The Minnesotian. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1851-1852, 1852-03-13

We paid very little attention to tho
controversy which took place between
the two branches of the Legislature in
regard to which Of them, at certain pc
riod, had legal possession of House bill
No. 81. Tho decisions of the two pre-
siding officers were directly at variance
with each other, but were sustained by .
majority in their respective branches.
Owing to this state of things, the bill was
re-introduced on Saturday morning, the
rules suspended, the measure passed
through both houses, and signed by the
Governor two or three hours before the
adjournment. The whole difficulty was
perhaps caused by the over-zealous &C
ton of some of the friends of the bill,
who upon other than this occasion seri-
ously jeopardised its success. The fol-
lowing statement, prepared by the Chief
Clerk Of the House, has been handed us
for publication:
There were some disagreeing votes be-
tween the two Houses on certain amend
ments of the Council to House bill No.
81, bill for the restriction of the sale of
intoxicating liquors. A committee of
conference was appointed. The commit
tee reported; the report was adopted, and
the committee discharged. On the next
day, the gentleman who made the report,
in the House, asked leave to hand in the
bill. The Speaker stated that it did not
belong to the House-that the last special
notice he had of it was its transmits sion
10 the Council by the Chief Clerk of the
House, and that it could not be received
again by the House only from, the Coun-
Gil, and through the regular channel of
communication prescribed by the rules.
In this decision Of the Speaker, the House
acquiesced, and here the matter dropped.
The bill was not in the possession OF the
House; the House, through the Speaker,
having expressly declined to receive it in
the irregular manner in which it was Of
fered.
After all this, the bill was reported to
the House as duly enrolled BY the ENROLL
ing clerk of the House. A bill not in the
possession Of the House, enrolled by the
enrolling clerk of the House! The third
joint rule Of the two Houses, prescribes
the manner of enrolling bills, thus:
"After bill shall have passed both
Houses, it shall be duly enrolled by one
Of the transcribing clerks under the d.
rection of the Secretary of the Council
or Chief Clerk of the House of Repre-
sentatives, as the bill may have originated
in one or the other Houses"
The Chief Clerk had not directed the
enrolling of the bill, had not delivered it,
and knew nothing Of its delivery to the
enrolling clerk; had not had it in his pos
session, and could not have received it,
nor allow it to 60 to the enrolling clerk
after the House had refused to receive
| it.
The bill was for day or two an estray
between the two Houses, owned by nei-
Their, in hands entirely irresponsible in a
parliamentary sense, placed in the hands
of the enrolling clerk surreptitiously and
under false pretences.
Such are the facts, in relation to which
the Speaker on Saturday morning made
the following statement to the House:
i "a document was reported yesterday
by two members of the Joint committee
on enrolled bills, as bill No. 81, Oh.
of r. correctly enrolled. The chairman
Of the committee on enrolled bills, refused
to recognize this as bill No. 81, which
had passed the two Houses, and had re-
fused to receive it as such from the en-
rolling clerk. His reasons for this refu-
sal were distinctly stated, and fully ex-
planned to the House at the time. The
House, after hearing this statement, fully
endorsed the action of the chairman, by a.
dopting resolution calling on the Coun-
Gil for the bill-and this after it was dis
tinctly stated that the document above re-
ferred to, purporting to be bill No. 81,
H. Of R. had been rendered to the
chairman by the enrolling clerk, and was
then in the hands of the member of the
enrolling committee of the House, who
reported it as above stated.
"The Council have returned as an an
swer to the resolution Of the House, the
simple statement that the bill was not in
their possession; although the last that is
known of this bill, officially, as our jour-
nails show, was its transmission to the
Council, by the Chief Clerk of this
House.
"Under these circumstances it will not
be thought strange, that as the Speaker Of
this House, l should withhold nv sigma
ture from the document referred to.
! 81. D. LUDDEN, Speaker"
Afterwards, Mr.. Fullerton presented
the following resolution, which, on a call
OF the ayes and nays, YVES adopted unan-
imously.
"Resolved, That the Speaker of this
House is fully sustained in his decisions,
upon the point of parliamentary usage, in
relation to the report Of the committee Of
conference upon the disagreeing votes be-