election contest, he shall file with the clerk of the Committee on Elections a full and detailed account of his expenses, accompanied by the vouchers and the receipt for each item, which account and vouchers shall be sworn to by the parties presenting the same, and no charges for witness fees shall be allowed in said account unless made in strict conformity to section one hundred and twenty-eight, Revised Statutes of the United States, 20 Stat. L., p. 400.

The compensation of officers and employés of the House as fixed by law or resolution is paid by the Clerk by warrant on the Treasurer of the United States.

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 nonconcurrence, i. e., disagreement, no question is afterward put on the latter motion.

The House may concur in some of the Senate amendments and disagree to others, or it may concur in an amendment with an amendment thereto. In the latter event the vote must first be taken on concurring in the amendment with the proposed amendment thereto, for if the vote be first taken on concurrence, however the question be decided, the action would be final, and the vote on the proposed amendment to the amendment would be precluded.

A motion to refer Senate amendments to a committee takes precedence over the motion to concur, for, otherwise, the refusal to concur being equivalent to nonconcurrence, the matter would in either event be concluded and the House precluded from committing the subject should it so desire.-Record, 1, 48, p. 3942.

Senate amendments to House bills which require consideration in the Committee of the Whole must be referred in the first instance to a standing or select committee of the House pursuant to Rule XI; but amendments of the Senate which do not require consideration in Committee of the Whole may be immediately acted on when laid before the House, and may be concurred in, disagreed to, or concurred in with amendments,

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as the House may desire.-Journal, 2, 52, pp. 68, 79; Record, 2, 52, pp. 1150–1153; Journal, 1, 51, pp. 770-772.

A Senate amendment being before the House generally, the the question would arise on concurrence even without a motion therefor, and if a demand for the previous question were enter tained and the previous question ordered, the motion to amend would be cut off and the House brought to a direct vote on the Senate amendment. If, however, the previous question be not first demanded on concurring, the motion to amend would take precedence of the question of concurrence.

(See Amendments between the two Houses.)

CONFERENCE COMMITTEES.

The presentation of reports of committees of conference shall always be in order, except when the Journal is being read, while the roll is being called, or the House is dividing on any proposi tion. And there shall accompany every such report a detailed statement sufficiently explicit to inform the House what effect such amendments or propositions will have upon the measures to which they relate.-Rule XXIX.

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; but on the occasion of measures of unusual importance a greater number of conferees is sometimes appointed by each House.—Journals, 2, 47, p. 521; 1, 51, p. 1047; 2, 53, p. 470.

A committee of conference is practically two distinct committees, each of which acts by a majority.-Journal, 1, 30, p. 1283; 15 rol. 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 upon its amendment and ask a conference.-Journals, 1, 35, pp. 711,933, 1062. But it sometimes happens, near the close of the session, that one House disagrees to the other's amendment and thereupon asks a conference.-Journals, 1, 3, pp. 221, 222; 2, 35, p. 564. (See Senate

Journal, 2, 42, p. 850, H. R. 1; Ibid., p. 1003, H. R. 2705; and 3, 45, p. 433, H. R. 6471. See also proceedings in the Senate, H. R. 2228, 1, 48, Record, vol. 67, pp. 3974, 3975, 3976, and 1098, 4099, 1004, and 4101.) A conference sometimes takes place after one House has adhered.-Journals, 1, 3, pp. 281, 283; 2, 3, p. 251; 1, 34, pp. 1600, 1602; 1, 35, pp. 604, 615, 620; Senate Journal, January 20, 1834; Manual, p. 176.

In the ordinary parliamentary course there are two free conferences at least before an adherence. There are sometimes three and even four conferences before a matter of difference is disposed of.-Journals, 1, 31, pp. 913, 1600; 1, 35, p. 1136.

A report on Senate amendments does not present a privileged question until there has been a disagreement by the House to such amendments, even though the Senate has requested a conference thereon.-Record, 1, 49, p.,7333.

In the case of disagreeing votes between the two Houses, the House may either recede, insist and ask a conference, or adhere, and motions for such purposes take precedence in that order. (See Manual, p. 161; Journals, 1, 23, p. 229; 1, 34, pp. 1516, 1518.)

Even though the previous question may be pending on a motion to insist or to adhere, a motion to recede, which removes the disagreement between the Houses and passes the bill, may be made, but in such case is not debatable.

A member of a conference committee who may be absent on the business of the committee is, according to the practice, understood to be absent by leave of the House.

Where a conference committee is unable to agree, that fact is reported, and another committee is usually asked for and appointed. Journals, 1, 31, p. 1681; 1, 34, pp. 838, 919, 1516, 1518; 3, 34, p. 663; 1, 35, p. 1118.

So, too, when a report is disagreed to, another conference usually takes place.-Journals, 2, 27, p. 1248; 3, 34, pp. 653, 655; 1, 35, pp. 1105, 1106.

The proceedings when there has been a disagreement between the two branches of a legislative body are different in many respects from the proceedings in other cases. The paramount object of all such proceedings is to bring the two branches to an agreement. Therefore, either may, without reconsidering previous votes, take action in a directly opposite direction. For

instance, the House may refuse to concur in an amendment and afterward insist again and again upon its disagreement to the amendment, and yet it may ultimately, without reconsidering any of these votes, recede absolutely from its disagreement, or recede from it with an amendment, as its judgment may dictate. And while it is competent under the recent practice of the House to instruct conference committees, still the House in that case, as in the other, may ultimately recede from its disagreement to the very amendment in regard to which it had instructed its conferees to insist on a disagreement; and that may be done with or without a conference report upon the subject. The whole effect of the conference report in such a case is to bring the matter again directly before the body for its consideration and action, and does not bind the House at all. The House may refuse to agree to it, in which case the whole subject is again open; and the House may absolutely recede from its disagreement to the Senate amendment, or recede and agree thereto with an amendment.-Record, 1, 49, p. 7826.

The House having disagreed to amendments of the Senate to a House bill, and a conference on the disagreeing votes having been ordered, it is competent for the House, pending the conference, to discharge its conferees from further consid eration of the bill and amendments and recede from its disagreement to such amendments.-(Tariff bill, August 13, 1894;) Journal, 2, 53, pp. 563, 561.

The request for a conference must always be by the House which is possessed of the papers.-Manual, p. 176.

In all cases of conference asked after a vote of disagreement, etc., the conferees of the House asking it are to leave the papers with the conferees of the other.-Manual, p. 177.

When a conference committee makes a report the effect is to dissolve the committee.-Record, 2, 49, p. 880.

When a committee of conference reports a disagreement a resolution to insist and ask a further conference is in order immediately after such report is read.-Journal, 1, 52, p. 230.

A committee of conference having reported a disagreement, a motion that the House insist, etc., and ask a further conference presents a privileged question.-Journal, 1, 52, p. 229.

When there has been a disagreement of a conference com

mittee a further conference may be asked by either House, but the papers must be in the possession of the House asking the conference at the time the motion or resolution to that effect is presented for consideration.-Journal, 1, 52, p. 229.

REPORTS OF CONFERENCE COMMITTEES.

The presentation of reports of committees of conference shall always be in order, except when the Journal is being read, while the roll is being called, or the House is dividing on any proposition. And there shall accompany every such report a detailed statement sufficiently explicit to inform the House what effect such amendments or propositions will have upon the measures to which they relate.-Rule XXIX.

Under the practice reports of conference committees may be received at any time (except when the rules are suspended), even during the pendency of a motion to adjourn, and may interrupt a Member who is on the floor speaking.

A conference report takes precedence of a privileged question.-Journal, 1, 51, p. 1082.

The report of a conference committee must be signed by a majority of the Members of each House composing the said committee.

The report of a committee of conference can not be amended or altered as that of another committee may be.-Manual, p. 176; Journal Senate, May 24, 1796.

The committee may report agreement as to some of the matters of difference, but inability to agree as to others.-Journal, 1,29, p. 1302. In such a case, if the conference report is agreed to, the amendments undisposed of may be concurred in or disagreed to, or a further conference may be asked thereon.

A motion to recommit a conference report is not in order, for the reason that making a report has the effect of dissolving the committee; also for the reason that such reports are not subject to the rules governing ordinary proceedings, the only question in order, upon its presentation, being on agreeing to the report. Record, 2, 49, p. 880.

If the committee of conference should embrace in its report to the House an agreement upon some proposition which would not have been in order in the House originally, a point of order could not be made against it. No point of order can be made