OF THE ORDER AND SUCCESSION OF QUESTIONS.
134. It is a general rule, that, when a proposition is regularly
before a deliberative assembly, for its consideration, no other
proposition or motion can regularly be made or arise, so as to take
the place of the former, and be first acted upon, unless it be either,
_first_, a privileged question; _secondly_, a subsidiary question; or,
_thirdly_, an incidental question or motion.
135. All these motions take the place of the principal motion, or main
question, as it is usually called, and are to be first put to the
question; and, among themselves, also, there are some, which, in like
manner, take the place of all the others. Some of these questions
merely supersede the principal question, until they have been decided;
and, when decided, whether affirmatively or negatively, leave that
question as before. Others of them also supersede the principal
question, until they are decided; and, when decided one way, dispose
of the principal question; but, if decided the other way, leave it as
before.
Sect. I. Privileged Questions.
136. There are certain motions or questions, which, on account of the
superior importance attributed to them, either in consequence of a
vote of the assembly, or in themselves considered, or of the necessity
of the proceedings to which they lead, are entitled to take the place
of any other subject or proposition, which may then be under
consideration, and to be first acted upon and decided by the assembly.
These are called privileged questions, because they are entitled to
precedence over other questions, though they are of different degrees
among themselves. Questions of this nature are of three kinds, namely,
_first_, motions to adjourn; _secondly_, motions or questions relating
to the rights and privileges of the assembly, or of its members
individually; and, _thirdly_, motions for the orders of the day.
Adjournment.
137. A motion to adjourn takes the place of all other questions
whatsoever;[18] for, otherwise, the assembly might be kept sitting
against its will, and for an indefinite time; but, in order to entitle
this motion to precedence, it must be simply to “adjourn,” without the
addition of any particular day or time. And, as the object of this
motion, when made in the midst of some other proceeding, and with a
view to supersede a question already proposed, is simply to break up
the sitting, it does not admit of any amendment by the addition of a
particular day, or in any other manner; though, if a motion to adjourn
is made, when no other business is before the assembly, it may be
amended like other questions.
138. A motion to adjourn is merely “that this assembly do now
adjourn;” and, if it is carried in the affirmative, the assembly is
adjourned to the next sitting day; unless it has previously come to a
resolution, that, on rising, it will adjourn to a particular day; in
which case, it is adjourned to that day.
139. An adjournment without day, that is, without any time being fixed
for reassembling, would, in the case of any other than a legislative
assembly, be equivalent to a dissolution.[19]
140. When a question is interrupted by an adjournment, before any vote
or question has been taken upon it, it is thereby removed from before
the assembly, and will not stand before it, as a matter of course, as
its next meeting, but must be brought forward in the usual way.
Questions of Privilege.
141. The questions, next in relative importance, and which supersede
all others for the time being except that of adjournment, are those
which concern the rights and privileges of the assembly, or of its
individual members; as, for example, when the proceedings of the
assembly are disturbed or interrupted, whether by strangers or
members; or where a quarrel arises between two members; and, in these
cases, the matter of privilege supersedes the question pending at the
time, together with all subsidiary and incidental ones, and must be
first disposed of. When settled, the question interrupted by it is to
be resumed, at the point where it was suspended.
Orders of the Day.
142. When the consideration of a subject has been assigned for a
particular day, by an order of the assembly, the matter so assigned is
called the order of the day for that day. If, in the course of
business, as commonly happens in legislative assemblies, there are
several subjects assigned for the same day, they are called the orders
of the day.
143. A question, which is thus made the subject of an order for its
consideration on a particular day, is thereby made a privileged
question for that day; the order being a repeal, as to this special
case, of the general rule as to business. If, therefore, any other
proposition (with the exception of the two preceding[20]) is moved or
arises, on the day assigned for the consideration of a particular
subject, a motion for the order of the day will supersede the question
first made, together with all subsidiary and incidental questions
connected with it, and must be first put and decided; for if the
debate or consideration of that subject were allowed to proceed, it
might continue through the day and thus defeat the order.
144. But this motion, to entitle it to precedence, must be for the
orders generally, if there is more than one, and not for any
particular one; and, if decided in the affirmative, that is, that the
assembly will now proceed to the orders of the day, they must then be
read and gone through with, in the order in which they stand; priority
of order being considered to give priority of right.
145. If the consideration of a subject is assigned for a particular
hour on the day named, a motion to proceed to it is not a privileged
motion, until that hour has arrived; but, if no hour is fixed, the
order is for the entire day and every part of it.
146. Where there are several orders of the day, and one of them is
fixed for a particular hour, if the orders are taken up before that
hour, they are to be proceeded with as they stand, until that hour,
and then the subject assigned for that hour is the next in order; but,
if the orders are taken up at that time or afterwards, that particular
subject must be considered as the first in order.
147. If the motion for the orders of the day is decided in the
affirmative, the original question is removed from before the
assembly, in the same manner as if it had been interrupted by an
adjournment, and does not stand before the assembly, as a matter of
course, at its next meeting, but must be renewed in the usual way.
148. If the motion is decided in the negative, the vote of the
assembly is a discharge of the orders, so far as they interfere with
the consideration of the subject then before it, and entitles that
subject to be first disposed of.
149. Orders of the day, unless proceeded in and disposed of on the day
assigned, fall, of course, and must be renewed for some other day. It
may be provided, however, by a special rule, as in the legislative
assemblies of Massachusetts, that the orders for a particular day
shall hold for every succeeding day, until disposed of.
Sect. II. Incidental Questions.
150. Incidental questions are such as arise out of other questions,
and are consequently to be decided before the questions which give
rise to them. Of this nature are, _first_, questions of order;
_second_, motions for the reading of papers, etc.; _third_, leave to
withdraw a motion; _fourth_, suspension of a rule: and, _fifth_,
amendment of an amendment.
Questions of Order.
151. It is the duty of the presiding officer of a deliberative
assembly, to enforce the rules and orders of the body over which he
presides, in all its proceedings; and this without question, debate,
or delay, in all cases, in which the breach of order, or the departure
from rule, is manifest. It is also the right of every member, taking
notice of the breach of a rule, to insist upon the enforcement of it
in the same manner.
152. But, though no question can be made, as to the enforcement of the
rules, when there is a breach or manifest departure from them, so long
as any member insists upon their enforcement; yet questions may and do
frequently arise, as to the fact of there being a breach of order, or
a violation of the rules in a particular proceeding; and these
questions must be decided before a case can arise for the enforcement
of the rules. Questions of this kind are denominated questions of
order.
153. When any question of this nature arises, in the course of any
other proceeding, it necessarily supersedes the further consideration
of the subject out of which it arises, until that question is disposed
of; then the original motion or proceeding revives, and resumes its
former position, unless it has been itself disposed of by the question
of order.
154. When a question of order is raised, as it may be by any one
member, it is not stated from the chair, and decided by the assembly,
like other questions; but is decided, in the first instance, by the
presiding officer, without any previous debate or discussion by the
assembly. If the decision of the presiding officer, is not
satisfactory, any one member may object to it, and have the question
decided by the assembly. This is called _appealing_ from the decision
of the chair. The question is then stated by the presiding officer on
the appeal, namely: _shall the decision of the chair stand as the
decision of the assembly?_ and it is thereupon debated and decided by
the assembly, in the same manner as any other question; except that
the presiding officer is allowed to take a part in the debate, which;
on ordinary occasions, he is prohibited from doing.
Reading Papers.
155. It is, for obvious reasons, a general rule, that, where papers
are laid before a deliberative assembly, for its action, every member
has a right to have them once read at the table, before he can be
compelled to vote on them; and, consequently, when the reading of any
paper, relative to a question before the assembly, is called for under
this rule, no question need be made as to the reading; the paper is
read by the clerk, under the direction of the presiding officer, as a
matter of course.
156. But, with the exception of papers coming under this rule, it is
not the right of any member to read himself, or to have read, any
paper, book, or document whatever, without the leave of the assembly,
upon a motion made and a question put for the purpose. The delay and
interruption, which would otherwise ensue from reading every paper
that might be called for, show the absolute necessity of restricting
the rule within the narrowest possible limits, consistently with
permitting every member to have as much information as possible, on
the subjects in reference to which he is about to vote.
157. When, therefore, a member desires that any paper, book, or
document, on the table, whether printed or written (except as above
mentioned) should be read for his own information, or that of the
assembly; or desires to read any such paper, book, or document, in his
place, in the course of a debate, or otherwise; or even to read his
own speech which he has prepared beforehand and committed to writing;
in all these cases, if any objection is made, he must obtain leave of
the assembly, for the reading, by a motion and vote for the purpose.
158. When the reading of a paper is evidently for information, and not
for delay, it is the usual practice for the presiding officer to allow
of it, unless objection is made, in which case leave must be asked;
and this is seldom refused, where there is no intentional or gross
abuse of the time and patience of the assembly.
159. It is not now the practice, as it once was, in legislative
assemblies, to read all papers that are presented, especially when
they are referred to committees immediately on their presentation;
though the right of every member to insist upon one reading is still
admitted. It would be impossible, with the amount of business done by
legislative bodies, at the present day, to devote much of their time
to the reading of papers.
160. When in the course of a debate or other proceeding, the reading
of a paper is called for, and a question is made upon it, this
question is incidental to the former, and must be first decided.
Withdrawal of a Motion.
161. A motion, when regularly made, seconded, and proposed from the
chair, is then in the possession of the assembly, and cannot be
withdrawn by the mover, or directly disposed of in any manner, but by
a vote; hence, if the mover of a question wishes to modify it, or to
substitute a different one in its place, he must obtain the leave of
the assembly for that purpose; which leave can only be had, if
objection is made, by a motion[21] and question in the usual mode of
proceeding.
162. If this motion is decided in the affirmative, the motion to which
it relates is thereby removed from before the assembly, as if it had
never been moved; if in the negative, the business proceeds as before.
Suspension of a Rule.
163. When any contemplated motion or proceeding is rendered
impracticable, by reason of the existence of some special rule by
which it is prohibited, it has become an established practice in this
country, to suspend or dispense with the rule, for the purpose of
admitting the proceeding or motion which is desired. This can only be
done by a motion and question; and, where this course is taken in
order to a motion having reference to a proposition then under
consideration, a motion to suspend the rule supersedes the original
question for the time being, and is first to be decided.[22]
164. It is usual, in the code of rules adopted by deliberative
assemblies, and especially legislative bodies, to provide that a
certain number exceeding a majority, as two thirds or three fourths,
shall be competent to the suspension of a rule in a particular case;
where this is not provided, there seems to be no other mode of
suspending or dispensing with a rule than by general consent.
Amendment of Amendments.
165. In treating of amendments, it has already been seen, that it is
allowable to amend a proposed amendment; and that the question on such
sub-amendment must necessarily be put and decided before putting the
question on the amendment. The former is incidental to the latter, and
supersedes it for the time being.
Sect. III. Subsidiary Questions.
166. Subsidiary, or secondary, questions or motions, as has already
been stated, are those which relate to a principal motion, and are
made use of to enable the assembly to dispose of it in the most
appropriate manner. These motions have the effect to supersede, and,
in some cases, when decided one way, to dispose of, the principal
question. They are also of different degrees among themselves, and,
according to their several natures, supersede, and sometimes dispose
of, one another.
167. The subsidiary motions in common use are the following,
namely:—lie on the table,—the previous question,—postponement, either
indefinite or to a day certain,—commitment,—and, amendment.
168. It is a general rule, with certain exceptions which will be
immediately mentioned, that subsidiary motions cannot be applied to
one another; as for example, suppose a motion to postpone, commit or
amend a principal question, it cannot be moved to suppress the motion
to postpone, etc., by putting a previous question on it; or, suppose
the previous question is moved, or a commitment, or amendment, of a
main question, it cannot be moved to postpone the previous question,
or the motion for commitment or amendment. The reasons for this rule
are: 1. It would be absurd to separate the appendage from its
principal; 2. It would be a piling of questions one on another, which,
to avoid embarrassment, is not allowed; and 3, The same result may be
reached more simply by voting against the motion which it is attempted
to dispose of by another secondary motion.
169. The exceptions to the rule above stated are, that motions to
postpone (either to a day certain or indefinitely), to commit, or to
amend, a principal question, may be amended, for the reason, that the
useful character of amendment gives it a privilege of attaching itself
to a secondary and privileged motion; that is, a subsidiary motion to
carry out and improve another may be applied to that other, but a
subsidiary motion to dispose of or suppress another is not admissible.
Hence, the subsidiary motions above mentioned may be amended.
170. A previous question, however, cannot be amended; the nature of it
not admitting of any change. Parliamentary usage has fixed its form to
be, shall the main question be now put? that is at this instant; and,
as the present instant is but one, it cannot admit of any
modifications; and to change it to the next day or any other moment is
without example or utility. For the same reasons, also, that the form
of it is fixed by parliamentary usage, and is already as simple as it
can be, a motion to lie on the table cannot be amended.
Lie on the Table.
171. This motion is usually resorted to, when the assembly has
something else before it, which claims its present attention, and
therefore desires to lay aside a proposition for a short but
indefinite time, reserving to itself the power to take it up when
convenient. This motion takes precedence of and supersedes all the
other subsidiary motions.
172. If decided in the affirmative, the principal motion, together
with all the other motions, subsidiary and incidental, connected with
it, is removed from before the assembly, until it is again taken up;
which it may be, by motion and vote, at any time, when the assembly
pleases.
173. If decided in the negative, the business proceeds in the same
manner as if the motion had never been made.
Previous Question.
174. This motion has already been described (63), and the nature and
effect of it fully stated. It stands in an equal degree with all the
other subsidiary motions, except the motion to lie on the table; and,
consequently, if first moved, is not subject to be superseded by a
motion to postpone, commit or amend.
175. If the previous question is moved before the others above
mentioned, and put to the question, it has the effect to prevent those
motions from being made at all; for, if decided affirmatively, to wit,
that the main question shall now be put, it would of course be
contrary to the decision of the assembly, and therefore against order,
to postpone, commit, or amend; and if decided negatively, to wit, that
the main question shall not now be put, this takes the main question
out of the possession of the assembly, for the day, so that there is
then nothing before it to postpone, commit, or amend.[23]
Postponement.
176. The motion to postpone is either indefinite, or to a day certain;
and, in both these forms, maybe amended; in the former, by making it
to a day certain,—in the latter, by substituting one day for another.
But, in the latter case, propositions to substitute different days for
that originally named, bear more resemblance to propositions for
filling blanks, than they do to amendments, and should be considered
and treated accordingly.
177. If, therefore, a motion is made for an indefinite postponement,
it may be moved to amend the motion, by making it to a day certain. If
any other day is desired, it may be moved as an amendment to the
amendment; or it may be moved as an independent motion, when the
amendment has been rejected.
178. If a motion is made for a postponement to a day certain, it may
be amended by the substitution of a different day; but in this case, a
more simple and effectual mode of proceeding is to consider the day as
a blank, to be filled in the usual manner, beginning with the longest
time.
179. This motion stands in the same degree with motions for the
previous question,—to commit,—and to amend; and, if first made, is not
susceptible of being superseded by them.
180. If a motion for postponement is decided affirmatively, the
proposition to which it is applied is removed from before the
assembly, with all its appendages and incidents, and consequently
there is no ground for either of the other subsidiary motions; if
decided negatively, that the proposition shall not be postponed, that
question may then be suppressed by the previous question, or
committed, or amended.
Commitment.
181. A motion to commit, or recommit (which is the term used when the
proposition has already been once committed), may be amended, by the
substitution of one kind of committee for another, or be enlarging or
diminishing the number of the members of the committee, as originally
proposed, or by instructions to the committee.
182. This motion stands in the same degree with the previous question
and postponement—and, if first made, is not superseded by them—but it
takes precedence of a motion to amend.
183. If decided affirmatively, the proposition is removed from before
the assembly; and, consequently, there is no ground for the previous
question, or for postponement, or amendment; if negatively, to wit,
that the principal question shall not be committed, that question may
then be suppressed by the previous question, or postponed, or amended.
Amendment.
184. A motion to amend, as has been seen, may be itself amended. It
stands in the same degree only with the previous question and
indefinite postponement, and neither, if first moved, is superseded by
the other.
185. But this motion is liable to be superseded by a motion to
postpone to a day certain; so that amendment and postponement
competing, the latter is to be first put. The reason is, that a
question for amendment is not suppressed by postponing or adjourning
the principal question, but remains before the assembly, whenever the
main question is resumed; for otherwise, it might happen, that the
occasion for other urgent business might go by and be lost by length
of debate on the amendment, if the assembly had no power to postpone
the whole subject.
186. A motion to amend may also be superseded by a motion to commit;
so that the latter, though subsequently moved, is to be first put;
because, “in truth, it facilitates and befriends the motion to amend.”
187. The effect of both a negative and an affirmative decision of
amendments has already been considered (94 to 127).
18. It is commonly said, that a motion to adjourn is always in order,
but this is not precisely true. The question of adjournment may be
moved repeatedly on the same day; yet, in strictness, not without
some intermediate question being proposed, after one motion to
adjourn is disposed of, and before the next motion is made for
adjourning; as, for example, an amendment to a pending question,
or for the reading of some paper. The reason of this is, that,
until some other proceeding has intervened, the question already
decided is the same as that newly moved.
19. It is quite common, when the business of a deliberative assembly
has been brought to a close, to adjourn the assembly without day.
A better form is to dissolve it; as an adjournment without day, if
we regard the etymology of the word adjourn, is a contradiction in
terms.
20. “A motion to adjourn and a question of privilege, take precedence
of a motion for the orders of the day.”—Ed.
21. “This motion is not debatable.”—Ed.
22. “A motion to suspend the rules is not debatable.”—Ed.
23. In the house of representatives of Massachusetts, as the effect of
a negative decision of the previous question is not to remove the
principal question from before the house, that question is still
open to postponement, commitment, or amendment, notwithstanding
such negative decision.