Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies/Article 10

by Henry M. Robert

Layout 2

 

Art. X. Officers and Committees.

50. Chairman or President. It is the duty of the Chairman to call the meeting to order at the appointed time, to preside at all the meetings, to announce the business before the assembly in its proper order, to state and put all questions properly brought before the assembly, to preserve order and decorum, and to decide all questions of order (subject to an appeal). When he “puts a question” to vote, and when speaking upon an appeal, he should stand;^[1] in all other cases he can sit. In all cases where his vote would affect the result, or where the vote is by ballot, he can vote. When a member rises to speak, he should say, “Mr. Chairman,” and the Chairman should reply, “Mr. A;” he should not interrupt a speaker as long as he is in order, but should listen to his speech, which should be addressed to him and not to the assembly. The Chairman should be careful to abstain from the appearance of partisanship, but he has the right to call another member to the chair while he addresses the assembly on a question; when speaking to a question of order he does not leave the chair.

51. The Clerk, Secretary or Recording Secretary, as he is variously called, should keep a record of the proceedings, the character of which depends upon the kind of meeting. In an occasional or mass meeting, the record usually amounts to nothing, but he should always record every resolution or motion that is adopted.

In a convention it is often desirable to keep a full record for publication, and where it lasts for several days, it is usual, and generally best, to appoint one or more assistant clerks. Frequently it is a tax on the judgment of the clerk to decide what to enter on the record, or the “Minutes,” as it is usually called. Sometimes the points of each speech should be entered, and at other times only the remark that the question was discussed by Messrs. A, B and C in the affirmative, and Messrs. D, E and F in the negative. Every resolution that is adopted should be entered, which can be done in this form: “On motion of Mr. D it was resolved that, etc.”

Sometimes a convention does its work by having certain topics previously assigned to certain speakers, who deliver formal addresses or essays, the subjects of which are afterwards open for discussion in short speeches—of five minutes, for instance. In such cases the minutes are very brief, unless they are to be published, when they should contain either the entire addresses, or carefully prepared abstracts of them, and should show the drift of the discussion that followed each one. In permanent societies, where the minutes are not published, they consist of a record of what was done and not what was said, and should be kept in a book. The secretary should never make in the minutes any criticism, either favorable or otherwise, upon anything said or done in a meeting.

The Form of the Minutes can be as follows:

At a regular meeting of the M. L. Society, held in their hall, on Tuesday evening, March 16, 1875, Mr. A in the chair, and Mr. B acting as secretary, the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. The committee on Applications reported the names of Messrs. C and D as applicants for membership, and on motion of Mr. F they were admitted as members. The committee on ——— reported through Mr. G a series of resolutions, which were thoroughly discussed and amended, and finally adopted, as follows:

Resolved, That * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On motion of Mr. L the society adjourned.

L——— B———,

Secretary.

If the proceedings are to be published, the secretary should always examine the published proceedings of similar meetings, so as to conform to the custom, excepting where it is manifestly improper.

The Constitution, By-Laws, Rules of Order and Standing Rules should all be written in one book, leaving every other page blank; and whenever an amendment is made to any of them, it should be immediately entered on the page opposite to the article amended, with a reference to the date and page of the minutes where is recorded the action of the society.

The secretary has the custody of all papers belonging to the society, not specially under charge of any other officer. Sometimes his duties are also of a financial kind, when he should make such reports as are prescribed in the next session.

52. Treasurer. The duties of this officer vary in different societies. In probably the majority of cases he acts as a banker, merely holding the funds deposited with him, and paying them out on the order of the society signed by the secretary. His annual report, which is always required, in this case consists of merely a statement of the amount on hand at the commencement of the year, the amount received during the year (stating from what sources received), the total amount paid out by order of the society, and the balance on hand. When this report is presented it is referred to an “auditing committee,” consisting of one or two persons, who examine the treasurer’s books and vouchers, and certify on his report that they “have examined his accounts and vouchers and find them correct, and the balance on hand is,” etc., stating the amount on hand. The auditing committee’s report being accepted is equivalent to a resolution of the society to the same effect, namely, that the treasurer’s report is correct.

In the case here supposed the real financial statement is made either by the board of trustees, or by the secretary or some other officer, according to the Constitution of the society. The principles involved are, that every officer who receives money is to account for it in a report to the society, and that whatever officer is responsible for the disbursements shall report them to the society. If the secretary, as in many societies, is really responsible for the expenses, the treasurer merely paying upon his order, then the secretary should make a full report of these expenses, so classified as to enable the society to readily see the amounts expended for various purposes.

It should always be remembered that the financial report is made for the information of members. The details of dates and separate payments for the same object are a hinderance to its being understood, and are useless, as it is the duty of the auditing committee to examine into the details and see if the report is correct.

Every disbursing officer should be careful to get a receipt whenever he makes a payment; these receipts should be preserved in regular order, as they are the vouchers for the payments, which must be examined by the auditing committee. Disbursing officers cannot be too careful in keeping their accounts, and they should insist upon having their accounts audited every time they make a report, as by this means any error is quickly detected and may be corrected. When the society has accepted the auditing committee’s report that the financial report is correct, the disbursing officer is relieved from the responsibility of the past, and if his vouchers were lost afterwards it would cause no trouble. The best form for these financial reports depends upon the kind of society, and is best determined by examining those made in similar societies.

The following form can be varied to suit most cases [when the statement of receipts and expenses is very long, it is often desirable to specify the amounts received from one or two particular sources, which can be done immediately after stating the total receipts; the same course can be taken in regard to the expenditures]:

Treasurer’s Report.

The undersigned, Treasurer of the M. L. Society, begs leave to submit the following annual report:

The balance on hand at the commencement of the year was ——— dollars and ——— cents. There was received from all sources during the year ——— dollars and ——— cents; during the same time the expenses amounted to ——— dollars and ——— cents, leaving a balance on hand of ——— dollars and ——— cents.

The annexed statement of receipts and expenditures will show in detail the sources from which the receipts were obtained, and the objects to which the expenditures have been applied.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

S——— M———,

Treasurer M. L. S.

The “Statement of receipts and expenditures” can be made by simply giving a list of receipts, followed by a list of expenses, and finishing up with the balance on hand. The auditing committee’s certificate to the correctness of the account should be written on the statement. Often the statement is made out in the form of an account, as follows:

Dr.	The M. L. S. in acct. with S. M., Treas’r.				Cr.
1875.			1875.
Dec. 31.	To rent of hall	$500 00	Jan. 1.	By balance on hand from last year’s account	$ 21 13
	To„ gas	80 00
	To„ stationery	26 50	Dec. 31.	By initiation fees	95 00
	To„ janitor	360 00		By„ members’ dues	860 00
	To„ balance on hand	24 63		By„ fines	15 00
		$991 13			$991 13

We do hereby certify that we have examined the accounts and vouchers of the treasurer, and find them correct; and that the balance in his hands is twenty-four dollars and sixty-three cents.

R. V.,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	Audit. Com.
J. L.,

53. Committees. In small assemblies, especially in those where but little business is done, there is not much need of committees. But in large assemblies, or in those doing a great deal of business, committees are of the utmost importance. When a committee is properly selected, in nine cases out of ten its action decides that of the assembly. A committee for action should be small, and consist only of those heartily in favor of the proposed action. A committee for deliberation or investigation, on the contrary, should be larger, and represent all parties in the assembly, so that its opinion will carry with it as great weight as possible. The usefulness of the committee will be greatly impaired if any important faction of the assembly be unrepresented on the committee. The appointment of a committee is fully explained in § 46 (c).

The first member named on a committee is their chairman, and it is his duty to call together the committee and preside at their meetings. If he is absent, or from any cause fails or declines to call a meeting, it is the duty of the committee to assemble on the call of any two of their members. The committee are a miniature assembly, only being able to act when a quorum is present. If a paper is referred to them, they must not deface it in any way, but write their amendments on a separate sheet. If they originate the paper, all amendments must be incorporated in it. When they originate the paper, usually one member has previously prepared a draft, which is read entirely through, and then read by paragraphs, the chairman pausing after each paragraph, and asking: “Are there any amendments proposed to this paragraph?” No vote is taken on the adoption of the separate paragraphs; but, after the whole paper has been read in this way, it is open to amendment, generally by striking out any paragraph or inserting new ones, or by substituting an entirely new paper for it. When it has been amended to suit the committee, they should adopt it as their report, and direct the chairman or some other member to report it to the assembly. It is then written out, usually commencing in a style similar to this: “The committee to which was referred [state the matter referred], beg leave to submit the following report;” or, “Your committee appointed to [specify the object], would respectfully report,” etc. It usually closes thus: “All of which is respectfully submitted,” followed by the signatures of all the members concurring in the report, or sometimes by only that of the chairman.

If the minority submit a report, it commences thus: “The undersigned, a minority of the committee appointed,” etc., continuing as the regular report of the committee. After the committee’s report has been read it is usual to allow the minority to present their report; but it cannot be acted upon except by a motion to substitute it for the report of the committee. When the committee’s report is read they are discharged without any motion. A motion to refer the paper back to the same committee (or to recommit), if adopted, revives the committee.

1. In meetings of boards of managers, committees, and other small bodies, the chairman usually retains his seat, and even members in speaking do not rise.