tees of their appointment and of the matters committed to them, to authenticate, when necessary, by his signature, the acts and proceedings of the body, and to take in charge all papers and documents belonging thereto.

34. What is the duty of a Corresponding Secretary?

The duty of the Corresponding Secretary is to conduct, under the instructions of the society, all correspondence with other societies or individuals.

35. What is the duty of the Treasurer?

The duty of the Treasurer is to receive, and under specified regulations, to disburse all moneys belonging to the society,—to keep an accurate account of all pecuniary matters pertaining thereto,—and when required, to give a clear and correct statement of its financial condition.

36. What are the rights of the members?

Every member has an equal right with every other member, to offer in the proper way, any motion, or resolution which he may deem expedient, to enter, in the way of explanation and discussion, upon the merits of his proposition, and to have it duly weighed and decided upon by the assembly. He has, also, in common with the rest, various other rights and privileges, which will come up more properly under other heads.

37. What are the duties of the members?

The duty of every member is to follow strictly the rules of order, to abstain from all personalities in de

bate,—never designedly or heedlessly to interrupt another member while speaking,-never to create disturbance in the assembly, or any part thereof, by whispering, hissing, or any other act of indecency,-and, finally, in all respects to observe the decorum and propriety of deportment proper to a gentleman.

MODE OF COMMENCING BUSINESS.

38. What is the first step after the organization of a meeting?

The first step after organizing is for the President officially to announce, that the meeting being duly or ganized, is now ready for the transaction of business.

It is quite customary, moreover, for the President, upon taking his place as the presiding officer of a meeting, to make a short address suitable to the occasion. If the meeting be the result of a published call, he should read the call aloud, or himself state, in few words, the objects proposed by those who have made it.

39. When the assembly is thus duly organized, and ready for business, how is it to be introduced?

Business may be introduced in a deliberative assembly either by the presentation of petitions, memorials, or other papers, emanating from persons not belonging to the body, or by offering resolutions, or by calling for the Reports of Committees.

If the meeting has been called for some specific object, the proper course is for some one to rise and move that a Committee be appointed to draft Resolutions expressive of the sense of the assembly.

While the Committee are out, engaged in this duty, it is usual to call on some suitable person to address the meeting. As soon as he has closed his remarks, the Committee, if ready, immediately present their Report in the manner described on page 112.

In case Resolutions have been prepared beforehand, as sometimes happens, they are, of course, presented to the meeting in due form, without the intervention of a committee.

40. How is business commenced at a meeting of a Society, or other permanent organization?

The presiding officer, on taking his place, first requests the members to come to order. Then, either by counting himself, or directing the Secretary to call the roll, he proceeds to ascertain whether there is a quorum present.

If there be a quorum, he then requests the Secretary to read the minutes of the last meeting;* if not, business is, of course, suspended till the next regular meeting.

41. What is meant by a quorum?

A quorum is such a number of members as may, by rule, or statute, be required to be present at a meeting in order to render the transactions of the body legal, or valid. Thus, by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided, that a majority of each House of Congress shall be necessary to form a quorum to transact business.t

* For the mode of approving of the minutes, &c., &c., see page

110.

The term quorum (literally, of whom) is one of the words used,

COMMITTEES.

42. What is a committee?

It is often convenient, if not necessary, for a deliberative body to commit, or entrust, to one or more of its members such matters as require a more extended examination, or a more free discussion, or a more elaborate preparation for action, than is compatible with the formalities essential to the government of large assemblies. The party or parties to whom such matters are committed, is called a committee.

43. Is a matter referred to a committee for no other purpose than for those just specified?

A matter may be referred to a committee merely as a suitable means of collecting information concerning it. Not unfrequently the reference to a committee is only a convenient mode of postponing the consideration of a subject.

44. May a part only of a subject be referred to a committee?

A subject may be referred to a committee, in part in England, in the Latin form of the commission to justices of the peace. The part of the document wherein the word occurs, runs thus: "We have also assigned you, and every two or more of you, quorum unum, A B vel C D vel E F, &c., esse volumus, that is, of whom we will that A B or C D or E F, &c., shall be one." This made it necessary that certain individuals, who, in the language of the commission, were said to be of the "quorum," should be present during the transaction of business.

Hence, in legislative and other deliberative bodies, has arisen the application of the term to such a number of the members as may be declared necessary to give validity to any business proceeding.

or in whole, at the pleasure of the assembly; or different parts of the same subject may be referred to different committees.

45. What is the difference between a Select and a Standing Committee?

In most deliberative assemblies, it is found advantageous to have several permanent committees, to each of which a particular subject, or class of subjects is in general referred. Such committees are called Standing Committees.

Now and then, however, there arises a subject not properly referable to any one of the standing committees, or, for some cause, or other, more proper to be entrusted to a committee chosen expressly for the occasion. Such a committee is called a Select Committee.

46. Are committees bound by particular instructions, or left to act according to their own discretion?

The office of a committee is essentially that of an agent, or factor; and as an agent is bound always to obey the instructions of his principal, or if under no special instructions, he is to do what best he can to promote the interest committed to his charge, so a committee is bound at all times to follow out strictly the directions given by the assembly, or if left to their own discretion, their duty is to exercise their best judgment in carrying out the will of the body for whom they act.*

* The assembly may, at any time during the progress of their deliberations, revoke instructions previously given, impose new ones producing an entirely different aspect or direction of affairs, or leave them altogether to their own discretion.