VIII. The President shall preserve order and decorum, and decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the Board.

IX. Whenever the President shall wish to leave the Chair, he may substitute a member in his place; but such substitution shall not continue beyond the day on which it is made.

X. The President, or, in his absence, the Clerk, shall call special meetings of the Board, whenever the interests of the city may require it, at the written request of thirteen memb.rs, notice in writing to be sent to each member.

XI. Ia forming a Committee of the Whole, the President shall leave the Chair, and appoint a Chairman to preside. The rules of the Board shall be observed in such Committee, except the rules respecting the ayes and nays, the times of speaking, and the previous question, and a motion to pass over shall be decided without debate.

XII. On motion, in Committee, to rise and report, the question shall be decided without debate.

XIII. After the report of the Committee, such amendments only shall be in order as were offered and acted on in Committee.

XIV. When the question in debate contains several distinct propositions, the same may be divided at the request of thirteen members.

XV. All questions shall be put in the order they are moved, except those of privilege. When blanks are under consideration as to time and amounts, the longest time and the largest amount shall be put first.

XVI. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be entertained, unless :

1. To adjourn.

2. To lay on the table.

3. For the previous question.

4. To postpone to a certain day.

5. To refer.

6. To postpone indefinitely.

7. Tc amend.

Which motions shall have precedence in the order in which they stand. A call of the Board may be ordered at any time.

XVII. When a resolution shall be offered, or a motion made to refer any subject, and different Committees shall be proposed, the question shall be taken in the following order:

1. A Standing Committee.

2. A Select Committee.

3. A Committee of the Whole.

XVIII. A motion to refer, or lay on the table, until it is decided, shall preclude all amendments or debate.

A motion to postpone, until it is decided, shall preclude all amendment of the main question.

A motion to adjourn shall always be in order; and that and a motion for a call of the Board shall be decided without debate; but no motion whatever, except to admit a member to explain his vote, shall be entertained by the Chair after the ayes and nays shall have been ordered, until the result of the vote shall have

been announced by the Chair.

XIX. No act, resolution, or ordinance, sent from the Board of Aldermen, shall be called up for final passage on the same day it is presented to this Board, unless by the consent of thirteen members; nor shall it be acted upon on the same day it passed the other Board, unless by consent of two-thirds of the members, except in case of invasion, insurrection, pestilence, or in such cases as do not conflict with the charter.

XX. It shall be the duty of the Clerk to publish all ordinances and amendments of ordinances which shall be passed, and also the proceedings, in the newspapers employed by the Corporation, except such parts as may require secrecy; and whenever a vote shall be taken upon the passage of a resolution or ordinance which shall contemplate any specific improvements, or involve the sale, disposition, or appropriation of public property, or the expenditure of public money, or the income therefrom, or lay any tax or assessment, he shall, before the same is sent to the other Board, and immediately after the adjournment, cause the same to be published, with the ayes and nays, with the names of the persons voting for and against the same, in at least two newspapers, as a part of the proceedings, and shall thereafter certify the same to be engrossed, and send to the other Board every act, resolution, and ordinance which has originated and passed this Board, and which requires a concurrent vote of the Board of Aldermen, and shall deliver to the Mayor, certified in like manner, all such acts, ordinances, and resolutions which shall have been received from the Board of Aldermen, and concurred in by this Board, and which are required to be submitted to him for his approval; and shall certify to the other Board the proceedings of this Board, in reference to all acts or business, originating in the other Board. XXI. It shall also be the duty of the Clerk to make and keep a list of all messages, acts, resolutions, ordinances, and reports, not finally or specially disposed of, in order of priority, which list shall be the "General Orders."

XXII. Every member, who shall be present when a question is put, shall vote thereon, unless the Board shall excuse him, or unless he be immediately interested in the question, in which case he shall not vote. But no member, on taking of the ayes and nays, shall be permitted to vote, unless present when his name is called, in regular order, except by consent of a majority of the members present.

XXIII. Any member who shall have voted in the negative may move for a reconsideration, provided he do so at the time of the next meeting, and while the act, resolution, or ordinance is in possession of the Board;

such motion, having been once put and lost, shall not be renewed, except by the consent of thirteen members.

XXIV. Every member, previous to speaking, shall rise in his place, and address the President.

XXV. When two or more members rise at the same time, the President shall name the member who is to speak first.

XXVI. No person shall speak more than twice to the same question without leave of the Board, nor more than once until every member, choosing to speak, shall have spoken.

XXVII. Any member called to order shall immediately sit down, and the Chair shall decide the point of order; and the Board, if appealed to on such or any other decision, shall decide the same without debate. If there be no appeal, the decision of the Chair shall be submitted to.

XXVIII. The previous question shall be admitted only when demanded by a majority of the members present; and, until decided, shall preclude all amendment or debate, and must be put in this form: "Shall the main question be now put?"

XXIX. When the previous question shall have been ordered, and there shall be amendments pending, the question shall first be taken upon such amendments, in their order, and then upon the main question, without further debate or amendment.

XXX. On taking a vote by ayes and nays, in the cases required by law, as well as when required by three members, the names of those who vote for, and those who vote against, the question shall be so entered on the Minutes; and when so taken, on the call of a member, the name of such member, and the fact, shall also be entered on the Minutes.

XXXI. The following officers shall be elected by ballot, viz.: President, Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Door-keeper.

XXXII. All Committees shall be appointed by the President, unless otherwise ordered by the Board.

XXXIII. The STANDING COMMITTEES shall be as follows:

1. Almshouse Department.

2. Arts and Sciences.

3. Assessments.

4. Belgian Pavement.

5. Cleaning Streets.

6. Croton Aqueduct Department.

7. Donations and Charities.

8. Ferries.

9. Finance.

10. Fire Department.

11. Lamps and Gas.

12. Lands and Places.

13. Law Department.
14. Markets.

15. National Affairs.

16. Ordinances.

17. Police Department.

18. Printing and Advertising.
19. Public Health.

20. Public Buildings.

21. Railroads.

22. Repairs and Supplies.

23. Roads.

24. Salaries and Offices.

25. Sewers.

26. Streets.

27. Street Openings.

28. Taxes.

29. Wharves, Piers, and Slips.

30. Joint Committee on Accounts.

Each of which shall consist of three members, except the Committees on Railroads, Repairs and Supplies, National Affairs, Markets, and Wharves, Piers, and Slips, which shall consist of five members each.

XXXIV. The President shall be, ex officio, a member of all Committees; but a majority of the other members shall be sufficient to agree upon a report.

XXXV. Committees shall inquire into the matters referred to them, and report, in writing, the facts in relation thereto, with their opinions thereon; and attach to such report all resolutions, petitions, remonstrances, and other papers relating to the papers referred; but no report shall be made without consent first had, unless signed by a majority of the Committee; nor shall any matter reported on be taken up, for final action, the same day on which it is reported, unless by consent of thirteen members. No report shall be printed, unless by the express direction of the Board, specifying the number of copies to be printed.

XXXVI. No member shall absent himself without permission of the President; nor, on adjournment, leave his place until the President leaves the Chair.

XXXVII. Whenever the doors are directed to be closed, all persons, excepting the members and the Clerk, shall retire.

XXXVIII. No person shall be admitted on the floor of the Council, unless in the discharge of official duty, or by special invitation of the President, except the Mayor, Aldermen, members of the Boards of Supervisors and Education, and such persons as have been members of the Common Council, heads of departments, or officers of the State Govern ment, and reporters of the press. The privilege of admission, under any invitation, shall not extend beyond the day on which it is given; and it is the duty of the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Door-keeper rigidly to enforce this rule.