Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

respective Houses for and against the amendment, and confer freely thereon.

2d. Messages shall be sent by a clerk.

3d. When a messenger shall be sent from the Senate to the House of Representatives, he shall be announced at the door of the House by the door-keeper, and he shall respectfully communicate his message to the chair.

4th. The same ceremonies shall be observed when a messenger is sent from the House of Representatives to the Senate.

5th. All bills on passage between the two Houses shall be under the signature of the clerk.

6th. Bills shall be enrolled by the clerk of the House, or the clerk of the Senate, as the same may have originated in the one or the other House.

7th. The Committee of Enrollment, on Finance, on Banks, and on the Penitentiary, of both Houses, shall be joint committees.

8th. After examination and report, bills shall be signed first by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and then by the Speaker of the Senate.

9th. When a bill or resolution passed in one House is rejected in the other, notice thereof shall be given to the House in which it passed. 10th. Each House shall transmit to the other all papers upon which any bill or resolution shall be founded.

11th. All bills which may have passed a third time, shall be engrossed in a fair hand and certified by the clerk of the House in which they may have originated before being sent to the other.

Mr. Brown moved to amend the 44th rule by adding thereto the words, "If however, a member wishes to speak who has not before spoken upon the question under consideration, in that event it should only be admitted when demanded by two thirds of the members present."

Mr. Coe moved to lay the amendment on the table indefinitely, and thereupon the question was read, "Will the Senate lay the said amendment indefinitely on the table," and determined in the affirmative-ayes 13, noes 12.

The ayes and noes being demanded constitutionally by Mr. Brown, the affirmative voters were,

Messrs. Aiken, Balch, Coe, Hardwicke, Jones of Hickman, Jones of Lincoln, Laughlin, Smith, Turney, Warner, Wheeler, Yoakum and Mr. Speaker Love-13.

Those who voted in the negative were,

Messrs. Anderson, Ashe, Brown, Frey, Gaines, Gillespy, Jennings, Marshall, Reneau, Sevier, Terry and Walton-12.

And so said amendment was rejected. The question then recurred upon a concurrence with the report, and the sense of the Senate being thereon had, the said reported rules were adopted.

Mr. Brown asked and obtained leave to enter his protest upon the Journals of the Senate, against the adoption of the said 44th rule without the amendment offered by him.

"A Bill to authorize James Vaughn and James Ghornley to open and keep up a Turnpike Road," was read a second time and passed.

Mr. Yoakum from the Select Committee to contract for stationery and fuel, reported that the committee had contracted with Mr. T. Berry of Nashville, for stationery of the following description, and the following prices: Engrossing paper, fine,

do

do ruled,

[blocks in formation]

Rer ream, $6 50

7.00

[graphic]
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The Committee believe the above prices reasonable, and respectfully

ask a concurrence and the sense of the Senate being thereon taken,

the said report was concurred with.

And then the Senate adjourned.

FRIDAY MORNING, Oct. 11, 1839. Mr. Gillespy presented the petition of John T. Wilson and Allen Jones, in relation to a turnpike road from Telico Plains to the top of Unica mountain-which was ordered to the table.

Mr. Frey, from the joint select committee to whom was referred alt proposals for the execution of the job-printing for both Houses of the present General Assembly, Reported, that the committee have had the subject matter under consideration, and had instructed him to report that there were but two proposals made, one by Joel M. Smith, and one by S. Nye & Co. which were precisely the same in substance, and are as follows, to wit:

For composition for 1000 ems, for the first hundred copies of close work, $1 12 cents. For every one hundred copies thereafter, not charge for composition. It is expected, however, that every order will embrace the full number wanted; otherwise, or if the type has been distributed previous to the second order, the same charge will be made as at first charged. Open work, as per specimen exhibited, containing 3000 ems; and the composition will be executed at $1 12 per 1000 ems, which is $3 37 per page for any number of copies; press work $1 124 per token. For paper ten per cent will be added to first cost for waste.

The binder's bill for binding and stitching and folding will be added. Rule and figure work in composition will always be charged double price.

They have further instructed me to report the following;

Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the proposals of Joel M. Smith to cxecute the job-printing of the Senate and House of Representatives jointly, be accepted, and that he be authorised to execute the job-printing jointly, for both Houses, during the present session, upon the terms set forth in this report; and also, that the said Joel M. Smith be required to enter into bond and security for the faithful performance of his duty in the sum of five thousand dollars said security to be approved of according to law. All of which is respectfully submitted.

H. FREY, Chairman.

In lieu of which, the following was submitted by the minority of the committee, to wit:

The undersigned, a minority of the select committee to whom was referred proposals for printing the acts and journals, and proposals for job-printing of the present General Assembly, having had so much under consideration as relates to job-printing, dissent from the report of the majority, recommending a contract with Joel M. Smith. Propositions to execute the job-printing of both Houses were made by Messrs S. Nye & Co. and Mr. Joel M. Smith, offering to do the work at the same prices precisely. The minority being unwilling to discriminate between two firms when their terms are the same and their claims are equal, and believing that the printing would be done with greater dispatch by dividing it between the two applicants, recommend the adoption of the following resolution in lieu of the one recommended by a majority of the committee:

Resolved, That S. Nye & Co. and Joel M. Smith be jointly employed to execute the job-printing of the present General Assembly, agreeably to the requisitions of the law and the terms specified in their proposals, and that the Secretary of State be directed to take their bond in the sum of five thousand dollars, with such security as he may think sufficient for the faithful performance of the duties required. H. FREY,

J. STOKES,

L. P. WILLIAMSON.

And thereupon the question was had-Will the Senate adopt the resolution and report of the minority? and determined in the negative, ayes 11, noes 14.

The ayes and noes being demanded by Mr. Frey, the affirmative

voters were,

Messrs. Anderson, Ashe, Brown, Frey, Gaines, Jennings, Marshall, Reneau, Sevier, Terry and Walton-11.

The negative voters were,

Messrs. Love, Aiken, Balch, Coe, Gillespy, Hardwicke, Jones of Hickman, Jones of Lincoln, Laughlin, Smith, Turney, Wheeler, Warner and Yoakum—14.

And so said report and resolution were rejected. The question then recurred upon a concurrence with the report of the majority of the committee, and the sense of the Senate being thereon had, the said report was concurred with.

[ocr errors]

A Bill to authorize James Vaughn and James Ghormley to open and keep up a turnpike road, was taken up, read, and on motion of Mr. Jones of Hickman, ordered to the table.

Mr. Gillespy introduced

A Bill for the benefit of James Vaughn of Monroe county, which was read a first time and passed.

Mr. Turney submitted the following:

Resolved, That when this General Assembly shall adjourn at the close of the present session, it shall adjourn to meet and hold its session at M'Minnville, in the county of Warren.

On motion of Mr. Laughlin, the report of the Comptroller of the State was taken up, and

On motion of Mr. Anderson twenty-five hundred copies were ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

Mr. Gillespy returned, with an amendment,

A Bill to repeal part of an act passed in 1762, in relation to apprentices, which being read. was on motion of Mr. Jones of Hickman, ordered to the table.

On motion of Mr. Yoakum,

Ordered, That twenty-five hundred copies of the Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction be printed for the use of the Sen

ate.

Mr. Wheeler's resolution of yesterday, directory to his Excellency Newton Cannon, was taken up, read and adopted."

A message

Clerk:

from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Crockett, their

Mr. Speaker: The House of Representatives have adopted a resolution appointing a joint select committee to wait on James K. Polk, and inform him of his election to the office of Governor of the State of Tennessee, and of the will of the General Assembly to qualify him on Monday next at 11 o'clock, a. m., and have appointed Messrs. Glenn, Johnson of Greene, Jacobs, Fain and Gaines to be of said committee on their part, in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate.

And then he withdrew. Whereupon the said message was read and concurred with.

The Speaker appointed Messrs. Aiken, Smith and Coe to be of said committee on the part of the Senate.

Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the House of Representatives therewith.

Mr. Brown asked and obtained leave to enter upon the Journals the following, to wit:

The dissent and protest of H. H. Brown, of Perry, to the adoption of the Rule in the Senate, that a call for the Previous Question shall be seconded by a bare majority:

H. H. Brown of Perry, does most solemnly dissent from, and protest against the adoption of the rule, that a call for the previous question shall be sustained by the vote of a bare majority-or in other words, that a bare majority shall be authorized to force a vote upon questions of the most importance to the country, without information, however

much needed-without modification, however desirable, and without debate, however doubtful.

He feels it his imperative duty, as a servant of the people, to record his reasons in solemn form.

He protests, because the rule is based on these false principles-that force in legislation is better than reason and justice-that secrecy is better than publicity-that prejudice may be better than wisdom, and that party is better than country, because it deprives the Senate from being a deliberative body, and is opposed to the spirit of all free constitutions because it is opposed to the influence of the people over their Representatives--to the right of instruction, and the right of petition, in not suffering their wishes, instructtons or petitions to be heard or even known. Because its tendency is to withhold from the people all knowledge of the acts of their servants, and to conceal from them all abuses in the public business, and to palm upon the people, without notice, the most ruinous and profligate measures-because it assumes for true, the most detestable claim of tyranny, that the strong, without any other reason, has a right to rule the weak, and there is no security against abuse--because it is opposed to freedom of debate and liberty of speech, and is a gag upon the people's representatives, whose business and duty it is to speak for the people, and in defence of their rights and privileges, and because he apprehends that the rules may be enfor ced, and the evils consequent thereon will fall on the people.

He further protests, because the adoption of the rule operates as a most objectionable alteration of the rule as adopted by the Senate in 1837, which required a majority of two-thirds to sustain a call for the Previous Question.

And thereupon the Senate adjourned.

SATURDAY MORNING, Oct. 12, 1839. Mr. Terry, from the Joint Select Committee appointed to draft rules for the government of the intercourse between the two Branches of the General Assembly, reported that the committee had instructed him to report the following rules, and ask their adoption:

JOINT RULES OF THE TWO HOUSES.

1st. In every case of amendment of a Bill agreed tor one House, and dissented to in the other, if either House shall request upon a conference, and appoint a committee for that purpose, and the other House shall also appoint a committee, such committees shall, at a convenient hour to be named by their Chairman, meet in conference and state to each other verbally, or in writing, as either shall choose, the reasons of their respective Houses, for and against the amendment, and confer freely thereon.

2nd. Messages shall be sent by a clerk.

3rd. When a messenger shall be sent from the Senate to the House of Representatives, he shall be announced at the door of the House by

D

« AnteriorContinuar »