A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention / For Proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, Held at Washington, D.C., in February, A.D. 1861

by L. E. Chittenden

The VICE-PRESIDENT:—The first question will be on printing.

The motion to print was agreed to.

The VICE-PRESIDENT:—The next question is that the communication be referred to a select committee of five, with instructions to report to-morrow at one o'clock.

Mr. HALE:—I ask for a division of that.

The VICE-PRESIDENT:—How would it be divided?

Mr. HALE:—The motion to refer to a select committee is one proposition, and the instructions are another.

The VICE-PRESIDENT:—That is the form in which the Senator wants it divided?

Mr. HALE:—Yes, sir.

Mr. BIGLER:—As the Chair states the proposition, it does not reach the object which the Senator from Kentucky had in view. The instructions should be that the committee report to-morrow morning, and that the report shall be the special order at one o'clock. Unless that is done, one objection will put it over.

The VICE-PRESIDENT:—The Senator from New Hampshire asks for a division of the question, and it is susceptible of division. The first question is on referring the communication to a special committee of five.