mentary law for themselves. They simply use the experience of the meetings which have gone before them. If you select a legislature for your athletic association, and if its members are wise, they will find that the best laws they can make are those which other athletic associations are already using. The young and thoughtless members may wish to try many new things; but the older ones are likely to vote them down in order that the association may not make mistakes. For this reason among others the constitution is likely to give more votes to the Seniors than to the Freshmen. In the government of a country the people who are always proposing new laws are called radicals. Much of the politics of the country consists of discussions between the radicals and those who do not want to make any changes, who are called reactionaries. You will find both classes in your school, but the wiser members do not belong to either class. They are willing to make changes in the rules after careful consideration, but not to try experiments thoughtlessly.

15. Obeying the Law. There may be a few members of any association who are anarchists, that is, persons who are unwilling to obey any law that they do not vote for. If they were rulers they would be tyrants, for they always insist on having their own way. Since they cannot be rulers, because their classmates do not trust them, they may try to prevent self-government from being a success. We should be patient with these persons as long as we possibly can, but we must not let them break up our association. A member who is not willing to obey a rule which the majority has made is unfair to the whole association, for it is almost never possible to find a rule which all members will vote for. If we elect representatives to the legislature of the association we agree to obey the rules they make. If our

own particular representative has his way, and makes the rule we like, we are happy; but if he does not, it is still our duty to obey the rule just as if we had had our way. It is impossible to have self-government unless the minority obeys the rules which the majority makes.

16. Patient Discussion. One error into which young people sometimes fall is the idea that laws should be made by a majority of votes without giving the minority a chance to be heard. For example, a rule is to be made about requirements for membership on the baseball team. Many think that pupils who do not keep up with their studies should not be allowed to play. This is a sensible rule, if for no other reason than that such pupils are likely to be dropped from the school and so weaken the team in the middle of the season. Now the question is, just what rule should be made? Shall we say that those who have failed in one subject shall not play, or shall we make it two or three or even more subjects? The representatives will differ on this question, of course. Is it advisable to take a vote at once without discussion? Some will say: "We know how we are going to vote, and don't need any discussion," but this is not a wise course. In the first place, careful discussion may bring out some new information which will help to prevent a mistake. In the second place, those who do not have their way will be better satisfied with the new rule if they have had an opportunity to discuss it, and if they feel that they have been permitted to give all their reasons for their opinions. If the discussion is well conducted, most of the members will see that the new rule is at least reasonable even if they do not think it is the best possible one. If the members get into the habit of simply voting on new rules without discussion, the minority

naturally will become so dissatisfied that they will lose all interest in the work of the association.

17. Advice from Teachers. Pupils who are practising self-government sometimes forget that their teachers are their friends and wish to help them. Consequently, they often neglect the opportunity to ask advice from these friends. Some of the teachers, both men and women, have been members of athletic associations. Those who have not, have doubtless belonged to other clubs or societies which practise self-government. Because of their experience they are able to help the pupils to avoid the disagreements and quarrels which often cause self-government to fail. The teachers and principal are just as much interested in having the school athletic association succeed as are the pupils. It is therefore helpful to seek their advice on all difficult matters. Moreover, the teachers are in duty bound to prevent anything from being done which will injure the school. Therefore, unless the pupils talk matters over with them, it may be necessary sometimes for the faculty to cancel a law after it has been made. One must remember that an association exists in order to get work done, not merely to give the members an opportunity to have their own way. Those in authority in the school must be considered by all association officers and members in order that the best work may be done.

18. Taxing the Members. One of the most difficult problems in all government is to find a method of paying expenses. While most of us are willing to pay our share, we are very careful to avoid paying more. It is the duty of the legislature to solve this problem and to solve it so that as few members as possible will be dissatisfied. The simplest method is to require every member to pay the same

amount of dues or taxes, but this is not always the fairest or the most reasonable method. Some of the pupils are not able to pay as much as others. Here is one suggestion, though your legislature may be able to find a better one. Ask each member to report the amount spent by him for amusement in a year; add these amounts together; divide the total amount of the association's expenses by the sum of the expenditures of all the members for amusement; multiply the result of this division by each member's amusement money. This will give a fair rate of tax based on each member's ability to pay. Try it once at least as an experiment.

19. A Budget. This book will refer to the budget in several different places. Your association should manage its finances carefully, but it cannot do so unless your officers make a careful statement once a year of all its income and all its expenses. This statement should be examined by an auditing committee composed of several members so that all the members of the association may know, if they wish, just how much money is collected and for just what purposes it is used. If this statement includes not only the accounts of the year just closing, but also an estimate for the one just beginning, it is a budget.

SUGGESTIONS AND QUESTIONS

The following suggestions and questions are to help you to think of the comparison between making rules for your athletic association and raking laws for your city or State.

1. Bring to class two dictionary definitions of legislation. 2. Make a list of different kinds of legislative bodies, including some which are not political, such as the faculty of a school. 3. Bring to class two dictionary definitions of a representative. 4. What representatives make the rules for the management of your church?

5. If you have any radicals in your school do the pupils have as much confidence in them as in the conservatives?

6. Have you any reactionaries in your school? What is the difference between a reactionary and a conservative?

7. Why would the officers of your athletic association try to find out what rules other athletic associations use?

8. What would happen to an athletic team made up of members who persisted in failing to obey the rules?

9. What would be the objection to letting the president of the association award the school letters as he pleases without any rules?

10. Make a budget of your own expenses for a month.

11. What effect do you think a budget would have on the way you spent your money?

12. Who should make up the budget for your athletic association?