the fact, without evidence, that a quorum is not present, will not prevent the reception of the report.-Journal, 1, 35, pp. 814, 822.

When a vote is taken in Committee of the Whole on a motion to lay aside a bill to be reported favorably to the House, and such motion is negatived, the bill is not thereby ordered to be reported adversely, but retains its position on the Calendar and is subject to further debate and amendment.

When a bill or resolution is considered "in the House as in Committee of the Whole," the Speaker does not vacate the chair, as is done when the House decides to go into "Committee of the Whole" (see clause 1, RULE XXIII), and the rules and practice of the House govern and control as ordinarily. Practically such an order has all the effect of a "special order," and the "five-minute rule," as provided in clause 5 of RULE XXIII, does not apply unless it is so conditioned when the order is made. (Record, 2, 44, p. 1321.) Motions for the previous question, to reconsider, and to lay on the table are in order, as is the demand for the yeas and nays, and in short, under recent rulings, it may be said that the bill is merely taken out of the Committee of the Whole, and that such orders are to all intents and purposes "special orders."

COMMON PARLIAMENTARY LAW.

(See PARLIAMENTARY LAW.)

COMPENSATION.

"Representatives shall receive a compensation for their serv ices, to be ascertained by law and paid out of the Treasury of the United States."-Const., 1, 6, 1–5.

By the act of July 28, 1866, Sess. Laws, pp. 333 and 344, it is provided that the compensation of each Senator, Representative, and Delegate in Congress shall be five thousand dollars per annum, to be computed from the first day of the present Congress, and, in addition thereto, mileage at the rate of twenty cents per mile, to be estimated by the nearest route usually traveled in going to and returning from each regular session; but nothing herein contained shall affect mileage accounts al

ready accrued under existing laws: Provided, That hereafter mileage accounts of Senators shall be certified by the President of the Senate, and those of Representatives and Delegates by the Speaker of the House of Representatives: And provided further, That the pay of the Speaker shall be eight thousand dollars per annum.

The foregoing act was revived by the act of January 20, 1874, repealing the increase of salaries of members, etc.-Sess. Laws, 1, 43, p. 4.

Hereafter Representatives and Delegates elect to Congress whose credentials in due form of law have been duly filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives in accordance with the provisions of section thirty-one, may receive their compensation monthly from the beginning of their term until the beginning of the first session of each Congress, upon a certificate in the form now in use, to be signed by the Clerk of the House, which certificate shall have the like force and effect as is given to the certificate of the Speaker under existing laws.-R. S., sec. 38, and Laws, 2, 43, p. 316.

Each Member and Delegate, after he has taken and subscribed the required oath, is entitled to receive his salary at the end of each month.-R. S., sec. 39.

Deduction of, for absence.-R. S., sec. 40.

Deduction for withdrawal from seat.-R. S., sec. 41.

Deductions for books.-R. S., sec. 43.

The compensation of Members and Delegates shall be passed as public accounts, and paid out of the public Treasury.-R. S., sec. 46.

The salary and accounts for traveling expenses in going to and returning from Congress of Senators shall be certified by the President of the Senate, and those of Representatives and Delegates by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.R. S., sec. 47.

The certificate given pursuant to the preceding section shall be conclusive upon all the departments and officers of the Government.-R. S., sec. 48.

When any person who has been elected a Member of or Delegate in Congress dies after the commencement of the Congress to which he has been elected, his salary shall be computed and

paid to his widow, or, if no widow survive him, to his heirs at law, for the period that has elapsed from the commencement of such Congress or from the last payment received by him to the time of his death, at the rate of $5,000 a year, with any traveling expenses remaining due for actually going to or returning from any session of Congress.-R. S., sec. 49, and Laws, 1, 43, p. 4.

Salaries allowed under the preceding section shall be computed and paid, in all cases, for a period of not less than three months from the commencement of the Congress.-R. S., sec. 50.

Whenever a vacancy occurs in either house of Congress, by death or otherwise, of any Member or Delegate elected or appointed thereto after the commencement of the Congress to which he has been elected or appointed, the person elected or appointed to fill it shall be compensated and paid from the time that the compensation of his predecessor ceased.-R. S., sec. 51.

Whenever any appropriation made for the payment of the salaries of Senators, Members, and Delegates in Congress, or the officers and employés of both or either of the houses thereof, or for the expenses of the same, or any committees thereof, can not be lawfully disbursed by or through the officers specially charged with such disbursements, such disbursements may be made for the purposes named in said appropriations by the Treasurer of the United States, who shall take proper vouchers therefor and charge such disbursements against such appropriations; and the accounts therefor shall be audited and passed or rejected, as the law may require, in the same manner that similar accounts are or may be required by law to be audited and passed or rejected.-Sess. Laws, 1, 47, p. 108, act of June 22, 1882.

CONCURRENCE.

[The question which first arises on a resolution, amendment, or conference report is on concurrence. And as the negative of concurrence amounts to the affirmative of nou-concurrence, no question is afterward put on the latter motion. This, however, does not apply in the Committee of the Whole to a negative vote on a motion to lay aside a bill to be reported favor

ably to the House. In such case the bill is not to be reported adversely to the House, but retains its place on the Calendar and is subject to further debate, amendment, and motion.]

CONFERENCE COMMITTEES.

In the earlier periods of parliamentary history conferences between the two houses of the British Parliament were of frequent, indeed of almost daily, occurrence, and were attended with the greatest ceremony, and from the time of James I to that of George I the journals are filled with precedents. Since the latter period, however, a great variety of causes have contributed to render this mode of proceeding cumbersome and unnecessary, the principal one being the greater publicity, through full stenographic reports of proceedings, and the press, of the proceedings of Parliament.

In the earlier Congresses the English precedents were largely followed, but of late years, mainly through the instrumentalities of amended and revised codes of rules, the practice with respect to conferences has been radically changed. The distinctions, still preserved in the British Parliament, between a "conference" and a "free conference" have long since ceased to exist, and while the conferences between the two Houses of Congress mostly relate to "amendments between the two houses," they are frequently held on other questions; as, for instance, on the origination of revenue bills by the Senate, and the like.

There are numerous instances of one house passing a bill of the other, with amendments, and at the same time asking for a conference with the other house thereon. Until the 1st session 49th Congress there was no instance on record of a refusal on the part of either house to grant a conference requested by the other. In that case it was decided by Speaker Carlisle that in the absence of joint rules on the subject it was competent for the House to refer the request of the Senate to a committee, and that where a conference was asked by the Senate on its amendments to a bill of the House there must be a disagreement by the House upon said amendments before said request could be considered as a privileged question.-Journal, 1, 49, p. 2293. He also decided (1, 49, p. 2457) that in the case

of a Senate bill passed by the House, with amendments to which the Senate disagreed and asked a conference thereon, the bill had reached the stage of actual disagreement between the two houses, and held that a motion to insist on the House amendments and agree to the conference asked was a priv ileged motion. Under the long established practice of both houses, all questions relating to existing or proposed conferences are held to be highly privileged, and it is probable that conferences will keep pace with the steady growth of Congressional representation and legislation. For this reason, and also the further reason that there are no joint rules regulating conferences, additional precedents touching this subject are added to those of former editions.

[Until the adoption of RULE XXIX in the revision of the rules (2d session 46th Congress) there was no rule of the House in regard to conference reports, although under the practice they were classed as "privileged questions."]

"It is on the occasion of amendments between the houses that conferences are usually asked; but they may be asked in all cases of difference of opinion between the two houses on matters depending between them."-Manual, p. 175. [A conference committee, under the usage, consists of three members of the Senate and three members of the House. There is no rule of the House (or Senate) fixing the number of conferres or prescribing the manner of their appointment. In the House the Speaker appoints as a matter of practice, and in the Senate an order is specifically made that the presiding officer shall appoint them. The report of a conference committee must be signed by a majority of the members of each house composing the said committee, and in the House must be accompanied by a" detailed statement" explanatory thereof, as required by RULE XXIX, which see.]

A committee of conference is not a heterogeneous body acting as one committee, but two committees, each of which acts by a majority.-Journal, 1, 30, p. 1283; 15 Cong. Globe, 1179.

The usual course of proceeding previous to a conference is for one house to disagree to the other's amendment, and for the amending house to insist up its amendment and ask a conference.-Journal, 1, 35, pp. 711, 933, 1062. But it some