have answered, it is then usual for him to state that the next order of business is the election of a Speaker, and for some Member to move "that the House do now proceed to the election of Speaker." The question on this motion having been put by the Clerk, and decided affirmatively, he then designates four Members, who shall act as tellers of the vote about to be taken, usually making his selection from members of different parties. The tellers having taken their seats at the Clerk's desk, and nominations having been made and recorded, the Clerk then proceeds to call the roll of Members alphabetically, each Member, as his name is called, pronouncing audibly the name of the person voted for, which is recorded by the tellers and also by the Clerk (through one of his assistants) in a column under that of the Member voted for. After the roll call is completed, and every Member present (and desiring it) has voted, the lists of voters for each candidate are read over by the Clerk, when one of the tellers rises and announces to the House what number of votes each candidate has received. If no person shall have received a majority of all the votes given, the House then proceeds (if no other order be taken) to a second vote, and so on until an election is effected. But if any person shall have received a majority of all the votes given, and a quorum has voted, the Clerk declares such person "duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the Congress." The Clerk then designates two Members (usually of different politics, and from the number of those voted for as Speaker) "to conduct the Speakerelect to the chair;" and also one Member (usually that one who has been longest in continuous service a Member of the House) "to administer to him the oath required by the Constitution and laws of the United States." In case of vacancy in the office of Clerk, or of his absence or inability, the duties imposed on him by law or custom relative to the preparation of the roll or the organization of the House shall devolve on the Sergeant-at-Arms; and in case of vacancies in both of said offices, or of their absence or inability to act, the said duties shall be performed by the Doorkeeper. Having been conducted to the chair, it is usual for the Speaker to deliver to the House a brief address, which being concluded, the oath is adminis

tered to him, and he then takes his seat as the presiding officer of the House. (See Oath.) He then directs the Clerk to call the roll of Members by States, requesting each Member, as his name is called, to approach the Chair, when he administers to them the oath to support the Constitution of the United States. The organization of the House is then completed by the election of the officers named in Rule II, after which the Delegates from the Territories are then called and sworn.

At this stage it is usual for the House to adopt an order "that a message be sent to the Senate to inform that body that a quorum of the House of Representatives has assembled, one of the Representatives from the has been chosen Speaker, and a citizen

and that State of

of the State of has been chosen Clerk, and that the House is now ready to proceed to business."

And then, or upon the receipt of a message from the Senate informing the House of the presence of a quorum in that body, it is usual for the House to adopt the following order: "That a committee of three Members be appointed on the part of the House, to join such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses has assembled, and that Congress is ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make.

It was for a long time the custom to adopt a resolution providing "that the rules and orders of the last House of Repre sentatives be adopted for the government of this House until otherwise ordered." The adoption of the following rule during the Thirty-sixth Congress, viz, "These rules shall be the rules of the House of Representatives of the present and succeeding Congresses, unless otherwise ordered," was for the purpose of rendering such a resolution unnecessary.

An order providing for the hour of the daily meeting of the House is among the earliest thereafter adopted.

The foregoing are the proceedings which usually take place upon the assembling of a new House of Representatives, and which generally occur on the first day of the meeting of Congress.

There have been occasions, however, where the proceedings

were very different, and where the organization of the House was much longer delayed.

In the Twenty-sixth Congress, where the Clerk, upon the call of the roll by States for the ascertainment of the presence of a quorum, proposed to omit the call of either of the claimants for each of several contested seats, on the fifth day of the session a chairman was appointed "to serve until the organization of the House by the election of a Speaker;" and such election did not take plače until eleven days thereafter.-Journal, 1, 26, pp. 6, 79.

In the Thirty-first Congress, by reason of a failure of a majority to vote for any candidate, there was no election of Speaker for nearly a month after the meeting.-Journal, 1, 31, pp. 3 to 164; and in the Thirty-fourth Congress, for the same cause, an election for Speaker did not take place for two months after the meeting.―Journal, 1, 34, pp. 3 to 446. Also in the Thirty-sixth Congress, for the same cause, the election of a Speaker was delayed for two months.-Journal, 1, 36, pp. 8 to 162.

During the three last-named periods, while the House was without a Speaker, the Clerk presided over its deliberations; not, however, exercising the functions of Speaker to the extent of deciding questions of order; but, as in the case of other questions, putting them to the House for its decision. To relieve future Houses of some of the difficulties which grew out of the very limited power of the Clerk as a presiding officer, the House of the Thirty-sixth Congress adopted the One hundred and forty-sixth and One hundred and forty-seventh rules (now Rule III, clause 1).

In the Thirty-first and Thirty-fourth Congresses a Speaker was finally elected by a plurality vote; such mode of election, however, was previously authorized by a resolution of the House, and subsequently confirmed by a resolution declaring him "duly elected."-Journals, 1, 31, pp. 156, 163, 164; 1, 31, pp. 429, 130, 444.

At a second or subsequent session of Congress the Members are called to order by the Speaker, when he causes the Clerk to call the roll of Members by States, for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not a quorum is present. As soon as a quorum has answered, it is usual for the House to pass an order "that

the Clerk inform the Senate that a quorum of the House of Representatives has assembled, and is ready to proceed to business;" and subsequently, as at the first session, to pass an order for the appointment of a committee to wait on the President. An order is also passed fixing, until otherwise ordered, the hour of daily meeting, although the hour fixed at the preceding session remains in force until changed.

IN EXTRAORDINARY SESSION.

The proceedings in the organization of the House of Representatives of a Congress convened by the president in extraordinary session are the same as at a regular session, except that the Clerk immediately upon calling the House to order, and before calling the roll of Members, reads the proclamation of the President convening the Congress.

(See Sessions of Congress.)

MEMBERS.

QUALIFICATIONS OF.

No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and have been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.-Const., 1, 2, 2, 2.

No person shall be a Representative in Congress who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.-Const. Amendment XIV, p. 31.

By the act of May 22, 1872 (Stat. at Large, Vol. XVII, p. 142), the disabilities imposed by the foregoing article are removed from all persons whomsoever, except Senators and Representatives of the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses, officers in the judicial, military, and naval service of the United States, heads of Departments, and foreign ministers of the United States.

ELECTION OF.

Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own Members.-Const., 1, 5, 1, 5.

(See Elections, Contested.)

The time, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing Senators.-Const., 1, 4, 1, 4.

The Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 1876, and in every second year thereafter, is fixed for the election in each of the States and Territories of Representatives and Delegates to the Congress commencing on the 4th of March thereafter. In case of failure to elect or a vacancy, an election to fill such vacancy shall be held at such time as may be provided for by law in the State or Territory where the same may occur. The number of Representatives shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of male citizens being twenty-one years of age denied the right to vote therein shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in said State.-R. S., secs. 25, 26.

(See Apportionment.)

When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.-Const., 1, 2, 4, 3.

In making out the roll of Members-elect at the first meeting of a Congress, the Clerk of the next preceding House shall place thereon the names of those persons, and of such persons only, whose credentials show that they were regularly elected in accordance with the laws of their States, respectively, or the laws of the United States.-R. S., sec. 31.

COMPENSATION OF.

Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.-Const., 1, 6, 1, 5.

(See Compensation; Mileage.)

In all cases of a vacancy in either House of Congress, by death or otherwise of any Member elected or appointed thereto, after