by this House, and it cuts off debate and
brings you to a direct vote upon pending
amendment?. Then if another amendment is
offered it is perfectly competent to call the
previous question upon it and stop debate.
So that if you adopt the amendment of the
gentleman from Calvert, you will have full
power to stop debate when you desire. The
only effect of his amendment is not to deprive
the House, after voting upon any direct pro-
position to amend, of the power to make any
further amendment it may desire. I would
like the gentleman from Baltimore city (Mr.
Daniel) to answer the question I put to him.
Mr. DANIEL. All I have to say is, that
while the majority of this House do not want
power to be used improperly, they do not want
to deprive themselves of the power to cut off
improper dehate and improper amendments.
Mr. KENNARD. While the minority do not
seem willing to trust the majority, the major-
ity are willing to trust themselves.
Mr. HEBB. I hope the amendment will not
be adopted, as it will destroy the whole effect
of the (amendment submitted by myself, and
which this Convention has adopted. I only
rise, however, for the purpose of informing
the gentleman from Prince George's, (Mr,
Clarke, ) that he will find on page 81 of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, the
same rule we have adopted here. He will
also find on page 305 of the Journal of Pro-
ceedings of the Convention of 1851, of this
State, the identical words of my amendment,
which was then submitted to that Conven-
tion; and on page 313 he will find that the
Convention adopted that rule. The practice
in the House of Delegates and in the Senate,
not to call the previous question upon amendments,
is an exemption to the general rule. 1
simply propose that we shall be governed by
the same rule as the House of Representatives.
The question being taken upon the amendment
submitted by Mr. Briscoe, it was not
agreed to.
Rule 55 was then read, as follows :
"No standing rule or order shall he re-
scinded or changed without one day's notice
being given of the motion therefor."
Mr. THOMAS moved to amend by adding the
following:
" And a majority of the members present
shall be sufficient to rescind, alter or change
any standing rule or order."
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I would suggest to the
gentleman that his amendment does not pro-
pose to change one particle the rule as it
now stands.
Mr. THOMAS, it makes an addition to it.
Mr. BRISCOE. The rule already adopted
relates only to the suspension of the rules;
but the proposition of the gentleman from
Baltimore is simply to nullify the very work
we have just done. To rescind is to destroy ;
to suspend a rule is merely to defer its opera-
tion so far as it relates to the pending propo- |
sition. I think the amendment now submit-
ted to the Convention is much more objectionable
than the other and I hope it will be
withdrawn.
Mr. THOMAS withdrew his amendment.
No further amendment being offered to
Rule 55—
Mr. CLARKE said: I offer the following as
an additional rule.
Rule 66. It shall be a standing order of
the day, throughout the session for the Con
vention to resolve itself into a Committee of
the Whole on the condition of the State."
I desire simply to say that when we had
under consideration the rule in reference to
the Committee of the Whole, and an amend-
ment was offered to the report as it came from
the committee, requiring a majority of the
members present, when any subject was under
consideration, lo take the Convention into
Committee of the Whole upon any subject
matter, the statement was made that that
conformed to the rules of the House of Repre-
sentatives. So far as it goes it does conform
to those rules but the point was taken at
that time that there was also a rule of the
House of Representatives which makes it a
standing order of the day that the House
should resolve itself into a Committee of the
Whole on the State of the Union. The ma-
jority here have intimated that they only
desire to apply the same rules to this Conven-
tion that apply to the House of Representatives.
I therefore offer this rule. as being
precisely in accordance with the rules of the
House of Representatives: and gentlemen will
find that the adoption of this rule, with the
report of the Committee on Rules, as amended
by the Convention the other day, will give us
the same rules that exist in the House of Re-
presentatives.
Mr. BRISCOE. I will simply state that I
shall vote for this additional rule. because,
although so far as the rules of the House of
Representatives of the Congress of the United-
States are concerned, they do admit of the
previous question being called upon amend-
ments offered upon the second reading of a
bill, vet the minority there has the privilege
of going into Committee of the Whole at any
time, and while in Committee of the Whole
it is not competent to move the previous
question. Therefore, so far as that rule ap-
plies to the House of Representatives, it is
perfectly harmless; otherwise I have no doubt
the rule of the House of Delegates would be
applied to the House of Representatives,
Mr. DANIEL. I rise to a point of order.
We halve already adopted a rule that it shall
require a vole of the majority of the members
present to go into Committee of the Whole.
It is therefore not in order now, before we
get through, to offer an amendment estab-
lishing a standing rule that the Convention
shall, each day, go into Committee of the
Whole without any vote. |
