to any member having leave of absence, unless some good reason can be given for it. If Mr. KECK has a reason for his absence, such a one as in my judgment is sufficient, I will vote to grant him leave; otherwise I will vote against it. Mere business matters and relations will not justify it. Sickness, either of himself or of some member of his family, or something of that nature, in my judgment will alone excuse the absence of a member. When a gentleman is elected to and accepts the position of a member of this Convention, he should make his calculations to let that be his business during the time the Convention is in session.

Mr. KECK. My reason for asking leave of absence through my colleague [Mr. ROWLAND] is that before I was elected a delegate to this Convention I had made arrangements to have a portion of my family leave this country for Europe. I must go with them to New York, and if I am not allowed leave of absence, I must go without it.

Mr. CLARK, of Ross. That excuse is good enough.

Mr. BURNS. That was a reason that existed before the gentleman accepted his nomination; he knew it before the election.

The question was taken and leave of absence was granted accordingly.

COMMITTEES ON THE CONSTITUTION.

Mr. EWING. I ask leave to submit the following resolutions:

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Convention that the present Constitution shall not by changed in matters of mere phraseology or arrangement.

Resolved, That the President appoint a committee of seven on each of the several articles of the present Constitution, including the schedule, each of which committees shall consider and report from time to time such amendments as may be deemed expedient in the articles considered by them. But the committee on the judicial article shall consist of twenty members, composed of one from each Congressional district.

I desire to say to the Convention that I offer these resolutions for the purpose of having these committees appointed as promptly as possible, without waiting for the report of the committee provided for in the resolution offered by the gentleman from Geauga [Mr. HITCHCOCK] and adopted by the Convention yesterday. It seems to be pretty generally conceded that it is the desire of the people of this State that the present Constitution should remain untouched, except in respect to those portions which have been shown to be deficient. I think that is obviously desirable, for we are not likely to improve the arrangement of the various articles, nor their phraseology, which is singularly perspicuous and elegant. And moreover a large body of statute law rests upon the Constitution as it stands, and on judicial decisions interpreting the Constitution as it stands, all of which, though not likely to be improved, would be greatly disturbed and thrown into confusion by a general remodeling and change of the arrangement and phraseology of the present Constitution.

Now the fact is that although both of the chief political parties of this State resolved in favor of this Convention, yet the people were so well satisfied with the Constitution as it stands, that the vote in favor of the Convention, and the majority for it were comparatively small. The people desire that we should direct our at

tention to the article on the judiciary, and to such other matters about which there has been general complaint, leaving the great bulk of the instrument to remain in letter and form as it is. If that be the sense of the Convention, let us at once direct the President to appoint a committee upon each article of the Constitution, including the schedule, making the committee upon the judicial articles so large that there will be represented in it the interests of each portion of the State. If these resolutions are adopted the committees will be appointed under the instructions I have embodied in my first resolution, that they will not be expected to disturb the language of the articles they may respectively be called upon to consider, unless in some respect, where, in their opinion, it has been proved to be defective.

Mr. TUTTLE. I rise to a point of order, which is that the resolution we have already adopted, although in general terms, in substance covers the ground of the resolutions now offered.

tween the two resolutions. The resolution preMr. WEST. I see nothing inconsistent besented by the gentleman from Fairfield [Mr. EWING] approaches my idea of what is exceedingly proper. So far as the other resolution is concerned, it is simply an instruction of this body to the committee to be appointed under it to report a set of rules for the government of our business here. And until they shall report, the adoption of this resolution will enable the work of this Convention to be begun at once. I think this resolution simplifies the whole matter. The last committee referred to in it, the committee on the judiciary, should be appointed at once; the other committees need not be appointed now.

Mr. EWING. At the suggestion of friends I will modify my resolution so as to provide that the committee on apportionment, like the committee on the judicial article, shall consist of twenty members, to be appointed in like manner from the Congressional districts.

Mr. TUTTLE. I desire to insist upon my point of order, and to say in addition to what I have already said, that my point seems to have been recognized by the gentleman from Franklin [Mr. BABER], who moved a reconsideration of the vote by which the Convention on yesterday adopted the resolution of the gentleman from Geauga [Mr. HITCHCOCK], with a view to offer as a substitute for it a resolution covering a part of the ground covered by the resolution of the gentleman from Fairfield [Mr. EWING.] Other resolutions on the same subject have been offered by other gentlemen, and are now on the table, subject to the action of the Convention. It seems to me that it is time we should have a vote on some proposition before this body. I cannot see what is to be gained if each of the 105 members of this Convention shall present a proposition for the appointment of committees, unless we take definite action upon some of those propositions. Of course each new proposition is offered with a view of presenting the question in some manner in which it has not before been presented, with a view to elicit additional light, and to attain the end which all have in view.

Now I submit that there can be no question

that it was understood by every member here yesterday, who voted for the resolution of the gentleman from Geauga, that it covers the determination of the number of committees to be appointed for this body, and the order of business which would follow from the appointment of those committees; and I think it does cover the very ground that is covered by the resolution of the gentleman from Fairfield.

Mr. HOADLY. The resolution of the gentleman from Fairfield, [Mr. EWING] means business, immediate attention to business, and therefore I am in favor of it. I was one of those consulted by the gentleman from Geauga, [Mr. HITCHCOCK], before he offered his resolutlon yesterday. I advised the presentation of it, because I thought it meant business. I favor the adoption of the resolution now under consideration, because I believe it means the more immediate attention to business. The committee on rules and order of business has not yet been appointed. The resolution now before us requires the President to appoint these committees at once. There is not necessarily any incongruity between the two resolutions. The one contemplates the appointment of a committee on rules; the other the appointment of certain committees, without any reference to the manner in which they shall discharge their duties, or we ours. Therefore, the sooner we adopt the resolution of the gentleman from Fairfield, and there is entrusted to you, Mr. President, the important duty of selecting the members who shall compose those committees, the sooner will we be able to begin our work.

The PRESIDENT. The chair is of opinion that the point of order of the gentleman from Trumbull, [Mr. TUTTLE], is not well taken. There is no inconsistency between the resolution now pending and the one already adopted by the Convention. The one now under consideration may be regarded in the light of instructions to the committee that may be appointed under the resolution of yesterday. The chair is therefore of opinion that the point of order is not well taken.

Mr. ROOT. I call for a separate vote on the propositions contained in the resolutions now under consideration.

Mr. MUELLER. I think we will accomplish the end in view by referring these resolutions of the gentleman from Fairfield to a select committee, to consist of the three gentlemen who have offered resolutions upon the subject, the gentleman from Geauga, [Mr. HITCHCOCK], the gentleman from Fairfield, [Mr. EWING], and the gentleman from Franklin, [Mr. BABER], with instructions to report upon the same at 11 o'clock to-morrow morning.

[WEDNESDAY,

the proper way to proceed to business is to proceed in order, and according to rules. We are drifting along here now without any rules, except those of general parliamentary law.

The resolution of the gentlemen from Geauga, it seems to me, was in proper time, and in the proper spirit and direction. It was to appoint a committee to prepare and report as speedily as possible the rules by which this body and its presiding officers may be governed. As was well said by my friend from Erie, [Mr. Roor], that committee can very soon act if it were appointed. But what is the situation in which our presiding officer has been placed? The motion was made this morning by the gentleman from Franklin [Mr. BABER] to re-consider the vote by which the Convention on yesterday adopted the resolution of the gentleman from Geauga. And while that motion is pending the presiding officer cannot, with any degree of propriety, and without a seeming show of disrespect to this body, proceed to appoint that committee. His hands are tied, because he does not know whether it may be the pleasure of the Convention to re-consider its action or not.

It seems to me that if gentlemen, will take the proper view of the matter, the course for us to pursue is to take from the table the motion to reconsider, submitted by the gentleman from Franklin, and act upon it. If the action of the Convention is to be reconsidered, then let it be done now. Should the motion to reconsider be voted down-and I shall so vote-then the presiding officer will be left free to appoint this committee on rules and order of business, and they can proceed at once to discharge their duty.

Again, it is and ought to be the prerogative of the presiding officer to himself constitute the standing committees and to designate their chairman. For one, I am opposed to any gentleman submitting propositions here at this time, let him be who he may, whether my respected friend from Logan [Mr. WEST], the gentleman from Fairfield [Mr. EWING], or any one else, that will place our presiding officer in such a position as will seem to make it his duty to appoint certain gentlemen chairmen of committees, upon the well known principle of parliamentary practice the world over, that requires the mover of a proposition to appoint a particular committee to be made the chairman of that committee. I do not say that I would not select those very gentlemen as chairmen of some of the most important committees of this body. But I would not place the presiding officer under any restraint in respect to that matter.

Therefore if it is in order, I do not know that it is, I will move to take from the table the motion to reconsider made by the gentleman from Franklin this morning.

The PRESIDENT. That motion is not now in order, pending the resolutions of the gentleman from Fairfield.

lows:

Resolved, That the President appoint a committee of sevtion, including the schedule, each of which committees en on ech of the several articles of the present Constitushall consider and report from time to time such amend

MAY 14, 1873.]

ments as may be deemed expedient in the article considered by them.

That is no instruction to the committee to be appointed under the resolution adopted yesterday, but it is the instruction of the Convention to the chair to proceed to appoint one committee of seven members on each article of the Constitution, including the schedule. The resolution further provides that the committee on the judicial article, and the committee on apportionment, shall each consist of twenty members, one from each Congressional district. Therefore, the point made by the gentleman from Butler that it is out of order to instruct a committee not yet appointed is not well taken, being founded upon a misapprehension.

ness.

As to the further point that has been made, that the subject of this resolution is embodied in the one adopted yesterday, that I think is a mistake. What was that resolution? One to appoint a committee on rules and order of busiWhat is this? A resolution looking to the organization of this body, not to the order of its business. This body will not be fully organized till its committees shall have been appointed. The resolution of yesterday relates simply to the manner of conducting our business, to the rules and order of proceeding in this body. My resolution relates to the organization of this body by the appointment, through its president, of the committees through which we may do our work. As to the understanding of members when the resolution of yesterday was adopted, I do not know what the understanding may have been upon the other side of the house; but upon our side it was understood that the order of business did not mean the organization of our committees.

Mr. COOK. I agree with the general spirit of the resolutions now under consideration, but I am a little in doubt about the proposition contained in the first resolution. It sets out with the statement "That it is the sense of the Convention that the present Constitution shall not be changed in matters of mere phraseology or arrangement." I agree with the gentleman that we should not change the Constitution in mere matters of arrangement. But we cannot alter the Constitution at all unless we change its phraseology. And for this Convention now to resolve that it will not change the mere phraseology of the Constitution, might be binding us to something which we may find will give trouble in our future proceedings. We may find that it will be necessary to strike out a word in one place, and to add a word in another. And should we undertake to do so, it might be claimed that it was a mere change in phraseology and prohibited by this resolution. And thus we may be embarrassed in our future action.

I think that at this stage of our proceedings, when we are all uncertain as to what we may find necessary to do in regard to a revision of our Constitution, we had better leave ourselves entirely free to act as emergencies may arise. It will be admitted that when we come to examine the Constitution article by article, to submit each section to the scrutiny of a committee, we may find things there we have not dreamed of, which will require revision.

Mr. MUELLER. I rise to a point of order. I moved to refer these resolutions to a special

committee of three, and that is the question now before the Convention.

Mr. COOK. I was not aware that there was any such motion pending as the gentleman has indicated. The discussion certainly has not been in reference to such a motion.

The PRESIDENT. The gentleman from Cuyahoga (Mr. MUELLER) indicated a motion to refer these resolutions to a select committee of three, naming them. But the chair heard no second, and therefore did not submit the motion to the Convention.

Mr. COOK. Does not a motion to amend take precedence of a motion to refer? I have myself prepared a resolution on the subject, which although of the same general tenor as that of the gentleman from Fairfield, (Mr. EWING), is more simple in its terms, omitting the embarrassing part of his resolution. If not in order, I ask the gentleman from Cuyahoga (Mr. MUELLER) to withdraw his motion to refer, so that I may offer my substitute.

Mr. LAYTON. I understand the motion to refer was not seconded.

Mr. POWELL. I second it. Mr. COOK. Can a second to that motion be made while I have the floor?

Mr. MUELLER. I say my motion to refer does not need a second at all. It requires a special rule for a second to a motion, and we have no special rule about that.

Mr. ROWLAND. Even if the motion to refer was made, it is not before the Convention for consideration until stated by the Chair.

The PRESIDENT. The gentleman is correct. When the motion to refer was made the Chair was of opinion that it required a second before it could be entertained. In that he may have been in error, as we have no special rule upon the subject.

Mr. ROWLAND. The motion not having been stated by the Chair, is not before the Convention.

Mr. COOK. I understand that by general parliamentary law no motion will be entertained by the Chair unless it shall be seconded.

I was proceeding to say, when this interruption took place, that it will be unwise for us at this time, by resolution or otherwise, to prescribe any mode for carrying on our future work. We should be left entirely free and unembarrassed. While I agree with the spirit of the resolution of the gentlemen from Fairfield, I must say that I think my substitute will cover the entire ground without any embarrassing provisions. It is as follows:

Resolved, That there be appointed by the President of the Convention the following standing committees, to consist of nine members each, excepting the judicial committee which will be composed of twenty-one members, viz: On bill of rights; on legislative department; on the executive; on the elective franchise; on the judiciary; on education; on public institutions; on public debt; on public works; on the militia; on township and county organizations; on judicial apportionment; on legislative apportionment; on finance and taxation; on corporations; on jurisprudence; on amendments; and on miscellaneous

matters.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Several propositions have been offered during the day, embracing one of some importance coming from the gentleman from Logan [Mr. WEST]. There are many members who I know have not yet had an opportunity of examining into the nature and