its passage. This vote having
been taken, the bill is returned to the house from which it was
received. If it has been amended, the amendments must be agreed to by
the first house, or the second must recede from their amendments, or the
amendments must be so modified as to secure the approval of both houses,
before the bill can become a law.

Sec.15. Some young reader may inquire why a bill should take so long and
slow a course through two different houses; and why one body of
representatives is not sufficient. The object is to secure the enactment
of good laws. Notwithstanding bills go through the hands of a committee
and three different readings in the house; yet through undue haste,
wrong information, or from other causes, a house may, and often does,
commit serious errors. Legislatures are therefore divided into two
branches; and a bill having passed one house is sent to the other where
the mistakes of the former may be corrected, or the bill wholly
rejected.

Sec.16. But in many of the states, a bill, when passed by both houses, is
not yet a law. As the two houses may concur in adopting an unwise
measure, an additional safeguard is provided against the enactment of
bad laws, by requiring all bills to be sent to the governor for
examination and approval. If he approves a bill, he signs it, and it is
a law; if he does not sign it, it is not a law. In refusing to sign a
bill, he is said to _negative_, or _veto_ the bill. _Veto_, Latin,
means, _I forbid_.

Sec.17. But no governor has full power to prevent the passage of a law. If
he does not approve a bill, he must return it to the house in which it
originated, stating his objections to it; and if it shall be again
passed by both houses, it will be a law without the governor's assent
But in such cases greater majorities are generally required to pass a
law. In some states, a majority of two-thirds of the members present is
necessary; in others, a majority of _all the members elected_. In a few
states, only the same majorities are required to pass a bill against
the veto as in the first instance. Or if the governor does not return a
bill within a certain number of days, it becomes a law without his
signature, or without being considered a second time. In some states,
bills are not sent to the governor, but are laws when passed by both
houses and signed by their presiding officers.

Chapter XII.

Executive Department. Governor and Lieutenant-Governor.