Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/658

 638 BILL nicate their assent to the commons, and unless it be a supply bill it remains with the upper house. If the lords reject the bill, it fails to become a law ; and if they amend it, they send it with their amendments to the commons, who if they accept them signify their concur- rence to the upper house, or if not they may ask a conference on the bill. When the two houses have finally agreed upon a bill, it is de- posited with the lords to receive the royal as- sent, though if it is a supply bill it remains with or is sent to the commons. Substantially the same course of proceeding here detailed is followed in the case of a public bill which originates with the lords. With reference to private bills the procedure is in some respects different, especially in the earlier stages. By certain standing orders bills relating to local improvements or to public works like railways, involving condemnation of lands and other property, or to municipal regulations, cannot be introduced except on petitions which have been for a certain period deposited in the pri- vate bill office, and after certain notices have been given to persons whose interests are to be affected. Officers called examiners inquire in- to and report upon the regularity of these pre- liminary proceedings before the promoters of such a bill can introduce it. The bill is after its introduction referred to a special com- mittee, who inquire farther into the merits of the proposed enactment. Petitions against the bill may be presented, and the remonstrants and petitioners are heard by the committee, who report the results to the house at different stages of the bill. The course of proceeding upon bills in our legislative assemblies is very similar to that observed in the British parlia- ment, upon the practice and usages of which indeed our parliamentary law is modelled. In our legislatures hills are presented without any special formality. A member who wishes to introduce one, whether reported by a com- mittee or otherwise, makes a suggestion to that effect in the house, and the bill is received if no objection is made. In congress one day's no- tice of the presentment of the bill must be given. Bills which have originated in one house are presented by it to the other by mes- sage. By an old rule of congress it is declared that the first reading of a bill is for informa- tion, and if opposition be made to it the ques- tion is put whether the bill shall be rejected ; if that is decided in the negative, or if there is no opposition to the reception of the bill, it goes to a second reading. The second reading usually takes place at some later day than that of the first reading, but in cases of urgency not only both these readings but all the pro- ceedings on the bill may take place on the same day. The second reading is the most impor- tant stage. The principles and merits of the bill are then thoroughly discussed. Then fol- lows the commitment, public bills being refer- red to the committee of the whole house and private bills being sent to special committees. The object of the commitment is to put the bill into the form which will effectuate its ob- ject. In this stage it receives amendments or additions, amendments being changes in the matter of the bill as it is proposed, and ad- ditions being substantive interpolations in the form of qualifying or restrictive clauses, such as provisos. The report of the committee either approves the bill as it is proposed, or re- turns it with such amendments or additions ; and it is presented to the house by its chair- man. The next proceeding is engrossment of the bill preparatory to the third reading. The engrossment of bills has been discontinued in the British parliament since 1849, but it is still practised in congress and in many of our states. The proceedings in committee of the whole house and on the third reading are substantially like those in the English parlia- ment. In some of the states it is ordered by constitutional provisions that the bill be read three times, and in others that the readings be on three different days before it can become a law, though in some instances this requirement may be dispensed with by a vote of a certain proportion of the members of the legislature. It has been mentioned that money bills in England must originate in the house of commons. A provision of a similar character, requiring such bills to proceed from the lower or popular branch of the legislature, exists in the constitution of the United States, and in many of our state constitutions ; but it does not exist in those of New York, Connecti- cut, Illinois, Michigan, California, and several others. The practice in this country with ref- erence to bills after they have passed both houses is regulated by the rules of these bodies in the several states. The practice in congress, which is followed in many of the states substan- tially, is governed by a rule adopted in 1794. After passing both houses the bill is engrossed on parchment, then certified by the clerk of the house in which it originated, and then deliv- ered to the committee on enrolled bills for ex- amination. Enrolled bills after their examina- tion are signed by the speaker of the house and by the president of the senate, and entered on the journal of each house. The committee then presents the bill to the executive for his approval. There is ordinarily no time pre- scribed in which the bill is to be presented to the executive, and it may be immediately upon the passage of the bill and before the close of the session. If the executive does not approve the bill, he is required to return it with his ob- jections to the house in which it originated within a certain number of days, and if it is not returned within that time it becomes a law as if he had signed it, though in some of the states it is provided that the omission on the part of the executive shall not render the bill a law if the house adjourns within a certain period after the bill is sent to him. The period within which the executive must sign the bill varies in the different states. In many it is