SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 1874.

Prayer by Rev. Moses D. Hoge, of the Presbyterian church.
The journal was read by the clerk.

A communication from the senate, by their clerk, was read as follows:

The senate have passed a bill entitled

In Senate, January 2, 1874.

An act to render valid the charter of incorporation of the Peoples Savings Bank of Lynchburg, Virginia, and to legalize all acts done under and in accordance with the original charter; No. 1.

In which they respectfully request the concurrence of the house of delegates.

No. 1. Senate bill, was read twice.

On motion of Mr. Coghill, the rule was suspended requiring its reference to a committee, and the bill was placed on the calendar.

The speaker laid before the house a communication from the school board of the city of Lynchburg, which was referred to the committee on schools and colleges.

The speaker laid before the house the following communication:

DEAR SIR-In conformity with the requirements of section 14, chapter 15 of the Code of Virginia (edition of 1860), I herewith submit a condensed abstract from the reports made to me by the clerks of

courts.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

The abstract was ordered to be printed.

The following report was presented:

J. BELL BIGGER, Clerk of house of delegates.

(Doc. No. 3.)

The report of the special committee appointed by order of the house of delegates to consider and report a set of rules for the permanent government of the house:

The said committee having considered the matters referred to them, ask leave to report

That the rules of the last house of delegates of Virginia, except the ninth rule, be adopted by this house for its permanent government; that the ninth rule be amended so as to read as follows:

RULE 9. A sergeant-at-arms shall be elected by the house, and shall continue in office during its pleasure. He shall have as his assistants

four doorkeepers, who shall be elected by the house, and six pages, to be appointed by the speaker, who shall receive as compensation one-half the amount provided by law for a doorkeeper.

The committee having completed the duties assigned to them, ask to be discharged from further service.

Mr. McMullan moved to amend the report by striking out where it first appears in the report the words "ninth rule," and inserting "ninth and eighty-seventh rules," which was agreed to.

Mr. McMullan moved further to amend the report by adding the following:

That rule eighty-seven be amended so as to read as follows:

87. The rules of the house shall not be changed or suspended, except by a vote of two-thirds of the members present, to be ascertained by an actual division of the house; and upon a motion to suspend a rule of the house, the mover shall be allowed two minutes to state the reasons for his motion, and one member opposed to the motion shall be allowed a like time to object.

Which was agreed to.

Mr. Massey moved to amend the report by striking out "four doorkeepers" and inserting "two doorkeepers," which was agreed to.

Mr. Critz moved a reconsideration of the vote by which the amendment was agreed to, which motion was agreed to-yeas 74; nays 46. On motion of Mr. Powell, the vote was recorded as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Bagwell, Beaton, Blair, Bohannon, Boykin, Brooks, Jack Carter, P. J. Carter, A. J. Clark, Coghill, Cox, Critz, Davis, Dooley, Fitspatrick, Franklin, Fulkerson, Gardner, T. S. Gibson, Gilliam, Gilman, Goodwyn, Griffith, Hale, Hamilton, Harris, Hill, Hoeninger, Holbrook, W. Hoskins, J. T. Hoskins, Hudgin, Hunter, P. K. Jones, Rufus S. Jones, B. W. Lacy, J. H. Lacy, Lamkin, Lee, Lightner, Longley, Lovell, Lovenstein, Loving, Lucas, Lybrook, Magruder, May, Me Mullan, Moss, Jno. L. Nash, W. A. Nash, Neeley, Nickens, Norton, Ould, Pannill, Riddlebarger, Rogers, Spratt, Stovall, Strother, Swann, Syphax, Taliaferro, Walke, Wallace, Webb, Wharton, Whittaker, Williams, Winn, Withers, and Mr. Speaker-74.

NAYS-Messrs. Alexander, Allen, Anderson, Armentrout, Armstrong, Brady, Brown, Campbell, J. Armistead Carter, Cockerille, Crank, Finney, Flood, Foster, P. Gibson, Graves, Grayson, Haden, Harrison, Henderson, Howard, James, Jett, Jordan, Koiner, Lewis, Lipps, Massey, Moore, Morris, Morrison, O'Neal, Pendleton, Popham, Powell, Richmond, Round, Scruggs, Sellers, Shumate, Stuart, Taylor, Thomas, Turner, Yager, and Young-46.

The question recurring on agreeing to the motion by Mr. Massey to strike out "four doorkeepers" and insert "two doorkeepers"

Mr. Critz moved as an amendment to insert "three," which was agreed to.

Mr. Popham moved to amend the report by striking out "six pages and inserting "four pages," which was rejected.

The report as amended was agreed to.

Mr. Critz moved a reconsideration of the vote by which the report was agreed to, which motion was rejected.

Mr. Hunter moved to amend the rules by striking out in the 16th rule the word "resolutions," and inserting the words "Federal relations and resolutions," which was agreed to.

The rules of the house of delegates are as follows:

I. ORGANIZATION.

Elections.

1. At elections in the house, the voting shall be viva voce, unless otherwise expressly provided; and only one person shall be chosen at a time. If on the first voting no one receives a majority, the person having the smallest number of votes shall not be voted for on the next trial; and so on, until some one shall receive a majority of the whole vote. If the election be by joint vote of the two houses, messages shall be exchanged before each voting, announcing the names of the persons in nomination. A committee of three members from each house shall compare the votes, and ascertain and report the result.

The Speaker.

2. "The house of delegates shall choose its own speaker." The speaker may call any member to the chair, who shall exercise its functions for the time; but no member by virtue of such appointment shall preside for a longer time than three days. During such substitution, the speaker may participate in the debates. If the speaker be absent, and have named no one to act in his stead, the duties shall be performed by the chairman of one of the standing committees, taking precedence in the order in which the committees are named in rule 16.

3. The speaker shall take the chair every day precisely at the hour to which the house shall have adjourned on the preceding day; shall immediately call the house to order; and, a quorum being present, shall cause the journal of the preceding day to be read. Any mistakes in the entries shall, upon motion, then be corrected.

4. The speaker shall have power to supervise and correct the journal before it is read. He shall have a general direction of the hall, with power, in case of disturbance or disorderly conduct in such part thereof as may be appropriated to spectators, to have the same cleared. Stenographers and reporters for the press, wishing to take down the proceedings of the house, may be admitted by the speaker, who shall assign them to such places on the floor as shall not interfere with the convenience of the members.

5. All acts, addresses and joint resolutions shall be signed by the speaker; and all writs and warrants issued by order of the house shall be under his hand and seal, attested by the clerk.

The Clerk.

6. A clerk shall be elected by the house, and shall be deemed to continue in office until another is chosen. He may employ an assistant clerk, and shall, subject to the approval of the speaker, appoint the six committee clerks provided for by law. He shall be charged with the whole clerical business of the house, and of its committees, and shall see that the committee clerks discharge properly the duties required of them by the several committees to which they are assigned, and that, when not so employed, they render such assistance as may be required to other committees and in the business of the house. The committee

clerks may be removed by the clerk, with the approval of the speaker; and they shall be so removed upon the request of the committees to which they are severally assigned.

7. The clerk shall perform all the duties of his office under the direction of the speaker. He shall keep a journal of the proceedings of the house, and shall submit it daily to the speaker in time to be examined before the next assembling of the house. He shall keep at the clerk's table, during the sittings of the house, a calendar or docket, so arranged as to show the condition and progress of the business of the house.

8. He shall keep accounts of the compensation of the members and officers of the house, and shall from time to time certify the same to the auditor. He shall provide the stationery required for the business of his office and of the house, and for the use of the members during the sessions; but the amount furnished to each member shall not exceed in value ten dolars a session. The claim of the clerk for such supplies, when approved by the committee on house expenses, shall be certified by the speaker to the auditor. He shall keep detailed accounts of all these transactions in a book to be provided for the purpose, which shall be at all times open to inspection by members of the house.

Sergeant-at-arms.

9. A sergeant-at-arms shall be elected by the house, and shall continue in office during its pleasure. He shall have as his assistants three doorkeepers, who shall be elected by the house, and six pages, to be appointed by the speaker, who shall receive as compensation one-half the amount provided by law for a doorkeeper.

10. He shall, with his assistants, attend upon the house during its sittings, and shall execute its commands, together with all such process, issued by its authority, as shall be directed to him by the speaker.

11. He shall, under the direction of the speaker, have charge of the police of the hall, and shall prevent any interruption of the business of the house by disorder, within or without. He shall distribute among the members all papers printed for their use, and shall give such attendance upon them during the sittings of the house as will promote their comfort and facilitate the business of the house.

12. He shall procure for the members, when required, certificates for pay and mileage, and at their request and upon their endorsement, shall collect and pay over to those entitled to the money due upon such

certificates.

13. He shall attend to receiving and dispatching all mail or telegraphic matter intended for or sent by members, and shall make such arrangements therefor as to promote the convenience of the members.

Oaths of Officers.

14. The oaths which the officers of the house are required by law to take shall be administered and certified by a justice of the peace or notary public, and be filed with the clerk of the house.

Committees.

15. All committees shall be appointed by the speaker, unless otherwise specially directed by the house, in which case they shall be appointed

by ballot, and a plurality of votes shall prevail. The first named member of any committee shall be the chairman, and if he be absent, or be excused by the house, the next named member, and so on, unless the committee elect a chairman.

16. At the beginning of each regular session there shall be appointed standing committees, to consist of not less than nine nor more than thirteen members (except the finance committee, which shall consist of fifteen members), as follows:

1st. Privileges and elections.
2d. Courts of justice.

3d. Schools and colleges.

4th. Propositions and grievances.
5th. Roads and internal navigation.
6th. Finance.

7th. Claims.

8th. Militia and police.

9th. Asylums and prisons.

10th. Labor and the poor.

11th. Public property.

12th. Banks, currency and commerce.

13th. Agriculture andmining.

14th. Manufactures and mechanic arts.

15th. Counties, cities and towns.

16th. Officers and offices at the capitol.
17th. Executive expenditures.

18th. Retrenchment and economy.
19th. Federal relations and resolutions.
20th. Enrolled bills.

21st. Immigration.

22d. Chesapeake and its tributaries.

17. Also a standing committee, to consist of five members, to be called the committee on house expenses. It shall be the duty of this committee to examine from time to time the accounts kept by the Clerk with the members and officers of the house, and to decide all questions arising in relation thereto, subject to an appeal to the house. No account for printing, stationery, or any other expenses of the house, shall be certified for payment without the previous approval of this committee.

18. Also a standing committee on rules, to consist of five members, including the speaker, who shall be chairman of the committee.

19. Also a standing committee on the library, to consist of five members; and one on printing, to consist of three members. These committees, when acting with like committees of the senate, shall constitute the "library committee" and the "committee on printing" provided for by law; but in all other respects shall act as committees of the house.

20. Any committee of the house may at their discretion confer with. a committee of the senate having under consideration the same subject; but no joint committee shall be appointed. Nor shall any select committee be appointed to consider any subject falling properly within the province of a standing committee.