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Call of States and Territories for

bills on leave.

shall have occupied the morning hour on two days, it shall not be in order for such committee to report further until the other committees shall have been called in their turn. [But this proviso does not prevent the House from occupying the morning hour on more than two days in the consideration of a report previously made.]—Rule 51.-(See MORNING HOUR ON MONDAYS.) "Reports from committees having been presented and resolutions and disposed of, the Speaker shall call for resolutions from the members of each State and Delegate from each Territory, beginning with Maine and the Territory last organized, alternately; and they shall not be debated on the very day of their being presented, nor on any day assigned by the House for the receipt of resolutions, unless where the House shall direct otherwise, but shall lie on the table, to be taken up in the order in which they were presented; and if on any day the whole of the States and Territories shall not be called, the Speaker shall begin on the next day where he left off the previous day: Provided, That no member shall offer more than one resolution, or one series of resolutions, all relating to the same subject, until all the States and Territories shall have been called."-Rule 52. And at this time bills on leave may be introduced.—Rule 115.

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Business on the Speaker's table.

"After one hour shall have been devoted to reports from committees, and resolutions, it shall be in order, pending the consideration or discussion thereof, to entertain a motion that the House do now proceed to dispose of the business on the Speaker's table, and to the orders of the day, which being decided in the affirmative, the Speaker shall dispose of the business on his table in the following order, viz:

"1st. Messages and other Executive communications. "2d. Messages from the Senate, and amendments proposed by the Senate to bills of the House.

"3d. Bills and resolutions from the Senate on their first and second reading, that they be referred to committees and put under way; but if, on being read a second time, no motion being made to commit, they are to be ordered to their third reading, unless objections be

made; in which case, if not otherwire ordered by a majority of the House, they are to be laid on the table in the general file of bills on the Speaker's table, to be taken up in their turn.

"4th. Engrossed bills and bills from the Senate on their third reading.

"5th. Bills of the House and from the Senate, on the Speaker's table, on their engrossment, or on being ordered to a third reading, to be taken up and considered in the order of time in which they passed to a second reading.

"The messages, communications, and bills on his table having been disposed of, the Speaker shall then proceed to call the orders of the day."-Rule 54.

fered with.

[The foregoing is the order of business which may be May be interpursued, under the rules, each day, except Fridays and Mondays; but it is often interfered with by questions of privilege, special orders, privileged questions, &c.]

On Friday, and mode of proceed

"Friday in every week shall be set apart for the consideration of private bills and private business, in pref- ing on that day. erence to any other, unless otherwise determined by a majority of the House."--Rule 128. [On that day, as soon as the Journal is read, and the unfinished business of the last private-bill day is disposed of, the Speaker proceeds to call the committees for reports of a private nature, which being disposed of, it is his practice, without motion, to lay before the House such private business as may be upon his table. It is then usual for some member (commonly the chairman of the Committee of Claims) to move that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on the private calendar. This motion may be, and often is, made as soon as the Journal is read. Although it takes precedence of the motion to go into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (unless there be a special order pending therein,) and, if made, must be first voted on, the latter motion is often made and carried, and thus private bills fail to receive consideration.]

"On the first and fourth Friday of each month the First and fourth Friday of the calendar of private bills shall be called over, (the chair- month.

B. D.- -3

On Monday, call for resolutions and bills on leave.

man of the Committee of the Whole House commencing the call where he left off the previous day,) and the bills to the passage of which no objection shall then be made shall be first considered and disposed of. But when a bill is again reached, after having been once objected to, the committee shall consider and dispose of the same, unless it shall again be objected to by at least five members."-Rule 129. It has been decided that this rule, so far as relates to the consideration of bills only which are not objected to, applies as well to private bills in the House as in committee.-Journal, 1, 31, p. 697.

"All the States and Territories shall be called for bills on leave and resolutions every Monday during each session of Congress; and, if necessary to secure the object on said days, all resolutions which shall give rise to debate shall lie over for discussion, under the rules of the House already established; and the whole of said days shall be appropriated to bills on leave and resolutions, until all the States and Territories are called through. And the Speaker shall first call the States and Territories for bills on leave; and all bills so introduced during the first hour after the Journal is read shall be referred, without debate, to their appropriate committees: Provided, however, That a bill so introduced and referred shall not be brought back into the House upon of a motion to reconsider. And on said call joint resoluState legislatures. tions of State and Territorial legislatures for printing and reference may be introduced."-Rule 130.—(See MORNING HOUR ON MONDAYS.)

Resolutions

On every Monday, after one hour has expired.

On 3d Monday call for reports of

On Monday of every week, at the expiration of one hour after the Journal is read, or earlier, if the call of States and Territories for bills and resolutions is concluded, the Speaker may entertain a motion to suspend the rules.-Rule 125.

The third Monday of each month, from the hour of 2 Committee for the o'clock p. m. until the adjournment of that day, shall, I when claimed by the Committee for the District of Columbia, be devoted exclusively to business reported from said committee.-Rule 82.

District of Columbia.

"The order of business, as established by the rules, Order of business only changed by shall not be changed, except by a vote of at least two- two-thirds vote. thirds of the members present."-Rule 145.

BUSINESS ON THE SPEAKER'S TABLE.

When

motion

may be made to

When morning hour begins.

"After one hour shall have been devoted to reports from committees and resolutions, it shall be in order, go to. pending the consideration or discussion thereof, to entertain a motion that the House do now proceed to dispose of the business on the Speaker's table."-Rule 54. [The "hour" known as the "morning hour" is construed to begin from the announcement by the Speaker to the House that reports of committees are in order, and it is not necessary that resolutions shall have been called for. It is an invariable practice, too, to permit a member, upon the expiration of the morning hour, to take the floor, even though another may be occupying it, to make the motion to proceed to business on the Speaker's table.] "The motion to go to business on the Speaker's table being decided in the affirmative, the Speaker shall dispose of it in the following order, viz:

"1st. Messages and other Executive communications. "2d. Messages from the Senate, and amendments. proposed by the Senate to bills of the House.

"3d. Bills and resolutions from the Senate on their first and second reading, that they be referred to committees and put under way; but if, on being read a second time, no motion being made to commit, they are to be ordered to their third reading, unless objection be made in which case, if not otherwise ordered by a majority of the House, they are to be laid on the table in the general file of bills on the Speaker's table, to be taken up in their turn.

"4th. Engrossed bills and bills from the Senate on their third reading.

"5th. Bills of the House and from the Senate on the Speaker's table, on their engrossment, or on being ordered to a third reading, to be taken up and considered in the order of time in which they passed to a second reading.

"The messages, communications, and bills on his table

Floor may be ber to make mo

taken from mem

tion to proceed to.

Order of dispos ing of.

36

BUSINESS UNFINISHED-CALL OF THE HOUSE.

Weekly statement of, on table.

Bills, resolutions,

and reports to be

days.

having been disposed of, the Speaker shall then proceed to call the orders of the day.”—Rule 54.

"The Clerk shall make a weekly statement of the resolutions and bills upon the Speaker's table.”—Rule 19. [A printed copy of this statement is laid upon each member's table every Monday morning.]

BUSINESS UNFINISHED AT END OF A FIRST SESSION. "After six days from the commencement of a second resumed after six or subsequent session of any Congress, all bills, resolutions, and reports which originated in the House, and at the close of the next preceding session remained undetermined, shall be resumed and acted on in the same Before commit manner as if an adjournment had not taken place. And ed as though no all business before committees of the House at the end adjournment. of one session shall be resumed at the commencement of the next session of the same Congress as if no adjourn ment had taken place."--Rule 136.

tees, to be resum

Less than a quo

rum may be auattendance.

[And by the 21st Joint Rule the resumption of all undisposed of bills, resolutions, and reports, which origi nated in either house, is in like manner provided for. The word "resolutions" in the foregoing rule has been invariably held to apply to "joint resolutions" only.]

CALLS ON THE PRESIDENT AND DEPARTMENTS.

(See PRESIDENT and EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.)

CALL OF THE HOUSE.

By the Constitution of the United States, a smaller thorized to compel number than a quorum of each house "may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide."-Const., 1, 5, p. 8.

authorized to com

"Any fifteen members (including the Speaker, if there Fifteen members be one) shall be authorized to compel the attendance of pel attendance, but absent members."-Rule 34. But where less than that number are present a motion for a call cannot be entertained. Journal, 1, 28, p. 885.

not less.

Unless no quo

rum, not in order

"A call of the House shall not be in order after the after previous previous question is seconded, unless it shall appear,

ques ion is sec

onded.

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