Orson B. Felt

“ It is therefore necessary that any deliberative assembly, to command respect, and proceed with as little discord as possible, should adopt certain rules, and conduct its business with a regard for certain forms and rules of procedure in order that the will of the majority may be carried out with due regard to the rights of the minority, and that the will of the assembly be ascertained with fair dealing. ”

“ The division cannot be demanded as the right of any member, but the question may be divided by the chair (subject to an appeal to the assembly) or by a motion regularly made and seconded for the purpose; but each proposition into which it is proposed to divide the question must be distinct and capable of standing upon its own merits if none of the other propositions were adopted. In other words, the division of a question is a form of amendment used to secure a separate vote on different parts of a motion or resolution, and is subject to all rules governing amendments. ”

“ If unqualified the motion to adjourn cannot be debated or have any other motion applied to it, but in order to take precedence and be acted upon without debate it must be simply a motion to adjourn without any qualification whatever. ”

“ The term “previous question” is misleading, and is in itself perplexing, as it seems to refer to the question previous to the one under discussion, when in fact it is the name of a motion which is used to bring the matter before the assembly immediately to vote. In other words it is a motion to suppress debate on the question then under discussion, or one subsidiary to it, and to stop further compilation of new amendments or motions by bringing it to vote at once in the form in which it exists. ”

“ As there are so many kinds of societies, organized for a variety of purposes, it is impossible to give a rule for organization applicable to all cases. In determining the organization required, much depends upon the nature of the assembly. If the society be but a branch of a parent organization, the rules for the organization of such branches are usually set forth in the constitution or regulations, which form the fundamental or organic law of that order, and the society is necessarily governed by the constitution, by-laws and rules of said order. ”

“ It is not of so much importance whose or what set of rules is adopted, as that the assembly recognize and govern itself by some rule or system in conducting its business so that there may be uniformity of proceeding, decorum and regularity, and that the dignity of the body be preserved. ”

“ When the rules of an assembly interfere with the speedy transaction of any business which it is desired to bring at once to completion, or when it seems desirable to take up some other business out of its proper order, the rules of the assembly may be suspended for the purpose of admitting that business, and any member may move the suspension of the rules that interfere [ [1] see note;] but since the rules should not be suspended except for a definite purpose, the mover of the motion must specify in his motion the object of the suspension. ”

“ The custom in many societies of the presiding officer appointing as chairman of the committee the member making the motions for its appointment is objectionable and has no good precedent or warrant in parliamentary procedure; he is no more entitled to be chairman, or even to be one of the committee, than any other member is; moreover, such an appointment often leads to a very embarrassing condition of affairs, since the mover may be the most incompetent member for the position; furthermore, the custom bars all the members but one from being chairman of such committee. ”

“ As many as favor the amendment say aye . . . Those opposed, no. . . . . The noes have it. The amendment to the amendment is rejected. The question now recurs on the amendment, inserting the words “as now conducted” after the word examinations. Are you ready for the question? As many as favor the amendment say aye. . . . Those opposed, no. . . . The ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. The question now recurs on the amended resolution: Resolved, That civil-service examinations as now conducted should be abolished. Are you ready for the question? As many as are in favor say aye. ”

“ In all assemblies there is sure to be a difference of opinion among the members on the question before them, and said difference of opinion will lead to debate.
It is important for the welfare and orderly conduct of any assembly that its debates should be treated with liberality and that every member who has an opinion on the subject should be given the opportunity to freely express his views. ”

“ Changes in words, which do not affect the sense or meaning of the proposition are not, properly speaking, amendments, and if such action is necessary they do not require a motion, though such motion is not prohibited.
The motion to amend takes precedence of nothing but the question it is proposed to amend. The mover of a motion may offer an amendment to his motion, but he cannot speak against his motion. ”

“ When the committee is one for deliberation, or investigation, it should be larger and represent all parties, so that the fullest debate may be had in committee, and its opinion and recommendations, as contained in its report, carry as great weight as possible, because if any important faction is not represented the usefulness of the committee may be greatly impaired, and the chance of unpleasant debate in the assembly increased. In either case it is well to have a committee consist of an uneven number, in order to avoid a tie vote. ”

“ As the order and decorum of an assembly often depends more upon the conduct of the presiding officer than upon any other condition, it therefore follows that in order to have perfect control of the assembly he should be able to control himself, pay strict attention to all debate, be ready to answer all parliamentary inquiries and to explain the parliamentary effect of proposed acts of the assembly. ”

“ While the assembly is acting as a committee of the whole the only action in order is to recommend to the assembly at large the adoption of, or rejection of the matter under discussion, or such other recommendation of action as comes within the authority of ordinary committees, and to move that the committee rise and report. Being a dependent body it cannot make any rule for itself unless authorized by the parent body, and its decision only amounts to an informal vote on the question at issue. ”

“ Motion. Question. Vote. A motion is the proposition submitted to the assembly. After it has been stated to the assembly by the presiding officer it becomes the question before the assembly—as it can then be answered by yea or nay. After it has been decided, it becomes the vote or expression of the will of the assembly.
Precedence. A motion is said to have precedence over another when it has priority in rank over that motion, and therefore may be brough before the assembly and be first put to vote when the motion of lower rank is pending. ”

“ It is also unwise for an ordinary society to adopt the widely differing and constantly changing rules of the various state legislatures, since in all large assemblies the deliberating is usually done by committees. Then, too, because these rules are adapted to the peculiar wants of large bodies, and are often not suitable for ordinary assemblies, it follows that legislative rules should not be appealed to as governing ordinary assemblies in every matter of detail, but only in the absence of special rules or of an adopted authority are they of any force in other assemblies. ”

“ A book of reference, wherein each motion or principle of parliamentary procedure is described in a form at once compact and reliable, is a want that has long been felt. To partially meet this want by giving a condensed and complete outline of the subject, and to aid those who are not well informed, and do not wish to spare the time necessary to consult the many larger works of the kind, are the objects of this volume. ”

“ It is important that all deliberative assemblies should have certain rules for their government in debate and for directing their method of transacting business, since without rules any large assembly might become unmanageable and therefore unable to accomplish its purpose. ”

“ Parliamentary inquiries are of the same nature of privileged questions, and may even interrupt a highly privileged question if requiring immediate action; they rank with points of order, questions of privilege, questions of consideration, etc., inasmuch as they do not require to be seconded and the member making the inquiry does not wait for recognition before stating his object in rising. They should not interrupt a member speaking unless they refer to a matter requiring immediate action. When a speaker is so interrupted he retains his right to the floor, after the inquiry is answered. ”

“ Every member of an assembly has the right to require in order, in accordance with parliamentary usage and its own rules. Therefore, when any rule of the assembly or of parliamentary law is violated, or when any member is not speaking to the question, or is guilty of indecorum in debate, or, in fact, whenever the procedure varies from the regular order, the means provided for adjusting such irregularity or correcting mistakes in the method of procedure is to rise to a point of order. ”

“ After a motion has been made it should have the support of another member (to assure the assembly it has more than one supporter, and is worthy of consideration) , who rises in his place and without waiting for recognition says: “I second the motion.” There are many reasons why a member should rise in seconding a motion. Among these reasons may be mentioned that it bars a non-member from seconding a motion, and also where a record is kept of those who second as well as of as of those who make motions, it enable the secretary to see who seconds the motion. ”

“ An assembly cannot suspend any part of its Constitution or By-laws even by a unanimous vote, unless the Constitution or By-laws provide for such suspension. No rule of parliamentary law can be suspended for any purpose. ”

“ Members who are not well informed in the rules of procedure frequently make motions to effect purposes for which other motions would be more suitable, and when such motions are made the chairman may, with propriety, suggest how the desired object may be accomplished—for example, “if it be moved that a certain question be laid on the table until a certain time,” the chair might suggest that the proper motion is “to postpone to that time,” or if it be moved to “reconsider the vote by which some question had been laid on the table,” he might suggest that it be taken from the table. ”

“ In many societies the presiding officer of the assembly is regarded as ex-officio a member of all communities; there is, however, no good authority for this, since only those persons regularly placed on a committee should be regarded as members thereof, neither does it follows that if he is a member of a committee, as, unless it is so ordered by the assembly, the committee cannot be deprived of its right to elect its own chairman. ”

“ When an amendment is pending the main question cannot be debated except so far as the amendment necessarily involves the main question, or in so far as debate is necessary in order to show the propriety of impropriety of adopting the amendment, and such debate should be limited in its scope to that portion of the main question which is involved. ”

“ So if a motion to strike out certain words is rejected it cannot be renewed as to the same words, or part of the same words, because the assembly by deciding in the negative as to striking out has really adopted the words (a negative decision in one case is equivalent to an affirmative in the other) ; the assembly has by vote decided said words shall stand as a part of the proposition, and (unless by reconsideration) it cannot be so amended. ”

“ When a question is composed of two or more propositions, and these propositions are so far independent of each other that if one were adopted and the others rejected it would still be an intelligible expression of the opinion of the assembly, the question may be divided to enable the assembly to vote on each proposition separately. ”

“ It is the duty of the secretary to keep a correct record of the proceedings of the assembly. The character of this record depends upon the kind of meeting and upon the nature of the society. In ordinary societies where the minutes are not published it is only necessary that he record what is done—what business is introduced and how it is disposed of. It is often as important to know what measures were introduced and rejected as what ones were adopted. ”