CHAPTER VII.

THE POWERS OF THE SEPARATE HOUSES.

ARTICLE I.

Section 5, Clause I.-Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a 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.

270. THE HOUSE JUDGES, ETC.-A house of legislation, to be really an independent body, must know that the persons claiming seats in its chamber have been duly elected, and that they are duly qualified. Hence it must be the judge of those matters. Both Houses have rejected men duly elected because they were disqualified, and contested elections have been numerous, particularly in the House of Representatives. For example, at the opening of the Fifty-first Congress there were seventeen such cases in that body.

271. CONTESTS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.-The State authorities conduct all elections of Representatives, under the laws of the State and Congress. They canvass the votes and decide what persons are elected. The Governor gives the Representative his certificate of election. The Clerk of the next preceding House makes a roll of the members-elect before the House meets, placing thereon only the names of those persons whose certificates show that they have been regularly elected. Any person whose name is on this roll may take part in organizing the House; but it is still open to the House to inquire into his right to a seat. If a contestant appears to deny the right of such person, all the papers relating to the case required by law are referred by

the Clerk to the House, and then by the House to its Committee on Elections. These papers are sometimes very voluminous, as the law gives detailed directions for conducting such contests; the serving of notice by the contestant upon the person declared elected, and the answer of such person; the taking of depositions relating to irregularities in elections at any precinct, and forwarding them to the seat of government. The expense of taking testimony is paid out of the contingent fund of the House, except the personal expenses of the parties. The Committee on Elections investigates the case, not taking new testimony however, and reports its conclusions to the House. The House decides that one, or the other, or neither of the parties is elected; in the latter case declaring the seat vacant. From this decision there is no appeal. If a vacancy is declared, a new election must be held under Clause 4, Section 2 of this Article.

As neither the law nor the rules of the Senate make any provision for contested Senatorships, contests there lie within much narrower compass. The question can hardly be between two men; it is generally whether the single claimant has been duly elected; and this is an inquiry into forms and records.

272. QUORUMS.-Forty-five members make a quorum in the House of Commons, although it consists of 670 members. While the Constitution requires a majority in each House of Congress, it gives a smaller number power to adjourn from day to day, and to compel the attendance of absent members. In the House of Representatives, such number is fixed at fifteen; in the Senate no particular number is named.

273. COUNTING A QUORUM.-The custom had grown up in the House for minorities to abstain from voting on certain questions, hoping thus to defeat, or at least to delay them, by breaking up the quorum as shown by the roll-call. To put a stop to this practice, the House of Representatives adopted, in the face of strong opposition, at the first session of the Fifty-first Congress, after a severe party struggle, the following rule:

"On the demand of any member, or at the snggestion of the Speaker, the names of members sufficient to make a quorum in the hall of the House who do not vote, shall be noted by the

Clerk and recorded in the Journal, and reported to the Speaker with the names of the members voting, and be counted and announced in determining the presence of a quorum to do business."

274. POWER TO COMPEL ATTENDANCE.-This power is essential to an efficient house of legislation. Otherwise days, and even weeks, might pass without its being able to transact any business whatever, and particularly when a majority is required to form a quorum. In one instance more than two months elapsed without a quorum being present in the Old Congress, and once Rhode Island broke the quorum by recalling her delegates, in order to defeat legislation to which she was opposed. A rule of the Senate declares: "No Senator shall absent himself from the service of the Senate without leave." And one of the House: "Every member shall be present in the hall of the House during its sittings, unless excused or necessarily prevented."

275. A CALL OF THE HOUSE.-Whether a quorum is present in the House of Representatives, at any time, is ascertained either by calling the roll or by the Speaker's count. If a quorum is wanting, nothing can be done but to adjonrn, or to proceed to a call of the House. In the latter case, the doors of the chamber are closed, the names of absent members are called over, and the Sergeant-at-arms is furnished with a list of all absentees for whom reasonable excuses are not made. Then the Sergeant-at-arms sends messengers, with warrants signed by the Speaker and Clerk, to arrest and bring to the House the members whose names are on the list. This is taking them into custody, from which they must be regularly discharged before they can take their seats. On the appearance of a quorum, all further proceedings under the call of the House are commonly dispensed with, and business goes on as before.

In the Senate the procedure is less complicated; if it appears on the call of the roll for such purpose that a there is no quorum, a majority of the Senators present may direct the Sergeant-at-arms to request, and when necessary to compel, the

attendance of the absent Senators. In the interval, no business is in order except to adjourn.

Section 5, Clause 2.-Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a wember.

276. POWER TO MAKE RULES, ETC.-That each House should have the power to make its own rules, is obvious. The Senate rules continue in force until changed; but each House of Representatives, since it is a new body, makes its own rules. It is usual for a House at first to adopt the rules of the last one, in part or whole, until others are adopted. Experience has shown what rules are needed, and the House rules change but slowly. Until the House adopts rules, business proceeds under the common parliamentary law. Each House has its own committee on rules.

277. RULES OF THE HOUSES.-All rules of proceeding in deliberative bodies in English-speaking countries are based on the Law of Parliament. This law consists of the customs, precedents, and rules that govern the transaction of business in Parliament, and is the growth of centuries. Many of these rules are inapplicable in the American Congress, while rules are required not found in this law. Moreover, owing to the different constitution of the Senate and the House, the difference in the size of the two bodies, and their partially different duties, they require different rules of proceeding. Speeches in the Senate are not limited in length by any rule, but in the House they cannot exceed an hour without special permission.

278. PUNISHMENT AND EXPULSION.-Senators and Representatives are punished or expelled for conduct unbecoming their official character. For example, Jesse D. Bright, Senator from Indiana, was expelled from the Senate in 1863, for having, in a private letter, afterwards published, expressed sympathy with the Rebellion. The House has exercised its power to punish and expel in repeated cases. In 1842 it reprimanded Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, for introducing cer

tain resolutions in respect to slavery. While the power of expulsion is very properly conferred upon the Houses, the rule requiring a two-thirds vote for that purpose is obviously a wise

one.

Section 5, Clause 3.-Each House shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the Journal.

279. MODES OF VOTING.-The House of Representatives votes in several different ways. The most common way is viva voce, the presiding officer deciding the vote by the sound. If he is in doubt, he asks the members to rise while he counts them. If his decision is questioned, he appoints two tellers, or "counters," who count the members as they pass between the tellers, and announce to him, and he to the House, the result. This is called a divsion. When the vote is by yeas and nays, the clerk calls the roll and records after each man's name "yea," "nay," absent," or "not voting." The object of entering the yeas and nays upon the Journal is to inform the public how their representatives vote on questions. As the expression is, "it puts a man on the record," which the other modes of voting do not.

On any important question, at least if there is a divided opinion, the roll is pretty certain to be called; and the Constitution expressly requires it when a vetoed bill is put upon its passage. The House votes by ballot when it elects the President. The rules. of the Senate recognize no vote but that by yeas and nays. Members of the House of Lords vote "content" and "not content" on the call of the roll; the House of Commons divides, the members going into the lobby.

280. DILATORY MOTIONS.-Members who are opposed to a pending measure on which a vote is about to be taken, in order to defeat it by delay, when they cannot by voting, sometimes make