BOND.

Arms.

The Sergeant-at-Arms shall give bond, with surety, of Sergeant-atto the United States, in a sum not less than five nor more than ten thousand dollars, at the discretion of the Speaker, and with such surety as the Speaker may approve, faithfully to account for the money coming into his hands for the pay of members."-Rule 26.

The Clerk shall, within thirty days after he enters upon of Clerk. the duties of his office, give bond to the United States, with one or more sureties, to be approved by the Comptroller of the Treasury, in the penal sum of twenty thou sand dollars, with condition for the faithful application and disbursement of the contingent fund of the House." -Stat. at Large, Vol. III, p. 212.

BOOKS.

"If any books shall hereafter be ordered to and received by members of Congress by a resolution of either or both houses of Congress, the price paid for the same shall be deducted from the compensation provided for such member or members: Provided, however, That this shall not extend to books ordered to be printed by the public printer during the Congress for which the said member shall have been elected.”—Stat. at Large, Vol. XI, p. 49.

BRIBERY.

of

member, breach of

An offer to bribe a member is held to be a breach of Attempted, the privileges of the House.-Journals, 1, 4, p. 389; 1, privilege. 15, pp. 117, 154; Manual, p. 59.

Congress.

By the act of February 26, 1853, it is provided "that of members of if any person or persons shall, directly or indirectly, promise, offer, or give, or cause or procure to be promised, offered, or given, any money, goods, right in action, bribe, present, or reward, or any promise, contract, undertaking, obligation, or security for the payment or delivery of any money, goods, right in action, bribe, present, or reward, or any other valuable thing whatever, to any member of the Senate or House of Representatives, after his election as such member, and either before or after he shall have qualified and taken his seat, or to any officer

the House.

of the United States, or person holding any place of profit or trust, or discharging any official function under or in connection with any department of the government of the United States, or under the Senate or House of of employés of Representatives of the United States, with intent to influence his vote or decision on any question, matter, cause, or proceeding which may then be pending, or may by law, or under the Constitution of the United States, be brought before him in his official capacity, or in his place of trust or profit, and shall be convicted thereof, such person or persons so offering, promising, or giving, or causing or procuring to be promised, offered, or given, any such money, goods, right in action, bribe, present, or reward, or any promise, contract, undertaking, obligation, or security for the payment or delivery of any money, goods, right in action, bribe, present, or reward, or other valuable thing whatever; Acceptance of and the member, officer, or person who shall in any

bribes.

Penalty for.

Reading of the Journal.

Unfinished business of preceding day considered.

wise accept or receive the same, or any part thereof, shall be liable to indictment as for a high crime and misdemeanor in any court of the United States having jurisdiction for the trial of crimes and misdemeanors, and shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not exceeding three times the amount so offered, promised, or given, and imprisoned in a penitentiary not exceeding three years; and the person convicted of so accepting or receiving the same, or any part thereof, if an officer or person holding any such place of trust or profit as aforesaid, shall forfeit his office or place; and any person so convicted under this section shall forever be disqualified to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”—Stat. at Large, Vol. X, p. 171.

BUSINESS-DAILY ORDER OF.

"The Speaker shall take the chair every day precisely 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.”— Rule 1.

"The consideration of the unfinished business in which the House may be engaged at an adjournment shall be

resumed as soon as the Journal of the next day is read, and at the same time each day thereafter until disposed of."-Rule 56.

mittees called for,

"As soon as the Journal is read, and the unfinished Reports of combusiness in which the House was engaged at the last preceding adjournment has been disposed of, reports from committees shall be called for and disposed of; in doing which the Speaker shall call upon each standing com mittee in regular order, and then upon select committees; and if the Speaker shall not get through the call upon the committees before the House passes to other business, he shall resume the next call where he left offgiving preference to the report last under consideration: Provided, That whenever any committee shall have occupied the morning hour on two days, it shall not be in order for such committee to report further until the other committees shall have been called in their turn. [But this proviso does not prevent the House from occupying the morning hour on more than two days in the consideration of a report previously made.]-Rule 51.-(See MORNING HOUR ON MONDAYS.)

and Territories for

resolutions

bills on leave.

and

"Reports from committees having been presented and Call of States disposed of, the Speaker shall call for resolutions from the members of each State and delegate from each Territory, beginning with Maine and the Territory last organized, alternately; and they shall not be debated on the very day of their being presented, nor on any day assigned by the House for the receipt of resolutions, unless where the House shall direct otherwise, but shall lie on the table to be taken up in the order in which they were presented; and if on any day the whole of the States and Territories shall not be called, the Speaker shall begin on the next day where he left off the previous day: Provided, That no member shall offer more than one resolution, or one series of resolutions, all relating to the same subject, until all the States and Territories shall have been called."-Rule 52. And at this time bills on leave may be introduced.-Rule 115.

"After one hour shall have been devoted to reports from committees and resolutions, it shall be in order, pending the consideration or discussion thereof, to enter

Business on the Speaker's table.

May be interfered with.

On Friday and Saturday, and

tain a motion that the House do now proceed to dispose of the business on the Speaker's table, and to the orders of the day, which being decided in the affirmative, the Speaker shall dispose of the business on his table in the following order, viz:

"1st. Messages and other Executive communications. "2d. Messages from the Senate, and amendments proposed by the Senate to bills of the House.

"3d. Bills and resolutions from the Senate on their first and second reading, that they be referred to committees and put under way; but if, on being read a second time, no motion being made to commit, they are to be ordered to their third reading, unless objections be made; in which case, if not otherwise ordered by a majority of the House, they are to be laid on the table in the general file of bills on the Speaker's table, to be taken up in their turn.

"4th. Engrossed bills and bills from the Senate on their third reading. ·

"5th. Bills of the House and from the Senate, on the Speaker's table, on their engrossment, or on being ordered to a third reading, to be taken up and considered in the order of time in which they passed to a second reading.

"The messages, communications, and bills on his table having been disposed of, the Speaker shall then proceed to call the orders of the day."-Rule 54.

[The foregoing is the order of business which may be pursued, under the rules, each day, except Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays; but it is often interfered with by questions of privilege, special orders, privileged questions, &c.]

"Friday and Saturday in every week shall be set mode of proceed apart for the consideration of private bills and private ing on those days. business, in preference to any other, unless otherwise

determined by a majority of the House."-Rule 128. [On those days, as soon as the Journal is read, and the unfinished business of the last private-bill day is disposed of, the Speaker proceeds to call the committees for reports of a private nature, which being disposed of, it is his practice, without motion, to lay before the House such private business as may be upon his table. It is

then usual for some member (commonly the chairman of the Committee of Claims) to move that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on the private calendar. This motion may be, and often is, made as soon as the Journal is read. Although it takes precedence of the motion to go into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (unless there be a special order pending therein,) and, if made, must be first voted on, the latter motion is often made and carried, and thus private bills fail to receive consideration.]

Fridays and Sat

mouth.

"On the first and fourth Friday and Saturday of each First and fourth month the calendar of private bills shall be called over, urdnys of the (the chairman of the Committee of the Whole House commencing the call where he left off the previous day,) and the bills to the passage of which no objection shall then be made shall be first considered and disposed of. But when a bill is again reached, after having been once objected to, the committee shall consider and dispose of the same, unless it shall again be objected to by at least five members."-Rule 129. It has been decided that this rule, so far as relates to the consideration of bills only which are not objected to, applies as well to private bills in the House as in committee.-Journal, 1, 31, p. 697.

for resolutions and

All the States and Territories shall be called for bills. On Monday, call on leave and resolutions every Monday during each ses- bills on leave. sion of Congress; and, if necessary to secure the object on said days, all resolutions which shall give rise to debate shall lie over for discussion, under the rules of the House already established; and the whole of said days shall be appropriated to bills on leave and resolu tions, until all the States and Territories are called through. And the Speaker shall first call the States and Territories for bills on leave; and all bills so introduced during the first hour after the Journal is read shall be referred, without debate, to their appropriate commit tees: Provided, however, That a bill so introduced and referred shall not be brought back into the House upon a motion to reconsider. And on said call joint resolutions of State and Territorial legislatures for printing and reference may be introduced."-Rule 130.-(See MORNING HOUR ON MONDAYS.)

Resolutions of State legislatures