144 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



former to the chair terminates. The language 

 is: 



The Senate shall choose their other officers, and 

 also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the 

 Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office 

 of President of the United States. 



" The language iu regard to the Speakership 

 is : 



The House of Representatives shall choose their 

 Speaker, and other officers. 



" No one who has studied the Constitution 

 can fail to detect the pointed difference in the 

 language employed in the two cases. The Sen- 

 ate is not to choose their President pro tempore 

 and other officers, but their own officers and 

 a President pro tempore." 



The Presiding Officer : " A division is called 

 for. The question is on the first resolution, 

 which will be reported/' 



The Chief Clerk read as follows : 



Resolved, That the tenure of a President pro tem- 

 pore of the Senate elected at one session does not 

 expire at the meeting of Congress after the first re- 

 cess, the Vice-President not having appeared to take 

 the chair. 



The question being taken by yeas and nays, 

 resulted yeas 59, nays none ; as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Alcorn, Allison, Anthony, Bayard, 

 Bogy, Booth, Boutwell, Bruce, Burnside, Cameron 

 of Wisconsin, Christiancy, Clayton, Cockrell, Conk- 

 ling, Conover, Cooper, Cragin, Davis, Dawes, Den- 

 nis, Dorsey, Eaton, Edmunds, Frelinghuysen, Gold- 

 thwaite, G'ordon, Hamilton, Hamlin, Harvey, Howe, 

 Ingalls, Jones of Florida, Kelly, Kernan, Key, Mc- 

 Creery, McDonald, McMillan, Merrimon, Mitchell, 

 Merrill of Vermont, Morton, Norwood, Oglesby, 

 Patterson, Randolph, Ransom, Sargent, Saulsbury. 

 Sherman, Spencer, Stevenson, Thurman, Wadleigh, 

 Wallace, West, Whyte, Withers, and Wright 59. 



ABSENT Messrs. "Cameron of Pennsylvania, Ca- 

 perton, English, Ferry, Hitchcock, Johnston, Jones 

 of Nevada, Logan, Maxey, Morrill of Maine, Pad- 

 dock, Robertson, and Windom 13. 



So the resolution was adopted unanimously. 

 The Presiding Officer : " The next question is 

 on the second resolution ; which will be read." 

 The Chief Clerk read as follows : 



Resolved, That the death of the Vice-President 

 does not have the effect to vacate the office of Presi- 

 dent pro tempore of the Senate. 



The yeas and nays were ordered ; and being 

 taken, resulted yeas, 02 ; nays, none ; as fol- 

 lows : 



YEAS Messrs. Alcorn, Allison, Anthony, Bayard, 

 Bogy, Booth, Boutwell, Bruce, Burnside, Cameron 

 of Wisconsin, Caperton, Christiancy, Clayton, Cock- 

 rell, Conkling, Conover, Cooper, Cragin, Davis, 

 Dawes, Dennis, Dorsey, Eaton, Edmunds, English, 

 Frelinghuysen, Goldthwaite, Gordon, Hamilton, 

 Hamlin, Harvey, Howe, Ingalls, Jones of Florida, 

 Kelly, Kernan, Key, McCreery, McDonald, McMil- 

 lan, Merrimon, Mitchell, Morrill of Maine, Morrill 

 of Vermont, Morton, Norwood, Oglesby, Patterson, 

 Randolph, Ransom, Sargent, Saulsburv, Sherman, 

 Stevenson, Thurman, Wadleigh, Wallace, West, 

 Whyte, Windom, Withers, and Wright 62. 



ABSENT Messrs. Cameron of Pennsylvania, Ferry, 

 Hitchcock, Johnston, Jones of Nevada, Logan, Max- 

 ey, Paddock, Robertson, and Spencer 10. 



So the resolution was adopted unanimously. 



The Presiding Officer : " The question is now 

 on the third resolution." 

 The Chief Clerk read as follows : 



Resolved, That the office of President pro tempore 

 of the Senate is held at the pleasure of the Senate. 



Mr. Thurman, of Ohio, said : " The solution 

 of this question is perhaps somewhat difficult, 

 although it is within a narrow compass ; and 

 it depends, I imagine, upon the inquiry whether 

 the words ' pro tempore," 1 in the clause of the 

 Constitution that has been read, are used in 

 that instrument in a technical parliamentary 

 sense, or whether their meaning is fixed by the 

 context of the clause in which they occur. If 

 they are used in a technical parliamentary sense, 

 then it seems to be admitted on all hands that 

 the President pro tempore is subject to removal 

 like the Speaker pro tempore of the House, in 

 case there should be such an officer there, or 

 any other pro tempore official. In other w orde, 

 according to the technical parliamentary sense 

 of the words ' pro tempore'' in relation to the 

 tenure of an officer, they mean the same as 

 ' durante l>ene placito" 1 during our good pleas- 

 ure. 



"But it is said, and argued with great force 

 by the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Mer- 

 rimon) and the Senator from Florida (Mr. 

 Jones), that these words are not used in a mere 

 technical parliamentary sense, but that their 

 meaning is fixed by the context of the clause 

 in which they occur ; and that is : ' The Sen- 

 ate shall choose their other officers, and also a 

 President pro tempore, in the absence of the 

 Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the 

 office of President of the United States.' It is 

 argued with force, that it is not said that the 

 Senate shall choose a Presidtnt pro tempore, to 

 hold his office during the good pleasure of the 

 Senate ; that there is no such limitation as tbct 

 ' during the pleasure of the Senate ; ' and it 

 is said, further, that the 'tempm' 1 that is con- 

 templated here is the absence of the Vice- 

 President, or his discharge of the duties of 

 President, which necessitates his absence, or is 

 another case of absence ; and it must be ad- 

 mitted that, looking at the clause, giving it a 

 natural construction, there is great force in 

 that argument. They shall choose also a Presi- 

 dent pro tempore in the absence of the Vice- 

 President, or when he shall exercise the office 

 of President of the United States. "Whenever 

 the Vice-President shall exercise the office of 

 the President of the United States, the Senate 

 shall choose ' a President pro tempore,^ not a 

 President to-day, and another to-morrow, and 

 another the day after, to hold merely duiing 

 the pleasure of the Senate, but a President pi o 

 tempore for that occasion, for that time. There 

 certainly is very great force in this view of the 

 Constitution, and there is also very great force 

 in the reasons that have been suggested of a 

 more enlarged and general nature. Never- 

 theless, Mr. President, I cannot say that I am 

 perfectly clear in my own mind which con- 



