once and not exceeding five minutes; upon the roll call any Senator may speak not to exceed five minutes in explanation of his vote. After such motion to close debate has been made by any Senator no other motion shall be in order until such motion has been voted upon by the Senate. After the Senate shall have adopted the motion to close debate, as hereinbefore provided, no motion shall be in order but one motion to adjourn or for a call of the Senate by the Temporary President, and a motion to commit. Should said motion to adjourn be carried, the measure under consideration shall be the pending question when the Senate shall again convene, and shall be taken up at the point where it was at the time of such adjournment. The motion to close debate may be ordered upon a single motion, a series of motions allowable under the rules, or an amendment or amendments, or may be made to embrace all authorized motions or amendments and include the bill, resolution or motion to its passage or rejection. All incidental questions of order, or motions pending at the time such motion is made to close debate, whether the same be on appeal or otherwise, shall be decided without debate.

33. If at any time during the session of the Senate a question shall be raised by any Senator as to the presence of a quorum, the presiding officer shall forthwith direct the Clerk to call the roll, and shall announce the result, and such proceedings shall be without debate; but no Senator while speaking shall be interrupted by any other Senator raising the question of a lack of a quorum, and the question as to the presence of a quorum shall not be raised oftener than once in every hour unless the lack of a quorum shall be disclosed upon a roll call of the ayes and noes. Whenever upon a roll call any Senator who is upon the floor of the Senate chamber refuses to make response when his name is called, it shall be the duty of the presiding officer, either upon his own motion or upon the suggestion of any Senator, to request the Senator so remaining silent to respond to his name, and if such Senator fails to do so, the fact of such request and refusal shall be entered in the Journal, and such Senator shall be counted as present for the purpose of constituting a quorum.

OF QUESTIONS OF ORDER

34. All questions relating to the priority of business shall be decided without debate.

35. When the reading of a paper is called for, except petitions, and the same is objected to by any Senator, it shall be determined by a vote of the Senate, without debate.

36. When a Senator shall be called to order, he shall take his seat until the President shall have determined whether he is in order or not; and if decided to be out of order, he shall not proceed without the permission of the Senate; and every question of order shall be decided by the President, subject to an appeal to the Senate by any Senator. No second appeal shall be determined until the original appeal shall be decided; and if a Senator shall be called to order for words spoken, the words excepted to shall be immediately taken down in writing.

37. Upon a division in the Senate, the names of those who voted for or against a question shall be entered alphabetically on the Journal, if any Senator requires it, except on motion to excuse a Senator from voting, which shall be decided by count; and each Senator called upon, unless for special reasons he be excused by the Senate, shall declare openly and without debate his assent or dissent to the question.

OF EXECUTIVE SESSION

38. The Senate shall go into consideration of executive business at such times as may be ordered by a vote of the majority of the Senators present. On motion to close the doors of the Senate, on the discussion of business which in the opinion of any Senator may require secrecy, and during the consideration of all business in executive session, the President shall direct all persons, except the Senators and Clerk of the Senate, his messenger, the Journal Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate to withdraw; and during the discussion of said motion the doors shall remain shut; and every Senator and officer of the Senate shall keep secret all such matters, proceedings and things which shall transpire while the doors remain closed.

39. The proceedings of the Senate upon executive business shall be kept in a Journal separate from its proceedings upon legislative business.

40. All nominations sent by the Governor for the appointment of any officer (except notaries public) shall be referred, unless the Senate otherwise orders, to the Finance Committee of the Senate. A nomination shall not be confirmed without reference on the day on which it is received except by unanimous consent. Nominations of persons for the office of notary public shall be referred to the Senator from the district in which the nominee resides, except that when the nominee resides in the city and county of New York, the reference shall be to the Senators from that city and county; and when the nominee resides in the county of Kings, the reference shall be to the Senators from that county.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

41. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Documents and his assistants to have the documents and bills promptly placed on the files of the President and Senators in the order of their numbers, and it shall be the duty of the postmaster to see that the mails are punctually delivered.

42. The Senate post-office and document rooms shall be opened every morning during the session of the Legislature at 8.30 o'clock and remain open until 5.30 P. M., and shall also be open during all the hours the Senate is in session, except that on Sundays the postoffice shall be open from 12 noon to 1 o'clock P. M.

43. A rule of the Senate shall not be altered, suspended or rescinded or a standing committee discharged without a vote of a majority of all the Senators elected; and a motion to suspend, alter or rescind any such rule, or any joint rule of the two Houses, shall not be in order, without the unanimous consent of the Senate, unless one day's previous notice thereof in writing shall be given, specifying the purpose of the proposed suspension, alteration or rescission, such notice to be given in the order of business of reports of standing committees; provided that nothing in this rule shall limit the provisions of the first and thirty-second rules.

44. Whenever a claim is referred to a committee, and the committee reports that the claim ought not to be allowed, and the report is adopted by the Senate, it shall not be in order to move to take the papers from the files for the purpose of referring them

to a subsequent session, unless the claimant shall present a memorial for that purpose, stating in what manner the committee have erred in their report, or that new evidence had been discovered since the report, and setting forth the same in the memorial.

45. All resolutions calling for the expenditure of moneys must be decided by a majority vote of all the members elected to the Senate, upon a call of the roll.

46. For the purpose of securing the attendance of Senators, a call of the Senate may be ordered at any time, but such call shall not be in order after the voting on any question has begun, nor after the third reading of a bill has been completed, nor after the motion to close debate has been ordered pursuant to Rule 32, unless it shall appear upon an actual count by the President that a quorum is not present.

47. Persons not members of the Senate, or officers or employees thereof, shall be admitted to the floor of the Senate only as follows:

1. The Governor, his secretary and messenger.

2. The members and Clerk of the Assembly, and clerks and messengers of the Assembly in the exercise of an official duty directly connected with the business of the Senate.

3. The elected State officers, heads of departments and their deputies.

4. Reporters of the Senate and of the Assembly designated under the rules, unless a designation theretofore given them has en revoked.

5. Ladies, and members of a Senator's family or of the family of the President of the Senate, on the card of a Senator, or of the President of the Senate.

6. Former members of the Senate.

7. Any person not hereinbefore named may be admitted to the parlor of the Senate.

8. During the sessions of the Senate, no person other than a Senator shall occupy the chair of a Senator.

48. An officer or employee of the Senate shall not solicit subscriptions, for any purpose, from any other officer or employee

thereof, nor from any Senator. Nor shall any person be permitted to solicit or receive subscriptions or contributions for any purpose on the floor, or in the lobby of the Senate.

Mr. Walker moved that Rule 1 be amended in its provisions as to the order of business, to read as follows:

1. The presentation of petitions.
2. Introduction of bills.

3. Messages from the Assembly.
4. Messages from the Governor.
5. Reports of standing committees.
6. Reports of select committees.

7. Communications and reports from State officers.
8. Motions and resolutions.

9. Third reading of bills.

10. Special orders.

11. General orders.

The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said amendment, and it was decided in the negative, as follows:

Mr. Walker moved that Rule 31 be amended to read as follows:

"All concurrent resolutions shall lie on the table at least one day except as otherwise directed by Rules 18 and 30 and except concurrent resolutions referring to adjournment."

The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said amendment, and it was decided in the negative, as follows: