MANUAL OF PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE.
RULES
OF
PROCEEDING AND DEBATE
IN
DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLIES.
BY
LUTHER S. CUSHING.
REVISED BY
_FRANCES P. SULLIVAN._
Copyright, 1887,
BY M. J. IVERS & CO.
NEW YORK:
M. J. IVERS & CO.
379 Pearl Street
AUTHOR’S STATEMENT.
The following treatise forms a part only of a much larger and more
comprehensive work, covering the whole ground of parliamentary law and
practice, which the author has for some time been engaged in
preparing; and which it is his intention to complete and publish, as
soon as possible. In the mean time, this little work has been
compiled, chiefly from the larger, at the request of the publishers,
and to supply a want which was supposed to exist to a considerable
extent.
The treatise, now presented to the public, is intended as a _Manual
for Deliberative Assemblies_ of every description, but more especially
for those which are not legislative in their character; though with
the exception of the principal points, in which legislative bodies
differ from others, namely, the several different stages or readings
of a bill, and conferences and amendments between the two branches,
this work will be found equally useful in legislative assemblies as in
others.
The only work which has hitherto been in general use in this country,
relating to the proceedings of legislative assemblies, is the
compilation originally prepared by Mr. Jefferson, when vice-president
of the United States, for the use of the body over which he presided,
and which is familiarly known as _Jefferson’s Manual_. This work,
having been extensively used in our legislative bodies, and, in some
States, expressly sanctioned by law, may be said to form, as it were,
the basis of the common parliamentary law of this country. Regarding
it in that light, the author of the following treatise has considered
the principles and rules laid down by Mr. Jefferson (and which have
been adopted by him chiefly from the elaborate work of Mr. Hatsell) as
the established rules on this subject, and has accordingly made them
the basis of the present compilation, with an occasional remark, in a
note, by way of explanation or suggestion, whenever he deemed it
necessary.
Members of legislative bodies, who may have occasion to make use of
this work, will do well to bear in mind, that it contains only what
may be called the _common parliamentary law_; which, in every
legislative assembly, is more or less modified or controlled by
special rules.
L. S. C.
Boston, November 1, 1844.
PUBLISHER’S REMARKS.
This edition of Cushing’s _Manual of Parliamentary Practice_ has
annotations, etc., not to be found in any other edition of the Manual.
The old edition of course could not be improved upon, but there were
several passages in which the meaning could be brought out plainer by
notes illustrating them. This has been done, and the reader will find
that the notes will assist him materially.
In addition the Constitution of the United States has been added, and
as not a few references are made to it in the Manual, it will be found
to be an addition to the book not to be despised.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 9
CHAPTER I.—Of Certain Preliminary Matters 20
Sect. I. Quorum 20
Sect. II. Rules and Orders 22
Sect. III. Time of Meeting 23
Sect. IV. Principle of Decision 24
CHAPTER II.—Of the Officers 25
Sect. I. The Presiding Officer 26
Sect. II. The Recording Officer 28
CHAPTER III.—Of the Rights and Duties of Members 30
CHAPTER IV.—Of the Introduction of Business 34
CHAPTER V.—Of Motions in General 42
CHAPTER VI.—Of Motions To Suppress 45
Sect. I. Previous Question 46
Sect. II. Indefinite Postponement 50
CHAPTER VII.—Of Motions To Postpone 51
CHAPTER VIII.—Of Motions To Commit 52
CHAPTER IX.—Of Motions to Amend 54
Sect. I. Division of a Question 55
Sect. II. Filling Blanks 57
Sect. III. Addition—Separation—Transposition 60
Sect. IV. Modification, etc., by the Mover 61
Sect. V. General Rules relating to Amendments 62
Sect. VI. Amendments, by striking out 65
Sect. VII. Amendments, by inserting 69
Sect. VIII. Amendments, by striking out and inserting 71
Sect. IX. Amendments, changing the nature of a question 74
CHAPTER X.—Of the Order and Succession of Questions 79
Sect. I. Privileged Questions 80
Adjournment 81
Questions of Privilege 82
Orders of the Day 83
Sect. II. Incidental Questions 86
Questions of Order 86
Reading of Papers 88
Withdrawal of a Motion 91
Suspension of a Rule 91
Amendment of Amendments 92
Sect. III. Subsidiary Questions 93
Lie on the Table 95
Previous Question 96
Postponement 97
Commitment 98
Amendment 99
CHAPTER XI.—Of the Order of Proceeding 101
CHAPTER XII.—Of Order in Debate 108
Sect. I. As to the Manner of Speaking 109
Sect. II. As to the Matter in Speaking 112
Sect. III. As to Times of Speaking 115
Sect. IV. As to Stopping Debate 117
Sect. V. As to Decorum in Debate 119
Sect. VI. As to Disorderly Words 120
CHAPTER XIII.—Of the Question 124
CHAPTER XIV.—Of Reconsideration 135
CHAPTER XV.—Of Committees 138
Sect. I. Their Nature and Functions 138
Sect. II. Their Appointment 141
Sect. III. Their Organization, etc. 145
Sect. IV. Their Report 150
Sect. V. Committee of the Whole 155
CONCLUDING REMARKS 161
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 165
PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE.
INTRODUCTION.
1. The purposes, whatever they may be, for which a deliberative
assembly of any kind is constituted, can only be effected by
ascertaining the sense or will of the assembly, in reference to the
several subjects submitted to it, and by embodying that sense or will
in an intelligible, authentic, and authoritative form. To do this, it
is necessary, in the first place, that the assembly should be properly
constituted and organized; and, secondly, that it should conduct its
proceedings according to certain rules, and agreeably to certain
forms, which experience has shown to be the best adapted to the
purpose.
2. Some deliberative assemblies, especially those which consist of
permanently established bodies, such as municipal and other
corporations, are usually constituted and organized, at least, in
part, in virtue of certain legal provisions; while others, of an
occasional or temporary character, such as conventions and political
meetings, constitute and organize themselves on their assembling
together for the purposes of their appointment.
3. The most usual and convenient mode of organizing a deliberative
assembly is the following:—The members being assembled together, in
the place, and at the time appointed for their meeting, one of them
addressing himself to the others, requests them to come to order; the
members thereupon seating themselves, and giving their attention to
him, he suggests the propriety and necessity of their being organized,
before proceeding to business, and requests the members to nominate
some person to act as chairman of the meeting; a name or names being
thereupon mentioned, he declares that such a person (whose name was
first heard by him) is nominated for chairman, and puts a question
that the person so named be requested to take the chair. If this
question should be decided in the negative, another nomination is then
to be called for, and a question put upon the name mentioned (being
that of some other person) as before, and so on until a choice is
effected. When a chairman is elected, he takes the chair, and proceeds
in the same manner to complete the organization of the assembly, by
the choice of a secretary and such other officers, if any, as may be
deemed necessary.
4. An organization, thus effected, may be, and frequently is,
sufficient for all the purposes of the meeting; but if, for any
reason, it is desired to have a greater number of officers, or to have
them selected with more deliberation, it is the practice to organize
temporarily, in the manner above mentioned, and then to refer the
subject of a permanent organization, and the selection of persons to
be nominated for the several offices, to a committee; upon whose
report, the meeting proceeds to organize itself, conformably thereto,
or in such other manner as it thinks proper.
[“In Congress, and all the lower houses of the State legislatures, and
a few of the State senates, the presiding officer is called the
_Speaker_; while in the United States Senate and a number of State
senates the name _President_ is used.”—Ed.]
5. The presiding officer is usually denominated the _president_, and
the recording officer, the _secretary_; though, sometimes, these
officers are designated, respectively, as the _chairman_ and _clerk_.
It is not unusual, besides a president, to have one or more
vice-presidents; who take the chair, occasionally, in the absence of
the president from the assembly, or when he withdraws from the chair
to take part in the proceedings as a member; but who, at other times,
though occupying seats with the president, act merely as members. It
is frequently the case, also, that several persons are appointed
secretaries, in which case, the first named is considered as the
principal officer. All the officers are, ordinarily, members of the
assembly[1]; and, as such, entitled to participate in the proceedings;
except that the presiding officer does not usually engage in the
debate, and votes only when the assembly is equally divided.
6. In all deliberative assemblies, the members of which are chosen or
appointed to represent others, it is necessary, before proceeding to
business, to ascertain who are duly elected and returned as members;
in order not only that no person may be admitted to participate in the
proceedings who is not regularly authorized to do so, but also that a
list of the members may be made for the use of the assembly and its
officers.
7. The proper time for this investigation is after the temporary and
before the permanent organization; or, when the assembly is
permanently organized, in the first instance, before it proceeds to
the transaction of any other business; and the most convenient mode of
conducting it is by the appointment of a committee, to receive and
report upon the credentials of the members. The same committee may
also be charged with the investigation of rival claims, where any such
are presented.
8. When a question arises, involving the right of a member to his
seat, such member is entitled to be heard on the question, and he is
then to withdraw from the assembly until it is decided; but if, by the
indulgence of the assembly, he remains in his place, during the
discussion, he ought neither to take any further part in it, nor to
vote when the question is proposed; it being a fundamental rule of all
deliberative assemblies, that those members, whose rights as such are
not yet set aside, constitute a judicial tribunal to decide upon the
cases of those whose rights of membership are called in question. Care
should always be taken, therefore, in the selection of the officers,
and in the appointment of committees, to name only those persons whose
rights as members are not objected to.
9. The place where an assembly is held being in its possession, and
rightfully appropriated to its use, no person is entitled to be
present therein, but by the consent of the assembly; and,
consequently, if any person refuse to withdraw, when ordered to do so,
or conduct himself in a disorderly or improper manner, the assembly
may unquestionably employ sufficient force to remove such person from
the meeting.
10. Every deliberative assembly, by the mere fact of its being
assembled and constituted, does thereby necessarily adopt and become
subject to those rules and forms of proceeding, without which it would
be impossible for it to accomplish the purposes of its creation. It is
perfectly competent, however, for every such body—and where the
business is of considerable interest and importance, or likely to
require some time for its accomplishment, it is not unusual—to adopt
also certain special rules for the regulation of its proceedings.
Where this is the case, these latter supersede the ordinary
parliamentary rules, in reference to all points to which they relate;
or add to them in those particulars in reference to which there is no
parliamentary rule; leaving what may be called the common
parliamentary law in full force in all other respects.
11. The rules of parliamentary proceedings in this country are derived
from, and essentially the same with, those of the British parliament;
though, in order to adapt these rules to the circumstances and wants
of our legislative assemblies, they have, in some few respects, been
changed,—in others, differently applied,—and in others, again,
extended beyond their original intention. To these rules, each
legislative assembly is accustomed to add a code of its own, by which,
in conjunction with the former, its proceedings are regulated. The
rules, thus adopted by the several legislative assemblies, having been
renewed in successive legislatures,—with such extensions,
modifications and additions as have been from time to time, thought
necessary,—the result is, that a system of parliamentary rules has
been established in each State, different in some particulars from
those of every other State, but yet founded in and embracing all the
essential rules of the common parliamentary law.
12. The rules of proceeding, in each State, being of course best known
by the citizens of that State, it has sometimes happened in
deliberative assemblies, that the proceedings have been conducted not
merely according to the general parliamentary law, but also in
conformity with the peculiar system of the State in which the assembly
was sitting, or of whose citizens it was composed. This, however, is
erroneous; as no occasional assembly can ever be subject to any other
rules, than those which are of general application, or which it
specially adopts for its own government; and the rules adopted and
practised upon by a legislative assembly do not thereby acquire the
character of general laws.
13. The judgment, opinion, sense, or will of a deliberate assembly is
expressed, according to the nature of the subject, either by a
resolution, order, or vote. When it commands, it is by an _order_; but
facts, principles, its own opinions, or purposes, are most properly
expressed in the form of a _resolution_; the term _vote_ may be
applied to the result of every question decided by the assembly. In
whatever form, however, a question is proposed, or by whatever name it
may be called, the mode of proceeding is the same.
14. The judgment or will of any number of persons, considered as an
aggregate body, is that which is evidenced by the consent or agreement
of the greater number of them; and the only mode by which this can be
ascertained, in reference to any particular subject, is for some one
of them to begin by submitting to the others a proposition, expressed
in such a form of words, that, if assented to by the requisite number,
it will purport to express the judgment or will of the assembly. This
proposition will then form a basis for the further proceedings of the
assembly; to be assented to, rejected, or modified, according as it
expresses or not, or may be made to express the sense of a majority of
the members. The different proceedings which take place, from the
first submission of a proposition, through all the changes it may
undergo, until the final decision of the assembly upon it, constitute
the subject of the rules of debate and proceeding in deliberative
assemblies.
15. If the proceedings of a deliberative assembly were confined to the
making of propositions by the individual members, and their acceptance
or rejection by the votes of the assembly, there would be very little
occasion for rules in such a body. But this is not the case. The
functions of the members are not limited to giving an affirmative or
negative to such questions as are proposed to them. When a proposition
is made, if it be not agreed to or rejected at once, the assembly may
be unwilling to consider and act upon it at all; or it may wish to
postpone the consideration of the subject to a future time; or it may
be willing to adopt the proposition with certain modifications; or,
lastly, approving the subject-matter, but finding it presented in so
crude, imperfect, or objectionable a form, that it cannot in that
state be considered at all, the assembly may desire to have the
proposition further examined and digested, before being presented. In
order to enable the assembly to take whichever of the courses above
indicated it may think proper, and then to dispose of every
proposition in a suitable manner, certain motions or forms of question
have been invented, which are perfectly adapted for the purpose, and
are in common use in all deliberative assemblies.
1. In legislative bodies, the clerk is seldom or never a member; and,
in some, the presiding officer is not a member; as, for example,
in the Senate of the United States, the Senate of New York, and in
some other State senates.
CHAPTER I.
OF CERTAIN PRELIMINARY MATTERS.
16. Before entering upon the subject of the forms and rules of
proceeding, in the transaction of business, it will be convenient to
consider certain matters of a preliminary nature, which are more or
less essential to the regularity, dispatch, and efficiency of the
proceedings.
Section I. Quorum.[2]
17. In all councils, and other collective bodies of the same kind, it
is necessary, that a certain number, called a quorum, of the members,
should meet and be present, in order to the transaction of business.
This regulation has been deemed essential to secure fairness of
proceedings; and to prevent matters from being concluded in a hasty
manner, or agreed to by so small a number of the members, as not to
command a due and proper respect.
18. The number necessary to constitute a quorum of any assembly may be
fixed by law, as is the case with most of our legislative assemblies;
or by usage, as in the English House of Commons; or it may be fixed by
the assembly itself; but if no rule is established on the subject, in
any of these ways, a majority of the members composing the assembly is
the requisite number.
19. No business can regularly be entered upon until a quorum is
present; nor can any business be regularly proceeded with when it
appears that the members present are reduced below that number;
consequently, the presiding officer ought not to take the chair until
the proper number is ascertained to be present; and if, at any time,
in the course of the proceedings, notice is taken that a quorum is not
present, and, upon the members being counted by the presiding officer,
such appears to be the fact, the assembly must be immediately
adjourned.[3]
Sect. II. Rules and Orders.
20. Every deliberative assembly, as has already been observed, is, by
the fact alone of its existence, subject to those rules of proceeding,
without which it could not accomplish the purposes of its creation. It
may also provide rules for itself, either in the form of a general
code established beforehand, or by the adoption, from time to time,
during its sitting, of such special rules as it may find necessary.
21. When a code of rules is adopted beforehand, it is usual also to
provide therein as to the mode in which they may be amended, repealed,
or dispensed with. Where there is no such provision, it will be
competent for the assembly to act at any time, and in the usual
manner, upon questions of amendment or repeal; but in reference to
dispensing with a rule, or suspending it, in a particular case, if
there is no express provision on the subject, it seems that it can
only be done by general consent.[4]
22. When any of the rules, adopted by the assembly, or in force,
relative to its manner of proceeding, is disregarded or infringed,
every member has the right to take notice thereof and to require that
the presiding officer, or any other whose duty it is, shall carry such
rule into execution; and, in that case, the rule must be enforced, at
once, without debate or delay. It is then too late to alter, repeal,
or suspend the rule; so long as any one member insists upon its
execution, it must be enforced.
Sect. III. Time of Meeting.
23. Every assembly, which is not likely to finish its business at one
sitting, will find it convenient to come to some order or resolution
beforehand, as to the time of reassembling, after an adjournment; it
being generally embarrassing to fix upon the hour for this purpose, at
the time when the sitting is about to close, and in connection with
the motion to adjourn.
Sect. IV. Principle of Decision.
24. The principle, upon which the decisions of all aggregate bodies,
such as councils, corporations, and deliberative assemblies, are made,
is that of the majority of votes or suffrages; and this rule holds not
only in reference to questions and subjects, which admit only of an
affirmative on one side, and a negative on the other, but also in
reference to elections in which more than two persons may receive the
suffrages.
25. But this rule may be controlled by a special rule in reference to
some particular subject or question; by which any less number than a
majority may be admitted, or any greater number required to express
the will of the assembly. Thus, it is frequently provided, in
legislative assemblies, that one third or one fourth only of the
members shall be sufficient to require the taking of a question by
yeas and nays,[5] and, on the other hand, that no alteration shall
take place in any of the rules and orders, without the consent of at
least two thirds, or even a larger number.
2. [“The term _quorum_ (literally, _of whom_) is one of the words
used in England in the Latin form of the commission to justices of
the peace. The part of the document wherein the word occurs reads
thus: ‘We have assigned you, and every two or more of you, _quorum
aliquem vestrum_, A, B, C, D, etc., _unum esse volumus_.—i.e. _of
whom_ we will that any of you A, B or C, etc., shall be one.’ This
made it necessary that certain individuals, who, in the language
of the commission, were said to be of the _quorum_, should be
present during the transaction of business.”—_Blackstone’s
Commentaries_, I. 352.]
3. “Some legislative bodies have by law given a smaller number than a
quorum the power to compel the attendance of absent members.”—Ed.
4. “A motion to suspend the rules is not debatable.”—Ed.
5. “In the United States, the number of members competent to demand
that a question be taken by yeas and nays, is decided for Congress
and for State legislatures by constitutional provision.
In the Constitution of the United States, the number is one fifth;
some of the State constitutions give this power to one fifth, some
to three members; some to two, and some to one.”—Ed.