"As many as are of a contrary opinion, say No." If the Speaker doubts, or a division be called for, the House shall divide; those in the affirmative of the question shall first rise from their seats, and afterwards those in the negative. If the Speaker still doubts, or a count be required, the Speaker shall name two members, one from each side, to tell the numbers in the affirmative; which being reported, he shall then name two others, one from each side, to tell those in the negative; which being also reported, he shall rise, and state the decision to the House.

All committees shall be appointed by the Speaker, unless otherwise specially directed by the House; in which case they shall be appointed by ballot; and if, upon such ballot, the number required shall not be elected by a majority of the votes given, the House shall proceed to a second ballot, in which a plurality of votes shall prevail; and in case a greater number than are required to compose or complete the committee, shall have an equal number of votes, the House shall proceed to a further ballot or ballots. In all cases of ballot by the House, the Speaker shall vote; in other cases he shall not vote, unless the House be equally divided, or unless his vote, if given to the minority, will make the division equal; and, in case of such equal division, the question shall be lost.

All acts, addresses, and joint resolutions, shall be signed by the Speaker; and all writs, warrants, or subpœnas, issued by order of the House, shall be under his hand and seal, attested by the Clerk.

In case of any disturbance or disorderly conduct in the gallery or lobby, the Speaker (or Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House) shall have power to order the same to be cleared.

Secondly.-Of Decorum and Debate.

When any member is about to speak in debate, or deliver any matter to the House, he shall rise from his seat; and respectfully address himself to Mr. Speaker.

If any member, in speaking, or otherwise, transgress the rules of the House, the Speaker shall, or any member may, call to order; in which case the, member so called to order shall immediately sit down, unless permitted to explain; and the House shall, if ap pealed to, decide on the case, but without debate. If there be no appeal, the decision of the Chair shall be submitted to. If the decision be in favor of the member called to order, he shall be at liberty to proceed; if otherwise, and the case require it, he shall be liable to the censure of the House.

When two or more members happen to rise at once, the Speaker shall name the member who is first to speak.

No member shall speak more than twice to the same question, without leave of the House; nor more than once, until every member choosing to speak, shall have spoken. Whilst the Speaker is putting any question, or addressing the House, none shall walk out of, or across the House; nor in such case, or when a member is speaking, shall entertain private discourse; nor, whilst a member is speaking, shall pass between

him and the Chair.

No member shall vote on any question in the event of which he is immediately and particularly interested; or in any other case where he was not present when the ques tion was put.

Upon a division and count of the House on any question, no member without the bar shall be counted.

Every member who shall be in the House when a question is put, shall give his vote, unless the House, for special reasons, shall excuse him.

When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated by the Speaker, or, being in writing, it shall be handed to the Chair, and read aloud by the Clerk, before debated. Every motion shall be reduced to writing, if the Speaker or any member desire it. After a motion is stated by the Speaker, or read by the Clerk, it shall be deemed to be in possession of the House, but may be withdrawn at any time before a decision or amendment.

When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received, unless to amend it, to commit it, for the previous question, to postpone it to a day certain, or to adjourn. A motion to adjourn shall be always in order, and shall be decided without debate. The previous question shall be in this form: "Shall the main question be now put" It shall only be admitted when demanded by five members; and, until it is decided, shall preclude all amendment and further debate of the main question.

On a previous question, no member shall speak inore than once without leave.
Any member may call for the division of a question, where the sense will admit of it..

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A motion for commitment, until it is decided, shall preclude all amendment of the main question.

Motions and reports may be committed at the pleasure of the House.

No new motion or proposition shall be admitted under color of amendment, as a substitute for the motion or proposition under debate.

When the reading of a paper is called for, and the same is objected to by any member, it shall be determined by a vote of the House.

The unfinished business in which the House was engaged at the time of the last adjournment, shall have the preference in the orders of the day; and no motion on any other business shall be received, without special leave of the House, until the former is disposed of.

In all other cases of ballot than for committees, a majority of the votes given shall be necessary to an election; and when there shall not be such majority on the first ballot, the ballot shall be repeated until a majority be obtained.

In all cases when others than members of the House may be eligible, there shall be a previous nomination.

If a question depending be lost by adjournment of the House, and revived on the succeeding day, no member who has spoken twice on the day preceding, shall be permitted again to speak without leave.

Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate shall be necessary, shall be read to the House, and laid on the table, on a day preceding that in which the same shall be moved, unless the House shall otherwise expressly allow.

Petitions, memorials, and other papers, addressed to the House, shall be presented by the Speaker, or by a member in his place, and shall not be debated or decided on the day of their being first read, unless where the House shall direct otherwise; but shall lie on the table, to be taken up in the order they were read.

Any fifteen members, (including the Speaker, if there is one,) shall be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members.

Upon calls of the House, or in taking the yeas and nays on any question, the names of the members shall be called alphabetically.

Any member may excuse himself from serving on any committee at the time of his appointment, if he is then a member of two other committees.

No member shall absent himself from the service of the House, unless he have leave, or be sick, and unable to attend.

Upon a call of the House, the names of the members shall be called over by the Clerk, and the absentees noted; after which, the names of the absentees shall be again called over, the doors shall then be shut, and those for whom no excuse, or insufficient excuses are made, may, by order of the House, be taken into custody, as they appear, or may be sent for, and taken into custody, wherever to be found, by special messengers to be appointed for that purpose.

When a member shall be discharged from custody, and admitted to his seat, the House shall determine whether such discharge shall be with, or without, paying fees: and in like manner, whether a delinquent member, taken into custody by a special messenger, shall, or shall not, be liable to defray the expense of such special messenger. A Sergeant-at-Arms shall be appointed, to hold his office during the pleasure of the House, whose duty it shall be to attend the House during its sitting; to execute the commands of the House, from time to time, together with all such process issued by autho rity thereof, as shall be directed to him by the Speaker.

The fees of the Sergeant-at-Arms shall be, for every arrest, the sum of two dollars; for each day's custody and releasement, one dollar; and for travelling expenses of himself, or a special messenger, going and returning, one tenth of a dollar per mile. Four standing committees shall be appointed at the commencement of each session, 'viz:

A Committee of Elections,

A Committee of Claims.

A Committee of Commerce and Manufactures,
And a Committee of Revisal and Unfinished

Business,

To consist of seven members, each.

To consist of three members.

It shall be the duty of the said Committee of Elections to examine and report upon the certificates of election, or other credentials of the members returned to serve in this House, and to take into their consideration all such petitions and other matters touching election, and returns, as shall or may be presented, or come in question, and be referred to them by the House.

It shall be the duty of the said Committee of Claims to take into consideration all such petitions and matters or things touching claims or demands on the United States, as shall be presented, or shall or may come in question, and be referred to them by the House, and to report their opinion thereupon, together with such propositions for relief therein, as to them shall seem expedient.

It shall be the duty of the said Committee of Commerce and Manufactures to take into consideration all such petitions and matters or things, touching the commerce and manufactures of the United States, as shall be presented, or shall or may come in ques tion, and be referred to them by the House, and to report, from time to time, their opinion thereon.

It shall be the duty of the said Committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business to exa. mine and report what laws have expired, or are near expiring, and require to be revived or further continued; also, to examine and report from the Journal of the last session, all such matters as were then depending and undetermined. It shall also be the duty of the said committee to revise the laws for the establishment of offices, and to report, from time to time, such provisions or expenses attending them, as may appear to have become necessary.

No committee shall sit, during the sitting of the House, without special leave. The Clerk of the House 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 shall be deemed to continue in office until another be appointed.

It shall be the duty of the Clerk of the House, at the end of each session, to send a printed copy of the Journal thereof to the Executive, and to each branch of the Legislature of every State.

Whenever confidential communications are received from the President of the United States, the House shall be cleared of all persons, except the members and the Clerk, and so continue during the reading of such communications, and (unless otherwise directed by the House) during all debates and proceedings to be had thereon. And when the Speaker, or any other member, shall inform the 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.

Thirdly.—Of Bills.

Every bill shall be introduced by motion for leave, or by an order of the House, on the report of a committee; and, in either casc, a committee to prepare the same shall be appointed: In cases of a general nature, one day's notice, at least, shall be given of the motion to bring in a bill; and every such motion may be committed.

Every bill shall receive three several readings in the House previous to its passage; and all bills shall be despatched in order as they were introduced, unless where the House shall direct otherwise; but no bill shall be twice read on the same day without special order of the House.

The first reading of a bill shall be for information; and, if opposition be made to it, the question shall be, "Shall the bill be rejected"" If no opposition be made, or if the question to reject be negatived, the bill shall go to its second reading without a question.

Upon the second reading of a bill, the Speaker shall state it as ready for commit ment or engrossment; and, if committed, then a question shall be, whether to a Select Committee, or to a Committee of the Whole House; if to a Committee of the Whole House, the House shall determine on what day. But, if the bill be ordered to be engrossed, the House shall appoint the day when it shall be read the third time. After commitment and report thereof to the House, a bill may be re-committed, or at any time before its passage.

All bills ordered to be engrossed shall be executed in a fair round hand. When a bill shall pass, it shall be certified by the Clerk, noting the day of its passing at the foot thereof.

Fourthly. Of Committees of the Whole House.

It shall be a standing order of the day, throughout the session, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

In forming a Committee of the Whole House the Speaker shall leave his chair, and a chairman to preside in committee shall be appointed by the Speaker.

Upon bills committed to a Committee of the Whole House, the bill shall be first read throughout by the Clerk, and then again read and debated by clauses, leaving the preamble to be last considered; the body of the bill shall not be defaced or interlined; but all amendments, noting the page and line, shall be duly entered by the Clerk on a separate paper, as the same shall be agreed to by the committee, and so reported to the House. After report, the bill shall again be subject to be debated and amended by clauses before a question to engross it be taken.

All amendments made to an original motion in committee, shall be incorporated with the motion, and so reported.

All amendments made to a report committed to a Committee of the Whole House, shall be noted and reported as in the case of bills.

All questions, whether in committee or in the House, shall be propounded in the order in which they were moved, except that in filling up blanks the largest sum and longest time shall be first put.

No motion or proposition for a tax or charge upon the People shall be discussed the day in which it is made or offered, and every such proposition shall receive its first dis cussion in a Committee of the Whole House.

No sum or quantum of tax or duty voted by a Committee of the Whole House, shall be increased in the House, until the motion or proposition for such increase shall be first discussed and voted in a Committee of the Whole House; and so in respect to the time of its continuance.

All proceedings touching appropriations of money, shall be first moved and discuss ed in a Committee of the Whole House.

The rules of proceeding in the House shall be observed in committee, so far as they may be applicable, except the rule limiting the times of speaking.

No standing rule or order of the House shall be rescinded without one day's notice being given of the motion therefor.

Joint Rules and Orders of the two Houses.

In every case of an amendment of a bill agreed to in one House and dissented to in the other, if either House shall request a conference, and appoint a committee for that purpose, and the other House shall also appoint a committee to confer, such committees shall, at a convenient hour, to be agreed on by their Chairman, meet in the Conference Chamber, and state to each other verbally, or in writing, as either shall choose, the reasons of their respective Houses for and against the amendment, and confer freely thereon.

When a message shall be sent from the Senate to the House of Representatives, it shall be announced at the door of the House by the Doorkeeper, and shall be respectfully communicated to the chair by the person by whom it may be sent.

The same ceremony shall be observed when a message shall be sent from the House of Representatives to the Senate.

Messages shall be sent by such persons as a sense of propriety in each House may determine to be proper.

While bills are on their passage between the two Houses, they shall be on paper, and under the signature of the Secretary or Clerk of each House, respectively.

After a bill shall have passed both Houses, it shall be duly enrolled on parchment by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, or the Secretary of the Senate, as the bill may have originated in the one or the other House, before it shall be presented to the President of the United States.

When bills are enrolled, they shall be examined by a Joint Committee of one from the Senate, and two from the House of Representatives, appointed as a Standing Cont mittee for that purpose, who shall carefully compare the enrolment with the engrossed bills as passed in the two Houses, and, correcting any errors that may be discovered in the enrolled bills, make their report forthwith to the respective Houses.

After examination and report, each bill shall be signed in the respective Houses, first by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and then by the President of the

Senate.

After a bill shall have thus been signed in each House, it shall be presented by the said committee to the President of the United States for his approbation, it being first endorsed on the back of the roll, certifying in which House the same originated; which endorsement shall be signed by the Secretary or Clerk (as the case may be) of the House in which the same did originate, and shall be entered on the Journal of each House

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The said committee shall report the day of presentation to the President, which time shall also be carefully entered on the Journal of each House.

All orders, resolutions, and votes, which are to be presented to the President of the United States for his approbation, shall, also, in the same manner, be previously enrolled, examined, and signed, and shall be presented in the same manner, and by the same committee, as provided in case of bills.

When the Senate and House of Representatives shall judge it proper to make a joint address to the President, it shall be presented to him in his Audience Chamber by the President of the Senate, in the presence of the Speaker and both Houses.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, accompanying an account of the receipts and expenditures of the United States, for the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four; which were read, and ordered to lie. on the table.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of State, enclosing the reports of the late and present Director of the Mint, exhibiting the state of that esta blishment, and shewing the necessity of some further legislative provisions to render it more efficient and secure; which were read, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, accompanied with estimates of the sums necessary to be appropriated for the service of the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six; also, statements of the application of certain sums of money granted by law; which were read, and ordered to lie on the table.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, accompany. ing sundry statements and reports relative to the present military force of the United States; to the measures which have been pursued to obtain proper sites for arsenals; to the measures which have been taken to replenish the magazines and military stores; to the measures which have been taken for opening a trade with the Indians; and to the progress made in providing materials for the frigates, and in building them; which were read, and ordered to be committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

Ordered, That a Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be appointed, pursuant to the standing rules and orders of the House.

And a committee was appointed, of Mr. Goodhue, Mr. Bourne, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Swanwick, Mr Samuel Smith, Mr. Parker, and Mr. William Smith.

A memorial of John Courts, Collector of the Revenue for the District of Cedar Point, in the State of Maryland, was presented to the House and read, praying that Nanjemoy, in the said State, may be made a port of entry, instead of Cedar Point.

Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

The order of the day was further postponed until to-morrow.

And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1795.

A memorial of sundry persons, whose names are thereunto subscribed, on behalf of themselves and others, emigrants from Wales, was presented to the House and read, praying a grant of pre-emption on actual settlement, for a certain tract of land on the Ohio and Great Miami Rivers; or that they may be enabled to contract with the Government for a tract of five hundred thousand acres on the Ohio and Sciota Rivers, for the purpose of forming thereon a settlement of themselves and followers.

Ordered, That the said memorial do lie on the table.

Memorials of sundry citizens of the Towns of Boston and Charlestown, Marblehead, Newburyport, Plymouth, and of Salem, Danvers, Beverly, and Ipswich, in the State of Massachusetts, whose names are thereunto subscribed, were presented to the House and read, respectively praying that adequate measures may be pursued by the Government of the United Sates for obtaining or granting to the petitioners full indemnity for the property which has been unjustly taken from them by the armed vessels of the British, when in the regular pursuit of their commerce.

Ordered, That the said memorials be referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

Ordered, That the petitions of the Selectmen of the Town of Newbury, in the State of Massachusetts, on behalf of themselves and the other inhabitants of the said Town,