Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-01-17
what Constitutes n Quorum for the
fransaessen OF Legislative Busi-

Mr. Speaker PETIT. ia the House Of Repre-
sentatives on last Friday. ruled that two thirds
Of quorum Of the House fer doing business.
could. By their vote. dispense with the constitu
tiona provision requiring every BIZ to be read By
sections on three several days. No action was
taken BY the House upon the decision Of tic
speaker, the motion to suspend the rule upon
which IL vas given having been Withdrawn. Wei
had prepared some comments upon this ruling Of
the speaker, which We deem inconsistent with the
organic law OF the state. but We fnd in an adj
ninis,ratiOn journal. the Terre HaU,e Express.
an able revie. Of the question. which cannot be
attributed to partisan basis. We give i. instead
Of our own. Says the Express: This is an
importan; question. for should the Supreme
COur, differ with Mr.. Speaker PErrIT. every bill
passed under his ruling would be void
The constitution provides that two thirds Of
each House shall constitute quorum for doing
business. The House OF Representatives con-
sists Of one hundred members Seventy seven
members. therefore. is a quorum and can do
business, and can do all kinds Of business; City
one of them voting afirmatively can pass bill
or joint resolution. A majority can transact or
binary business. but il would take the whole SIX
ty-seven To e1pel q member, and to suspend the
rule requiring bill to be read on three days by
sections
1.-THE argument of Mr. Speaker PETIT that the
constitutional convention would not have done
thing so absurd as to require sixteen more
members to vote 10 take up and put bill on its
passage than Is necessary to pass 1t. il specious
but not sound.
>" In order TO Judge correctly of the intention OF
that convention. We must first inquire into their
object in adopting section eighteen. which re-
quires each bill to be read on three several DAYS
Every lawyer in the state will say that this
provision was adopted to prevent hssiy and in
copsidera,e legislation. and TO give every member
an opportunity to understand the provisions oil
each bill when voting on IL.
"Fifty-one members may pass bill and &C
cording to the decision Of the Speaker, forty
Eve members have il in their power to PIT :
bill on it's final passage on the same day it is in
tsoduced inte the House. Bills unless of grea
Importance are not printed. and the My mean:
members have of ascertdining their provisions
is from the reading of the bill by the Clerk
And if the rule requiring hills to be read by
sections on the three several days is dispensed
with the bill is read twice by its title. and only
read by sections it's final passage. AEC
hence, members are in such cases. called upon tC
vote upon a bill the first time they have heard il
read without time to examine its provisions, oil
for reflection. And hence. if the Speaker.
ruling is correct bare majority may at any
time defeat this constitutional provision"
O. IL NAV be said that 81 members could
do the same thing under the old ruling true
but if sixty seven members say. by their vote
that they are ready for action on BILL it shows
either that the bin els very ~ understood. OF
that great emergency exists for aefion-forty-
FIVE members so voting shows neither the one
nor the other-especially is this on hssiy ques-
tons where msjorities have bat little regard for
the rights OF minorites.
The practice which has grown up of suspend
ing this rule so frequently is in itself directly op
posed to the spirit of the Constitution. which
only contemplated suspension in of EN-
Urgency and in three cases out of four in which
the rule has been suspended there was no rea
emergency. But there is no remedy for thi-
practice as each House is the exclusive judge OF
such emergency. Then if it is true that the
Constitutional provision was adopted to prevent
haxy legislation and as a check on arbitrary
majorites. t.would seem that the decision Of
Mr.. Speaker PKrIrr WAS clearly wrong.
Section fourteen Of the Constitution says
" Either House may punish its members, and
may. with the concurrence Of two thirds, expe q
member" Aud according to Mr. Speakers rul.
Jog. forty Ave members being two thirds of a
quorum, could eIpel member. Does any one
believe that the Convention ever Intended such a
proceeding as that. and yet it is legitimate de-
duction from his ruling
THE wording Of section sixteen conyinces me
that il was placed there as clog on the legisla-
tive wheels which had been creased so often that
the machine ran too fast-it differs materially
from the old Cons titution in this il requires the
ayes and nays to be taken on the vote to suspend.
provides tina, the rule shall only be suspended in
cases Of emergency; aud that the reading by sec
tons the final passage shall never be dis
pensed with.
'Our statute books full Of the sort of legs-
lation this section seems intended to guard
against: crude acts only half digested, which
have to be amended or repealed by the next Leg
islature.
Section twenty-one which has received a con-
struction by the supreme court. has the same OBJ
ject in view another branch of legislation
amendments. IL provides that no act shall be
amended BY reference to its title. but the amend
ed act shall be set out. and the supreme court
says the object of this provision that the
legislator. when called on 10 vote, should have
the new and old act before him that he might
judge Of the amendment. And we think section
eighteen was adopted to give him a chance to
see. examine and judge OF every bill before vot
Ing, and that this right cannot be taken from
him except by t~o-thirds Of the whole House.
Section IL. SAYS "tso-thirds of each House
shall constitute quorum Section Is says
two thirds of the House in case Of al emergen-
CT. may suspend the rule requiring bill to be
read on three several days. The Constitution
thus defines quorum TO be only ficO thirds of
House. while il requires two thirds of that same
House. not a quorum to suspend the rule re-