule. CHAPTER XXXVII A POINT OR TWO ABOUT VOTING Nothing in the ivorld. Trim, said my Uncle Toby, btoiuing his nose. —STERNE. WHEN an assembly is brought in- to that frame of mind where it is wilhng to sit still and undergo a call of the yeas and nays, one would im- agine that for once talk would be at an end. So it will be, if the previous question has been ordered ; but otherwise the subject re- mains open for debate until the clerk has entered upon the calling of the list, and one member at least shall have responded to his name. This canon of practice appears to owe its existence to a flickering hope that, by some miracle, a single grain of wisdom can be lodged in the observations of a late comer into the field of discussion. So potential an influence has the power of speech over the imagination of men en- gaged in framing laws ! On the other hand, let the ponderous machinery of a roll- call once be set in motion, and like a pat- ented steel time-lock on a safe-deposit vault, there is no stopping, until it gets through. * To break in of a sudden upon the quiet humdrum of a call of the yeas and nays, even though the purpose be the intellectual 215 A "U'kward business 2i6 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Excuses one of starting up debate afresh, is in the eye of the law to commit a serious oflfence. " It would lead," beautifully remarks a writer, whose name, age, sex, and post- office address have escaped my memoty, " It would lead to almost inextricable con- fusion, and indirectly thwart if not defeat the will and order of the House." It would, indeed. I hope that no gentleman of re- fined sensibilities, certainly no American citizen, with mind refreshed and invigo- rated by a study of " Parliamentary Law in Easy Chapters," would be guilty of so gross a delinquency. Besides, it may be added that should a question arise, in the nature of a point of order, during a di- vision, the Speaker is expected to decide it peremptorily, subject, of course, to the future censure of the House, if the ruling be irregular. * The practice prevailing, I believe, in both hemispheres is, that members within the bar of an assembly when a question is put, are obliged to vote. This duty is of the terms of the contract entered into with the people who sent them there. As to the right, or propriety of a representative sit- ting in his place, and declining to vote, something will be said in a following chap- ter. At present we need consider only the grounds for excusing a member from act- ing with the rest, and casting his vote. The chief, indeed the sole, reason that will A Point or Two About Voting 2 1 7 justify one in refraining- from voting is that he has a direct interest, personal or pecun- iary, in the pending question. To meet this emergency the rules usually provide in terms that a member so situated shall not vote. Members need have no delicacy, where the prospect of their profiting by the result is reasonably remote. Thus it would seem that an appropriation for building a lunatic asylum, or a bill to enlarge the ac- commodation for guests at the penitentiary, may command properly enough the action of all hands. * Where the proposed legislation is likely to affect a class, and not simply individuals, a member is at liberty to vote. The pe- cuniary interest must be separate and dis- tinct, and not one which he enjoys in com- mon with his fellow-citizens. The mem- ber will consult his conscience. To vote that the House as a body go upon a rail- road excursion, at the expense of the pub- lic treasury, is not to be reckoned, there- fore, as morally sinful. Nice queries in casuistry are coming up regularly year after year, yet few members ever think of going to the chaplain about them. The best advice to be given to anybody who is morbidly disturbed is, that he state his per- plexities to the editor of the nearest news- paper, clamoring for reform. * A member, we will suppose, has voted, and later on it is discovered that he had Interest — What ? Disallowed 2i8 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE The casting vote such a pecuniary interest in the measure at tlio time as by rule would disciualify him from voting^. Can his vote be disallowed? Mr. Cushing- ^ and the rest of us think there is no room for doubt. It can. It is done by a motion made for that purpose, follow- ing the same course of procedure that is adopted when, after a vote has been de- clared, it is ascertained that members have voted who were not in the House when the question was put. Inasmuch as I take it for granted that my readers will with prac- tical unanimity refrain from voting, when they have no right to exercise that priv- ilege, I do not think it necessary to devote further space to the consideration of this topic. * The man who pounds with the gavel has his hands full to preserve order, and to keep members well up to their work, with- out being saddled with the burden of hav- ing to make up his mind how to vote on every motion that comes along. So the law exempts the presiding officer from the duty of ranging himself with the ayes or the noes, except upon the rare occasions when the House finds itself split into halves. Unlike the famous friend of the school- men, between two bundles of hay, the Speaker goes to one side or the other. He votes. • Section 1839. A Point or Two About Voting 2 1 9 ♦The books abound in much that is ^\\(i-\Bright spun and intricate upon the subject of thej^'^'^'"'"' ''^" casting vote. The Constitution furnishes to the Vice President of the United States specific directions in this contingency. His path is plain. Not so with the Speaker. This officer represents a constituency ; and a constituency has a right to make its pres- ence felt upon the floor. Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, while Speaker, seized the opportunity,, 9th January, 1803, to pre- sent his views on this interesting topic, and while doing so to brush away a cobweb or two. Who knows that some reader of mine may not climb to the pinnacle of fame, and when he gets there may not strike out something new in the line of the casting vote? I drop the hint as we go along. CHAPTER XXXVIII The difference THE MINORITY Here the hammer fell. -CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, l^ot. 21, No. lorj^ page 3qjq. WRITERS who have digged down deep to where rests the under- pinning of our democratic insti- tutions tell us of a bed-rock principle, which is that in a government by the peo- ple, the majority rule. Nobody at this era of the world's progress is so blind as not to see that the objective point of the stump- speech, and of the torchlight procession, is to gain the majority vote. We now come to bestow our attention upon the poor, lit- tle legislative minority. Do they possess any rights worth speaking of? And if so, what are they? * A majority has to act ; the minority talks. The one is for pushing bills through with no more discussion than is barely neces- sary ; the other " views with alarm " the passage of this or that bill. The majority has no time to lose ; the minority does not propose to be hurried. As for the leaders, aware that their party is held to render an account of stewardship, they want to pass the important bills as quickly as they can and adjourn, so as to keep the rank and file out of mischief. The minority calls up the spectre of hasty legislation. It enlarges The Minority 221 perturbed upon the truth, as if discovered only yester- day, that to kill a bad measure avails as much as to enact a good one. * The minority can always be depended up-j^/zw/j on to bustle about so as to make its pres- ence felt. Whenever a small but compact minority sets out to intimidate and con- found their more numerous brethren, it is truly surprising what tremendous billows of agitation they can set in motion. An impetuous orator who is going to be outvot- ed is often a sight to behold. He declares his purpose to stand by the Constitution, protect the people, Sir, and expose the in- famous conduct of his friends on the other side, come what way. This lofty purpose he does not announce in a whisper, either. * Talk is a commodity that recommends itself to a minority in their hour of need. The supply used to come cheap. It used to come too in considerable quantities. But one day, as we have seen, a cold, un- feeling majority ruthlessly put into opera- tion the previous question. For the Spar- tan band of a minority two ways remain of struggling to stave off a vote. The first is, to make a series of dilatory motions, one after another, exercising the high constitu- tional privilege of calling for the yeas and nays on each motion separately. The sec- ond is, where the arithmetic of the situation justifies it, to sit in their seats, and by si- lently ignoring the call of their names, to Tactics 222 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Devices Speaking' by the card succeed in being theoretically absent, and thus leave the House without a quorum. These two ingenious endeavors at stopping the onward progress of events constitute, I may say, the leading features of what is known in parliamentary circles as the heroic art of filibustering. * Great things can be done upon the criti- cal question of approving yesterday's jour- nal. The lever that the filibuster gets hold of, and of which he never lets go till he is forced to, — is the motion to adjourn. The motion to fix the day to which the House shall adjourn, was made a privileged mo- tion in 1789, by the first Congress that met under the Constitution. It was dropped in 1890. The Thirty-sixth Congress made privileged the motion to take a recess. But the Fifty-first Congress deprived these motions of their privileged character, and adopted an entirely new rule, namely " No dilatory motion shall be entertained by the Speaker." ^ * Somebody who likes to count has looked through the Congressional Record, and is enabled thus to tell us that were two hun- dred and twenty-two roll calls, and calls of the House, during the first session of the Fiftieth Congress. Of these, one hundred and twenty-two were for filibustering pur- poses ; eighty on one bill alone. At the » Rule XVI., sec. 10, The Minority 223 first session of the Fifty-first Congress, the roll calls numbered four hundred and sixty, of which it is estimated that three hundred and sixty were purely obstructive. Allow- ing thirty minutes to each roll call (and that means quick work) it appears that thirty- six legislative days were thus consumed. Let us pause for a moment, and estimate what an array of bills for the amelioration of mankind might have gone through as the result of thirty-six days of hard work, In the second session of the Fiftieth Con- gress one man, who wanted to have his own way, showed the rest what one man could do (and a great House could not do) under the rules then in force. The Oklahoma filibustering, to the record of which the curious-minded may turn for edification, prepared the way for the radical change just specified. * The device of testing the sense of the House upon the question of adjournment, was not unknown to the distinguished gen- tlemen who from time to time have been charged with the duty of enacting laws on the banks of the Thames. From a sketchy little book entitled " Random Recollections of the House of Commons," I quote as fol- lows : " The celebrated Mr. Sheridan on one occasion moved the adjournment of the House nineteen successive times, and had nineteen divisions on the subject, the one following the other as fast as they could be A British bulldog Quorum breaking 224 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE taken. The House, seeing it was only wasting time to resist the adjournment any longer, at last reluctantly yielded." ^ I bor- row the passage, not so much to show what a model of perseverance " the celebrated Mr. Sheridan " must have been, as to hold up to lasting admiration a House of Com- mons so eminently discreet as not to be obstinate when it could see plainly that there was nothing to be gained thereby. * Passing away the time in a constant repe- tition of pointless motions, is not perhaps the best use to which a man may put his talents, but this much can be said of it: it wears at least the semblance of doing busi- ness. The other method of filibustering, however, has not in its favor even this poor excuse. I refer to the refusal of a minority to vote, when they discover that the num- ber of those present on the opposite side is not a quorum of the House. In the doings of the Fifty-first Congress it came to be a very prominent feature. Directly con- nected herewith is the right assumed by Speaker Reed to count as present those members who sit in their seats, and refuse to vote. This Mr. R. proceeded to do — with what result the world that notices such matters perfectly well knows. The earth continued to roll on its axis. Now, it seems, spring, summer, autumn, and winter get along about as usual. » Page 55. CHAPTER XXXIX RECONSIDERATION If V were done., nvhen 'tis done. -MACBETH. STROLL with me into the lobby when the House is in session. Do you ob- serve that sharp-featured six-footer, who has the stout gentleman in eye-glasses pinned up against the wall? How ear- nest he is, the tall man, I mean — and vol- uble. Did you ever see a talker more alive with gestures? The honorable member (for such is the other) wears that look of discomfort which a victim is apt to present when button-holed with no prospect of es- cape open. What does it mean? Simply that an outsider interested in a bill is on hand to look after it. * Your born politician can come out smil- ingly into the lobby, shake hands in cordial style, and lend an ear to the importunity of a visitor, with such an ingenious pretence of enjoying it all, that the interview seems a success. Then, after another shake of the hand, he can hasten back into the sacred precincts of the House, and as the doors swing to behind him he can with ease for- get the man, and his talk. This is a gift that nature bestows sparingly. It is be- cause we mortals are but ill-fitted to with 225 Vanity 226 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE For instance stand, face to face, assaults upon our good nature, and because poor humanity will get tired at last of argument and speech-mak- ing, that the rule applies universally, which makes a vote upon the merits final and con- clusive. When one reflects what a mem- ber has to go through before reaching a point where he has the chance to say Yes " or " No," one ceases to wonder that a vote means so much. The books tell us that the decision of a question once put to a deliberative assembly is the judgment of the assembly. It cannot be brought again into question. That is to say the same motion substantially cannot be put a sec- ond time. * The House, for example, has just ordered a bill to lie upon the table. A motion can- not be received on the same day to refer the bill to a committee. Or, a motion to lay on the table has been negatived, and no proceeding has taken place touching di- rectly the merits of the measure ; the mo- tion to lay on the table cannot be repeated. The principle, however, does not forbid putting the same question at different stages of a bill. So, upon a report from a committee, questions that were put and de- cided before the bill was committed may be renewed. These latter motions, it is to be observed, do not involve an assumption that the House is of a sudden going to change its mind. Reconsideration 227 * The motto Nulla vestigia retrorsutn looks well, in gilt letters, hanging- on the wall of a school-room. It is Latin, to begin with ; and so pleases the parents on examination day. Viewed as the expression of an ab- stract principle, suitable for the regulation of conduct, it is superfine. Givers of ad- vice to the young are accustomed to put forward this phrase as a stimulus to what they are pleased to call '' noble exertion." So far as it has a practical meaning, it can be said to outline a sound dogma of par- liamentary ethics. In a rough way it may be stated that usually an assembly will not go back to undo what has once been done. * If paying a man three dollars a day and mileage for thinking about the public busi- ness would of itself make him wise above his fellows, we might look to see legislative doings happily transacted. But our repre- sentatives, much as we honor and revere them, are after all but human. Now and then you can even get one of them to admit that such is the fact. Hence we perceive that they are as liable to make mistakes as a clerk in a drug store, or the average run of petty juries. A House will at times al- low itself to become inattentive to what is passing, — a bill, for instance. It likes to have a chance to correct errors of inad- vertence. * It is a subject of just pride that, along with our reapers, and our rifles, our railroad and Taking the hack track The soher, second, etc. Motion to reconsider 228 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE lis peculiarities our electric appliances, the United States of America can boast of having called into existence the motion to reconsider. Like many other inventions, it was born of ne- cessity. Who first conceived the idea, I am unable to state. The records of the Patent Office, crammed as they are with all sorts of information, fail to disclose his name. If I only knew the gentleman, it would be a pleasure to give to him honorable men- tion in these pages.^ There is authority for saying that the Congress of the Confed- eration were not unacquainted with the mo- tion to reconsider. * An opportunity to reconsider a vote has proved so useful an expedient that pro- vision therefor may now be said to be a set- tled principle of parliamentary practice. The assembly takes care to prescribe by rule certain restrictions in order to prevent abuse. For example, it is customary to re- quire that the motion be made by one who had voted with the majority. By majority is meant the prevailing party ; so, if a ques- tion has been lost by a tie vote, a member who went in the negative is entitled to move a reconsideration. A member pres- ent and not voting is treated, in cases where ' It has sometimes seemed as though possibly the late Thomas Hart Benton, of Missouri, is entitled to this distinction ; but it is clear that if he had started it, he would have thought to mention the fact in his great work about Kenton, in two octavo volumes, en- titled " Thirty Years in the United States Senate, by Thomas H. Benton." R econsideration 229 no division has taken place, as having voted with the majority. * In Congress a motion to reconsider takes precedence of all other motions, except that to adjourn. But a motion is not in order to reconsider a vote by which the House has refused to adjourn ; nor can a vote on a motion to suspend the rule be reconsidered. The reader will be pleased, I know, to learn that a motion to recon- sider is not debatable. It is indeed refresh- ing, now that time has got to be so valu- able a commodity in the transaction of Congressional business, to hear of a motion upon the floor of Congress that cannot be made the subject of debate. * By a standing rule of the Senate, a motion to reconsider may be made on the same day, or on either of the next two days of actual session ; and in the House such a motion must be made on the same, or on the succeeding day. Thus we perceive no time is to be lost, if we would set things to rights ; for the step has to be taken while the legislature still has the subject fresh in mind. In regard to this requirement, I feel sure that the reader will agree with me, that it is as it should be. It is pleasant thus to have us all four, the Senate, the House, the reader, and myself, united in sentiment. In the District of Columbia Must he prompt CHAPTER XL A coup d'oeil COMMITTEES HOW APPOINTED Men are like strawberries in a box — the big ones go to the top. — SARSFIELD YOUNG. IN an earlier chapter where the dis- course lightly touches upon the topic of working by committee, was not a hint let fall that at a later stage something would be said of the methods adopted to sort members into their places upon the stand- ing committees? To deal fairly with my confiding reader, I shall ask the privilege of piloting him once more along the cor- ridors, so as to let him peep with me into a committee-room. * One would not go far amiss should he describe the legislature of to-day as a bun- dle of committees. Years ago, when the volume of public business was as nothing compared with what it has now become, when telegraphs, railroads, and corners in stock were unknown, and when nobody ap- peared to be pressed for time, the floor of the House used to be a place for actual de- bate. Speeches were made. Every mem- ber with a tongue to wag had a chance to talk things over. But times have changed. There has been an enormous increase in the public business. It goes without saying that the old twenty-four 230 Committees — How Appointed 231 hours to the day do not now admit of any- thing like the same generous allotment of time being handed over to general debate, that our progenitors were in the habit of providing. Of late years the real work of the session has been done in the commit- tee-room, with the result that the House itself does not much incline to depart from conclusions that have there been deliber- ately reached. A change, so marked as this in the method of passing bills, affords opportunity for those who scent danger in the air, to favor the country with their fore- bodings of what is going to become of us and our institutions ; but it suffices here simply to note the fact that the tendency of the age has been to enlarge the power and influence of committees, and thereby great- ly curtail debate upon the floor. * An assembly intends that every member shall do his share of work. It provides therefore a list of standing committees, so that no subject that is likely to come up for consideration shall be without an appropri- ate place of reference.^ Select committees ' Taking up in turn the several States of the Union, one may come across a pleasing variety of topics, that are from time to time occupying the legislative mind, as for example " The State Prison," " Swamp and Overflowed Lands," " Chinese Immigration," "State Medicine," " Health and Vital Statistics," " Ditches and Drains,' " Geology and Science," " The Chesapeake Bay and its Tribu taries," " Retrenchment and Economy," " Alteration of Names,' " Fisheries," " Public Morals," " Temperance," " Sales of Real Estate," "Live Stock and Dairying," "Special Legislation," " The Rights and Privileges of Inhabitants of the States," " Vini- culture and Viticulture," " Inspections," " Enrolled Bills," " Nat- ural Resources," etc. Much variety 232 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE IVfw appoints The listening House are made up, as the term implies, for the occasion. Any conceivable subject that the assembly in its wisdom shall see fit to enquire into may be sent for consideration to a select committee. * To be one of a committee means ordi- narily to be assigned to work. It happens sometimes, however, that a committee is distinguished by the circumstance that it has nothing whatever to do. Long after there was need of it the machinery used to be set up at Washington, session after ses- sion, for the due consideration of revolu- tionary pensions. So of revolutionary war claims. But Congress may be pardoned perhaps for assuming that war claims, like " kind words," never die. * Assemblies usually provide by rule that all committees shall be appointed by the Speaker, unless otherwise directed. The duty thus imposed upon the Speaker of se- lecting gentlemen who shall compose the various committees is, I need hardly add, of the first magnitude. * A moment of suspense is reached just be- fore the clerk begins to read the names. Quiet prevails, when that officer proceeds with the list ; and the world learns to whom the prizes come, and who draws a blank. There is a ticking in the telegraph office, and the newspapers print the list of com- mittees. Comments are then in order. * Mrs. Smith hears from her husband. Committees — How appointed 233 John goes on to remark pretty emphatically that the delegation are all worked up ; ter- ribly indignant are the delegation. They are going to have it explained how it hap- pens that the Speaker after promising that he (Mr. Smith) should be assigned a place suited to his talents and reputation, after giving the delegation to understand that it was '' all fixed," how it happens that the Speaker has gone to work and put him (Smith) down on an obscure committee, — and not even chairman of that. Mrs. Smith loses no time in telling her circle of friends that the delegation are bound to have satisfaction. " Perfect outrage, John says the delegation says." * As for Brown, he writes home that he could have had a chairmanship, but he did not care for it ; while Jones lets fall no com- ment in particular upon the subject. He remarks merely that if the Speaker had had any brains, he would not have made the mess of it that he has done. Yet there are a few (most of them chairmen) who appear to take the whole business philosophically. The beauty 0/ H Here's atwther CHAPTER XLI COMMITTEES — THEIR FUNCTIONS Fill often time he hadde the bord begonne. -THE CANTERBURY TALES. AS a first step towards getting into shape for business, a committee has to effect an organization. As soon as may be after committees are announced, the members who have been designed to serve together meet in a room, assigned for their occupancy, conveniently near to the chamber where the sessions of the assem- bly are held. The room is usually fur- nished with a long table, at the sides of which are ranged comfortable arm-chairs. One chair stands at the head of the table. In well-regulated committee-rooms there is to be seen also, opposite to each chair, a drawer in the table under lock and key, convenient for bills, petitions, cigars, marked copies of newspapers, and other articles indispensable for carrying forward legislation. Also a nice lot of stationery, so that no great thought surging in the leg- islative brain may perish for lack of oppor- tunity to commit it to writing. A book- case, it may be, adorns the apartm.ent, its shelves carrying rows of that standard lit- erature one sometimes runs across at a junk-shop. Over by the window stands 234 Committees — Their Functions 235 the clerk's desk (if the committee have a clerk) that is stocked well with documents and papers. * The somewhat imposing' personage who t"^^ sits at the head of the table is, as you read- ''"''''-""''' ily guess, the chairman ; for a committee must needs have somebody to take com- mand, just as a canal-boat has its captain. The chairman calls the meetings of his com- mittee, distributes the work, puts questions to a vote, and makes himself generally use- ful. The honor of a chairmanship is yield- ed by custom to the member named first upon the committee. While the law per- mits a committee to choose its own chair- man, the established usage is that the gentleman who heads the list shall enjoy the distinction of presiding over his associ- ates. It would be a grave reason indeed that should warrant a departure from this time-honored custom. Below the chair- man, other members range themselves at the table in the order of precedence, accord- ing as their names stand upon the list. When the chairman is detained, the mem- ber present whose name comes highest on the list presides. * In some committees they are able to dis- pense with a clerk, but where there is work for a clerk to do, a quick, active young man of methodical habits will find his services in demand. A clerk keeps the docket, entering therein minutes of the action of The outs 236 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE the committee upon bills and resolutions submitted for their consideration. He conducts the correspondence, looks after bills, petitions, reports, and various other documents belonging to the committee ; besides having an eye to the room and its contents, at times when the committee are not in session. Upon the shoulders of the clerk (unless the committee have a messen- ger) rests the duty of opening the door when a knock is heard, and of conveying to the outsider in a tone bordering upon the mysterious, the information that the com- mittee are in session and cannot be dis- turbed. The fitness of a clerk for his duties, or the lack of it, will at once make itself felt in the work of the committee, with an effect, it is not too much to say, equal to that of the chairman himself. A clerk should be systematic, and of orderly habits. One of the many trying duties that falls to his lot is to keep track of ofBcial papers. While in training at this branch of the busi- ness he is likely to learn with what ability some statesmen can contrive to make a bill, and all the original papers thereto per- taining, disappear, and stay disappeared up to the very last hour of the session. * The post of clerk to a committee, in this free republic, seldom goes a-begging. Numerous applicants give notice that they are willing to accept the salary. The right to name who shall act as clerk is a priv- Committees — Their Functions 237 ilege usually conceded to the chairman ; who is presumed to study the situation with an eye single to the public interest. * Instances have been known, however, Vaw?/,. where the chairman is blessed with a son, *^^"f'''-^"^' that the family look upon as possessing, talents of a remarkable order. The young! man very likely has dedicated his talents to the law, and by reading his father's speeches and otherwise, is preparing him- self to enter upon a career. After looking over the entire field the chairman feels that he must require his offspring to forego other engagements and take up the burden of a clerkship. With a filial instinct, the youth obeys, thus averting the disaster of having the monthly salary paid to some one outside of the family. * A committee does not continue sitting while the House itself is in actual session, unless it be permitted by a vote so to do. When the hour arrives for the House to come to order, a bustle ensues in commit- tee-rooms, and proceedings are rapidly brought to a close. The people have a right to be present, in the person of their representatives, at each and every moment of the session, for the purpose of seeing to it that no mischief is done. Hence punct- ual and continual attendance is not merely a commendable habit ; it rises to the point of being a political duty. For a committee to obtain leave to sit during the session of Vhcn may sit 238 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE A llowed privacy Recess the House is a task of no great magnitude. Where a few individuals evince an incHna- tion to keep at work, it clearly appears to be the duty of everybody else to let them have their own way about it. * It is th-e custom of most legislative bodies to hold committee meetings in the morn- ing. The legislative brain is supposed to be at its best at this time of day. Where business is unusually brisk resort may be had to an evening session. As a matter of fact the members of a committee are ex- pected to get together, at the call of the chairman, at such hours as best serve their convenience. The meetings are private, but public hearings may be granted to in- terested parties. Investigations are of modern invention. Being designed to startle the country with a revelation of the terrible state of things existing in the ad- ministration of affairs by " the other side," they are conducted ordinarily with open doors, in the presence of the people and of the newspaper reporters. But committees carry on their discussions all by themselves. It is not etiquette to intrude at these se- ances. No matter how animated the pro- ceedings may be, or how great the tempta- tion to lift tile veil, it is considered highly improper and unparliamentary in a mem- ber to refer in his remarks upon the floor to what has been said in committee. * Similarly, where members are of opinion Committees — Their Functions 239 that they ought to devote a portion of their valuable time to public business during a recess of the assembly, as a committee, it is necessary to obtain authority by formal vote. So a House may empower a com- mittee to depart from the locality where the House is sitting, and go into another part of the country and there hold its sessions, examine witnesses and make a stir gener- ally. * Standing committees vary in numbers 5«*- from three to fifteen, or even more mem- '"'*"'"'"''^- bers, according to the size of the body ap- pointing them, or the nature of the services that they are expected to render. An odd number is commonly selected, so as to avoid the possibility of a tie upon a full vote. That it may deal with more subjects, and at the same time secure from the individual member a closer degree of attention to the business in hand, a large committee will di- vide itself into sub-committees. Three is a convenient number for a sub-committee. They may assign the bill to one of their number, who makes it the subject of his special study. When ready, he will report his views upon the proposed measure to the sub-committee ; the latter in turn report to the full committee ; and it is from the full committee that a report is brought into the House. *A member is expected to exhibit in ihcAsto committee-room just as much deportment i*^''"'"""' 240 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Has its rules and savoir faire as he would display upon the floor of the House, where the eyes of the whole assembly and of the galleries are upon him. The chairman will take care that everybody behaves well, and that a tone of decorum and dignity mark the pro- ceedings. Should any one forget himself so far as to be guilty of disorderly conduct, neither the chairman nor the committee have power to punish him ; they can only quell the disturbance, and report the facts at once to the House. So, where a witness is refractory, or refuses to answer a ques- tion, it becomes the duty of the committee to report the matter to the House, that the majesty of the law may be vindicated. * A committee can no more get along with- out rules than can the House itself. The chairman entertains motions and puts questions, just as if the group before him were itself a deliberative assembly, and he its Speaker. A majority of the committee constitutes a quorum for business ; though under the later practice, in both Houses of Congress, committees have the power to fix their own quorum. What with looking up the right kind of seeds for an agricult- ural population at home, and trying to secure pensions, salaried offices, and other desirable arrangements for their needy constituents, our senators and represent- atives have to move around Washington at la lively rate in order to get their errands Committees — Their Functions 24 1 done of a morning, so that there shall be no empty chairs at committee meetings. * Should a member leave the committee- room, and thus reduce the number present below a quorum, those who remain can keep on deliberating, so long as nobody is kind enough to call attention to the fact that the quorum has vanished. If a lack of a quorum be disclosed, no vote can be taken. The House of Representatives at Washington curbs the appetite of Con- gressmen for overwork, by providing that a committee may not report a bill where the subject-matter has not first been re- ferred to it by the rules, or otherwise. * Upon the adjournment sine die of a legis- lature, all committees cease to exist. The Senate of the United States, however, be- ing a permanent body, its committees do not expire with the winding up of a Con- gress. Sundries Exeunt otnnes CHAPTER XLII Two kinds COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE " So say "uie all oj us." —FAMILIAR REFRAIN. A HOUSE may resolve itself into a committee of the whole House. That is, all the members sit together as one committee, and strictly speaking not as a House. The Speaker leaves the chair, and another takes his place who pre- sides as chairman of this grand committee. An assembly can convert itself into a com- mittee of the whole, and then back again into the House, with rapidity and ease. When the Speaker vacates the chair, the sergeant-at-arms removes the mace, as a signal that it is no longer the House that is in session. But inasmuch as it may be necessary at any moment for the committee to rise and the House go into session again (a message from the other branch may re- quire it), the Speaker and his faithful mace- bearer remain on the premises within ready call. * Under the Constitution the House of Representatives holds the purse-strings, and like almost everybody else who acts in that capacity, it holds them tightly. One of its rules provides that all motions involv- ing a tax upon the people, or bills appro- 242 Committee of the Whole Home 243 priating money, must first be considered in a committee of the whole. There are two of these committees ; one, a committee of the whole house upon the state of the Union, to which public bills and public business are referred. To the other go pri- vate bills and private business ; and it is styled, The committee of the whole house. A creditor who is trying to get the United States to pay what it owes him, has the comfort of realizing that his aggressive at- titude does not in the least disturb the state of the Union. * A quorum is as essential for the transac- tion of business in a committee of the whole, as in the House itself. Whenever it is made to appear to the chairman that a quorum is not present, it becomes his duty to have the roll called ; and after that cere- mony is ended the committee rises, when the chairman reports to the Speaker that there is, or is not a quorum, as the case may be, and action is taken accordingly. A motion to adjourn may be carried, or a call of the House will be ordered. In the lat- ter event, absentees are sent for, and the sergeant-at-arms with his deputies scour the vicinage for delinquents, who when caught are escorted into the chamber, and down the aisle. As the missing members one by one come into the presence of their more virtuous brethren, each is expected to lay before the Speaker such excuse for ab- Quorum again Why they like it Forbidden 244 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE sence as may, upon the spur of the moment, occur to him. At Washington, these occa- sions are signalized by a display of wit and humor, peculiarly congressional, which is permitted to trickle down to posterity through the channel of the Record. * The rule that no member shall speak more than once to the same question does not hold in committee of the whole. * With all this to be credited in its favor, it must be confessed that the committee of the whole, as a parliamentary contrivance, is chiefly remarkable for the things that cannot be done in it. In a committee of the whole, the previous question cannot be moved ; nor can a motion there be made to lay on the table; nor, to postpone indefi- nitely, or to a day certain. Another dis- ability is, that the committee may not en- tertain a matter of privilege. Again the committee cannot take the yeas and nays. Nor can it reconsider a vote, nor adjourn. In a word, it acts as a preliminary or advis- ory body, much as does a standing or select committee. As illustrating the real char- acter of a committee of the whole House, it may be added that in the British House of Commons, whence we borrow the insti- tution, the chairman of a committee of the whole occupies the chair of the clerk, and not that of the Speaker. When it comes to the outward trappings, we hardly go so far as that in America. Committee of the Whole House 245 Disorderly conduct * Amid the rapid interchange of ideas that is going on constantly in committee of the whole, it would be strange were not scenes now and then to occur of an exciting nat- ure. At the first sign of a storm brewing, the chairman should call the parties to order. If all does not quickly become smooth, he will entertain a motion that the committee do now rise, which being car- ried, he reports to the Speaker that the committee has risen, stating why it has done so. In this respect a committee of the whole House acts precisely as would one of the standing committees, with a badly behaved member on its hands. To the uninitiated, it may seem strange that the chairman should go to the trouble of telling the Speaker what that gentleman in all human probability knows perfectly well already ; but in public afifairs many an incident takes place before a man's eyes, of which he sees nothing, for the simple rea- son that he is not looking officially at what is going on. * The chairman of the committee of \h^ His powers whole is empowered to administer an oath to witnesses in a case under its examina- tion. But when the House has fixed the hour at which debate shall close, the chair- man may not entertain a request for an ex- tension ; nor can the committee, even by unanimous consent, extend the time. Members like to be invited to preside over 246 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE the committee of the whole, since the post of chairman proves to be an admirable training-school for the higher oflfice of Speaker. Then, again, it is to be remem- bered that a large proportion of the ladies who look down so bewitchingly from the gallery, know nothing of the difference. Five minutes \^ When the House goes into committee of the whole, bills are taken up in their regular order on the calendar, unless the House has voted to proceed to the consideration of a particular measure. Taught by ex- perience. Congressmen have at last settled upon five minutes (or 300 seconds) as the right stretch of time to let each other talk. A new member of Congress after studying clause five of rule xxiii. learns how he can obtain an inning, when general debate is closed, by moving to strike out the last word. When tired of listening, the rem- edy is to move that the committee do now rise, and report. The Speaker takes the chair, and a motion is carried through the House, closing debate on the section of the bill then under consideration, after which the House, if it choose, can again go into Committee. At least, that used to be the method. Now, the committee itself in many bodies has power to close the de- bate, thus obviating the need of resorting to the roundabout method of the text. * The Senate of the United States is obliged to maintain a reputation for dignity. This The Senate style Committee of the Whole House 247 accounts for the fact that it does not per- mit itself to be shifting alternately in and out of a committee of the whole. The Sen- ate is not a very numerous body, and its cloak-rooms are reached more easily than is the corresponding shelter upon the House side. Hence for years there has existed a disposition among the honorable Senators to let each other talk just as long and as often as the oratorical instinct prompts. In order to compass this frater- nal purpose, the Senate, instead of going into committee, is accustomed to act under an order that provides for the discussion of pending subjects as in committee of the whole. Mr. Jefferson terms this situation a quasi committee. Indeed, he outlines a picture where the quasi committee stands in statu quo, a Latin predicament, as to which the reader, curious to know what comes of it, may turn to Section XXX. of the famous Manual, and learn for himself. CHAPTER XLIII How made up CONFERENCE COMMITTEES That obstinate other man. -SMITH. COMMITTEES of conference are designed to furnish the means of bringing about harmony between two Houses, when a divergence of views exists as to the form in which a bill shall be enacted into a statute. Were men so con- stituted that two branches of a legislature could always be counted on to think ahke, there would be no differences to settle. Such, however, is not the way in which hu- man nature disports itself. More or less friction is sure to exist between a Senate and House, even where the two bodies are in political agreement. Each body is dis- posed to think highly of its own moderate but firm stand, and to deplore the wilful obstinacy of the other. The only way out of the dilemma is to send the subject-mat- ter to a special tribunal, termed a commit- tee of conference, made up from each body. * A conference committee is unique. It is not a heterogeneous body, acting as one committee (nothing Uke the celebrated Siamese twins, for instance), but two com- mittees, each of which acts separately by its own majority. At least, that is what the 248 Conference Comrnittees 249 Congressional Globe assures us, at volume fifteen, page one thousand, one hundred and seventy-nine. The presiding officer names the members, usually three, who meet a corresponding number from the other House. The public is not advised of what is going on, for the committee does its peace-making behind closed doors. They talk. It is a give-and-take procedure — with more disposition to the latter than to the former. It is a settled rule that the committee cannot consider and report to their respective Houses any new matter or proposition not in dispute ; they must stick to so much of the text as the two Houses are at loggerheads over ; that is to say, they may treat only of certain specific amend- ments, though additional matter germane to any particular amendment is in order, * From time to time the respective trios come out into the open and report progress, or a lack of it. The legislative mind always indulges the hope that by careful nursing a bill may " pull through " (if one may bor- row an elegant expression from our med- ical friends), so that the presentation of a conference report is at all times in order, save only while the journal is being read, or during a call of the roll, or a division of the House. Offering a conference re- port takes precedence even of a motion to adjourn ; and is more highly privileged than an election case, which is saying a good IVkai ho, there ! 250 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Further particulars A soothing reflection deal. You may not amend the report of a committee of conference. Like an offer of marriag^e to the fat woman in the dime museum, it must be adopted or rejected in its entirety. Nor can the report be laid upon the table. * Of three members, two must join in sign- ing a report. As may be conjectured, the fate of more than one measure during the closing hours of a session hangs upon the decision of a conference committee. It is a moment for mutual concession. A re- port will come into the House, two or three or even more times ; and the little Spartan band are bade to return to the contest un- der instructions of the perish-in-the-last- ditch order. When they appear next, it is to explain in as few words as possible why they surrendered, and how the others sur- rendered more than they did. Seeing that everybody is impatient to get away, it is by no means strange that of a sudden a virtue is thus made of necessity, the report agreed to, and the bill sent travelling toward the Executive at railroad speed. * If the reader be disposed to condemn this apparently headlong style of statute-mak- ing, I presume I cannot stop him. That he may not, however, despair wholly of the republic, I revive in his memory the follow- ing words from one of the wisest of states- men : " All government — indeed, every hu- man benefit and enjoyment, every virtue Conference Committees 251 and every prudent act, is founded on com- promise and barter. We balance incon- veniences. We give and take ; we remit some rights that we may enjoy others, and we choose rather to be happy than subtle disputants." ^ • Edmund Burke. CHAPTER XLIV Multitudi- nous THE CALENDAR In Parliament I fill my seat With many other noodles. W. MACKWORTH PRAED. HE prosperity of a certain railway ■ company in British India being a JL topic of conversation, somebody re- marked that its financial success was due to the superb discipline under which every man in the company's employ had been brought. There came a message one day to the manager's office, from an agent down the line, in charge of one of the smaller stations, that read as follows : " Tiger jump- ing around on platform. Telegraph in- structions." System is everything. To be sure the Solar system isn't, according to the later astronomers ; but I am speaking of organized human effort. * A seat in a legislative assembly is not a fit place for the constitutionally lazy man. The statute-book seems to stand in perpet- ual need of overhauling. Petitions and bills, resolutions and orders, addresses and memorials, investigations and reports, re- forms to be instituted, abuses to be correct- ed, remedies to be applied, laws to be amended or repealed, — these, with much more besides, and all to be rounded off by 252 The Calendar 253 a vote of thanks to the presiding officer " for the uniform ability and courtesy, and so forth," — are enough to keep members immersed in state afifairs from morning to night, with scant intermission for meals, or chance to snatch a moment to go and receipt for an instalment of salary. The explanation is simple. A great many peo- ple means a great many projects. Few are content to let well enough alone. Hence of the tinkering to be set in motion year after year, there would seem to be literally no end. * To every bill or resolution it is proper that there should be assigned a place upon some list, or calendar, where it can be found readily when looked for. In fact, a printed legislative calendar is indispensable. It not only enables members to see at a glance what bills are likely to be in order for con- sideration on a particular day ; but it per- forms the equally useful office of keeping the outside world informed as to the con- dition of the public business. * Calendars grow apace and get unwieldy. In the House of Representatives, at Wash- ington, there are so many bills reported from the various committees that, as the phrase goes, they " burden the calendar." It has come to be a common saying on the shores of the Potomac that the private cal- endar of the House is the graveyard of bills. A guide Its size 254 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE One day only Will o' the wisp * The calendar in the House, and in the Senate, at Washington, is a daily publica- tion, containing the latest news, up to the hour of going to press, on the subject of reported bills and resolutions. In this field it has no rival. Its circulation is limited to the Capitol. By the liberal use of printer's ink, each senator and representative is en- abled to find lying upon his desk on the morning of every working-day a copy of the calendar, fresh from that prolific pub- lishing-house, the government printing office. * If your hopes are centred upon a private bill, you may be able to argue yourself into a belief that progress is really accomplished, when for the first time you catch a sight of the familiar title of your bill stretching across the page of a calendar, in good, clear type, and numbered four thousand and something. You feel encouraged. It looks like business. Your bill — so fair in terms, so just in principle — lies there, snug, and ready to be taken up some fine day. So do other bills ! CHAPTER XLV ON CONTEMPT In a dungeon deep him threw luiOwut remorse. -SPENSER. IN this sinful world, among- other evil- doers, there will be found an occasional conscience-seared individual who has been guilty of committing an offence against the dignity of a legislative assem- bly. It is a dangerous thing for him to have done. The culprit, if apprehended, is promptly brought to the bar of the House. Here he has to speak up, and let the good men who make our laws hear what he has to say for himself. There looms before him a prospect of condign punishment for his temerity. Not only this ; he courts the added danger of having his name in scare- lines, and an alleged portrait, appear in the morning papers. * The scope of the present ingenious work does not permit of extended remark upon the interesting and lively subject of the power of a legislative assembly to punish for contempt. The Parliament of England from the earliest times has made short work of troubles of this description. It has found the Tower handy as an adjunct to the business transacted at Westminster Hall. But the Parliament of England, it must be borne in mind, can do almost anything. It 255 John BulTs way 256 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE The Atnerican method is a court ; the highest court, indeed, of the realm, and Hke other courts it has an in- herent power to punish for contempt. * Our State legislatures usually have power under the State constitutions to punish for contempt. Formerly an idea prevailed that in the direction of punishing offenders both Houses of Congress were as omnipo- tent as Parliament ; but in later days when the House of Representatives undertook to make an American citizen disclose matters concerning his private affairs, they were politely told in effect that it was none of their business. The witness refused to an- swer the question put to him, and as a re- sult found himself boarding for several weeks in the jail of the District of Colum- bia. When he got out into the open, he sued the sergeant-at-arms for trespass, and had the satisfaction of gaining a handsome verdict. The case found its way to the Supreme Court of the United States, which tribunal took occasion to look a little more closely into the powers of Congress in this particular. The outcome has been that the learned Justices are unable to discover in the Constitution of the United States any general power vested in either House to punish for contempt.^ > Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U. S., 168. The learned Justices say that the attempt of the representatives to inquire into the private affairs of a citizen was unlawful. They very discreetly refrain, however, from deciding whether this power does as a matter of fact exist in either House of Congress. Judicial fog still envelops the question. On Contempt 257 * But the decision affords little protection'^ aWc/ to any misguided individual who would presume to conduct himself in a disorderly or contumacious manner before a commit- tee of Congress. The Revised Statutes of the United States guard against just such an emergency. If any reader of mine, therefore, shall happen to be invited to Washington by due process, to appear be- fore a committee of the House or Senate, he must not stay away, nor, when he ap- pears upon the scene, refuse to answer a pertinent question. Otherwise his rash- ness will be treated as a misdemeanor, with the prospect open to him of paying a fine, and taking up quarters in jail, where he may have to tarry not less than a month, nor more than twelve months. We must respect our legislators, even if we have to. * Happily there is little disposition on \\\ topic 26o THE GAVEL AND THE MACE Bric-h-brac that some politicians think it an American invention. Space might be occupied to some purpose in telling what is the usual procedure of the House when, after having been at the trouble of passing a bill, it has the bill sent back with a message from the Executive to the effect that, being of a dif- ferent way of thinking, he presents his com- pliments and begs to be excused from sign- ing it. Crowds of business men daily travel by rail or boat, yet how few are aware that a vote upon the passage of a bill over the veto of the President cannot be recon- sidered. Such, however, is the fact. How few of our most respectable citizens ever stop to reflect that the House of Represent- atives at Washington has in its wisdom or- dained that such a communication from the White House may be referred to a commit- tee, and the bill itself laid upon the table. A thirst for knowledge might lead on to much curious information about vetoes, in- cluding precisely what is meant by a " pocket-veto." * One might also linger a while over mile- age. It is a subject fruitful of suggestions. Our public men have to be transported from their homes to their legislative seats, and back again. There are few situations so calculated to engross the attention of a member-elect, at the very threshold of his public duty, as the problem how to cipher out constructive mileage. Adjourned Sine Die 261 * Many a reader, I dare say, entertains a reasonable degree of curiosity with regard to resignations. Sometimes resignations occur ; not so frequently perhaps as con- stituents would like, but then they do oc- cur. Naturally the public are interested to observe how his brethren deal with that one of their number who voluntarily surrenders his seat, salary, and perquisites. They never stop him. * Then again, while on the lookout for topics, surely something might be written about the " Files of the House." This is a title pervaded, I fancy, with a kind of down- cellar flavor. It brings a whiff from re- mote, dark, and secret corners. It whispers of romances buried and hopes scattered ; at least, it would, if we only had time to open it up. * " Clearing the galleries " is still another theme upon which much might be said to divert the reader. The Senate of the Unit- ed States holds secret sessions ; or sessions called secret. Can it be possible that well- dressed ladies and gentlemen, in this boast- ed land of liberty, in a building owned by the tax-payers, and over which the star- spangled banner is proudly floated, are told in cold, ofHcial language that they may not remain upstairs upon these occasions? * The reader will perceive that this valiant little work need not here come to an end Et cetera Last words 262 THE GAVEL AND THE MACE for lack of topics to talk about. But the object we have all along kept in view has, we hope, been in the main 'accomplished. That object was to awaken curiosity, and to impart to the reader some interest in the underlying principles of parliamentary practice. INDEX INDEX A DJOURNMENT, mo- /\ tion for, origin of, y% 130; popular, 130; ^ J^ second, when cannot be made, 131; how worded, ib. ; must be put immedi- ately, 132; cannot be recon- sidered, ib. ; fixing the hour for, seasonably, 133; differ- ence between, and recess, ib. ; of both houses, 134; one house without consent of the other, ib.; effect of, on business pending, 135; on new and unfinished business, ib. ; final, healthy effect of, 136; what hap- pens on, ib. Aliens not wanted on legis- lative ticket, 25 Amendment, 111-120; not so easy as imagined, iii; striking out enacting clause, 112; caution about moving, 113; order of ac- tion on, 115; preamble, what, 114; may be amend- ed, 113; process stops there, ib. ; when pending, 116; three ways of amend- ing motion, ib. ; changing the shape, 117; useful pow- er, 118; motion to, cannot be postponed, 119; under color of, ib.; proposition when amended cannot be withdrawn by maker, 120 Appeal from ruling of chair, 157 Arrest, legislator's freedom from, 144 Assault, 139; challenge to duel, 140; violent and threatening language, ib. B AR of the House, offend- ers brought to, 64 Bills, numerous, 42; who drafts them, 43; how pre- sented, 40; responsibility for, 41; shipwrecked, 98, 99; defeated by postponement, 96; pigeonholed, lOi; fate hangs on reference to com- mittee, 106; must have en- acting clause, 112; with- drawal of, 163; private, hope as to, 254 Blanks, filling requires mo- tion, 123 QALENDAR, 252-54; its uses, 253; private, ib. Chair (see Speaker), tempo- rary occupant of, 21 Chairman of committee, 235; his son, 237 265 266 Index Chaplain, what he is for, 57; members do not trouble him much, 217 Clerk, important personage, 55; his various duties, 56; deputy, ib. Committees, standing and select, 106; origin of, 105; standing, must be prompt- ly named, 2)2>'> speaker appoints, 232, 22,y, cannot please everybody, 2.2)2,; ini" portance of, 106; when two may take a bill, what is done, 107; what they do with a bill, ib.; minority report of, 108; limited powers of, 109; sub-com- mittee, 239; committees do most of the work of legis- lation, 231; have great power, ib. ; some not need- ed, 232; rooms of, how furnished, 234; chairman of, 235; clerk of, ib. ; son comes in handy, 237; ses- sions of, ib. ; morning work of, 238; exclude the public, ib. ; behavior in, 239; dis- orderly conduct in, 240; witness before, ib.; quorum of, 241; of the whole, 242; of conference, 248 Committee of the Whole House, mace removed, 242; appropriations first considered in, 243; quorum in, ib. ; rules as to speaking in, 244; rules of procedure in, ib. ; disorderly conduct in, 245; powers of chair- man of, ib. ; regular order in, 246; remedy in, when tired of listening, ib. Conference committee, 248- 51; how constituted, 249; powers of, ib. ; report of, al- ways in order, ib. ; cannot be amended or laid on table, 250; last ditch, ib. Congress, bird's-eye view of, 149; noise and clatter in, 149, 150; its publications, 36; adjournment of, 134; last night of session of, 137; hats, umbrellas, etc., in, 172; smoking forbid- den, ib. ; quick work in, 213; filibustering, 224; wit and humor in, 244 Congressmen, know how to shake hands, 75; one thing they cannot do, 80; trials of, 146; privileges of Con- gressional Cemetery, 147 Contempt, 255-58; Parlia- ment, powers of, 255, 256; Congress, powers of, 256- 58; punishment for, 257; newspaper ofifenders, 258 D F^AY, legislative, at times ■*-^ very long, 133 Debate, 167-96; what it is, 167; tiresome talk, 168; time extended, 169; presid- ing officer takes no part in, 169, 170; etiquette in, 171- TZ\ time of talking, 177; five minutes, 192; behavior Index 267 in, 181; personalities not allowed, 181, 182; must be relevant, 189; random, 190; interruptions, 193; where to stand, 194; getting through and sitting down, 195; the electric wire, 198; talking for Buncombe, 200; recognition before speak- ing, 171-76 Decorum, members must at- tend to, 62; breach of, how treated, 63; apologizing for, ib. ; administering rep- rimand for, ib. Definitions, importance of, Delegate, territorial, what he can do, 25; what cannot do, ib. Division, how to ascertain whether proposition can be divided, 121; right to, not privilege of member, 122; purpose of, 207; tellers, 207, 209 Doorkeeper, plenty to do, 58, 59; must be vigilant, 59; frowns on suspicious characters, ib. ■pNROLLED bills, 259 -^ Epithets, opprobrious, not wanted, 76 Etiquette, in debate, 171, 173; in committee, 240 Expulsion, concurrence of two-thirds of House re- quired for, 64; how a man feels when expelled, ib. ; not always personal dis- qualification, 65 P ILE of the House, 261 ^ Filibustering, Speaker Reed, 224; Oklahoma case, 223; arithmetic of, 223, 224 Floor, who gets it when many want it, 43; custom of Parliament, 44; how to get, 69; member rises in seat, 69; yielding for ex- planation, 175, 176 Franking, 144, 199, 200 (^AVEL, good thing to have, 51; plenty of work for, 150 H ■pJORSE driven into text by way of illustration, 84 Human nature, something about, 13 TDIOTS excused from leg- •*■ islative duty, 25 Information, right to ask for, 81; don't always get, ib. ; right of member to, 161, 162; practice in former days, 161; printing makes a difference now, 162 268 Index 7 JOURNALIST, active and J needful, 6i; gets into trouble sometimes, 258 Jury, legislator need not serve on, 145 [. AYING on table, loi, ■^ 103; motion for, not debatable, ib.; cannot be amended, 118 Legislators, amenities, 62; mind open to change, 79; must study hard, 83; need a practised eye, ib. ; also tact, ib. ; what they have to grapple w^ith, 87; not in- fallible, 79; must not be obstinate, 84; starting for home, 136; his vi^riting and spelling, 68; plenty of men willing to be, 82 Lunatics stand aside, 25 M TV/TACE, how constructed and what for, 52 Machine, wicked character of, deplored, 21 Majority, responsibilities and annoyances, 38, 48 Man, curious propensity of, 11; likes to be a delegate, 12; and make himself con- spicuous, ib. ; office doesn't seek the, 82 Members, prompt to assem- ble at beginning of session, 26; roll of, 27; credentials of, ib. ; House judges as to qualifications of its own, ib. ; particular as to whom they associate with, 28; quality of, 196; bribing and shooting, 140; vilification of, 142; franking privilege of, 146; entitled to infor- mation, 162; their speeches, 178; listening to, a privi- lege, 194 Message, executive, 33; what is done with it, 34; from one house to another, 50; veto, 260 Mileage, interesting topic, 260 Minority, noise they make, 38, 49; report by, 108; vir- tuous, 220 Minors not allowed to dab- ble in legislative business, 25 Motion, defined, 66; any member can make. 67; principal must be reduced to writing, 68; to amend, must be in writing, ib. ; must be seconded, 70; sec- onding no longer required in Congress, ib. ; subsidiary may not be applied one to the other, 88; exceptions, ib. ; congressional rule about, 89; precedence of, ib. ; once started, who con- trols it, 78; withdrawing, ib. ; to strike out and in- sert, Jvisible, 128; indi- Index 269 visible, ib.; dilatory, gen- esis of, 228 XTAME, chair does not call ■•■^ member by his, 71 Newspaper in contempt, 258 o (^ATH of office, how ad- ^^ ministered. 28 Offences against dignity of Assembly, 64 Office, nominations to, how fixed up, 16; seeking the man does what, 82; will- ingness to accept, ib. ; what a man who doesn't get, consoles himself with, 83 Order, meeting brought to, 18; what happens to those who don't come to, 19; question of privilege, 154; breach of, i55; decision as to, 156; open to debate, ib.; regular, 151 Order of the day, 148753; mo- tion to proceed with, 153 PARLIAMENT a court, House of Lords, 44; how prorogued, 133; excite- ment in, 144; habits of early, 134; candles for, 135 Parliamentary law, rudi- ments of, ought to be known, 22; not at all gal- lant, 25; whence derived, 35; literature of, 36; writers on, some of us named, 34 Paupers get no show as Senators or Representa- tives, 25 Personal assault, 139; ^ucl, 140 Personal explanation, 141 Personal privilege, 138-47; of sacred importance, 138; how availed of, 141 Personalities, legislators may not call each other by name, 62; forbidden, 181, 182; why, 184; words re- duced to writing, 187; must be immediately objected to, ib. ; back track to be taken, 189 Petitions, a moss - grown relic, 72; a sacred right, ib.; a little history about, ib. ; what Grey has to say as to, 7y, not particular in United States as to how gotten up. ib.; strict rules about, in England, ib.; bet- ter be neatly written, with- out erasure, 74; if o^ sev- eral pages, each should be signed, ib.; may be signed by mark, ib. ; how its lan- guage starts out, 76; spon- sor of. 77; member who ofifers, had better read, 76; how introduced, 77; pri- vate petition in Congress, ib. ; what becomes of them, ib.; how the clerk handles 270 Index it, 78; tucked away in com- mittee-room, ib. Postmaster, good deal of a man, 58 Postponement, 96-100; may be indefinite or to a day certain; motion for, when debatable, 97; motion for, how made, 100 Presiding officer (see Speak- er), the chair, how ad- dressed, 45; must be prompt, 154, 156; does not debate, 169, 170; the chair vivified, 203 Previous question, just the thing, 90; of modern inven- tion, ib.; started in Eng- land, ib.; effect of nega- tive decision for, in Eng- land, 91; early history in America, ib. ; neat arrange- ment in the House of Rep- resentatives, Washington, 92; efifect of affirmative vote on, ib. ; of negative vote on, 93; dignity of, ib. ; cloture, ib. ; Senate of United States without, 94; cannot be amended, 118 Printer, duties and proclivi- ties, 57 Privilege, question of, may be raised at any time, 139; not necessarily disposed of on the spot, 144; open for debate, 145 Privileged question, 129-37; four motions are, 129; when motion to adjourn becomes, 131 Protest, what it amounts to, 39 Public meeting, right of Americans to attend, 14; how to find, 15; who does the deliberating at, ib. ; how it starts, 17, 18; form of speech for opening, 19; officers of, how named, 21 SUASI committee, 237 Question, putting the, 202, 209; voting viva voce, 204; ayes and noes, 205 (see Privileged Question) Quorum, 46-50; all present must be counted, 50; three enough in House of Lords, 46; forty House of Com- mons, 47; often presumed to exist, 49; of committee, 241; when less than, what to do, 42 R D ALLY, political, what goes on at, 17 Reading papers, 160-62; in some States bill must be read three times; right of member to information, 161, 162; practice in old times, 161; printing makes difference, 162; title, con- stitutional provisions re- garding, ib. Recess, what it is, 133 Reconsideration, chance to correct errors, 227; restric- Index 271 tions, 228; motion has precedence, 229; must be quick about it, ib. Regular order, 151 Report, minority, 108; from conference committee al- ways in order, 249; cannot be amended, ib.; or laid on table, ib. Reporters, official, 59; sten- ographic, ib. ; shorthand, wonderful feat of, 60; doesn't mind cyclone of words, ib. ; imagination of, 137 Reporting, hard time of, in early days, 61; guilty of contempt, ib. Resignations, 261 Resolutions, examples of, 36; people like to have them drawn up, 23; how to get them in, ib. ; have to be transmitted, 24 Rules, suspension of, 163-66; unanimous consent, 164 is a happy state, 165; two- thirds vote necessary, ib. motion to, not debatable 166; cannot be amended not laid on the table, not postponed, not reconsid- ered, ib. s C EATS, some learning about, 29; politics, posi- tion of seats with reference to, 30 Secretary, what falls to his lot, 24 Sergeant-at-arms, important personage, 56; better get out of his way, ib. ; brings in delinquents, 243; clears galleries, 56, 261 Session, opening, great af- fair, 26; secret, 261 Ship of State, brought to anchor, 13 Slander — slandering Con- gressman, 141, 142; news- paper attack on Congress- man, 141, 142; how met and disposed of, 143 Speaker (see Presiding Offi- cer), how elected, 31; es- corted to chair, 32; first thing he does on being elected, ib. ; his various duties, 51, 53; supposed to be posted in Parliamentary practice, 158; can take part in debate on appeal, ib. ; ought to be resolute and energetic, 159; must be prompt, 189 Speeches, escape from, 179; not everything, 197; silent man a power, 198; oratory still with us, ib. ; talk comes cheap, 221 Striking out and inserting, modifications of motion to strike out, 126 nPALKERS, great, some- times get into Legis- lature, 71 Talk, what happens in U. S. 272 Index Senate when a Senator gets a-going, 95; good thing to stop, ib. ; Senate good-natured about, 247 Teller, count by, 207, 209 Town meeting, what goes on at, 16 U TTNANIMOUS consent, 49; a word or two about. 173, 174 V VTETO, 259-60; pocket, 260; message, what may be done with it, ib. Vice-Presidents, attempt to explain their existence, 22 Vote, different meanings of. 36, 37; of thanks, 253 Voting, discussed, 215-19; casting vote, 219 w WASHINGTON, cab and car facilities at, 75; what to do on arriving at, ib. ; sending ii*- cards to members at Capitol, ib. Witness, before committee, 240 Witness in court, privilege of legislator, 145 Woman, lovely, her progress into public meetings, 16; not fairly treated, 25 Writing, Legislator must ac- custom himself to, 68; stationery furnished for, ib. ; better spell correctly, 69 Y EAS and nays, constitu- ^ tional requirement, 210; on call of, member must vote, 211, 216; excused when has direct interest, 217; properly in the House, 212; pairing, 213, 214; pre- siding officer need not vote except in case of tie, 218; casting vote, 219 Young men, advice to, 88 )F LAW LIBRARY UMYEKSITY OF CALIFORNIA UC SOUTHERN REGHiNAi mRHAI',, -i i.'TY AA 000 770 669 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on tiie last date stamped below. Miig ^976 Form L9-Series4939