<DOC>
[Hinds Precedents -- Volume V]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]
[DOCID: f:hinds_cxliii.wais]

 
                            Chapter CXLIII.

                    QUESTIONS OF ORDER AND APPEALS.

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   1. The Speaker decides. Section 6863.\1\
   2. Must be decided before question out of which it arises. 
     Section 6864.
   3. Statement and reservation of. Sections 6865-6876.
   4. Once decided on appeal, may not be renewed. Section 6877.
   5. May be raised as to whole or part of proposition. Sections 
     6878-6885.
   6. Time of making. Sections 6886-6918.\2\
   7. Debate on. Sections 6919, 6920.
   8. Reserving on appropriation bills. Sections 6921-6926.
   9. In Committee of the Whole. Sections 6927-6937.\3\
   10. The rule relating to appeals. Section 6938.
   11. Not in order when another appeal is pending. Sections 6939-
     6944.
   12. Appeal as unfinished business. Section 6945.
   13. Instance of appeal not entertained. Section 6946.\4\
   14. Debate on an appeal. Sections 6947-6952.
   15. General decisions. Sections 6953-6957.\5\

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  6863. The Speaker decides questions of order.--Section 4 of Rule I 
\6\ provides that the Speaker ``shall decide all questions of order.'' 
\7\
  6864. A question of order arising out of any other question must be 
decided before that question.--Jefferson's Manual, in Section XXXIII, 
provides:

  But there are several questions which, being incidental to every one, 
will take place of every one, privileged or not, to wit, a question of 
order arising out of any other question must be decided before that 
question. (2 Hats., 88.)
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  \1\ Speaker may reexamine and revise his opinions. (Sec. 4637 of Vol. 
IV.)
  As to the time of making a decision. (Sec. 2725 of Vol. III.)
  Clerk's decisions at the organization of the House. (Secs. 68-72 of 
Vol. I.)
  \2\ All points of order should be stated before a decision as to any. 
(Sec. 3716 of Vol. IV.)
  In relation to the question of consideration. (Secs. 4950-4952 of 
this volume.)
  In relation to conference reports. (Sec. 6424 of this volume.)
  \3\ See also sections 4783, 4784 of Volume IV and 6987 of this 
volume.
  \4\ In an impeachment trial. (Secs. 2088, 2100, 2177 of Vol. III.)
  \5\ Appeals in order during a call of the House to secure a quorum. 
(Secs. 3036, 3037 of Vol. IV.)
  Instances wherein, on a tie, the Chairman voted to sustain his own 
decision. (Secs. 5239, 5686 of this volume.)
  Appeals after the previous question is demanded. (Sec. 5448 of this 
volume.)
  Effect on an appeal of withdrawal of the point of order. (Sec. 6854 
of this volume.)
  Points of order in impeachment trials. (Sec. 2100 of Vol. III.)
  \6\ For full form and history of this rule see section 1313 of Vol. 
II of this work.
  \7\ When a Speaker pro tempore occupies the chair he decides 
questions of order; and when the House is in Committee of the Whole the 
Chairman decides.
Sec. 6865
  6865. The Speaker may require that a question of order be presented 
in writing.--On January 26, 1842,\1\ during proceedings on a 
proposition to censure Mr. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, for 
presenting a petition of certain citizens of Massachusetts who prayed 
for the dissolution of the Union, Mr. Adams rose to a question of 
order.
  The Speaker \2\ informed Mr. Adams that thereafter the Chair would 
entertain no point of order that was not reduced to writing, it being 
the privilege of the Chair to have the point of order reduced to 
writing.
  6866. It is the better practice for all points of order to be stated 
before a decision is made as to any.--On March 22, 1904,\3\ during 
consideration of the Post-Office appropriation bill in Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union, Mr. Thomas S. Butler, of 
Pennsylvania, proposed an amendment, against which Mr. Jesse 
Overstreet, of Indiana, raised a point of order.
  Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, and John S. Snook, of Ohio, having 
risen to parliamentary inquiries concerning additional points of order, 
the Chairman \4\ said:

  The Chair will state that he considers the better practice for all 
points of order to be made at one time. The Chair thinks that if one 
makes the point of order against an amendment which should be overruled 
that other gentlemen have the right to raise points of order against 
the pending amendment. * * * The Chair stated that the gentleman making 
the point of order should, according to the best usage, include all the 
reasons for making his point of order, but that other gentlemen could 
make other points of order if the Chair overruled the point first made.

  6867. The reservation of a point of order must be made publicly, and 
not by private arrangement with the Member in charge of the bill.--On 
April 21, 1906,\5\ the District of Columbia appropriation bill was 
under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union when the Clerk read:

  Water meters: For the purchase, installation, and maintenance of 
water meters to be placed in such private residences as may be directed 
by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia; said meters at all 
times to remain the property of the District of Columbia; to be repaid 
from revenues of the water department at the rate of $20,000 per annum, 
beginning with the fiscal year to end June 30, 1908, $100,000.

  After debate had proceeded for some time Mr. Thetus W. Sims, of 
Tennessee, proposed to make a point of order, stating that he had had 
an agreement with the Member in charge of the bill that he might do so 
at any time after the debate had proceeded.
  Mr. Frederick H. Gillett, of Massachusetts, in charge of the bill, 
said:

  I must say this, and I trust no Member of the House will interfere 
with the agreement I made with the gentleman, that I made an agreement 
with the gentleman from Tennessee that when this came up he should ask 
a question, and that if later he wished to raise the point of order, 
even after discussion, I would not then raise the point that it was too 
late. Therefore I trust that no other Member will do it now.
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  \1\ Second session Twenty-seventh Congress, Globe, p. 176.
  \2\ John White, of Kentucky, Speaker.
  \3\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, pp. 3524, 3526.
  \4\ Henry S. Boutell, of Illinois, Chairman.
  \5\ First session Fifty-ninth Congress, Record, p. 5669.
                                                            Sec. 6868
  Objection being made, the Chairman \1\ said:

  The Chair will state that the House can not be bound by an agreement 
of gentlemen.

  6868. When a point of order is reserved the pending proposition may 
be debated on its merits unless some Member demands a decision of the 
question of order.--On February 19, 1907,\2\ the Post-Office 
appropriation bill was under consideration in Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union, when Mr. Robert B. Macon, of Arkansas, 
proposed to reserve a question of order.
  Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, insisted that an immediate decision 
of the point of order be made, and a question arising, the Chairman \3\ 
held:

  When a point of order is reserved the merits of the proposition may 
be discussed until some member of the committee calls for a ruling, and 
then the Chair will rule. The gentleman from Illinois now calls for a 
ruling, insists upon the point of order, and the Chair sustains the 
point of order, and the Clerk will read.

  6869. A point of order may not be reserved by a Member if another 
Member insists on an immediate decision.--On April 26, 1900,\4\ the 
Post-Office appropriation bill being under consideration in Committee 
of the Whole House on the state of the Union, Mr. Oscar W. Underwood, 
of Alabama, reserved a point of order on a paragraph relating to 
necessary and special mail facilities on trunk lines of railroad.
  Mr. William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, objected, demanding that the point 
of order be decided at once.
  The Chairman \1\ said:

  The Chair think the gentleman can not reserve the point of order in 
the face of an objection on the part of any member of the committee. If 
the gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Underwood] desires to insist on his 
point of order and the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Hepburn] insists that 
it shall not be reserved, it must be disposed of now.

  6870. On January 24, 1901,\5\ during consideration of the naval 
appropriation bill (H. R. 13705) in Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union, Mr. James D. Richardson, of Tennessee, reserved a 
point of order on a paragraph relating to the classification of naval 
vessels.
  After debate Mr. Richardson withdrew the point of order.
  Whereupon Mr. John F. Fitzgerald, of Massachusetts, renewed the point 
of order, desiring to reserve it pending debate.
  There being a demand for the regular order, the Chair ruled.
  Mr. Fitzgerald rising to a parliamentary inquiry as to his rights in 
reserving a point of order, the Chairman \6\ said:

  The gentleman from Massachusetts, as the Chair understood, renewed 
the point of order which the gentleman from Tennessee abandoned. * * * 
The gentleman from Massachusetts subsequently
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  \1\ John Dalzell, of Pennsylvania, Chairman.
  \2\ Second session Fifty-ninth Congress, Record, p. 3373.
  \3\ Frank D. Currier, of New Hampshire, Chairman.
  \4\ First session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 4717.
  \5\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, pp. 1429 1430.
  \6\ William H. Moody, of Massachusetts, Chairman.
Sec. 6871
stated that he reserved the point of order. * * * Then the demand for 
the regular order became general and manifest; and in accordance with a 
decision made at the first session of this Congress that a point of 
order can not be reserved by a Member if any other Member insists on an 
immediate decision, the Chair, in obedience to the demand for the 
regular order, ruled upon the question of order and sustained the 
point.

  6871. On March 18, 1904,\1\ the post-office appropriation bill was 
under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, when the Clerk read a paragraph providing for the selection of a 
site for a post-office station in New York City, when a question arose 
as to the reserving of a point of order.
  The Chairman \2\ said:

  The Chair will state that if the point of order is reserved it can 
only be by unanimous consent, and if any gentleman of the committee 
calls for a ruling upon the point of order it is the duty of the Chair 
to rule.

  6872. An amendment may not be offered to a paragraph in a bill until 
a point of order reserved against the paragraph has been disposed of.--
On March 30, 1904,\3\ the sundry civil appropriation bill was under 
consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, when the Clerk read:

  That all the powers now exercised by the Court of Private Land Claims 
in the approval of surveys executed under its decrees of confirmation 
shall be conferred upon and exercised by the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office from and after the 30th day of June, 1904.

  Mr. James A. Hemenway, of Indiana, reserved a point of order on the 
paragraph.
  Immediately thereafter Mr. Bernard S. Rodey, of New Mexico, proposed 
an amendment.
  The Chairman \4\ said that pending a decision on the point of order 
the amendment could be read for information only.
  6873. On March 31, 1904,\5\ the sundry civil appropriation bill was 
under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, when a point of order was reserved by Mr. James R. Mann, of 
Illinois, on a paragraph relating to the use of carriages in the 
Executive Departments.
  Thereupon Mr. Robert Baker, of New York, proposed an amendment.
  The Chairman \4\ said:

  The Chair will state to the gentleman from New York that he can offer 
his amendment now for the information of the committee, but the point 
of order must be first decided before the amendment can be considered 
regularly.

  6874. By offering a pro forma amendment in Committee of the Whole a 
Member does not lose the right to insist on his pending point of 
order.--On December 16, 1902,\6\ the Committee of the Whole House on 
the state of the Union were considering the legislative appropriation 
bill, when Mr. Charles L. Bartlett, of Georgia, reserved a point of 
order on the pending paragraph. Later Mr. James L. Robinson, of 
Indiana, announced that he made the point of order.
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  \1\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 3442.
  \2\ H. S. Boutell, of Illinois, Chairman.
  \3\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, pp. 3994, 3995.
  \4\ Theodore E. Burton, of Ohio, Chairman.
  \5\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 4068.
  \6\ Second session Fifty-seventh Congress, Record, pp. 381-383.
                                                            Sec. 6875
Debate was proceeding with the point of order reserved, when Mr. 
Robinson made the pro forma amendment to strike out the last word, in 
order to speak to the merits of the proposition.
  At the conclusion of Mr. Robinson's remarks, Mr. Jacob H. Bromwell, 
of Ohio, rising to a point of order, said:

  The gentleman from Indiana made the point of order that this is new 
legislation. Afterwards, in rising to make the speech which he has just 
finished, he offered an amendment to this bill, moving to amend by 
striking out the last word. The point of order I want to make is that 
by offering this amendment and afterwards discussing it, that amendment 
being to strike out the last word, he has waived the point of order 
which he originally made, and therefore, as discussion has taken place 
on a proposed amendment to the bill, the point of order can not be 
raised either by the gentleman or by anyone else at this time.

  After debate the Chairman \1\ ruled:

  As the Chair understands it, the parliamentary situation is as 
follows: The gentleman from Georgia raised the point of order as 
against the paragraph in lines 21 to 25, page 87, and lines 1 to 5 on 
page 88. He reserved the point of order pending the discussion of the 
paragraph. The gentleman from Indiana gave notice that if the 
reservation of the point of order was withdrawn by the gentleman from 
Georgia he would renew it, and later the gentleman from Indiana made 
the point of order. During the discussion of the paragraph on which the 
point of order was made, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Robinson], for 
the purpose of further discussing the paragraph, made a formal 
amendment. The gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Bromwell] makes the point of 
order that the offering of the formal amendment by the gentleman from 
Indiana [Mr. Robinson] was a virtual withdrawal of the point of order.
  The Chair is of the opinion that the point of order made by the 
gentle-man from Indiana was not effected by the formal amendment 
offered by him for the purpose of discussing the paragraph. Therefore 
the Chair holds that the point of order made by the gentleman from Ohio 
was not well taken, and overrules it.
  The question is on the point of order made by the gentleman from 
Indiana on the paragraph in question--that the language objected to is 
new legislation. That point of order is sustained.

  6875. A reserved point of order being withdrawn, a Member may at once 
renew it.--On February 15, 1901,\2\ the bill (H. R. 6038) ``for the 
relief of John W. Penny'' and others, was under consideration in 
Committee of the Whole House, a point of order being pending.
  Mr. Marlin E. Olmsted, of Pennsylvania, raised the question that the 
pending point of order was made too late.
  The Chairman \3\ said:

  The Chair calls the gentleman's attention to the fact that the point 
of order was reserved by the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Moody] 
before there was any discussion, and later on the gentleman from 
Massachusetts [Mr. Moody] served notice that he would withdraw the 
point of order, and it was immediately renewed by the gentleman from 
New York [Mr. Ray]. There is no doubt but that the gentleman from New 
York had the right to renew the point of order. If that were not true, 
some one friendly to a bill might reserve a point of order, and other 
members of the House by that action would have notice that the point of 
order had been reserved. Then if the gentleman could later on withdraw 
the point of order after the bill had been discussed, it would defeat 
the object of members who possibly would have desired to reserve a 
point of order.

  6876. Where discussion on the merits proceeds while a point of order 
is reserved, it precludes the making of a second point of order after a 
deci-
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  \1\ F. W. Mondell, of Wyoming, Chairman.
  \2\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 2486.
  \3\ James A. Hemenway, of Indiana, Chairman.
Sec. 6877
sion as to the first.--On January 30, 1907,\1\ the Agricultural 
appropriation bill was under consideration in Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union, when the Clerk read a paragraph making 
an emergency appropriation for investigation as to the cotton boll 
weevil.
  Mr. John J. Fitzgerald, of New York, reserved a point of order 
against certain words of the paragraph providing that the appropriation 
should ``be immediately available.''
  Debate then proceeded on the merits,\2\ after which the Chairman \3\ 
sustained the point of order.
  Thereupon Mr. George W. Norris, of Nebraska, proposed a point of 
order against another portion of the paragraph.
  The Chair declined to entertain the point of order, saying:

  The Chair is of the opinion that where a point of order is reserved 
and the merits of the question involved are discussed in addition to 
the point of order, that constitutes discussion of the paragraph. In 
this instance the point of order was not discussed at all. The merits 
of the proposition involved in the portion to which the point of order 
was raised was discussed.

  6877. A question of order just decided on appeal may not be renewed 
on the suggestion of additional reasons.--On April 16, 1864,\4\ the 
Speaker announced as the business next in order the bill of the House 
(H. R. 395) to provide a national currency secured by a pledge of 
United States bonds, and to provide for the circulation and redemption 
thereof.
  Mr. William S. Holman, of Indiana, made the point of order that the 
bill must first receive its consideration in Committee of the Whole, 
and the point was overruled and the Chair was sustained on an appeal.
  Mr. Fernando Wood, of New York, also made the point of order on 
grounds somewhat different from those advanced by Mr. Holman. The 
Speaker overruled this point of order also, and on an appeal was 
sustained.
  Mr. Holman proposed to renew the point of order just made on the 
suggestion that other sections of the bill than those already referred 
to contained an appropriation.
  The Speaker \5\ decided that the point of order could not be renewed, 
on the ground that such a practice would open the door to an indefinite 
number of appeals, and he referred to a decision in the Thirty-second 
Congress in confirmation of his decision.
  From this decision of the Chair Mr. Holman 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.
  So the decision of the Chair was sustained.
  6878. Where any portion of a proposed amendment is out of order it is 
sufficient ground for the rejection of the whole amendment.--On
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Second session Fifty-ninth Congress, Record pp. 1983-1985.
  \2\ Of course this debate on the merits proceeded only by unanimous 
consent as any Member might have demanded a decision of the question of 
order.
  \3\ David J. Foster, of Vermont, Chairman.
  \4\ First session Thirty-eighth Congress, Journal, p. 537; Globe, p. 
1680.
  \5\ Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, Speaker.
July 22, 1882,\1\ the House had under consideration the bill to 
regulate rates of postage on second-class mail matter at letter-carrier 
offices.
  Mr. Richard W. Townsbend, of Illinois, moved an amendment which would 
abolish the postage on second-class mail matter and allow the same to 
go free.
  Mr. Stanton J. Peelle, of Indiana, made the point of order that the 
amendment was not in order, not being germane to the subject-matter of 
the bill.
  Mr. Hernando D. Money, of Mississippi, made the further point of 
order that the amendment being the substance of a bill referred to the 
Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads, was not in order under 
clause 4 of Rule XXI.\2\
  After debate on the points of order, the Speaker \3\ sustained the 
same, and held that where any portion of a proposition submitted was 
out of order it was sufficient ground for the rejection of the entire 
proposition.
  6879. On December 7, 1898 \4\ the House was considering the bill (H. 
R. 7130) entitled ``An act to regulate commerce,'' relating to the sale 
of railroad tickets, and more commonly known as the ``anti-scalpers 
bill.''
  Mr. Albert M. Todd, of Michigan, presented an amendment relating to 
the subject of the sale of tickets, but also including other portions 
relating to the issue of passes by railroads, etc.
  Mr. William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, having made a point of order against 
the amendment, the Speaker \5\ held:

  This bill is a proposition to regulate the sale of tickets. The 
proposition of the gentleman from Michigan seems to be quite different. 
* * * The Chair listened to the reading of the amendment, and it seemed 
to the Chair not to be germane. The Chair sustains the point of order. 
* * * The proposition is encumbered with a great deal that has nothing 
to do with the topic under discussion.

  6880. On February 25, 1904,\6\ the naval appropriation bill was under 
consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, and the Chairman had ruled out of order an amendment proposed by 
Mr. Theodore A. Bell, of California.
  Thereupon Mr. Bell, rising to a parliamentary inquiry, asked if the 
point of order was sustained as to the entire amendment.
  The Chairman \7\ said:

  It is well settled that where there is in an amendment any provision 
which is out of order the whole amendment falls with it.

  6881. A point of order may be made to the whole or to a part only of 
a paragraph.--On February 22, 1904,\8\ during consideration of the 
naval appropriation bill in Committee of the Whole House on the state 
of the Union, Mr. William W. Kitchin, of North Carolina, rising to a 
parliamentary inquiry, asked
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ First session Forty-seventh Congress, Journal, p. 1704.
  \2\ This rule no longer exists.
  \3\ J. Warren Keifer, of Ohio, Speaker.
  \4\ Third session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, pp. 43, 44; Journal, 
p. 21.
  \5\ Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, Speaker.
  \6\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 2384.
  \7\ Marlin E. Olmsted, of Pennsylvania, Chairman.
  \8\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record p. 2227.
Sec. 6882
if a point of order must apply to the whole of a paragraph, or if it 
might apply to certain lines of the paragraph.
  The Chairman,\1\ held that the point of order might be made as to the 
whole paragraph, or as to a part of it only.
  6882. The fact that a point of order is made against a portion of a 
paragraph does not prevent another point against the whole paragraph.--
On March 2, 1904,\2\ the District of Columbia appropriation bill was 
under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, when the Clerk read a paragraph relating to the reconstruction 
of the Anacostia Bridge, with certain provisos relating to the future 
use of said bridge.
  Mr. George A. Pearre, of Maryland, made a point of order against 
certain of these provisos, but not as to the main portion of the 
paragraph.
  There was some debate as to the point of order, but none as to the 
merits; after which Mr. Charles R. Davis, of Minnesota, made a point of 
order against the whole paragraph.
  Mr. James T. McCleary, of Minnesota, raised the question that the 
point of order came too late.
  The Chairman \3\ overruled the point of order.
  Thereafter the Chairman sustained the point of order because the 
provisos were out of order, without expressing an opinion as to whether 
the main portion of the paragraph was out of order. So the whole 
paragraph went out.
  6883. A point of order being made against an entire paragraph, the 
whole of it must go out if a portion merely is subject to the 
objection.--On February 26, 1904,\4\ the naval appropriation bill was 
under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, when a point of order was made on a paragraph of the bill 
containing a provision for the erection of an armor plate factory.
  Mr. John F. Rixey, of Virginia, rising to a parliamentary inquiry, 
said:

  As I understand it, the objection to this paragraph is upon the 
latter part of it, and that the first portion, down to and including 
line 9, by itself, would not be subjected to the point of order.

  The Chairman \5\ said:

  The Chair understands that the point of order was made against the 
entire paragraph from line 6 to line 14, because it contains 
legislation contrary to the rules, As one portion of it contains such 
legislation, the point of order must be sustained, and, following other 
established precedents, the whole paragraph must fall.

  6884. A point of order being made against an entire paragraph, and 
being sustained because a portion only is out of order, the entire 
paragraph goes out; but it is otherwise if the point is made only 
against the portion out of order.--On January 10, 1907,\6\ during 
consideration of the Army appropriation bill in Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, Chairman.
  \2\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, pp. 2699, 2700.
  \3\ George P. Lawrence, of Massachusetts, Chairman.
  \4\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 2438.
  \5\ Marlin E. Olmsted, of Pennsylvania, Chairman.
  \6\ Second session Fifty-ninth Congress, Record., p. 904.
                                                            Sec. 6885
Mr. John A. T. Hull, of Iowa, as a parliamentary inquiry asked whether 
or not, if part of a paragraph was held subject to a point of order, 
the whole paragraph would be stricken from the bill.
  The Chairman \1\ replied:

  If the point of order was made against the entire paragraph, yes; but 
if the point of order was directed against particular words in the 
paragraph, then only the words designated go out.

  6885. On January 24, 1905,\2\ the District of Columbia appropriation 
bill was under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union, when a point of order was made against a paragraph 
on the strength of a proviso involving legislation.
  The Chairman having sustained the point of order, the whole paragraph 
was stricken out.
  Mr. James T. McCleary, of Minnesota, having asked if the point of 
order was good against the whole paragraph, the Chairman \3\ said:

  The point of order is made against the paragraph. It is not the duty 
of the Chair to separate that part which is subject to the point of 
order and that which is not.

  6886. An amendment being offered, and the reading having begun, a 
point of order may interrupt the reading and the Chair may rule the 
amendment out if enough has been read to show that it is out of 
order.--On March 11, 1898,'' the House in Committee of the Whole House 
was considering the bill (H. R. 4936) for the allowance of certain 
claims for stores and supplies, etc., reported by the Court of Claims 
under the provisions of the Bowman Act.
  To the first section of this bill Mr. William H. Moody, of 
Massachusetts, offered a long amendment to provide for the payment of a 
list of French spoliation claims.
  After the reading of the amendment had proceeded for some time, Mr. 
John S. Williams, of Mississippi, made the point of order that the 
reading had progressed far enough to show that the amendment was out of 
order. Therefore he asked that it be ruled out, as further reading 
would be dilatory.
  The Chairman \6\ held:

  The Chair is ready to rule upon the point of order, and upon the 
question as to whether the amendment is germane there has been no doubt 
in the mind of the Chair from the beginning. The Chair is only 
embarrassed in this particular. The other day an amendment was offered 
to an appropriation bill which the Chair thought plainly out of order 
and against the rules of the House, and the Chair ruled it out of 
order, but the Committee of the Whole very promptly overruled the 
decision of the Chair. The trouble is that if the Chair decides this 
point of order well taken, as the Chair is disposed to do, the Chair 
does not know what the committee may do. The committee may overrule the 
Chair. * * * If the Chair sustains this point of order, as the Chair is 
inclined to do, having no doubt that the amendment is not germane to 
this bill, the Chair does not know but what some gentleman may appeal, 
and the committee overrule the Chair. * * * Now, in case that 
contingency should happen--and the Chair does not question the 
integrity of the House about it, because the House may have one opinion 
in reference to it and the Chair may have another--if the Committee 
should overrule the decision of the Chair, then the committee would be 
in the condition of having an amendment pending which had not been read 
at all to the committee. Now, that is the difficulty, and the only 
difficulty which the Chair sees. The Chair thinks that he will take the 
responsibility of ruling that the amendment is not in order.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Frank D. Currier, of New Hampshire, Chairman.
  \2\ Third session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 1321.
  \3\ James R. Mann, of Illinois, Chairman.
  \4\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 2735.
  \5\ Sereno E. Payne, of New York, Chairman.
Sec. 6887
  6887. On January 8, 1901,\1\ during consideration of the bill (H. R. 
12740) making an apportionment of Representatives in Congress,'' etc., 
Mr. Champ Clark, of Missouri, offered as an amendment a proposition for 
establishing a Territorial government in the District of Columbia.
  After a portion of the proposed amendment had been read, Mr. Albert 
J. Hopkins, of Illinois, made the point of order that the amendment was 
shown, by that portion already read, not to be germane.
  The Speaker \2\ sustained the point of order.
  6888. A point of order should be made when a matter is presented, and 
not after consideration, and on a succeeding day.
  When it is proposed to refer with instructions, an amendment to the 
instructions should be germane thereto.
  On February 6, 1849 \3\ a bill relating to the United States district 
courts of Virginia was under consideration.
  The question having recurred on agreeing to the motion made by Mr. 
Samuel F. Vinton, of Ohio, that the bill be recommitted to the 
committee with instructions to inquire into the expediency of providing 
``that, where the salary now allowed by law to any district judge of 
the United States is less than $2,000, the same shall be raised to the 
sum of $2,000 from and after January 1, 1849,''
  Mr. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, moved the following amendment to the 
instructions:

  And that the committee be also instructed to inquire into the 
expediency of equalizing the salaries of the marshals and district 
attorneys of the United States.

  Mr. Robert Toombs, of Georgia, raised a question of order as to these 
instructions and the instructions heretofore proposed.
  The Speaker \4\ decided that it was now too late to raise a question 
of order as to the original instructions, as they had been received 
without objection when the bill was before under consideration, and had 
become a part of the Journal of the House. The original instructions, 
the Chair further stated, though not relating strictly to the 
particular provisions of the bill, were pertinent to its general 
subject. The only question of order now before the House was in regard 
to the amendment to the instructions. The Chair ruled that amendment 
out of order, on the ground of irrelevancy, under the fifty-fifth rule 
\5\ of the House. The bill which it was proposed to reconsider with 
these instructions related to a judicial salary, and the original 
instructions, on which the Chair had already remarked, went no further.
  6889. After the House has actually entered upon the consideration of 
a bill it is too late to make a point of order that it was not properly 
reported from the committee.--On May 22, 1906,\6\ Mr. Lucius N. 
Littauer, of New York, from the Committee on Appropriations, reported a 
bill (H. R. 19572)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 744.
  \2\ David B. Henderson, of Iowa, Speaker.
  \3\ Second session Thirtieth Congress, Journal, p. 382.
  \4\ Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, Speaker.
  \5\ Now section 7 of Rule XVI. See section 5767 of this volume.
  \6\ First session Fifty-ninth Congress, Record, pp. 7246, 7247.
                                                            Sec. 6890
making appropriations to supply additional urgent deficiencies in 
appropriations for the fiscal year 1906, and for other purposes.
  The bill was then considered in Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union, and after consideration the Committee of the Whole 
rose and reported the bill with a favorable recommendation.
  Mr. Oscar W. Underwood, of Alabama, made the point of order that the 
bill had not been reported properly from the Committee on 
Appropriations, Mr. Littauer having admitted during debate in Committee 
of the Whole that the report of the bill had been authorized at an 
informal meeting of the committee ``by asking the assent of all those 
members of the committee who were in the neighborhood--a majority.''
  The Speaker \1\ held:

  The Chair * * * overrules the point of order which the gentleman from 
Alabama makes. Turning to page 635 of the Manual and Digest the Chair 
finds the following decision: ``The House having voted to consider a 
report it is too late to question whether or not the report has been 
made properly.'' Now, not only * * * the House has actually considered 
it by referring it to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union, but that committee has reported it; the big committee 
consisting of all the Members of the House has reported it back to the 
House with the recommendation that it do pass, and the Chair could not 
under the precedents, and the principle if there were no precedents, 
nullify by a ruling the action of the great committee and of the House 
in referring the bill to that committee for consideration.

  6890. A point of order relating to the manner in which a resolution 
should be considered, may be made at any time before the consideration 
begins.--On January 24, 1885,\2\ Mr. Edward K. Valentine, of Nebraska, 
as a privileged question, called up a resolution submitted by him on 
the previous day, which provided for beginning the sessions of the 
House at 11 a.m., for devoting an hour immediately after the reading of 
the Journal to certain business, etc.
  Mr. Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, made the point of order that 
under clause 43 of Rule XI \3\ the resolution must be referred to the 
Committee on Rules.
  Pending this, Mr. Valentine made the further point of order that the 
question of order submitted by Mr. Randall could not now be 
entertained, but should have been made on the preceding day, when the 
resolution was presented.
  After debate on the points of order, the Speaker \4\ sustained the 
first and overruled the second point of order, on the ground that the 
resolution, having been presented under the authority of and in 
conformity with clause 1 of Rule XXVIII,\5\ was before the House 
subject to all other rules touching its consideration, and that, as the 
resolution was not presented on the preceding day for immediate 
consideration, the point of order as to such consideration by the 
Committee on Rules would be in order at any time before such 
consideration had been entered upon. The said resolution must therefore 
be referred, under clause 43 of Rule XI, to the Committee on Rules.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, Speaker.
  \2\ Second session Forty-eighth Congress, Journal, p. 332.
  \3\ Now section 51 of Rule XI. See section 4321 of this volume.
  \4\ John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, Speaker.
  \5\ This rule then provided that notice of one day should be given of 
motion to change the rules. See section 6790 of this volume.
Sec. 6891
  6891. Under the later practice of the House a point of order may not 
be made as to a proposition after debate has begun on it.--On July 6, 
1848,\1\ on motion of Mr. Washington Hunt, of New York, the House 
resumed consideration of a motion made on the preceding day to 
reconsider the vote on agreeing to the first of the resolutions 
accompanying the report made by Mr. Hunt on the 23d of June last from 
the Committee on Commerce upon the subject of the improvement of rivers 
and harbors by the General Government, the memorial of the Chicago 
convention, and upon the veto message of the President of the United 
States at the present session upon the bill of the last session making 
appropriations for similar objects.
  Mr. Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, raised the question of order that, 
the previous question having been ordered on all of the resolutions, 
the motion to reconsider the first of the resolutions, which Mr. Turner 
was proceeding to debate, was not, therefore, debatable.
  The Speaker \2\ decided that it was now too late to raise the point 
of order, the same having been overruled on the preceding day and the 
debate having proceeded under that decision.
  On appeal the decision of the Chair \3\ was sustained.
  6892. On January 30, 1884,\4\ Mr. Casey Young, of Tennessee, 
submitted from the Committee on Expenditures in the Interior Department 
a resolution relating to an investigation into some work being done at 
the reservation at Hot Springs.
  Mr. John H. Rogers, of Arkansas, raised a point of order that the 
whole question in reference to the resolution was already before the 
Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds and in process of 
investigation, and did not belong to the Committee on Expenditures in 
the Department of the Interior.
  The Speaker \5\ said:

  The Chair thinks that is not a point of order; but even if it were, 
the House has already referred this matter, as the report states, to 
the Committee on Expenditures in the Interior Department.

  Mr. Rogers then made a point that an amendment which was proposed by 
Mr. William S. Holman, of Indiana, was not germane.
  The Speaker ruled that the point of order came too late, as the 
amendment had already been received and discussed.
  6893. On December 16, 1889,\6\ Mr. William M. Springer, of Illinois, 
introduced a bill (H. R. 6) to organize the Territory of Oklahoma, and 
for other purposes; which was read twice and ordered to be printed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ First session Thirtieth Congress, Journal, p. 989.
  \2\ Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, Speaker.
  \3\ It was evidently the early usage of the House to entertain a 
point of order at any time. Thus, on January 30, 1836 (first session 
Twenty fourth Congress, Journal, p. 254; Debates, p. 2447), we find 
that after a resolution had been debated at length and an amendment 
proposed Mr. Speaker Polk entertained a point of order that the matter 
should be considered in Committee of the Whole and overruled it on the 
ground that no direct appropriation was involved.
  \4\ First session Forty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 752.
  \5\ John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, Speaker.
  \6\ First session Fifty-first Congress, Journal, p. 21; Record, p. 
195.
                                                            Sec. 6894
  Pending which Mr. Charles S. Baker, of New York, by unanimous 
consent, introduced a bill (H.R. 7) to provide a temporary government 
for the Territory of Oklahoma; which was read twice by title and 
ordered to be printed.
  Mr. Bishop W. Perkins, of Kansas, moved that the bills be referred to 
a select committee to consist of thirteen Members, with leave to report 
thereon at any time.
  After debate Mr. Perkins demanded the previous question on his 
motion.
  Mr. Nelson Dingley, jr., of Maine, made the point of order that the 
last part of the motion was not in order, and could only be granted by 
unanimous consent; and also that it had not been stated by the Chair.
  The Speaker \1\ overruled the point of order on the ground that the 
motion had been discussed, and that consequently the point of order 
came too late, and also held that the motion of Mr. Perkins as modified 
had been stated by the Chair.
  6894. On January 10, 1896,\2\ during the consideration of the rules 
of the House, section 57 of Rule XI being before the House, Mr. Joseph 
H. Walker, of Massachusetts, moved to insert after the words ``Rivers 
and Harbors'' in the list of privileged committees the words ``Banking 
and Currency.''
  After debate Mr. Frank W. Mondell, of Wyoming, moved as a substitute 
for Mr. Walker's amendment the following:

  Strike out of Rule XI, reported from the Committee on Rules, the 
words ``Committee on Rivers and Harbors, bills relating to the 
improvement of rivers and harbors.''

  After debate Mr. Charles M. Cooper, of Florida, made the point of 
order that the proposed substitute was in reality an independent 
proposition relating to a different part of the rule, and therefore not 
in order.
  The Speaker \1\ said:

  The gentleman from Florida is right but no point of order was made.

  6895. On March 11, 1898,\3\ the House was in Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill (H. 
R. 4936) for the allowance of certain claims for stores and supplies 
reported by the Court of Claims under the provisions of the act 
approved March 3, 1883, and commonly known as the Bowman Act, and for 
other purposes.
  As the consideration of the bill was about to begin Mr. James D. 
Richardson, of Tennessee, raised a question as to points of order.
  The Chairman said:

  The points of order were reserved in the House before going into 
Committee of the Whole. * * * If there is any general point of order 
against the bill, it should be made now. * * * Of course any point of 
order as to a paragraph can be made after the paragraph is read.

  After some debate had occurred Mr. John Dalzell, of Pennsylvania, 
made the point of order that it was not competent for the Committee on 
War Claims to report the bill.
  After debate on the point of order the Chairman \4\ held:

  The Chair has been examining the bill and report. The Chair finds by 
the report that this bill is a substitute for House bill No. 4255, and 
includes nearly all the claims embraced in that bill. The
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, Speaker.
  \2\ First session Fifty-fourth Congress, Record, pp. 567, 572.
  \3\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, pp. 2720-2724.
  \4\ Sereno E. Payne, of New York, Chairman.
Sec. 6896
embarrassment of the Chair is in reference to the time when the point 
of order should be made. The Chair expressly announced that the point 
of order should be made at a certain time when the question was raised 
whether there was any point of order against the bill; and no gentleman 
rose to make a point of order. After that, time for debate had been 
fixed and had been divided between the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. 
Gibson] and the gentleman from Maine [Mr. Dingley]. After that a 
question was asked as to the parliamentary status of the bill. The 
Chair thinks that the point of order comes too late.

  6896. On March 19, 1898,\1\ in Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union, considering the Post-Office appropriation bill, a 
paragraph relating to the carrying of mails by electric and cable cars 
was read, and debate had proceeded and an amendment had been offered 
when Mr. James H. Lewis, of Washington, proposed to raise a point of 
order against a portion of the paragraph.
  Mr. Sereno E. Payne, of New York, made the point of order that the 
point of order came too late.
  The Chairman \2\ sustained the point of order, saying:

  The gentleman should have raised the point of order when the 
paragraph was read, and not have waited until after debate had been had 
on the paragraph.

  6897. On April 21, 1904,\3\ Mr. Marlin E. Olmsted, of Pennsylvania, 
called up A resolution providing for returning to the State of Colorado 
certain ballots used by the Committee on Elections No. 2, in examining 
the election case of Bonynge v. Shafroth.
  After debate had begun, Mr. John S. Williams, of Mississippi, made 
the point of order that the resolution might not be presented as a 
matter of privilege.
  After debate the Speaker \4\ held:

  Certain papers necessary to be inspected to determine the right of a 
Member to his seat in the House seem to be on file with an election 
committee. It is clearly a question of privilege to obtain the papers. 
Perhaps it is a question of privilege, having obtained them, to dispose 
of them, but it is not necessary for the Chair to rule as to that. What 
the Chair may rule, if it was necessary to make a ruling, it is not 
necessary to state. The Chair dislikes to make rulings unless it is 
necessary to do so. We make enough precedents--sometimes mistaken 
ones--as it is.
  The gentleman from Pennsylvania rose in his place and reported the 
resolution, which was read at the Clerk's desk, and proceeded to 
discuss it. Then, without a point of order being reserved, he again 
stated the purpose of the resolution, and then the point of order was 
made. It does seem to the Chair that even if the resolution were 
subject to a point of order, that point must be reserved or made at the 
very inception of the matter. Therefore, without passing upon the 
question whether the resolution is privileged, it seems to the Chair 
that it is before the House; and if it were necessary to make it any 
more before the House, we are informed that unanimous consent can be 
had. So that, after all, the resolution is here, and it seem to the 
Chair the House can act touching the matter.

  6898. On January 25, 1904,\5\ the army appropriation bill was under 
consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, when Mr. Richard Wayne Parker, of New Jersey, proposed an 
amendment, and then immediately took the floor and said:

  Mr. Chairman, this is subject to a point of order. The Surgeon-
General of the Army finds especially upon a recent decision of the 
Supreme Court that a contract surgeon in charge of a hospital finds 
himself
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 3001.
  \2\ John A. T. Hull, of Iowa, Chairman.
  \3\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, pp. 5277, 5278.
  \4\ Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, Speaker.
  \5\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 1142.
                                                            Sec. 6899
without authority to control the men in the hospital, and military 
punishment can not be inflicted for disobedience of his orders, and he 
desires where a contract surgeon is put in charge of a hospital he 
shall have authority to give orders. I simply state that, and leave the 
amendment to the House.

  Thereupon Mr. Charles H. Grosvenor, of Ohio, raised a question of 
order against the amendment.
  The Chairman \1\ held that the point of order came too late, saying:

  The Chair will state that the amendment was reported from the Clerk's 
desk and was debated by the gentleman from New Jersey with no point 6f 
order against it having been made, and the Chair is of opinion that the 
point of order of the gentleman from Ohio comes too late.

  6899. On December 16, 1898,\2\ the House was in Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union considering the bill (H. R. 
11191) to extend the laws relating to customs and internal revenue over 
the Hawaiian Islands.
  Mr. William H. Moody, of Massachusetts, offered an amendment 
providing for the extension also of the laws of the United States 
relating to the appointment of officers in the customs and internal 
revenue services.
  Mr. Leonidas F. Livingston, of Georgia, asked if it was proposed to 
extend the civil service laws to Hawaii.
  Mr. Moody replied to this question, whereupon Mr. Joseph G. Cannon, 
of Illinois, suggested a point of order.
  Mr. Moody raised the question of order that the point of order came 
too late.
  The Chairman \3\ said:

  Debate had evidently begun. The Chair thinks the point of order is 
not in time.

  6900. On February 27, 1833,\4\ the House proceeded to consider the 
bill (S. 82) ``further to provide for the collection of duties on 
imports,'' and Mr. Samuel P. Carson, of North Carolina, having 
withdrawn a motion which he had previously made to commit the bill to 
the Committee of the Whole, proceeded to discuss the bill.
  Mr. Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, rising to a question of order, 
made the point that this bill must, under the rules, be considered in 
Committee of the Whole.
  The Speaker \5\ decided that it was not in order for the Member from 
Kentucky to raise the question of order, and thereby deprive the Member 
from North Carolina of the floor.
  An appeal being taken by Mr. Wickliffe, the decision of the Chair was 
sustained.
  6901. To preclude a point of order, debate should be on the merits of 
the proposition.--On April 18, 1904,\6\ the general deficiency 
appropriation bill was under consideration in Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union, when Mr. Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois, 
proposed an amendment which embodied legislation for the exclusion of 
Chinese immigrants.
  Mr. Oscar W. Underwood, of Alabama, reserved a point of order, and 
after discussion withdrew it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Marlin E. Olmsted, of Pennsylvania, Chairman.
  \2\ Third session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 267.
  \3\ John F. Lacey, of Iowa, Chairman.
  \4\ Second session Twenty-second Congress, Journal, pp. 440, 441; 
Debates, pp. 1823-1925.
  \5\ Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, Speaker.
  \6\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, pp. 5031, 5032.
Sec. 6902
  Mr. John H. Stephens, of Texas, renewed the point of order, and after 
further discussion withdrew it.
  Thereupon Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, proposed to renew the point 
of order.
  Mr. James A. Hemenway, of Indiana, objected that an interval,and 
discussion had intervened between the withdrawing of the point of order 
by Mr. Underwood and the renewal of it.
  The Chairman \1\ said:

  The Chair is of the impression that the discussion was not upon the 
merits of the bill, but informally with a view of determining some 
preliminary matters, and under those circumstances it would seem that 
Members would have the right to make the point of order.

  6902. A point of order against the motion to strike out the enacting 
clause must be made before debate has begun.--On June 11, 1902,\2\ the 
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union was considering 
the bill (H. R. 5) to authorize the construction, etc., of telegraphic 
cables between the United States of America and the Philippine Islands, 
when, the reading of the bill for amendment having begun, Mr. William 
C. Adamson, of Georgia, moved to strike out the enacting clause of the 
bill.
  Debate having begun on this motion, Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois, 
made the point of order that the special order under which the bill was 
considered provided for consideration of the bill under the five-minute 
rule, and therefore that the motion to strike out the enacting clause 
might in effect be the means of abrogating that provision of the order.
  The Chairman \3\ said:

  Without deciding the question as to whether, under the special rule 
under which we are proceeding, objection would have been in order if it 
had been made in time, the Chair is of opinion that the point of order 
not having been made, it is now too late to make it, just the same as 
in case of the rule forbidding legislation on an appropriation bill, if 
the point is not made when such an amendment is offered, or until after 
debate, it comes too late. The Chair therefore holds that the point of 
order is not well taken.

  6903. Points of order against a conference report should be made or 
reserved before discussion begins.--On February 27, 1901\4\ Mr. William 
W. Grout, of Vermont, had presented a conference report on the District 
of Columbia appropriation bill and debate had begun thereon, when Mr. 
James M. Robinson, of Indiana, proposed to raise a point of order 
against the report on the ground that the conferees had exceeded their 
authority.
  Mr. Grout objected that the point of order came too late.
  The Speaker \5\ said:

  The Chair is of the opinion that when discussion has been entered 
upon and no reservation has been made as to a point of order it comes 
too late afterwards to make the point, and the Chair will sustain the 
point of order made by the gentleman from Vermont.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Edgar D. Crumpacker, of Indiana, Chairman.
  \2\ First session Fifty-seventh Congress, Record, pp. 6634, 6635.
  \3\ John F. Lacey, of Iowa, Chairman.
  \4\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 3163.
  \5\ David B. Henderson, of Iowa, Speaker.
                                                            Sec. 6904
  6904. On the calendar day of March 3, 1901,\1\ but the legislative 
day of March 1, Mr. Theodore.E. Burton, of Ohio, submitted the 
conference report on the river and harbor bill.
  Before the report bad been read, Mr. William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, 
asked if it was in order to reserve points of order at this time.
  The Speaker \2\replied that it was in order.
  6905. On March 3, 1901,\3\ Mr. Joseph G. Cannon, presented the 
conference report on the sundry civil appropriation bill. Before the 
reading of the report began, the Speaker \2\ permitted Mr. James M. 
Robinson, of Indiana, to reserve all points of order on the bill.
  6906. Although a point of order may not be made after debate has 
begun, yet the Chair does not permit; a few sentences of debate to 
preclude a point of order made by a Member who has shown due diligence.
  When a Member who has reserved a point withdraws it, another Member 
may renew it immediately.
  On June 17, 1898,\4\ the general deficiency appropriation bill was 
under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union.
  Mr. Melville Bull, of Rhode Island, having offered an amendment 
relating to clerks for Members, Mr. Joseph G. Cannon rose to debate it, 
when Mr. Alexander H. Dockery, of Missouri, announced that he reserved 
a point of order against the amendment.
  After debate Mr. Dockery withdrew his point of order, whereupon Mr. 
Levin I. Handy, of Delaware, announced that he made the point of order.
  Mr. James S. Sherman, of New York, raised the question that the point 
of order came too late.
  After debate the Chairman \5\ held:

  The Chair thinks the question whether the point of order comes too 
late or not depends entirely upon whether the gentleman from Missouri 
[Mr. Dockery] reserved the point in time. The reporter's notes show 
that immediately after the offering of the amendment the following 
occurred:
  ``Mr. Cannon. This amendment, as I understand it, is offered by the 
gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. Bull], a member of the Committee on 
Accounts?
  ``Mr. Bull. It is.
  ``Mr. Cannon. I want to say that I shall not make a point of order on 
that provision. A good many Members of the House who are chairmen of 
committees, having annual clerks, and a good many who are not, have 
spoken to me about the matter.
  ``Mr. Dockery. I should like to reserve a point of order until I hear 
what the amendment is.
  ``The Chairman. What is the remark of the gentleman from Missouri?
  ``Mr. Dockery. I should like to reserve a point of order.
  ``Mr. Cannon. There is such a sentiment at least upon the part of 
some Members that I felt I ought not to make the point of order-and, so 
far as I am concerned, I shall not. Any other gentleman can, if he 
chooses.''
  Now, the Chair is inclined to think that the reservation of the point 
of order did not come too late from the gentleman from Missouri, and 
therefore if the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Handy] insists on the 
point of order, the Chair holds that it is pending. * * *
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 3325.
  \2\ David B. Henderson, of Iowa, Speaker.
  \3\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 3570.
  \4\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 6092.
  \15\ Sereno E. Payne, of New York, Chairman.
Sec. 6901
  The Chair would state that the gentleman from Illinois had said that 
he would make no point of order, or words to that effect. He was 
proceeding, as a matter of fact, with a, further statement in regard to 
the amendment being offered by the gentleman, and was, in fact-although 
the reporter's notes may not show that he was-interrupted in that 
sentence by the statement of the gentleman from Missouri, that he 
should like to reserve the point of order, and the Chair asked ``What 
was the observation of the gentleman from Missouri?'' and he replied 
that he reserved the point of order.
  Now, when one Member reserves a point of order against any amendment, 
and reserves it in time, of course it cuts off every other Member from 
an opportunity to reserve the point of order; and afterwards, if he 
wishes to withdraw the point of order, it is the privilege of any 
member of the committee to renew it, and of course the gentleman from 
Delaware has that right. He does renew it, and makes the point of 
order. Under the rules this amendment is not in order if the point is 
made in time; and the Chair thinks that the Committee of the Whole can 
not afford any other rule and to confine a Member so closely that when 
a Member rises in debate to say that in his first sentence of debate he 
can not be interrupted by a point of order by any other Member.

  Mr. Bull appealed from the decision of the Chair, but later withdrew 
the appeal.
  6907. A point of order against a proposition must be made before an 
amendment is offered to it.--On April 26, 1890,\1\ the House was in 
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union considering the 
legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation bill.
  The paragraph relating to the salary of the Commissioner of Patents 
had been amended, and the Clerk had begun to read the next paragraph, 
when Mr. Joseph E. Washington, of Tennessee, raised a point of order as 
to the salary of the Commissioner.
  Mr. Benjamin Butterworth, of Ohio, made the point of order that the 
point of order came too late.
  The Chairman \2\ sustained Mr. Butterworth's point of order.
  Mr. Washington having appealed, the decision of the Chair was 
sustained.
  6908. On February 26, 1898,\3\ the House was considering the sundry 
civil appropriation bill by paragraphs in Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union. By unanimous consent, a paragraph relating 
to river and harbor improvements was returned to, and Mr. William H. 
Moody, of Massachusetts, offered an amendment.
  Mr. William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, rising to a parliamentary inquiry, 
asked if they had returned to the paragraph for all purposes.
  The Chairman \4\ replied that the committee had returned to it for 
all purposes.
  Mr. Hepburn then asked if it was in order to make a point of order 
against the paragraph.
  The Chairman said:

  The Chair would state that an amendment has been offered and the 
point of order might hold against the amendment. Against the paragraph, 
the Chair thinks it comes too late, the gentleman from Massachusetts 
having been recognized and the amendment read from the desk.

  6909. On May 27, 1902,\5\ the Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union was considering the bill (H. R. 12199) to regulate 
the immigration
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ First session Fifty-first Congress, Record, p. 3892.
  \2\ Lewis E. Payson, of Illinois, Chairman.
  \3\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 2247.
  \4\ Sereno E. Payne, of New York, Chairman.
  \5\ First session Fifty-seventh Congress, Record, pp. 6011-6013.
                                                                 6910
aliens into the United States, when Mr. Charles B. Landis, of Indiana, 
offered the following amendment:

  Add as an additional section after section 4 the following:
  ``That no intoxicating liquors of any character shall be sold within 
the limits of the Capitol building of the United States.''

  To this, before debate had intervened, Mr. Charles K. Wheeler, of 
Kentucky, offered an amendment to the amendment.
  Mr. Richard Bartholdt, of Missouri, after the amendment to the 
amendment had been entertained by the Chair, proposed a point of order 
against the original amendment of Mr. Landis.
  The Chairman \1\ said:

  The gentleman from Missouri makes the point of order that the point 
of order to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Indiana can now 
be made. The amendment offered by the gentleman from Indiana was 
pending and no gentleman of the committee addressed the Chair, and the 
Chair recognized the gentleman from Kentucky, who offered an amendment 
to the amendment. It has been uniformly held that under the rule a 
point of order can not be made after an amendment has been considered, 
and an amendment offered to an amendment is consideration of the 
pending amendment. There seems to be no exception to these precedents, 
and the Chair would hold that the amendment having been offered by the 
gentleman from Kentucky to the amendment offered by the gentleman from 
Indiana, it would now be too late to raise the point of order.

  6910. On March 29, 1904,\2\ the sundry civil appropriation bill was 
under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, when the Clerk read a paragraph relating to the enforcement of 
the Chinese exclusion act.
  Mr. E. J. Livernash, of California, immediately proposed an 
amendment, which was read, and against which a point of order was made.
  During debate on the point of order, Mr. James A. Hemenway, of 
Indiana, proposed to raise a question of order against the original 
paragraph.
  The Chairman \3\ said:

  When a provision in a bill which is out of order is read and is 
unobjected to, it becomes a part of the bill. The question whether it 
is in order or not, whether it is a variation from established law or 
not, is then foreclosed. The paragraph is settled and passed upon by 
the committee. Then, if an amendment is proposed here and discussion 
intervenes no point of order can be allowed to the paragraph; it is 
beyond that stage.

  6911. On April 16, 1904,\4\ the general deficiency appropriation bill 
was under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union, when a paragraph of the bill was read providing for 
compensation to the clerk of the Committee on Industrial Arts and 
Expositions.
  Mr. George W. Smith, of Illinois, proposed an amendment which was 
ruled out on a point of order.
  Thereupon Mr. Smith raised a question of order against the paragraph 
in the bill.
  Mr. James A. Hemenway made the point of order that the question was 
raised too late.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Henry S. Boutell, of Illinois, Chairman.
  \2\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, pp. 3958, 3959.
  \3\ Theodore E. Burton, of Ohio, Chairman.
  \4\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 4952.
 6912
  The Chairman \1\ held that a point of order against a proposition 
must be made before an amendment is offered to it.
  6912. The House having voted to consider a matter, a point of order 
against it comes too late.--On February 15, 1890,\2\ Mr. Mark H. 
Dunnell, of Minnesota, from the Select Committee on the Eleventh 
Census, to which was referred the bill of the Senate (S. 1181) to 
require the Superintendent of Census to ascertain the number of people 
who own farms and homes and the amount of mortgage indebtedness 
thereon, reported the same without amendment.
  Mr. C.B. Kilgore, of Texas, raised the question of consideration 
against the bill.
  And the question being put, ``Will the House now consider the bill?'' 
it was decided in the affirmative; and the House accordingly proceeded 
to its consideration.
  Mr. Kilgore made the point of order that the bill must receive its 
first consideration in a Committee of the Whole.
  The Speaker \3\ overruled the point of order on the ground that it 
was made too late, the House having decided to consider the bill.
  6913. On March 2, 1891,\4\ Mr. William E. Simonds, of Connecticut, 
submitted a conference report on the bill (H. R. 10881) relating to 
copyrights, upon which Mr. Albert J. Hopkins, of Illinois, raised the 
question of consideration.
  The House having voted to consider the report, and debate having 
begun, Mr. Daniel Kerr, of Iowa, made the point of order that the 
conference report was not complete, and did not comply with the rules 
of the House.
  The Speaker \3\ ruled that the point of order was made too late.\5\
  6914. On December 11, 1902,\6\ the House had voted to consider a 
report of the Committee on Elections No. 2 in relation to the Missouri 
election case of Wagoner v. Butler, when Mr. James D. Richardson, of 
Tennessee, as a parliamentary inquiry, raised a question of the power 
of the House to take the proposed action.
  The Speaker \7\ said:

  Answering the parliamentary inquiry of the gentleman from Tennessee, 
the Chair calls attention to several decisions holding that, the House 
having voted to consider a measure, a point of order against it comes 
too late. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is entitled to the floor.

  6915. When the House is voting on a motion, it is too late to make 
the point of order that the motion is not in order.--On February 24, 
1897,\8\ a resolution from the Committee on Accounts was under 
consideration, when Mr. Grove L. Johnson, of California, moved that it 
be referred to the Committee on Printing.
  Mr. Sereno E. Payne moved the previous question, which was ordered.
  The question being taken on the motion to refer there were 72 in the 
affirmative.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Edgar D. Crumpacker, of Indiana, Chairman.
  \2\ First session Fifty-first Congress, Journal, p. 233; Record, p. 
1353.
  \3\ Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, Speaker.
  \4\ Second session Fifty-first Congress, Journal, p. 346; Record, p. 
3711.
  \5\ For a similar ruling, see third session Forty-sixth Congress, 
Journal, p. 364.
  \6\ Second session Fifty-seventh Congress, Record, p. 231.
  \7\ David B. Henderson, of Iowa, Speaker.
  \8\ Second session Fifty-fourth Congress, Record, p. 2211.
                                                            Sec. 6916
  Before the negative vote had been announced, Mr. J. Frank Aldrich, of 
Illinois, rising to a parliamentary inquiry, asked if it was in order 
to make the point of order that the motion to refer was not in order.
  The Speaker \1\ replied:

  The point could not be entertained now.

  6916. The alleged lateness of a point of order may not be urged after 
the Chair has ruled.--On December 16, 1904,\2\ the Committee of the 
Whole House was considering the bill (H. R. 8113) for the relief of 
Agnes W. Hills and Sarah J. Hill. The bill was read, and then, on 
request of Mr. Sereno E. Payne, of New York, the report of the 
committee on the bill was read. Thereupon Mr. Payne made the point of 
order that the bill had been reported from the Committee on Claims, 
whereas the jurisdiction belonged to the Committee on War Claims.
  After debate as to jurisdiction the Chairman sustained the point of 
order.
  Then Mr. Joseph V. Graff, of Illinois, suggested that it was too late 
for Mr. Payne to make the point of order after the report had been 
read.
  The Chairman \3\ said:

  The Chair will say to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Graff] that 
that is the general rule; but it would only have been fair to the Chair 
to have called his attention to that fact prior to his decision. The 
decision of the Chair was made upon what the Chair understands to be 
the precedents of the House, and on the case that was made upon the 
floor. The point of order made by the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Graff] was not made in time. The Chair stands by his ruling.

  6917. A motion once made and carried is binding, although in the 
first instance it might have been ruled out had a point of order been 
made in time.--On July 29, 1846,\4\ the Speaker announced as the first 
business in order the bill (S. 57) to amend an act entitled ``An act to 
provide revenue from imports,'' etc., which had been made a special 
order for this day.
  Mr. Linn Boyd, of Kentucky, moved that the consideration of the bill 
be postponed until to-morrow, and that the House proceed to the 
consideration of business from the Senate on the Speaker's table. This 
motion was agreed to. And so the House determined by a majority to 
proceed to consider business from the Senate on the Speaker's table.
  The Speaker having announced the first bill in order, Mr. Robert C. 
Winthrop, of Massachusetts, raised a question of order that the motion 
to postpone the special order and take up the business of the Senate, 
being carried by a majority and not by a two-thirds vote, only that 
part of the motion which could be controlled by a majority, viz, the 
postponement of the special order, could be considered as decided; and 
that, as it required two-thirds to change the regular order of 
business, the House must now proceed to the business regularly in 
order, and not to the business of the Senate on the Speaker's table.
  The Speaker \5\ decided that this question might have been raised 
before the question was taken on the motion of Mr. Boyd; that it was 
now too late to raise
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, Speaker.
  \2\ Third session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 379.
  \3\ P. P. Campbell, of Kansas, Chairman.
  \4\ First session Twenty-ninth Congress, Journal, p. 1170; Globe, p. 
1164.
  \5\ John W. Davis, of Indiana, Speaker.
Sec. 6918
the question; and that the House having ordered the special order to be 
postponed, and directed at the same time what business should be next 
considered, it was the duty of the Speaker to proceed to the business 
thus indicated by the House.
  6918. One point of order against a resolution having been made and 
decided, and the previous question having been demanded, it was held to 
be too late to raise a second question of order.--On February 10, 
1860,\1\ Mr. Freeman H. Morse, of Maine, offered a resolution relating 
to the employment of clerks to committees.
  A point of order was made that, as this was private bill day, the 
resolution was not in order.
  The Speaker overruled the point of order, and on appeal the decision 
was sustained by a yea-and-nay vote laying the appeal on the table.
  Thereupon, before the resolution had been debated on its merits and 
while the question was pending on ordering the previous question, Mr. 
John U. Pettit, of Indiana, raised the question of order that the 
gentleman from Maine had exhausted his privilege in respect to the 
introduction of resolutions.\2\
  The Speaker \3\ decided that the point of order came too late.
  An appeal which was taken was laid on the table, yeas 96, nays 63.
  6919. Debate on a point of order is for the information of the Chair, 
and therefore within his discretion.--On April 11, 1874,\4\ a point of 
order having been made against the votes of several Members who were 
officers of national banks, and who were therefore claimed to have an 
interest which disqualified them from voting on the pending measure, 
which related to national banks, some debate began upon the point of 
order.
  Mr. Charles Albright, of Pennsylvania, objected to debate.
  The Speaker \5\ said:

  The Chair has the right to hear discussions upon a point of order, 
and on one of this magnitude the Chair has no desire to abridge 
discussion.

  6920. On February 3, 1905,\6\ the Post-Office appropriation bill was 
under consideration in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union, when Mr. George W. Cromer, of Indiana, claimed that he was 
entitled to the floor to debate a pending point of order.
  The Chairman \7\ said:

  Debate is now proceeding on the point of order, and it is in the 
discression of the Chair as to how long debate shall proceed on a point 
of order.

  6921. Points of order are usually reserved when appropriation bills 
are referred to the Committee of the Whole in order that portions in
  \1\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 234; Globe, p. 
729.
  \2\ The rules relating to the introduction of resolutions by Members 
have been changed since that time.
  \3\ William Pennington, of New Jersey, Speaker.
  \4\ First session Forty-third Congress, Record, p. 3020.
  \5\ James G. Blaine, of Maine, Speaker.
  \6\ Third session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 1846.
  \7\ George P. Lawrence, of Massachusetts, Chairman.
                                                            Sec. 6921
violation of rule may be eliminated by raising points of order in 
committee.
  The Committee of the Whole must report in its entirety a bill 
committed to it unless the House by a reservation of points of order 
sanctions the striking out of portions against order.
  On June 11, 1884,\1\ the House was considering the river and harbor 
appropriation bill in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, and the committee had reached a paragraph of the bill providing 
for the construction of a canal from the Illinois River, near the town 
of Hennepin, to the Mississippi River.
  Mr. Burr W. Jones, of Wisconsin, made a point of order against this 
paragraph, that the Committee on Rivers and Harbors had no jurisdiction 
of the subject, etc.
  The point was then raised that this point might not be made, since 
points of order had not been reserved \2\ on the bill when it was 
committed to the Committee of the Whole. Mr. Joseph G. Cannon, of 
Illinois, referred to this paragraph of the Manual and Digest:

  In case of an appropriation reported by the Committee on 
Appropriations in conflict with Rule XXI, clause 3, and committed with 
the bill, it is not competent for the Committee of the Whole or its 
Chairman to rule it out of order, because the House having committed 
the bills (of course it is otherwise where the point was reserved 
before commitment), are presumed to have received as in order the 
report in its entirety.

  In deciding the question of order the Chairman \3\ said:

  The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union 
is asked to withhold from the consideration of the committee a 
particular clause in an original bill on the ground that the Committee 
on Rivers and Harbors reporting the bill to the House did not have 
jurisdiction over the subject matter of the particular clause. In the 
view which the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole takes of the 
question it is not necessary to decide whether the Committee on Rivers 
and Harbors has jurisdiction over the subject-matter of this particular 
clause or not. Whether it originally possessed that jurisdiction it is 
not necessary for the Chair to decide in the view which he takes of 
this question. Hence the Chair will not take the time to express any 
opinion in reference to it.
  The view of the Chair is this: The action of the House in submitting 
this bill to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union for 
consideration does not leave it within the province of the Chair to 
pass upon the question of original jurisdiction in the Committee on 
Rivers and Harbors. The bill has been committed to the Committee of the 
Whole for the purpose of consideration, and the chairman of this 
committee believes that he is but executing the order of the House when 
he decides that the bill shall be considered. The committal of the bill 
to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, the 
Chair thinks, was not a submission to the committee of the question 
whether or not the bill should be considered, but an express direction 
to the committee to consider the bill. To hold that the chairman of the 
Committee of the Whole on a point of order could go back and inquire 
into asserted irregularities and errors in the stages of the bill which 
preceded its reference to the Committee of the Whole would be either to 
cothe the chairman of the Committee of the Whole with power to review 
and reverse the order of the House in the matter of the reference or 
place the House in the anomalous position of having expressly directed 
the Committee of the Whole to do a particular thing and at the same 
time left the committee to determine whether the thing directed should 
be done or not.
  The point of order raised by the gentleman from Indiana is overruled.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ First session Forty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 5014.
  \2\ On March 31, 1882 (First session Forty-seventh Congress, Record, 
p. 2466), Mr. Speaker Keifer spoke of the practice of reserving points 
of order as one that had grown up in the House and which he recognized.
  \3\ Olin Welborn, of Texas, Chairman.
Sec. 6922
  The Chair then read again the paragraph from the Digest which Mr. 
Cannon had already read, and then went on to say:

  The Chair would state further, in connection with that practice in 
Committee of the Whole, that if all points of order had been reserved 
upon this bill at the time it was committed to the Committee of the 
Whole on the state of the Union \1\ the chairman of this committee, 
with the view he entertains of the question, would hesitate before 
undertaking to pass upon the original jurisdiction of the Committee on 
Rivers and Harbors. But the very most that could be done (and on this 
the Chair is not free from doubt) would be to report the point of order 
back to the House for its decision.

  Mr. William S. Holman, of Indiana, called attention to the claim that 
originally the point of order had been reserved on the bill, but the 
Chair had the Journal read to show that points of order were not 
reserved.
  On appeal this decision of the Chair was sustained by a vote of 103 
to 63.
  6922. On January 14, 1896,\2\ Mr. Newton M. Curtis, of New York, from 
the Committee on Military Affairs, reported a bill (H. R. 4043) making 
appropriations for the support of the Military Academy for the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1897; which was, with the accompanying report, 
ordered to be printed and referred to the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union.
  Mr. Alexander M. Dockery, of Missouri, said:

  I desire to reserve points of order on the bill and to make the 
inquiry whether or not, under the practice of the House, it will be 
necessary to reserve points of order on appropriation bills when they 
are referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union?

  The Speaker \3\ said:

  The impression of the Chair is that it is necessary so to do.

  Again, on January 30, 1896, Mr. Joseph D. Sayers, of Texas, having 
reserved points of order on the agricultural appropriation bill, Mr. 
Nelson Dingley, of Maine, asked, as a parliamentary inquiry--

whether it is necessary, on an appropriation bill, when the report is 
presented, to reserve all points of order, and whether such points can 
not be made as to new legislation in the Committee of the Whole?
  The Speaker said:

  The Chair would be willing to hear argument, but the impression of 
the Chair is that if the House commits a bill to the committee without 
points of order being reserved, the effect will be that the committee 
can not disregard the orders of the House to consider that bill in its 
entirety; but when points of order are reserved, then advantage can be 
taken of them in the Committee of the Whole.

  6923. On March 31, 1896,\4\ in Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union, a point of order was raised by Mr. Martin N. 
Johnson, of North Dakota, against a certain paragraph in the sundry 
civil appropriation bill.
  It having been ascertained that no points of order were reserved when 
the bill was committed to the Committee of the Whole, after debate the 
Chairman \5\ held:

  In determining this question the Chair thinks it is important to take 
into consideration the organization and power of the Committee of the 
Whole, which is simply to transact such business as
  \1\ The practice of reserving points of order in this way is 
recognized as early as December 19, 1870 (third session Forty-first 
Congress, Globe, p. 173), when Mr. Speaker Blaine stated that the 
reservation of points of order on the pending appropriation bill would 
prevent propositions changing law in Committee of the Whole.
  \2\ First session Fifty-Fourth Congress, Record, pp. 581, 1119.
  \3\ Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, Speaker.
  \4\ First session Fifty-fourth Congress, Record, p. 3411.
  \6\ Albert J. Hopkins, of Illinois, Chairman.
                                                            Sec. 6924
is referred to it by the House. Now, the House referred the bill under 
consideration to this committee as an entirety, with directions to 
consider it. The objection raised by the gentleman from North Dakota 
would, in effect, cause the Chair to take from the committee the 
consideration of part of this bill, which has been committed to it by 
the House. The committee has the power to change or modify this bill as 
the Members, in their wisdom, may deem wise and proper; but it is not 
for the Chairman, where no points of order were reserved in the House 
against the bill. * * * The effect would be, should the Chair sustain 
the point of order made by the gentleman from North Dakota, to take 
from the consideration of the Committee of the Whole a part of this 
bill which has been committed to it by the House without reservation of 
this right to the Chairman.
  Now, inasmuch as no points of order were made in the House and none 
were reserved against any of the provisions in the bill when it was 
committed to this Committee of the Whole, the Chair holds that the 
point of order of the gentleman from North Dakota should be overruled 
and the Committee of the Whole should be allowed to consider the bill 
in its entirety, as was proposed by the House when it committed the 
bill to the Committee of the Whole. In rendering this decision the 
Chair thinks he is sustained not only by the views of the present 
Speaker of the House, as intimated to the House in a recent instance, 
but also by those of Chairmen of the Committees of the Whole in 
preceding Congresses. In the Forty-eighth Congress this question was 
presented when the river and harbor bill was under consideration. In 
that bill, as the Chair now remembers, there was a provision for the 
project known as the Hennepin Canal. When the bill was under 
consideration in Committee of the Whole the point of order was made 
against that provision. In that case points of order had been reserved 
in the House when the bill was committed to the Committee of the Whole; 
but the Chair held that if they had not been reserved he would have 
overruled the point of order and remitted the question to the 
committee.
  In the first session of the Forty-eighth Congress this question was 
directly considered on a parliamentary inquiry made by the gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Holman), and the Chair then said:
  ``The Chair will cause to be read what is said by the compiler of the 
Digest in regard to the practice in Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union.
  ``The Clerk read as follows:
  `` `In a case of an appropriation reported by the Committee on 
Appropriations in conflict with Rule XXI, clause 3 (the language of 
which is identical with the corresponding rule that governs this body), 
and committed with a bill, it is not competent for the Committee of the 
Whole, or its Chairman, to rule it out of order, because the House are 
presumed to have received, as in order, the report in its entirety. So 
far as the proposed amendments are concerned, the current of the 
decisions of the Committee of the Whole House have been to exclude not 
only an appropriation not previously authorized by law, but also 
independent legislation, admitting, however, limitations and provisions 
which are themselves in order.' ''
  In accordance with this principle the Chairman then ruled that, 
inasmuch as points of order had not been reserved by the House when the 
bill was committed, he therefore could not entertain the point of order 
made.
  With these precedents in view, and in accordance with the reasons 
given above, the Chair overrules the point of order.

  6924. On December 19, 1896,\1\ the legislative, executive, and 
judicial appropriation bill was under consideration in Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union. The paragraph relating to the 
organization of the Library of Congress having been read, Mr. John S. 
Williams, of Mississippi, made a point of order against it.
  Mr. Henry H. Bingham, of Pennsylvania, raised the question that, as 
points of order were not reserved when the bill was committed to the 
Committee of the Whole, the bill was not now subject to the point of 
order.
  After debate the Chairman\2\ held:

  If this were a new or original proposition, the present occupant of 
the chair would have no difficulty in sustaining the point of order. 
But my own recollection is, and I have refreshed my
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Second session Fifty-fourth Congress, Record, pp. 311, 312.
  \2\ William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, Chairman.
Sec. 6925
recollection by reference to certain precedents, that the practice of 
the House has universally been to reserve points of order against an 
appropriation bill, and that where that has not been done-where the 
bill is sent to the committee without objection-the whole of the bill 
is to be considered by the committee, and that it is not competent for 
the committee to refuse to consider any portion of the bill so 
committed to it.
  The Chair therefore overrules the point of order.

  6925. On June 17, 1898,\1\ the House was considering the general 
deficiency appropriation bill in Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union.
  Against a paragraph in the bill relating to additional clerks for 
certain Federal courts, Mr. James A. Connolly, of Illinois, reserved a 
point of order.
  Mr. Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, called attention to the fact that 
no points of order were reserved against the bill when it was committed 
to the Committee of the Whole.
  After debate the Chairman \2\ held:

  That is the rule which, as the Chair is informed, has always been 
enforced with reference to appropriation bills; and the present 
occupant of the chair is inclined to think that the ruling is correct. 
If a point of order should be submitted to any paragraph of the bill, 
the Chair would be compelled to overrule it.

  6926. Points of order are reserved at the time of reference to 
Committee of the Whole only on appropriation bills.--On May 14, 
1906,\3\ Mr. Joseph W. Babcock, of Wisconsin, moved that the House 
resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union for the consideration of bills on the Union Calendar reported 
from the District Committee.
  Mr. Sydney E. Mudd, of Maryland, interposed to reserve points of 
order against the bills.
  The Speaker \4\ held that as they were not appropriation bills \5\ 
such reservation was not called for.
  6927. Questions of order relating to procedure (as distinguished from 
cases of disorder or contempt) \6\ I arising in Committee of the Whole, 
are decided by the Chairman, and the Speaker has declined to consider 
them.--On March 7, 1838,\7\ while the Committee of the Whole was 
considering the civil and diplomatic appropriation bill, a point of 
order was made against an amendment which the Chair ruled out. On 
motion of Mr. Churchill C. Cambreleng, of New York, the Committee rose, 
and the Chair reported the point of order to the House.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 6083.
  \2\ Sereno E. Payne, of New York, Chairman.
  \3\ First session Fifty-ninth Congress, Record, p. 6840.
  \4\ Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, Speaker.
  \5\ General appropriation bills only are meant, since it is only as 
to such that the rule relating to legislation applies. (See sec. 3578 
of Vol. IV.)
  \6\ See sees. 1348-1351 of Vol. II for cases wherein the Speaker has 
intervened to preserve order in Committee of the Whole.
  \7\ Second session Twenty-fifth Congress, Globe, p. 224 et seq.
                                                            Sec. 6928
  The Speaker \1\ ruled that the question did not come within his 
jurisdiction, whereupon the House again went into Committee of the 
Whole, and the amendment was decided to be out of order and fell.\2\
  6928. On February 12, 1895,\3\ on motion of Mr. Alexander M. Dockery, 
of Missouri, the House resolved itself into Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union for the consideration of general 
appropriation bills, and after some time spent therein the Speaker 
resumed the chair, and the Chairman reported that the committee, having 
had under consideration the bill (H. R. 8767) making appropriations for 
the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for 
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896, and for other purposes, had 
directed him to report the same with amendments and with the 
recommendation that as so amended it do pass.
  Mr. David A. De Armond, of Missouri, made the point of order against 
the amendment reported from the committee providing annual clerks to 
Members that it changed existing law, did not reduce, but increased 
expenditures, and that the amendment was inhibited by Rule XXI, clause 
2, and should not now be considered by the House, although reported 
from the Committee of the Whole.
  The Speaker \4\ overruled the point of order, holding that the 
amendment having been considered in Committee of the Whole and no 
question of order having been reported to the House from the committee, 
the question could not now be raised in the House, saying:

  The Chair thinks that under the practice and under the rulings 
heretofore the House could not possibly review a point of order made in 
the Committee of the Whole. The point is made and decided by the 
Chairman of the committee. There is an appeal allowed from the decision 
of the Chair, and then it rests with the Committee of the Whole whether 
the decision shall stand as the judgment of the committee or not. Under 
the practice suggested by the gentleman from Missouri a point of order 
might be raised in Committee of the Whole and determined by the 
Chairman, an appeal taken from the decision of the Chair, and the 
decision affirmed or reversed, as the case may be, in the committee; 
the same point of order could be brought into the House, debated, and 
decided by the Chair, with the right of appeal, and a judgment be 
rendered by the House finally upon it. The Chair does not think it 
would be consistent with the orderly practice of the House or 
consistent with the usage heretofore, and therefore overrules the point 
of order.

  6929. In Committee of the Whole, points of order against the 
germaneness of a section of a bill are made when the bill is read by 
sections.
  The principle of germaneness relates to a proposition by which it is 
proposed to modify some pending bill, and not to a portion of the bill 
itself.
  On May 14, 1906,\5\ the bill (H. R. 14897) providing for the 
temporary maintenance of the Long Bridge over the Potomac River, and 
for other purposes, was under consideration in Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union, when the bill was read at length.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Speaker.
  \2\ It is the almost invariable practice for the Committee of the 
Whole to settle its own questions of order.
  \3\ Third session Fifty-third Congress, Journal, p. 125.
  \4\ Charles F. Crisp, of Georgia, Speaker.
  \5\ First session Fifty-ninth Congress, Record, pp. 6854, 6855.
Sec. 6930
  Before general debate or the reading of the bill for amendment had 
begun Mr. Sydney E. Mudd, of Maryland, proposed to raise a point of 
order against the, third section of the bill.
  The Chairman \1\ held that the point of order would have to be raised 
when the bill should be read by sections.
  By unanimous consent Mr. Mudd was permitted to raise the point of 
order at once. He thereupon stated that section 3 related to the width 
of tires of vehicles, as follows:

  That from and after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and 
seven, every wagon or other vehicle of whatsoever kind or description 
weighing, when loaded, more than four thousand five hundred pounds, 
used, operated, or propelled on, over, or across any of the streets, 
avenues, alleys, bridges, or roadways of the District of Columbia, 
shall have wheel tires not less than four inches broad.

and he urged that this was not germane to a bill having the title of 
this bill.
  After debate the Chairman \1\ held:

  The Chair is of the opinion, first, that this bill went to the 
Committee on the District of Columbia substantially as it now stands, 
and is reported from the District Committee in that manner, and the 
committee has no direct control over the bill in respect to its form on 
a question of order. The Chair is further of the opinion that the 
principle of germaneness relates to a proposition by which it is 
proposed to modify some pending original proposition, and the Chair is 
of the opinion, whether it is cognate to the principal subject-matter 
of the bill or otherwise, that this section is a part of the original 
proposition, in effect is the original proposition, now pending before 
the committee, and therefore the point of germaneness does not lie to 
the section. And the Chair is advised that this opinion is in 
accordance with the universal construction of rules of the House, and 
therefore does not sustain the point of order.

  6930. The reading of a bill by paragraphs being completed in 
Committee of the Whole, it was held to be too late to make a point of 
order in committee against the title.--On February 20, 1901,\2\ the 
sundry civil appropriation bill was under consideration in Committee of 
the Whole House on the state of the Union, and the reading by 
paragraphs for amendment had been completed when Mr. William P. 
Hepburn, of Iowa, proposed to make a point of order against the words 
``for other purposes'' in the title on the ground that they were in 
contravention of existing statute.
  Mr. Joseph G. Cannon made the point of order that the question was 
raised too late, as the reading of the bill by paragraphs had been 
concluded.
  Mr. Marlin E. Olmsted, of Pennsylvania, raised the question that the 
title under the rules could not be considered until the bill had been 
passed by the House.
  After debate as to the proper time for considering the title the 
Chairman \3\ held that the point of order came too late in Committee of 
the Whole.
  6931. A bill being considered under the five-minute rule, a point of 
order against a paragraph should be made before the next paragraph is 
read.--On January 24, 1905,\4\ the District of Columbia appropriation 
bill was under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union, and the bill was being read by paragraphs for 
amendment under the five-minute rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Charles E. Littlefield, of Maine, Chairman.
  \2\ Second session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 2708.
  \3\ Albert J. Hopkins, of Illinois, Chairman.
  \4\ Third session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 1301.
                                                            Sec. 6932
  Mr. C. R. Davis, of Minnesota, raised a question of order as to a 
paragraph already read.
  Mr. James T. McCleary, of Minnesota, made the point of order against 
the point of order that it came too late.
  The Chairman \1\ said:

  The Chair wishes to be perfectly fair with the gentleman from 
Minnesota [Mr. Davis], but it seems to the Chair that the point of 
order comes too late. The paragraph just completed is beyond the 
paragraph to which the gentleman desires to make the point of order. * 
* * The Chair will say to the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Davis], 
while it may be true that the gentleman was misled, and naturally 
misled, in reference to the paragraph, still the bill shows very 
distinctly on its face where each paragraph commences and where it 
ends, and in this case the bill on its face shows quite distinctly the 
paragraph to which the gentleman wishes to make the point of order to 
be a paragraph distinct by itself which ended before the beginning of 
the paragraph last read. The usage of the House is that a paragraph is 
considered as a paragraph, and a point of order must be raised at the 
end of the reading of the paragraph. The Chair, therefore, is compelled 
to rule that the point of order comes too late.

  6932. The Speaker declines to entertain points of order as to 
conditions alleged to have existed in Committee of the Whole, when the 
report has made no mention thereof.--On January 26, 1889.\2\ the 
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union rose, and, the 
Speaker having resumed the chair, the Chairman reported that the 
Committee of the Whole, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 
10419) making appropriations for the construction, repair, and 
preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for 
other purposes, had directed him to report the same back with an 
amendment in the form of a substitute.
  Mr. William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, rising to a point of order, said:

  I desire to say that the provisions of the bill making separate and 
distinct appropriations have not been considered in the Committee of 
the Whole, and no vote has been taken upon any provision appropriating 
a specific sum of money. Before the Committee of the Whole had 
proceeded beyond the consideration of the eighth line, before any 
subsequent paragraph had been read, this amendment was offered, and 
against objection a vote upon it was forced prior to the taking of any 
vote upon any one of the subsequent provisions of the bill. I make the 
point of order that the vote can not be taken upon the adoption of this 
substitute until the provisions of the bill have been separately read 
and considered in the Committee of the Whole.

  The Speaker \3\ held:

  Of course the House now has nothing before it, and the Chair has 
nothing before him except the report of the Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union. The facts stated by the gentle man 
from Iowa [Mr. Hepburn], if they be facts, might constitute a good 
reason for the recommitment of the bill by the House to the Committee 
of the Whole. But the Chair must deal with the report as presented. The 
bill is out of the Committee of the Whole and in the House by the 
action of the Committee, which the Chair can not revise or overrule in 
any manner. The point of order is not sustained.

  6933. On March 14, 1902,\4\ after the Committee of the Whole House on 
the state of the Union had risen and the Chairman reported favorably 
several bills, and
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ James R. Mann, of Illinois, Chairman. 
  \2\ Second session Forty-ninth Congress, Record, p. 1059.
  \3\ John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, Speaker.
  \4\ First session Fifty-seventh Congress, Record, p. 2813.
Sec. 6934
before action on the bills had been taken by the House, Mr. Francis W. 
Cushman, of Washington, rising to a parliamentary inquiry, said:

  I will ask if it is in order to challenge the correctness of the 
statement made by the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House to 
the Speaker? I raise the point that no vote was taken in the Committee 
of the Whole ordering the Committee to rise and report those bills to 
the House.

  The Speaker \1\ said:

  The gentleman from Washington will readily see that the Chair can not 
hold a court of inquiry as to the action of the Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union. That is a matter that the House only 
knows from the report of its Chairman. The Clerk will report the first 
bill.

  6934. On December 10, 1877 \2\ the House having been in Committee of 
the Whole House on the state of the Union, and having considered the 
President's message, rose and reported that they had come to no 
resolution thereon.
  Mr. Fernando Wood, of New York, moved that the Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union be discharged from the further 
consideration of the President's annual message and the pending 
resolutions therein in relation to the distribution of the same.\3\
  Mr. Joseph G. Cannon made the point of order that the motion was not 
in order, the Committee not having fully considered and disposed of the 
subject.
  The Speaker \4\ ruled that the point of order could not be 
entertained by the Chair, not having been reported by the Chairman of 
the Committee of the Whole.
  6935. On May 23, 1860,\5\ the Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union rose and reported to the House the sundry civil 
appropriation bill with certain amendments.
  The Speaker having stated the question on agreeing to the amendments, 
Mr. John Sherman, of Ohio, rose and, after submitting an additional 
amendment, moved the previous question.
  Mr. Thomas B. Florence, of Pennsylvania, made the point of order 
that, by reason of the haste and precipitancy of the Chairman of the 
Committee of the Whole, he was denied his rights as a Member, and that 
the said bill was improperly reported. He asserted that the vote by 
tellers, according to which the Committee rose, was not reported by 
numbers, and that had it been a lack of a quorum would have been 
ascertained.
  The Speaker pro tempore \6\ said:

  The Chair overrules the point of order on the ground, in the first 
place, that it was not made in time; and in the second place, that it 
should have been made in Committee of the Whole.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ David B. Henderson, of Iowa, Speaker.
  \2\ Second session Forty-fifth Congress, Journal, p. 81; Record, p. 
108.
  \3\ At that time Rule CIV provided: ``The House may at any time, by 
vote of the majority of the Members present, suspend the rules and 
orders for the purpose of going into Committee of the Whole on the 
state of the Union, and also for providing for the discharge of the 
Committee of the Whole House and the Committee of the Whole House on 
the state of the Union from the further consideration of any bill 
referred to it, after acting without debate on all amendments pending 
and that may be offered.'' This rule no longer exists, and was nearly 
obsolete at that time, in fact.
  \4\ Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, Speaker.
  \5\ First session Thirty-sixth Congress, Journal, p. 915; Globe, p. 
2302.
  \6\ Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, Speaker pro tempore.
                                                            Sec. 6936
  Mr. Florence having appealed, the appeal was laid on the table.
  6936. On January 17, 1867,\1\ the House proceeded to the 
consideration of the legislative appropriation bill, which had been 
reported from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union with sundry amendments.
  Among the amendments reported by the Chairman was one which Mr. 
Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, declared had not been adopted by the 
Committee of the Whole.
  The Speaker \2\ said:

  The Chairman of the Committee decided that the amendment was agreed 
to, and it is not within the province of the Speaker to rule in regard 
to what occurred in Committee of the Whole. All that takes place in 
Committee of the Whole is subject to revision in the House, and that is 
the reason why no journal is kept in Committee of the Whole. * * * It 
is not within the power of the Speaker to rule upon the subject. The 
gentleman can move to recommit the bill with amendments to the 
Committee of the Whole.

  The motion to recommit was accordingly made, and agreed to by the 
House.
  6937. On December 23, 1851,\3\ the Committee of the Whole reported 
the joint resolution relating to the act ``granting bounty lands,'' 
etc., with the recommendation that it be referred to the Committee on 
the Judiciary.
  Mr. Amos Tuck, of New Hampshire, made the point of order that it was 
not in order for the committee to rise and report the said resolution 
until it had been read by sections, and the amendments thereto, if any, 
had been considered in Committee of the Whole; consequently that the 
resolution should go back to the committee, to be considered in the 
manner prescribed by the rules.
  The Speaker \4\ overruled the point of order.
  Mr. Tuck having appealed, the appeal was laid on the table.
  6938. The decision of a question of order by the Chair is subject to 
appeal by any Member.
  In debate on an appeal no Member may speak more than once, unless by 
permission of the House.
  Section 4 of Rule I \5\ provides that the Speaker shall decide 
questions of order:

  * * * subject to an appeal by any Member, on which appeal no Member 
shall speak more than once, unless by permission of the House.

  6939. An appeal is not in order when another appeal is pending.--On 
July 6, 1841,\6\ the House was considering a report from the Committee 
on Rules, when Mr. Charles G. Atherton, of New Hampshire, rose and 
objected to the consideration because the rule (Rule 127) \7\ required 
one day's notice to be given before changing or rescinding any standing 
rule of the House.
  The Speaker overruled the point of order.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Second session Thirty-ninth Congress, Globe, p. 528.
  \2\ Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, Speaker.
  \3\ First session Thirty-second Congress, Journal, p. 131.
  \4\ Linn Boyd, of Kentucky, Speaker.
  \5\ For full form and history of this rule see section 1313 of Volume 
II of this work.
  \6\ First session Twenty-seventh Congress, Globe, p. 154; Journal, p. 
206.
  \7\ Now section I of Rule XXVIII. See section 6790 of this volume. 
The rule has been changed since the time of this ruling.
Sec. 6940
  There was an appeal from this decision, and Mr. Atherton was 
proceeding to state his views, when the Speaker said that the appeal 
was not debatable.
  Mr. Atherton said that he would appeal from that decision also.
  The Speaker \1\ held that it was not in order ``to pile one appeal 
upon another.''
  The House then affirmed the decision of the Speaker on Mr. Atherton's 
appeal on the question of considering the report.
  6940. On January 29, 1847,\2\ when the House assembled, there were 
pending several questions which arose during a parliamentary conflict 
of the preceding day. A difference had arisen as to the meaning of a 
resolution which had been adopted to close debate on the naval 
appropriation bill in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union. During this complication the Chair decided that a motion for 
a call of the House was not in order (a quorum being present) pending a 
motion to reconsider.
  From this decision Mr. Robert Toombs, of Georgia, appealed; and there 
was a motion that Mr. George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, be excused from 
voting on this appeal.
  When the House assembled on January 29 the Speaker announced the 
state of the several pending questions, whereupon Mr. George C. 
Dromgoole, of Virginia, moved that the House resolve itself into 
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
  The Speaker \3\ announced that he had already decided that motion not 
in order.
  From this decision Mr. Dromgoole appealed.
  The Speaker ruled that this appeal could not be entertained. There 
was already one appeal pending, and by the rule one appeal could not be 
piled upon another.
  6941. On September 20, 1893,\4\ Mr. Julius C. Burrows, of Michigan, 
had appealed from a decision of the Chair in relation to a report from 
the Committee on Rules.
  Mr. Ashbel P. Fitch, of New York, moved to lay the appeal on the 
table, pending which, Mr. Burrows moved that the House take a recess 
for one hour.
  The Speaker \5\ having ruled the motion of Mr. Burrows out of order, 
Mr. Sereno E. Payne, of New York, appealed from the decision of the 
Chair.
  The Speaker declined to entertain the appeal on the ground that the 
appeal of Mr. Burrows from the former decision of the Chair was already 
pending, and that two appeals could not be pending at the same time.
  6942. Under certain circumstances Speakers have admitted one appeal 
while another was pending.--On May 30, 1836,\6\ during a call of the 
yeas and nays on a motion to suspend the rules, Mr. John M. Patton, of 
Virginia, asked to be excused from voting \7\ and demanded that the 
question of his request be taken before the announcement of the vote on 
the motion to suspend the rules.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ John White, of Kentucky, Speaker.
  \2\ Second session Twenty-ninth Congress, Globe, p. 290.
  \3\ John W. Davis, of Indiana, Speaker.
  \4\ First session Fifty-third Congress, Journal, pp. 96, 97, 98.
  \5\ Charles F. Crisp, of Georgia, Speaker.
  \6\ First session Twenty-fourth Congress, Journal, pp. 899-903.
  \7\ Such a request is no longer in order, except by unanimous 
consent.
                                                            Sec. 6943
  The Speaker having decided, in conformity with previous decisions, 
that this was an incidental question to be considered by the House 
after the original question had been determined, Mr. Patton appealed.
  Mr. Amos Lane, of Indiana, having moved to lay this appeal on the 
table, the question was taken by yeas and nays. During the calling of 
the roll Mr. Daniel Jenifer, of Maryland, rose and asked to be excused 
from voting, and at the end of the roll call demanded, as Mr. Patton 
had done, that the question on his request be taken before the 
announcement of the result on the vote.
  The Speaker having decided as in the case of the request of Mr. 
Patton, Mr. Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, appealed.
  Thereupon, Mr. Thomas L. Hamer, of Ohio, made the following point of 
order:

  Can two questions of order be pending at the same time? One has been 
made, decided by the Chair, the decision appealed from, a motion to lay 
the appeal on the table, and that motion is as yet undecided. The first 
question, therefore, is still pending, and no other can be raised until 
it is disposed of.

  The Speaker \1\ decided that the appeal taken by Mr. Wise should be 
entertained.
  Thereupon the question was put and decided on Mr. Wise's appeal; and 
then the Speaker announced the result of the vote laying on the table 
the appeal of Mr. Patton. Then finally the Speaker announced the result 
on the motion to suspend the rules.
  6943. On May 15, 1854,\2\ the Speaker \3\ ruled out of order a motion 
made by Mr. Israel Washburn, jr., of Maine, to lay on the table the 
resolution providing for closing debate in Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union on the bill (H. R. 236) to organize the 
Territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
  The Speaker having decided this motion to be out of order, Mr. 
Washburn appealed, and on the question on this appeal Mr. Edwin B. 
Morgan, of New York, moved to be excused from voting.\4\
  Mr. Thomas L. Clingman, of North Carolina, made the point of order 
that this motion to excuse was not in order, and the Speaker overruled 
the point of order.
  Mr. Clingman thereupon appealed, and a motion to lay the appeal on 
the table being decided in the negative, the question on sustaining the 
decision of the Chair was decided in the negative, and the Chair was 
overruled.
  Then the question recurred on Mr. Washburn's appeal, and the question 
being put the decision of the Chair was sustained.\5\
  6944. The Speaker having decided that words spoken in debate on a 
pending appeal were out of order declined to entertain an appeal from 
the latter decision.--On July 11, 1832,\6\ during consideration of an 
appeal from a decision of the Chair, Mr. William Stanberry, of Ohio, 
was called to order for word spoken in debate, and the words were taken 
down.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Speaker.
  \2\ First session Thirty-third Congress, Journal, pp. 854-861; Globe, 
pp. 1192, 1193.
  \3\ Linn Boyd, of Kentucky, Speaker.
  \4\ Such a motion is no longer in order except by unanimous consent.
  \5\ Again, on May 22, we find Mr. Speaker Boyd entertaining an appeal 
on a question of order over an incidental motion, while another appeal 
was pending. (Journal, pp. 886, 888.) The Speaker justified the 
entertaining of the second appeal on the ground of the peculiar 
circumstances of the case and the fact that the question on excusing a 
Member from voting concerned his privileges. (Globe, p. 1245.)
  \6\ First session Twenty-second Congress, Debates, p. 3899.
Sec. 6945
  The words being read, the Speaker decided that they were not in 
order.
  Mr. Stanberry appealed from this decision.
  The Speaker \1\ declared that the appeal was not in order, since in 
this way appeals might be multiplied ad infinitum.
  6945. An appeal pending at an adjournment on Friday, but related to 
public and not private business, does not go over to the next Friday, 
but comes up on the next legislative day.--On June 21, 1890,\2\ the 
Speaker stated the pending question to be the motion of Mr. William 
McKinley, jr., of Ohio, to lay on the table the appeal of Mr. Richard 
P. Bland, of Missouri, from the decision of the Chair pending when the 
House adjourned on the previous day, on which motion the yeas and nays 
were ordered.
  Mr. Bland, of Missouri, moved to reconsider the vote by which the 
yeas and nays were ordered.
  Pending this, Mr. Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, made the point of 
order that the appeal of Mr. Bland having been made on Friday--private 
bill day--must go over until next Friday as unfinished business of that 
day.\3\
  The Speaker \4\ overruled the point of order on the ground that the 
question at issue was one of privilege, and as such was in order on any 
day, subject only to the question of consideration.
  Mr. James H. Blount, of Georgia, made the point of order that the 
question was not in order at the present time, for the reason that 
being unfinished business it could only be taken up after business on 
the Speaker's table had been disposed of.
  The Speaker overruled the point of order on the ground that the 
question pending, in addition to being privileged, related to the 
disposal of business on the Speaker's table, and that the order for the 
yeas and nays brought the subject immediately before the House.
  6946. The Chair having used his discretion in recognizing a Member 
for debate on a point of order, declined to entertain an appeal from 
this recognition.--On April 20, 1900,\5\ the naval appropriation bill 
was under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union, when Mr. W. D. Vandiver, of Missouri, offered an amendment 
for the establishment of a Government armor-plate factory.
  Mr. Alston G. Dayton, of West Virginia, having made the point of 
order against the amendment, Mr. Oscar W. Underwood, of Alabama, asked 
recognition to speak on the point of order.
  The Chairman said that he would hear the gentleman from Alabama for 
ten minutes.
  Mr. Underwood protested that he might not be thus limited.
  The Chairman said:

  The Chair declines to recognize the gentleman otherwise than as he 
has already recognized him.

  Mr. Underwood said:

  I wish to appeal from the authority of the Chair to limit debate on 
this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, Speaker.
  \2\ First session Fifty-first Congress, Journal, pp. 770-772; Record, 
p. 6353.
  \3\ For rule relating to Friday, see section 3266 of Volume IV of 
this work.
  \4\ Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, Speaker.
  \5\ First session Fifty-sixth Congress, Record, p. 4494.
                                                            Sec. 6947
  The Chairman \1\ declined to entertain an appeal on a matter of 
recognition.
  6947. Debate on an appeal in Committee of the Whole has been limited 
by the Committee itself, on motion put and carried, or by the Committee 
rising to enable the House to limit it.--On May 25, 1892,\2\ the House 
was in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, 
considering the sundry civil appropriation bill.
  Mr. Christopher A. Bergen, of New Jersey, having appealed from a 
decision of the Chair, and debate having proceeded on the appeal at 
considerable length, Mr. William S. Holman, of Indiana, moved that the 
Committee rise, his purpose being to limit debate on the appeal.
  Mr. Benjamin A. Enloe, of Tennessee, made the point of order that it 
was not competent for the Committee of the Whole to rise to limit 
debate upon a point of order; that it was within the discretion of the 
Chair to close the debate at any time.
  The Chairman \3\ ruled that it was competent for the Committee of the 
Whole to rise when they might please, and for any purpose they might 
please.
  The Committee having voted to rise, the House, on motion of Mr. 
Holman, limited the time of debate on the appeal, and then again voted 
to go into Committee of the Whole.
  6948. On January 18, 1898,\4\ the House being in Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union, considering the diplomatic and 
consular appropriation bill, and the first paragraph of the bill having 
been read for debate and amendment under the five-minute rule, Mr. D. 
A. De Armond, of Missouri, offered an amendment recognizing the 
belligerency of the Cuban insurgents.
  Mr. Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois, made a point of order against the 
amendment, which the Chairman sustained.
  Mr. De Armond thereupon appealed.
  After the debate had proceeded for some time, Mr. Hitt moved to close 
debate upon the pending question, which was the appeal.
  Mr. Joseph W. Bailey, of Texas, made the point of order that it was 
not in order to move to close debate in the Committee on that question.
  The Chairman \5\ ruled that the point of order came too late, as the 
Committee were dividing.
  On a vote by tellers, debate on the appeal was closed, 153 ayes to 
118 noes.
  6949. On March 25, 1898,\6\ the House was in Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union, considering the naval appropriation 
bill, under the five-minute rule.
  A point of order that Mr. Charles T. Hartman, of Montana, was not 
confining himself to the subject which was then under debate having 
been sustained by the Chair, Mr. Joseph W. Bailey, of Texas, appealed.
  After a time, Mr. Charles A. Boutelle, of Maine, moved to close 
debate on the appeal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ Sereno E. Payne, of New York, Chairman.
  \2\ First session Fifty-second Congress, Record, p. 4680.
  \3\ Rufus E. Lester, of Georgia, Chairman.
  \4\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, pp. 730, 731.
  \5\ William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, Chairman.
  \6\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, pp. 3226-3232.
Sec. 6950
  Mr. Bailey made the point of order that it was not permissible to 
move to close debate upon the appeal. After debate the Chairman \1\ 
decided:

  The Chair would like to make a ruling. He has heard all the 
discussion he cares to upon this point of order. It always has been 
held that the Chair can conclude discussion of a point of order when he 
desires, when his mind is satisfied upon the point, for that is the 
real purpose of permitting the discussion; but it does not necessarily 
follow that the Chair can bring to an end debate upon an appeal from 
the decision already made. Discussion in that case is not to satisfy 
the mind of the Chair, but of the members of the Committee. But without 
passing upon whether or not the Chair can bring that debate to a 
conclusion, the Chair does hold that it is within the power of the 
Committee to bring the debate to a conclusion, and therefore will put 
the motion that debate be now closed.

  6950. On March 24, 1904,\2\ while the Post-Office appropriation bill 
was under consideration in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union, Mr. John S. Williams, of Mississippi, took an appeal from 
the decision of the Chair, and debate proceeded on the appeal.
  A question arising as to the time of debate, which had proceeded 
under the hour rule and not under the five-minute rule, the Chairman 
\3\ said:

  A motion to close debate will be in order at any time.

  Later Mr. Williams moved to close debate on the appeal, and the 
question being taken, the motion was agreed to.
  6951. In Committee of the Whole, as well as in the House, a Member 
may speak but once on an appeal.--On January 18, 1898,\4\ the House was 
in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, considering 
the diplomatic and consular appropriation bill.
  Mr. D. A. De Armond, of Missouri, having offered an amendment for 
recognizing the belligerency of the Cuban insurgents, which the Chair 
had ruled out of order, and from which ruling Mr. De Armond had 
appealed, Mr. James Hamilton Lewis, of Washington, arose and addressed 
the Chair.
  Mr. James S. Sherman, of New York, made the point of order that the 
gentleman from Washington had already addressed the House once on the 
appeal.
  The Chairman \5\ sustained the point of order, after having had read 
section 4 of Rule I.\6\
  6952. It was formerly held that appeals on questions relating to 
priority of business were not debatable.--On January 8, 1850,\7\ Mr. 
Richard K. Meade, of Virginia, proposed the following resolution:

  Resolved, That the eleventh rule of the House be, and the same is 
hereby, repealed.

  The Speaker having decided that the resolution offered by Mr. Meade 
was out of order at that time, Mr. Meade appealed, and was proceeding 
to debate the appeal.
  The Speaker \8\ declined to hear Mr. Meade, stating that appeals on 
questions of order arising upon matters concerning priority of business 
were not debatable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\ James S. Sherman, of New York, Chairman.
  \2\ Second session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, pp. 3637, 3638.
  \3\ H. S. Boutell, of Illinois, Chairman.
  \4\ Second session Fifty-fifth Congress, Record, p. 739.
  \5\ William P. Hepburn, of Iowa, Chairman.
  \6\ See section 1313 of Volume II of this work.
  \7\ First session Thirty-first Congress, Globe, p. 118.
  \8\ Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Speaker.
                                                            Sec. 6953
  6953. The House has overruled a decision of a Speaker admitting an 
appeal.--On December 13, 1808,\1\ the division of a question had been 
demanded and made, and the question had been put and the vote taken on 
the first portion. The Chair then stated the question on the second 
member of the resolution.
  A point of order having been made and decided as to the second 
member, Mr. John Randolph, of Virginia, appealed.
  Mr. Thomas Gholson, jr., of Virginia, objected to the appeal after 
the question had been taken.
  The question was then taken--

  Is the decision of the Chair upon the appeal of Mr. Randolph correct?

and the House decided in the negative. So the Speaker \2\ was 
overruled, and did not put the question on Mr. Randolph's appeal.\3\
  6954. A special order prohibiting ``debate on intervening motion,'' 
it was held that an appeal should be entertained.--On November 19, 
1903,\4\ the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union 
rose in accordance with the terms of the following order:

   Resolved, That immediately on the adoption of this rule, and 
immediately after the reading of the Journal on each day thereafter 
until the bill hereinafter mentioned shall have been disposed of, the 
House shall resolve itself into Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union for consideration of the bill H. R. 1921, a bill to 
carry into effect a convention between the United States and the 
Republic of Cuba, signed on the 11th day of December, 1902; that not 
later than 4 o'clock on November 19 general debate shall be closed in 
Committee of the Whole, and whenever general debate is closed the 
Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House; and immediately 
the House shall vote without debate or intervening motion on the 
engrossment and third reading and on the passage of the bill.

  The bill having been passed to be engrossed and read a third time, 
Mr. John Sharp Williams, of Mississippi, moved to recommit the bill 
with instructions.
  Mr. Sereno E. Payne, of New York, made the point of order that the 
motion to recommit was not in order.
  Thereupon Mr. Williams appealed.
  Mr. Payne made the point of order that the appeal was dilatory.
  The Speaker \5\ held:

  If, under the rules, the previous question has been moved upon the 
question arising, there are many precedents where points of order would 
be entertained, and, of course, if entertained, be subject to appeal, 
unless they be dilatory, when they would come under another rule. Now, 
the House, after debate, has adopted this special order upon a yea-and-
nay vote with a full House, and we are proceeding under the special 
order, which cuts off a motion to recommit, which motion would 
otherwise be in order. When the gentleman seeks to make the motion to 
recommit, the Chair necessarily, under the order of the House, sustains 
the point of order to that motion. The gentleman appeals from the 
ruling of the Chair. The Chair thinks the better practice is not to 
invoke the rule touching dilatory motions except in cases where the 
purpose to delay is plainly evident, and the Chair would prefer to err, 
if it errs at all,
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  \1\ Second session Tenth Congress, Journal, p. 387 (Gales & Seaton 
ed.); Annals, p. 854.
  \2\ Joseph B. Varnum, of Massachusetts, Speaker.
  \3\ On December 13, 1808, objection being made to the admissibility 
of an appeal from a decision of the Speaker, the Speaker (Varnum) 
decided the appeal admissible (2d sess., 10th Cong., Journal, pp. 113-
117).
  \4\ First session Fifty-eighth Congress, Record, p. 388; Journal, p. 
81.
  \5\ Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, Speaker.
Sec. 6955
upon giving the House the right to express its will; and although the 
House may have expressed its will otherwise heretofore, the Chair is 
proceeding under the order of the House in making the ruling, from 
which ruling the gentleman from Mississippi appeals. The Chair 
therefore entertains the appeal.

  6955. An appeal may not be taken from a response of the Speaker to a 
parliamentary inquiry.--On March 30, 1898,\1\ Mr. Joseph W. Bailey, of 
Texas, had presented as a question of privilege the following 
resolution:

  Resolved, etc., That the heroic struggle of the Cuban people against 
the force of arms and the horrors of famine has shown them to be free; 
and
  Second. The United States hereby recognizes the Republic of Cuba as a 
free and independent state.

  The Speaker having sustained the point of order that this resolution 
did not involve a question of privilege, Mr. Bailey, as a parliamentary 
inquiry, asked if the Speaker held that the resolution must be 
introduced through the box \2\ before it could go to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs.
  The Speaker \3\ replied in the affirmative.
  Thereupon Mr. Bailey proposed to appeal.
  The Speak