PARLIAMENTARY LAW seconded. He should not permit the same member to speak more than once on the same motion until all have spoken who wish to speak; and he should let no one speak more than twice on the same motion without unanimous consent. The purpose of this rule is to give all the members an equal chance to take part in the debate. It is well for the chairman to repeat the motion carefully before the debate begins and for the secretary to record it in the minutes just as the chairman states it. 9. Limiting the Time for Debate. It frequently happens that members wish to speak too long. It is customary, therefore, to make a rule that no one may speak for more than a certain number of minutes and that the debate must close at a certain time. If neither of these rules has been made, it is proper for a member to rise and move that the debate close. If this motion is seconded, the chairman asks for a vote to see whether a majority wishes to end the discussion. One must always remember that in such a meeting the majority should be permitted to do whatever it wishes. On the other hand, it is wise to permit a fair and free discussion as long as there is anything useful to be said. It sometimes happens that the members wish further information before they vote on a motion. If this is the case some one may move to postpone the discussion for another day and to refer the matter to a committee for a report. Such a committee is generally appointed by the chairman, and it should include some members who are opposed to the motion as well as some who are in favor of it. 10. Other Rules. In this brief chapter only the merest suggestion of parliamentary rules can be given. The rules for amending or changing motions, for taking votes when the members are nearly evenly divided, for substituting VIMU ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ORGANIZED SELF-GOVERNMENT other motions, for adjourning, for disputing the decisions of the chairman when he seems to be wrong, and for many similar things must be read in books on parliamentary law. There are many good and convenient manuals, several of which are mentioned on page x of this book. It is customary for an assembly which meets regularly to place in its constitution some such section as the following: "The rules of order as given in I manual shall govern the meetings of this body, subject to such special rules as this body shall adopt." Such a regulation makes it possible for the assembly to have a few simple rules for its ordinary use, and also to have a means of settling disputes when the debate becomes complicated and excited. It is also customary for the constitution to contain a regular order of business such as the following: The minutes of the last meeting Election of officers Announcements Reports of standing committees Reports of special committees New business SUGGESTIONS AND QUESTIONS 1. Why do we have parliamentary law? 1 2. Mention as many bodies as you can think of in which parliamentary law may be used. 3. If you are a member of any club or society, describe how its meetings are carried on. 4. Why should a member not be permitted to speak as often as he wishes? 1 TO THE TEACHER: The suggestions and questions which are placed at the end of each chapter have a two-fold purpose. It is hoped that they will serve to attract attention to the government in which the pupils are immediately interested, thus making the work 5. Why should the time for closing a debate be set before the debate begins? 6. Suppose the school does not like the way the foot-ball team is managed, how should the pupils set about making a change? 7. If a meeting were called to discuss the change, what officers would the meeting need to keep its discussion in order? 8. If those who attended the meeting wanted the subject studied by a few of the pupils, how would they arrange for this? 9. If a committee brought in a report on the management of the foot-ball team, would it be useful to discuss the report before voting on it? 10. If a majority of the members were in favor of the report what would be the advantage of letting those opposed to it make any speeches? 11. If it seemed wise to change the report after the discussion, how would the meeting make the changes? 12. If the minority who are opposed to the report insist on talking so long that a vote cannot be taken, what can the majority do? 13. If after the meeting the minutes of the meeting were lost, what could be done to get a new record? 14. If the object of the meeting were to find the wisest method of managing the foot-ball team, what advantage would there be in asking a teacher to be present? 15. What kind of pupils would probably object to the teacher being present? practical. It is also hoped that they will show the pupils that government is not a simple matter, but one which requires more maturity and wisdom than they command. The author trusts that the teacher will not answer a single one of the questions for the pupils. To do so would go a long way toward preventing useful results from being obtained. It might be advisable in some cases to suggest to pupils where answers may be found; but in many other cases it would be better to do not even this. Furthermore, it is not expected that any one class will have time to answer all or even a large part of the questions on the chapter under discussion. They are given as samples of the kind of work the author expects may be done with the aid of the book; but many teachers will use questions and problems of their own selection, and when they have the time, this method would certainly be desirable. The author believes that the purpose of the teaching of government to young people is not mainly to give them facts, but to interest them in the problems which confront the statesman, and thus to give them respect for statesmanship and a disposition to trust and support public servants in their difficulties after they have carefully selected them. CHAPTER II RULES AND LEGISLATION 11. Our Purpose. We are engaged in the study of government because it is necessary for every citizen to understand how he can be a useful member of the community in which he lives. We shall often repeat the statement that government is made up of rules and rulers, of laws and officers of the law. Therefore it is important at the beginning of our study clearly to understand these two ideas. This chapter is a discussion of the simplest kind of rules and how they are made. If we understand this chapter we shall be the better able to understand the more difficult subject of making rules for cities and countries. In the last 12. Legislation. The word legislation comes from two Latin roots which mean to make laws or rules, and a legislature is a body of persons who make laws. The members of it are called legislators or law-makers. chapter we discussed the simplest kind of legislation, which is the adoption of a set of parliamentary rules for a group of persons who meet together for discussion. Such a group usually does not take the trouble to make any new rules at all; its members simply adopt those parliamentary laws which are used by so many assemblies that they are printed in convenient books. But when they vote to adopt a manual of parliamentary law for their meetings, they thus make a law by which all the members are bound. In this chapter it will be convenient for us to discuss the making of rules for an athletic association in order to illustrate methods of legislation. But what we say here applies to the government of any other association or group of persons. 13. Representatives. Many athletic associations are too large for all of their members to meet together for the purpose of legislation. When this is true, the members may do either of two things. They may call a meeting of all the members, and then let the few who happen to come control the association's work; or they may select regular representatives to act for all the members. The latter is considered the better method, for it helps to prevent a small group of active members from having too much power. Representatives may be elected to speak for each of the different branches of the association, and so for all the members who have any interest in it. For example, there may be representatives from each of the school classes. This system gives the Freshmen an opportunity to have some part in deciding what the association shall do. Or the constitution may provide that the captain and businessmanager of each team may be members of the legislature, so that each branch of sport may be represented. Such matters as these should be arranged when the constitution of the association is written. We shall consider the writing of a constitution in chapter four. 14. Experience and Legislation. Those who have had little experience with government are likely to think that legislators should make a large number of new laws. But persons who know something of the way good government is carried on know that to make many new laws may lead to dangerous experiments and is likely to weaken our respect for the government that makes them. We have already seen that few associations try to make new parlia |