MEMBERS OF THE SENATE-FORTY SENATORS.

HON. JOHN M. ESHLEMAN, President. HON. NEWTON W. THOMPSON, President pro tem. EDWIN F. SMITH, Secretary of Senate.

INTRODUCTION.

A rough skeleton of this book was originally prepared for the use of the Assistant Minute Clerks, but it was suggested that it would be of value to the other attaches and to the members of the legislature as well, if put into shape suitable for their use. There has been no thought in undertaking this task to compete with any of the standard works on this subject but to supplement these and bridge a gap which is all too apparent to those who have undertaken to find assistance in this direction.

The chief object has been to visualize or illustrate in concrete form the practical application of the rules of the two houses of the California Legislature with the addition of a few of the more important constitutional provisions. It is also intended to standardize the language of the Journals. Furthermore, all attaches who prepare matter which is to be printed in the Journals, can have a readily available guide. Finally many of the little things which count are gathered together for the assistance of those who undertake the task of bill drafting.

It has been the object to do all of these things as thoroughly and as completely as is possible and in keeping with the traditional parliamentary usages and customs.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA,

February 27, 1915.

CLIFTON E. BROOKS,

Senate Minute Clerk.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

This little book would be very incomplete without an acknowledg ment of the painstaking and kindly assistance of Edwin F. Smith, Secretary of the Senate, whose experience and extensive knowledge of legislative matters has been ever at my disposal.

CLIFTON E. BROOKS.

PREFACE.

Explaining Status of Sections of the Codes Which Prescribe Limitations on the Powers of the Legislature.

It was undoubtedly the intention of the framers of the Constitution that the power of the Legislature should be limited only by the Constitution. This is shown by many instances, but the most patent of these is probably the one which prescribes that the Legislature shall be the sole judge of the election and qualifications of its own members. Under this provision it would be possible for the Legislature to disqualify a member on grounds which would be held insufficient in a court of law, but from such action on the part of the Legislature there would be no appeal.

Consequently, no session of the Legislature can prescribe a limitation on the powers of a subsequent session. In view of this fact, the code provisions affecting subjects which are germane to the work of the Legislature can not be regarded as otherwise than directory even though terms are employed which are distinctly mandatory. In other words, the Legislature, to the extent that it observes provisions of the codes, may be said to do so only by sufferance.

Were this not a fact, it might be possible to question the validity of many of our general laws on account of the omission to have them codified in accordance with the provisions of sections 249 and 250 of the Political Code which are found in sections 208 and 209 of this book. These code provisions are in conflict with the provision of the Constitution that "each house shall determine the rule of its proceeding" and in actual practice are not observed by either house. N. W. THOMPSON,

President pro tem. of Senate, Forty-first Session.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. Journals of Senate and Assembly.

2. Rules of the Senate.

3. Rules of the Assembly.

4. The Joint Rules.

5. Constitution of California.

6. The Political Code.

7. The Penal Code.

8. The Code of Civil Procedure.

9. The Civil Code.

10. Robert's Rules of Order.

11. Jefferson's Manual.

12. Rules of the U. S. House of Representatives.

13. Rules of the U. S. Senate.