Form of resolution for the selection of.

When confiden

tial communica

ident.

tion by Speaker

The following is the usual form of resolution for the selection of seats, viz:

"Resolved, That the Clerk of the House (here indicate the time) place in a box the name of each member and delegate of the House of Representatives written on a separate slip of paper; that he then proceed, in the presence of the House, to draw from said box, one at a time, the said slips of paper; and as each is drawn, he shall announce the name of the member or delegate upon it, who shall choose his seat for the present session: Provided, That before said drawing shall commence, the Speaker shall cause every seat to be vacated, and shall see that every seat continues vacant until it is selected under this order; and that every seat, after having been selected, shall be deemed vacant if left unoccupied before the calling of the roll is finished."-Journal, 1, 35, p. 78.

SECRET SESSION.

"Whenever confidential communications are received from tion made by Pres- the President of the United States, the House shall be cleared of all persons, except the members, Clerk, Sergeant-at-arms, and Doorkeeper, and so continue during the reading of such communications, and (unless otherwise directed by the House) Or upon sugges- during all debates and proceedings to be had thereon. And when the Speaker, or any other member, shall inform the be House that he has communications to make which he conceives ought to be kept secret, the House shall, in like manner, be cleared till the communication be made; the House shall then determine whether the matter communicated requires secrecy or not, and take order accordingly."-Rule 137.

or member.

House to cleared.

to keep secrets of the House.

House need not
Journal

publish

of.

The Clerk, Sergeant-at-arms, Doorkeeper, and Postmaster shall be sworn to keep the secrets of the House.-Rule 10. Such parts of the Journal of a secret session as may, in the judgment of the House, require secrecy, need not be published. -Const., 1, 5, 9.

SEEDS.

May be franked.

By the Act of March 3, 1863, the franking privilege embraces seeds, cuttings, roots, and scions, the weight of the packages of which may be fixed by regulation of the Postmaster General.-Stat. at Large, Vol. XII, p. 709.

SENATE.

quiring concur

table one day.

"Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence Orders, &c., reof the Senate shall be necessary, shall be read to the House rence of, to lie on and laid on the table on the day preceding that in which the same shall be moved, unless the House shall otherwise expressly allow."-Rule 143. [This rule was originally adopted in 1789, but for a great many years it has been usual, in the absence of any objection, to assume that the House has allowed the immediate consideration of all such propositions.]

Members of the Senate and their Secretary may be admitted Members of, and

on the floor of the House.-Rule 134.

(See MESSAGES from the SENATE.)

SERGEANT AT-ARMS.

their Secretary, may be admitted within the hall.

ted, and term of

office.

Oath of office.

There shall be elected at the commencement of each Con- When to be elecgress, to continue in office until his successor is appointed, a Sergeant-at-arms, who shall take an oath "for the true and faithful discharge of the duties of his office to the best of his knowledge and abilities, and to keep the secrets of the House;" Vote for, to be and the vote shall be taken viva voce.— -Rule 10.

He is also required by the Act of July 2, 1862, to take an additional oath."—(See OATH.)

taken rica voce.

Additional oath.

"It shall be the duty of the Sergeant-at-arms to attend the His duties. House during its sittings; to aid in the enforcement of order, under the direction of the Speaker; to execute the commands of the House from time to time; together with all such process, issued by authority thereof, as shall be directed to him by the Speaker."-Rule 22.

"It shall be the duty of the Sergeant-at-arms to keep the Additional duty. accounts for pay and mileage of members, to prepare checks, and, if required to do so, to draw the money on such checks for the members, (the same being previously signed by the Speaker, and indorsed by the member,) and pay over the same to the member entitled thereto."-Rule 25.

on

Mileage to report

to.

By Rule 99 it is made the duty of the Committee on Mile- Committee age to ascertain, and report to the Sergeant-at-arms, the distance for which each member shall receive pay. And by the Act of July 28, 1866, Sess. Laws, p. 333, it is required that said mileage accounts shall be certified by the Speaker.

By resolution of May 4, 1842, it is made the duty of the Sergeant-at-arms to deduct the amount of excess of stationery

Shall

deduct

excess of station

ery from compen

sation of members.

Shall give bond.

Symbol of office.

Fees of.

To

discharge certain duties of the Clerk.

Of the two hou

ses to appoint Capitol Police.

Also appoint watchmen and

concerning the Capitol.

received by members beyond their allowance from their pay and mileage.-Journals, 2, 27, p. 495, and 1, 31, p. 1510.— (See COMPENSATION AND MILEAGE.)

"The Sergeant-at-arms shall give bond, with surety, to 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 symbol of his office (the mace) shall be borne by the Sergeant-at-arms when in the execution of his office.". Rule 23.

"The fees of the Sergeant-at-arms shall be, for every arrest, the sum of two dollars; for each day's custody and release. ment, one dollar; and for travelling expenses for himself or a special messenger, going and returning, one-tenth of a dollar per mile."-Rule 24. And it is provided by Act of February 5, 1859, "that hereafter the mileage or travelling allowance to the officer or other person executing precepts or other summons of either house of Congress shall not exceed ten cents for each mile necessarily and actually travelled by such officer or other person in the execution of any such precept or summons."Stat. at Large, Vol. XI, p. 379.

By the Act of the 2d sess. 39th Cong.-Sess. Laws, p. 28— it is provided that in case of a vacancy in the office of Clerk, or of the absence or inability of said Clerk to discharge the duties imposed upon him by law or custom relative to the preparation of the roll of representatives or the organization of the House, the said duties shall devolve on the Sergeant-at-arms of the next preceding House of Representatives.

By the Act of March 2, 1867-Sess. Laws, p. 99—it is provided that the Sergeants-at-arms of the two houses shall hereafter appoint the Capitol Police.

By the Act of March 30, 1867-Sess. Laws, pp. 270, 27 L—it make rules, &c., is provided that the said Sergeants-at-arms shall appoint certain watchmen at the Capitol, and make such rules and regulations as they may deem necessary to preserve the peace and secure the Capitol from defacement, and for the protection of the public property therein; and shall have power to arrest and detain any person violating said rules until such person

can be brought before the proper authorities for trial, without further order of Congress.

Also to enforce joint rule in regard

By Joint Rule 19 it is made the duty of said Sergeants-atarms, under the supervision of the presiding officers of the two to liquor. houses respectively, to enforce the provisions of said rule that "no spirituous or malt liquors, or wines, shall be offered for sale, exhibited, or kept within the Capitol, or in any room or building connected therewith, or on the public grounds adjacent thereto."

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

be appointed by

By the Act of August 10, 1846, three of the Regents of said Regents of, to Institution shall be members of the House of Representatives, the Speaker. to be appointed by the Speaker on the fourth Wednesday in December next after the first meeting of every Congress, to serve until the fourth Wednesday in December, the second succeeding their appointment, and vacancies shall be filled as vacancies in committees are filled. Stat. at Large, Vol. IX, p. 102.

made to Congress

The Board of Regents shall submit to Congress, at each Report to be session thereof, a report of the operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution.-Ibid.

annually.

SPEAKER.

choose.

"The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker House and other officers."-Const., 1, 2, 6.

Upon the ascertainment of the fact that a quorum of members elect is present, and its announcement by the Clerk of the last House, it is usual for the House, on motion of some member, immediately to "proceed, viva voce, to the election of a Speaker for the Congress."-Journal, 1, 35, p. 8. (See MEETING of Congress.)

shall

By the Act of June 1, 1789, it is provided that the oath Oath. or affirmation required by the 6th article of the Constitution of the United States shall be administered in the form following, to wit: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States." And that it shall be adminis- By whom oath tered to him by "any one member of the House of Representatives."-- Stat. at Large, Vol. I, p. 23. [According to the usage, the member selected for this purpose is that one

to be administered

Oath to be administered by, to members

Clerk, and when.

who has been longest a member of the House.]-Journal, 1, p. 79.

26,

By the same act he is required to administer the foregoing and oath or affirmation "to all the members present, and to the Clerk, previous to entering on any other business; and to the members who shall afterwards appear, previous to taking their seats."-lbid.

Additional oath.

When, shall act as President of the United States.

His compensation.

When to call House to order.

Shall preserve

order.

By the Act of July 2, 1862, he is required to take an additional oath.--(See OATH.)

By the Act of March 1, 1792, it is provided, "that in case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the Presi dent and Vice-President of the United States, the President of the Senate pro tempore, and in case there shall be no President of the Senate, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the time being, shall act as President of the United States until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected."-Stat. at Large, Vol. I, p. 240.

By the Act of July 28, 1866-Sess. Laws, p. 334—it is provided that the pay of the Speaker shall be eight thousand dollars per annum.

(See COMPENSATION.)

SPEAKER-HIS DUTIES, ETC.

"He 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.

"He shall preserve order and decorum; may speak to points Has preference of order in preference to other members, rising from his seat for that purpose; and shall decide questions of order, subject

in speaking to points of order.

May speak only to matters of order.

to an appeal to the House by any two members; on which appeal no member shall speak more than once, unless by leave of the House."-Rule 2.

"Though the Speaker may of right speak to matters of order, and be first heard, he is restrained from speaking on any other subject except where the House have occasion for facts within his knowledge; then he may, with their leave, state the matter of fact."-Manual, p. 74; Journal, 1, 28, p. 1011.