§14. When a bill has passed one house it is sent to the other, where it
must pass through the same forms of action; that is, it must be referred
to a committee; reported by the committee to the house; and be read
three times before a vote is taken on 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.

§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.

§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_.