CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



153 





YEAS Messrs. Bogy, Cnperton, Cockroll, Cooper, 

 . Eaton, Goldthwaite, Harvey, Johnston, Kfl- 

 i mm, MeCrrrrv, Mrrriuion, KuiHl(il[ili, Steven- 

 .11, Tliuriimn, Wulliu-f, uml Why to 18. 



NAYS MoHsrs. Alcorn, Allison, Anthony, Booth, 

 lloutwoll, Bruoe. Cameron of Pennsylvania, Cameron 

 of Wi- .IIMII, Christinncy, Clayton, Conkling, Cra- 

 irin. Dawes, Edmunds, Frelinghuysen, Hamilton, 

 Rjunlin, Infills, Key, McDonald, McMillan, Mitch- 

 ill, Morrill of Maine. Morrill of Vermont, Morton, 

 ( i.'lcsby, Paddock, Patterson, Sargent, Saulsbury. 

 Bpenoer, Wadleigh, West, Windotn, Withers, and 

 Wright 36. 



ABSENT Messrs. Bayard. Burnside, Conover, 

 Dennis, Dorsey, English, Ferry, Gordon, Hitch- 

 cook, Howe, Jones ofFlonda, Jones of Nevada, Lo- 

 L'.IM, Maxey, Norwood, Ransom, Robertson, and 

 Sherman 18. 



So the motion was not agreed to. 



The Presiding Officer : u The question recurs 

 on the adoption of the resolution." 



The result was announced yeas 34, nays 

 15 ; as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Alcorn, Allison, Anthony, Booth, 

 Boutwell, Bruce, Cameron of Wisconsin, Christiancy, 

 Clayton, Conkling. Cr.tgin, Dawes. Edmunds, Frc- 

 linghuysen, Hamilton, Hamlin, Intralls, Kernan, 

 Key, McDonald, McMillan, Mitchell, Morrill ot 

 Muine, Morton, Oglesby, Paddock ; Patterson, Sar- 

 gent, Saulsbury, Spencer, Wadleigh, Wst, Win- 

 uom, and Wright 34. 



NAYS Messrs. Bogy, Caperton, Cooper, Davis, 

 Eaton, Goldthwaite, Johnston, McCreery, Mc-rrimon, 

 Kun lolph, Stevenson, Thurman, Wallace, Whyte, 

 and Witliers 15. 



ABSENT Messrs. Bayard, Burnside, Cameron of 

 Pennsylvania, Cockrell, Conover, Dennis, Dorsey, 

 English. Ferry. Gordon, Harvey, Hitchcock, Howe, 

 Jones of Florida, Jones of Nevada, Kelly, Logan, 

 Maxey, Morrill ot Vermont, Norwood, Eansom, Rob- 

 ertson, and Sherman 23. 



So the resolution was agreed to. 

 The Presiding Officer : " The next resolution 

 will be read." 

 The Chief Clerk read as follows : 



4. Resolved, That Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, a Sena- 

 tor from Michigan, who was elected President pro 

 tempore of the Senate at the last session, is now the 

 President pro tempore by virtue of said election. 



The Presiding Officer : " The resolution is 

 withdrawn." 



In the Senate, on December 15th, Mr. Ed- 

 munds, of Vermont, offered the following reso- 

 lution : 



Resolved, That the joint rules of the Senate and 

 House of Representatives in force at the close of the 

 last session of Congress be, and the same are here- 

 by, adopted as the joint rules of the two Houses for 

 the present session. 



The resolution was referred to the Commit- 

 tee on Rules. 



On January 10th, Mr. Hamlin, of Maine, 

 from the committee, reported back the reso- 

 lution, with a proposition to amend by insert- 

 ing after the word Resolved, the words : 



Ry the Senate (the House of Represtntati 

 ing). 



nny 



ioes concur- 



Mr. Morton, of Indiana, said : " If it is in 

 order, I move to amend by striking out the 

 twenty-second joint rule." 



Mr. Hamlin : " That will be in order after 

 the Senate shall have acted on the amendment 

 proposed by the committee." 



The amendment was agreed to. 



Mr. Hamlin : " Mr. President, from what 

 is said to me by Senators around me, I appre- 

 hend that the scope of the resolution and the 

 Kiihject to which it relates may not be familiar 

 to ull the Senate. I will state very briefly what 

 the resolution is. It is a novel proposition. It 

 is such a one as I have never before known in 

 the Senate. I have made some investigation 

 in relation to the matter, and I do not find 

 that from the commencement of the Govern- 

 ment to the present time the attention of the 

 Senate has ever been called to the precise point 

 which the resolution raises and brings be- 

 fore us. 



u The Senate has its rules. The Senate is an 

 existing body, and its rules exist with the 

 body. The House of Representatives is a body 

 which expires once in two years, and its rules 

 expire, of course, with each expiring Congress. 

 We have besides what we call the joint rules for 

 the arrangement of business between the two 

 Houses rules that have been concurrently 

 agreed upon by both the House and the Sen- 

 ate ; and I think that from the commencement 

 of the Government to the present time cer- 

 tainly within my recollection there has been 

 no instance when the Senate or the House has 

 been asked to act at the commencement of 

 any session of Congress upon the joint rules. 

 Occasionally new joint rules are proposed and 

 agreed to ; amendments are suggested and 

 agreed to. But what is the condition of things? 

 The House, in its constitutional limit, expires, 

 and with it its joint rules must expire ; and if 

 they expire upon the part of the House, they 

 must necessarily expire upon the part of the 

 Senate ; and it is only by acquiescence in long 

 years that they have been treated and regarded 

 as rules, and not by an affirmative vote either 

 of the House or of the Senate. 



" But the Senator from Vermont now brings 

 the matter to the notice of the Senate, and on 

 looking at it carefully and critically, and in a 

 legal point of view, the committee are unani- 

 mously of opinion that the point which he has 

 suggested is one which the Senate certainly 

 should take notice of, at least when it is brought 

 to its attention. To illustrate its necessity, 

 some action of the body is desired under a 

 joint rule to-day, and the Senator rises in his 

 place and interposes an objection that there 

 is no joint rule existing to-day between the 

 House and the Senate to which either the Sen- 

 ate or the present House has agreed, and it 

 would seem to me that in a parliamentary 

 sense that objection would be well taken. 

 True, we may acquiesce in the adoption of 

 such rules as the House may adopt ; they may 

 adopt these several rules; but I suggest that 

 in their action this year they have not done 

 so, and I think in the ruling of the Speaker of 

 the House in a very few words he has placed 



