REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP.
The following report was presented by Chairman John J. Lenehan in behalf of the Membership Committee, and was accepted by unanimous vote:
Mr. Lenehan: Mr. President, I did not expect to be called upon for any report, and therefore am quite unprepared, and this particularly so because my work is necessarily confined to action rather than expression. We have an eloquent President-General, and a Secretary-General who is surpassed by no one, either in eloquence or in ability; wherefore it behooves those of us who labor behind the machinery to work hard and say little.
I may, however, say briefly that when we took up the work of the Membership Committee in October a year ago, we found the roll contained about 545 members, of whom perhaps 100 were somewhat inactive, being remiss in their dues and not taking all the interest they might have taken in the affairs of our Society; so that substantially the active membership was about 450.
Inside of fourteen months we have brought the membership up to nearly 1,000, including many life members. We introduced them into our circle from all over the United States and even further, for they included members from such far distant points as the Hon. Thomas J. O’Brien, American Ambassador to Japan, and Richard Bradshaw of Fort Pickens, Florida. United States Senators, Congressmen, generals, bankers, merchants—the best men throughout the land have joined our ranks.
It required hard work; but, as the Treasurer-General has pointed out, we brought in about 400 members and nearly $2,000 in money at a cost of approximately $700, which, as a business venture, has the endorsement of a bank president, our Treasurer-General.
The great advantage of this increase is that, if we have 500 new members and they pay us $2,500 a year, while there is no further expense in connection with those members, they return each year an annual dividend of $2,500, which will readily equal the dividends paid by any good, working trust. So much for the genius of the race.
The work progresses splendidly. This morning’s receipts, for example, consisted of five names. I have just handed them to the Secretary-General in the form we always pursue, but it will give you an idea of the membership we get and the way they come in if I read them to you:
Mr. John P. Donohoe, a director of the Barclay-Westmoreland Trust Company of Greensburg, Pa.; Major George W. McNulty, a civil engineer and a man very highly regarded in constructive work in this city of New York; Mr. John J. Powers, cashier of the Exchange Bank of Savannah, Georgia, and President of the Knights of Columbus Investment company; John G. Butler of Savannah, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st Infantry National Guard of Georgia, proposed by Colonel O’Leary, who is Colonel of the First Regiment of Infantry of Savannah; Mr. Butler is president of the J. G. Butler Supply Company, a director of the Citizens Trust Company, and Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus; Mr. Thomas M. Blake of this City, proposed by Mr. Danvers; and Mr. Desmond FitzGerald of Brookline, Mass., past President of the American Society of Civil Engineers and consulting Hydraulic Engineer.
The committee would urge that each one bring in at least one new member this year, so that we may have 2,000 members before the close of 1910.
I trust the work of the Membership Committee meets with your approbation.
Dr. Quinlan: The next order of business will be the report of the Constitutional Committee. I will ask Mr. O’Brien to report in behalf of that committee.
Mr. John E. O’Brien: Mr. President and Fellow Members, the committee appointed at the last annual meeting were called together shortly after their appointment and decided that it was important that the constitution should be amended in several matters. The present constitution is somewhat antiquated, and that applies equally to the by-laws because of changed conditions and changes in policy. For example, under the present by-laws the dues are only two or three dollars a year, whereas we have been charging five dollars; and the officers provided for are somewhat different than those that have been elected for years. The committee, therefore, have determined upon and beg to submit the following constitution. I hesitate to read this, Mr. President, because it is rather long.
Dr. Quinlan: Could you not read it in abstract? Then we shall get the essence of it. Will it come before the meeting for action?
WILLIAM H. DELANEY, ESQ.,
Of New York City.
A Member of the Society.
Mr. Lenehan: Mr. President, I would suggest that a constitution which covers so many points ought more properly to be printed and possibly submitted to the Executive Council for consideration, and later may be submitted to the Society for other suggestions.
Dr. Quinlan: That is a splendid suggestion and if the reader will accept the same and incorporate it in his report, I think it will be very wise. As you say, Mr. O’Brien, it is rather lengthy.
Mr. O’Brien: I think it is a very good suggestion. The present constitution provides it may be amended at any regular meeting, so it seems unnecessary to give notice. I second the recommendation and hope, when this comes before the members of the Society, they will compare it carefully with the constitution now printed in the Journal, and recommendations of any changes will be very gladly received. Therefore I move that this be referred to the Executive Council, and that they be instructed to provide for the printing and distribution of the same among the members of the Society.
Dr. Quinlan: I will ask, however, that Mr. O’Brien give in a brief way an abstract of it, alluding to the salient changes.
Mr. John J. Rooney: I will make a further suggestion. We are all of us more or less familiar with the present constitution, and, instead of an abstract, he might indicate the changes.
Dr. Quinlan: Very good. Mr. O’Brien, will you proceed?
Mr. O’Brien: In the first place, we say the object of the Society is “to make better known the Irish chapter in American history,” substituting that in the place of about two pages.
Under Article II, entitled “Membership,” we provide for three classes of members, life, annual and honorary. We see no necessity for corresponding members, and, in fact, I believe there are none such in the Society.
The provisions in regard to applications for membership are about the same as at present. Election shall be by the Executive Council or at the annual meetings of the Society. Dues are fixed at $5.00 for annual membership, and are made payable on the first day of January in each year in advance. The life membership fee remains the same.
To the officers we have added a Vice-President-General, there being no provision for such an officer in the present constitution.
The duties of the Executive Council we have defined somewhat more clearly, generally to manage and conduct the affairs of the Society. We have provided that six members thereof shall be a quorum.
We have defined the duties of the officers a little more definitely than in the present constitution. There is one thing in particular that I would say in this regard: In the present constitution it is provided that the duties of the Historiographer shall be the usual duties of that office. That was rather indefinite, so we substitute this instead: “The Historiographer shall write such histories or historical articles as the Executive Council may from time to time require; assist in the preparation of the annual journal and other historical works of the society; and perform the other duties usually pertaining to his office.”
We provide for an annual meeting to be held in the month of January in each year, the day and place to be determined by the Society in general meeting, or by the Executive Council in case the Society fails to do so. Special meetings of the Society may be called at any time by the Executive Council. A quorum for the transaction of business at all meetings of the Society is fixed at thirty-five, instead of ten, as at present.
State Chapters: We have provided that ten or more members of good standing in this Society may organize a subsidiary chapter by obtaining a charter from the Executive Council; that the Vice-President of this Society for the particular state shall, by virtue of that office, be President of that chapter, and such chapter may elect from their own number a Vice-Chairman, a Secretary, a Treasurer and such other officers as may be necessary to manage its affairs; and that membership in such chapters shall be limited to members of this Society in good standing.
Those are the principal points, Mr. President.
Dr. Quinlan: You have heard this report. What is your pleasure in the matter?
Mr. Martin I. J. Griffin: Mr. President, why should it be referred to the Executive Council? It will be another year before it comes before the Society again. We have been without the revision for a whole year, and now it is proposed to be postponed again. I believe it should be acted upon here. I move that the report be read and acted upon.
Dr. Quinlan: That would consume more time than possibly the afternoon session would permit, and I am afraid it would take away from the scientific part of our programme.
Mr. Griffin: The same would apply next year.
Dr. Quinlan: We will take it up as a whole next year.
Mr. Crimmins: I concur with the last speaker. It seems to me eminently proper that we should act upon the matter at this time. I fully agree with the remark of the last gentleman that possibly this might be postponed for another year. It seemed to me very clear and concise language was used, and covered all the situations that might arise in the administration of the Society, and I move now, in general, that the suggestion made by the gentlemen who proposed these amendments be adopted.
Mr. Lenehan: The constitution is the most important document which this Society could possibly pass upon. If the committee who were entrusted with the charge of this matter had had it printed and distributed among the members we would have come here today prepared to vote on it in an intelligent manner. If we vote on the constitution as proposed now, we are voting upon something about which we know little, for it has not been read. I, for one, will not vote on a paper I have not read. If we are going to vote intelligently we must take it up section by section, have each read and voted upon separately.
We have struggled along for twelve years with our present constitution, and I do not see that the Society will suffer any injury if we are obliged to continue the work under the present constitution for twelve months longer. In the meantime the committee can print its report and distribute the same among the members and if there should be any need for expedition it could be referred to the Executive Council with power to consider the matter and adopt such constitution as they deem wise. In that way the constitution could be adopted in three or four months’ time, and in the meantime, if we are furnished with copies, we shall have the benefit of careful consideration of the same. If we vote now it may be for something we shall regret later. Safety lies in thorough consideration of the subject, and I therefore hope, Mr. President, that the motion to adopt this constitution unread, unseen, unheard, will be either withdrawn or defeated.
Mr. Thomas S. Lonergan: How soon does the Executive Council of the Society meet?
Dr. Quinlan: Subject to the chair. We meet four or five times a year.
Mr. Lonergan: I move an amendment to the last motion that the committee on the revision of the constitution submit its report to the Executive Council, and that the Executive Council print that report and distribute same among the members.
Mr. Crimmins: Mr. President, where will that leave us?
Mr. Lonergan: You will have it in three months.
Mr. Crimmins: It seems to me, after listening to the suggestions made, that the proposed constitution, in a few concise words, states our annual dues and also fixes the number of members constituting a quorum for the transaction of business. It makes another provision which I think very important, that in relation to state chapters. I don’t like to differ with Mr. Lenehan because there is no other member who has any more interest in the Society than he has, and no more effective work has been done by anyone than by him. Still I see no reason why we should not take action on this matter today.
The salient points in the constitution are very well put, and it seems to me we would get along a little faster if we adopted it in general. There might be a few corrections to be made, and they could be referred to the Executive Council, which could complete the work and then send out printed copies to the members of the Society. You know yourself, Mr. President, how difficult it is to get any great number together, and we probably would not, within a year, get as large a number of members at a meeting as today. That is my idea; I am not at all alarmed with the haste to be made by action today.
Mr. T. Vincent Butler: I heartily endorse the statement of the last speaker. I think this entire constitution could be read and passed on intelligently inside of a space of three-quarters of an hour. It is eminently proper that it should be brought up before this meeting. The committee who brings this constitution, or simply an amendment in a few features of something already existing, has done so with care and deliberation. It will be absolutely impossible to have the excellent results come from the same unless it is immediately adopted, and there should be no delay in passing promptly upon the various changes suggested. I therefore move, Mr. Chairman, as the sense of this meeting, that we proceed to pass upon the constitution with the various amendments outlined immediately.
Dr. Quinlan: You have heard the motion before the house. Was Mr. Lonergan’s amendment previously made seconded?
Mr. Rooney: Yes.
Mr. Delany: Mr. Chairman, I think Mr. Lonergan is more or less reconciled by the suggestion of Mr. Crimmins that the constitution be referred to the Executive Council with power to act.
Mr. Lenehan: Mr. Chairman, if this committee had prepared a copy of the constitution and sent it to the members asking for suggestions, if the committee had discharged its duty in an orderly manner as I consider, it would have prepared and sent this document around to the members, and we would thereby have been prepared today to act intelligently upon the subject.
Take, for example, the chopping off of the first paragraph of our present constitution, and restating the purpose of this Society in two or three lines. The purposes of this Society as expressed in the constitution as it now stands are most beautifully expressed. It is such an eloquent exposition of our ideas that under no circumstances should it be erased from the constitution. I have a copy of it here, and I ask it to be read so that we may contrast it with this proposed amendment which puts in two or three lines the purpose of this Society. It is splendidly, eloquently, magnificently expressed in our present constitution by a master of the English language, and I ask any man to read it, put it side by side with this proposed amendment, and note the eloquence with which the purpose of our Society is expressed.
Mr. T. V. Butler: I claim the gentleman is not in order. There is a motion before the house.
Dr. Quinlan: This is a debatable subject.
Mr. Lonergan: My amendment, Mr. President, is to Mr. Crimmins’ motion, that this revised constitution by the committee be sent to the Executive body, and I wish to say here that the Executive body is more representative of this Society than this gathering here today; and why, because there are a thousand members in the Society, and we have less than a hundred here today. I therefore move that this revised constitution be sent to the Executive Council, with power to amend and revise, and that a copy thereof be sent forward to every member within three months’ time.
Mr. O’Brien: This proposed constitution has been signed and approved by Judge Lee, Mr. Joseph T. Ryan, Mr. Patrick J. McCarthy and John E. O’Brien. It has had considerable study, and its provisions are very simple. We think it is more businesslike and a little more artistic, perhaps, than the present one. It has not been submitted in writing to the members of the Society for two reasons: first, the present constitution does not require any such submission; and in the second place, it would take time and there would be considerable expense.
Now, these terms are very plain and simple. They are drawn in a businesslike way rather than in beautiful language; there is no attempt at that. And since the statement of the purpose of the Society has been particularly spoken of, I will say that the matter was brought to our attention by former officers of the Society, who thought the present statement, while couched in beautiful language, was rather out of place in a businesslike constitution.
I do believe, now, after considering the matter and talking with Judge Lee, that this might be passed upon. He has approved it, it has been in effect approved by the Executive Council, and I don’t think it should be delayed for another year. If necessary, it might be read; I can read it in ten minutes, perhaps.
Dr. Quinlan: The amendment of Mr. Lonergan is before the house. All who are in favor of the same signify by saying “aye.”
Mr. Lonergan: It seems to me before the question is put everybody should have a chance to speak, so that when we vote we can do so intelligently.
Dr. Quinlan: We have so much business on hand this afternoon that my idea was to get this question disposed of, not that we wish to curtail anything; but these matters take up so much time and there is so much scientific matter, our programme is so lengthy, that I simply want to be fair and just to everybody.
General Collins: I have no desire to take up the time unnecessarily, but it seems to me we do not make a constitution every day in the week, and I am heartily in accord with the suggestion made by Mr. Lenehan that it should be left over. I do not think, as a matter of fact, we have any right to adopt a constitution. It is a question to me why every member of the Society ought not to be notified. Where members are living in all parts of the country and it is practically impossible for some of them to attend the meetings, it seems to me every member should be notified or a copy of the new constitution should be served on them. We do not make a constitution every day in the week, and the matter can very well wait over. It seems to me no detriment would be incurred by reason of holding over.
Dr. Quinlan: You have heard the motion that this constitution be referred to the Executive Council for revision.
Mr. Crimmins: You mean by that the Executive Council would have to report back to the Society?
Mr. Lonergan: I want to be as brief as possible. I take it the Executive Council is more representative of the Society at large than this gathering is, and I therefore move that this revised constitution be submitted to the Executive Council, with power to amend and revise, and that a copy thereof be sent forward to every member.
General Collins: Can this Society delegate the power of adopting a constitution to the Executive Council?
Dr. Quinlan: The Executive Council would have to report back to the Society.
General Collins: The gentleman’s motion does not concur with that idea. His idea is that we submit it to the Executive Council with power to adopt, and it shall then stand.
Dr. Quinlan: I don’t think that would be constitutional. It must be voted upon by the Society at large. Mr. Lonergan’s amendment is before the house. All in favor signify by saying “aye.” It seems to be carried; it is carried.
All who are in favor of Mr. Lonergan’s motion will stand until counted. Forty-three.
All who are opposed to Mr. Lonergan’s motion will stand until counted. Twenty-seven.
These voices must have stentorian tones, if not a re-echo. The chair reverses its decision, and the verdict is that Mr. Lonergan’s amendment stands.
Judge Lee: That was your decision in the first place.
General Collins: I understand the decision, as interpreted by the chair, to be that the Executive Council report back to another meeting of the Society.
Dr. Quinlan: That was the interpretation.
The next business in order being the election of officers for the ensuing year, the Secretary-General read the following list of nominees selected by the Executive Council to be voted upon at this meeting, and the same were elected by unanimous vote to serve until the next meeting and until others are chosen in their stead:
President-General,
Francis J. Quinlan, M. D., LL. D.,
33 West 38th Street, New York City.
· · · · ·
Vice-President-General,
Hon. Thomas B. Fitzpatrick.
Essex Street, Boston, Mass.
· · · · ·
Secretary-General,
Thomas Zanslaur Lee, Esq.,
49 Westminster Street, Providence, R. I.
· · · · ·
Treasurer-General,
Hon. Michael F. Dooley,
President National Exchange Bank, Providence, R. I.
· · · · ·
Librarian and Archivist,
Thomas B. Lawler, Esq.,
70 5th Avenue, New York City.
· · · · ·
Historiographer,
Hon. James F. Brennan,
Peterborough, N. H.