Henry M. Robert

“ A deliberative assembly has the inherent right to make and enforce its own laws and punish an offender—the extreme penalty, however, being expulsion from its own body. When expelled, if the assembly is a permanent society, it has a right, for its own protection, to give public notice that the person has ceased to be a member of that society.
But it has no right to go beyond what is necessary for self-protection and publish the charges against the member. ”

“ By general consent many things can be done that will save much time, but where the assembly is divided and contains members who are continually raising points of order, the most expeditious and safe course is to enforce strictly all the rules and forms of parliamentary law. Whenever an improper motion is made, instead of simply ruling it out of order, it is well for the Chairman to suggest how the desired object can be accomplished. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ When the Chairman thinks it has been modified to suit the wishes of the assembly, he inquires: “Are you ready for the question?” If no one wishes to speak, he puts the question: “As many as are in favor of adopting the constitution as amended will say aye;” and then, “As many as are opposed will say no.” He distinctly announces the result of the vote, which should always be done. If the articles of the constitution are subdivided into sections or paragraphs, then the amendments should be made by sections or paragraphs, instead of by articles. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 anyone 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 anyone objects. In counting the ballots all blanks are ignored.
The assembly can, by a majority vote, order that the vote on any question be taken by Yeas and Nays. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ A work on parliamentary law has long been needed, based, in its general principles, upon the rules and practice of Congress, but adapted, in its details, to the use of ordinary societies. Such a work should give not only the methods of organizing and conducting meetings, the duties of officers and names of ordinary motions, but should also state systematically in reference to each motion, its object and effect ”

“ Experience has shown the importance of definiteness in the law; and in this country, where customs are so slightly established and the published manuals of parliamentary practice so conflicting, no society should attempt to conduct business without having adopted some work upon the subject, as the authority in all cases not covered by their own special rules. ”

“ 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. If the report consists of a paper with amendments, the chairman of the committee reads the amendments with the coherence in the paper, explaining the alterations and the reasons of the committee for the amendments, till he has gone through the whole. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Where a permanent society has meetings weekly or monthly, and usually only a small proportion of the society is present, it seems best to allow a reconsideration to hold over to another meeting, so that the society may have notice of what action is about to be taken. To prevent the motion being used to defeat a measure that cannot be deferred till the next regular meeting, it is provided that in case the society adjourn, to meet on a different day, then the reconsideration will not hold over beyond that session ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 rule, as given above, allows the society, whenever resolving itself into committee of the whole, to impose upon the debate in the committee such restrictions as are allowed in Congress after the subject has already been considered in committee of the whole. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If no limit is prescribed, any member may speak as often as he can get the floor, and as long each time as is allowed in debate in the assembly, provided no one wishes the floor who has not spoken on that particular question. Debate having been closed at a particular time by order of the assembly, it is not competent for the committee, even by unanimous consent, to extend the time. ”

“ In ordinary societies more regard should be paid to the rights of the minority, and a two-thirds vote be required, as inthis Manual, for sustaining an objection to the introduction of a question, or for adopting a motion for the Previous Question, or for adopting an order closing or limiting debate. ”

“ In addition to the Constitution, By-Laws, and Rules of Order, in nearly every society resolutions of a permanent nature are occasionally adopted, which are binding on the society until they are rescinded or modified. These are called Standing Rules, and can be adopted by a majority vote at any meeting. ”

“ It is much more material that there should be a rule to go by, than what that rule is, that there may be a uniformity of proceeding in business, not subject to the caprice of the chairman, or captiousness of the members. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If none are offered, after a pause, he reads the next article, and asks the same question, and proceeds thus until he reads the last article, when he says, “The whole Constitution having been read, it is open to amendment.” Now any one can move amendments to any part of the Constitution. ”