When Minority Leader Walter E. Whitcomb, R-Waldo, requested Tuesday that Speaker John L. Martin follow Mason’s Rules and step down from the rostrum while the debate was under way, Martin snapped, “We follow Reed’s Rules.”

The difference is Most towns in Maine use Robert’s Rules of Order for municipal business, yet another parliamentary guideline. But the Maine House most often refers to Reed’s Rules, named after Thomas B. Reed, Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1889-1891, 1895-1899, respectively. This guide is most often used for congressional business.

The Maine Senate, however, usually relies on Mason’s Rules, written in 1953 by Paul Mason and based upon judicial decisions and legislative precedents. It is intended only for “official” bodies and not voluntary organizations, such as civic clubs, according to Bangor historian Al Weymouth.