14U 



PAKLIAMENTARY I'KAITICR 



upon the original motion may be presented. Thru the 

 original nint'ioii i> called the main question, and the 

 motions bearing upon it an' called subsidiary or second- 

 ary motions. 



The moot common of all these subsidiary motion:* i- 

 the motion to ,un. n.l. tin- object of which is to amend 

 or improve tin' primary motion. The amendment 

 must be germane to the subject matter of the main 

 question. A motion may Be made to amend the 

 amendment. ThU i.- .-imctimcs called an amendment 

 in the second degree. The vote is tirst on the amend- 

 ment to the amendment, (lien on tlie amendment as 

 amended or not, and tin illy on the original motion as 

 amended or not amended. 



A substitute is of the nature of an amendment. Inn 

 its scope is broader. No amendment is penuttod at 

 one time l>eyond an amendment to an amendment, hut 

 late practice makes it possible, while an amendment to 

 an amendment i.s peBQOf, to offer a substitute and an 

 amendment to the substitute. Thus tin- />i'</'-st of the 

 House of Representatives of the United States says : 

 " It has been tor many years the practice of the House 

 that there wight be pending, at the same time with 

 such amendment to tin 1 amendment, an amendment in 

 the nature of a substitute for part or the whole of the 

 original text, and an amendment to that amendment. 

 .... So that, notwithstanding the pendency of a 

 motion to amend an amendment to the original matter, 

 a motion to amend, in the nature of a substitute, and 

 a motion to amend that amendment, were received. 

 but could not be voted on until the original matter was 

 pern 



The motion to pottpone to a <xr/niit ilii;/ or to a cer- 

 tain time is intended to postpone the question to the 

 time specified. If carried, the <|iie.-tion cannot be 

 taken up before that time except by a two thirds vote. 

 but when the time i.s reached the subject is entitled to 

 be taken up in preference to everything except priv- 

 ileged <|ue.-tions. 



The motion to pott/tour in<lrfi>iitiJy is intended to 

 suppress a question, and. if carried, it removes the 

 question from consideration for that session. 



The motion to refer or commit is intended to take 

 the question from tlie main bodv and transfer it to the 

 consideration of a committee. The motion to c 

 is the same as to refer, only that it relates to matter 

 already reported by the committee. All the above- 

 mentioned motions arc debatable. In some legislative 

 bodies the motion to refer i.s not debatable, but, accord- 

 ing to common parliamentary law, it opens the merits 

 ot the main question to debate. 



The motion to In;/ mi /In' tiililc possesses the char- 

 acter of po.-tponement, but it keeps the subject directly 

 within the reach of the body. It is intended to re- 

 move the question from consideration until the house 

 votes to take it up. This can be done at any time by a 

 majority vote. If such a vote cannot be obtained the 

 ;re is effectually suppressed, but the motion in 

 itself is not a finality but merely a temporary disposi- 

 tion of the question. Because of this (lie motion is 

 not debatable. As a general thing the motion tables 

 'i'i'ijf that adheres to the motion upon which it 

 bears. Thus if an amendment is laid on the table it 

 with it the main quc.-tiun. There are, however, 

 a lew exceptions, thus : as a question of privilege does 

 not adhere to the subject it interrupts, it does not carry 

 with it to the table the que.-tioii pending when it was 

 rai-ed ; an appeal laid nn the table does not carry with 

 it (lie original question ; a motion to reconsider, when 

 laid on the table, leaves the original question where it 

 was before the motion to reconsider was made ; and, an 

 amendment to the minutes. l>cing laid on the table. does 

 not carry tlie minutes with it 



The j>rrr<n* tjiintion in American practice is very 

 different frem what it is in the English. In Ann n, aii 

 usage it is simply a method lor cutting off debate, and 



it equivalent to the question. Shall the diwiis-ioi w 



s? It is iutelf undcbauble, and if it is carried it 



brim.- t ii an end the debate on the main question. A 

 member savs, "I mo\e the pn\iuus question." but. 

 when the chairman puts the qin -lion, he says, 

 the mam (piestioii be now put?" The previous que-- 

 lion may lie limited to a i nendment or it may 



r both amendment and main question. Ill common 

 parliamentary practice the previous question requires a 

 two thirds vote, but in some legislative bodies a major- 

 ity vote is Mithcient. It ought, however, to require a 

 two-thirds vote, because it cuts off the natural right of 

 a inemlHT to di--u>s a question, and that should not, 

 at least in ordinary bodies, be in the power of a bare 

 majority. 



Aim! her class of motions is called incidental question*. 

 These are so called because they are occasioned in a 

 casual way during the consideration of principal, sub- 

 sidiary, or other quest ions. and. from their very nature, 

 they must be decided lie to re the questions which gave 

 rise to them. They cannot be amended, and, excepting 

 the case of an appeal, they cannot be debated, and even 

 an appeal is not always debatable. 



The incidental questions are : (1) Questions of order 

 (including an appeal from the decision of the chair) ; 

 1 1!) objections to the consideration of a question ; (3) 

 reading of papers ; (4) withdrawal of a motion ; (5) 

 su-pension of the rules. 



If a member notices anything in the procedure which 

 lie thinks is a violation of gooa parliamentary usage or 

 of the rules of the body, he may arise, and, addressing 

 the chair, say: "I rise to a point of order. " The 

 chairman then interrupts the proceedings, and says: 

 "The member will state his point of order. " After 

 the member has stated the point, the presiding officer 

 decides that the point is (or is not) well taken. If any 

 member is not satisfied with the correctness of the 

 decision he may take an appeal to the meeting itself. 

 The question then is, "Shall the decision of the chair 

 stand as the judgment of the assembly ? " Ordinarily 

 an appeal is debatable. It is not debatable, however. 

 if the previous question was pending at the time the 

 point of order was raised. \V hen the appeal is debat- 

 able, the previous quest ion and the motion to lie on the 

 table may be applied to it, but, if adopted, they affect 

 nothing but the appeal. To sustain the chair does not 

 require more than a majority vote, but even a tie vote 

 sustains his decision, on the principle that the decision 

 can be reversed only by a majority. 



According to present practice any motion may \>c 

 withdrawn by the mover Wore a decision or amend- 

 ment, but not after the previous question has been 

 ordered. To suspend the rules of a body requi res a 

 two-thirds vote. 



J'-irilegrd quextinnx constitute another class of mo- 

 tions. They arc called privileged questions on account 

 of special privileges which they possess because of their 

 pivving importance. They may be introduced almost 

 at anv time. and. when properly introduced, must be 

 considered before any other subject or proposition that 

 may lie before the house. 



The privileged questions arc : (1) To fix the time to 

 which the body shall adjourn; (2) to adiourn; (3) 

 question of privilege; (4) a call for the orders of tlie 

 dav. 



It is sometimes said that a motion to adjourn is 

 always in order, but this is not strictly correct. There 

 are times when it is not in order. Thus, if the motion 

 to adjourn is lost, it cannot be repeated until there has 

 been gome intervening business, or at least some 

 progress in debate. Neither can a motion to adjourn 

 be made while a member has the floor ; yet tin 1 mem- 

 ber may. if he pleases, give way, in order that the 

 motion may be presented A motion to adjourn can 

 not IK- r-ceived while the yeas and nays are being 

 called, or the members arc voting on any question, or 

 when the previous quc-t ion has been called and sus- 

 tained and is still pending. The unqualified motion to 

 adjourn cannot be debate. 1. and cannot have any amend- 

 ment or any other subsidiary motion applied to it. aud 



