Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies/Article 2

by Henry M. Robert

Layout 2

 

Art. II. General Classification of Motions.^[1]

[§§ 6–9.]

6. A Principal or Main Question or Motion, is a motion made to bring before the assembly, for its consideration, any particular subject. No Principal Motion can be made when any other question is before the assembly. It takes precedence of nothing, and yields to all Privileged, Incidental and Subsidiary Questions [§§ 7, 8, 9].

7. Subsidiary or Secondary Motions are such as are applied to other motions, for the purpose of most appropriately disposing of them.^[2] They take precedence of a Principal Question, and must be decided before the Principal Question can be acted upon. They yield to Privileged and Incidental Questions, [§§ 8, 9,] and are as follows (being arranged in their order of precedence among themselves):

Lie on the Table	See § 19
The Previous Question	See„ § 20
Postpone to a Certain Day	See„ § 21
Commit	See„ § 22
Amend	See„ § 23
Postpone Indefinitely	See„ § 24

Any of these motions (except to Amend) can be made when one of a lower order is pending, but none can supersede one of a higher order. They cannot be applied^[3] to one another except in the following cases: (a) the Previous Question applies to the motions to Postpone, without affecting the principal motion, and can, if specified, be applied to a pending amendment [§ 20]; (b) the motions to Postpone to a certain day, and to Commit, can be amended; and (c) a motion to Amend the minutes can be laid on the table without carrying the minutes with it [§19].

8. Incidental Questions are such as arise out of other questions, and, consequently, take precedence of, and are to be decided before, the questions which give rise to them. They yield to Privileged Questions [§ 9], and cannot be amended. Excepting an Appeal, they are undebatable; an Appeal is debatable or not, according to circumstances, as shown in § 14. They are as follows:

Appeal (or Questions of Order)	See § 14
Objection to the Consideration of a Question	See„ § 15
The Reading of Papers	See„ § 16
Leave to Withdraw a Motion	See„ § 17
Suspension of the Rules	See„ § 18

9. Privileged Questions are such as, on account of their importance, take precedence of all other questions whatever, and on account of this very privilege they are undebatable [§ 35], excepting when relating to the rights of the assembly or its members, as otherwise they could be made use of so as to seriously interrupt business. They are as follows (being arranged in their order of precedence among themselves):

To Fix the Time to which the Assembly Shall Adjourn	See § 10
Adjourn	See„ § 11
Questions relating to the Rights and Privileges of the Assembly or any of its Members	See„ § 12
Call for the Orders of the Day	See„ § 13

1. In § 54, the ordinary motions will be found classified according to their object.
2. Take, for example, amotion that an appeal lie on the table: to lie on the table is a subsidiary motion enabling the assembly to properly dispose of the appeal; while the appeal is an incidental question, arising out of a decision of the Chair, to which some members objected.
3. See page 18 for explanation of some of these technical terms.