House of Delegates and of the Senate are divided into committees, and some special subject or business is entrusted to each. For example, in the Senate there are committees on Privileges and Elections, Public Institutions and Education, and many other subjects; and in the House of Delegates there are committees on Courts of Justice, Schools and Colleges, and other subjects.

Usually proposals for new laws are referred for consideration to the committee having charge of the subject or business to which the proposed law relates. Committees in the Senate are elected by the senators themselves; committees in the House of Delegates are appointed by the speaker.

When a new law or bill is introduced it is either proposed by a committee, or by some member and given for consideration to a committee. In order to pass, it must be read three times on three different days (once each day) in the house in which it originates.

The first reading is the formal placing or presenting of the bill before the house. At the second reading the bill is discussed, and any member who wishes to say anything for or against it is at liberty to do so.

Amendments may also be proposed at the second reading. An amendment is an alteration or a change in the wording or matter of a bill. After an amendment is discussed the house votes upon it, and if a majority is for it, the change is made in the bill.

When all amendments are discussed and voted on, a vote is taken on the bill as a whole, and if a majority of the members vote for it, it is read a second time.

It is then engrossed, or written out, by the clerk of the house, and read a third time, after which a vote is again taken, and if there is a majority for it, it passes the house.

When the bill is passed in the house in which it originated, it is taken to the other house by the sergeant-at-arms. There it goes through the same forms of reading and discussion, and if it be read three times and have a majority in its favor it is passed. It is then enrolled, after which it is signed by the presiding officer in each house, and when this is done it is sent to the governor for his signature.

The sergeant-at-arms is an officer whose duty it is to preserve order in the chamber where the sessions of either house are held, to distribute among the members any papers or documents they may require, and in general to perform such services as are necessary for the proper transaction of business. Each house has its own sergeant-at-arms.

(For enrolling, see under House of Delegates, page 19.) The requirements with regard to a bill after it is sent to the governor are stated in the text above. (For the veto power of the governor, see page 28.)

QUESTIONS.

1. In whom is the legislative power of the commonwealth vested?

2. What is the legislative power?

3. Define commonwealth.

4. What is a delegate?

5. How many members constitute the Senate?

6. What are senatorial districts, and how many are there in the State?

7. Who is the presiding officer of the Senate?

8. For how long are senators elected?

9. What are the qualifications of a senator?

10. What are the powers of the Senate?

11. What does impeachment mean?

12. Who tries a case of impeachment?

13. How many members of the House of Delegates?

14. Define statute.

15. For how long are members of the House of Delegates elected?

16. What are the qualifications of delegates?

17. What are the powers of delegates?

18. Define apportioned.

19. What is the chairman of the House of Delegates called?

20. What are the rolls, and by whom are they kept?

21. What does the General Assembly consist of?

22. How often are the sessions of the General Assembly held?

23. What is a special session?

24. What are the powers of the General Assembly?

25. What officers does it elect?

26. What is legislation?

27. What are contests in elections of governor and lieutenant- governor, and who decides them?

28. What is meant by each house being judge of the election, qualifications, and returns of its members?

29. What are election returns?

30. Define civil process.

31. What is perjury?

32. What is contempt of court?

33. What are the salaries of the officers and members of the Assembly?

34. What is mileage?

35. What is a bill?

36. Tell how a bill becomes a law.

37. What is a committee?

38. Define amendment.