IV. When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated by the member, or read by the Secretary, previous to debate. If any member require it, all motions (except to adjourn, postpone or commit) shall be reduced to writing. Any motion may be withdrawn by consent of the Council, before decision or amendment.

V. Every member present, when a question is put, shall vote, unless the Council shall, for special cause, excuse him.

VI. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, and be decided without debate.

VII. When a member is about to speak he shall rise and address himself to the President: and when a member is speaking, no member shall pass between him and the chair.

VIII. No member shall speak more than twice on any question without leave of the Council.

IX. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received, unless to postpone, to amend, to take the previous question, to commit, or to adjourn.

X. The previous question shall be put in these words: "Shall the main question be now put?" and it shall be admitted on the demand of any member, and until decided shall preclude all amendments under debate, of the main question.

XI. Any member may call for a division of the question, when the same will admit thereof.

XII. No Committee shall absent themselves from the Council Chamber by reason of their appointment, during the sitting of the Council without special leave.

XIII. Every bill shall be introduced by motion for leave, or by order of the Council on the report of a commitee; and in either case 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.

XIV. Every bill shall receive three several readings previous to its passage; but no bill shall have its second and third readings on the same day without special order of the Council.

XV. The first reading of a bill shall be for information, and if objections be made to it, the question shall be, "Shall the bill be rejected?" If no objections be made, or the question to reject be lost, the bill shall go to its second reading without further question.

XVI. All bills, on a second reading, shall be considered by the Council in committee of the whole, before it shall be taken up and considered by the Council. The final question upon every bill or resolution that requires three readings previous to being passed, shall be, "whether it shall be engrossed and read a third time?" No bill or resolution that requires three readings shall be committed or amended until it shall have been twice read.

XVII. When a question is lost on engrossing a bill for a third

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reading on a particular day, it shall not preclude a question to engross it for a third reading on a different day; nor shall any subject be a second time re-considered without the consent of the Council. On the third reading of a bill or resolution, no amendment (except to fill blanks) shall be received, except by unanimous consent of the members present.

XVIII. When a bill is engrossed, the President shall at the time previously appointed by the Council, announce it as ready for a third reading, without a question.

XIX. A bill or resolution may be committed at any time previous to its passage; if any amendment be reported upon such commitment, by any other than a committee of the whole, the bill shall again be read a second time and considered as in committee of the whole, and the question for its engrossment and third reading again put.

XX. In filling blanks, the largest sum and longest time shall be first put.

XXI. When the Council are equally divided, in such case the question shall be lost.

XXII. When a motion or question has been once made and carried in the affirmative or negative, it shall be in order for any member of the majority to move for the re-consideration thereof, on the same or the succeeding day.

XXIII. All acts, addresses, and resolutions, shall be signed by the President, and all writs, warrants and subpoenas, issued by order of the Council, shall be under his hand and seal, attested by the Secretary.

XXIV. Petitions, memorials and other papers, addressed to the Council, shall be presented by any member, in his place; a brief statement of the contents thereof shall be made verbally by the member introducing the same, and shall not be debated or decided on the day of their being first read, unless where the Council shall direct otherwise; but shall lie on the table (to be taken up in the order they were read,) or be referred, on motion, to a committee.

XXV. After a bill shall have passed the Council, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Council so far to alter the title of the bill as to strike out the words "A bill," and insert in lieu thereof the words "An act;" it shall then be duly enrolled; after which, it shall be examined by a standing committee for that purpose, who shall carefully compare the enrolment with the engrossed bill, and correcting any errors that may be discovered in the enrolled bill, shall make their report forthwith to the Council.

XXVI. After examination and report, each bill shall be signed by the President of the Council, and by him presented to the Governor for his approbation; the day of presentation shall be entered on the journal.

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XXVII. A Secretary, a Recording and Enrolling Clerk shall be appointed by ballot, to hold their places during the pleasure of the Council. They shall take an oath for the true and faithful discharge of their respective duties in office. The Secretary shall keep a correct journal of the daily proceedings, and perform such other duties as shall appertain to him as Secretary. He shall let no journal, records, accounts or papers, be taken from the table or out of his custody, other than by the regular mode of business of the Council; and if any papers in his charge shall be missing, he shall make report to the President, that it may be inquired into. It shall be the duty of the recording clerk, to record the journal of proceedings agreeably to the original furnished him by the Secretary. It shall be the duty of the enrolling clerk to transcribe, copy, and enrol bills. The secretary and clerks, in the discharge of their duties, shall be subject to the direction of the President or Council.

XXVIII. A Sergeant-at-arms, Doorkeeper, Messenger and assistant Messenger shall be appointed by ballot to hold their offices during the pleasure of the Council, whose duty it shall be to attend the Council during its sitting and to execute the commands of the President and Council from time to time. They shall take an oath, truly and faithfully to discharge their respective duties in office.

XXIX. When a message shall be sent from the Governor to the Council, it shall be communicated to the chair, by the person by whom it may be sent.

XXX. No person shall be elected to any office created by these rules, unless he shall receive a majority of the whole number of votes given by the members of the Legislative Council.

XXXI. When nominations shall be made in writing by the Governor of the Territory, to the Council, a future day shall be assigned, unless the Council unanimously direct otherwise, for taking them into consideration.

XXXII. It shall be the duty of the members and officers of the Council to keep all information or remarks, touching or concerning the character or qualifications of any person nominated by the Governor to office, inviolably secret; also the proceedings and business of the Council when in executive session.

XXXIII. Before acting on confidential or executive business, the Council shall be cleared, by direction of the President, of all persons except the Secretary and Sergeant-at-arms.

XXXIV. The proceedings of the Council, when they shall act in their executive capacity, shall be kept in separate and distinct books, and no part of the executive Journal shall be published but by special order.

XXXV. No member or officer of the Council shall be permitted to read the newspapers within the bar of the Council, while the Council is in session.

XXXVI. The President of the Council is authorized and required to administer all oaths prescribed by these rules.

XXXVII. Every resolution read (by the Secretary) by direction of a member, shall be considered to be before the Council. And the question to adopt or reject, may be immediately put on such resolution, unless upon motion of a member, the same may be laid on the table.

XXXVIII. It shall be competent for any member, when a question is taken, to call for the ayes and nays, which shall be recorded by the Secretary, if required.

XXXIX. No standing rules of the Council shall be rescinded or suspended except by a vote of three-fourths of the members present.

XL. All bills brought into the Council by any member or committee, shall be endorsed with the name of the member or committee bringing in the same.

XLI. When a member shall be called to order, he shall sit down until the President shall have determined whether he is in order or not, and every question of order shall be decided by the President, subject to an appeal to the Council by any two members; and if a member be called to order for words spoken, the exceptionable words shall be immediately taken down in writing, that the President and Council may be better enabled to judge of the matter.

The Council proceeded to ballot for President of the Legislative Council: whereupon,

John M'Donell was chosen President.

Mr. M'Donell, having taken the chair, addressed the Council as follows:

GENTLEMEN OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL :

This is the second time you have been pleased to call me to preside over your deliberations. Accept my thanks, gentlemen, for the honor you have thus conferred in so distinguished a mark of your confidence and favor. I truly regret that I have not language sufficiently expressive of the gratitude I feel, especially on this occasion. I could only wish that I were better qualified to discharge the arduous duties that will be incumbent upon me as President of this Council, in a manner to comport with my own sense of honor and my wishes, suitably to the dignity of the chair, and the just expectations of this honorable body. But in accordance with your wishes, I enter on the duties thus assigned me, as on a former occasion, with much diffidence, and a distrust in my own ability to perform them. It shall, however, be my constant and ardent desire to discharge the duties that will necessarily devolve upon me, as the presiding officer of this house, with all the ability I possess, and, I hope, with that temper and moderation that are due to you, and to the station which I occupy.

But in order to give dignity and character to the proceedings of

this legislative body, much will depend upon yourselves, gentlemen, in maintaining and permanently preserving the rules that have been adopted for our government: in the maintenance of which I will at all times cheerfully co-operate. But without your kind and indulgent aid, as heretofore extended, all my efforts will be unavailing.

The preceding Legislative Council, at its last session, performed the duty of condensing and revising our Territorial laws. The session was extended by Congress to ninety days for the completion of that object; a period wholly inadequate to the performance of so important an undertaking, so that we may expect some inaccuracy and discrepancy to have occurred in the statutes, which it will be our business at this time to remedy, as far as it lies in our power. The sessions of the Legislative Council are limited to sixty days in the year, which time is altogether insufficient to do justice to the many important matters that will come under our consideration, and which will require the deliberation and action of the Council. I have myself, as president of the late Council, and a member elect of the present, written to our delegate at Washington, suggesting to him the propriety of applying to Congress for an extension of the session of the Legislative Council of this Territory. Should you, gentlemen, be of the same opinion with me, that such an extension is necessary, the Council ought to make an immediate application to Congress for the attainment of that object.

It would be superfluous in me to state to you, at this time, the many considerations that urge and impel our speedy transition from a state of colonial subjection to the high and lofty stand of selfgovernment, and to claim our right to be on an equal footing with the other free, sovereign, and independent states of this happy, great and growing republic-a subject which I have no doubt will claim your early attention. Let us, therefore, engage in this and in the many other important matters that will come under our consideration, with a fixed determination to make the result beneficial to our constituents and honorable to ourselves.

On motion of Mr. Stockton, the Council proceeded to ballot for Secretary; and John Norvell was chosen.

On motion of Mr. Durocher, the Council proceeded to ballot for Recording Clerk; and Seneca Allen was chosen.

On motion of Mr. Bacon, the Council proceeded to ballot for Enrolling Clerk; and Theodore Williams was chosen.

On motion of Mr. Stockton, the Council proceeded to ballot for Sergeant-at-arms; and Elisha L. Atkins was chosen.

On motion of Mr. Millington, the Council proceeded to ballot for Doorkeeper; and Harvey Chubb was chosen.

On motion of Mr. Hascall, the Council proceeded to ballot for Messenger and assistant Messenger at the same time; and Solomon