Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
BYLAWS DRAFTED
BIRD CLUB BUSY
Committee Appointed by Rock Island
County Club Holds Meeting in
Moline Public Library.
LARGE MEMBERSHIP is SOUGHT
School Pupils viii Be Interested in
Work Of Organization Control
Placed With Directors.

The bylaws committee of the Rock
Island County Bird club held a meeting
last evening in the Moline public IL
brary and prepared bylaws for the re-
Gently formed club. Members present
included G. ". Champion, G. w Nc
Master and Mrs. Emma ]. Sloan of Mo-
line, and B. H Wilson, H. H. Cleave-
land and Miss Peetz of Rock Island.
Organizers of the club are DESTROYS
Of securing a very large membership
and large interest in the club and its
work rather than to make it club
for few bird enthusiasts. Therefore
it was decided to make membership
fees and dues very low.
Especial effort is to be made to in
terest the school pupils of the whole
county and other young people Miss
Lou Harris, county superintendent of
schools, has enlisted in the cause of
the bird club and of the children, and
she will do her share toward organiz-
ing auxiliary bird clubs in the 103
rural schools in Rock Island county.
Already teachers in the city schools
are Interested. In one Rock Island
school, for instance, a bird club of
more than 200 members is already in
existence.
Because of the large membership in
the county club which it is expected |
to secure and the probable difficulty
OF securing QuOrums at meetings of
the club as whole, the bylaws COM !
mittee decided that it would be we'll |
to put control of the club in the hands |
Of a board of directors. The annual i
meeting Of the whole club. to be called |
each year by the directors, will be !
held in September. and the directors |
will call such other meetings as may /
be necessary and submit to the whole |
membership such questions as the |
board may prefer not to itself pass on |
finally. It was the sense of the by |
laws committee that the county bird |
club should affiliate with both the state |
and national Audubon societies, and |
the directors will doubtless attend to |
this matter.
The bylaws as suggested will pro- |
vide in effect:
To Protect Birds.
That the club shall be known as the |
Rock Island County Bird club. !
That the object shall be the encour-
aging and protecting of our local wild |
birds; the stimulation of interest in |
bird life, and the gradual establish |
ment of model bird reservations.
Three classes of individual member
ship are provided for: active, junior
and sustaining. The membership fee I
for active members is to be % cents. |
The membership fee for the juniors,
who shall be not more than 16 years
of age, will be 10 cents, and the annual |
dues 10 cents. For sustaining men,
hers there will be no membership fee.
Their annual dues will be So. The |
voting power is to be with active mem
bers only.
Any junior school club, rural or city,
may become a member Of the county !
club on payment of a single member j
,hip fee of 25 cents and % cents a
year annual dues.
The officers of the club will consist
of president, secretary, treasurer and /
thee directors to be chosen at the
annual meeting in September. These
shall constitute the executive commit
tee, of which four members will con-
stitue a quorum for transaction of
business. The executive committee
must order and approve all bills be-
fore they are paid by the treasurer.
The executive committee is to trans
act all business of the club except
such matter as it may prefer to refer
TO the club as a whole
Twelve Members a Quorum.
1t is hoped that when annual or
other meetings of the county club are
held there will be large attendances.
But inasmuch as the members will be
so widely scattered, it was decided TO
make the quorum for doing business
at these meetings small Twelve men,
bers will be authorized to transact
business.
The bylaws may be amended at
regular or called meeting of the club,
provided notice of the proposed
amendment has been given at the
previous meeting. a two-thirds vote
will be required.
Distribution of bird club buttons,
which will be given as receipts for
payment OF the first years member
ship fee and dues b. active or junior
members, will be in the hands of the
executive committee. The matter OF
buttons or not buttons for the mem
bers Of the auxiliary school clubs
throughout the county is also in the
hands Of the executive committee.
A meeting of the club to consider
the bylaws that the committee will
submit will soon be called. 1t will
probably be held in Moline. The
meeting for organization. it will be re-
membered. was held in Rock Island.