QUESTIONS OF ORDER DECIDED BY THE SPEAKER AT THE THIRD SESSION OF THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. GALUSHA A. GROW, OF PENNSYLVANIA, SPEAKER. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1862.-Page 122. The journal of yesterday having been read, Mr. Pendleton moved to correct the same by inserting at length the protest which formed a part of the resolution submitted by him yesterday, and which was laid on the table by the House. The Speaker decided that the said motion was not in order, for the reason that it was not in order to spread upon the journal indirectly what the House has already refused to place there directly, the order of the House by which the resolution was laid on the table being, according to the practice of the House, equivalent to such refusal. In support of this decision the Speaker referred to decisions in analogous cases in the 28th and 29th Congresses. From this decision of the Chair Mr. Pendleton appealed. And the question being put, Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the judgment of the House? Yeas.. It was decided in the affirmative, {Nays. .... So the decision of the Chair was sustained. TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1863.-Pages 212, 213. 74 20 The House then proceeded to the consideration of the report of the Committee of Elections in the case of Byington vs. Vandever-the pending question being on the following resolution accompanying the said report, viz: Resolved, That William Vandever has not been entitled to a seat as a member of this house since he was mustered into the military service of the United States as colonel of the ninth regiment Iowa volunteer infantry-to wit, since the 24th day of September, A. D. 1861. After debate, Mr. Washburne moved that its further consideration be postponed until the third Tuesday in February next. Pending which, Mr. Washburne moved the previous question; which was seconded and the main question ordered and put, viz: Will the House agree to the said motion to postpone? Yeas. And it was decided in the negative, {Nay Nays.... So the motion to postpone was disagreed to. 53 74 The question then recurring on the resolution reported from the Committee of Elections, Mr. Dawes moved the previous question; which was seconded and the main question ordered, and under the operation thereof the vote was taken, and the Speaker stated that the resolution was agreed to. Mr. Maynard made the point of order that a majority only having voted in favor of the resolution, it was not adopted, the resolution being in effect the expulsion of a member, which, under the Constitution, required the concurrence of two-thirds of the members. The Speaker overruled the said point of order. From this decision of the Chair Mr. Maynard appealed. The House adjourned. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1863.-Pages 214, 215. The Speaker having announced as the business first in order the appeal from the decision of the Chair as to the effect of the majority vote upon the resolution reported from the Committee of Elections in the case of William Vandever, which was pending when the House adjourned yesterday Mr. Cox moved that the appeal be laid on the table. It was decided in the affirmative, {Nays.... 82 36 So the appeal was laid on the table, and the announcement by the Speaker that the said resolution was agreed to was sustained by the House. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1863.-Page 259 to 261. The Speaker having stated the question to be on agreeing to the amendment of Mr. Hickman to the amendment of Mr. StevensMr. Cox moved that he be excused from voting thereon. Pending which, Mr. Vallandigham proposed to move that he be excused from voting on the motion of Mr. Cox. The Speaker decided the said motion to be out of order. From this decision of the Chair Mr. Cox appealed. Pending which, Mr. Maynard moved that the appeal be laid on the table. Yeas .... 121 3 It was decided in the affirmative, {Nays!.. So the appeal was laid on the table. SAME DAY.-Page 263 to 265. Mr. Mallory moved the previous question; which was seconded. Pending the question on ordering the main question, Mr. Holman moved that there be a call of the House. The Speaker decided that the motion was out of order, the previous question having been seconded, and it not appearing upon an actual count that no quorum was present. From this decision of the Chair Mr. Holman appealed. Mr. Cox moved that the appeal be laid on the table. Yeas It was decided in the affirmative, {Nas So the appeal was laid on the table. SAME DAY.-Pages 289, 290. 96 2 Pending the discussion of the question of excusing Mr. Olin by Mr. Roscoe Conkling, Mr. Bingham made the point of order that the remarks of Mr. Conkling were out of order. The Speaker (Mr. Colfax in the chair) sustained the said point of order. From this decision of the Chair Mr. Conkling appealed. Mr. Holman moved that the appeal be laid on the table. It was decided in the affirmative, {Nays... So the appeal was laid on the table. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1863.-Pages 319, 320. 61 38 Mr. Olin, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom the subject was referred, reported a bill (H. R. 714) to construct a ship canal for the passage of armed and naval vessels from the Mississippi river to Lake Michigan, and for the enlargement of the locks of the Erie canal and the Oswego canal of New York, to adapt them to the defence of the northern lakes; which was read a first and second time. It having been proposed to proceed to the consideration of the bill, Mr. Holman made the point of order that, inasmuch as the fifth section provided for the payment of certain money into the treasury of the United States, and also makes an appropriation of the same whereby it may be taken out of the treasury, it must receive its first consideration in Committee of the Whole. The Speaker sustained the said point of order. From this decision of the Chair Mr. Washburne appealed. Mr. Holman moved that the appeal be laid on the table. Yeas It was decided in the affirmative, {Nays. So the appeal was laid on the table. ... THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1863.-Pages 434, 435. 93 37 The bill of the Senate (S. 486) to provide a national currency secured by a pledge of United States stocks, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof, having been taken up and read a first and second time, Mr. Hooper moved that it be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. Pending which, Debate arising upon the merits of the bill, Mr. Holman made the point of order that the bill contained an appropriation of money in its 64th section, and must be first considered in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union. The Speaker (Mr. Aldrich in the chair) overruled the said point of order. From this decision of the Chair Mr. Holman appealed. Mr. McPherson moved that the appeal be laid on the table. It was decided in the affirmative, {Nays.. So the appeal was laid on the table. .... WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1863.-Pages 487 to 489. 98 22 Mr. Albert S. White, from the select committee on emancipation, reported a bill (H. R. 777) to aid the State of Missouri in the emancipation of the slaves therein. When Mr. Vallandigham made the point of order that the committee, being a select committee, and having some time before reported and having been discharged, and only revived by having the House, with the Senate's amendment, referred to it, its report now must be confined to that bill, and amendments to, or a substitute for, it; and that no reference of the subject generally to it, prior to its first report and consequent discharge, could authorize it to report a new bill disconnected from the bill and Senate's amendment afterwards referred to it. The Speaker overruled the said point of order on the ground that even if the committee had been dissolved by the former report, (which he did not admit to be the case with the present committee,) the recommitment of the House bill and Senate's amendment had revived it with all the powers it possessed before said report, and its right to report a new bill, based upon the President's message heretofore referred to it, is as perfect now as it ever was. From this decision of the Chair Mr. Norton appealed. Pending which, Mr. Washburne moved that the appeal be laid on the table. The House took a recess. After the recess, The Speaker having announced, as the regular order of business, the appeal taken by Mr. Norton from the decision of the Chair-the pending question when the House took a recess being on the motion. of Mr. Washburne to lay the same on the table. The question was put on the said motion to lay on the table. And there appeared, {Nays No quorum voted. The question being again put, Yeas. It was decided in the affirmative, Nas So the appeal was laid on the table. |