154 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



the matter so clear and so plain that no man 

 can misunderstand it. I call the attention of 

 the Senate to what took place in the other 

 House in relation to adopting rules at the com- 

 mencement of the session. A member from 

 Pennsylvania (Mr. Randall) submitted the fol- 

 lowing resolution : 



Resolved, That the rules of the House of Repre- 

 sentatives of the Forty-third Congress shall be the 

 rules of the House of Representatives until other- 

 wise ordered, excepting Rule 166 and Rule 167. 



" I will state that the first of those rules is 

 one in relation to suspending the rules of the 

 House, with which we have nothing to do ; 

 and the other is in relation to dilatory motions, 

 and that was a rule of the House with which 

 the Senate have nothing to do. The same 

 gentleman (Mr. Randall) also submitted an- 

 other resolution there were two of them 

 authorizing the Speaker of the House to appoint 

 four Representatives, the Speaker himself to 

 be the fifth member, who should constitute a 

 Committee on Rules in that body. A gentle 

 man from Ohio (Mr. Garfield) raised a ques- 

 tion of order, that there was no necessity for 

 adopting the rules of the House. He did not 

 state why, but he said : 



1 rise to a point of order. I object to the resolu 

 tion under the existing rules ; which are our rules 

 without declaration of this sort. 



" I inferred instantly that they had adopted 

 previously some general rule to extend the 

 rules of the House from one Congress to an- 

 other; and on looking I find that precisely 

 that thing was done, and that was exactly 

 what Mr. Garfield meant." 



Mr. Morton: "Will the Senator state that 

 point again ? " 



Mr. Hainlin: "The gentleman from Ohio 

 raised the question of order that the resolution 

 submitted by the gentleman from Pennsyl- 

 vania, Mr. Randall, was not necessary, inas- 

 much as ' the existing rules are our rules with- 

 out declaration of this sort.' Why did Mr. 

 Garfield say so? He used no explanatory lan- 

 guage ; I have read all he said ; but on refer- 

 ring to the records of the House we find that 

 in 1869 the House did adopt a resolution de- 

 claring that the rules should be the rules of 

 that House and of succeeding Houses until oth- 

 erwise ordered. That was the question raised, 

 and now I will read the ruling of the Speaker 

 upon it, so clear, so plain, that it seems to me 

 there can be no doubt about it : 



The Chair overrules it, on the ground that the 

 Constitution clearly gives to each House the right to 

 adopt its own rules. Whatever may have been the 

 rules or orders of a preceding House in reference to 

 this matter, they cannot supersede the constitution- 

 al right of this House to adopt its own rules. 



" Upon that the resolutions were unanimous- 

 ly agreed to in the House, and the rules of the 

 House were agreed to; but there is no sug- 

 gestion in that resolution that they shall apply 

 to or that they are meant to apply to the joint 

 rules ; and I repeat again that the joint rules 



of the two Houses have never been adopted at 

 the commencement of any Congress; at least 

 I have been able to find no such case ; but 

 they have been operative only by acquies- 

 cence. 



'" That being the case, and the Senator from 

 Vermont presenting the resolution to the Sen- 

 ate recommending the agreement of the Senate 

 to the joint rules as they stand, the committee 

 were of opinion that if there were a necessity 

 that the Senate should at this session agree to 

 joint rules, there was an equal necessity that 

 the House should also agree to them, and 

 therefore we recommend the amendment of 

 the resolution by making it a concurrent reso- 

 lution." 



The President pro tempore: "The question 

 is on the amendment proposed by the Sena- 

 tor from Indiana (Mr. Morton), excepting the 

 twenty-second joint rule." * 



Mr. Conkling, of New York, said : " Let it 

 be read." 



The Chief Clerk: "After the word 'Con- 

 gress ' in the fourth line, it is proposed to in- 

 sert 'excepting the twenty-second joint rule ; ' 

 so as to make the resolution read : 



Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representattiet 

 concurring), That the joint rules ot the Senate and 



* The twenty-second rule was as follows : 



The two Houses shall assemble in the hall of the House 

 of Representatives at the hour of one o'clock p. M., on the 

 second Wednesday in February next succeeding the meeting 

 of the electors of President and Vice-President of the United 

 States, and the President of the Senate shall be their presid 

 ing officer ; one teller shall be appointed on the part of the 

 Senate, and two on the part of the House of Representatives, 

 to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the Presi- 

 dent of the Senate, the certificates of the electoral votes; 

 and said tellers, having read the same in the presence and 

 hearing of the two Houses then assembled, shall make a list 

 of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates ; 

 and, the votes having been counted, the result of the same 

 shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall 

 thereupon announce the state of the vote and the names of 

 the persons, if any, elected; which announcement shall be 

 deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected Presi- 

 dent and Vice-President of the United States, and, together 

 with a list of the votes, be entered on the journals of the 

 two Houses. If, upon the rending of any such certificate by 

 the tellers, any question shall arise in regard to counting the 

 votes therein certified, the same having been stated by the 

 presiding officer, the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and 

 said question shall be submitted to that body for its decision ; 

 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, in 

 like manner, submit said question to the House of Represent- 

 atives for its decision ; and no question shall be decided affirm- 

 atively, and no vote objected to shall be counted, except by 

 the concurrent votes of the two Houses; which being ob- 

 tained, the two Houses shall immediately reassemble, and the 

 presiding officer shall then announce the decision of the 

 question submitted, and upon any such question there shall 

 be no debate in either House; and any other question per- 

 tinent to the object for which the two Houses are assembled 

 may be submitted and determined in like manner. At such 

 joint meeting of the two Houses seats shall be provided as 

 follows: For the President of the Senate, the ' ; Speaker's 

 chair ; " for the Speaker, a chair immediately upon his left ; 

 the Senators in the body of the hall, upon the right of the 

 presiding officer ; for the Representatives, in the body of the 

 hall not occupied by the Senators ; for the tellers, Secretary 

 of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of Representatives, at 

 the C:erk's desk; for the other officers of the two Houses, in 

 front of the Cerk's desk, and upon either side of the Speaker's 

 platform. Such joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the 

 electoral votes are all counted and the result declared ; and 

 no recess shall be taken unless a question shall have arisen in 

 regard to counting any of such votes, in which case it shall be 

 competent for either House, acting separately, in the manner 

 hereinbefore provided, to direct a recess, not beyond the next 

 dy at the boor of one o'clock P. M. 



