Chapter Iii. ]

Though the senate is quite a permanent body, two-thirds of its members holding over from one congress to another, its committees are reorganized at the beginning of each congress.

The terms of all members of the house of representatives expire March 4 of the odd-numbered years, and, though many of the old members are re-elected, the house must be reorganized at the beginning of each congress. The mode of organizing the house is briefly as follows:

1. At the first session, the house is called to order by the clerk of the preceding house, who then calls the roll of members-elect [Footnote: The members-elect have previously sent him their certificates of election, received from the state canvassing board.] by states. If a quorum is found to be present, the clerk declares it to be in order to proceed to the election of a speaker. The vote is viva voce on the call of the roll, each member when his name is called pronouncing the name of his choice for speaker. Election is by majority of the votes given. The result is declared by the clerk, who "then designates two members (usually of different politics, and from the number of those voted for as speaker) to conduct the speaker-elect to the chair; and also one member (usually that one who has been longest in continuous service a member of the house) to administer to him the oath required by the constitution." [Footnote: Manual of the House of Representatives.]

The speaker then administers the oath to the members, in groups of about forty, all standing in line before the speaker's desk.

3. The organization is completed by the election of a clerk, a sergeant-at-arms; a doorkeeper, a postmaster, and a chaplain. The vote is viva voce, and the term is "until their successors are chosen and qualified"--usually about two years, though all are subject to removal at the will of the house.

The delegates from the territories are then sworn in.

"At this stage it is usual for the house to adopt an order that a message be sent to the senate to inform that body that a quorum of the house of representatives has assembled, and that --------, one of the representatives from the state of ----, has been elected speaker, and ----- ---, a citizen of the state of ---, has been chosen clerk, and that the house is now ready to proceed to business." [Footnote: Manual of the House of Representatives.]

Each house then orders a committee of three members to be appointed, the joint committee "to wait upon the president of the United States and inform him that a quorum of the two houses has assembled, and that congress is ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make." [Footnote: Manual of the House of Representatives.] It is in order then for the president to forward his message to congress.

The above are the usual proceedings, and they generally occur on the first day of the session.

The seating of the members is by lot, except in the case of certain members privileged by very long experience or otherwise, who are by courtesy permitted to make the first selection. Each member is numbered, and corresponding numbers are placed in a box "and thoroughly intermingled." Then the numbers are drawn from the box successively by a page, the member whose number is drawn first having first choice of seat, and so on. This may be done while the committees are waiting on the president, as above described.

HOW CONTESTED ELECTIONS ARE SETTLED.

"Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members."--Constitution, I., 5, 5.

A contested election resembles very much in its mode of settlement the trial of a civil suit.

1. Within thirty days after the result of the election is made known, the contestant must serve upon the person declared elected by the canvassing board a notice of intention to contest his seat, and the grounds therefor.

2. Within thirty days of receiving said notice, the member-elect must answer it, stating specifically the grounds of his defense, and must serve a copy of this answer upon the contestant.

3. Ninety days are then allowed for the taking of testimony--the first forty to the contestant, the second forty to the member-elect, and the remaining ten to the contestant for testimony in rebuttal.

Testimony may be taken before any United States, state or municipal judge, notary public, or by two justices of the peace. The opposite party must have due notice of the times and places of taking the evidence; but testimony may be taken at several places at the same time. The witnesses are summoned by subpoena served in the usual way. The examination of the witnesses is by the officer issuing the subpoena, but either party may propose questions. The questions and answers are committed to writing, and authenticated.

All the papers in each case, certified, carefully sealed, and the envelopes indorsed with name of the case, are sent by mail to Washington, addressed to the clerk of the house in which is the contested seat.

The matter is referred to the committee on elections. [Footnote: This is the oldest of all the committees, having been established at the beginning of the first congress.] This committee having carefully considered the matter may bring in its report at any time, this being what is known as a "privileged question." The decision is by majority vote of the house interested.

In the meantime the person who has obtained the certificate of election from the state canvassing board is presumed to have been elected, and is treated accordingly.

In order that lack of means may not compel a man to submit to a wrong, and that the real will of the congressional district as expressed in the election may be ascertained, the contestant may be allowed not to exceed two thousand dollars for expenses.

HOW AN IMPEACHMENT CASE IS CONDUCTED.

"The house of representatives ... shall have the sole power of impeachment."--Constitution I. 2: 9.

"The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.'--Ib., I. 3: 6.

"The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."--Ib., II. 4: 17.

The house, having resolved that a certain civil officer be impeached, orders that a committee be appointed to notify the senate of the fact; and to state that "the house of representatives will, in due time, exhibit particular articles of impeachment against him, and make good the same;" and to demand that the senate prepare to try the impeachment.

The house then, on motion, appoints a committee (usually of five members) to prepare carefully the articles of impeachment. [Footnote: This corresponds to the indictment of a grand jury.] The report of this committee, having been considered in committee of the whole, is reported to the house, with such amendments as seem necessary. If the report is agreed to by the house, a committee of five "managers" is appointed to conduct the impeachment on the part of the house.

The senate is then notified by the clerk of the house, that the managers, naming them, have been appointed, and that the articles of impeachment are ready to be exhibited.

The senate having appointed the time when it would resolve itself into a court of impeachment notifies the house. At the appointed time the managers carry the articles to the senate, and on their return report to the house.

The senate then issues a summons to the defendant, ordering him to file his answer with the secretary of the senate by a certain day.

On the day appointed, the house, having resolved itself into committee of the whole, attends the trial in the senate chamber. The next day the house attends similarly, if a reply is to be made to the defendant's answer. During the taking of the testimony only the managers attend, the house devoting itself to its regular business. When the case is ready for argument, the house attends daily, as committee of the whole.

The report of the final action of the senate is made to the house by the chairman of the committee of the whole.

In an impeachment trial the senate is both judge and jury. But, for convenience, the functions of judge are usually performed by the president of the court of impeachment; and a senator may be called upon to testify.

The secretary of the senate corresponds to the clerk of the court, and the sergeant-at-arms corresponds to the sheriff in an ordinary court.

"On the final question whether the impeachment is sustained, the yeas and nays shall be taken on each article of impeachment separately; and if the impeachment shall not, upon any of the articles presented, be sustained by the votes of two-thirds of the members present, a judgment of acquittal shall be entered; but if the person accused in such articles of impeachment shall be convicted upon any of said articles by the votes of two-thirds of the members present, the senate shall proceed to pronounce judgment, and a certified copy of such judgment shall be deposited in the office of the secretary of state." [Footnote: Manual of the United States Senate.] Only seven cases of impeachment before the U.S. senate have occurred. To save space they are shown in tabular form:

Time Name. Office. Charge. Result. 1798 William Blount. U.S. Senator Intrigues with Case dismissed; from Tennessee. Indians. not an "officer"

1803 John Pickering. U.S. district Intemperance Removed from judge, N.H. and malfeasance office. in office.

1804 Samuel Chase. Associate Just. Partiality and Acquitted. U.S. Sup. Ct. injustice.

1830 James Peck. U.S. district Abuse of power. Acquitted. judge, Mo.

1860 West W. U.S. district Treason in Removed and Humphreys judge, Tenn. advocating and disqualified. aiding secession.

1868 Andrew Johnson. President of the Violation of Acquitted by United States. Tenure of one vote. Office act and other crimes.

1876 William W. Sec'y of war. Malfeasance in Acquitted. Belknap. office and accepting bribes.

HOW UNITED STATES SENATORS ARE ELECTED.

"The senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof."--Constitution, I. 3: 1.

The time of this election is the second Tuesday after the meeting and organization of the legislature. If a vacancy occurs in the senate during the session of the legislature, the election occurs on the second Tuesday after notice of the vacancy is received by the legislature.

On the day appointed, the roll of each house being called, each member responds by naming one person for the senatorship. The result of the vote is entered on the journal of each house by the clerk thereof.

The next day at noon, the members of both houses convene in joint assembly, and the journal of each house is read. If the same person has received a majority of all the votes in each house, he is declared elected.

But if no person has received such majority, the joint assembly proceeds to choose, by viva voce vote of each member present, a person for senator. A quorum consists of a majority of each house, and a majority of those present and voting is necessary to a choice.

If no one receives such majority on the first day, the joint assembly meets daily at noon, and takes at least one vote, until a senator is elected.

A certificate of election is made out by the governor, countersigned and authenticated under seal of the state by the secretary of state, and forwarded to the president of the senate of the United States.

HOW THE ELECTORAL VOTE IS COUNTED.

"The president of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of representatives, open all the certificates, and the vote shall then be counted."--Constitution, Amendment XII.

The constitution gives no directions as to the manner of counting. No trouble was experienced, however, until the Hayes-Tilden election. The result of this election depended upon the votes of three states, each of which sent in two conflicting sets of certificates. There being no legal provision for the settlement of such disputes, the famous electoral commission was created to determine which certificates should be counted. It consisted of five senators, five representatives, and five justices of the supreme court.

The gravity of the danger thus revealed made it obviously necessary that some general plan be devised whereby such disputes might be obviated. Though consideration of the subject began at once, and various measures were from time to time proposed, no satisfactory solution was presented until February 3, 1887, when the Electoral Count Bill was passed and received the signature of the president.

An outline of the bill is here given, the principal provisions being the second and sixth as here numbered.

1. The electors shall meet and vote on the second Monday in January following their election. [Footnote: The time of meeting had been the first Wednesday in December. The change was made to give time for the settlement of any disputes, as provided in the second section.]

2. If there be any disputes as to the choice of the electors, they are to be settled in the respective states in the way that each state shall determine, provided that the laws governing the matter shall have been passed before the election, and that disputes shall have been settled at least six days before the time fixed for the meeting of the electors. A report of the contest and its mode of settlement shall be made by the governor, and forwarded under seal to the secretary of state of the United States.

3. As soon as practicable after it shall have been ascertained who have been chosen electors, the executive of the state shall transmit under the seal of the state to the secretary of state of the United States the names of the electors, with an abstract of the popular vote for each candidate for elector. The executive shall also deliver to the electors, on or before the day of meeting, three copies of said certificate, one of which the electors shall enclose with each "list of persons voted for as president and vice-president."

4. As soon as practicable after receiving the certificates as aforesaid, the secretary of state shall publish them in full in such newspaper as he shall designate; and at the first meeting of congress thereafter he shall transmit to each house a copy in full of each certificate received.

5. The counting of the vote will take place, as heretofore, on the second Wednesday in February following the meeting of the electors. At one o'clock in the afternoon the senate and house of representatives meet in the hall of the house of representatives, and the president of the senate takes the chair.

"Two tellers shall be previously 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 president of the senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened, presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the states, beginning with the letter A; and said tellers, having then read the same in the presence and hearing of the two houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates; and the votes having been ascertained and counted in the manner and according to the rules in this act provided the result of the same shall be delivered to the president of the senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected president and vice-president of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered on the journals of the two houses."

6. Upon the reading of each certificate the president of the senate asks whether there be any objections to it. Objection must be made in writing, and must "state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof." To entitle it to consideration, the objection must be signed by at least one senator and one representative.

When all the objections to any paper have been received and read, the senate withdraws, and the two houses proceed separately to consider them.

If from any state but one set of electors are certified, and the certification has been done as prescribed in section three, the certificate cannot be rejected. But if not properly certified, the two houses acting concurrently "may reject the vote or votes when they agree that such vote or votes have not been so regularly given by those whose appointment has been so certified."

If more than one return has been received from any state, those votes only shall be counted which have been determined as provided in section two.

If two or more returns appear, each certified by authorities claiming to be the lawful tribunal of the state, the vote shall be counted which the two houses, acting separately, "concurrently decide is supported by the decision of such state so authorized by its laws."

If more than one return comes in from any state, no determination such as is prescribed in section two having been made, the two houses concurrently decide which, if any, of the votes shall be counted. If in such a case the houses disagree, the votes of those electors shall be counted whose appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the state.

When the case in question has been disposed of, the joint session is resumed and the counting continued.

7. In the joint meeting, the president of the senate has authority to preserve order. No debate is allowed, and no question can be put, "except to either house on a motion to withdraw."

8. When discussing an objection, in separate session, no member can speak more than once, and then for not longer than five minutes. The entire time for discussion is limited to two hours.

9. Provision is made for the seating of every one entitled to a seat on the floor of the house; and the act declares that "such joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the count of electoral votes shall be completed and the result declared."

Some time after the passage of the law, it was discovered that a strange omission had been made. By the old law, the electors in each state were required to appoint a messenger to take one of the certificates of votes cast, and deliver it to the president of the senate on or before the first Wednesday in January. By the new law the electors do not meet until the second Monday in January. The inconsitency was remedied, however, by a supplementary act, providing that certificates shall be forwarded "as soon as possible," and authorizing the president of the senate to send for missing certificates on the fourth Monday in January.

HOW FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE ARE EXTRADITED.

Extradition is "the delivering up to justice of fugitive criminals by the authorities of one state or country to those of another." [Footnote: Lalor's Cyclopedia of Political Science.]

The duty of extradition between the states of this republic is imposed by the federal constitution, IV. 2; and the mode of procedure is prescribed by an act of congress passed in 1793. The term "other crimes" used in the constitution is generally interpreted "so as to include any offense against the laws of the state or territory making the demand." On the question whether the executive upon whom demand is made is bound to comply, the federal courts have decided that his duty in the matter is imperative; that he must deliver up the fugitive, unless the accused shall also be under prosecution for breach of the laws of the state to which he has fled.

The procedure is this: "The accused must be indicted in the state in which the crime was committed, or a charge must be brought against him before a magistrate, who, if satisfied that the charge is true, issues a warrant for the arrest of the criminal. A copy of the indictment or affidavit is forwarded to the executive of the state, and he issues to the executive of the state to which the fugitive has gone, a requisition for his surrender. If the executive upon whom the requisition is made is satisfied that the papers are regular and the proof of the crime sufficient," he issues a warrant "for the arrest and delivery of the accused to the agent of the state making the demand."

The expense of these proceedings is borne by the state making the demand.

Between nations extradition is regarded as a matter of comity, and is based upon special treaty. "In this country, power to make such a surrender is conferred upon the executive [Footnote: This of course means the president, as states cannot treat with foreign powers.] only where the United States are bound by treaty, and have a reciprocal right to claim similar surrender from the other power." In relation to the crimes for which extradition may be demanded, it may be said in general that they are specified in the treaty, and are such offenses as are recognized as crimes by both countries. Consequently no two treaties are exactly alike. Generally only things wrong in themselves, not things wrong by local prohibition, are included. Offenses merely political are not included; and "as opinions differ in different countries on what constitutes a political crime, the surrendering nation is very properly made the judge of this question."

As a corollary to the preceding, it is a well-established rule of international law, that the surrendered party can be tried only on the allegations for which extradition has been accorded. This principle is also generally recognized among the states.

HOW A COURT MARTIAL IS CONDUCTED.

A court martial is "a court consisting of military or naval officers, for the trial of offenses against military or naval laws."

Courts martial are of three classes, general, garrison, and regimental. General courts martial consists of from five to thirteen officers, appointed by a general or by the president. Garrison and regimental courts martial consist of three officers appointed respectively by the garrison and the regimental commanders. Only general courts martial have jurisdiction of capital offenses.

There are two marked characteristics of courts martial. First, the accused is tried, not as in a civil court by his peers, but by his superiors. Second, there is no distinction between judge and jury; the officers comprising the court act in both capacities--they determine the fact and apply the law. Sentence is by majority vote, except that to pronounce sentence of death a two-thirds vote is necessary.

For convenience, one of the officers is designated to act as president by the order convening the court. As prosecutor in the case, and also as the responsible adviser of the court, a judge-advocate is appointed, usually by the same order. The accused is entitled to counsel; but if he is unable to obtain any, the judge-advocate "must insist upon all rights belonging to the accused under the law and the evidence."

The "findings" of a court martial must in each case be transmitted to the convening authority and by it be approved, before being carried into execution. "In time of peace, no sentence of a court martial involving loss of life or the dismissal of a commissioned officer, and either in time of peace or war no sentence against a general officer, can be carried into effect without approval by the president of the United States."

The jurisdiction of courts martial extend only over offenses committed by persons enlisted in the military or the naval service of the country.

WHY AND HOW TERRITORIES ARE ORGANIZED.

The organization of territories in the United States is for two purposes: to provide good government while population is sparse, and to encourage their development into self-governing commonwealths, and their incorporation into the federal system as rapidly as possible. (See page 217.)

Territories are organized by congress. In the organic act the boundaries of the territory are defined, and a system of government is established. "The governor and the administrative and judicial officers are appointed by the president, but a territorial legislature is entrusted with limited powers, subject to the approval of congress."

Each of the several territories may elect one delegate to a seat in the United States Congress. The delegate may speak on subjects in which his territory is interested, but he cannot vote.

WHY AND HOW THE PUBLIC LANDS ARE SURVEYED.

The public lands are not meant to be held forever by the general government. They are designed to be owned and occupied by American citizens. To divide the land into pieces and thus to facilitate the description and the location of any piece, is the principal purpose of the survey. Incidentally the portions six miles square serve as bases for the political divisions called towns, and this was part of the original plan.

The "old thirteen" and Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia were surveyed in a very irregular way. Lands were described as bounded by lines running from stumps to stones, thence to a creek and down the main channel thereof. In 1785, a committee of the continental congress was appointed, with Thomas Jefferson as chairman, to devise a simple and uniform mode of surveying the public lands in what was about to be organized as the Northwest Territory.

The most noticeable peculiarity of the system is that it is rectangular. A prime meridian is first determined, then a baseline crossing it at right angles. Then from points on the baseline six miles and multiples thereof from the meridian, lines are run due north. And parallels to the base-line are run at distances of six miles. The approximate squares thus formed are called townships. The rows of townships running north and south are called ranges. Townships are numbered north and south from the base-line; ranges east and west from the meridian. The diagram on page 341 illustrates the system.

Since meridians all terminate at the poles, the lines between ranges, being meridians, gradually approach each other as they go northward. The lines, then, soon become so much less than six miles apart that a new beginning has to be made. The parallel upon which this correction is made is naturally called the correction line. Corrections were at first made every thirty-six miles, but they are now made every twenty-four miles.

The first prime meridian starts at the mouth of the Great Miami and forms the western boundary of Ohio. The second prime meridian begins at the mouth of Little Blue Creek, in Indiana. The third, at the mouth of the Ohio; the fourth at the mouth of the Illinois; and the fifth at the mouth of the Arkansas. [Illustration: RANGES AND TOWNSHIPS] [Illustration: The numbering of sections in a township.] [Illustration: Divisions of a section.] The first prime meridian has several base-lines. The base-line of the second meridian crosses it about twenty-four miles north of its point of beginning, and the base-line of the third is a continuation of that of the second. The principal base-line of the fourth meridian coincides with the southern boundary of Wisconsin. It has also a short base-line about six miles north of Quincy, Ills. The base-line of the fifth meridian is just south of Little Rock, Ark.

From the first meridian most of Ohio is surveyed; from the second, Indiana and the eastern twenty-four miles of Illinois; from the third, the rest of Illinois, except a small portion north of Quincy; from the fourth, the portion of Illinois just referred to, all of Wisconsin, and that part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi; from the fifth, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi, and the Dakotas east of the Missouri.

The sixth coincides with meridian 97° 22', west of Greenwich. From it are surveyed Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota south and west of the Missouri, Wyoming, and all of Colorado except the valley of the Rio Grande del Norte.

Michigan, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and the states and territories in the far west are surveyed from special meridians.

HOW TO SECURE PUBLIC LANDS.

As a general rule, only surveyed lands are subject to entry. Under the mineral land laws, however, claims can be located upon unsurveyed lands.

The public lands are divided as to price into two classes: those whose minimum price is $1.25 per acre and those whose minimum is $2.50 per acre. The latter, usually called "double minimum lands," are in most cases the alternate sections reserved in railroad or other public land grants. In some cases Indian reservations restored to the public domain have been rated differently, the price varying from below the single minimum to above the double minimum.

The remaining public lands are subject to entry under the homestead law, the desert land law, and the timber and stone act; by the location of scrip; and as town-site entries. Mineral lands are subject to entry only under the mining laws; and special laws provide for the disposal of coal lands and lands containing petroleum. Any person who is the head of a family or is over twenty-one years old, and who is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his or her intention to become such, may enter 160 acres of land without cost, except the land-office fees provided by law, inhabiting, cultivating, and making actual residence thereon for the period of five years; or such a settler may at the expiration of fourteen months from date of settlement commute the entry by paying the government price for the land.

No part of the public domain is now (since 1889) subject to private cash entry, except in the state of Missouri and in cases where Congress has made special provision therefor. The preemption and timber culture laws were repealed in 1891. It has also been provided that no public lands of the United States shall be sold by public sale, except abandoned military reservations of less than 5,000 acres, mineral lands and other lands of a special nature, and isolated tracts that have been subject to homestead entry for three years after the surrounding land has been disposed of.

HOW SLAVERY WAS ABOLISHED IN THE SEVERAL STATES.

The slave trade was prohibited by congress in 1808. From that time on it was a felony to bring slaves into the United States.

Slavery never legally existed in the states carved out of the Northwest Territory. It was forbidden by the ordinance of 1787.

Vermont abolished it in forming her state constitution in 1777. [Footnote: Before her admission into the Union.]

Massachusetts, by constitution, 1780.

Pennsylvania, gradual abolition by statute, began in 1780; had 64 in 1840.

New Hampshire, by constitution, 1783.

Rhode Island and Connecticut, gradual abolition, 1784.

New York began in 1799, finished July 4, 1827.

New Jersey began in 1804, but had 18 in 1860.

By the Missouri compromise, 1820, slavery ceased "in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 36 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude," [Footnote: Thomas amendment to act for admitting Missouri.] except Missouri. This part of the act was, in the Dred Scott case, declared by the supreme court to be invalid, still a provision forbidding slavery found its way into the constitution of each of the states afterward seeking admission.

By the emancipation proclamation, Jan. 1, 1863, the slaves of those in arms against the United States were declared free.

The thirteenth amendment, adopted 1865, abolished slavery in all parts of the United States.

HOW VOTING IS DONE IN LEGISLATIVE BODIES. [Footnote: See also Among the Lawmakers, pp. 168-70.]

Acclamation.--The most common way of voting on ordinary questions is by acclamation; that is, when a question is put those in favor of it say "aye," and then those opposed say "no." In this case, a majority of those voting prevails. This is sometimes called voting viva voce.

Division.--If the presiding officer is uncertain as to which side is in the majority, he may call for a division, or this may be demanded by any member. Then those voting in the affirmative stand and are counted, after which those voting in the negative do similarly.

Yea and Nay.--On important questions in congress, or on any question by demand of one-fifth of the members, the vote is by "yeas and nays" that is, the roll is called, and each member responds "yea" or "nay." In some states, including Minnesota, all bills must be voted on in this way, and must receive a majority of the total membership in order to pass.

HOW LAWS ARE MADE. [Footnote: The Minnesota process, given as a type.]

Framing a Bill.--A bill is a proposed law. The framing or drawing up of a bill may be done by any person. For instance, a citizen desiring legislation on any matter may formulate a bill for consideration by the legislature. But many requests for legislation come in the form of petitions, in which case the member to whom the matter is committed by the petitioners usually frames the bill. Many bills originate in committee, some of them as substitutes.

Bringing in.--At the time set in the daily order of business for introducing bills, the member announces his bill by title, which should indicate the matter considered therein, and sends it to the clerk's desk.

First Reading.--No bill can pass without at least three readings. When a bill is first presented, the clerk reads it at the table, and hands it to the speaker, who, rising, states to the house the title of the bill, and that this is the first reading of it.

Commitment.--Unless objection is made, the bill, if not one which has been formulated by a committee, is then referred for careful consideration to a committee, standing or special. The number of subjects coming before a legislative body is too great to permit the initial consideration of each by the whole body. It is a note-worthy fact that our lawmaking is virtually committee legislation. All bills for appropriating money shall before passage be referred to the finance committee.

Second Reading.--When reported favorably by the committee, with amendments, such amendments must be read in full, and if they are adopted the bill passes to its second reading, which is by title only. If the bill is of a general nature, it is printed and placed on the General Orders or list of bills ready for consideration by the committee of the whole.

Committee of the Whole.-This consists of the entire membership of the house. Its work is to perfect bills before they come up for final passage. To this end great freedom of debate is permitted. This is the last opportunity to offer amendments, except by unanimous consent. When the house resolves itself into committee, the regular presiding officer leaves the chair after designating a member to act as chairman. When the committee rises, the presiding officer resumes the chair and the chairman of the committee reports its action. Bills reported favorably are engrossed, that is, rewritten neatly as amended, and are placed on the Calendar, or list of bills ready for third reading.

Third Reading.--This is in full, and the question is on the passage of the bill. If passed the bill is sent to the other house, with the announcement that it has passed the first house.

Action in other House.--The bill is treated in the other house as in the first. If passed, it is returned similarly to the house in which it originated. If passed with amendments, these are considered. ENROLLMENT.-- When it has passed both houses, the bill is plainly and accurately written on parchment, under supervision of the committee on enrolled bills.

SIGNING.--The enrolled bill is signed by the presiding officer of each house, and, if he approves it, by the executive.

DISPOSITION.--The bill is then carried by the executive to the secretary of state, who deposits it among the archives. Copies are made for publication. [Footnote: Read Among the Lawmakers, pp. 60-64.]