2. Order. 798. When the house directs or commands any thing to be done, either by its members, its officers, or others, its will is expressed in the form of an order; thus, it orders that a petition be referred to a committee, that it lie on the table, that it be printed; that a bill be read the first, second, or third time, that it be engrossed, that it be committed or printed; that certain persons attend the house; that a debate be adjourned; that a certain person be taken into custody. When the house orders any thing to be done by itself, or, in other words, forms and declares its intention to do something in the ordinary course of its proceedings, it expresses itself in the form of a resolution; as, that it will resolve itself into a committee of the whole on a given day, or that bill do pass. Resolutions of this kind, must not be confounded with resolutions properly so called. 3. Resolution. 799. When the house expresses any opinion, with reference to any subject before it, either public or private; or its will to do something at a given time, (not incidental to the ordinary course of business); or declares its adoption of general orders relative to its proceedings; in all these cases, it expresses itself in the form of resolutions; thus it resolves upon the sessional and standing orders; that a standing committee be appointed; that the explanation given by a member is satisfactory; that private petitions be not received after a certain time; that it entertains certain opinions; that the thanks of the house be given to certain persons. It is not easy to understand, so as to describe with accuracy, all the occasions on which the one or the other of these terms, ordered or resolved, is most proper.1 Besides, the use of them does not appear to be uniform. In the earlier journals of the house of commons, those, for example, of a hundred and fifty years ago, the word resolved is frequently used, where the word ordered would now be found. Perhaps the distinctions above indicated may be sufficient to suggest the proper use of these terms. It is often very important to 1"When the house commands, it is by the form of resolutions." Jefferson's Manual, an 'order.' But fact, principles, their own § XXI. opinions, and purposes, are expressed in distinguish "orders," on the one hand, and "joint resolutions," on the other, from "resolutions," properly so called, as the different classes of papers are ordinarily subject to different rules of proceeding.1 800. It is a common course of proceeding, for the house to agree to certain resolutions, either reported by a committee, or introduced by a member, as the basis of proceedings to be afterwards instituted, in the form of an address, impeachment, or bill; in which case, the practice is to refer the resolutions to a committee for the purpose of being put into the proper form. Resolutions of this description are sometimes made the joint act of both branches, by being first agreed to in one branch, and then sent to the other for its concurrence. 801. Orders or resolutions, by whichever name they may be called, which direct the doing something prospectively by the assembly itself, or that it will, at a given time, do a certain thing, must be carefully distinguished from those which require the doing of a thing by an individual member, even though the execution of the order will have an effect upon the business of the house. In the latter case, when the time arrives, the individual or member upon whom the order is made, proceeds to execute it in the manner therein directed. In the former case, the house must determine, when the time arrives, whether it will then proceed to execute its own intention or not; for no resolution of the house, however stringently expressed, can ever constrain or absolutely bind itself to the doing of a future act. Thus if the house directs the speaker, at a given point of time to adjourn the house,2 on the arrival of the time in question, he pronounces the house adjourned accordingly; but, if the house makes a special order for the consideration of a particular subject at a given time, or assigns a time therefor by resolution, it must, on the arrival of the time, determine, by a question, whether it will then proceed to execute its own intention or not. 4. Address. 802. An address is the form in which the wishes or requests of the two houses, or either of them, are expressed and made known to the executive. In England this form of proceeding is not infre quent; the sovereign being addressed in answer to the royal speech 1 J. of H. 32d Cong. 1st Sess. 679; Cong. 2 Cong. Globe, XIII. 214, 215. Globe, XVII. 281. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES. [PART IV. for copies of papers, and at the commencement of the sessions for other important information,-expressing confidence, or the want of it in ministers, or for the removal of public officers holding their appointment under the crown. In this country, addresses were formerly in frequent use; but at the present day, they are chiefly resorted to, being provided for the purpose, and regulated by the several constitutions, for the removal of judicial officers. LAW AND PRACTICE OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES. PART FIFTH. OF COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF A LEGISLATIVE BODY, AND BETWEEN THEM OR EITHER OF THEM AND OTHER BODIES OR PERSONS. |