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Show Tin: (jutiiiL'Ji in imtni'iuN I'iltl.llUI'MM. In the AbrtA. Amtnxm Httfew for Uoiembet Thcodoro Stantou has an artlclo eiitllled Thu (lucrum In l.uioioan IieglsUlures." The article Is lietl on the position taken li) H taker Iti ed In the last Congress coil-lernliig coil-lernliig the manner of counting a quorum, aud the way In which the timequittionli trottsl In the legislative legis-lative bodies of I.uropenu countries-, Mr. Htauton publishes n letter from M Henri llrlisoii. ox.Presldentof the Kretich Chamber ot Diqiutles, and afterwardt Prime Minister, relating dtrtctly to the custom of rou tiling quorums quo-rums In tho Trench lo,:llutu re, lu that letter It Is staled that the "president of the Chamber has nhvijs held, nt least In rlnclple, lint lie Imd n rl'hl tocouut Inorder to on' li i aiii rum, thodeiutl(-sreivut i i in i i n lull ' tl ta;t ii, (tit i ' l r nU ' HllWller, Mr, inn ou i nn that this is an Incitivcnlent rule and seldom practlctd. He thinks that M. Orcvy at one tlmo exercised his right at (.resident in carrying out this rule. Hut thorn-inner how In vogue In Trance he stales as follows! "niir rules contain an article L. the rfTn! tint, In ease no quorum It present, a veto on the question under discussion will bo called for at the neat sitting wbeu the result will he vat) J whatever may l- thenumberof deputies who Iske iart In the ballot. Ho tho president orders a vote, declares Ihore Is not a quorum, adjourn ad-journ the sitting, calls Its house toorder at the end of ten minutes, and then orders a new tote, whleh this time becomes valid," M. Iioult Ituchonnet,prcaldc,nt of Hie Hwlss Confederation says that tho courrepuritifd by Mr. Hei-d was lu accordiiicti with 8 whs procedure. He llluttratiatbe method in n)s country In thlswayi The Council of Ht.ilis It madeupof II inemtwrt. Ita (rofced ings are legal II i'.t memliera are (indent. Ifaballot Is taken, and eight members, for Instance, vote aie aud four no, eleven do col vote at all, the liallot Is valid nnd the council lias voted llltheafllruutlve. In Helglunithequestlonof aquonim ts rcgulaM by the rules, llut essentially essen-tially lu exlremeraet the name practise prac-tise Is observed as that resorted to by Mr. Heed. Every member present on the llooroflhe house when a ballet It taken la cbllged to take (art lull. Members not votlni; must stabs their reasons for not doing eo. According (o the (resident of the Ilanlsh Ijower Homo "neither of (he two houii-s may alt unlets more than half of the insmbers are (.resent and vole." Hut, he adds, It hat long been tho custom for memlcrt who reply, when tluiroll Is called, "I ilonot vote," to le counted as present, nui const queiitlyta contribute ta the formal Ion of a quorum, tiotwlthttn tiding their uon-pnrtlclpatlon lu tho ballot. In the Dutclr Chimber the session laglni only whenan abao lute majorlly of the Irgal number It promt. This majority Is also required to make a ballot valid. The resident of the CharaUr saya that no provision Is made for a member refusing to vote when present, beoauro It could not bo oticclvod that a member who could retire If bo so desire s, would remain to huir his name called and uot reply. In tho Portuguese Cliamber,deputles aomttiima leavo tho House wlun'n ballot la hrln,t taken; but of! en they remain, re-main, aud do Lot vole, though this la agatnat tho rules. In this case they are not counted fortheurpose of making a quorum. Intact, the .luestlou lias nevrr been raised lu Portugal. In the Lower House of S'orway deputies de-puties who absent themtelvct can be lined from six) to I.OdOcrowca, In thu Oerman Itelchatag Iheronre no rules providing for anextrthieia'u such as thatunder discussion. IntheHwcdltb Diet no quorum It necessary In either of the two Cham ben tor the transaction of bualuces. The ballot la secret, tho vole can not bo publlehcd, to If a (number dtcllnes (OMlotlitrulsuo way to comjel him to do so. OfallthoI.uropeanoountrlfis,'Franou nlono had quorum trou'dee tbeaame as ours. Norway has no difficulty bc-cauteof bc-cauteof lis (cunlary flulug sstcm. Bwcden has no quorum re(Ulslliftu. lu Portugal ono third makes a quorum. In Denmark non-voters am counted prusetit. In Uertuany this Is not done, but Parliamentarians think It would hejusllfhbli. Hwltzerlaud and Italy liavoiuloa providing for quoiuni dim His. In Ibe Netherlands they have never had such a problem Ulwte them. The placid Dutchmin could uoltivin coucelvo liowsuclinnaUurd qutsllon could arise, aa a man being prist nt and at the same time bo recorded aleent. |