Henry M. Robert

“ The Right of an Assembly to Eject any one from its place of meeting. Every deliberative assembly has the right to decide who may be present during its session, and when the assembly, either by a rule or by a vote, decides that a certain person shall not remain in the room, it is the duty of the chairman to enforce the rule or order, using whatever force is necessary to eject the party. ”

“ Some societies prohibit a question from being taken from the table, except by a two-thirds vote. This rule deprives the society of the advantages of the motion ‘‘to lie on the table,’’ because it would not be safe to lay a question aside temporarily, if one-third of the assembly were opposed to the measure, as that one-third could prevent its ever being taken from the table. A bare majority should not have the power, in ordinary societies, to adopt or reject a question, or prevent its consideration, without debate. ”

“ In Congress no motion to limit debate in committee of the whole is in order till after the subject has been already considered in committee of the whole. As no subject would probably be considered more than once in committee of the whole, in an ordinary society, the enforcement of this rule would practically prevent such a society from putting any limit to debate in the committee. ”

“ The unfortunate habit many chairmen have of constantly speaking upon questions before the assembly, even interrupting the member who has the floor, is unjustified by either the common parliamentary law, or the practice of Congress. One who expects to take an active part in debate should never accept the chair. “It is a general rule, in all deliberative assemblies, that the presiding officer shall not participate in the debate, or other proceedings, in any other capacity than as such officer. ”

“ The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for which it was designed, in the best possible manner. To do this it is necessary to restrain the individual somewhat, as the right of an individual in any community, to do what he pleases, is incompatible with the interests of the whole. Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty. ”

“ But there are times when it is expedient to suspend these rights to introduce and debate questions, just the same as it is frequently an advantage to suspend the rules of the assembly, or to change the order of business. If, however, a bare majority could at any time suspend or change these rules and privileges, they would be of but little value. Experience has shown that a two-thirds vote should be required to adopt any motion that has the effect to suspend or change the rules or established order of business, and the rule above is made on this general principle. ”

“ Where there is only one candidate for an office, and the constitution requires the vote to be by ballot, it is common to authorize the clerk to cast the vote of the assembly for such and such a person; if any one objects however, it is necessary to ballot in the usual way. So when a motion is made to make a vote unanimous, it fails if any one objects. ”

“ No one can vote on a question affecting himself; but if more than one name is included in the resolution (though a sense of delicacy would prevent this right being exercised, excepting when it would change the vote) all are entitled to vote; for if this were not so, a minority could control an assembly by including the names of a sufficient number in a motion, say for preferring charges against them, and suspend them, or even expel them from the assembly. ”

“ Whenever a motion has been made and seconded, it is the duty of the chairman, if the motion is in order, to state the question so that the assembly may know what question is before them. The seconding of a motion is required to prevent a question being introduced when only one member is in favor of it, and consequently but little attention is paid to it in mere routine motions, or when it is evident that many are in favor of the motion ”

“ A Quorum of an assembly is such a number as is competent to transact its business. Unless there is a special rule on the subject, the quorum of every assembly is a majority of all the members of the assembly. But whenever a society has a permanent existence it is usual to adopt a much smaller number, the quorum being often less than one-twentieth of its members; this becomes a necessity in most large societies, where only a small fraction of the members are ever present at a meeting. ”

“ Usually the formality of a vote on the reception of a report of a committee is dispensed with, the time being settled by general consent. Should any one object, a formal motion becomes necessary. When the time arrives for the assembly to receive the report, the chairman of the committee reads it in his place, and then delivers it to the clerk, when it lies on the table till the assembly sees fit to consider it. ”

“ No member can speak the second time to a question until every member choosing to speak has spoken. But an amendment, or any other motion, being offered, makes the real question before the assembly a different one, and, in regard to the right to debate, is treated as a new question. Merely asking a question, or making a suggestion, is not considered as speaking. The maker of a motion, though he can vote against it, cannot speak against his own motion. ”

“ Every deliberative assembly, having the right to purify its own body, must therefore have the right to investigate the character of its members. It can require any of them to testify in the case, under pain of expulsion if they refuse.
When the charge is against the member’s character, it is usually referred to a committee of investigation or discipline, or to some standing committee, to report upon. ”

“ The question of consideration is seldom raised in Congress, but in assemblies with very short sessions, where but few questions can or should be considered, it seems a necessity that two-thirds of the assembly should be able to instantly throw out a question they do not wish to consider. ”

“ The Standing Rules of some societies are really By-Laws, as the society cannot suspend them, nor can they be amended until previous notice is given. This produces confusion without any corresponding benefit. Standing Rules should contain only such rules as are subject to the will of the majority of any meeting, and which it may be expedient to change at any time, without the delay incident to giving previous notice. Rules of Order should contain only the rules relating to the orderly transaction of the business in the meetings of the society. ”

“ The Chairman sometimes calls a member to the chair, and himself takes part in the debate; but this should rarely be done, and nothing can justify it in a case where much feeling is shown, and there is a liability to difficulty in preserving order. If the Chairman has even the appearance of being a partisan, he loses much of his ability to control those who are on the opposite side of the question. ”

“ In many societies the secretary, besides acting as recording officer, collects the dues of members, and thus becomes to a certain extent a financial officer. In most cases the treasurer acts as banker, only paying on the order of the society, signed by the secretary alone, or by the president and secretary. In such cases the secretary becomes in reality the financial officer of the society, and should make reports to the society, of funds received and from what sources, and of the funds expended and for what purposes. ”

“ When the rules of the two Houses of Congress conflict, the House of Representatives rules are of greater authority than those of the Senate in determining the parliamentary law of the country, just as the practice of the House of Commons, and not the House of Lords, determines the parliamentary law of England. ”

“ As each house adopts its own rules, it results that the two houses of the same legislature do not always agree in their practice; even in Congress the order of precedence of motions is not the same in both houses, and the Previous Question is admitted in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is not the man, but the measure, that is the subject of debate. If at any time the Chairman rises to state a point of order, or give information, or otherwise speak, within his privilege [see § 40] , the member speaking must take his seat till the Chairman has been first heard. When called to order, the member must sit down until the question of order is decided. If his remarks are decided to be improper, he cannot proceed, if any one objects, without the leave of the assembly expressed by a vote, upon which question there shall be no debate. ”

“ While, as a general rule, free debate is allowed upon every motion, [3] which, if adopted, has the effect of adopting the original question or removing it from before the assembly for the session, yet, to prevent a minority from making an improper use of this privilege, it is necessary to have methods by which debate can be closed and final action can at once be taken upon a question. ”

“ When it closes a session in an assembly which has more than one regular session each year, then the unfinished business shall be taken up at the next succeeding session previous to new business, and treated the same as if there had been no adjournment [see § 44 for its place in the order of business] . Provided that, in a body elected for a definite time (as a board of directors elected for one year) , unfinished business shall fall to the ground with the expiration of the term for which the board or any portion of them were elected. ”

“ If there is no legal or constitutional provision for the yeas and nays being ordered by a minority in a representative body, they should adopt a rule allowing the yeas and nays to be ordered by a one-fifth vote, as in Congress, or even by a much smaller number. In some small bodies a vote on a resolution must be taken by yeas and nays, upon the demand of a single member. ”

“ A majority can permit a member to speak oftener or longer whenever it is desired, and the motion granting such permission cannot be debated. However, if greater freedom is wanted, it is only necessary to consider the question informally, or if the assembly is large, to go into committee of the whole. ”