The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1916-12-07
Study in F Parliamentary Procedure
This column is devoted to the interests of the
Washington State Federation of Women's Clubs,
Mrs. Scion Shedd President - = -

One of the most wonderful teacher.
the world has ever known was tn
great S.. Paul.
But you who would satisfy your Gu
riosity in regard to his opinion o.
woman's place look u2 /. Corinthians
Chapter XIV, 34ti and 35th verses
Times have changed since then. Ant
probably the past twenty centurie.
have seen no greater change than thai
which has token place in the status Of
woman. She now finds her vocation
in every line of endeavor. But wheth
er we speak Of her vocation or hel
avocation all will admit that this is
woman's era. Her position in both
public and private life is unique. Ad-
hitting that these last statements are
true, then are we not anxious to dc
the best we can? There is probably
| no one thing in the way of culture
which any individual will find greater
assistance than knowledge of par
liamentary procedure. We immediate
ly hear the exclamation ooh! do
not need to waste my time on that.
My common sense will carry me thru .
Or some may think it too serious and
intricate. / maintain that ignorance
of subject dcbars any one from pass
ing Judgment upon it. Suppose we
ask the first twenty people we meet
to give US a definition Of parliament
tary procedure. The chances are that
not one of the twenty will give an in
telligent answer. This subject is not
as serious as some might think and it
is certainly very fascinating. To be
sure common sense is great help as
anywhere. But it is not enough. Why
not as well expect our common sense
to suffice for working knowledge Of
grammar, arithmetic or any allied
subject. Because we have all learned
that we must follow certain rules or
well be classed with the ignorant.
What then, is this parliamentary
procedure which we are talking about?
Parliamentary procedure consists
of set of rules which when properly
used will enable an organization to
consider its business expeditiously
and at the same time courteously and
with justice to every member. Or in
other words it is the etiquette Of the
drawing room applied to the business
of organizations.
You find yourself attending club
or organization. Others are talking
and you wish to do so. What is the
proper method Of procedure? Let us
suppose that the presiding officer is a
friend of yours and you are in the
habit Of visiting at her home. Do you
go to her home and boldly walk in? !
Not at all. There are certain rules |
which you follow to gain entrance to |
her home and thereby gain for your
self certain privileges. It is the same |
at meeting. You must first obtain
the floor; that is, get permission from
The presiding officer to talk. The sug-
gestions which you have to offer are
good, and the presiding officer is clev-
er, but she has no way of dealing with
She is helpless to help |
you unless you help yourself. My adj
vice to you is; Initiate Flanagan" |
Boil your ideas down into an intelli- |
gent, concise motion. After your mo-
ton is properly seconded the presid-
ing officer states it and you have gen.
erously and almost without knowing |
it, given something worth while to |
the audience. Very likely your mo-
tons is debateable and the maker Of q
motion always has the first and last
chance in debate. This will enable you
to explain the fine points, the reasons
why, etc., etc. Verbosity and loqua-
ciousness may be fully satisfied in de-
bate providing the debater sticks to
the subject.
Some one may not like your ideas at
all and so they wish TO kill your mo-
ton. They move to indefinitely post
pone the same. This motion opens up
the whole subject to debate and gives
every one another chance to air their
views. If this motion carries it re-
moves the question from before the
for that entire session.
And right here let me ask you to learn
the difference between meeting" and
session" But in this case the motion
for indefinite postponement fails, so
the original subject is before you. In
the course Of this orderly discussion
it develops that some change (tho it
must be germane to the subject) would
be beneficial. So some one moves to
amend. All remarks must now be
confined to the amendment. Some one