CHAPTER XII. Members not present, when question put. Precedents. In the lords, every lord who desires to vote, and holds proxies for other lords, must be present in the house when the question is put. And in the commons no member is permitted to vote unless he was in the house when the question was put, On the 16th March 1821 Mr. Speaker called the attention of the house to his having caused a member to vote in a division, who was not within the doors of the house when the question was put ; and the house resolved, nem con., "That the said member had no right to vote, and ought not to have been compelled to vote on that occasion." Another case occurred on the 27th February 1824, when, after a division, and before the numbers were reported by the tellers, it was discovered that a member had come into the house after the question was put; he was called to the table, and upon the question being put to him by Mr. Speaker, he declared himself for the noes; he was then let out of the house by the serjeant, and his name was not reckoned by the tellers for the noes, with whom he had voted.2 On the 3d May 1819, after the numbers had been reported by the tellers, notice was taken that several members had come into the house after the question was put. Mr. Speaker desired any members who were not in the house when the question was put, to signify the same; and certain members having stated that they were not in the house, their names were struck off from the yeas and from the noes respectively; and the numbers, so altered, were reported by Mr. Speaker to the house." 176 Com. J. 172. 279 Ib. 106. This case is entered so ambiguously in the Journal, that it might appear as if the member had been let out into the lobby, in order to vote with the "noes," who had gone forth; but such was not the fact, nor would such a proceeding have been consistent with the rules of the house. 3 74 Com. J. 393. On the 2d June 1825, the noes on a division were directed to go forth, and certain members refusing to retire from the lobby, the other members in the house were desired again to take their places, and the members were called in from the lobby. The speaker then asked one of the six members who had refused to retire, where he was when the question was put, and he replied that he had been in the lobby; upon which he was informed by Mr. Speaker that he could not be permitted to vote, and the serjeant was ordered to open the outer door of the lobby, that the six members might be enabled to withdraw.' On the 14th June 1836 the house was informed by a member who had voted with the majority on a former day, that he was not in the house when the question was put, and had therefore no right to vote on that occasion; and it was resolved that his vote should be disallowed.' These precedents show that at whatever time it may be discovered that members were not present when the question was put, whether during the division, before the numbers are reported, or after they are declared, or even several days after the votes were given, such votes are disallowed. In order to prevent the accidental absence of members at so critical a time, precautions are taken to secure their attendance, and to prevent their escape between the putting of the question and the division. House cleared Before a division can take place, the house must be cleared of strangers in the galleries, below the bar, and in of strangers. the lobby. This occupies a considerable time when there are many strangers, but scarcely a minute when the galleries are not full. When it is known that a division is about to ensue, the speaker, directly the debate is closed, gives the order that "strangers must withdraw," and at the same instant the doorkeepers shout "Clear the gallery!" and ring a bell which communicates with every part of the building. This "division bell" is heard in the libraries, the refreshment rooms, the waiting rooms, and wherever members are likely to be dispersed, and gives notice that a division is at hand. Those who wish to vote, hasten to the house immediately, and while the messengers are engaged Question some in excluding strangers, they have time to reach their places. Directly the strangers have withdrawn, the usher of the black rod in the lords, and the serjeant-at-arms in the commons, and the doorkeepers and messengers under their orders, close and lock all the doors leading into the house and the adjoining lobbies simultaneously. Those members who arrive after the doors are shut, cannot gain admittance, and those who are within the house must remain there; but in the upper house, lords who desire to avoid voting may withdraw to the woolsacks, where they are not strictly within the house, and are not therefore counted in the division. By shutting all the doors at once, care is taken, in the commons, to prevent members from gaining the lobby, and yet being shut out of the house; but it may occasionally happen that a member with difficulty squeezes himself through the outer door of the lobby, and the next instant the serjeant shuts the door of the house. The member would then find himself enclosed between the two locked doors, and unable to vote; in which case the doorkeeper will open the outer door of the lobby, and permit him to withdraw. When all the doors are thus closed, the speaker puts the times twice put. question, and the contents and not-contents, or the ayes and noes respectively, declare themselves. When a division is not expected, the speaker is obliged to put the question twice, because when his decision has been disputed after the first putting of the question, the strangers must withdraw before the question can be decided by a division; and in the meantime members who were not present when the question was put, gain admittance to the house. None of these could vote unless the question were put a second time, and it is therefore the practice to put the question after the doors are closed, whether it has been already put or not, in order that the whole house may have notice of a division, and be able to decide upon the question when put by the speaker. A division is effected in the lords by the not-contents Division in the remaining within the bar, and the contents going below lords. the bar. A teller is appointed for each party, by whom they are respectively counted. When all the lords then present have been told, they resume their places, and the clerk at the table calls over the names of those lords who hold proxies, who, rising uncovered in their places,2 declare whether those for whom they are proxies are 66 content" or "not content." The lord chancellor or speaker gives his voice like the other lords on being required by the tellers, but he does not leave the woolsack to vote. The total number of lords present and of the proxies are then declared, and the question is decided by the joint majority of both classes of votes. equal in the lords. In case of an equality of voices and proxies combined, When voices the not-contents have it, and the question is declared to have been resolved in the negative. When this occurs it is always entered in the Journals "Then, according to the ancient rule in the like cases, 'semper præsumitur pro negante,' &c." The effect of this rule is altered when the house is sitting judicially, as the question is then put "for reversing, and not for affirming ;"4 and consequently if the numbers be equal, the judgment of the court below is affirmed. The following are standing orders in regard to voting, when no formal division takes place : "In voting, the lowest, after the question is put by the lord Manner of chancellor, begins first, and every lord in his turn rises, uncovered, voting in the and only says content or non-content."5 house. “That after a question is put, and the house hath voted there- Lords to keep upon, no lord is to depart out of his place, unless upon a divi- their places sion of the house, until the house have entered on some other upon voting. business."6 The practice in the commons, until 1836, was to send In the comone party forth into the lobby, the other remaining in the mons. 1 Lords' S. O. No. 22. 4 Ib. No. 56. 2 Ib. 5 Ib. No. 20. 3 14 Lords' J. 167, 168. Tellers. house. Two tellers for each party then counted the numbers, and reported them. In 1836 it was thought advisable to adopt some mode of recording the names of members who voted, and for this purpose several contrivances were proposed: but by that adopted and now in operation, there are two lobbies, one at each end of the house, and, on a division, the house is entirely cleared; one party being sent into each of the lobbies. The speaker, in the first place, directs the ayes to go into one lobby, and the noes into the other, and then appoints two tellers for each party; of whom one for the ayes and another for the noes are associated, to check each other in the telling. If two cannot be found, no division is allowed to take place. On the 4th June 1829 a member was appointed one of the tellers for the yeas; but no other member remaining in the house to be a teller for the yeas, the noes, who had gone forth, returned into the house, and Mr. Speaker declared that the noes had it.' In another case, 14th August 1835, the yeas were directed to go forth, and a member was appointed a teller; but no member going forth, nor any other member appearing to be a second teller for the yeas, Mr. Speaker declared the noes had it; and several cases, of the same kind, have occurred more recently.3 It would, indeed, be unreasonable to allow a division, when, without counting the majority, the minority obviously consists of one member only, opposed to the whole house; and it would be worthy of consideration whether a rule could not be established, by which no division should be allowed, unless 10 members declared themselves with the minority, besides the tellers. An unnecessary division is a great evil; it occupies much time, and causes considerable inconvenience to the members; and the more unequal the parties, the longer is the time consumed in the division, and the more irksome the process of dividing to the majority. The speaker can rarely doubt which party is the minority, when the voices on one side are so 184 Com. J. 379. 2 €90 Ib. 550. 3 97 Ib. 183. 354. 98 Ib. 605. |