DISCIPLINARY POWER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES. 



209 



The rule about it was that it should be moved 

 for in writing by five members ; and, when the 

 motion was put from the Chair, a division was 

 to be instantly taken upon it, unless any mem- 

 ber claimed to speak against the motion. But 

 any member so speaking was to limit his re- 

 marks strictly to the subject of the cloture, and 

 no more than one member could be heard 

 against the motion. The vote was to be taken 

 in the usual way, par assis et leve (sitting or 

 rising), unless there were a written demand 

 signed by five members for a ballot; and a 

 simple majority of the members present was 

 enough to pass the motion. When the cloture 

 had been voted, the president was bound to 

 stop all further speaking on the main question, 

 and to put that question immediately to the 

 vote. Practically all formalities in moving for 

 the cloture were dispensed with when there 

 was an autocratic president in the chair. It 

 became a regular habit with the Government 

 majority to shout for the cloture as soon as 

 they understood that ministers desired to silence 

 the Opposition. The president would then 

 say, u There is a demand for the cloture" 

 and being answered by an acclamation from the 

 benches of the Right, he would add, before any 

 member of the Left had time to rise, "The 

 cloture has been voted." On a certain mem- 

 orable occasion M. Jer6me David, being in the 

 chair, made so much haste in bringing a debate 

 to a close that the Opposition rose in a body, 

 clamoring that the regulations had not been 

 complied with. M. David, disdaining to argue 

 the point, retired from his chair, ordered the 

 ushers to turn off the gas, and left the Opposi- 

 tion vociferating in the dark. The Opposition 

 was at that time only 23 strong in a House of 

 360 members ; and this is a point worth re- 

 membering, for it shows how tyrannically the 

 cloture was misused for party ends. 



GERMANY. The Constitution of the German 

 Empire contains a few general provisions re- 

 lating to the Parliament. It provides espe- 

 cially that its sessions shall be public ; that it 

 shall verify the powers of its members ; that its 

 proceedings and modes of discipline shall be 

 governed by a regulation or rule of order ; that 

 it shall appoint its president, vice-presidents, 

 and secretaries ; that a majority can entertain 

 resolutions, but a majority of all the members 

 elected is necessary for their valid adoption. 



Excepting the constitutional restrictions, the 

 authority of the Parliament is absolute ; it is 

 independent of any initiatory action or final 

 ratification by the Federal Council or the Em- 

 peror. At different times the Parliament has 

 exercised this power to modify its order of 

 proceedings, which, borrowed in 1867 from 

 the Prussian Lower House, was afterward 

 adopted without change in the first regular 

 session of the Parliament. Afterward, espe- 

 cially in 1868, 1869, 1870, 1872, and 1874, this 

 regulation of order has been modified some- 

 what from the original. The Prussian Landtag 

 slowly appropriated the definitive regulation, 

 VOL. xxii. 14 A 



and thus, excepting some small variations, the 

 proceedings are the same in the two assem- 

 blies. 



DIVISIONS. The Parliament is divided by 

 lot into seven sections, composed, as far as 

 possible, of an equal number of members. 

 Each section elects its president and secreta- 

 ry, and the substitutes for each. The sections 

 continue to the end of the session, and they 

 are not renewed by Parliament except on the 

 request of thirty members. The sections have 

 equal authority to choose special committees, 

 of which there are two classes. The first class, 

 six in number, are permanent, and embrace the 

 subjects of regulation, of internal order, peti- 

 tions, commerce and industry, finances and im- 

 posts, justice, and the imperial budget. Gen- 

 erally, only three of these committees are ap- 

 pointed internal order, petitions, and the 

 budget. The second class contains the com- 

 mittees for special objects. Like the sections, 

 the committees elect their president, secretary, 

 and reporter. 



There exist in the Reicbstag two other or- 

 gans which deserve to be mentioned. The 

 first is called (Seniorenconvent) Council of 

 Elders. It is neither a special nor general 

 committee, but a permanent body that without 

 regulation comes together on the same day in 

 each year, after the opening of the session. It 

 owes its origin to the traditional custom of 

 Parliament to create compromise committees 

 among the different parliamentary groups in 

 relation to their respective numerical repre- 

 sentation. To that end each faction appoints 

 one or more of its members to the Council of 

 Elders, which determines, afterward, the pro- 

 portionate number of members to accrue to 

 each group in the committees. After the 

 number is once fixed the sections designate the 

 deputies who will belong to the committees. 

 But this is not the only power of the Council 

 of Elders ; it may serve as a substitute for the 

 Parliament in deciding the order of the day, 

 and the regular dispatch of business. This 

 function, as important as useful, which it has 

 exercised hitherto without inconvenience or 

 noise, has recently attracted to the Council of 

 Elders the attention of Europe, and, what is 

 certainly more grave, the anger of Mr. Bis- 

 marck. Under the foresight that after Pente- 

 cost it would not be possible to secure a suffi- 

 cient number of members for business, the 

 Council of Elders, in concert with the presi- 

 dent, Count von Arnim, gave notice that it was 

 expedient to close the session, and in conse- 

 quence regulated the order of the day. This 

 proceeding is repeated every year ; and as the 

 day of adjournment draws near a selection is 

 made of the matters which are important, and 

 they are put in the orders for the day, and the 

 rest go over to the next session. Now, at the 

 time above alluded to, the Council of Elders 

 had taken the great liberty to include, in the 

 business laid over, the bill providing for new 

 taxes, which were indispensable to Mr. Bis- 



