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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 7

Laws of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury

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Laws of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury.

I. The Society shall be called "The Philosophical

Name.

Institute of Canterbury."
II. The objects of the Philosophical Institute

Objects.

of Canterbury are—The Advancement of Science, Literature, and Arts, and the Development of the Resources of the Province.
III. The Philosophical Institute of Canterbury

Members and Honorary Members.

shall consist of Members and Honorary Members, all of whom shall be elected by ballot.
IV. The Superintendent of the Province of

Patron.

Canterbury for the time being shall be the Patron of the Institute.
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Officers.

V. There shall be a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, and a Secretary of the Institute, who, with Six other Members, shall constitute the Council.

Management.

VI. The Council shall have the management of the affairs of the Institute.

Ordinary Meetings.

VII. The ordinary meetings of the Institute shall be held every first week during the months from March to November, inclusive. At the first meeting (in March) the President shall deliver an Opening Address.

Annual Meetings.

VIII. In the first week in November there shall be an Annual General Meeting, to receive the Report of the Council, and to elect the Officers of the Institute for the ensuing year. Also, during the month of November there shall be an Annual Dinner of the Members of the Institute.

Election of Members.

IX. Every candidate for membership shall be proposed and seconded by Members of the Institute.

The name, the address, and the occupation of every candidate, with the names of his proposer and of his seconder, shall be communicated (in writing) to the Secretary, and shall be read at a meeting of the Institute, and the ballot shall take place at the next following ordinary meeting of the Institute. When the number of voters in favour of any candidate shall be five times the number of those against him he shall be declared duly elected, and not page 5 otherwise. All the Candidates may be balloted for together, and unless one-fifth of the balls be black the whole shall be declared to be duly elected, otherwise the ballot for each shall be proceeded with separately.

X. Every newly elected Member shall, at

Members shall Sign Laws.

the first meeting of the Institute at which he may be present, sign a declaration, in a book provided for that purpose, that he will observe the laws of the Institute.
XI. The President, the Vice-Presidents, the

Retirement of Officers.

Treasurer, the Secretary, and three Senior ordinary Members of Council shall retire from office annually, at the annual meeting. The officers so retiring shall be eligible for the same or any other offices then vacant.
XII. The President, the Vice-President, the

Election of Officers.

Treasurer, and the Secretary shall be separately elected, by ballot, in the above-named order, at the annual meeting, and the three vacancies in the Council shall be then filled up together by ballot. Those Members only shall be eligible for any office whose names, together with those of their proposers and seconders, shall have been posted in the Hall of the Institute one clear week before the annual meeting. The posting of a name for any office shall be held a nomination for any office, the election to which is to be subsequently held. In case no such nominations or no sufficient number of such nominations shall have been made, the outgoing Council shall nominate Members to the offices not provided for.
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Members in arrear.

XIII. No Member whose subscription is in arrear shall take part in the election of officers or other business of the meeting.

Vacancies

XIV. If any vacancy occurs among the officers intimation thereof shall be given at the next meeting of the Institute, and the vacancy shall be filled up, by ballot, at the next meeting thereafter.

Meetings of Council.

XV. The Council shall meet before every ordinary meeting of the Institute. Notices of such meetings shall be sent to every Member of the Council at least three days previously. No business shall be transacted at any meeting of the Council unless Five Members be present.

Special Meetings of Council.

XVI. The Secretary shall call a Special Meeting of Council on the authority of the President, or of Three Members of Council. The notice of such meeting shall specify the object for which it is called, and no other business shall be entertained.

Annual Report.

XVII. The Council shall, annually, prepare a Report of the Proceedings of the Institute during the past year, embodying the balance sheet, duly audited, and a statement of the present position of the Institute. This Report shall be laid before the Institute at the annual meeting in November. No Paper shall be read at this meeting.

Expulsion of Members.

XVIII. If it shall come to the knowledge of the Council that the conduct of a Member is injurious to the character of the Institute, and page 7 if two-thirds of the whole Council shall be satisfied, after an opportunity of defence has been afforded to the Member that such is the case, they shall request him to resign, and in case of his not dung so may expel him from the Institute. In every case all proceedings shall be entered 01 the minutes.
XIX. The Council shall call a Special General

Special General Meetings.

Meeting of to Institute on receiving a requisition (in writing), signed by eighteen Members of the Institute, specifying the purpose for which the meeting is required; no other business shall be entertained at such meeting. Notice of such meeting, and the purpose for which it is summoned, shall be advertised at least ten days before the meeting.
XX. The President shall take the chair at

Duties of President.

meetings of the Institute, and of the Council; regulate and keep order in all their proceedings; state questions and propositions to the meeting; report the result of ballots; introduce newly-elected Members, and carry into effect the regulations of the Institute.

In the absence of the President, the chair shall be taken by one of the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, or an ordinary Member of Council, in order of seniority.

XXI. The Treasurer shall receive all money

Duties of Treasurer.

paid to the Institute, and shall deposit the same in a bank to be named by the Council, to the credit of an account opened in the name of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury; all cheques against which shall be page 8 signed by himself, and countersigned by the Secretary; he shall make all payments ordered by the Council; keep a detailed account of all receipts and expenditure; prepare a balance sheet, to be laid before the Council and included in their Annual Report; and produce his books if called on by the Council.

Duties of Secretary.

XXII. The Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Institute and of the Council; attend all meetings of the Institute and of the Council, take minutes of their proceedings, and enter them in the proper books; he shall inscribe the names and address of all Members in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall he on the table for consultation, and from which no name shall be erased except by order of the Council; He shall issue notices of all meetings of the Institute and of the Council, and shall have the custody of all papers of the said Institute, He shall make all preparations for the meetings of the Institute.

Honorary Members.

XXIII. Gentlemen not resident in the Province who are distinguished for their attainments in science, literature, or art, may be proposed for election as Honorary Members, on the recommendation of an absolute majority of the Council. The election shall be conducted in the same manner as that of ordinary Members, but nine-tenths of the votes must be in favour of the candidate.

Subscription.

XXIV. Members of the Institute shall pay Two Guinea$, annually, as a subscription to the funds of the Institute. The subscription page 9 shall be due on the first of January in every year, and notice thereof shall be sent to every Member during that month, by the Treasurer. If the subscription of any Member be not paid before the first of April, his name shall be posted at the next ordinary meeting of the Institute, and at the two following ones, should his subscription remain so long unpaid; any Member whose subscription is six months in arrear shall pay a fine of Ten Shillings and Sixpence.

To any Member whose subscription shall be twelve months in arrear, notice shall be sent that he has ceased to become a Member of the Institute, but that he may be restored on furnishing, in writing to the Council within one month, a satisfactory reason for his delay, and paying fines and arrears.

XXV. Every new Member shall forthwith

Entrance Fee.

pay the subscription for the current year. If the subscription be not paid within one month of the notification of election, the election shall be void.
XXVI. Members may compound for

Life Members.

all annual subscriptions of the current and future years by paying Twenty Guineas.
XVII. At the ordinary meetings of the

Duration of Meetings.

Institute the chair shall be taken punctually at half-past Seven o'clock, and shall be vacated not later than half-past Ten.
XXVIII. At the ordinary meetings business

Order of Business.

shall be transacted in the following order :— page 10
  • Minutes of the preceeding meeting to be read, amended if incorrect, and confirmed.
  • New Members to enrol their names, and be introduced.
  • Ballot for the election of new Members.
  • Vacancies among officers, if any, to be filled up.
  • Business arising out of the minutes.
  • Communications from the Council.
  • Presents to be laid on the table, and acknowledged.
  • Motions of which notice has been given to be considered.
  • Notices of motion for the next meeting to be given in, and read by the Secretary.
  • Papers to be read.
  • No vote of thanks to any Member for his Paper shall be proposed.
  • Immediately after each Paper the Chairman shall call on the Members for any remarks they may wish to make, or questions they may wish to ask, and then call on the author for his reply.
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XXIX. No stranger shall speak at a meeting

Strangers.

of the Institute unless specially invited to do so by the Chairman.
XXX. The Council may call additional

Additional Meetings.

meetings whenever it may be deemed necessary.
XXXI. Every Member may introduce two

Visitors.

visitors to the meetings of the Institute by orders signed by himself.
XXXII. Members shall have the privilege

Members may Read Papers.

of reading before the Institute Papers containing accounts of experiments, observations, and researches on subjects within the scope of the Institute; but where such Paper has not been written by the person reading it, the authorship shall be stated.
XXXIII. Any Member desirous of reading

Members must give notice of their Papers.

a Paper shall give (in writing) to the Secretary, ten days before the meeting at which he desires it to be read, its title, and the time its reading will occupy.

The Secretary shall lay this communication before the Council at its next meeting. Papers shall be read in such order as the Council shall determine.

XXXIV. Every Paper read before the Institute

Papers shall be the property of the institute.

shall be the property thereof, and immediately after it has been read shall be delivered to the Secretary, and shall remain in his custody unless otherwise ordered by the Council.
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Institute to have priority of publication.

XXXV. No Member shall publish, or consent to the publication of any Paper read before the Institute without the consent of the Council.

Funds and Property.

XXXVI. The Council shall have full control over the expenditure of the funds, and management of the property of the Council.

Report before October.

XXXVII. All Committees and individuals to whom any work has been assigned by the Institute shall present to the Council, not later than the 1st of October in each year, a report of the progress which has been made; and in cases where grants of money for scientific purposes have been entrusted to them, a statement of the sums which have been expended, and of the balance of each grant which remains unexpended.

Grants expire.

XXXVIII. Grants of pecuniary aid for scientific purposes from the funds of the Institute shall expire on the 1st of November next following, unless a continuation of them be ordered by the Council.

Personal Expenses not to be paid.

XXXIX. In grants of money to Committees and individuals, the Institute does not contemplate the payment of any personal expenses which may be incurred by the Members.

Chairman to draw Grants.

XL. The Chairman of each Committee shall be the person entitled to call on the Treasurer for such portion of the sum granted, as may from time to time be required.
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XLI. Every Committee shall cease to exist

Termination of Committees.

on the day of meeting next following the first day of November, unless then re-appointed.
XLII. No new law, or alteration, or repeal

Alteration of Laws.

of any existing law shall be made, except at the annual meeting in November, or at a Special General Meeting summoned for that purpose.
XLIII. Should any circumstance arise not

Cases not provided for.

provided for in these laws, the matter shall be left to the Council.
XLIV. In order that Members of the Institute

Sections.

prosecuting particular departments of research may have opportunities of meeting and working together with fewer formal restraints than are necessary at the ordinary meetings of the Institute, Sections shall be established.
XLV. Sections shall be established for the

Names and Members of Sections.

following departments, viz. :—
  • Section A: Physical, Astronomical, and Mechanical Science, including Engineering.
  • Section B : Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Metalurgy.
  • Section C : Natural History and Geology.
  • Section D: Medical and Microscopial Science, including Physiology and Pathology.page 14
  • Section E : Geography and Ethnology.
  • Section F : Social Science and Statistics.
  • Section G : Literature and the Fine Arts, including Architecture.
  • Section H: Mental and Moral Science; including Logic and Rhetoric.

Members of Sections.

XLVI. There shall be no membership of the Sections as distinguished from membership of the Institute.

Officers of Sections.

XLVII.—The shall be for each Section a Chairman to preside at the meetings, and Secretary to keep minutes of the proceedings, who shall jointly prepare and forward to the Secretary of the Institute, prior to the 1st day of October in each year, a report of the proceedings of the Section during that year, and such report shall be submitted to the Council.

Mode of Appointment of Officers of Sections.

XLVIII. The Chairman and the Secretary of each Section shall be appointed by the Council in the first instance from Members of the Institute who shall have signified to the Secretary their willingness to undertake these offices, and subsequently from such as are recommended by the Section as fit and willing.

Times of Meeting of Sections.

XLIX. The first meeting of each Section in the year shall be fixed by the Council; subsequently the Section shall arrange its own days and hours of meeting, provided these be at fixed intervals.
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L. The Institute shall devote one-third of its annual revenue n or towards the formation or support of some local public museum or library.

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Printed at the "Times" Office, Christchurch.