questions of routine are not seconded or even made; the presiding
officer merely announcing that, if no objection is made, such will be
considered the action of the assembly.

4. All Principal Motions [Sec. 6], Amendments and Instructions to
Committees, should be in writing, if required by the presiding officer.
Although a question is complicated, and capable of being made into
several questions, no one member (without there is a special rule
allowing it) can insist upon its being divided; his resource is to move
that the question be divided, specifying in his motion how it is to be
divided. Any one else can move as

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an amendment to this, to divide it differently.

This Division of a Question is really an amendment [Sec. 23], and subject
to the same rules. Instead of moving a division of the question, the
same result can be usually attained by moving some other form of an
amendment. When the question is divided, each separate question must be
a proper one for the assembly to act upon, even if none of the others
were adopted. Thus, a motion to "commit with instructions," is
indivisible, because if divided, and the motion to commit should fail,
then the other motion to instruct the committee would be improper, as
there would be no committee to instruct.* [The 46th Rule of the House of
Representatives requires the division of a question on the demand of one
member, provided "it comprehends propositions in substance so distinct
that one being taken away, a substantive proposition shall remain for
the decision of the House." But this does not allow a division so as to
have a vote on separate items or names. The 121st Rule expressly
provides that on the demand of one-fifth of the members a separate vote
shall be taken on such items separately, and others collectively, as
shall be specified in the call, in the case of a bill making
appropriations for internal improvements. But this right to divide a
question into items extends to no case but the one specified. The
common parliamentary law allows of no division except when the assembly
orders it, and in ordinary assemblies this rule will be found to give
less trouble than the Congressional one.]

The motion to "strike out certain words and insert others," is
indivisible, as it is strictly one proposition.

5. After a question has been stated by the presiding officer, it is in
the possession