On  great  bills,  like  an  Interstate  Commerce  Act  or  a  Tariff
Act,  hundreds  of  amendments  may  be  filed.  A  bill  is  fre-
quently recommitted,  so  that  the  committee  may  incorporate
such  amendments  as  it  favors ;  or,  in  order  to  meet  objections,
amendments  are  prepared  in  the  committee  and  reported  by
the  chairman.  It  is  a  duty  of  party  management  to  prevent  a
part  of  the  majority  from  joining  with  the  minority  in  an  im-
portant amendment ;  for  it  is  evident  that  such  a  practice
would  quickly  destroy  party  cohesion ;  hence  members  who
really  desire  changes  in  a  bill  try  to  bring  them  about  by  remon-
strating with  those  who  have  the  bill  in  charge.  The  tariff  bills
of  late  years  have  gone  through  the  House  in  almost  exactly
the  form  in  which  they  were  reported,  parliamentary  devices
being  found  for  shutting  off  the  amendments  not  accepted  by
the  committee  in  charge.  A  favorite  method  of  defeating  bills
is  to  move  at  the  last  moment  to  strike  out  the  enacting  clauses,
a  motion  which,  if  carried,  stops  debate  and  ends  the  subject.
Votes  in  Congress  are  taken  in  four  ways :  —  ( i )  By  the
"  ayes  and  noes,"  the  presiding  officer  deciding  according  to
the  sound  of  the  voices.  This  is  convenient  for  ordinary
questions,  where  the  vote  is  not  very  close.  (2)  If  anybody
doubts  the  vote,  there  is  a  "  division  "  :  those  in  favor  rise  and
are  counted,  and  then  those  opposed  rise  and  are  counted.
(3)  In  vote  by  "tellers"  those  on  the  affirmative  and  those
on  the  negative  each  file  between  two  tellers,  who  count  the
numbers.  The  advantage  of  this  system  is  that  it  gives  time
to  call  up  members  from  the  lobby  and  committee  rooms.
