IX.

THE PENDING AND PREVIOUS QUESTIONS.

48. Upon a motion for the pending question, seconded by a majority of the senators present, indicated by rising or by a recorded vote, the President shall immediately put the pending question; and all incidental questions of order arising after a motion for the pending question is made, and pending such motion, shall be decided, whether on appeal or otherwise, without debate.

49. Upon a motion for the previous question, seconded by a majority of senators present, indicated by rising or by a recorded vote, the President shall immediately put the question, first upon amendments in the order prescribed in the rules, and then upon the main question. If the previous question be not ordered, debate may continue as if the motion had not been made.

X.

TAKING THE VOTE.

50. Every senator present, when any question is put or vote taken, shall vote or be counted as voting on one side or the other; but no senator shall vote on a question in the event of which he is immediately or personally interested.

51. Every question shall be first put in the affirmative, and then in the negative, and the President shall declare whether the yeas or nays have it; which declaration shall stand as the judgment of the Senate, unless a senator call for a division, in which event the President shall divide the Senate.

52. When the yeas and nays are ordered, or a call of the Senate is directed, the names of the senators shall be called in alphabetical order.

53. No senator shall be allowed to vote unless he be present within the chamber at the time the Senate is being divided, or before a determination of the question upon a call of the roll.

XI.

DEBATE.

54. When any member is about to speak in debate or deliver any matter to the Senate, he shall arise from his seat, and, without advancing, with due respect, address “MR. PRESIDENT," confining himself strictly to the point in debate, and avoiding all disrespectful language.

55. No member shall speak more than twice on the same subject, without leave of the Senate; nor more than once until every member choosing to speak shall have spoken.

56. No question shall be debated until it has been propounded by the President, and then the mover shall have a right to explain his views in preference to

any senator.

57. When the President is putting a question, any senator who has not spoken before to the matter may speak to the question before the negative is put.

58. During any debate, any senator, though he has spoken to the matter, may rise and speak to the orders of the Senate if they be transgressed, in case the President do not; but if the President stand up at any time, he is first to be heard, and while he is up senators must keep their seats.

59. No senator shall be allowed to be interrupted while speaking, except on points of order, to correct erroneous statements, or to answer any questions that may be propounded by the senator speaking.

60. Motions to adjourn; lay on the table; for the pending question; for the previous question; to suspend the rules; to take from the table: to take up orders of the day; to close debate; to limit debate: to extend limit of debate; to read papers; to reconsider questions not debatable, shall not be debated; but upon a motion to suspend a rule, or to take from the table, to lay on the table, or to take up orders of the day, the mover shall be allowed five minutes to state the reasons for his motion, and one member opposed to the motion shall be

allowed a like time to object. And when a question not debatable is before the Senate, all incidental questions arising after it is stated shall be decided and settled, whether on appeal or otherwise, without debate; and the same rule shall apply to all incidental questions arising after any question is put to the house.

XII.

RECONSIDERATION.

61. A question being once determined must stand as the judgment of the Senate, and cannot during the same session be drawn again into debate. No motion to reconsider a question which has been decided shall be entertained, unless it be made by a senator voting with the prevailing side, nor unless made on the same day on which the vote was taken or within the two next days of actual session of the Senate thereafter: provided, however, that when any question is decided in the negative simply for the want of a majority of the whole Senate, any senator who was absent from the city of Richmond or detained from his seat by sickness at the time of the vote sought to be reconsidered may move its reconsideration.

XIII.

PETITIONS.

62. No petition of a private nature, having been once rejected, shall be acted on a second time, unless it be supported by new evidence; nor shall any such petition, after a third disallowance, be again acted on. The several clerks of committees shall keep alphabetical lists of all such petitions, specifying the session at which they were presented and the determination of the Senate thereon, and shall deliver the original petition to the Clerk of the Senate, to be preserved in his office.

63. No petition shall be received claiming a sum of money or praying the settlement of unliquidated accounts, unless it be accompanied with the certificate of disallowance from the Executive or Auditor containing the reason why it was rejected. But this order shall extend to no person applying for a pension.

64. When any such petition, or bill founded on one, is rejected, such petition shall not be withdrawn; but the petitioner, or senator presenting his petition, or any senator from the county or corporation in which the petitioner resides, may, without leave, withdraw any document filed therewith, and a list of all documents so withdrawn shall be preserved by the Clerk. All petitions not finally acted on may, with the accompanying documents, be in like manner withdrawn after the expiration of the session at which they were presented.

65. No petition shall be read in the Senate unless particularly requested by some senator; but every senator presenting one shall announce the name of the petitioner, nature of the application, and whether, in his opinion, a similar application had been before made by said petitioner. He shall also endorse on the petition his own name as a pledge that it is drawn in respectful language; whereupon it shall be delivered to the Clerk, by whom it shall be laid before the proper committee.

XIV.

MANUAL AND RULES.

66. The rules of the Senate shall not be suspended except by a vote of twothirds of the senators present, except that when a motion is made to discharge a committee of the Senate from the consideration of any measure referred to it, a majority of the senators-elect shall be sufficient to discharge such committee, to be ascertained by an actual division of the Senate.

XV.

CONSTRUCTION OF RULES.

67. In the construction of the foregoing rules, reference shall first be had to Jefferson's Manual and the Digest of the rules of the Congress of the United States.

The PRESIDENT announced that the next business in order was the election of officers of the Senate; whereupon,

Mr. McILWAINE nominated as President pro tempore of the Senate HENRY T. WICKHAM.

There being no further nomination, the roll was then called, with the following result:

For Henry T. Wickham,

37

The Senators who voted for H. T. WICKHAM are-Messrs. Anderson, Barksdale, Bruce, Bryant, Byars, Chapman, Claytor, Cogbill, Cromwell, Dinwiddie, Donohoe, Ford, Garrett, Glass, Gold, Harman, Harvey, Hutcheson, Hobbs, Keezell, LeCato, Lupton, Mann, Massie, McIlwaine, Moon, Opie, Revercomb, Sale, Sears, Shackleford, Shands, St. Clair, Tyler, Walker, Wallace, and Watkins-37.

Mr. WICKHAM having received all of the votes cast, was declared duly elected President pro tempore of the Senate.

The next business in order being the election of Clerk of the Senate, Mr. WICKHAM nominated for that office Joseph Button, of Appomattox county.

There being no further nomination, the roll was called, with the following result:

For Joseph Button,

39

The Senators who voted for JOSEPH BUTTON are-Messrs. Anderson, Barksdale, Bruce, Bryant, Byars, Chapman, Claytor, Cogbill, Cromwell, Dinwiddie, Donohoe, Ford, Garrett, Glass, Gold, Harman, Harvey, Hutcheson, Hobbs, Keezell, LeCato, Lupton, Lyle, Mann, Massie, Mellwaine, Moon, Opie, Revercomb, Sale, Sears, Shackleford, Shands, St. Clair, Tyler, Walker, Wallace, Watkins, and Wickham

39.

Joseph Button having received all of the votes cast, was declared duly elected Clerk of the Senate for the ensuing term.

The next business in order being the election of the Sergeant-atArms of the Senate, Mr. BARKSDALE nominated for that office F. B. Watkins, of Charlotte county.

There being no further nomination, the roll was called, with the following result:

For F. B. Watkins,

39

The Senators who voted for F. B. WATKINS are-Messrs. Anderson, Barksdale, Bruce, Bryant, Byars, Chapman, Claytor, Cogbill, Cromwell, Dinwiddie, Donohoe, Ford, Garrett, Glass, Gold, Harman, Harvey, Hutcheson, Hobbs, Keezell, LeCato, Lupton, Lyle, Mann, Massie, McIlwaine, Moon, Opie, Revercomb, Sale, Sears, Shackleford, Shands, St. Clair, Tyler, Walker, Wallace, Watkins, and Wickham

39.

F. B. Watkins having received all of the votes cast, was declared duly elected the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate for the ensuing term. The Senate then proceeded to the election of a Doorkeeper.

Mr. OPIE nominated Samuel M. Donald, of Augusta county, for that office.

There being no further nomination, the roll was called, with the following result:

For Samuel M. Donald,

39

The Senators who voted for S. M. DONALD are-Messrs. Anderson, Barksdale, Bruce, Bryant, Byars, Chapman, Claytor, Cogbill, Cromwell, Dinwiddie, Donohoe, Ford, Garrett, Glass, Gold, Harman, Harvey, Hutcheson, Hobbs, Keezell, LeCato, Lupton, Lyle, Mann, Massie, McIlwaine, Moon, Opie, Revercomb, Sale, Sears, Shackleford, Shands, St. Clair, Tyler, Walker, Wallace, Watkins, and Wickham

39.

Samuel M. Donald having received all of the votes cast, was declared duly elected Doorkeeper of the Senate for the ensuing term. On motion of Mr. SHANDS,

Resolved, That Joseph W. Parkinson, Wm. G. Ridley, Robert Hamilton, and Burwell W. Seay be elected pages of the Senate. Mr. LYLE offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the President of the Senate now appoint a committee to inform the House of Delegates that the Senate is organized and ready to proceed to business.

Which was agreed to, and he was ordered to inform the House of Delegates thereof.

Mr. DONонOE presented the following joint resolution :

Resolved (the House of Delegates concurring), That a committee. be appointed, composed of seven on the part of the House of Delegates and five on the part of the Senate, to notify the Governor that the Legislature is duly organized and ready to receive any communication that he may desire to make.

Which was agreed to, and he was ordered to inform the House of Delegates thereof.

A message was received from the House of Delegates by Mr. EARLY, who informed the Senate that that House was organized and ready to proceed to business.

A message was received from the House of Delegates by Mr. NEWHOUSE, who informed the Senate that that House had agreed to Senate joint resolution appointing a committee to inform the Governor that the Legislature was organized.

The PRESIDENT appointed Messrs. DoxoпOE, ST. CLAIR, BARKSDALE, GARRETT, and REVERCOMB as the committee on the part of the Senate.

Subsequently the committee, through its chairman, Mr. DoxOHOE, reported that they had performed the duty assigned to them, and the Governor would forthwith communicate in writing.

The following communication was received from the Governor, which, on motion of Mr. McILWAINE, was laid on the table and ordered to be printed:

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA,
GOVERNOR'S OFFICE,

To the General Assembly of Virginia:

December 4, 1901.

You have assembled as the representatives of the people of Virginia to enact such laws as will best promote the public good. It is my pleasure to extend to you a cordial welcome to the Capitol and my duty to submit to you a report of the condition of the various departments of State Government.

This is a most important epoch in the affairs of the State, and the people of Virginia are to be congratulated that their interests have been committed to such capable hands. Under a system of government such as we enjoy a representative should peculiarly feel his obligation. He holds his position, not by virtue of his birth or inheritance, but stands with a commission from a free and enlightened people, and should be bound by every consideration of honor and good faith to put forth his best efforts to promote the welfare of the people who have committed their interests into his keeping. The best guarantee of securing faithful public servants is for all the voters to participate in their selection, and the lively interest that has been manifested by our people is best attested by the character of men they have sent to represent them in the General Assembly.

To me this occasion has a peculiar significance. It is the last General Assembly that will meet during my administration as Governor of the Commonwealth, and the last one through which I will render an official account of my stewardship in the high office which the people of the State committed to my hands on the 1st day of January, 1898. I have honestly striven to discharge the duties of the office to the best of my ability, and while no human being can "lay the flattering unction to his soul" that he has not made mistakes, I have been sustained by a generous and noble people, whose kindness to me has ever been far beyond my deserts. I confess to keen satisfaction in the ability to report a most gratifying and healthful improvement in the affairs and condition of our people, especially as shown in the various departments of State Government during my term as Gov

ernor.

The four years have been filled with rapidly changing and important events in our national affairs, and while the State's participation in these was referred to in my message to the last regular session of the General Assembly, the far-reaching effects of the policies that have