Relation of the Federal Government to Research 



127 



The rules proper are annotated by reference to rulings 

 of the Cliair and the House in applying them. 



Tlie rules of organization and procedure as set forth 

 in this manual are comparatively brief. Just as the full 

 pur{)ort of the provisions of our Constitution can only 

 be untlerstood in tlie liglit of the decisions of the courts 

 construing them, so the force and effect of the rules of the 

 House can only be understood as construed by the Chair 

 in applying them. Following the doctrine of f^tare 

 decisis in the courts, the decisions of the Chair in re- 

 spect to the rules are deemed to constitute precedent and 

 to have controlling or at least high persuasive force 

 in controlling future interpretations and applications. 

 In order that reference may be readily had to these 

 rulings, the House directed that a compilation of them 

 be made. The result is the monumental work known as 

 Hinds Precedents^ the full title of which is Hinds Prece- 

 dents of the House of Representatives of the United. 

 States: Including References to Provisions of the Con- 

 stitution, the Laws and Decisions of the United States 

 Senate. The author of this work, Asher C. Hinds, was 

 for years clerk at the Speaker's Table, and, as such, 

 the technical aid to the Speaker in the dischaige of his 

 duty of construing and apj^lying the rules. The work 

 itself was published in 8 large quarto volumes in 1907. 

 It is impossible to speak too highly of the character and 

 importance of this work. It was compiled with 

 meticulous care, with great discrimination, and without 

 discernible bias and constitutes literally a mine of infor- 

 mation regarding, not only the parliamentary system 

 of the House, but also many other features of our con- 

 stitutional system. The fact that almost every feature 

 handled is considered from the historical standpoint 

 showing its origin and development, as well as its ex- 

 isting status, adds greatly to its value. 



A second edition of this work, prepared by Clarence 

 Caimon, who succeeded Mr. Hinds as parliamentarian 

 of the House, was published in 1935. This edition, 

 known as Cannon''s Precedents, is, in reality, a supple- 

 ment to Hin/h Precedents, since the latter was left un- 

 disturbed and was reprinted in unabridged form in the 

 second edition, new volumes being added to cover the 

 development of the parliamentary law of the House 

 since the appearance of the first edition, and a new 

 index being prepared to cover the combined works. In 

 his preface to the second edition, Mr. Cannon takes 

 occasion to comment upon the sigiiificance and excel- 

 lence of Mr. Hinds' work. 



"It is difficult," he wrote, "to appreciate too highly the benefits 

 accruing to the House from the codification of its procedure by 

 Mr. Hinds. The daily citation of the precedents on the floor 

 and the adherence to fundamental principles of procedure which 

 they hare enjoined have affected, not only the technical routine 

 of the House, but also, in a larger way, the Ideals of democracy 

 in legislation, its conception of parliamentary equity and, in- 



directly, its prestige as a briinch of the Government. * « • 

 Through the recognition of established piuiiamentary jirinciples 

 uiiicli it enjoined to Speakers and (;hairnicn; thnjugli the 

 stable and orderly processes which it consli(ute<l in the prac- 

 tice of the House, men came to look upon parliamentary probity 

 as a matter of inherent right rather tliau a contingent privilege 

 subject to political exigencies ; to regard it as a science rather 

 than an improvisation to be varied at the caprice of the Chair 

 or the behests of partisan interests. In this respect It con- 

 tributed inevitably to momentous readjustments in the law of 

 the House." 



Develo])ments in the intcri^retation and application 

 of the rules subsequent (o Cannon\^ Precedents can be 

 followed in the House M-inuaU and the House Jourudls 

 wjtich reproduce impoitant rulings of the Chair. 



Another official publication regarding the House or- 

 ganization and procedure is the small volume Pro- 

 cedure in the House of Representatives by Clarence 

 Cannon, the parliamentarian of the House, the second 

 edition of which appeared in 1928, which has for its 

 purpose to present an analytical statement of the man- 

 ner of proceeding under the rules. 



The Senate has caused to be prepared no work deal- 

 ing with its organization and procedure that is com- 

 ])arable to Hinds Precedents. Nor does its Rules and 

 Ma7iual, United States Senate, which is issued for each 

 Congress, embrace annotations to its rules as an aid 

 to their interpretation. It has, however, caused to be 

 prepared and published as public documents the fol- 

 lowing compilations dealing with specific features of 

 the Senate's activities: Precedents, Discussions on 

 Points of Order, with Phraseology , in the United 

 States Senate from the First Congress to the End of 

 the Sixty-second Congress, 1789-1913, by Henry H. 

 Gilfrey, Chief Clerk of the United States Senate (Sen. 

 Doc. 1123, 62nd Cong., 3d sess., 1914; Digest of Deci- 

 sions and Precedents of the Senate and House of Rep- 

 resentatives, by Henry H. Smith (Sen. Misc. Due. 278, 

 53d Cong., 2d sess., 1894) ; Procedure in the Senate of 

 the United States, by Cliarles G. Bennett, 1913; Prece- 

 dents Relating to the Privileges of the Senate, by 

 George P. Furber (Sen. Misc. Doc. 08, 52d Cong., 2d 

 sess., 1893) ; Statement of the Rules and Practices of 

 the Senate of the United States in the Appointment of 

 Committees from March 4, 17S9, to March Ii, ISGS, by 

 M. Anthony (Sen. Doc. 1122, 62d Cong., 3d sess., 

 1913) ; Conferences and Conference Reports (Sen. Doc. 

 1545, 57th Cong., 1st sess., 1902) ; President of the 

 Senate, Pro Tempore: Proceedings in the United 

 States Senate from April 6, 1789 to December 5, 1911, 

 Relating tx) the Election, Powers, Duties, and Tenure 

 in Office of the President of the Senate, Pro Tempore, 

 Including the Report of the Committee on Privileges 

 and Elections, January 6, 1870, by Henry H. Gilfrey, 

 Chief Clerk of the United States Senate (Sen. Doc. 

 104, 62d Cong., 1st sess., 1911) ; and Extracts from the 



