to a vote at once. It applies only to debatable questions. If carried it puts the main question without delay before the house. It requires a two-thirds vote, must be seconded, cannot be debated, amended, committed, or postponed, is not subject to previous question, cannot be reconsidered if lost, can be reconsidered if carried. It can be laid on the table-carries with it entire subject-main and secondary motion. If lost, it leaves the main question as before open to debate. Resort to this motion is sometimes called applying the "gag law," and should be resorted to only when the discussion of a motion has been unnecessarily prolonged. The form of the motion is as follows: MEMBER: "I move the previous question." Upon receiving a second, the chairman puts the motion as follows: "Shall the main question be now put?" 3. Postpone to Time Certain.-When the assembly is willing to consider a motion, but not at a time when it is made, the motion to postpone to a definite time is in order. Such a motion requires a majority vote, can be debated, can be amended as to time, cannot be committed or postponed. A question postponed to a time certain can be taken up before that time arrives by a two-thirds vote. 4. To Commit, Refer, or Recommit.-When an assembly is not ready to vote on a question, such question may be sent to a committee for consideration and report, or it may be referred to a special committee, or, if the assembly wishes further action by a committee, it may be recommitted to such committee. 5. To Amend.-A motion to amend is properly a motion friendly to the proposition to be amended, its object being to correct or improve the form or statement of the principal motion. Amendments are made by the insertion, addition, substitution, or omission of words or sentences. In general, a motion to amend is subject to the same rules as the question to which it is applied. If a main question is committed, postponed, or laid on the table, it takes all amendments with it. An amendment is always put before the main question. An amendment to an amendment cannot be amended; if one amendment to an amendment is not satisfactory, it must be voted down and another substituted. An amendment must be germane to the motion which it seeks to modify—that is, it must not relate to a wholly different matter. Finally, let it be said again that the procedure in all deliberative bodies should be carried on in an orderly manner, and it is better for school literary societies to train themselves in excessive care for forms of procedure rather than to conduct meetings in a slipshod fashion. The president should see that order is duly preserved; that all motions are made in due form; that there is only one matter of business considered at a time; that all discussion be limited to the motion before the house; and that, after a member has secured the floor in proper form, he be heard without interruption, except on a point of order. By way of summary, the following tabulation will be found helpful for ready reference: MOTIONS IN ORDER OF RANK (Debatable motions are printed in black type) PRIVILEGED MOTIONS: * To Fix the Time or Place at Which to Reassemble. ** To Adjourn. * Privileged Questions. Call for the Orders of the Day. APPENDICES III SPECIMEN DEBATE ON NAVAL DISARMAMENT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS VERSUS VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY RESOLVED: That the United States should maintain a navy of sufficient strength for police duty only, regardless of the policy of other nations. BRIEF NAVAL DISARMAMENT AFFIRMATIVE I. Disarmament would pay. A. Financially. I. At the present time the United States faces disarmament or bankruptcy. a. Of our total appropriation in the year ending June 1920, 92.8 per cent was devoted to past, present or future wars. b. The country is now bending under a debt of $24,000,000,000, due to the late war. c. There is a huge deficit in the governmental budget for this year. 2. The only way to reduce governmental expenditures is by cutting down the appropriation for the army and and navy. a. This is the plan of the Administration in cooperation with the Ways and Means Committee. B. In human life. 1. The last war left ten million dead and many more wounded, destroyed homes, villages and cities, devastated the soil, and brought about poverty and starvation for millions of Europeans. 281 2. We entered the last war in the conviction that it would result in lasting peace. C. Morally. 1. Wars are never just. a. If they were, one side would be wrong, and many soldiers would be compelled to fight against what they believed was right. b. The soldiers of both sides believe their causes just, 2. Arbitration, however fallible, is preferable to war. b. It appeals to the reason of a disinterested third party. II. Disarmament is right in principle. A. There is no safety for democracy or international law so long as any state exists which puts force before right in its international affairs. B. It is in keeping with our principles. 1. We chose in 1776 to be democratic in our principles and just in our pretensions. a. Militarism is for autocratic and militaristic govern ments. C. Our navy to-day is the greatest single menace to the peace of the world. 1. Navies are not an insurance for peace. a. The experience of Europe in the last war has proved that to prepare for war brings war. b. Other nations must keep their navies up to compete with ours. D. To maintain a large navy now is to dishonor the men who died in the last war. 1. They died in the belief that that war would end all war. E. The seas belong to all the nations of the earth. F. To maintain a navy for self-defense only is to affirm that other nations are always ready to attack us. 1. Inasmuch as other nations act on the same policy the result is a vicious circle. III. This is the psychological time for the United States to take the lead in reducing armaments. A. The nations of the world are tired of war. 1. They are bankrupt physically and financially. B. The moral forces in every country would compel their governments to follow our example. |