Page:Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies (1876).djvu/118

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118

RULES OF ORDER.

[§ 45

regular meeting. And no amendment to Constitutions or By-Laws shall be permitted, without at least equal notice and a two-thirds vote.^[1]

↑ Constitutions, By-Laws and Rules of Order should always prohibit their being amended by less than a two-thirds vote, and without previous notice of the amendment being given. The object of this notice is to inform the society that the subject-matter of the amendment will be up for consideration and action at a certain time. It is not to be inferred that notice is required to amend this amendment; if this were the case it would almost be impossible to properly amend By-Laws, etc. But this last amendment must be germane to the original amendment: no other amendment is in order or can delay action on the original amendment. In many cases the By-Laws provide that an amendment must be read at a certain number of regular meetings before being acted upon: the first reading is by the clerk when it is first proposed, and after the last reading it is up for action: so that if it has to be read at three regular meetings, in a society with regular weekly meetings, action on an amendment would be delayed for only two weeks after it was first proposed.

A motion that conflicts with the Constitution, By-Laws, Rules of Order or Standing Rules, is out of order. [See note to § 49 for the distinctions between these various kinds of rules.] If the By-Laws should contain rules that it may be desirable to occasionally suspend, then they should state how they can be suspended. If there is no such provision, it is impossible to suspend any rule except such as simply relate to the transaction of business, if a single member objects [§ 18]. Under such circumstances the English parliamentary law would not permit any rule to be suspended.

[1] Constitutions, By-Laws and Rules of Order should always prohibit their being amended by less than a two-thirds vote, and without previous notice of the amendment being given. The object of this notice is to inform the society that the subject-matter of the amendment will be up for consideration and action at a certain time. It is not to be inferred that notice is required to amend this amendment; if this were the case it would almost be impossible to properly amend By-Laws, etc. But this last amendment must be germane to the original amendment: no other amendment is in order or can delay action on the original amendment. In many cases the By-Laws provide that an amendment must be read at a certain number of regular meetings before being acted upon: the first reading is by the clerk when it is first proposed, and after the last reading it is up for action: so that if it has to be read at three regular meetings, in a society with regular weekly meetings, action on an amendment would be delayed for only two weeks after it was first proposed.

A motion that conflicts with the Constitution, By-Laws, Rules of Order or Standing Rules, is out of order. [See note to § 49 for the distinctions between these various kinds of rules.] If the By-Laws should contain rules that it may be desirable to occasionally suspend, then they should state how they can be suspended. If there is no such provision, it is impossible to suspend any rule except such as simply relate to the transaction of business, if a single member objects [§ 18]. Under such circumstances the English parliamentary law would not permit any rule to be suspended.

[1]