House employés shall not be.

Stenographers

and reporters

CLAIM AGENTS.

"No person shall be an officer of the House, or continue in its employment, who shall be an agent for the prosecution of any claim against the government, or be interested in such claim otherwise than as an original claimant."—Rule 140.

"No stenographer or reporter shall be admitted to the also prohibited reporters' gallery, or, if admitted, be suffered to retain his seat if he shall be or become an agent to prosecute any claim pending before Congress."-Rule 135.

from being.

employés pro

from acting as.

Members and Members of Congress are prohibited from acting as claim hibited by law agents for compensation paid or to be paid; and officers and employés of the House are prohibited from acting as claim agents either with or without compensation, under the penalty, in either case, of a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.-Stat. at Large, Vol. X, p. 170.

When to be ap pointed, and of what number.

Duties of.

Authorized

employ a clerk.

CLAIMS, COMMITTEE OF.

A Committee of Claims, to consist of nine members, shall be appointed at the commencement of each Congress.—Rule 74.

"It shall be the duty of the Committee of Claims to take into consideration all such petitions and matters or things touching claims and demands on the United States as shall be presented, or shall or may come in question, and be referred to them by the House, and to report their opinion thereupon, together with such propositions for relief therein as to them shall seem expedient."-Rule 78.

to The Committee of Claims is authorized, by resolution of February 18, 1843, to employ a Clerk.-Journal, 3, 27, p. 399.

When report to be made.

CLAIMS, COURT OF.

"The Court of Claims shall keep a record of their proceedings, and shall, at the commencement of each session of Congress, and at the commencement of each month during the session of Congress, report to Congress the cases upon which

they shall have finally acted, stating in each the material facts which they find established by the evidence, with their opinion in the case, and the reasons upon which such opinion

ions.

their bills.

is founded. Any judge who may dissent from the opinion of Dissenting opinthe majority shall append his reasons for such dissent to the report; and such report, together with the briefs of the solicitor and of the claimant, which shall accompany the report, upon being made to either house of Congress, shall be printed in the same manner as other public documents. And Court to prepare said court shall prepare a bill or bills in those cases which have received the favorable decision thereof, in such form as, if enacted, will carry the same into effect. And two or more cases may be embraced in the same bill, where the separate amount proposed to be allowed in each case shall be less than one thousand dollars. And the said court shall transmit with Testimony to be the said reports the testimony in each case, whether the same shall receive the favorable or adverse action of said court. "The said reports, and the bills reported as aforesaid, Reports and bills shall, if not finally acted upon during the session of Congress from session to to which the said reports are made, be continued from session gress to session, and from Congress to Congress, until they shall be finally acted upon; and the consideration of said reports and bills shall, at the subsequent session of Congress, be resumed, and the said reports and bills be proceeded with in the same manner as though finally acted upon at the session when presented.

reported.

to be continued

session and Con

gress.

to Con

"The claims reported upon adversely shall be placed upon Adverse reports. the calendar when reported, and if the decision of said court shall be confirmed by Congress, said decision shall be conclusive, and the said court shall not at any subsequent period consider said claims, unless such reasons shall be presented to said court as, by the rules of common law or chancery in suits between individuals, would furnish sufficient ground for granting a new trial."-Stat. at Large, Vol. X, pp. 613,

614.

of clerks to be re

The said court is required to make report in case of the Removal removal of its clerks, with the cause of such removal, to Con- ported. gress, if in session, or at the next session of Congress.Ibid., p. 614.

Final judgments

by.

Petitions

and bills to be trans

mitted to.

Members of Congress not to practise before.

Transmission of papers to.

Withdrawal papers from.

Pension

may

drawn.

be

of

By the Act of March 3, 1863, it is provided "that in all cases of final judgments by said court, or on appeal by the Supreme Court where the same shall be affirmed in favor of the claimant, the sum due thereby shall be paid out of any general appropriation made by law for the payment and satisfaction of private claims."--Stat. at Large, Vol. XII, p. 766.

By the same act it is provided "that all petitions and bills praying or providing for the satisfaction of private claims against the government, founded upon any law of Congress, or upon any regulation of an executive department, or upon any contract, express or implied, with the government of the United States, shall, unless otherwise ordered by resolution of the house in which the same are presented or introduced, be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate, or the Clerk of the House of Representatives, with all the accompanying documents, to the Court of Claims."-Stat. at Large, Vol. XII, p. 765.

By the same act members of Congress are prohibited from practising in said court.-Ibid., p. 766.

The Clerk of the House is directed "to transmit to said court, on the application of the clerk of said court, the papers in his office in any case that is now or may be hereafter pending in said court, taking a receipt therefor."-Journal, 1, 34, p. 583.

"The papers in all cases heretofore referred by this House to the Court of Claims, arising under contract or departmental decision, may be withdrawn from said court upon the order of the Clerk of the House, to be given upon the application therefor of any member to him, with the assent of the claimant; and when said papers are received by the Clerk, they shall be held by the Clerk the same as if never referred.” -Journal, 1, 34, p. 614.

papers "All petitions for pensions, heretofore referred to the raw with Court of Claims, may be withdrawn and referred to their appropriate committees in the House."-Journal, 1, 34, p. 631.

How papers are

[Ordinarily, except in the foregoing cases, papers are redrawn from and ferred to or withdrawn from the Court of Claims on motion

ordinarily with

referred to.

in the House; and, except in the case of the reference of a matter then before the House, the motion can only be made by unanimous consent, or at such time as resolutions are in order under the rules.]

placed on private

ports printed.

undisposed of at

gress.

"The bills from the Court of Claims shall, on being laid Bills from, to be before the House, be read a first and second time, committed calendar and reto a Committee of the Whole House, and, together with the accompanying reports, printed."-Rule 122. When bills and reports from said court, reported to the Bills and reports House, are left undisposed of at the end of a Congress, at the end of a Conthe beginning of the next Congress the bills shall be again read twice and referred, and the adverse reports restored to the private calendar.-Journals, 1, 35, pp. 134, 135; 1, 36, p. 247. [And when bills from said court shall have passed the Senate and remain undisposed of in the House at the end of a Congress, they shall be returned to the Senate.] Judges of the Court of Claims are admitted within the Judges of, hall of the House.-Rule 134.

CLERK OF THE HOUSE.

admitted within the Hall.

at commence

gress.

minister oath to.

A Clerk shall be elected at the commencement of each shall be elected Congress.-Rule 10. The Act of June 1, 1789, provides ment of Conthat at the first session of Congress after every general election of representatives, the oath or affirmation therein prescribed "shall be administered by any one member of the speaker shall adHouse of Representatives to the Speaker; and by him to all the members present, and to the Clerk, previous to entering on any other business." And in the case of a vacancy which occurred in the office of Clerk during the 31st Congress (see Journal, 1, 31, p. 789), it was decided that the House could take no action upon, nor transact any other business until a Clerk was elected.

The following is the oath of office prescribed for the Clerk by the 10th rule and the Act of June 1, 1789, viz.:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the oath of office Constitution of the United States, and that I will truly and faithfully discharge the duties of Clerk of the House of Representatives, to the best of my knowledge and abilities, and keep the secrets of the House."

Additional oath

of.

Mode of election.

Tellers appointed by the Speak

er.

Enters upon his duties as soon as he takes oath.

Gives bond.

Continues in of

fice until his suc

He is also required by the Act of July 2, 1862, to take an additional oath.-(See OATH.)

In the election of a Clerk there shall be a previous nomination-Rule 11; and the vote shall be taken viva voce.— Rule 10. A majority of the votes given shall be necessary to an election; and where there shall not be such a majority on the first ballot, the ballot shall be repeated until a majority be obtained. And in all ballotings blanks shall be rejected, and not taken into the count in enumeration of votes, or reported by the tellers.-Rule 12.

Before proceeding to the election of a Clerk, the Speaker appoints four tellers to keep and make report of the vote.— (See ELECTIONS BY THE HOUSE.)

[As soon as the Speaker has declared a person elected Clerk, the oath of office is administered to him, and he enters upon the duties of the same.] By the Act of February 23, 1815 (Stat. at Large, Vol. III, p. 212), it is made the duty of the Clerk, within thirty days after he enters upon the duties of his office, to give bond to the United States, with one or more sureties, to be approved by the Comptroller of the Treasury, in the penal sum of twenty thousand dollars, with condition for the faithful application and disbursement of the contingent fund of the House.

The Clerk shall continue in office until his successor is ap

cessor is appoint-pointed.-Rule 10.

ed.

Duty of, in pre

elect.

members

By the Act of March 3, 1863, it is provided "that before paration of the first meeting of the next Congress, and of every subsequent Congress, the Clerk of the next preceding House of Representatives shall make a roll of the members elect, and place thereon the names of all persons and of such persons only, whose credentials show that they were regularly elected in accordance with the laws of their States respectively, or the laws of the United States."-Stat. at Large, Vol. XII, p. 804.

&c., pending elec

66

Preserves order, Pending the election of a Speaker, the Clerk shall pretion of Speaker. Serve order and decorum, and shall decide all questions of order that may arise, subject to appeal to the House.". Rule 146. [This rule, together with Rule 147, which provides that the existing rules shall govern future Congresses