Sometimes committees disagree, and majority and minority reports are presented. In such a case the first motion to be made is usually for the adoption of the majority report. Then an amendment to substitute for it the minority report often follows, and after debate, the vote comes on the question of substitution. If that fails, the vote recurs on the adoption of the majority report.
(d) Postponement.—A motion to postpone consideration to a definite time is in order while any of the motions already described are under discussion. It is debatable, but the chairman should not let the debate extend beyond the proper time of postponement. If carried, the main motion cannot again be considered before the specified time, except by a two-thirds vote. But when that time has arrived, if a certain hour was named, the postponed motion takes precedence of any other business, except the privileged questions later to be described. If the postponement was to a certain day only, the motion comes up when “unfinished business” is reached.
Any of the motions already named will yield to a motion for
(e) The Previous Question.—That, if carried, closes all debate, and puts the matter at once to a vote. It is in order only when there has been a fair amount of discussion. It is not itself debatable, and requires a two-thirds vote to pass. If amendments are pending when the previous question is ordered, they must be voted on one after another; then the main motion must be put, without further debate. But a member may, if he please, move the previous question on an amendment only—in which case the main motion will still be open to debate.
Finally, a motion
(f) To Lay on the Table takes precedence of any of the other motions enumerated. It is not debatable. Its effect is to postpone action on a motion, but it permits the reintroduction of the motion at any time during that or the next following session. Its proper use is to lay aside a motion until further information can be obtained, or until a more favorable time for its consideration; but since the enemies of a motion, if they are strong enough to lay a motion on the table, are often strong enough to prevent its being taken from the table, this motion often serves to suppress a question without actually voting it down. A motion to take a motion from the table is in order at any time when other business is not before the house, during the same or the next following session.
B. The INCIDENTAL MOTIONS are seven in number, and are of equal parliamentary standing. That is to say, any of them may be introduced while the main or a subsidiary motion is pending, but no one of them takes precedence over any other; no second incidental motion may be offered while one is under consideration. All of them, save only the appeal from the decision of the chair, are peremptory motions, and not debatable. They are as follows:
(a) Suspension of the Rules.—This is a motion to suspend the operation of the rules of order that the particular body has adopted, in order to permit the consideration of some pressing matter out of its usual place. By-laws may not thus be suspended, and the rules of order may be suspended only by a two-thirds vote. Nor can the motion, if voted down, be renewed while the same question is under consideration; the chairman must rule it “out of order” if the attempt is made. The motion should be made in this form: “Mr. Chairman, I move the suspension of the rules for the consideration of the question—” which should then be stated in full.
(b) Withdrawing a Motion.—When a motion is fairly before the house, the mover may withdraw it only by rising and moving its withdrawal. No one but the maker of the original motion can move to withdraw. There can be no debate, and a majority vote permits the withdrawal.
(c) Dividing a Motion.—If a motion contains two or more distinct propositions, it is sometimes convenient to divide it, and vote separately on each proposition, especially if one seems likely to encounter more opposition than the others. The motion is not debatable.