An appeal may be taken from his decision by any of the delegations or any Delegate individually.

ARTICLE XII.

The resolutions introduced by the Delegates shall be referred by the presiding officer to the proper committee, unless the Conference shall decide, by a vote of two-thirds of the delegations present, to proceed to their immediatė consideration. No resolution not reported upon by a committee shall be discussed until after two sessions of the Conference shall have been held, subsequent to the one in which the resolution in question was introduced.

ARTICLE XIII.

All amendments or amendments to amendments shall be referred to the proper committees, unless the Conference otherwise order, and they shall be voted upon before the resolution or report the text of which they are intended to amend.

ARTICLE XIV.

The Conference may at any time, by a resolution to that effect, go into Committee of the Whole, in order to exchange views informally upon any subject whatever on the order of the day, or upon any incident which may arise therefrom. The motion to go into Committee of the Whole shall have preference, and shall be put to vote without debate. No vote shall be taken upon any subject in Committee of the Whole.

ARTICLE XV.

The reports of the committees and the resolutions submitted by them shall be printed in Spanish and in English, and distributed to the Delegates, for their consideration, at the following session; but such reports and resolutions shall not be submitted for discussion until after four days from the date on which the printed copies shall have been distributed.

ARTICLE XVI.

The delegation of each State represented in this Conference shall have only one vote, and the votes shall be given separately by States.

The votes will be recorded in the minutes.

On matters not covered by Article XVII the vote may be taken viva voce, if no objection is made.

ARTICLE XVII.

At least two-thirds of the States participating in the Conference must be represented by at least one Delegate each when a vote is taken upon any of the matters enumerated in the act of Congress under which the Conference was convened.

ARTICLE XVIII.

At the close of each session the President or presiding officer shall announce to the Conference the subjects pending for discussion at the next session; but the Conference shall have the power to make such changes as it may deem advisable, either in regard to the hour of the meeting or as to the order in which the pending business shall be considered.

ARTICLE XIX.

The minutes, after their approval by the Conference, shall be signed by the President or other presiding officer and by all the Delegates present at the meeting in which they are approved. They shall be printed in English and in Spanish, in pages of two columns, one for each language, and in sufficient number to allow each Delegate accredited to the Conference to receive four copies. The originals in both languages shall be deposited in the archives of the Conference, and the copies for the Delegates shall be authenticated by the Secretaries who acted at the respective sessions.

ARTICLE XX.

The discussions and decisions shall be secret, unless therwise ordered by the Conference. Consequently, only

the following shall have access to the halls of its sessions, to wit: The President, the Delegates and their secretaries, and the secretaries, interpreters, and stenographers of the Conference. The President or other presiding officer will, moreover, take such measures as may be necessary for effectually securing the prescribed privacy.

ARTICLE XXI.

To amend or repeal any of the foregoing rules a twothirds vote of the delegations present at the session in which the amendments shall have been offered, shall be required.

NAMES AND DUTIES OF STANDING COMMITTEES.

[Adopted December 7, 1889.]

I.-Executive Committee.

An Executive Committee, composed of the President, the Vice-Presidents, and three Delegates, to direct and supervise the labors of the Secretaries, and also to direct and supervise the editing and printing of the journals and verbatim reports of the Conference.

II.-Committee on Customs Union.

A committee of five Delegates, to report upon the practicability and advisability of an American Customs Union, and to formulate the basis for the establishment of such an Union, if any may be proposed.

III.-Committee on Communication on the Atlantic.

A committee of five, to consider and report upon the best means of extending and improving the facilities for transportation and postal and telegraph communication between the several countries represented in this Conference that border on the Atlantic Ocean.

IV.-Committee on Communication on the Pacific.

A committee of five, to consider and report upon the best means of extending and improving the facilities for transportation and postal and telegraphic communication between the several countries represented in this Conference that border upon the Pacific Ocean.