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Chapter
VII.

In 1902 the standing order was amended by a provision for the appointment of a deputy chairman, who, whenever the house is informed by the clerk at the table of the unavoidable absence of the chairman of ways and means,1 is entitled to exercise all his powers, including those as deputy Speaker.

resumes

same

On the 31st January, 1881, during a protracted sitting, Speaker the Speaker retired, and the Clerk informed the house of the chair his unavoidable absence. The chairman of ways and during the means then took the chair, which, after several hours, was sitting. resumed by the Speaker. Objection was immediately taken. that the Speaker, having once left the chair, was, according to the terms of the standing order, unable to resume it until the following day but the objection was overruled by the Speaker, because the standing order could not restrain. the inherent authority of the Speaker in the event of his resuming the chair and exercising the authority of his office.

When the debate had further continued for many hours, the Speaker was again replaced by the chairman of ways and means, but resumed the chair in the morning, and occupied it until the close of the debate. And now, the Speaker, under standing order No. 1, after he has taken the S. O. 1, Appendix I. chair at the commencement of a sitting, without any formal communication to the house, can request the chairman of ways and means or the deputy chairman to take the chair, either temporarily, or until the adjournment of the house."

To enable the deputy chairman to take the chair in committee of the whole house, the absence of the chairman of ways and means is announced at any time before the commencement of public business.

2136 C. J. 50; 257 H. D. 3 s. 1707. On other occasions the Speaker vacated and resumed the chair during a sitting, 121 C. J. 234, 261. 331. 339.

144 ib. 393. 394; 145 ib. 539. 580. In session 1903, on a day on which there were two sittings (see

p. 213, n. 1), the Speaker who had
taken the chair at the commence-
ment of the afternoon sitting was
unable to resume it when progress
was reported from the committee
of supply at the evening sitting. The
house was so informed by the Clerk,
and the deputy chairman who had
been acting for the chairman of
ways and means in his unavoidable
absence took the chair as deputy
Speaker, 158 C. J. 96; see also 160
ib. 65.

Assistants of the

Lords.

Chief officers of

VII.

A brief notice may now be given of the principal officers Chapter whose duties are immediately connected with the proceedings of Parliament.

The assistants of the House of Lords are the judges, the attorney and solicitor-generals, and such of the privy council as are called by writ from the Crown to attend.1 The judges, as assistants of the Lords, held a more important place in Parliament, in ancient times, than that which is now assigned to them, having had a voice of suffrage, as well as a voice of advice. They were also occasionally made joint committees with the lords of Parliament-a practice which continued until the latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Their attendance was formerly enforced on all occasions, but they are now summoned by a special order, when their advice is required.1

The chief officers of the upper house are the Clerk of the Lords. the Parliaments, the gentleman usher of the Black Rod, the clerk assistant, the reading clerk, and the Serjeant-at-arms.5 The Clerk of the Parliaments is appointed by the Crown, by letters patent. On entering office, he makes a declaration, under the Promissory Oaths Act, 1868, at the table, before the lord chancellor, to make true entries and records of the things done and passed in the " Parliaments, and to

'Lords' standing orders Nos. 6 and 7. Formerly judges of the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, barons of the Exchequer, the master of the Rolls, the attorney and solicitor-generals, and the king's serjeants, were summoned, at the beginning of every Parliament, to be "present in Parliament, with us and with others of our council to treat and give advice" (Macqueen, 36, n.). Since the Judicature Act, 1873, all the judges of the High Court of Justice and of the Court of Appeal have been summoned, Parl. Paper, No. 212 (sess. 1901), p. vii.

2 Hale, Hist. of House of Lords; Introd. to Sugden's Law of Real Property, 2; see also Lord Lyndburst's speech, 23rd June, 1851, 117 H. D. 3 s. 1069.

31 L. J. 586. 606, 26th Jan., 20th March, 1563; West, Inq. 48; D'Ewes's Journal, 99. 143. See ib. 142 for case of Attorney-General and SolicitorGeneral being made a joint committee with the lords.

Their place is on the woolsacks. The last attendance of the judges was during the session of 1897, 129 L. J. 100. 105, &c. If the Scotch judges are called upon to deliver their opinions, the house orders chairs to be placed for the judges below the bar, 25 ib. 99; 46 ib. 172. 189.

5 The masters in ordinary in chancery, until the abolition of their offices, attended the House of Lords, and carried bills and messages to the House of Commons.

VII.

2

Chapter keep secret all such matters as shall be treated" therein, "and not disclose the same before they shall be published, but to such as it ought to be disclosed unto." The clerk assistant and the reading clerk are appointed by the lord chancellor, the appointments being subject to the approbation of the house, and, when appointed, they cannot, under standing order No. 62, be suspended or removed without an order of the house. They attend at the table, with the Clerk, and take minutes of the proceedings, orders, and judgments of the house. These have been published daily Lords' since 1824, as the "Minutes of the Proceedings," and they and are printed, in a corrected and enlarged form, as the journals. Lords' Journals, after being examined "by the sub-committee on the journals." "

Duty of shorthand writer ia

minutes

The gentleman usher of the Black Rod is appointed by Black Rod. letters patent from the Crown, and he, or his deputy, the yeoman usher, is sent to desire the attendance of the Commons in the House of Peers, at the opening and proroguing of Parliament, when the royal assent is given to bills by the king or the lords commissioners, and on other occasions. He executes orders for the commitment of parties guilty of breaches of privilege and contempt, and assists at the introduction of peers, and other ceremonies. The Serjeant-at-arms is also appointed by the Crown. SerjeantHe attends the lord chancellor with the mace, and executes the orders of the house for the attachment of delinquents, when they are in the country. He is, however, the officer of the lord chancellor, rather than of the house.

at-arms.

The shorthand writer to the houses of Parliament is Shorthand appointed by the Clerk of the Parliaments and by the Lords.

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writer.

VII.

Clerk of the House of Commons, pursuant to a resolution1 Chapter agreed to by both houses during the session of 1813. He attends at the bar of the House of Lords when persons are committees, p. 414; on summoned to attend the house, when evidence is tendered election on the second reading of divorce bills, and on peerage 655. His cases. He also records the opinions given by the lords of before a appeal, when the house sits as a judicial court. The short- court of law, p. 431. Commons. hand writer attends at the bar of the House of Commons

Chief officers of

mons.

Clerk of

when members or other persons are summoned to attend
the house, and whenever the Speaker, by order, gives
utterance to the opinion of the house; and it is the duty
of the shorthand writer on these occasions to record the
words uttered by the Speaker, and by the persons who
have been summoned to attend the house.

trials, P.

evidence

The chief officers of the House of Commons are the Clerk the Com- of the house, the Serjeant-at-arms, the clerk assistant, and second clerk assistant. The Clerk of the house is appointed the house. by the Crown, for life, by letters patent, in which he is styled "Under Clerk of the Parliaments, to attend upon the Commons." He makes a declaration, under the Promissory Oaths Act, 1868, before the lord chancellor, on entering upon his office, "to make true entries, remembrances, and journals of the things done and passed in the House of Commons." He signs the addresses, votes of thanks, orders Enlorsement by of the house, endorses the bills sent or returned to the clerk Lords, and reads whatever is required to be read in the house. He is addressed by members, and puts such questions as are necessary on an election of a Speaker (p. 154), and for the adjournment of the house in case of the absence of the Speaker (see p. 156). He has the custody of all records or other documents, and is responsible for

149 L. J. 449. 482; 68 C. J. 497; House of Commons' officers, &c., report of committee, sess. 1833, question 973. See also 48 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 923.

22 Hatsell, 255; London Gazette, 1st Oct. 1850, 3rd Feb. 1871, 4th May, 1886, 13th Feb. 1900, 18th Feb. 1902; see also 3 C. J. 54. 57.

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For earliest grant of appointment
by letters patent, 1 Edw. IV., see
Parl. Paper, No. 96 (sess. 1856).
First appointment of the clerk as-
sistant, 2 C. J. 12; of the second clerk
assistant, 58 ib. 7.

36th Feb. 1811, 66 ib. 82.

1 ib. 306; 6 ib. 542; 17 ib. 724, &c.

assistant.

see p. 509.

Chapter
VII.

Motion to alter entry in, see p.

301.

the conduct of the business of the house in the official
departments under his control. He also assists the Speaker,
and advises members, in regard to questions of order and
the proceedings of the house. The clerks assistant are
appointed by the Crown, under the sign manual, on the
recommendation of the Speaker, and are removable only
upon an address of the House of Commons.1 They sit at
the table of the house, on the left hand of the Clerk.

journals.

A record of the proceedings of the house, entitled "The Votes and proceedVotes and Proceedings," made by the clerks at the table, ings, and is printed and distributed every day (see p. 232).2 From these the journal is afterwards prepared, in which the entries are made at greater length, and with the forms. more distinctly pointed out. These records are confined to the votes and proceedings of the house, without any reference to the debates. The earlier volumes of the journals contain short notes of speeches, which the Clerk had made, without the authority of the house: but all the later volumes record nothing but the res gesta. It was formerly the practice for a committee "to survey the Clerk's book every Saturday," and to be entrusted with a certain discretion in revising the entries: but now the "votes" are prepared on the responsibility of the Clerk; and after "being first perused by Mr. Speaker," are printed for the use of members, and for general circulation. But no person may print them, who is not authorized by the Speaker.

Journals.

The Journals of the House of Lords have always been Lords' held to be public records. They were formerly “recorded every day on rolls of parchment," and in 1621 it was ordered that the Journals of the House of Commons "shall

19 & 20 Vict. c. 1; Treasury Minute, 1856 (Sess. Paper No. 132).

They had been printed, with some interruptions, since 1680. A delay of several days formerly took place in the printing and circulation of the "Votes, &c.," until 1817, when their publication, every morning after the sitting to which the

"Votes, &c." related, was es-
tablished by Mr. John Rickman,
clerk assistant.-Mem. Gent's Mag.
1841.

31 C. J. 673. 676. 683. 885; 2 ib.
12. 42. For a history of the early
journals, see 24 ib. 262.

643.

Sess. order since 1680, 9 ib.

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