stands as the judgment of the house. But it,
like every other section of a report, is open
to addition.
Mr. CHAMBERS. That is where we differ.
The section, after the. addition, is not the sec-
tion which existed before the addition. That
is a clear proposition. When the house has
stated that a particular form of words shall
compose that section, we certainly do not ad-
here to that decision when we say that the
section shall consist of that particular form of
words together with others added to them.—
The addition may change its whole charac-
ter. I do not. know what the addition is
that is now offered, it may be acceptable to
myself, but I protest against this decision as
a rule of order. The chair ruled that the
section was adopted under the previous
question; and being adopted, I say that it
cannot be adtied to or otherwise amended.
Mr. CLARKE. I can easily show that, un-
der the construction of the chair, the result
will be that the previous question will never
accomplish anything; because after the house
has voted down a particular phrase we can
add something else; so that the house will
never be in the position to close a pending
section. In other words, calling the previous
question will still leave asection open to ad-
ditions interminable.
The PRESIDENT. On the second reading of
a bill the sections are taken up seriatim. So
long as they continue in the possession of the
convention they are subject to amendment —
It is not until the president propounds the
question: are there any further amend-
ments? and receives no response, that the
section is passed over. It then passes out of
the possession of the convention. In this
case the previous question has? been called on
the report of a special committee to which
various amendments have been submitted.—
The section has been adopted by the conven-
tion, which only discharges the special com-
mittee and places the same in the legislative
report. But that so inserted in the legisla-
tive report does not preclude an amendment
consistent therewith, and which the house
choose to incorporate in it. The convention
may wish to add to it something that expresses
more fully the views of the convention.—
The construction which the gentleman puts
upon it would deprive the convention of the
power to add to this section of the legislative
report. If the proposition submitted by the
gentleman from Allegany (Mr. Hebb) is in-
consistent with the section as adopted, it
would be rejected; hut, it may be germain to the
proposition; it may embrace another distinct
feature, and the convention may adopt it.
But they cannot change a solitary word of the
section as adopted, except by reconsideration.
Mr. CLARKE. I should agree perfectly with
the ruling of the chair, if it were not that the
previous question was called. There is the
difficulty. |
The PRESIDENT, The previous question is
not intended to deprive the convention of the
privilege secured to all purl iamentary bodies
of amending a pending proposition in such
mode as they may deem proper, It is intend-
to bring the house to a direct vote upon
the pending propositioin and the pending
amendments.
Mr. PUGH. I submit that the section of
the legislative committee bus not been voted
upon at rail under the previous question.
Mr. HEBB. The rule of the convention is
this:
"Rule 54. The previous question shall be
always in order in convention, and shall be
in this form: 'Shall the main question be
now put?' It shall only be admitted when
demanded by a majority of the members pre-
sent, and its effect shall be to put an end to
all debate, and to bring the convention to a
direct vote upon pending amendments, and
the special matter to which they relate."
The convention has voted upon the pend-
ing amendments and the special matter to
which they relate, and the previous question
is exhausted. Now I propose to go further
and add something,
Mr. CLARKE, Can we debate the amend-
ment offered by the gentleman ?
i The PRESIDENT. Of course. It is an inde-
pendent proposition. The section stands
now as a part of the legislative report, just as
it would if the previous question had never
been called. The main question being a con-
currence in the majority report of the special
committee, the convention, by their action
on that report, determines whether the sec-
tion rec ommended by them shall be inserted
or not into the report of the committee on the
legislative department. The previous ques-
tion only extends to the concurrence or non-
concurrence in the report of the special com-
mittee.
Mr. STIRLING. As I understand the ques-
tion, my impression is that the chair is cor-
rect upon the ground he has stated; that the
! main question before the convention was the
[ majority report of the special committee, and
not a section of the report of the legislative
committee. The matter set down for deci-
sion to-day was the majority report of the
special committee, and when we were through
with it and ready to adopt it, the previous
question was called, and it was voted upon
under that. We have not taken a vote upon
the section of the legislative article yet. Af-
ter we had taken a vote upon the report of .
the special committee the previous question
was exhausted.
Mr.NEGLEY. The committee recommends
the insertion of this section as the 39th sec-
tion, and it is numbered in their report as the '
39th section of the legislative article. Was
it recommended as an independent proposi-
tion? Certainly not; but as the 39th article
in the report. It is adopted as the 39th arti- |
