it as great
weight as possible. The usefulness of the committee will be greatly
impaired, if any important faction of the assembly be unrepresented on
the committee. The appointment of a committee is fully explained in Sec.
46 (c).

The first member named on a committee is their chairman, and it is his
duty to call together the committee, and preside at their meetings. If
he is absent, or from any cause fails or declines to call a meeting, it
is the duty of the committee to assemble on the call of any two of their
members. The committee are a miniature assembly, only being able to act
when

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a quorum is present. If a paper is referred to them they must not
deface it in any way, but write their amendments on a separate sheet.
If they originate the paper, all amendments must be incorporated in it.
When they originate the paper, usually one member has previously
prepared a draft, which is read entirely through, and then read by
paragraphs, the chairman pausing after each paragraph and asking, "Are
there any amendments proposed to this paragraph?" No vote is taken on
the adoption of the separate paragraphs, but after the whole paper has
been read in this way, it is open to amendment, generally, by striking
out any paragraph or inserting new ones, or by substituting an entirely
new paper for it. When it has been amended to suit the committee, they
should adopt it as their report, and direct the chairman or some other
member to report it to the assembly. It is then written out, usually
commencing in a style similar to this: "The committee to which was
referred [state the matter referred], beg leave to submit the following
report;" or, "Your committee appointed to [specify the object], would
respectfully report," etc. It usually closes thus: "All of which is
respectfully submitted," followed by the signatures of

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all the members concurring in the report, or sometimes by only that of
the chairman.

If the minority submit a report, it commences thus: "The undersigned, a
minority of the committee appointed," etc., continuing as the regular
report of the committee. After the committee's report has been read, it
is usual to allow the minority to present their report, but it cannot be
acted upon except by a motion to substitute it for the report of the
committee. When