The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1890-02-12

-'@N - SPcNhcA III fAoiuliOu vi tHt
uniform practice of the House for
more than a century, proceeded to
connt members who were present,
but not voting, and declared that
the House had decided to take the
case up. From this decision an APP
peal was taken, and on motion to
lay this appeal on the table the yeas
and nays were taken, and less than
a quorum voted, but the Speaker
again counted members not voting
and decided that the motion was
agreed to, and his ruling thereby
sustained.
THE CONSTITUTION
OF the United States provides that
a majority of each House "shall
constitute quorum to do business,
but a smaller number may adjoun
frein day to day, and may. be au-
thorized to compel the attendance
of absent members in such manner
and under such penalties as each
House may provide. Another
clause of the constitution requires
each House to keep a journal of it's
proceedings, and provides that when
one fifth of the membeIs present
desire it, the yeas and nays shall
be taken on any question and en-
tered on the journal. Since the be-
ginning of the Government under
the constitution, more than a hun
dred years ago, the House of Rep
resentatives and the Senate have
uniformally construed the first
clause of the constitution quoted
above to mean that majoiity of all
the members, elect must be present
and actually participate in the
transaction of business, and that
whenever, upon a call of the yeas
and nays, it appeared from the jour-
nal which is the only official record,
that less than the constitutional QUO
rum has voted on any proposition,
the vote was nullity, and no
further business could be done until
the requisite number appeared and
voted. Every presiding officer in
the Senate and every Speaker of
the House, except the present one,
has held that when less than a
quorum voted on the yeas and nays
no matter how many might be
actually present, it was his duty to
take notice of the fact, and declare
that the pending bill or motion had
not passed. When the vote is not
! taken by yeas and nays it is not
entered upon the journal, but if any
member makes the point that no
quorum has voted, the proceeding
is a nullity, and the vote must be
taken over. The presumption of
tue law is that when nothing ap-
pears to the contrary, the proceed
ing of Legislative body are regular
and valid, and, therefore, when the
official record does not show that
less than quorum voted, or atten-
tion is not called TO the fact in such
a way as to furnish legal evidence
oft, the question cannot be made
afterward. Many bills have been
passed when there was no quorm
voting, and it is equally true that
many have passed when there were
no quorum actually present; but
this does not prove that the pro-
ceeding would have been valid in
either case, if the official record had
shown the fact.
In order to secure certainty and
stability in the administration of
the law, it is u rule in our jurispru.
dence that when particular con-
struction of constitution or a sta
tute has been for long time ac-
quiesced to, not only by those
whose duty it is to execute it but
also by those whose personal and
property rights are affected by it,
the Courts will recognize it as
THE TRUE CONSTRUCTION,
And enforce it accordingly. Even
if this were an original question it
would not be difiicnlt to show that
the practical construction of the
constitution which has prevailed in
the House and Senate for over one
hundred years is the correct one.
Speaker Reed himself when in the
minority on the floor of the House
stated the true meaning and the
true philosophy of the constitution
when he said: "The constitutional
idea of quorum is not the presence
of a majority of all the members of
the House, but a majority of the
members present and participating
in the business of the House. It's
not the visible presence, but their
indOmant and uotaS Which fha oon