Amendment

“ As many as favor the amendment say aye . . . Those opposed, no. . . . . The noes have it. The amendment to the amendment is rejected. The question now recurs on the amendment, inserting the words “as now conducted” after the word examinations. Are you ready for the question? As many as favor the amendment say aye. . . . Those opposed, no. . . . The ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. The question now recurs on the amended resolution: Resolved, That civil-service examinations as now conducted should be abolished. Are you ready for the question? As many as are in favor say aye. ”

“ To guard against civil discord as well as the impending danger, permit me most ardently to request your most serious attention to the measure of recommending to the Legislatures of the several States that they effect a remedy in the premises by an amendment to the constitution; and that to give further weight to this matter the delegation of this state in Congress be required to urge that body to propose such an amendment to the said several Legislatures. ”

“ If none are offered, after a pause, he reads the next article, and asks the same question, and proceeds thus until he reads the last article, when he says, “The whole Constitution having been read, it is open to amendment.” Now any one can move amendments to any part of the Constitution. ”

“ The legislatures of two thirds of the states may require a convention to be called, for the purpose of proposing amendments. In each case, three fourths of the states, either through their legislatures, or conventions, called for the purpose, must concur in every amendment, before it becomes a part of the constitution. That this mode of obtaining amendments is practicable, is abundantly demonstrated by our past experience in the only mode hitherto found necessary, that of amendments proposed by congress. ”

“ We all take an oath to support and defend the Constitution. As we near the end of the task before us, let’s remember the beginning of the Constitution. Before Article II and the 12th Amendment, which spell out the electoral college, and before Article I, which creates Congress, the Constitution begins with the preamble. ”

“ The constitution which at any time exists till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all. If in the opinion of the people the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates ”

“ The words 'in the manner provided' had been substituted for 'as provided.' So it was apparent that Congress by the amendment had narrowed the meaning. There is no such special legislative history here. ”

“ I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of its constitution; I mean an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing. ”

“ Some States provide that the constitution shall be submitted to the people for amendment at the end of certain intervals of time. In the larger number of cases a majority of the popular vote is required for ratification of a constitutional amendment. State constitutions show a tendency to become longer, and to regulate a constantly increasing number of subjects. ”

“ I lay before Congress copies of acts passed by the legislatures of the States of Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York, ratifying the amendment proposed by the Senate and House of Representatives at their last session to the Constitution of the United States respecting the judicial power thereof. ”

“ The only means known to the constitution, by which to ascertain the will of the people upon a constitutional question, is in the shape of an affirmative or negative proposition by way of amendment, offered for their adoption in the mode prescribed by the constitution. The elections in one year may bring one party into power ”

“ A society can amend its constitution and by-laws so as to affect the emoluments and duties of officers already elected, or even to do away with the office altogether. If it is desired that the amendment should not affect officers already elected, a motion to that effect should be adopted before voting on the amendment ”

“ Rule 18.—No motion for adjournment shall be in order until after nine o’clock.
Rule 19.—Every motion shall be reduced to writing, should the officers of the society desire it.
Rule 20.—An amendment to an amendment is in order, but not to amend an amendment to an amendment of a main question.
Rule 21.—The previous question shall be put in this form, if seconded by a majority of the members present: “Shall the main question be put?” If decided in the affirmative, the main question is to be put immediately, and all further debate or amendment must be suspended. ”

“ They pray, that your honorable house, as the representatives of the people in this commonwealth, will, in the course of your present session, take such measures as you, in your wisdom, shall deem most effectual and proper to obtain a revision and amendment of the Constitution of the United States, in such parts, and in such manner, as have been or shall be pointed out by the conventions or assemblies of the respective states ”

“ As soon as the constitution was adopted, this right was secured by the seventh amendment of the constitution proposed by congress; and which received an assent of the people so general, as to establish its importance as a fundamental guaranty of the rights and liberties of the people. ”

“ During the present Congress, various resolutions have been submitted to the House of Representatives proposing amendment, but none have yet been adopted. That there is need for amendment of the Constitution we can not doubt, when we advert to the facts in the last election. One candidate had a decided preference in eleven out of twenty-four States by the people ”

“ If the general voice of the people be for an increase, it undoubtedly must take place. They have it in their power to instruct their representatives; and the state legislatures, which appoint the senators, may enjoin it also upon them. Sir, if I believed that the number would remain at sixty-five, I confess I should give my vote for an amendment, though in a different form from the one proposed. ”

“ The Civil Rights Bill and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill and the proposed constitutional amendments, with the amendment already adopted and recognized as the law of the land, do not reach the difficulty, and cannot, unless the whole structure of the government is changed from a government by States to something like a despotic central government, with power to control even the municipal regulations of States, and to make them conform to its own despotic will. ”

“ Mr. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS liked the idea; suggesting, as an amendment, that each man should vote for two persons, one of whom at least should not be of his own state.
Mr. MADISON also thought something valuable might be made of the suggestion, with the proposed amendment of it. ”

“ It is urged by the gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. Lloyd,) that as this nation progresses in commerce, wealth, and population, new energies will be unfolded, new wants and exigencies will arise, and hence he infers that powers must be implied from the constitution. But, sir, the question is, shall we stretch the instrument to embrace cases not fairly within its scope, or shall we resort to that remedy, by amendment, which the constitution prescribes? ”

“ A priceless opportunity this. To deliver your own speech prepared for your own Amendment a commonplace performance. To deliver it either for or against (doesn't matter which) an Amendment moved by another man, on behalf of a third man, is a luxury to be appreciated only by a gourmet.
The Man from Shropshire audibly smacks his lips over it. The other noise you hear is baffled Henry Fowler grinding his teeth.
Business done.—Reached Clause VII. Parish Councils Bill. ”

“ While one secondary amendment is pending no other secondary amendment of the same motion is in order. A secondary amendment cannot be amended. After an amendment of the first or second degree has been disposed of, another amendment of the same degree is in order. ”

“ A worthy member has said—what had been often said before—that, suppose a war took place, and the most experienced and able man was unfortunately in either house, he could not be made general, if the proposed amendment was adopted. ”

“ The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment stands, in my opinion, on its own bottom. ”

“ When an amendment is pending the main question cannot be debated except so far as the amendment necessarily involves the main question, or in so far as debate is necessary in order to show the propriety of impropriety of adopting the amendment, and such debate should be limited in its scope to that portion of the main question which is involved. ”

“ Within the very first year of the ratification of the Constitution, ten amendments were proposed and carried, making it an old knife with new blades, and finishing it up into what some people, with great novelty, proclaim it to be, the most perfect instrument ever invented. ”

“ I do not allude to any reform in the law, though I believe much to be needed. I mean to confine myself to amendments which it is in the power of the people to make for themselves, and indeed, which no legislature, however enlightened, can make for them. ”

“ National protection for national citizens in their equal civil, political, and religious rights, to be guaranteed by amendment of the United States constitution and afforded through the United States courts. ”

“ That a bad feature in government, becomes more and more fixed every day. 3. That frequent changes of a constitution, even if practicable, ought not to be wished, but avoided as much as possible. And 4. That in the present case, it may be questionable, whether, after the particular advantages of its operation shall be discerned, three fourths of the States can be induced to amend. ...
I should now conclude this letter, which is already too long, were it not incumbent on me, from having contended for amendments, to set forth the particulars, which I conceive to require correction. ”

“ The constitution is the act of the people, and ought to remain entire. But the amendments will be the act of the State Governments. Again, all the authority we possess is derived from that instrument; if we mean to destroy the whole, and establish a new constitution, we remove the basis on which we mean to build. ”

“ If it is desired to give greater stability to a rule it is necessary to place it in the constitution, by-laws, or rules of order, all of which are so guarded by requiring notice of amendments, and at least a two-thirds vote for their adoption, that they are not subject to sudden changes, and may be considered as expressing the deliberate views of the whole society, rather than the opinions or wishes of any particular meeting. ”

“ The very reason for the First Amendment is to make the people of this country free to think, speak, write and worship as they wish, not as the Government commands. ”