42 CONSTITUTION OF MARYLAND. [ART. III

tion of five dollars per diem for every day he shall attend the session,
but not for such days as he may he absent, unless absent on account, of
sickness or by leave of the House of which he is a member; and he-
shall also receive such mileage as may be allowed by law, not exceeding
twenty cents per mile; and the presiding officer of each House shall
receive an additional compensation of three dollars per day. When the
Creneral Assembly shall be convened by Proclamation of the Governor,,
the session shall not continue longer than thirty days, and in such ease-
the compensation shall be the same as herein prescribed.

The meaning of the term "general assembly" as contained in this section,,
referred to in determining that the Governor was not embraced in that
term as used in article 14, section 1—see notes thereto. Warfield v. Van-
diver, 101 Md. 111.

Sec. 16. No book, or other printed matter, not appertaining to the-
business of the session, shall be purchased or subscribed for, for the use-
of the members of the General Assembly, or be distributed among them,
at the public expense.

Sec. 17. No Senator or Delegate, after qualifying as such, notwith-
standing he may thereafter resign, shall during the whole period of'
time for which he was elected be eligible to any office which shall have
been created, or the salary or profits of which shall have been increased,,
during such term.

Sec. 18. No Senator or Delegate shall be liable in any civil action,
or criminal prosecution whatever for words spoken in debate.

Sec. 19. Each House shall be judge of the qualifications and elec-
tions of its members, as prescribed by the Constitution and Laws of the-
State j shall appoint its own officers, determine the rules of its own pro-
ceedings, punish a member for disorderly or disrespectful behavior, and
with the consent of two-thirds of its whole number of members elected,,
expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the
same offense.

Since, under this section, the senate is the only tribunal which has the'
power to decide whether a vacancy in the office of state senator exists,
the courts have no jurisdiction to determine that question. Covington v.
Buffett, 90 Md. 569.

If a bill is constitutionally passed, no inquiry will be made as to
whether the senate in its reconsideration thereof, complied with its rule
on that subject; the presumption is conclusive that it has done so. Balti-
more, etc., Warehouse Co. v. Canton Lumber Co., 118 Md. 149. And see
Lankford v. Somerset County, 73 Md. 149.

Sec. 20. A majority of the whole number of members elected to-
each House shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business;
bat a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the-
attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties-,
as each House may prescribe.

Sec. 21. The doors of each House and of the Committee of the
Whole shall be open, except when the business is such as ought to be
kept secret.