On motion, it was

Resolved, That the rules and orders of proceeding established by the late House of Representatives, shall be deemed and taken to be the rules and orders of proceeding to be observed in this House, until a revision or alteration of the same shall take place.

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to prepare and report standing rules and orders of proceeding to be observed in this House; and that Mr. Varnum, Mr. Giles, Mr. Leib, Mr. Davenport, and Mr. Henderson, be the said committee.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House cause the members to be furnished, during the present session, with three newspapers to each member, such as the members, respectively, shall choose, to be delivered at their lodgings.

Mr. Samuel Smith, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled and ready to receive any communication he may think proper to make to them, reported that the committee had performed that service, and that the President signified to them that he would make a communication to this House, to-morrow, by message.

63. Rules and Orders of the House of Representatives.1

First.-Touching the duty of the Speaker.

He shall take the Chair every day at the hour to which the House shall have adjourned on the preceding day; shall immediately call the members to order; and, on the appearance of a quorum, shall cause the Journal of the preceding day to be read.

He shall preserve decorum and order; may speak to points of order, in preference to other members, rising from his seat for that purpose, and shall decide questions of order, subject to an appeal to the House by any two members.

He shall rise to put a question, but may state it sitting. Questions shall be distinctly put in this form, to wit: “As

1 Annals of Congress, 7 Cong., 1 Sess. (1801-2), 409-15.

many as are of opinion that (as the case may be) say Ay;" and, after the affirmative voice is expressed, "As many as are of a contrary opinion, say No." If the Speaker doubts, or a division be called for, the House shall divide; those in the affirmative of the question shall first rise from their seats, and afterwards those in the negative. If the Speaker still doubts, or a count be required, the Speaker shall name two members, one from each side, to tell the numbers in the affirmative; which being reported, he shall then name two others, one from each side, to tell those in the negative; which being also reported, he shall rise, and state the decision to the House.

All committees shall be appointed by the Speaker, unless otherwise specially directed by the House, in which case they shall be appointed by ballot; and if, upon such ballot, the number required shall not be elected by a majority of the votes given, the House shall proceed to a second ballot, in which a plurality of votes shall prevail; and in case a greater number than are required to compose or complete the committee shall have an equal number of votes, the House shall proceed to a further ballot or ballots.

In all cases of ballot by the House, the Speaker shall vote; in other cases he shall not vote, unless the House be equally divided, or unless his vote, if given to the majority, will make the division equal; and, in case of such equal division, the question shall be lost.

All acts, addresses, and joint resolutions, shall be signed by the Speaker; and all writs, warrants, or subpoenas, issued by order of the House, shall be under his hand and seal, attested by the Clerk.

In case of any disturbance or disorderly conduct in the gallery or lobby, the Speaker (or Chairman of the Committee of the whole House) shall have power to order the same to be cleared.

Stenographers shall be admitted; and the Speaker shall assign such places to them on the floor, as shall not interfere with the convenience of the House.

Five standing committees shall be appointed at the commencement of each session, viz:

A Committee of Elections, to consist of seven members;

A Committee of Claims, to consist of seven members;

A Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, to consist of seven members;

A Committee of Ways and Means, to consist of seven members;

And a Committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business, to consist of three members. . .

It shall be the duty of the said Committee of Ways and Means to take into consideration all such reports of the Treasury Department, and all such propositions relative to the revenue, as may be referred to them by the House; to inquire into the state of the public debt, of the revenue, and of the expenditures, and to report, from time to time, their opinion hereon; to examine into the state of the several public departments, and particularly into the laws making appropriations of moneys, and to report whether the moneys have been disbursed conformably with such laws; and, also, to report, from time to time, such provisions and arrangements, as may be necessary to add to the economy of the departments, and the accountability of their officers.

Thirdly. Of Bills.

Every bill shall be introduced by motion for leave, or by an order of the House on the report of a committee, and, in either case, a committee to prepare the same shall be appointed. In cases of a general nature, one day's notice, at least, shall be given of the motion to bring in a bill; and every such motion may be committed.

Every bill shall receive three several readings in the House, previous to its passage; and all bills shall be despatched in order as they were introduced, unless where the House shall direct otherwise; but no bill shall be twice read on the same day, without special order of the House.

The first reading of the bill shall be for information, and if opposition be made to it the question shall be, "Shall the bill be rejected?" If no opposition be made, or if the question to reject be negatived, the bill shall go to its second reading without a question.

Upon the second reading of the bill, the Speaker shall state it as ready for commitment or engrossment; and if committed, then a question shall be, whether to a select or standing committee, or to a Committee of the whole House; if to a committee of the whole House, the House shall determine on what day. But if the bill be ordered to be engrossed, the House shall appoint the day when it shall be read the third time.

After commitment and report thereof to the House, a bill may be recommitted, or at any time before its passage.

All bills ordered to be engrossed, shall be executed in a fair round hand.

When a bill shall pass, it shall be certified by the Clerk, noting the day of its passing at the foot thereof. . . .

Joint rules and Orders of the Two Houses.

In every case of an amendment of a bill agreed to in one House, and dissented to in the other, if either House shall request a conference, and appoint a committee for that purpose, and the other House shall also appoint a committee to confer, such committees shall, at a convenient hour, to be agreed on by their Chairman, meet in the conference chamber, and state to each other verbally or in writing, as either shall choose, the reason of their respective Houses for and against the amendment, and confer freely thereon.

When a message shall be sent from the Senate to the House of Representatives, it shall be announced at the door of the House, by the Doorkeeper, and shall be respectfully communicated to the Chair, by the person by whom it may be sent. The same ceremony shall be observed, when a message shall be sent from the House of Representatives to the Senate. Messages shall be sent by such persons, as a sense of propriety, in each House, may determine to be proper.

While bills are on their passage between the two Houses, they shall be on paper, and under the signature of the Secretary or Clerk of each House respectively.

After a bill shall have passed both Houses, it shall be duly enrolled on parchment, by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, or the Secretary of the Senate, as the bill may have originated in the one or the other House, before it shall be presented to the President of the United States.

When bills are enrolled, they shall be examined by a joint committee of one from the Senate, and two from the House of Representatives, appointed as a standing committee for that purpose, who shall carefully compare the enrolment with the engrossed bills, as passed in the two Houses, and, correcting any errors that may be discovered in the enrolled bills, make their report, forthwith, to the respective Houses.

After examination and report, each bill shall be signed in the respective Houses, first by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and then by the President of the Senate.

After a bill shall have thus been signed in each House, it shall be presented by the said committee to the President of the United States, for his approbation, it being first endorsed on the back of the roll, certifying in which House the same originated; which endorsement shall be signed by the Secretary or Clerk (as the case may be) of the House in which the same did originate, and shall be entered on the journal of each House. The said committee shall report the day of presentation to the President, which time shall also be carefully entered on the Journal of each House.

All orders, resolutions, and votes, which are to be presented to the President of the United States, for his approbation, shall also, in the same manner, be previously enrolled, examined, and signed, and shall be presented in the same manner, and by the same committee, as provided in case of bills.

When the Senate and House of Representatives shall judge it proper to make a joint address to the President, it shall be presented to him in his audience chamber, by the President of the Senate, in the presence of the Speaker and both Houses.