mendments, or they may report against the same. All bills favorably reported shall, if the report be agreed to, be committed to the committee of the whole; but where a bill has been reported adversely, and such report shall be agreed to by the House, it shall not go upon the general orders, but shall be considered as rejected." Assembly rule 37.

- that

If the report be neither favorable nor adverse is, if a bill or other proposition be reported back “for the consideration of the IIouse," it may be recommitted for an opinion, or disposed of as other bills coming from a committee with a favorable report thereon.

If the report be favorable or adverse to amendments by either House to bills originating in the other, the question of concurrence may be, and generally is, at once put to a vote. But the report may be recommitted, tabled or postponed. If the report be favorable to such amendments, with amendment, the question of concurrence in the amendments, as proposed to be amended, may be disposed of in either of the modes mentioned. But in all cases the amendments, whether of the other house or of the committee, or both, are open to debate and amendment.

"It shall be in the power of either House to amend any amend ment made by the other to any bill or resolution." -Joint rule 4.

If the report be favorable or adverse to a joint resolution, or resolutions amendatory of the Constitution, which go through a form of proceeding similar to that prescribed for bills, except that they need not have three readings nor (by the Senate rule) be acted on in committee of the whole such resolution or resolutions may take any direction usually given to bills reported on by committees, or be disposed of in like manner:

"All resolutions which propose any amendment to the Constitution, shall be treated, in the form of proceedings on them, in a similar manner with bills, except that it shall not be necessary to commit such resolutions to a committee of the whole." - Senate rule 28.

If the report be favorable or adverse to a resolution or resolutions of any other character, it or they may be finally acted on forthwith, or be tabled, recommitted, Aostponed or made a special order.

If the committee report a bill "complete" under authority from the House, the question of agreeing to the bill as it came from the committee, may be superseded by motions to amend, to lay on the table, to recommit or postpone. But if the house agree, the bill passes to a third reading, If not, the bill is in the same condition as if reported by the committee of the whole, and disagreed to.

The custom has been, in the Assembly, for several years, to place the bill on the order of third reading immediately on its report from the committee complete, without submitting the question to the House for action. The practice of recommitting bills to report complete has been discontinued in the assembly as an unsafe mode of legislation.

If the report be adverse to a petition, the question of agreeing is usually taken at once. If the report be agreed to, the prayer of the petition is denied. But the question of agreeing may be tabled or postponed, or the petition and report recommitted.

Not unfrequently bills coming from committees with favorable reports, are recommitted "with power to report complete," or without that formality, are ordered at once to a third reading. But this cannot be done without unanimous consent, or under a suspension or abrogation of rules:

"No bili shall be ordered to a third reading without having been acted on in committee of the whole." - Senate rule 28.

"No bill, except such as shall be reported by the sub-committee of the whole, in accordance with rule 40, shall be ordered to a third reading until it shall have been considered in committee of the whole, nor shall it be in order to refer any bill to a standing committee to report complete unless by the vote of two-thirds of the members presont."- Assembly rule 41,

In all cases where the report of a committee is laid on the table, or postponed, or adjourned, it can be taken up again only when reports of such committees are in order, unless some future day and hour be assigned for its consideration, when so tabled, postponed or adjourned.

REPORTS OF SELECT COMMITTEES,

The preceding remarks in regard to the reports of standing committees apply, without exception, to the reports of select committees.

MESSAGES FROM THE GOVERNOR.

The Governor's messages received during the session, whether communicating his approval of bills that have passed both Houses, or covering expressions of other State legislatures on matters of general concern, or recommending legislative action, or reiterating former recommendations, though always receivable, are usually allowed, except in pressing emergencies, to take their turn in the prescribed order of business.

Messages from the Governor at the opening of a regular or extra session, or communicating, during the session, his objections to bills that have passed both Houses, take precedence of all other business, are read in extenso, as soon as received, and entered on the journal.

The regular annual message is always referred to the committee of the whole house, and is there subsequently taken up and distributed among the several standing committees and such select committees as may be deemed expedient.

The same course is some times taken with the message at the opening of an extra session; but, as it has usually reference to some one leading object of public policy, it is referred without the intervention of the committee of the whole.

Veto messages, after being read and entered on the journal, are either laid on the table or the bills to which they relate are taken up and acted on.

Messages communicating the Governor's approval of bills pass, sub silentio, to the journal, after being read by the Clerk.

Messages of other descriptions, after being read, ars referred to some appropriate committee or committees,

COMMUNICATIONS FROM STATE OFFICERS.

These are either the annual reports required by law from the departments of State, or they are in response to inquiries calling for information on matter of fact, or for opinions on points of law, or for statistics in relation to certain branches of the public service.

Though always receivable, they generally take their turn, like ordinary messages from the Governor.

The annual reports from the Departments are never read beyond the introductory communication indicating their tenor; but they are at once referred to the appropriate committee,

Casual reports from the Departments, in answer to inquiries, are usually read, in whole or in part, before reference.

MESSAGES FROM ONE HOUSE TO THE OTHER.

These are usually disposed of as soon as received, or as soon as the pending business will permit.

If the message transmit a bill for concurrence, such bill, after having had its first and second readings, must be referred, under the Assembly rule, to a standing or select committee:

"Every message from the Senate, communicating any bill for the concurrence of the House, shall, with the accompanying documents, if any, be referred to a standing or select committee to consider and report thereon." — Assemblý rule 36.

The Senate has no such rule, but the practice there conforms to the Assembly rule.

If the message announce the passage of a bill with amendments, such amendments, under the Assembly rule and the practice of the Senate, may be acted on at once, concurred in with or without amendment, or nonconcurred in, or referred to a standing or select committee:

Every message from the Senate, communicating an amendment, shall be submitted to the House for its concurrence, unles otherwise ordered." - - Assembly rule 36.

"It shall be in the power of either House to amend any amend ment made by the other to any bill or resolution." — Joint rule 4.

If the message communicate a joint resolution or resolutions for concurrence, it or they are, by custom and practice, laid on the table for one day, the same as concurrent resolutions introduced by members of the House; but if the message communicates amendments to resolutions for concurrence, the question of concur rence may be at once taken, or it or they may be referred, or made a special order, or otherwise temporarily disposed of.

The following joint rules regulate the interchange of messages between the two Houses:

"Each House shall transmit to the other all papers on which any bill or resolution shall be founded." - Joint rule 1.

"When a bill or resolution which shall have passed in one House shall be rejected in the other, notice thereof shall be given to the House in which the same may have passed.' -Joint rule 2.

Messages from one House to the other shall be communicated by their clerks respectively, unless the Ilouse transmitting the message shall specially direct otherwise."― Joint rule 3.

THIRD READING OF BILLS.

This order of business always awaits its turn, unless precedence be given to it under the joint rule, in which case, it supersedes all other business in either House, so long as there are bills originating in either ready for a third reading and undisposed of.

"Whenever ten or more bills shall be in readiness for final reading in either House, such House shall forthwith proceed to the final reading of such bill, under the order of third reading of bills, and continue the same from day to day until all such bills then In readiness for final reading shall have been read, unless this order of business shall, by the vote of two-thirds of the members present, be suspended or laid on the table."

Joint rule 9.

Bills in readiness for a third reading have precedence among themselves according to seniority, under the rules of both Houses and the joint rule:

"No bill shall be read a third time out of its regular order, nor on the same day on which it is ordered to a third reading, unless