[Hinds' Precedents, Volume 1]
[Chapter 6 - The Officers of the House and Their Election]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
THE OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE AND THEIR ELECTION.
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1. Provisions of Constitution and rule. Sections 186, 187.
2. General procedure of election. Sections 188-203.
3. The election of Speaker. Sections 204-230.\1\
4. Resignation or death of Speaker. Sections 231-234.\2\
5. The Clerk and his election. Sections 235-245.
6. Absence of the Clerk. Sections 246-248.
7. Authority and duties of the Clerk. Sections 249-253.\3\
8. The Clerk custodian of the seal of the House. Sections 254-
256.
9. The duties of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Sections 257-259.
10. The Doorkeeper and his duties. Sections 260-263.
11. Resignations and deaths of officers. Sections 264-268.\4\
12. The Postmaster and his duties. Sections 269-271.
13. The Chaplain and his duties. Sections 272-282.
14. Defense of officers in actions. Section 283.
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186. The Speaker and other officers are chosen by the House.--The
Constitution of the United States, in Article I, section 2, provides
that ``the House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and
other officers.''
187. The elective officers of the House, in addition to the Speaker,
are the Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper, Postmaster, and Chaplain.
A rule, which, however, is not in force at the time of organization,
provides that all the elective officers except the Speaker shall be
chosen by viva voce vote.
The Speaker, who was at first chosen by ballot, has been chosen by
viva voce vote since 1839.
The elective officers other than the Speaker continue in office until
their successors are chosen and qualified.
The elective officers of the House are sworn to support the
Constitution and discharge their duties faithfully.
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\1\ Clerk preserves order during. Section 64 of this volume. As to
general duties of the Speaker. Chapter XLIV, sections 1307-1376 of Vol.
II of this work. Contests over election of, in 1855 and 1859. Sections
6647-6650 of Vol. V.
\2\ See also section 1356 of Vol. II.
\3\ Presiding officer during organization. Chapter III, sections 64-
80 of this volume.
\4\ See also section 292 of this volume.
Sec. 187
Origin of an obsolete requirement that the officers of the House
shall be sworn to keep its secrets.
Each of the elected officers of the House appoints the employees of
his department provided by law.
The attempt to establish the theory that one House might prescribe
rules for its successor, and the end thereof.
The House formerly provided by special rule that the Clerk should
continue in office until another should be appointed.
Rule II provides:
There shall be elected by a viva voce vote, at the commencement of
each Congress, to continue in office until their successors are chosen
and qualified, a Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper,\1\ Postmaster,
and Chaplain, each of whom shall take an oath to support the
Constitution of the United States, and for the true and faithful
discharge of the duties of his office to the best of his knowledge and
ability, and to keep the secrets of the House; and each shall appoint
all of the employees of his department provided for by law.
This rule is the result of many changes in the relations of the House
and its elected officers. It is, of course, of advisory force only, as
it has not been the custom of the House to adopt rules until it has
organized by the choice of some, at least, of its officers; but at the
time this rule was framed into its present form--in 1880--there existed
and was continued another rule which provided: ``These rules shall be
the rules of the House of Representatives of the present and succeeding
Congresses unless otherwise ordered.'' This attempt to enable one House
to dictate rules to its successor was often challenged and was finally
brought to an end in 1890, after having continued from 1860.\2\ It is
evident, then, that this rule as to the election of officers is never
in existence at the time at which a large portion of it would be
expected to apply.
The portion of the rule providing for election by viva voce vote is
the embodiment in the form of rule of the result of a long contest in
the House. The first Speaker was elected by ballot, and such continued
to be the practice both as to the Speaker and other officers for many
years. As early as March 1, 1826,\3\ Mr. James Buchanan, of
Pennsylvania, proposed a rule that the Speaker be elected by viva voce
vote, but no action was taken. On January 16 and 17, 1829,\4\ a
proposition that the officers of the House be elected by viva voce vote
was debated at length, and finally laid on the table by a vote of 97 to
92. And election by ballot continued up to and including the election
of James K. Polk as Speaker in 1837, although in 1835 \5\ the
proposition for viva voce election had been advanced again. In 1839 \6\
there was a long contest over the choice of Speaker, and by
determination of the House all the votes were taken viva voce, although
there was much opposition to the method.
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\1\ An Assistant Doorkeeper was, in 1821, an elective officer of the
House (first session Seventeenth Congress, Journal, p. 49); but the
office was abolished many years ago.
\2\ See sections 6743-6745 of Vol. V of this work.
\3\ First session Nineteenth Congress, Journal, pp. 296, 305.
\4\ Second session Twentieth Congress, Journal, pp. 165, 171.
\5\ Second session Twenty-third Congress, Journal, p. 283; Debates,
pp. 879, 1051, 1070
\6\ First session Twenty-sixth Congress, Journal, pp. 59-79; Globe,
pp. 69-74.
Sec. 187
The contest of 1839 \1\ left the House with this rule: ``In all cases
of election by the House of its officers, the vote shall be taken viva
voce.'' And this rule was continued until 1880,\2\ when the Committee
on Rules, in framing the present form of rule, omitted the Speaker from
the list of officers who should be elected viva voce. At that time Mr.
J. Warren Keifer, of Ohio, proposed that the Speaker should be included
among the officers elected viva voce, as had been the practice for
forty years by the old rule; but it seems to have been the intention
that the House on each occasion should determine how it would elect its
Speaker. The Speakers are always elected viva voce, and in recent years
sometimes without even the preliminary vote to proceed to the election
of a Speaker.\3\ In fact, as stated above, the rule is not in existence
when the Speaker and other officers are usually elected, and the House
may determine for itself at the time what method shall be used. It
elects the Speaker viva voce and the other officers usually by
resolution.
The portion of the rule specifying the officers who shall be elected
is, like the portion relating to viva voce voting, a summary of the
practice of the House in the past.
On April 1, 1789,\4\ a quorum appeared for the first time in the
first House of Representatives, and at once the House proceeded to
elect the only officer of the House specifically mentioned in the
Constitution--the Speaker. And next it proceeded ``to the appointment
of a Clerk.''
On April 2, 1789,\4\ the House--
Resolved, That a Doorkeeper and Assistant Doorkeeper be appointed for
the service of this House.
On April 13, 1789,\5\ among the supplemental rules adopted was this:
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 on March 1, 1791,\6\ just at the close of the First Congress,
this rule was agreed to:
Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall be
deemed to continue in office until another be appointed.
This rule was in existence in 1859,\7\ but seems to have dropped out
in the revision of 1860.\8\ But the Clerk continues, by ancient usage,
and by the implied authority from the Statutes, to act until his
successor is chosen.\9\ The first rule of the House specifying the
Clerk as an officer of the House dates from March 16, 1860,\10\ and
before that it was commented on as a curious fact that there was no
rule, resolution, order, or law directing the appointment of a
Clerk.\11\
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\1\ First session Twenty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 1517.
\2\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, pp. 199, 553, 554.
\3\ First session Fifty-first Congress, Record, p. 80; first session
Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 15.
\4\ First session First Congress, Journal, p. 6.
\5\ First session First Congress, Journal, p. 13.
\6\ Third session First Congress, Journal, p. 396.
\7\ Second session Thirty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 629; Rule 21.
\8\ Second session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, pp. 492, 493.
\9\ Section 31 of the Revised Statutes imposes on the Clerk of the
preceding House duties as to the organization of the new House.
\10\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 528.
\11\ Third session Twenty-seventh Congress, Journal, p. 733.
Sec. 188
On December 23, 1811,\1\ at the time when the war with Great Britain
was coming on and secret sessions were frequent, a rule was adopted
providing that the Doorkeeper and Sergeant-at-Arms should keep the
secrets of the House. On December 25, 1825,\2\ in a Congress where
there was one secret session, the Sergeant-at-Arms and Doorkeeper took
that oath. In the combinations of old rules made in the revisions of
1860 \3\ and 1880,\4\ the provision requiring the oath of secrecy was
placed in such position as to apply to all the officers of the House;
but inasmuch as no secret session has been held for about seventy
years, the observance of this portion of the rule is naturally
neglected. The portion of the rule requiring an oath to support the
Constitution of the United States dates from the revision of 1880.
On March 15, 1860, a rule was adopted that the appointees of the
Doorkeeper and Postmaster should be approved by the Speaker,\5\ but
this did not continue beyond the revision of 1880, having become
obsolete.\6\
After the election of the Speaker the other elective officers are
usually chosen by the adoption of resolutions.\7\
The Speaker is always a Member of the House; the other elective
officers never are.
188. The House formerly proceeded to the election of an officer on a
motion so to do.
Discussion as to whether or not the Clerk of the former House
continues until his successor is elected.
On December 7, 1829,\8\ after the Speaker had administered the oath
to the Members and Delegates, Mr. William Ramsey, of Pennsylvania,
offered this resolution:
Resolved, That this House do now proceed to the election of a Clerk.
Mr. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, moved to amend by striking out
the words ``do now'' and inserting ``will, on Wednesday next, at 12
o'clock meridian.''
A question at once arose as to whether or not the Clerk of the former
House would continue in service until the election of his successor.
There was a divergence of opinion, the Speaker \9\ informally
expressing the opinion that the Clerk of the preceding House would
continue to act.
The House by a large majority decided the amendment in the negative,
and the resolution was then agreed to.
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\1\ First session Twelfth Congress, Report No. 38.
\2\ First session Nineteenth Congress, Journal, pp. 9, 645.
\3\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 492.
\4\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, pp. 199, 554.
\5\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Globe, p. 1178.
\6\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 199.
\7\ See section 81 of this work.
\8\ First Session Twenty-first Congress, Journal, p. 9; Debates, p.
471.
\9\ Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, Speaker.
Sec. 189
189. A resolution that the House proceed to the election of an
officer presents a question of privilege.--On April 5, 1878,\1\ there
being a vacancy in the office of Doorkeeper, which the House had
provided for temporarily by ordering the Sergeant-at-Arms to perform
the duties, Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, submitted as a
question of privilege the following:
Resolved, That the House proceed to the election of a Doorkeeper, and
that the true Union maimed soldier, Brigadier James Shields, of
Missouri, be chosen to that place.
Mr. Samuel S. Cox, of New York, made the point of order that the
resolution did not present a question of privilege.
The Speaker \2\ said:
The Chair finds himself without an example to follow in the past. In
this case, therefore, the House will establish a precedent for the
future. In the judgment of the Chair, under the resolution adopted
yesterday, an officer was appointed to discharge temporarily the duties
of Doorkeeper. It is stated in the Manual that when a proposition is
submitted which related to the privileges of the House, it is the duty
of the Speaker to entertain it, at least to the extent of submitting
the question to the House as to whether or not it presents a question
of privilege. The Chair now proposes, in this instance, to allow the
question to be determined by the House as to whether or not it presents
a question of privilege.
After debate, on April 8, the House, by a vote of yeas 220, nays 4,
decided that the resolution presented a question of privilege.\3\
190. The House often proceeds to the election of its officers as a
matter of course, without motion to that effect.--On December 8,
1863,\4\ after the election of a Speaker, and after the Senate and
President had been informed of the organization of the House, we find
the Speaker announcing that the business next in order was the election
of Clerk, without waiting for the order of the House to proceed to the
election of Clerk. The House also proceeded to the election of other
officers as a matter of course, and without order.
An exception is found in the vote for Chaplain, which was taken on
motion made and carried.\5\
191. An election by resolution is not a compliance with the rule
requiring election of officers viva voce.--On January 9, 1850,\6\ while
the House was voting viva voce for Clerk in accordance with the rules
of the House, Mr. Robert C. Schenck, of Ohio, offered the following
resolution, contending that the resolution came within the rule:
Resolved, That------be, and he is hereby, elected Clerk of this House
for the present session.
Mr. Schenck proposed to move to insert in the blank the name of
Solomon Foot, holding that thus, when the yeas and nays were called on
filling the blank, a viva voce vote would be obtained.
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\1\ Second session Forty-fifth Congress, Journal, pp. 801, 809;
Record, pp. 2310, 2341.
\2\ Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, Speaker.
\3\ The point that the resolution involved besides the order to
proceed to the election, also the choice of a particular candidate,
does not seem to have occurred to those considering the matter. The
rules required the election of officers viva voce, and therefore this
resolution contained a change of rule. It is now a principle that the
presence of a nonprivileged provision destroys the privilege of a
proposition. In this case the House declined to elect in this way, and
proceeded to a choice viva voce.
\4\ First session Thirty-eighth Congress, Journal, pp. 14, 15, 16,
etc.; Globe, pp. 11, etc.
\5\ Journal, p. 35.
\6\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Journal, p. 265; Globe, p.
125.
Sec. 192
The Speaker \1\ decided the resolution out of order.
Mr. Schenck having appealed, the decision of the Speaker was
affirmed.
Again, on January 16, the Speaker affirmed this decision, saying \2\
that election by resolution was not a compliance with the rule
requiring the election of the officers of the House viva voce. It was
true that they had sometimes been elected by resolution, but he had no
recollection of such an election where objection had been made.
Mr. Alexander Evans, of Maryland, having appealed, the decision of
the Chair was sustained, yeas 133, nays 64.\3\
192. On December 6, 1856,\4\ rules having been adopted and the
organization of the House having been perfected as far as the election
of the Public Printer,\5\ Mr. John A. Bingham, of Ohio, offered the
following resolution:
Resolved, That Oram Follett, of Columbus, Ohio, be, and he is hereby,
elected Public Printer for the House of Representatives of the Thirty-
fourth Congress.
Mr. Thomas L. Clingman, of North Carolina, submitted as a question of
order that it was not competent, under the rules, to elect a Printer,
except after a previous nomination and upon a viva voce vote, and that
the resolution was out of order.
The Speaker \6\ sustained the point of order.
This decision was acquiesced in by the House.
193. A resolution declaring certain persons elected officers of the
House is at variance with the standing rule of the House.
Instance wherein the House failed to elect a Doorkeeper and
Postmaster, the officers of the preceding House continuing to serve.
On January 19, 1850,\7\ the House had not elected a Doorkeeper or
Postmaster, and postponed the election of those officers until the
first day of March, 1851. The Doorkeeper and Postmaster of the former
House continued to discharge the duties of their positions.
On April 18, 1850,\8\ Mr. Nathaniel S. Littlefield, of Maine,
submitted the following resolution:
Resolved, That Robert E. Horner, of New Jersey, be, and he hereby is,
declared elected Doorkeeper of this House; and John M. Johnson, of
Virginia, be, and he hereby is, declared duly elected Postmaster of
this House; to hold their respective offices until others are chosen in
their stead.
Mr. Horner was Doorkeeper of the preceding House and Mr. Johnson the
Postmaster. They were acting in those offices at this session, by the
acquiescence of the House.
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\1\ Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Speaker.
\2\ Journal, pp. 333, 334; Globe, p. 162.
\3\ It is to be noticed that the conditions under which this ruling
was made differs from the conditions at the organization before the
rules, including the rule prescribing viva voce voting, have been
adopted.
\4\ First session Thirty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 464, 466;
Globe, p. 372.
\5\ The Public Printer is no longer an officer of the House.
\6\ Nathaniel P. Banks, Jr., of Massachusetts, Speaker.
\7\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Journal, p. 363.
\8\ Journal, p. 806; Globe, pp. 764, 765.
Sec. 194
The Speaker \1\ declared that the resolution, as a question of
privilege, was out of order, on the ground that the House, on a former
occasion, had so decided against the opinion of the Chair when a
similar proposition was submitted, and also for the reason that it
proposed a mode of election at variance with a standing rule of the
House.\2\
Mr. Littlefield having appealed, the appeal was laid on the table on
motion of Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania.
194. The election of officers by resolution is subject to objection,
but is often permitted by unanimous consent.
In recent years all the officers have been elected before the
President and Senate have been informed of the organization.
At the organization of the House on December 4, 1865, after the
election of Speaker, but before the adoption of rules, Mr. James F.
Wilson; of Iowa, offered a resolution for the election of the other
officers of the House.
Mr. Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, objected on the ground that
some Members wanted to vote for candidates not named in the resolution.
Thereupon a motion was made to suspend the rules so as to offer the
resolution, and this being done the resolution was agreed to.
At that time Rule 147 provided that the rules of the preceding House
should govern this until superseded.\3\ But whether this could actually
be so was a disputed question, and so it is doubtful whether the motion
to suspend the rules applied to the rules of the last House or to the
long custom of the House as to its elections.\4\
195. On December 4, 1865,\5\ the subordinate officers of the House
were elected by one resolution, and not by separate roll calls. So the
resolution notifying the Senate and the one notifying the President
were not offered and agreed to until all the officers had been elected.
196. On December 2, 1873,\6\ the officers of the House, except the
Speaker, were elected by resolution, the minority offering a substitute
containing the names of their nominees. The officers having been
elected, a message was sent to the Senate informing that body that the
House had organized, and that James G. Blaine had been chosen Speaker.
But no reference was made to any other of the officers.
197. Although a former rule of the House required a nomination before
voting for certain officers, yet the Speaker refrained from ruling that
votes might not be cast for persons not nominated.--It was a former
rule of the House that where others than Members of the House were
eligible to election as officers of the House, there should be a
nomination. Mr. Speaker Cobb refrained, however, from deciding that
under this rule Members were prohibited from voting for anyone not
nominated.\7\
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\1\ Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Speaker.
\2\ The rule requiring viva voce election. See section 187 of this
volume. It will be observed that this ruling was made not at the
beginning of the Congress, but after the House had adopted rules.
\3\ The theory that the rules of the preceding House controlled until
the adoption of new rules prevailed at this time, but has since been
abandoned. See sections 6743-6745 of Vol. V of this work.
\4\ First session Thirty-ninth Congress, Globe, p. 5; Journal, p.
1217, for the rule.
\5\ First session Thirty-ninth Congress, Journal, pp. 8, 10; Globe,
pp. 5, 6.
\6\ First session Forty-third Congress, Journal, pp. 11, 12; Record,
pp. 6, 7.
\7\ January 3, 1850. First session Thirty-first Congress, Globe, p.
94.
Sec. 198
198. The Senate and President are informed of the presence of a
quorum and the organization of the House.
In the earlier practice the messages announcing the organization were
sent immediately after the election of Speaker, and did not refer to
the election of Clerk.
On December 7, 1790,\1\ after the House had appointed its committee
to join with a Senate committee to wait on the President and inform him
that a quorum of the two Houses had assembled, a message was received
from the Senate stating that they had agreed to a resolution for the
appointment of a committee, jointly with the committee to be appointed
by the House, to wait on the President, etc. The House disagreed to the
resolution of the Senate. Later a message from the Senate announced
that they had appointed a committee to act jointly with the House
committee.
199. On December 1, 1845,\2\ the House informed the Senate that a
quorum had assembled, and that John W. Davis had been elected Speaker,
while the Clerk was not elected until the following day.
200. At the organization of the Twenty-seventh Congress, in 1841,\3\
the Speaker and Clerk were elected on May 31, the first day of the
session, and the usual messages were sent to the Senate and to the
President, informing them that the House was organized and ready for
business. But the election of Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper, Assistant
Doorkeeper (not now an elective officer), Postmaster, and Chaplain were
not ordered by the House until June 8, after rules had been adopted and
the committees appointed. The message to the Senate announcing the
presence of a quorum announced that John White had been elected
Speaker, but did not mention the election of the Clerk.
201. On December 5, 1853,\4\ at the organization of the House, as
soon as the Speaker was elected the usual messages were sent to the
Senate and President, notifying them of the organization of the House.
This was in accordance with the practice of the early years of the
House's existence. Then rules were adopted, and after that a motion was
made and carried to proceed to the election of a Clerk. This was done
viva voce. Then the Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper, and Postmaster were
elected together by a resolution.
202. On December 8, 1863,\5\ the Senate and President were informed
of the organization of the House before the election of a Clerk and
other subordinate officers of the House.
203. On December 6, 1875,\6\ the usual resolution notifying the
Senate that a quorum of the House was present and had elected Hon.
Michael C. Kerr, Speaker, was presented by Mr. William S. Holman, of
Indiana. Thereupon Mr. James A. Garfield, of Ohio, proposed an
amendment to include also the name of the Clerk. Mr. Holman stated that
such was not the usual form, but made no objection to the amendment,
which was agreed to.
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\1\ Third session First Congress, Journal, p. 4.
\2\ First session Twenty-ninth Congress, Journal, pp. 9, 13.
\3\ First session Twenty-seventh Congress, Journal, pp. 11, 18, 19,
52.
\4\ First session Thirty-third Congress, Journal, pp. 10-14; Globe,
p. 4.
\5\ First session Thirty-eighth Congress, Journal, p. 14; Globe, p.
10.
\6\ First session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 14; Record, p.
173.
Sec. 204
204. Although always at liberty to choose its manner of electing a
Speaker, the House has declined in later years to substitute balloting
for viva voce choice.--On May 31, 1841,\1\ at the first day of the
first session of the Congress the roll of Members-elect was called by
the Clerk of the last House, and the presence of a quorum ascertained.
Thereupon, Mr. Hiram P. Hunt, of New York, moved this resolution:
Resolved, That the Members will now proceed to the organization of
the House by the election of a Speaker, viva voce.
A motion was made by Mr. Lewis Williams, of North Carolina, that the
words ``viva voce'' be stricken out and that the words ``by ballot'' be
inserted.
The question on the amendment being taken by yeas and nays, there
were 66 yeas and 154 nays. So the amendment was disagreed to.
Mr. Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, then moved to amend the resolution by
adding thereto the following:
And after the Speaker shall have sworn the Members they will proceed
to the election of a Clerk in like manner.
This motion was disagreed to, and then the original resolution was
agreed to.\2\
205. On December 4, 1843,\3\ at the organization of the House, the
Clerk (Matthew St. Clair Clarke) called the roll and announced the
presence of a quorum. Thereupon he reminded the House that, as no rules
had been adopted, there was no form prescribed for the election of the
Speaker.
Thereupon, a motion was made and carried that the House do proceed to
the election of a Speaker viva voce.
The rule at that time (i.e., the code of rules adopted by the House
in this and several preceding Congresses), provided that all elections
of officers of the House should be viva voce. The rule at present does
not include the Speaker among those to be elected viva voce.
206. The Thirty-first Congress assembled on December 3, 1849,\4\ but
the House was unable to elect a Speaker until December 23. While this
voting was going on a motion was generally made at the beginning of
each legislative day that the House proceed viva voce to elect a
Speaker. Then the votings would proceed as a matter of course through
the day. As time went on motions were offered and entertained proposing
election by ballot, by lot, and by resolution. These were not adopted,
and the House would resume the viva voce voting by motion made and
carried, or as a matter of course. Rules had not been adopted at this
time, and consequently the rule providing for viva voce election was
not in operation.
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\1\ First session Twenty-seventh Congress, Journal, pp. 8, 9; Globe,
pp. 2, 3.
\2\ The rules had before this been amended to provide for the
election of the Speaker by viva voce vote; but as rules had not been
adopted yet in this Congress there was no rule applying. The usage of
voting viva voce has become so strong in later years that the method
has not been questioned for a long time.
\3\ First session Twenty-eighth Congress, Journal, p. 7; Globe, p. 3.
\4\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Journal, pp. 2-165; Globe,
pp. 1-67.
Sec. 207
207. On December 3, 1855,\1\ at the organization of the House, after
the Clerk of the preceding House had called the roll and announced the
presence of a quorum, Mr. George W. Jones, of Tennessee, moved that the
House proceed to the election, viva voce, of a Speaker for the Thirty-
fourth Congress.
The question being put, the motion was agreed to.
Thereafter, on each day, the House proceeded to the voting without
special vote, unless propositions in regard to the organization
intervened. And as soon as they were disposed of the voting was resumed
as a matter of course.
208. On December 19, 1855,\2\ after sixty-five ineffectual attempts
to elect a Speaker viva voce, a motion was made that the House proceed
to election by ballot. This motion was disagreed to--yeas 214, nays 7.
209. As late as 1837 the House maintained the old usage of electing
the Speaker by ballot.--On September 4, 1837,\3\ the roll of Members by
States having been called, and the presence of a quorum having been
announced, it was, on motion of Mr. David Petrikin, of Pennsylvania,
Resolved, That the Members present now proceed to the organization of
the House by the choice of a Speaker.
The House then proceeded by ballot to the election of a Speaker; and
upon an examination of the first ballot it appeared that James K. Polk,
one of the Representatives from the State of Tennessee, was duly
elected, having received a majority of all the votes given in.
210. The House and not the hold-over Clerk decides by what method it
shall proceed to elect a Speaker.
Why the House in a new Congress meets at 12 m.
Discussion as to whether or not the rules of one House remain the
rules of the next House until changed.\4\
On December 7, 1835,\5\ at the beginning of the first session of the
Congress, the Members-elect were called to order by the Clerk of the
last House, and the roll having been called, and the presence of a
quorum having been ascertained and announced, the Members were about to
proceed by ballot to the election of a Speaker, the Clerk having
announced that the next business in order was the election of a Speaker
by ballot.
At this point Mr. John M. Patton, of Virginia, raised a question as
to the authority by which the Clerk announced that the House would
proceed by ballot to the election of a Speaker. The House, if it was
competent to elect, was also competent to prescribe the method of
election. He preferred the method of election by viva voce voting They
were not bound by the rules of the last House and might proceed as they
pleased. Mr. Samuel Beardsley, of New York, argued that the House might
proceed to the election by ballot or viva voce, as it might please.
Custom alone had sanctioned the practice that the Clerk of the House
should, on
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Thirty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 8, 18, 43,
etc.; Globe, pp. 4, 6.
\2\ First session Thirty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 153; Globe, p.
53.
\3\ First session Twenty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 9; Globe, p. 3.
\4\ See sections 6743-6745 of Volume V of this work.
\5\ First session Twenty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 8; Debates, pp.
1943-1945.
Sec. 211
the first day of the session, at 12 o'clock, call over the names of the
Members; and custom also had sanctioned the practice of the Clerk
calling for the Members to vote and putting the question for Speaker.
Mr. James Parker, of New Jersey, urged that the House should not depart
from the old usage of fifty years and more, which had come to have the
force of common law, and in accordance with which the Clerk called the
House to order at 12 o'clock, and at no other hour, ascertained the
presence of a quorum by a call of the roll; and then the House, in
accordance with the same custom, proceeded to choice of a Speaker by
ballot.
The Clerk read the rule of the last House providing the method of
electing the Speaker by ballot,\1\ and Mr. Abijah Mann, jr., of New
York, contended that the rules of the last House were the laws of the
present until changed, and that the Clerk did not hold his position and
perform the functions at this time by mere custom.
Mr. Patton moved that the Speaker be elected viva voce.
On motion of Mr. George Evans, of Maine, this motion was laid on the
table.
Then, on motion of Mr. Beardsley, it was
Resolved, That the House do now proceed to the election of a Speaker
by ballot.
211. Procedure for electing the Speaker by viva voce vote.--On
December 7, 1857,\2\ 226 Members having answered to their names, the
Clerk announced that a quorum was present. Then, on motion of Mr. John
Smith Phelps, of Missouri, it was ordered that the House do now proceed
viva voce to the election of a Speaker for the Thirty-fifth Congress.
The Clerk having appointed tellers, and nominations having been made,
the Members then proceeded to vote viva voce for Speaker.\3\
212. At the organization of the House the motion to proceed to the
election of a Speaker is of the highest privilege.--On March 4,
1869,\4\ at the organization of the House, after the Clerk had called
the roll of Members-elect and announced the presence of a quorum, Mr.
George W. Woodward, of Pennsylvania, submitted the following
resolution:
Resolved, That the roll of Members of the Forty-first Congress be
amended by the addition of the name of Henry D. Foster, as the
Representative of the Twenty-first Congressional district of
Pennsylvania, and that said Foster be called and admitted as the
sitting Member prima facie entitled to represent said district.
Mr. Ellihu B. Washburne, of Illinois, moved that the House proceed to
the election of a Speaker, claiming precedence for the motion as
involving a question of privilege.
Mr. John A. Logan, of Illinois, made the point of order that the law
gave to the Clerk the making of the roll of members to be called prior
to the organization.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See section 187 of this work for rule for election by ballot as
it existed at that time. The rule was then classified among those rules
relating to the Speaker.
\2\ First session Thirty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 8.
\3\ In recent years the House has often proceeded at once to election
viva voce without the formality of a motion.
\4\ First session Forty-first Congress, Globe, p. 3.
Sec. 213
The Clerk \1\ said:
The gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Washburne, rose to a question of
privilege which has precedence of that of the gentleman from
Pennsylvania, and therefore the question before the House is on the
motion to proceed to the election of a Speaker. * * * The duty of the
House to organize itself is a duty devolved upon it by law, and any
matter looking to the performance of that duty takes precedence in all
parliamentary bodies of all minor questions.
213. The motion that the House proceed to elect a Speaker is
debatable unless the previous question is ordered.--On March 4,
1867,\2\ at the organization of the House, the Congress having
assembled in accordance with the act of January 22, 1867, the Clerk had
called the names of the Members-elect and bad announced that a quorum
was present.
Thereupon Mr. James F. Wilson, of Iowa, moved that the House proceed
to the election of a Speaker viva voce.
Mr. James Brooks, of New York, having the floor, was proceeding to
debate, when Mr. John F. Farnsworth, of Illinois, made the point of
order that no debate was in order until after the House had proceeded
to the election of its officers.
The Clerk \1\ said:
The Chair overrules the point of order, the previous question not
having been called.
After further debate the previous question was moved and ordered, and
under the operation thereof the motion of Mr. Wilson was agreed to.
214. A resolution to proceed to the election of a Speaker presents a
question of privilege, and pending the decision another question of
privilege may not be presented.--On December 4, 1876,\3\ at the opening
of the session, 250 Members having answered to their names, the Clerk
announced that a quorum was present.
Mr. William S. Holman, of Indiana, submitted the following preamble
and resolution:
Whereas the House being informed that since its last adjournment Hon.
Michael C. Kerr, who at the commencement of the present Congress was
elected Speaker of the House, has departed this life, creating a
vacancy in the office of Speaker: Therefore,
Resolved, That the House do now proceed to the election of a Speaker
viva voce.
Mr. Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, as a question of privilege,
presented the credentials of James B. Belford as Representative from
the State of Colorado, and moved that the oath of office be
administered to the said Belford.
Mr. Holman demanded the previous question on the adoption of the said
resolution, when Mr. Banks made the point of order that the right of a
Member to participate in the election of a Speaker was a question of
higher privilege than the election of a Speaker.
This question of order was debated at considerable length, it being
urged that the election of Speaker was secondary to the determination
of what Members should be on the roll to participate in that election.
The distinction was also drawn between this election and one at the
beginning of a Congress when, under the law,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Edward McPherson, of Pennsylvania, Clerk.
\2\ First session Fortieth Congress, Globe, p. 2.
\3\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 8; Record, p.
5.
Sec. 215
the Clerk judges what names are to go onto the roll. Not only Mr.
Belford was waiting to be sworn in, but also Mr. Edwin Flye, of Maine,
successor of Mr. James G. Blaine.
The Clerk \1\ overruled the point of order, on the ground that the
resolution submitted by Mr. Holman presented a question of privilege,
and that pending the decision of such question another question of
privilege could not be submitted.
From this decision of the Clerk Mr. Banks appealed. Mr. Cox moved
that the appeal be laid on the table, which was done by a vote of 165
yeas to 84 nays.
215. In 1809 the House held that a Speaker should be elected by a
majority of all present.--On May 27, 1809,\2\ at the organization of
the House, the ballot for Speaker showed the following result:
For Joseph B. Varnum 60
For Nathaniel Macon 36
For Timothy Pitkin, jr 20
For Roger Nelson 1
For C. W. Goldsborough 1
Blank ballots 2
----
Total 120
The tellers submitting the question as to whether Mr. Varnum was
elected or not, Mr. Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, the rival
candidate, expressed the opinion that Mr. Varnum was elected; but Mr.
John Randolph, of Virginia, opposed this view strenuously, insisting
that the House should elect its Speaker more majorum, after the manner
of their ancestors. And on motion of Mr. Randolph the House proceeded
to ballot again, which motion was carried-ayes 67, noes 43. On the next
ballot Mr. Varnum was elected by 65 votes out of 119.
On the succeeding day the Journal was found to state that a majority
of the votes were for Mr. Varnum, whereupon, on motion of Mr. Randolph,
it was amended to read: ``Sixty-five votes, being a majority of the
whole number of Members present, were found in favor of Joseph B.
Varnum.'' The call of the roll by States just preceding Mr. Varnum's
election showed 126 responding. The 65 voting for Mr. Varnum were a
majority of this number.
216. In 1879 it was held that a Speaker might be elected by a
majority of those present, a quorum voting, a majority of all the
members not being required.
Discussion as to the size of a valid vote when a quorum is present.
On March 18, 1879,\3\ at the organization of the House, on the viva
voce vote for Speaker, the following result was announced by the
tellers:
For Samuel J. Randall 144
For James A. Garfield 125
For Hendrick B. Wright 13
For William D. Kelley 1
----
Total 283
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ George M. Adams, of Kentucky, Clerk.
\2\ First session Eleventh Congress, Journal, p. 5; Annals, pp. 54-
56.
\3\ First session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 5.
Sec. 217
The total membership of the House, however, under the existing
apportionment, was 293, and the vote for Mr. Randall fell short of a
majority of that number.
Mr. Omar D. Conger, of Michigan, asked if it did not require a
majority of all the Members elected to the House to elect a Speaker.
The Clerk \1\ replied:
It requires a majority of those voting to elect a Speaker, as it does
to pass a bill. The rule requires that a quorum shall vote.\2\ That is
the opinion of the Clerk.
Thereupon Mr. Randall was declared elected Speaker.
217. Tellers of the vote on the election of a Speaker are appointed
by the Clerk.--On December 5, 1859,\3\ the House having voted to
proceed viva voce to elect a Speaker, the Clerk appointed Mr. George S.
Houston, of Alabama, Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, Garnett B. Adrian, of New
Jersey, and George Briggs, of New York, tellers. The Clerk made the
appointment of these tellers without suggestion or vote from the floor,
and the Journal records the appointment.
218. The House has in one instance asked the candidates for Speaker
to state their-views before proceeding to election.--On January 11,
1856,\4\ before the election of a Speaker or the adoption of rules, Mr.
Felix K. Zollicoffer, of Tennessee, offered the following:
Resolved, That in conformity with the principles of a great popular
Government, such as that of the United States, it is the duty of all
candidates for political position frankly and fully to state their
opinions upon important political questions involved in their election,
and especially when they are interrogated by the body of electors whose
votes they are seeking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ George M. Adams, of Kentucky, Clerk.
\2\ Since 1890 the requirement has been the quorum present, rather
than the quorum voting. See section 2895 of Vol. IV of this work. In
the decision of the Supreme Court sustaining the ruling of Mr. Speaker
Reed, the court had used this language: ``And here the general rule of
all parliamentary bodies is that when a quorum is present, the act of a
majority of the quorum is the act of the body itself.'' On January 10,
1896 (First session Fifty-fourth Congress, Record, pp. 579-581) a
question arose on this feature of the subject, Mr. Joseph W. Bailey, of
Texas, contending that for lawful action there must be the vote of a
majority of a quorum. In other words, the quorum of the existing House
was 179. Granted that this number should be present, yet by reason of
some not voting, there might be on the passage of a bill yeas 76, nays
74. So a majority of those present would not vote affirmatively, and
Mr. Bailey contended that the bill would not be lawfully passed.
The Speaker (Mr. Reed) intervened to ask: ``Does the gentleman from
Texas hold that it is necessary that 89 persons at least [the Speaker
must have meant 90 instead of 89, since 90 is a majority of 179] should
vote for every proposition that passes the House?''
Mr. Bailey contended that on a recorded vote it would be necessary.
The Speaker replied, with the concurrence of Mr. Bailey, that many
bills had been passed without fulfilling the requirement, and
continued:
``The Chair * * * having examined the matter somewhat carefully at
various times, he finds that the court in making that decision perhaps
decided that it was within the most extreme contention of the
opponents, some people having contended that it is necessary to have a
majority of a quorum voting. The court pointed it out in this case; but
it was not necessary to discuss that question. They might have decided,
had they come to the plain question of the body being constituted of
the persons who participated in the presence of the rest of the body,
they were controlled by their votes, because the rest of the body,
being present, could have intervened and overruled them if they had so
chosen; but not having chosen to do so it [they] allowed 88 [90] or any
less number to pass a measure practically by their assent, because
declining to participate was assent.''
\3\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 8; Globe, p. 2.
\4\ First session Thirty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 302; Globe, pp.
213, 222.
Sec. 219
Although objection was made that this resolution constituted business
which the House in its disorganized condition was not competent to
transact, it passed in the affirmative. Later, on January 12, the
candidates for Speaker answered interrogatories in accordance with the
requirements of the resolution.
219. After the election of a Speaker and before he has been conducted
to the chair no debate or business is in order.--On February 1,
1860,\1\ the Clerk had announced the election of William Pennington, of
New Jersey, as Speaker, when Mr. Thomas C. Hindman, of Arkansas, sought
recognition and began to speak.
Mr. Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, made the point of order that a
Speaker had just been elected by the House, and that nothing could be
in order until he had been conducted to the chair.
Clerk \2\ said:
The Clerk begs leave respectfully to suggest to the gentleman from
Arkansas that this House has just declared a Speaker-elect, and that
the first thing in order is to conduct that Speaker to the chair. The
Clerk has no power further to preserve order. Until the Speaker has
been conducted to the chair, the House is without an organ or any
person having authority to entertain motions or questions of order.
The Clerk then appointed a committee of two to conduct the Speaker-
elect to the chair.
220. The Clerk appoints the committee to escort the newly elected
Speaker to the chair.
It has long been the usage that the oldest Member in continuous
service shall administer the oath to the Speaker.
After a Speaker has been elected the Clerk appoints the committee to
escort him to the chair. On February 2, 1856,\3\ after Mr. Speaker
Banks had finally been elected after a long struggle, Mr. John Wheeler,
of New York, proposed to designate the committee by resolution, but
desisted because of the remonstrances of Mr. Joshua R. Giddings, of
Ohio, who as ``the oldest consecutive Member'' was about to administer
the oath to the Speaker. Mr. Giddings said that the Clerk always
appointed the committee, and to arrange it otherwise would be an
``innovation on the whole past practice of the House.''
221. The contest over the organization of the House in 1849.\4\
The House declined to determine the choice of a Speaker by lot.
The House by special rule chose a Speaker by a plurality of votes,
but confirmed the choice by a majority vote.
The question as to whether or not the House, before its organization,
may adjourn over for more than one day.
On December 22, 1849,\5\ the House had been in session nineteen days
\5\ without being able to elect a Speaker, no candidate having received
a majority of the votes cast. The voting was viva voce, each Member
when called naming the candidate
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Globe, pp. 654, 655.
\2\ James C. Allen, of Illinois, Clerk.
\3\ First session Thirty-fourth Congress, Globe, p. 342.
\4\ There had also been a prolonged contest over the organization of
the House in 1840 (see sec. 103 of this work), but it was not
occasioned by a difficulty over the election of Speaker.
\5\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Journal pp. 156, 163, 164.
Sec. 221
for whom he voted. After the thirteenth ballot Mr. Andrew Johnson, of
Tennessee, offered a resolution providing that if, on the next ballot,
no individual should receive a majority of the votes cast, the
individual receiving a plurality of votes should be the Speaker for the
present session. An amendment was proposed, to provide that the vote be
taken by ballot. Both the resolution and amendment were laid on the
table by a vote of 210 to 11.\1\ A resolution proposed by Mr. Frederick
P. Stanton, of Tennessee, to restrict the voting to the four highest
candidates, and in the event of no choice to the two highest, was also
laid on the table.\2\
On December 6, after the fourteenth ballot, Mr. John A. McClernand,
of Illinois, offered a resolution to adopt the rules of the last House
and appoint Mr. Linn Boyd, of Kentucky, chairman until a Speaker should
be elected. After an amendment had been proposed to alternate Mr.
Samuel F. Vinton, of Ohio, with Mr. Boyd, and after Mr. McClernand had
modified his proposition so as to permit the proposed chairman merely
to keep order during the proceedings on the election of Speaker, the
whole proposition was laid on the table by a vote of 116 to 105.
After the thirtieth ballot Mr. Lewis C. Levin, of South Carolina,
offered a resolution that each of the five parties, or factions, in the
House should put the name of its candidate in a box and that the Clerk
should draw one therefrom, thus determining the Speakership by lottery.
This resolution was promptly laid upon the table. After the thirty-
first ballot it was proposed that lots be drawn between Mr. Howell Cobb
and Mr. Robert C. Winthrop to determine who should be Speaker. This was
not approved. A motion that the vote be taken by ballot was also
defeated by a vote of 162 to 62.
After the forty-first ballot Mr. George Ashmun, of Massachusetts,
proposed a plan for electing by plurality of votes, but it did not meet
with favor.
On motion of Mr. Milo M. Dimimick, of Pennsylvania, it was ordered
that the House should proceed with the election of a Speaker and that
there should be no debate until such an election should be effected.
Various solutions of the difficulty were offered as the balloting
proceeded, such as modifications of the plurality plan, proposals to
raise a committee to devise a plan for organization, to elect a Speaker
pro tempore, etc.
Finally, after the fifty-ninth ballot, Mr. Frederick P. Stanton
offered and the House adopted, after attempts to amend and protests
from the minority at the prohibition of debate, the following
resolution by a vote of 113 yeas to 106 nays:
Resolved, That the House will proceed immediately to the election of
a Speaker, viva voce; and if, after the roll shall have been called
three times, no Member shall have received a majority of the whole
number of votes, the roll shall again be called, and the Member who
shall then receive the largest number of votes, provided it be a
majority of a quorum, shall be declared to be chosen Speaker.
A strong protest \3\ was made against the plurality resolution and
against the resolution prohibiting debate. Mr. Robert Toombs, of
Georgia, insisted on making his protest, although the Clerk began a
roll call while he was on the floor, and there was great disorder and
confusion. He denied the right of the unorganized House
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Journal, p. 32.
\2\ Journal, p. 34.
\3\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Globe, p. 62.
Sec. 222
to limit debate or adopt the plurality rule, basing his opposition on
the second section of the act of 1789--
That at the first session of Congress after every general election of
Representatives, the oath or affirmation aforesaid shall be
administered by any one Member of the House of Representatives to the
Speaker, and by him to all the Members present, and to the Clerk,
previous to entering on any other business.\1\
A motion having been made to adjourn over to a day beyond the next
day, Mr. Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, arose and suggested the
constitutional point that the House could not, until it was organized,
do otherwise than adjourn from day to day. The House decided the motion
to adjourn over in the negative.\2\
Under the operation of the plurality, resolution, the sixty-third
vote resulted as follows:
For Howell Cobb 102
For Robert C. Winthrop 100
For David Wilmot 8
For Charles S. Morehead 4
For William Strong 3
For Alexander H. Stephens 1
For William F. Colcock 1
For Charles Durkee 1
For Emery D. Potter 1
For Linn Boyd 1
--
Whole number of votes given 222
Of which number, Mr. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, having received 102
votes, being the largest number cast for any one Member, under the
resolution adopted by the House, and being a majority of a quorum of
the House, Mr. Stanly thereupon offered the following resolution:
Resolved, That Howell Cobb, a Representative from the State of
Georgia, be declared duly elected Speaker of the House of
Representatives for the Thirty-first Congress.
This resolution having been adopted, Mr. Cobb was conducted to the
chair by Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, and Mr. James
McDowell, of Virginia.
222. The contest over the organization of the House in 1855 and 1856.
The House by special rule chose a Speaker by plurality of votes, but
confirmed the choice by a majority vote on a resolution declarative of
the result.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This now section 30, Revised Statutes. (See also sec. 128 of this
work.)
\2\ See also Section 89 of this volume. During the prolonged contest
in the first session Thirty-fourth Congress, which resulted in the
election of Speaker Banks, the House voted, on December 24, 1855, to
adjourn over. (Journal, p. 172; Globe, pp. 78, 79.) Mr. Joshua R.
Giddings, of Ohio, suggested that they had no power to adjourn over,
and that a majority of the Members might come the next day and elect a
Speaker, notwithstanding the adjournment over; but the point was not
further insisted on. Mr. Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, who had
suggested it in the Thirty-first Congress, participated in the debate,
but said nothing on this point. Previous to this (Journal, p. 18) the
Doorkeeper had been directed to enforce so much of the rules of the
last Congress as related to the admission of persons within the hall of
the House.
Sec. 222
The House declined to permit any announcement but its own declaration
in a case wherein a Speaker was chosen by plurality of votes.
Use of the motion to rescind in proceedings for organization of the
House.
Instance of thanks to the Clerk for presiding during a prolonged
contest over the organization.
On February 2, 1856,\1\ the House was in the midst of a struggle over
the election of a Speaker. One hundred and twenty-nine ballots had been
taken without any candidate receiving the majority of the votes cast.
Various devices, including attempts to elect Members by means of
adopting resolutions declaring such a one to be Speaker, had been tried
without success. On this day the proposition to elect by a plurality of
votes was revived, and Mr. Samuel A. Smith, of Tennessee, submitted the
following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the House will proceed immediately to the election of
a Speaker viva voce. If, after the roll shall have been called three
times, no Member shall have received a majority of all the votes cast,
the roll shall again be called, and the Member who shall then receive
the largest number of votes, provided it be a majority of a quorum,
shall be declared duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives
for the Thirty-fourth Congress.
This resolution was adopted by a vote of 113 yeas and 104 nays. After
its adoption a motion was made \2\ to rescind it, and was laid on the
table by a vote of 117 to 110. After a motion to adjourn had been voted
on, the motion to rescind was again made, but, the question being
submitted to the House, the House decided that the motion to rescind
was not again in order.
After the one hundred and thirty-third vote the following result was
reached:
For Nathaniel P. Banks, jr 103
For William Aiken 100
For Henry M. Fuller 6
For Lewis D. Campbell 4
For Daniel Wells, jr 1
--
Whole number of votes 214
Of which number Nathaniel P. Banks, jr., of Massachusetts, having
received 103 votes, being the largest number cast for any one Member,
and a majority of a quorum of the House, was declared by the tellers to
have been duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the
Thirty-fourth Congress.
Mr. Samuel P. Benson, of Maine, taking the roll, announced the vote,
concluding with the declaration that Mr. Banks ``is declared Speaker of
the House of Representatives for the Thirty-fourth Congress.'' \3\
Immediately there was a question of the right of the gentleman from
Maine to make such a declaration. It was declared that only the House
could make such a declaration, and the precedent of 1849 was recalled,
when a resolution was adopted declaring Mr. Howell Cobb, of Georgia,
duly elected Speaker. Mr. Cobb, in reply, said that he had not believed
the declaratory
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Thirty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 429, 430, 444.
\2\ Congressional Globe, first session Thirty fourth Congress, p.
336.
\3\ Congressional Globe, first session Thirty-fourth Congress, p.
339.
Sec. 223
resolution necessary in 1849 and he did not believe it necessary now.
If a majority of the House adopted the plurality rule, when a plurality
vote was cast for a Member he was elected by virtue of the resolution
originally adopted by a majority of the House. On the other hand, it
was urged by Mr. William W. Boyd, of South Carolina, that the majority
could not empower a minority to designate a Speaker, because delegated
power could not be delegated.
Mr. Thomas L. Clingman, of North Carolina, submitted the following
resolution:
Resolved, That, by reason of the adoption of the proposition known as
the plurality resolution, and the votes taken under it, the Hon. N. P.
Banks, of Massachusetts, has been duly chosen Speaker, and is hereby so
declared.
This resolution having been agreed to by a vote of 156 yeas to 40
nays, Mr. Banks was conducted to the chair by Mr. William Aiken, of
South Carolina, Mr. Henry M. Fuller, of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Lewis D.
Campbell, of Ohio, and addressed the House.
Mr. Stanton submitted the following resolution; which was unanimously
agreed to, viz:
Resolved, That the thanks of this House are eminently due, and are
hereby tendered, to John W. Forney, esq., for the distinguished
ability, fidelity, and impartiality with which he has presided over the
deliberations of the House of Representatives during the arduous and
protracted contest for Speaker which has just closed.
223. In 1860 the election of a Speaker proceeded slowly, the voting
being interspersed with debate which the Clerk did not prevent.--At the
first session of the Thirty-sixth Congress, which began on December 5,
1859, there was a prolonged delay over the election of Speaker, a
result being reached on February 1, 1860, after fifty-four ballots. On
the first day of the session it was ordered that the House proceed viva
voce to the election of a Speaker.
Thereupon a ballot was taken without result. Debate then began; and
as the Clerk declined to decide any questions of order, the voting for
Speaker proceeded very slowly. All questions of order were submitted to
the House and were debated, so it became practically impossible to
hasten proceedings. Sometimes only one vote would be taken during a
day, the remainder of the time being consumed in debate. It was urged
by Mr. Israel Washburn, jr., of Maine, and by others that the order to
proceed to the election of a Speaker was a standing order and that
debate and other matters were not in order.\1\ He also contended that
the House should each day proceed to vote without a special order so to
do each time. But it was impossible to arrive at a determination of the
question raised, and we find the House, at the last of the proceedings,
adopting, under operation of the previous question, an order to proceed
to the election of Speaker before each vote. Questions of personal
privilege were raised by Members, and a resolution relating to the
qualifications of the candidates for Speaker \2\ was presented and
debated, but no decision was reached on the point of order that it was
not in order or on the reso-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Thus, on January 18 (Journal, p. 130; Globe, p. 499), the Clerk
declined to carry out the order, as he did not feel at liberty to
arrest the remarks of a Member.
\2\ On January 5, 1860, during the contest over the election of a
Speaker, a proposition to elect a Speaker pro tempore was presented and
discussed somewhat, but not adopted. (First session Thirty-sixth
Congress, Globe, pp. 341-343.)
Sec. 224
lution itself, the Clerk declining to decide and the House being unable
to reach a decision. A resolution for a plurality rule was proposed,
but was not acted on. Finally a Speaker was elected by majority
vote.\1\
224. A new Speaker being elected at the beginning of a second session
of Congress, Members-elect present and unsworn participated in that
election.--On November 13, 1820,\2\ at the beginning of the second
session of the Congress, the Clerk called the House to order, and the
roll of Members was called by States to ascertain the presence of a
quorum.
At the conclusion of the roll call several new Members appeared,
produced their credentials, and took their seats.
Then, a quorum being present (the new Members were not, however,
necessary to produce this quorum, and there is no evidence as to
whether or not they were counted as part of it) the Clerk laid before
the House the resignation of the Speaker, and the House proceeded to
elect a Speaker, a choice being effected on November 15. The new
Speaker, Mr. John W. Taylor, of New York, having taken his seat and
addressed the House, and a message announcing his election having been
sent to the Senate, he proceeded to administer the oath to the new
Members who appeared on the 13th instant.
It seems evident, from a comparison of the Journal and Annals, that
the new unsworn Members voted for Speaker. They were 7 in number, and
the Journal records only 131 old members as appearing on the first day.
Yet the total votes in the first day's ballotings range from 132 to
138. On the second day the Journal records the appearance of enough
more old Members to bring the total of old Members up to 142, yet
during this day the total of votes reached as high as 148; and on the
third day, with 147 old Members recorded, the totals of ballots ranged
from 141 to 148. If the appearance of Members was recorded with care,
as it seems to have been, it is evident that the unsworn new Members
voted for Speaker.\3\
225. A Speaker elected after the organization of the House takes the
oath, although he may have taken it already as a Member.
Mr. Speaker Colfax, having been elected Vice-President, resigned his
Speakership on the last day of the Congress.
The Speaker called a Member to the chair and, taking the floor,
tendered his resignation verbally.
On March 3, 1869,\4\ the Speaker \5\ called Mr. James F. Wilson, of
Iowa, to the chair and, having been recognized on the floor, offered
his resignation as Speaker, to take effect upon the election of his
successor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, pp. 8, 12, 130,
151, 154, 164; Globe, pp. 187, 233, 483, 499, 637.
\2\ Second session Sixteenth Congress, Journal, pp. 5-7 (Gales and
Seaton ed.); Annals, pp. 434-438.
\3\ At the beginning of the Fifty-fifth Congress (March 15, 1897,
first session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 15) several Members
present without credentials in due form, and whose names were not on
the Clerk's roll, asked to be allowed to vote for Speaker. The Clerk
(Alexander McDowell, of Pennsylvania) declined to permit them to do so.
Had they presented credentials in due form, the situation would
evidently have been different.
\4\ Third session Fortieth Congress, Journal, pp. 511-513; Globe, pp.
1867, 1868.
\5\ Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, Speaker. He had been elected Vice-
President, and this resignation was tendered at the beginning of the
last legislative day of the Congress.
Sec. 226
A resolution expressing regret at his retirement and a high
appreciation of his services having been adopted by the House, Mr.
Henry L. Dawes, of Massachusetts, moved that Hon. Theodore M. Pomeroy,
of New York, ``be declared duly elected Speaker in place of Hon.
Schuyler Colfax, resigned, for the remaining term of this Congress.''
This resolution was agreed to unanimously.
A committee was appointed to escort the Speaker-elect to the chair,
and the Speaker pro tempore designated Mr. Dawes to administer the oath
to the Speaker-elect.
The Speaker-elect having addressed the House briefly, the oath was
administered to him.
Resolutions were then adopted directing that the Senate be informed
of the election and that a committee of three be appointed to inform
the President.
226. On December 4, 1876,\1\ at the second session of the Congress,
Mr. Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, was elected Speaker in place of
Michael C. Kerr, of Indiana. The oath was administered to Mr. Randall
after his election, no question being raised on the point. Of course he
had already taken the oath as Member at the first session.
227. When the Speaker is absent at the beginning of a session the
House may adjourn or elect a Speaker pro tempore.--On December 6, 1830,
at the opening of the second session,\2\ the Clerk \3\ called the House
to order, and the presence of a quorum having been ascertained, Mr.
William S. Archer, of Virginia, arose and announced that the Speaker
\4\ was prevented by indisposition from attending. He had looked into
the records and found that in such cases the practice had been twofold.
In some cases the House adjourned from day to day; and in two other
cases, occurring in 1798, the House had elected a Speaker pro tempore.
Then, on motion of Mr. James K. Polk, of Tennessee, the House
adjourned.
228. The Speaker pro tempore, whom the House had just elected, not
being present, the Clerk held that the motion to adjourn was not
business, and under the circumstances was the only motion in order.--On
June 24, 1876 \5\ the Clerk, in the absence of the Speaker \6\ and the
Speaker pro tempore, called the House to order, when Mr. Samuel J.
Randall, of Pennsylvania, at 12 o'clock and 5 minutes p. m., moved that
the House adjourn.
This motion being disagreed to, Mr. William S. Holman, of Indiana,
submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and
agreed to:
Resolved, That Hon. Milton Sayler, a Representative from the State of
Ohio, be, and he is hereby, appointed Speaker pro tempore during the
present absence of the Speaker.
The Speaker pro tempore elect not being present, Mr. Holman, at 12
o'clock and 25 minutes, moved that the House adjourn.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 12; Record, p.
7.
\2\ Second session Twenty-first Congress. Debates, pp. 347-350.
\3\ Matthew St. Clair Clarke, of Pennsylvania.
\4\ Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia.
\5\ First session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 1153; Record, p.
4132.
\6\ Michael C. Kerr, of Indiana.
Sec. 229
Mr. Omar D. Conger, of Michigan, made the point of order that the
House having elected a Speaker pro tempore, the functions of the Clerk
as a presiding officer thereupon ceased, and that it was not competent
for him to entertain or submit any motion to the House in the nature of
business.
The Clerk \1\ overruled the point of order, holding that a motion to
adjourn was not business, and in the absence of the Speaker or Speaker
pro tempore was the only motion in order.
In this decision of the Clerk the House acquiesced. And then the
motion of Mr. Holman was agreed to, and the House accordingly
adjourned.
229. A Speaker pro tempore elected by the House is not sworn.
Discussion of the nature and functions of the office of Speaker pro
tempore.
On February 17, 1876,\2\ Mr. Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania,
offered the following resolution, which was agreed to:
Resolved, That Hon. Samuel S. Cox, a Representative from the State of
New York, be, and he is hereby, appointed Speaker pro tempore during
the present temporary absence of the Speaker.
Mr. James A. Garfield, of Ohio, moved that the oath of office
prescribed by the act of July, 1862, be administered to the Speaker pro
tempore before he should enter upon the duties of the office to which
he had just been appointed.
After debate the motion of Mr. Garfield was decided in the negative,
yeas 73, nays 171.
A resolution informing the Senate of the election of Mr. Cox as
Speaker pro tempore was then agreed to.
The motion of Mr. Garfield was debated at length. He urged it on the
ground that the act of 1862 made it incumbent on all officers except
the President to take the oath before entering on the duties of the
office, and contended that the precedents cited of Speakers pro tempore
who had taken no additional oath were all before 1862, while the case
of Mr. Pomeroy, who took the additional oath, was after the enactment
of the test oath. On the other hand, it was stated that Mr. Pomeroy,
although chosen only for a day, was in fact a Speaker, since Speaker
Colfax had resigned. The discussion also embraced a consideration of
the relations of the offices of Speaker, Speaker pro tempore by
election of the House, and Speaker pro tempore by designation of the
Chair under the rules. The idea was advanced that the latter was merely
a presiding officer, without the power to sign bills or do other things
devolving on a Speaker. As to the distinction between an elected
Speaker and an elected Speaker pro tempore there was a diversity of
opinion. It was contended that the Speaker pro tempore was as different
from the Speaker as a President pro tempore of the Senate from Vice-
President, and the idea was opposed on the ground that the House might
at any time remove its Speaker and choose one pro tempore, who would
have all the attributes of his predecessor. It was also contended that
when the Speaker was sworn at the organization of the House he, in
fact, took two oaths at the same time, one as Member and the other as
Speaker. Hence it was argued that a Speaker elected after the
organization, to fill a vacancy, would take an additional oath.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ George M. Adams, of Kentucky.
\2\ First session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 412-413;
Record, pp. 1146-1153.
Sec. 230
230. A Member being elected Speaker after the organization of the
House, it is assumed that his committee places are thereby vacated.--On
December 11, 1876,\1\ Mr. Speaker Randall announced the appointment of
Mr. Hiester Clymer, of Pennsylvania, on the Committee on Appropriations
in place of himself, who had retired by reason of being elected
Speaker. It does not appear that any request was made of the House to
relieve Mr. Randall of this committee service.
231. Rising in his place, Mr. Speaker Clay addressed the House,
announcing his resignation.
The Speaker having resigned, the chair remained vacant, and the Clerk
presided until a successor was elected.
The Speaker having resigned in 1814, his successor, when elected,
took the oath.
A Speaker being elected to fill a vacancy caused by resignation, the
Senate, but not the President, was notified of the fact.
A resolution of thanks to a Speaker who had resigned was agreed to
before the election of a successor.
On January 19, 1814,\2\ after the business of the House had proceeded
some time, the Speaker, rising in his place, addressed the House
briefly, announcing his resignation as Speaker.
He then left the chair, which remained vacant.
Then, on motion of Mr. William Findley, of Pennsylvania, the Clerk
putting the motion:
Resolved, That the thanks of this House be presented to Henry Clay,
in testimony of their approbation of his conduct in the arduous and
important duties assigned to him as Speaker of this House.
A motion to adjourn having been decided in the negative, the House
proceeded by ballot to the choice of a Speaker, in place of Henry Clay,
resigned; and, upon the examination of the ballots, it appeared that
Langdon Cheves, one of the Representatives from the State of South
Carolina, was duly elected.
Mr. Cheves, having been conducted to the chair, addressed the House.
Then the oath was administered to him by Mr. Findley.
On the next day:
Resolved, That the Clerk of this House inform the Senate that, Henry
Clay having yesterday resigned his seat as Speaker, the House of
Representatives have made choice of Langdon Cheves, one of the
Representatives from the State of South Carolina, as their Speaker.
No message seems to have been sent to the President.
232. In 1820, at the beginning of a second session, the Clerk called
the House to order, and after ascertaining the presence of a quorum
presented a letter of resignation from the Speaker.
The Speaker having resigned, no action of the House excusing him from
service is taken.
The Speaker having resigned in 1820, it does not appear that his
successor took the oath.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 56, Record, p.
129.
\2\ Second session Thirteenth Congress, Journal, pp. 240-242 (Gales &
Seaton, ed.); Annals, p. 1057.
Sec. 233
A Speaker being elected to fill a vacancy caused by resignation, the
Senate, but not the President, was notified of the fact.
In the earlier practice when a series of ballots were taken, the
Journal recorded only the bare result of the decisive ballot.
On November 13, 1820,\1\ the House was called together at the opening
of the second session of the Congress by the Clerk, and the roll of
Members was called by States. A quorum appearing, the Clerk stated that
fact, and then announced to the House a letter \2\ addressed to him by
Henry Clay, Speaker of the House, in which Mr. Clay requested the Clerk
to communicate to the House the fact of his inability to attend--
and to respectfully ask it to allow me to resign the office of its
Speaker, which I have the honor to hold, and to consider this as the
act of my resignation.
This letter being read, no motion was made to permit the Speaker to
be excused from serving, but the House proceeded at once to ballot \3\
to elect a Speaker. Messrs. Thomas Newton, of Virginia, and Jonathan O.
Moseley, of Connecticut, were appointed a committee to count the
ballots. After 7 ballots, in which no one had a majority of the votes
given, as required by the rule \4\ the House adjourned. On the
succeeding day, also, the balloting was fruitless, but on November 15,
on the twenty-second ballot, the result was announced as follows: The
whole number of votes were 148, 75 necessary to a choice. The votes
were: For Mr. Taylor, 76; for Mr. Lowndes, 44; for Mr. Smith, 27;
scattering, 1.\5\
So John W. Taylor, a Representative from the State of New York, was
elected Speaker.
Mr. Taylor addressed the House, but the Journal does not indicate
that the oath was administered.
On motion of Mr. Nelson, of Virginia:
Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate, to inform them that a
quorum of this House is assembled; that they have elected John W.
Taylor, one of the Representatives from the State of New York, their
Speaker, in the room of Henry Clay, resigned, and are now ready to
proceed to business; and that the Clerk go with the said message.
There is nothing to indicate that a notice of the election of the new
Speaker was sent to the President.
233. In 1834 the Speaker, intending to resign, arose in his place and
informed the House, setting a future day for the act.
The Speaker having announced his resignation, made a farewell address
and left the chair.
The farewell address of the Speaker appears in full in the Journal.
The Speaker having resigned in 1834, his successor took the oath.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Sixteenth Congress, Journal, pp. 5-7 (Gales &
Seaton ed.); Annals, pp. 434-438.
\2\ This letter appears in full in the Journal.
\3\ The Journal makes no mention of a motion to proceed to the
election of a Speaker; but the Annals states that such a motion was
made by Mr. Thomas Newton, of Virginia.
\4\ See section 6003, Volume V, of this work for the rule at that
time.
\5\ The Journal does not record these ballotings in detail, but
announces merely that ``upon an examination of the twenty-second
ballot, it appeared that John W. Taylor, etc., was duly elected.''
Sec. 234
On May 30, 1834,\1\ the Journal has this entry:
Mr. Speaker Stevenson rose, and informed the House that he had taken
the chair this morning, though still laboring under severe and
continued indisposition, for the purpose of opening the House, and
preventing any delay in its business, and likewise for the purpose of
announcing his determination of resigning the Speaker's chair and his
seat in Congress. This he proposed doing on Monday next at 11 o'clock.
He had formed this resolution under a deep sense of duty, and because
his state of health rendered it impossible for him (as must be apparent
to the House) to discharge, in person, the laborious duties of the
Chair, and he had therefore deemed it respectful and proper to give
this early notice of his intention to retire.
On Monday, June 2,\2\ immediately after the reading of the Journal,
the Speaker arose and addressed the House. He said he had attended for
the purpose of resigning the office of Speaker, and of announcing the
fact that he had communicated to the executive of Virginia his
resignation as one of the Representatives of that State. Mr. Speaker
then addressed farewell remarks to the House. These appear in full in
the Journal.
Having completed his remarks, Mr. Stevenson then descended from the
chair and withdrew.
Mr. Charles F. Mercer, of Virginia, then moved that the House proceed
to the election of a Speaker.
The Clerk put this motion, which was agreed to; and then nominated 6
tellers to collect and count the ballots. Of this proceeding, however,
the Journal has only this entry.
The House, on motion, proceeded by ballot to the choice of a Speaker
in the place of Andrew Stevenson, resigned, and, upon an examination of
the tenth ballot, it appeared that John Bell, one of the
Representatives from the State of Tennessee, was duly elected; upon
which, Mr. Bell was conducted to the Speaker's chair by Mr. John Quincy
Adams and Mr. Richard M. Johnson, from whence he addressed the House as
follows: [Address follows in full.]
The oath of office to support the Constitution of the United States
was then administered to the Speaker-elect by Mr. Williams, one of the
Representatives from the State of North Carolina.
234. The Speaker having died during the recess of Congress, the Clerk
called the House to order, ascertained the presence of a quorum, and
entertained a motion to proceed to election of a Speaker.--On December
4, 1876,\3\ on the first day of the session, the Clerk of the House,
having called the House to order at 12 m., announced the death of Hon.
Michael C. Kerr, late Speaker; and then proceeded to call the roll of
Members by States.
A quorum having been disclosed, and its presence announced by the
Clerk, Mr. William S. Holman, of Indiana, presented this resolution:
Whereas the House being informed that since its last adjournment Hon.
Michael C. Kerr, who at the commencement of the present Congress was
elected Speaker of the House, has departed this life, creating a
vacancy in the office of Speaker; therefore
Resolved, That the House do now proceed to the election of a Speaker
viva voce.
This resolution, which was held to be of high privilege, was agreed
to.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Twenty-third Congress, Journal, p. 672; Debates, p.
4335. The Speaker addressed the House immediately after the reading of
the Journal.
\2\ Journal, pp. 689-691; Debates, pp. 4368-4373.
\3\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 3-10; Record,
pp. 3-6.
Sec. 235
235. The House, in a rule continuing the Clerk in office until the
election of his successor, assumed to perpetuate its authority beyond
its own existence.--On March 1, 1791,\1\ at the close of the first
Congress, it was
Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives of the
United States shall be deemed to continue in office until another be
appointed.
Again, on March 2, 1793,\2\ at the close of the Second Congress, a
similar resolution was agreed to.
236. The Clerk having died in the recess of Congress, the House was
informed as soon as a quorum had been ascertained and new Members sworn
in.
The Clerk having died, the House at once elected a successor,
declining to have the chief clerk fill the vacancy temporarily.
On December 3, 1838,\3\ the Speaker laid before the House the
following communication:
Office House of Representatives of the United States,
Washington, December 3, 1838.
Sir: The painful duty is devolved upon me of informing you, and,
through you, the House of Representatives of the United States, of the
death of Walter S. Franklin, esq., Clerk of the House. He died on the
20th of September last, at Lancaster, in Pennsylvania.
In making this communication, I can not omit to embrace the
opportunity publicly to express the deep regret of every officer of the
House at the loss the public and themselves have sustained in the death
of Mr. Franklin.
With much respect, Sir, your obedient servant,
S. Burch,
Chief Clerk of the Office, and Acting Clerk House of
Representatives.
Hon. J. K. Polk,
Speaker House of Representatives.
The House disagreed to a proposition that the principal assistant
clerk act as Clerk until the House should fill the vacancy, and
entertained and agreed to a motion that--
the House do forthwith proceed to the election of a Clerk.
Accordingly the House proceeded to the election of a Clerk.
These proceedings took place after the roll had been called by States
to ascertain the presence of a quorum, and after the new Members had
been sworn in, but before the Senate or the President had been informed
that a quorum of the House was in attendance.
It does not appear that any message was sent to the Senate informing
them that the House had elected a Clerk.
237. The election of the Clerk of the House presents a question of
privilege.
The office of Clerk becoming vacant it was held that the House would
not be organized for business until a Clerk should be elected.
The preparation and reading of the Journal is not prevented by the
death of the officer having it in charge.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Third session First Congress, Journal, p. 396 (Gales & Seaton,
ed.).
\2\ Second session Second Congress, Journal, p. 731 (Gales & Seaton,
ed.).
\3\ Third session Twenty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 8; Globe, p. 1.
Sec. 238
On April 16, 1850,\1\ Mr. Thomas L. Harris, of Illinois, moved that
the House proceed to the election of a Clerk, to supply the vacancy
occasioned by the death of Thomas J. Campbell.
Pending the consideration of this motion, Mr. Albert G. Brown, of
Mississippi, submitted the following resolution:
Resolved, That the order heretofore passed by the House postponing
the election of a Doorkeeper be, and the same is hereby, rescinded; and
that the House of Representatives will proceed at once to the election
of a Clerk and Doorkeeper for the Thirty-first Congress.
The Speaker \2\ decided that the resolution was out of order, on the
ground that the House could take no action upon or transact other
business than the election of Clerk until such election is effected.
Until a Clerk should be elected the House would not be organized.
From this decision of the Chair Mr. A. G. Brown appealed, and the
question being put, ``Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the
judgment of the House?'' it was decided in the affirmative.
The record of the debate \3\ shows that the Speaker expressed the
opinion that the House was not organized until a Clerk was elected.\4\
In this case the Clerk had died, and the Journal on this morning was
read by one of the subordinate officers of the late Clerk. Question as
to this proceeding having been raised by Mr. Willard P. Hall, of
Virginia, the Speaker said that the Journal had been prepared as usual
under the direction of the Speaker. The Chair did not think that the
death of the Clerk should prevent the reading or preparation of the
Journal.\5\
238. The Clerk having resigned, the House elected his successor.
In the early days of the House two oaths were administered to the
Clerk.
On December 9, 1800,\6\ the Clerk having resigned, the House elected
John Holt Oswald his successor. The oath to support the Constitution of
the United States, together with the oath of office as prescribed by
the act entitled ``An act to regulate the time and manner of
administering certain oaths,'' were then administered by Mr. Speaker to
the Clerk.\7\
239. The Clerk having resigned, the House, after some intervening
business, elected his successor.--On Saturday, January 28, 1815,\8\ the
Speaker laid before the House a letter, addressed to the Speaker by the
Clerk of the House, resigning the office of Clerk.
The letter was ordered to lie on the table.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Journal, p. 789.
\2\ Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Speaker.
\3\ Globe, p. 741.
\4\ On December 2, 1833, Walter S. Franklin, of Pennsylvania, was
elected Clerk of the House. On December 3 he appeared and qualified.
(First session Twenty-third Congress, Journal, pp. 9, 10.)
\5\ The Journal is now prepared, not by the Clerk, but by the Journal
Clerk, and is read by one of the reading clerks.
\6\ Second session Sixth Congress, Journal, p. 736. (Gales & Seaton,
ed.)
\7\ By the act of 1789 (1 Stat. L., p. 23) two oaths were required of
the Clerk. This has since been changed.
\8\ Third session Thirteenth Congress, Journal, pp. 694, 697-699
(Gales & Seaton, ed.); Annals, pp. 1107, 1113.
Sec. 240
On Monday, January 30, after business had proceeded for a time, it
was
Resolved, That this House will proceed, on this day at 2 o'clock, to
the appointment of a Clerk, in the room of Patrick Magruder, who has
resigned that office.
Accordingly at 2 o'clock a ballot was taken, and it appears that
Thomas Dougherty was duly elected.
On January 31 he gave his attendance and took the oath of office.
240. In 1860 the House decided that it might inform the Senate and
President of its organization and election of a Speaker before it had
elected a Clerk.--On February 1, 1860,\1\ a Speaker had been elected,
the oath had been administered to the Members and Delegates, and rules
had been adopted. Thereupon Mr. Reuben E. Fenton, of New York, offered
this resolution:
Resolved, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform that body
that a quorum of the House of Representatives has assembled, and that
William Pennington, one of the Representatives from the State of New
Jersey, has been chosen Speaker, and that the House is now ready to
proceed to business.
Mr. William Smith, of Virginia, questioned the propriety of the
resolution before the election of a Clerk.
After debate, in which it was stated that it had been the custom of
the House to agree to similar resolutions before the election of Clerk,
the Speaker \2\ held that the practice of the House had been in
accordance with the proposed action, and that there was no necessity
that the notice should be delayed until the election of a Clerk. The
present Clerk could communicate the message.
The resolution was accordingly agreed to. Then, also, a resolution of
notification to the President was agreed to before the election of
Clerk. After that the House proceeded to the election of Clerk.
241. By unanimous consent, in 1867, the House elected its Clerk by
resolution.
In 1867 the law of 1789 was considered as binding the House to elect
a Clerk before proceeding to business.
On March 4, 1867,\3\ at the organization of the House, after the
Speaker had been elected, and the oath had been administered to him and
by him to the Members, resolutions were adopted for notifying the
President and the Senate of the organization of the House. Then rules
were adopted.
After this Mr. Henry L. Dawes, of Massachusetts, presented a
resolution that Edward McPherson, of Pennsylvania, be, and hereby is,
elected Clerk.
The Speaker asked unanimous consent to the procedure of electing a
Clerk by resolution, when Mr. Robert C. Schenck, of Ohio, objected to
the election of a Clerk at this time, on the ground that it had been
understood that no other officers than the Speaker were to be elected
this day.
Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, said that such had been the
understanding, but a reference had shown that under the law no business
could be transacted until the election of both a Speaker and Clerk.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, pp. 167, 170;
Globe, pp. 656, 661, 662.
\2\ William Pennington, of New Jersey, Speaker.
\3\ First session Fortieth Congress, Globe, pp. 5, 7 , Journal, pp.
9, 10.
Sec. 242
The Speaker \1\ said:
The Chair has ascertained that there are precedents on this subject.
In the thirty-first Congress, when the Clerk died, the Speaker said
that no business could be transacted until another Clerk was elected,
because there was no officer to carry messages to the Senate.
Accordingly, there being no objection, the resolution was acted on
and Mr. McPherson was elected.
On the succeeding day, and after business had intervened, the
remaining officers were elected.
242. It has been decided that notwithstanding the requirements of the
act of 1789, the House may proceed to business before the election of a
Clerk.--On December 31, 1849,\2\ after the election of Speaker, the
House agreed to this resolution:
Resolved, That the House will proceed to the election of a Clerk and
other officers on Thursday, the 3d day of January, 1850.
No choice of Clerk being effected on January 3, the Speaker held the
order unfinished business on the 4th. On that day the further execution
of the order was postponed until the 7th.
Then the House proceeded to the regular order of business provided in
the rules, when Mr. Samuel W. Inge, of Alabama, rose to a question of
privilege. The provisions of the act of 1789 required the Clerk of the
House to be sworn before it was competent for the House to proceed to
other business. He therefore moved that the House proceed to the
election of a Clerk in compliance with the provisions of the said act.
The Speaker \3\ decided that the House having by resolution fixed a
day for the election of Clerk and other officers, the motion of Mr.
Inge was out of order. The House had put its own construction on the
point raised.
Mr. John L. Robinson, of Indiana, appealed, but Mr. Inge withdrew his
motion, and the matter fell.
243. A question has arisen as to whether or not the House, in the
face of the provision of law, may proceed to business before the
election of a Clerk.--On February 1, 1860,\4\ the House had elected a
Speaker and adopted rules, but had not chosen a Clerk, when Mr. John S.
Phelps, of Missouri, proposed to introduce a bill making appropriations
to defray certain deficiencies in the appropriations for the Post-
Office Department.
Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, made the point of order that
the bill could not be introduced at this time.
The Speaker \5\ said:
The opinion of the Chair is that such business can not be transacted
until after the election of a Clerk.\6\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, Speaker.
\2\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Journal, pp. 190, 228;
Globe, p. 102.
\3\ Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Speaker.
\4\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Globe, p. 656.
\5\ William Pennington, of New Jersey, Speaker.
\6\ Mr. Phelps, who was the oldest Member of the House in the years
of consecutive service, said, after the decision of the Speaker, that
as the House had elected a Speaker, and under the provisions of the
Constitution allowing it to make rules had adopted rules, and as among
those rules was one continuing the present Clerk until another should
be elected, it seemed clear to him that the House might proceed to
business. He cared not what the law might be. The House might make
rules overriding the law. (Globe, p. 656.)
Sec. 244
244. A Speaker having been elected, the House has proceeded to
legislative and other business before the election of a Clerk.
The Clerk of the former House continues to act as Clerk of the new
House until his successor is elected.
An instance wherein certain officers of the former House continued to
act through the new Congress, no successor being elected.
On December 22, 1849, the House, after a long contest, elected Mr.
Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Speaker.
On the next legislative day, December 24, the oath was administered
to the Members of the House. Then, before any suggestion was made as to
the election of other officers, a message was sent to the Senate
informing that body that a quorum of the House had assembled, that
Howell Cobb had been chosen Speaker, and that the House was ready to
proceed to business. Then the appointment of the usual committee to
join the Senate committee in notifying the President of the United
States that a quorum had assembled and that Congress was ready to
receive any communication was authorized.
A proposition was then made to adopt rules, but postponed. Seats were
drawn and the hour of daily meeting was fixed. Then the message of the
President was received and ordered printed.
On December 27 the rules of the preceding House were adopted
temporarily, the President's message was read, and the committees were
appointed.
Before the appointment of committees George W. Jones, of Tennessee,
urged that under the act of 1789 the committees should not be appointed
until a Clerk had been elected and sworn. And soon after Mr. James
Thompson, of Pennsylvania, offered this resolution:
Resolved, That the House will proceed to the election of Clerk and
other officers on Thursday, the 3d of January, 1850.
On December 31 this resolution was agreed to. On this day, also, the
House passed House bill No. 1, and ordered the Clerk (the Clerk of the
last House, of course) to request the concurrence of the Senate.
Voting for Clerk began on January 3, and on January 4 was postponed
until January 7, although a point of order was made that it was not
competent for the House to proceed to other business until the Clerk
had been elected. Then, on January 7, the House proceeded to vote for
Clerk, and continued to do so until January 11, when Thomas J. Campbell
was elected.
The House then proceeded to the election of a Sergeant-at-Arms, but
on January 14 suspended the voting by postponing the further execution
of the order until the next day. Thereupon the House proceeded to the
consideration of the report of the Committee on Rules.
On January 15 a Sergeant-at-Arms was elected and the House next
proceeded to the election of Doorkeeper. No choice resulting, after
many trials, the House voted to postpone the further execution of the
order for the election of officers until March 1, 1851, or until within
two days of the end of the Congress. This motion was agreed to, and the
Doorkeeper and Postmaster of the previous House continued in their
positions by the acquiescence of the House.\1\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Journal, pp. 164, 167, 168,
184, 186, 190, 202, 225, 291, 308, 366: Globe, pp. 66, 84, 88, 89, 102,
141, 188.
Sec. 245
On March 3, 1851,\1\ the last day of the session, the election of
Doorkeeper was postponed indefinitely.
245. The House has held, notwithstanding the law of 1789, that it may
adopt rules before electing a Clerk.--On February 1, 1860,\2\ the
Speaker was elected, and after he had taken the oath and had in turn
administered the oath to the Members and Delegates, Mr. Israel
Washburn, jr., of Maine, submitted the following resolution:
Resolved, That the rules of the House of Representatives of the
Thirty-fifth Congress shall be the rules of the House of
Representatives until otherwise ordered.
Mr. William G. Whiteley, of Delaware, made the point of order that
after the election of Speaker nothing was in order but the election of
Clerk. He quoted that passage of the law of 1789 which provides that
the oath shall be administered ``to the Clerk previous to entering on
any other business.''
The Speaker \3\ overruled the point of order, stating that it had
been the custom of the House to adopt its rules previous to the
election of a Clerk.
246. The Clerk desiring to be away, the House gave him leave of
absence.--On April 28, 1834,\4\ a Member stated that the Clerk of the
House had received news of the death of a member of his family,
whereupon
Ordered, That the Clerk have leave to be absent from the service of
this House for four or five days.
247. On November 20, 1800,\5\
Ordered, That the Clerk of this House have leave to be absent from
the service of the House for three weeks.
248. In the temporary absence of the Clerk the House has chosen a
Clerk pro tempore.--On December 9, 1813,\6\ Patrick Magruder, the Clerk
to the House, being absent from indisposition, the House proceeded to
the choice of a Clerk pro tempore, and George Magruder was unanimously
chosen.
249. The House declined to interfere with the Clerk's power of
removing his subordinates.--On December 31, 1833,\7\ Mr. John Davis, of
Massachusetts, called attention of the House to the removal from office
by the Clerk of the House of Noah Fletcher, who had been an employee of
the office since 1819. He presented a memorial from Fletcher, in which
the latter said that he had been removed without cause, and appealed to
the House to rectify the injustice. Mr. Davis offered this resolution:
Resolved, That Noah Fletcher was removed from his office of Assistant
Clerk in this House without any sufficient cause, and ought to be
immediately reinstated.
After debate, in the course of which it was urged that the Clerk,
being responsible to the House, had the right to select his own
assistants, the House, on January 13, 1834, laid the resolution on the
table--yeas, 120; nays, 83.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Thirty-first Congress, Journal, p. 406.
\2\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 167; Globe, p.
655.
\3\ William Pennington, of New Jersey, Speaker.
\4\ First session Twenty-third Congress, Journal, p. 566; Debates, p.
3821.
\5\ Second session Sixth Congress, Journal, p. 722 (Gales and Seaton,
ad.); Annals, p. 783.
\6\ Second session Thirteenth Congress, Journal, p. 169 (Gales and
Seaton, ad.); Annals, p. 787.
\7\ First session Twenty-third Congress, Journal, pp. 140, 183;
Debates, pp. 2290, 2368.
Sec. 250
250. There being a conflict of authority between the Clerk and
another officer, the House investigated.--In 1841 \1\ a controversy
occurred between the Clerk of the House and the Printer as to the power
of the Clerk to control the binding of certain documents. The letter of
the Clerk was presented to the House by the Speaker, and referred to a
select committee, who investigated the subject.
251. The Clerk is required to note all questions of order and the
decisions thereon, and print the record thereof as an appendix to the
Journal.
It is the duty of the Clerk to print and distribute the Journal.
The Clerk attests and affixes the seal of the House to all writs,
warrants, and subpoenas issued by order of the House.
The Clerk is required to certify to the passage of all bills and
joint resolutions.
The Clerk makes or approves all contracts, etc., for labor,
materials, etc., for the House.
The Clerk keeps account of disbursement of the contingent fund and
the stationery accounts of Members.
The Clerk is required to pay the officers and employees of the House
on the last secular day of each month.
Present form and history of section 3 of Rule III.
Section 3 of Rule III provides:
He [the Clerk] shall note all questions of order, with the decisions
thereon the record of which shall be printed as an appendix to the
Journal of each session; and complete, as soon after the close of the
session as possible, the printing and distribution to Members and
Delegates of the Journal of the House, together with an accurate and
complete index; retain in the library at his office, for the use of the
Members and officers of the House, and not to be withdrawn therefrom,
two copies of all the books and printed documents deposited there;
send, at the end of each session, a printed copy of the Journal thereof
to the executive and to each branch of the legislature of every State
and Territory; preserve for and deliver or mail to each Member and
Delegate an extra copy, in good binding, of all documents printed by
order of either House of the Congress to which he belonged; attest and
affix the seal \2\ of the House to all writs, warrants, and subpoenas
issued by order of the House; certify to the passage of all bills and
joint resolutions; make or approve all contracts, bargains, or
agreements relative to furnishing any matter or thing, or for the
performance of any labor for the House of Representatives, in pursuance
of law or order of the House; keep full and accurate accounts of the
disbursements out of the contingent fund of the House; keep the
stationery account of Members and Delegates, and pay them as provided
by law. He shall pay to the officers and employees of the House of
Representatives, the last day of each month, the amount of their
salaries that shall be due them; and when the last day of the month
falls on Sunday he shall pay them on the day next preceding.
This rule, except the last sentence, is as agreed on by the House at
the time of the revision of 1880.\3\ It was composed of seven of the
former rules: Rule 14,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Twenty-sixth Congress, Journal, pp. 128, 193, 279.
\2\ This provision relating to the seal is from former Rule 8,
providing that ``all writs, warrants, and subpoenas issued by order of
the House shall be under his [the Speaker's] hand and seal,'' and which
dated from November 13, 1794 (Journal Third and Fourth Congresses, p.
229), and existed until the adoption of the present form in 1880.
\3\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 555.
Sec. 252
dating from November 13, 1794,\1\ and providing for distributing the
Journals to the States; Rule 15, dating from December 23, 1811,\2\
providing for noting decisions of order; Rule 16, dating from June 18,
1832,\3\ and providing for sending the Journal to Members and
Delegates; Rule 17, dating from December 22, 1826,\4\ and providing for
retaining books and documents in the Library; Rule 18, dating from
February 9, 1831,\5\ providing for sending bound volumes of documents
to Members; Rule 20, dated June 18, 1832 \3\ providing for an index to
the acts of Congress; and Rule 21, dated January 30, 1846,\6\ providing
for the making and approval of contracts. The last sentence, relating
to payment of officers and employees, dates from January 28, 1892.\7\
252. It is the duty of the Clerk to have printed and delivered to
each Member a list of the reports required to be made to Congress.
Present form and history of section 2 of Rule III.
Section 2 of Rule III provides:
He [the Clerk] shall make and cause to be printed and delivered to
each Member, or mailed to his address at the commencement of every
regular session of Congress, a list of the reports which it is the duty
of any officer or Department to make to Congress, referring to the act
or resolution and page of the volume of the laws or Journal in which it
may be contained, and placing under the name of each officer the list
of reports required of him to be made.
This rule dates from March 13, 1822.\8\ On April 21, 1836,\9\ a
provision was added requiring the Clerk to make a weekly statement of
business on the Speaker's table; but this was stricken out in the
revision of 1890, when the change in the order of business had
prevented an accumulation of business on the Speaker's table.
253. The statutes prescribe certain duties for the Clerk as to the
organization of the House and the administration of its affairs.--
Before the meeting of each Congress the Clerk makes up a roll of such
Members as are shown by their credentials to be regularly elected.\10\
If circumstances are such that the Clerk may not perform this duty, it
devolves in succession upon the Sergeant-at-Arms, and then upon the
Doorkeeper.\11\
Except when Congress is in session the Clerk certifies the pay
certificates of Members.\12\
Reports of committees are preserved, bound, and indexed, and
distributed under direction of the Clerk.\13\ The Clerk is entitled to
10 cents for each 100 words of certified extracts from the Journal,
except where such transcripts are required
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Third and Fourth Congresses, Journal, p. 229. (Gales & Seaton
ed.)
\2\ First session Twelfth Congress, Reports, No. 38.
\3\ First session Twenty-second Congress, Journal, p. 899.
\4\ Second session Nineteenth Congress, Journal, p. 87.
\5\ Second session Twenty-first Congress, Journal, p. 284.
\6\ First session Twenty-ninth Congress, Globe, p. 279.
\7\ First session Fifty-second Congress, Cong. Record, p. 652.
\8\ First session Seventeenth Congress, Journal, p. 351.
\9\ First session Twenty-fourth Congress, Cong. Globe, p. 320.
\10\ Revised Statutes, section 31.
\11\ Revised Statutes, sections 32, 33.
\12\ Revised Statutes, section 38; Laws, second session Forty-third
Congress, p. 389; 19 Stat. L., p. 145.
\13\ 24 Stat. L., p. 346; vol. 28, p. 622.
Sec. 254
in connection with the duties of a Government office.\1\ Printing and
binding and the furnishing of blank books for the House are subject to
the written order of the Clerk.\2\ The distribution of certain
documents to various homes for soldiers and sailors is made by the
Clerk.\3\
On the first day of each session of Congress the Clerk submits to the
House certain statements and reports the names, compensations, etc., of
clerks and messengers of the House, and whether any of them may be
dispensed with; an itemized statement of the expenditure of the
contingent fund; \4\ an exhibit of the sums drawn from the Treasury,
and the balance remaining; \5\ all the expenditures of the House at the
end of each fiscal year; \6\ a full and complete statement of his
receipts and expenditures as Clerk \7\ and an account of all property
of the United States in his possession.\8\
The Clerk requires of the disbursing officers acting under him
precise and analytical returns of the moneys expended, as a basis for
an annual return to Congress.\9\
The Clerk, after advertisement for bids, contracts for the stationery
for supplying the House, giving preference to domestic articles over
foreign, providing such can be had on as satisfactory terms as imported
articles.\10\
The Clerk may, with permission of the Joint Committee on the Library,
have the use of the Library under the regulations that apply to
Members.\11\
The Clerk disburses the pay of half of the Capitol Police.\12\
The Clerk is required to make contracts with the lowest bidder for
packing boxes for use of the House.\13\
The Clerk gives a bond of $20,000.\14\
254. The custody and use of the seal is with the Clerk, under
direction of the House.--On July 18, 1892,\15\ Mr. Benton McMillin, of
Tennessee, presented the following order, which was agreed to by the
House:
Ordered, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives be, and he is
hereby, authorized and directed to affix the seal of the House of
Representatives to the document entitled ``The administration of the
United States Government at the beginning of the four hundredth
anniversary of the discovery of America.''
At the same time the House passed a joint resolution allowing the
Secretary of State to affix the seal of the United States to the
document, and also a concurrent resolution authorizing the President to
accept the document for preservation among the archives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Revised Statutes, section 71.
\2\ Revised Statutes, section 3789.
\3\ Revised Statutes, section 4837; 28 Stat. L., p. 159.
\4\ Revised Statutes, section 60.
\5\ Revised Statutes, section 61.
\6\ Revised Statutes, section 63.
\7\ Revised Statutes, section 70.
\8\ Revised Statutes, section 72.
\9\ Revised Statutes, section 62.
\10\ Revised Statutes, sections 66-49; Laws, second session Forty-
third Congress, p. 316.
\11\ Revised Statutes, section 94.
\12\ 31 Stat. L., p. 963.
\13\ 31 Stat. L., p. 967.
\14\ Revised Statutes, sections 58 and 59.
\15\ First session Fifty-second Congress, Record, p. 6342.
Sec. 255
255. On January 19, 1886,\1\ the Committee on Rules of the Senate
reported on the subject of the seal of the Senate. They found nothing
in the Journals or archives of the Senate to throw any light on the
history of the seal, although from private letters recently published
it had been learned when and by whom it was made. The committee found
that there was no authority on the subject of its use, and recommended
the adoption of the following rule:
Resolved, That the Secretary shall have the custody of the great
seal, and shall use the same for the authentication of process,
transcripts, copies, and certificates whenever directed by the Senate.
256. The seal of the House is in the control of the House rather than
of the Speaker.--On January IT, 1901,\2\ the Speaker laid before the
House a letter from the Acting Secretary of State requesting that an
impression of the seal of the House of Representatives be furnished for
the files of the State Department for purposes of reference for
authentication.
The letter having been read, the Speaker \3\ said:
The Chair thinks that this is a matter which should properly be done
by order of the House, and therefore submits the draft of an order to
be adopted by the House, in pursuance of the request of the State
Department.
The order was then submitted by unanimous consent and agreed to, as
follows:
Ordered, That the Clerk be directed to furnish to the Department of
State, in accordance with the request transmitted to the House from
that Department, an impression of the seal of the House of
Representatives.
257. The Sergeant-at-Arms attends the sittings and under direction of
the Speaker or Chairman of the Committee of the Whole maintains order.
By a rule, which is not adopted usually until a Speaker is elected,
the Sergeant-at-Arms is directed to preserve order under the direction
of the Clerk pending the election of a Speaker or Speaker pro tempore.
The Sergeant-at-Arms executes the commands of the House and all of
its processes directed to him by the Speaker.
The Sergeant-at-Arms disburses the pay and mileage of Members and
Delegates.
Present form and history of section 1 of Rule IV.
Section I of Rule IV provides:
It shall be the duty of the Sergeant-at-Arms to attend the House and
the Committee of the Whole, during their sittings, to maintain order
under the direction of the Speaker or Chairman, and, pending the
election of a Speaker or Speaker pro tempore, under the direction of
the Clerk, execute the commands of the House, and all processes issued
by authority thereof, directed to him by the Speaker, keep the accounts
for the pay and mileage of Members and Delegates, and pay them as
provided by law.
In the First Congress, on April 14, 1789,\4\ this rule was adopted:
A Sergeant-at-Arms shall be appointed to hold 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
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Senate Report, first session Forty-ninth Congress, No. 48.
\2\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 1134.
\3\ David B. Henderson, of Iowa, Speaker.\4\ First session First
Congress, Journal, p. 14.
Sec. 258
time, and all such process, issued by authority thereof, as shall be
directed to him by the Speaker. A proper symbol of office shall be
provided for the Sergeant-at-Arms, of such form and device as the
Speaker shall direct, which shall be borne by the Sergeant when in the
execution of his office.
On April 4, 1838,\1\ a rule was adopted providing that the Sergeant-
at-Arms should keep the accounts of the pay and mileage and pay over
the same to Members.
On March 3, 1877,\2\ in order to meet difficulties that might occur
at the organization of the House, a rule was adopted providing that the
Sergeant-at-Arms should maintain order under direction of the Clerk
when the latter should be presiding. There was much debate over this
rule, Mr. James A. Garfield urging that the existing House might not
make a rule binding on the next House; but at that time the House, by
continuing an old rule of 1860, was perpetuating the theory that the
rules of one House might bind the next.\3\ At the time of the
organization of a House this rule has not been adopted, and therefore
its effect at that time is extremely doubtful.\4\
In the revision of 1880 \5\ the substance of the rule was retained,
in somewhat different form. Only one change has' been made since 1880.
In the revision of 1890 \6\ the new provision was added that the
Sergeant-at-Arms should attend the Committee of the Whole also, and
maintain order under direction of the Chairman. This was stricken out
in the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses, but restored in the
Fifty-fourth and has continued since as part of the rule.
258. The statutes as well as the rule define the duties of the
Sergeant-at-Arms, especially with reference to the disbursements made
by him.
The statutes place on the Sergeants-at-Arms of the two Houses the
duty of preserving the peace and security of the Capitol and the
appointment and control of the Capitol police.
The act of October 1, 1890,\7\ after enacting the provisions of House
Rule IV in relation to the Sergeant-at-Arms, provides that the pay and
mileage of Members and Delegates shall be paid at the Treasury on
requisitions drawn by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and shall be disbursed by
him; that he shall give bond to the United States in the sum of
$50,000, no Member of Congress to be a surety on this bond; that he
shall continue in office until his successor is elected and qualified;
that at the commencement of each regular session he shall submit a
statement of the sums drawn and disbursed by him; that there shall be
employed by him in his office a deputy, a cashier, a paying teller, a
bookkeeper, a messenger, a page, and a laborer, at certain fixed
salaries; and that in the adjustment of his accounts the fiscal year
shall extend to and include July 3.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Twenty-fifth Congress, Globe, pp. 278, 281.
\2\ Second session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 635, 669;
Record, pp. 2133, 2232-2235.
\3\ This theory was finally abandoned in 1890. (See see. 6743-6745 of
Vol. V of this work.)
\4\ See section 81 of this work.
\5\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 204.
\6\ House Report No. 23, first session Fifty-first Congress.
\7\ 26 Stat. L., pp. 645, 646.
Sec. 259
On the first day of each regular session, and at the expiration of
his term, he makes out a full and complete account of the Government
property in his possession.\1\
In addition to his regular salary he receives no fees \2\ or other
emolument.
In case of a vacancy in the office of the Clerk, or absence or
disability of the Clerk, the duties of that official in connection with
the organization of a new House devolve on the Sergeant-at-Arms.\3\
In conjunction with the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate he makes
regulations to preserve the peace and security of the Capitol from
defacement and to protect the public property therein, and in
connection with this authority is vested the power of arrest.\4\
With the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate he attends to the uniforming
and equipping of the Capitol police.\5\
The captain and lieutenants of the Capitol police are selected
jointly by the Sergeants-at-Arms of the two Houses, and privates and
watchmen are selected one-half by each of the two officials. The Clerk
of the House disburses pay of one-half.\6\
259. The Sergeant-at-Arms receives no fees; and the Clerk receives
them only for certified extracts of the Journal.--The statutes provide
that the Sergeant-at-Arms shall receive no fees or other emoluments in
addition to his regular salary.\7\ The Clerk receives for certified
extracts from the Journal 10 cents for each sheet containing 100
words.\8\
260. The Doorkeeper is required to enforce strictly the rules
relating to the privileges of the Hall, and is responsible for the
official conduct of his employees.
Present form and history of section 1 of Rule V.
Section 1 of Rule V provides:
The Doorkeeper shall enforce strictly the rules relating to the
privileges of the Hall, and be responsible to the House for the
official conduct of his employees.
This is the exact form of the revision of 1880.\9\ It was adopted
from a portion of old rule No. 27, which was adopted at the suggestion
of Mr. Abraham Rencher, of North Carolina, on March 1, 1838.\10\
261. The Doorkeeper has the custody of all the furniture, books, and
public property in the committee and other rooms under his charge.
At the commencement and close of each session of Congress the
Doorkeeper is required to make and submit to the House for examination
by the Committee on Accounts an inventory of furniture, books, etc.
Present form and history of section 2 of Rule V.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Revised Statutes, section 72.
\2\ Revised Statutes, section 53; first session Forty-third
Congress, Session Laws, p. 87.
\3\ Revised Statutes, section 32.
\4\ Revised Statutes, section 1820.
\5\ Revised Statutes, sections 1821, 1823, 1824, 1825. (As to pay of
suspended members of police see 18 Stat. L., p. 345.)
\6\ 31 Stat. L., p. 963.
\7\ Revised Statutes, section 53.
\8\ Revised Statutes, section 71.
\9\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 204.
\10\ Second session Twenty-fifth Congress, Globe, p. 203.
Sec. 262
Section 2 of Rule V provides:
At the commencement and close of each session of Congress he shall
take an inventory of all the furniture, books, and other public
property in the several committee and other rooms under his charge, and
report the same to the House, which report shall be referred to the
Committee on Accounts to ascertain and determine the amount for which
he shall be held liable for missing articles.
This is the form of rule adopted on January 27, 1880,\1\ on the
suggestion of Mr. Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut. The Committee on
Rules had presented a slightly different form, derived from former Rule
27, which dated from March 2, 1865.\2\
On December 13, 1841,\3\ Mr. George N. Briggs, of Massachusetts,
offered this resolution, which was agreed to by the House:
Resolved, That the office of Assistant Doorkeeper is not necessary
for the service of this House, and that the same is hereby abolished.
262. The statutes impose on the Doorkeeper various duties in addition
to those prescribed by the rules.
The Doorkeeper is required at stated times to return inventories of
the Government property in his possession.
The Doorkeeper appoints superintendents to have charge of the folding
and document rooms.
The Doorkeeper has general charge during the recess of the apartments
occupied by the House.
The Doorkeeper has control of the messengers on the soldiers' roll.
On the first day of each regular session of Congress, and at the
expiration of his term of service, the Doorkeeper makes out and returns
to Congress a full account of all Government property in his
possession.\4\ During the recess he takes care, under the direction of
the Clerk, of the apartments occupied by the House, and provides fuel
and other accommodations for the coming session.\5\ He also prevents
the occupation of the rooms by unauthorized persons during the
recess.\6\ He sells waste paper, useless documents, and condemned
furniture, covering the proceeds into the Treasury.\7\
In case of a vacancy in the offices of Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms, or
disability or absence of both of those officials,\8\ the Doorkeeper
performs the duties of the Clerk in relation to making up the roll of
Members.\9\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 557.
\2\ Second session Thirty-eighth Congress, Globe, p. 1317; Journal,
p. 387.
\3\ Second session Twenty-seventh Congress, Journal, p. 40; Globe, p.
14.
\4\ Revised Statutes, section 72.
\5\ Revised Statutes, section 73.
\6\ Second session Forty-second Congress, Journal, p. 1056.
\7\ 22 Stat. L., p. 337.
\8\ Revised Statutes, section 33.
\9\ The Doorkeeper (with the aid of his appointees, viz, the
superintendents of the ``folding room'' and ``document room,''
messengers, pages, folders, and laborers) discharges various duties
which are not enumerated in the rules or laws, viz, he announces at the
door of the House all messages from the President, etc.; keeps the
doors of the House; folds and distributes extra documents; furnishes
Members with printed copies of bills, reports, and other documents;
conveys messages from Members; keeps the Hall, galleries, and committee
rooms in order, etc.
Sec. 263
There is a folding room of the House under charge of a superintendent
appointed by the Doorkeeper, and each Member is notified once in every
sixty days of the number and character of publications on hand assigned
to him.\1\
The Doorkeeper may assign one folder to do clerical work under the
direction of the foreman of the folding room.\2\
The House document room is in charge of a superintendent appointed by
the Doorkeeper, who also appoints the assistant.\3\
Janitors of committees are under direction of the Doorkeeper.\4\
The statutes provide for fourteen messengers on the soldiers'
roll,\5\ under the control of the Doorkeeper, at $1,200 salary each,
and such soldiers are not subject to removal except for cause, with the
approval of the House.\6\
On March 2, 1872, after a discussion as to disabled soldiers on the
roll of the House, a resolution was adopted, on motion of Mr. Benjamin
F. Butler, of Massachusetts, advising the officers of the House to
retain disabled soldiers in preference to civilians.\7\
On June 29, 1870, the House instructed the Doorkeeper to retain in
service during recess the crippled soldiers carried on the roll.\8\
Mr. William S. Holman, of Indiana, related the history of the
soldiers' roll, it having been organized by resolution in 1867 and made
permanent by law in the Forty-fourth Congress.\9\
263. The House having decided to postpone the election of a
Doorkeeper, the Doorkeeper of the former House was held to continue in
the office until his successor should be elected.
The House having postponed the election of an officer until a day
certain, a resolution to proceed to the election was held not in order
before that date.
A question as to whether or not a resolution placing the duties of
one officer of the House on another involves a question of privilege.--
Speaker overruled.
On January 19, 1850,\10\ before a Doorkeeper had been elected, the
House postponed until the 1st day of March, 1851, the further execution
of the order of the House providing for the election of officers.
Thereupon Mr. John H. Savage, of Tennessee, rising to a question of
privilege, made the point that Robert E. Horner, Doorkeeper of the last
House, who continued to act in that capacity, was not Doorkeeper, and
objected to his continuing in that capacity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 28 Stat. L., p. 612.
\2\ 31 Stat. L., p. 968.
\3\ 28 Stat. L., p. 610.
\4\ 34 Stat. L., p. 394.
\5\ See Record, second session Forty-eighth Congress, p. 1697, for a
brief debate relative to the law as to the soldiers' roll.
\6\ 23 Stat. L., pp. 164, 393; second session Forty-second Congress,
Journal, p. 952.
\7\ First session Forty-third Congress, Journal, p. 545; Record, pp.
1905-1907.
\8\ Second session Forty-first Congress, Journal, p. 1110.
\9\ See Debate, second session Forty-eighth Congress, Record, p.
1698.
\10\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Journal, pp. 374-377;
Globe, pp. 188-194.
Sec. 264
The Speaker \1\ said:
The Chair has hitherto declined to give any opinion in relation to
the effect of the motion to postpone the election of officers, and has
referred the House to its own previous practice. During preceding
sessions of Congress, when the elections have not been postponed to so
late a day as at the present, and during the present session, the
duties of Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Doorkeeper, have been performed
by the old officers and the House has acquiesced. It is not for the
Chair peremptorily to decide that these individuals are not officers of
the House; it is a question for the decision of the House itself.
On the succeeding legislative day, January 21, Mr. Armistead Burt, of
South Carolina, claiming the floor for a question of privilege, offered
this resolution:
Resolved, That this House, having postponed until the 1st day of
March, 1851, the election of Doorkeeper, the Sergeant-at-Arms of this
House shall perform the duties of Doorkeeper until the Doorkeeper shall
be elected.
Mr. George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, objected to this resolution, on
the ground that the gentleman from South Carolina was not entitled to
the floor to offer the resolution, and also that it contemplated a
change in the rules of the House relating to the duties of the
officers.
The Speaker said:
The House, by a vote on Saturday last, postponed the further
execution of the order of the House in relation to the election of
officers until the 1st of March, 1851. Until that time has arrived, in
the opinion of the Chair, as expressed several times, it will not be in
order to proceed to the election of officers; but it will be in order
for the House to appoint temporary officers or persons who shall
discharge the duties of those officers. The position occupied by the
Doorkeeper and Postmaster is, in the opinion of the Chair, this: They
were elected by the House of Representatives of the last Congress.
Under the practice of former Congresses, from the First Congress down
to the present time, the old officers of the previous Congress have
continued to discharge the duties of the respective offices until their
successors should have been elected. And the Chair thinks that the
officers of the last House can continue to discharge the duties of
these offices in the present House until their successors shall have
been elected, holding their offices in the interval by the sufferance
of the House.\2\ But the House can at any time provide other persons to
discharge these duties. They are not the regularly elected officers of
this House and they hold their offices at the sufferance and by the
will of the House. This being the state of the case, and the question
being one affecting the organization of the House, the Chair decides
that it is a question of privilege.
Mr. Ashmun having appealed, the appeal was debated at length, and the
decision of the Chair was finally reversed, yeas 101, nays 102. So the
resolution proposed by Mr. Burt was not received.
Mr. Horner continued to act as Doorkeeper.
264. An officer of the House having resigned, the House voted to
proceed to the election of his successor.--On December 7, 1868,\3\ the
Speaker laid before the House a letter from C. E. Lippincott, resigning
his position as Doorkeeper of the House, said resignation to take
effect this day.
The letter having been read, Mr. William H. Kelsey, of New York,
offered as a question of privilege the following:
Resolved, That this House now proceed to the election of a Doorkeeper
in place of Charles E. Lippincott, resigned.
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\1\ Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Speaker.
\2\ Again, on January 24, 1850, the Speaker reaffirmed this ruling.
(See Globe, p. 224.)
\3\ Third session Fortieth Congress, Journal, p. 14; Globe, p. 12.
Sec. 265
The resolution was agreed to, and the House proceeded to vote viva
voce.
265. On December 4, 1832,\1\ the House--
Resolved, That this House will, on Thursday next, at 12.30 o'clock,
proceed to the election of a Sergeant-at-Arms to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the resignation of John O. Dunn.
On the appointed day four ballots were taken without an election and
the House adjourned to December 10. On that day the balloting was
resumed without a vote so to do, and after five ballotings Thomas B.
Randolph, of Virginia, was elected.
The oath was administered to him by the Speaker and he assumed the
duties of the office.
266. The death of the Doorkeeper being announced, the House voted to
proceed to the election of his successor at a future day.
In 1838 the House adjourned to attend the funeral of its Doorkeeper.
On March 22, 1838,\2\ the Speaker laid before the House the following
communication:
March 22, 1838.
Sir: It becomes my duty to communicate to you, and through you to the
House of Representatives, that a vacancy has occurred in the office of
Doorkeeper of the House by the decease of Overton Carr, esq., which
took place on Tuesday night, the 20th of March, 1838.
Your obedient servant,
J. W. Hunter,
Assistant Doorkeeper.
Hon. JAMES K. POLK,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The communication having been read, on motion of Mr. Charles F.
Mercer, of Virginia, it was--
Resolved, That the House will adjourn at 4 o'clock this afternoon to
attend the funeral of their deceased Doorkeeper, Overton Carr; that the
expenses thereof be defrayed out of the contingent fund and that his
widow be paid the salary of the deceased for the present session of
Congress.
On March 23, Mr. Thomas M. T. McKennan, of Pennsylvania, by leave,
submitted this resolution:
Resolved, That this House will proceed, on Monday next, at 2 o'clock,
to the election of a principal Doorkeeper to supply the vacancy
occasioned by the death of Mr. Overton Carr.
After debate, this resolution was postponed until April 1, in order
that the Committee on Accounts might have time to make a report on a
subject already committed to them relating to the Doorkeeper's office.
On April 5 the resolution came up for consideration, and the House
proceeded to the election of a Doorkeeper.
267. The vacancy caused by the death of the Doorkeeper was, after
several days, filled by the House by election.--On March 18, 1902,\3\
Mr. Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, offered the following resolution,
which was agreed to by the House:
Resolved, That Frank B. Lyon, of the State of New York, be, and he is
hereby, chosen Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives, to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of the late Hon. W. J. Glenn.
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\1\ Second session Twenty-second Congress, Journal, pp. 8, 25, 26;
Debates, pp. 819, 821, 822.
\2\ Second session Twenty-fifth Congress, Journal, pp. 645, 646, 706;
Globe, p. 253.
\3\ First session Fifty-seventh Congress, Journal, p. 489; Record, p.
2964.
Sec. 268
The death of Mr. Glenn had been announced to the House on March
12.\1\ No temporary appointment was made, nor was any provision made
for temporary discharge of the duties in the interim.
268. The Sergeant-at-Arms having resigned, the House instructed the
Doorkeeper to perform the duties of the office until the beginning of
the next session of Congress.--On June 26, 1832,\2\ the Speaker laid
before the House a letter from J. O. Dunn, Sergeant-at-Arms, resigning
the office, and surrendering his books and papers.
The letter, which appears in full in the Journal, was read and
referred to the Committee on Accounts.
The House then voted that the Doorkeeper perform the duties of
Sergeant-at-Arms until the beginning of the next session of Congress.
269. Creation of the office of Postmaster.--On April 5, 1838,\3\ it
was--
Resolved, That William J. McCormick be appointed Postmaster to this
House.
270. The Postmaster superintends the post-office in the Capitol and
is responsible for the prompt and safe delivery of mail.
Present form and history of Rule VI.
Rule VI provides:
The Postmaster shall superintend the post-office kept in the Capitol
for the accommodation of Representatives, Delegates, and officers of
the House, and be held responsible for the prompt and safe delivery of
their mail.
This is the form adopted in the revision of 1880.\4\ It is similar to
the old rule No. 28, which dated from April 4, 1838. \5\ Immediately
after the organization of the Government a room was set apart in the
Capitol for the reception and distribution of letters and packets,
without an order for that purpose, and was called a post-office.\6\ It
was superintended by the Doorkeeper and his assistants. On April 9,
1814, the Doorkeeper was authorized to appoint a Postmaster, and an
allowance was made to meet the expenses of the office.\7\ This
arrangement continued until the rule of 1838.\8\
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\1\ Record, p. 2706.
\2\ First session Twenty-second Congress, Journal, pp. 859, 860;
Debates, p. 3783.
\3\ Second session Twenty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 704; Globe, p.
281.
\4\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 205.
\5\ Second session Twenty-fifth Congress, Globe, pp. 278, 281.
\6\ On April 30, 1802 (first session Seventh Congress, Journal, p.
229; Annals, p. 1253), the House requested the Postmaster-General to
establish a post-office at or near the Capitol.
\7\ Constitution, Manual, Rules, edition of 1859. Second session
Thirteenth Congress, Journal, p. 398; third session Twenty-seventh
Congress, Journal, p. 738.
\8\ On April 4, 1838 (second session Twenty-fifth Congress, Journal,
p. 703; Globe, pp. 278, 281), the House agreed to a series of
resolutions reported from the Committee on Accounts. One of these
resolutions related to the conduct of the post-office of the House, as
follows:
``10. Resolved, That the Doorkeeper shall hire, at the lowest price
for which it can be had, a suitable number of horses for the
transportation and distribution of the mail of the House to and from
the postoffice, and to the lodgings of the Members, and for such other
necessary business as may be from time to time required; and he shall
superintend the faithful performance of the duties of the messengers
employed in this service, and shall report to the Clerk of the House a
statement of the persons employed, and the terms of the contract, which
shall be reported to the Committee of Accounts; and the Doorkeeper, or
other officer of the House, shall not be directly or indirectly
interested in any such contract or undertaking.''
Sec. 271
271. The Postmaster accounts for the Government property in his
possession.--The statutes make it the duty of the Postmaster to make
out a full and complete account of all the property of the Government
in his possession on the first day of each regular session and at the
expiration of his term of service.\1\
272. The Chaplain opens each day's sitting with prayer.
Present form and history of Rule VII.
Rule VII provides:
The Chaplain shall attend at the commencement of each day's sitting
of the House and open the same with prayer.\2\
This rule dates from the revision of 1880,\3\ although there had been
a Chaplain from the very first years of Congress, and before in the
Continental Congress also.\4\
273. Although in earlier years the Chaplain was not strictly an
officer of the House, his election was held to constitute a question of
privilege.--On March 5, 1860.\5\ Mr. John S. Millson, of Virginia,
having proposed to submit, as a question of privilege, the following
resolution:
Resolved, That the House will proceed to-morrow, at 1 o'clock p.m.,
to elect a Chaplain, who shall officiate, during the present Congress,
alternately with the Chaplain already elected by the Senate.
Mr. George S. Houston, of Alabama, made the point of order that the
resolution did not present a question of privilege, as the Chaplain was
not an officer of the House, the Thirty-fifth Congress having been
organized without one, and that neither the law nor the Constitution
required the election of such an officer.
The Speaker,\6\ in rendering his decision, said that he had looked
into the precedents, and found that they were in favor of the question
being considered privileged. Therefore he overruled the point of order.
Mr. Houston having appealed, the appeal was laid on the table.\7\
274. The practice of electing a Chaplain was suspended during the
Thirty-fifth Congress.--On December 10, 1857,\8\ after a parliamentary
struggle of considerable intensity, the following preamble and
resolutions, submitted by Mr. James F. Dowdell, of Alabama, were agreed
to:
Whereas the people of these United States, from their earliest
history to the present time, have been led by the hand of a kind
Providence and are indebted for the countless blessings of the past and
the present and dependent for continued prosperity in the future upon
Almighty God; and whereas the great vital and conservative element in
our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine
truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it eminently becomes the
representatives of a people so highly favored to acknowledge in the
most public manner their reverence for God: Therefore,
Be it resolved, That the daily sessions of this body be opened with
prayer.
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\1\ Revised Statutes, see. 72.
\2\ The Chaplain sometimes invites another clergyman to officiate;
sometimes one from another country. (Second session Fifty-fifth
Congress, Record, p. 9.)
\3\ Second session Forty-sixth Congress, Record, pp. 199, 205.
\4\ Journal of Continental Congress, September 6, 1774.
\5\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, pp. 442, 443;
Globe, p. 992.
\6\ William Pennington, of New Jersey, Speaker.
\7\ on May 26, 1876 (first session Forty-fourth Congress, Journal, p,
1521), a resolution providing for the election of a Doorkeeper was
offered and received as a question of privilege.
\8\ First session Thirty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 58; Globe, pp.
25, 26.
Sec. 275
Resolved, That the ministers of the Gospel in this city are hereby
requested to attend and alternately perform this solemn duty.\1\
275. The Chaplain was not originally an officer of the House; but has
been such for many years.--December 4, 1817, the House concurred in
Senate resolution for appointing two chaplains of Congress, one by each
House, who should interchange weekly. This was in accordance with the
old custom.\2\
276. On December 10, 1845,\3\ a question was raised as to the
practice which had prevailed for many years of the House and Senate by
concurrent action providing for the election of two different chaplains
of two different denominations to officiate, one over the Senate and
the other over the House. The usual resolution was agreed to, however.
277. On December 6, 1853,\4\ a change was made in the practice of
electing chaplains for a single session, and the House sent to the
Senate a concurrent resolution providing for their election for the
Congress. The nature of the office was not changed otherwise, the
practice of authorizing two chaplains, of different denominations, one
to be elected by the House and the other by the Senate, continuing.
This authorization was by a concurrent resolution.
Resolved (the Senate concurring), That two chaplains be elected, one
by the Senate and the other by the House of Representatives; and that
they officiate alternately during the present Congress.
278. On February 5, 1856,\5\ in accordance with the custom of
Congress from very early times, the Senate passed the usual concurrent
resolution providing for two chaplains of different denominations, one
to be elected by each House. The House, which had not completed its
organization, did not act on this resolution at this time; but on
February 21 it elected a Chaplain of its own for the session. On April
24 the concurrent resolution of the Senate was laid on the table.
279. On December 22. 1856,\6\ the House proceeded to the election of
a Chaplain on its own account without reference to the usual concurrent
resolution from the Senate.
280. At first the Chaplain did not take the oath prescribed for the
officers of the House.--On July 5, 1861,\7\ the House elected its
Chaplain without reference to the Senate, but the Chaplain evidently
did not take the oath taken by the regularly constituted officers of
the House.
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\1\ In this Congress a considerable number of remonstrances had been
received from citizens who objected to the employment of chaplains by
the Government, either in the Army, the Navy, or Congress, on the
ground that such employment conflicted with the spirit of the
Constitution and tended to promote a union of church and state. The
debate indicates that this method, while a departure from the usage of
the House from the First Congress, had probably been suggested by the
way in which the Washington clergy had officiated during the prolonged
struggle over the organization of the previous House. In 1854 (Report
No. 124, first session, Thirty-third Congress), a committee of the
House examined generally the standing of chaplains in Government
positions.
\2\ First session Fifteenth Congress, Annals, p. 405.
\3\ First session Twenty-ninth Congress, Globe, pp. 40, 41.
\4\ First session Thirty-third Congress, Journal, p. 40; Globe, pp.
8, 16, 18.
\5\ First session Thirty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 458, 500, 582,
886; Globe, p. 410.
\6\ Third session Thirty-fourth Congress, Journal, p. 143; Globe, pp.
177, 178.
\7\ First session Thirty-seventh Congress, Journal, p. 22; Globe, p.
12.
Sec. 281
281. On December 17, 1846,\1\ after the election of a Chaplain on the
part of the House, Mr. John Pettit, of Indiana, moved that the oath to
support the Constitution of the United States be administered to the
Chaplain as to all other officers of the House. This motion was decided
in the negative.
282. On December 15, 1863,\2\ the Chaplain appears to have been sworn
for the first time. He then took the new ``test oath,'' so called,
provided for by the act of July 2, 1862.
283. The statutes provide for the defense of any person against whom
an action is brought for acts done while an officer of either House in
the discharge of his duty.--In cases of action brought against any
person for acts done by him while an officer of either House in the
discharge of his official duty the district attorney for the district
within which the action is brought shall enter appearance, and the
defense shall be conducted under the direction of the Attorney-
General.\3\
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\1\ Second session Twenty-ninth Congress, Journal, p. 66; Globe, p.
53.
\2\ First session Thirty-eighth Congress, Journal, p. 39.
\3\ 18 Stat. L., p. 401.