ur in any case where he was not within the bar of the House when the question was put. And when any member shall ask leave to vote, the Speaker shall propound to him the question, "Were you within the bar when your name was called?"

36. Upon a division and count of the House on any question, no member without the bar shall be counted.

37. Every member who shall be in the House when the question is put shall give his vote, unless the House, for special reasons, shall excuse him. All motions to excuse a member from voting shall be made before the House divides, or before the call of the yeas and nays is commenced; and any member requesting to be excused from voting may make a brief verbal statement of the reasons for making such request, and the question shall then be taken without further debate.

38. When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated by the Speaker; or, being in writing, it shall be handed to the chair, and read aloud by the clerk, before debated.

39. Every motion shall be reduced to writing, if the Speaker or any member desire it.

40. After a motion is stated by the Speaker, or read by the clerk, it shall be deemed to be in the possession of the House, but may be withdrawn at any time before a decision or amendment.

41. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received but to adjourn, to lie on the table, for the previous question, to postpone to a day certain, to commit or amend, to postpone indefinitely; which several motions shall have precedence in the order in which they are arranged; and no motion to postpone to a day certain, to commit, or to postpone indefinitely, being decided, shall again be allowed on the same day, and at the same stage of the bill or

proposition. A motion to strike out the enac words of a bill shall have precedence of a motion to amend, and, if carried, shall be considered equivalent to its rejection.

42. When a resolution shall be offered, or a motion made, to refer any subject, and different committees shall be proposed, the question shall be taken in the following order:

The committee of the whole House on the state of the Union; the committee of the whole House; a standing committee; a select committee.

43. A motion to adjourn, and a motion to fix the day to which the house shall adjourn, shall be always in order these motions, and the motion to lie on the table, shall be decided without debate.

44. The hour at which every motion to adjourn is made, shall be entered on the journal. (October 9, 1837.)

45. The previous question shall be in this form, "Shall the main question be now put?" It shall only be admitted when demanded by a majority of the members present, and its effects shall be to put an end to all debate, and bring the House to a direct vote upon amendments reported by a committee, if any, upon pending amendments, and then upon the main question. On a motion for the previous question, and prior to the seconding of the same, a call of the House shall be in order; but, after a majority shall have seconded such motion, no call shall be in order prior to a decision of the main question.

46. On a previous question there shall be no debate. All incidental questions of order arising after a motion is made for the previous question, and pending such motion, shall be decided, whether on appeal or otherwise, without debate.

47. When a question is postponed indefinitely, the same shall not be acted upon again during the session.

48. Any member may call for the division of a question, which shall be divided, if it comprehend propositions in substance so distinct, that, one being taken away, a substantive proposition shall remain for the decision of the House. A motion to strike out and insert shall be deemed indivisible; but a motion to strike out being lost, shall preclude neither amendment nor a motion to strike out and insert.

49. Motions and reports may be committed at the pleasure of the House.

50. No motion or proposition on a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under colour of amendment;* (March 13, 1822.) No bill or resolution shall, at any time, be amended by annexing thereto, or incorporating therewith, any other bill or resolution pending before the House,† (September 15, 1837.)

51. When a motion has been once made, and carried in the affirmative or negative, it shall be in order for any member of the majority to move for the reconsideration thereof on the same or the succeeding day; and such motion shall take precedence of all other questions, except a motion to adjourn.

* This rule was originally established on the 7th of April, 1789, and was in these words: "No new motion or proposition shall be admitted under colour of amendment, as a substitute for the motion or proposition under debate." On the 13th of March, 1822, it was changed to its present form, in which the words "new" and "substitute" do not appear.

The latter clause of this rule was adopted at the 1st session of the 25th Congress; and, as originally reported by the committee, the following words were contained at the end of it: "nor by any proposition containing THE SUBSTANCE, in whole or in part, of any other bill or resolution pending before the House." These words were stricken out by the House, before it would agree to the rule, by which it would seem to be decided that a bill or resolution might be amended, by incorporating therein the substance of any other bill or resolution before the House.

52. When the reading of a paper is called for, and the same is objected to by any member, it shall be determined by a vote of the House.

53. The unfinished business in which the House was engaged at the last preceding adjournment shall have the preference in the orders of the day; and no motion on any other business shall be received without special leave of the House, until the former is disposed of.

54. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate shall be necessary, shall be read to the House, and laid on the table, on a day preceding that in which the same shall be moved, unless the House shall otherwise expressly allow.

55. Petitions, memorials, and other papers, addressed to the House, shall be presented by the Speaker, or by a member in his place; a brief statement of the contents thereof shall be made verbally by the introducer; they shall not be debated on the day of their being presented, nor on any day assigned by the House for the receipt of petitions after the first thirty days of the session, 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.

56. A proposition requesting information from the President of the United States, or directing it to be furnished by the head of either of the executive departments, or by the Postmaster-General, or to print an extra number of any document or other matter, excepting messages of the President to both Houses at the commencement of each session of Congress, and the reports and documents connected with or referred to in it, shall lie on the table one day for consideration, unless otherwise ordered by the unanimous consent of the House; and all such propositions shall

be taken up for consideration in the order they were presented, immediately after reports are called for from select committees; and, when adopted, the clerk shall cause the same to be delivered.

57. Any fifteen members (including the Speaker, if there be one) shall be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members.

58. Upon calls of the House, or in taking the yeas and nays on any question, the names of the members shall be called alphabetically.

59. Any member may excuse himself from serving on any committee at the time of his appointment, if he is then a member of two other committees.

60. No member shall absent himself from the service of the House, unless he have leave, or be sick, or unable to attend.

61. Upon the call of the House, the names of the members shall be called over by the clerk, and the absentees noted; after which the names of the absentees shall again be called over, the doors shall then be shut, and those for whom no excuse, or insufficient excuses are made, may, by order of those present, if fifteen in number, be taken into custody, as they appear, or may be sent for and taken into custody, wherever to be found, by special messengers to be appointed for that purpose.

62. When a member shall be discharged from custody, and admitted to his seat, the House shall determine whether such discharge shall be with or without paying fees; and, in like manner, whether a delinquent member, taken into custody by a special messenger, shall, or shall not, be liable to defray the expense of such special messenger.

63. A sergeant-at-arms shall be appointed, to hold his office during the pleasure of the House, whose duty it shall be to attend the House during its sittings; to execute the commands of the House from time to