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REPORT OF NATIONAL COUNSELOR.

HANNAH R. PLIMPTON,

Madam:

OFFICE OF NATIONAL COUNSelor,

SANATOGA, PA., July 1, 1891.

National Secretary, W. R. C.

I have the honor to report, as the legal adviser of the National President, the following official decisions and opinions rendered during the past year:

Question 1.

Is a woman whose husband was disloyal during the war eligible to membership in the Woman's Relief Corps?

Answer.

Each applicant stands on her own record in regard to loyalty. If she can show that she is loyal, and has always been loyal, she is eligible.

Question 2.

Would a notice of a special meeting in our weekly papers, of which we have two, be considered a legal notice?

Answer.

No. It is the duty of the Secretary to notify each member according to Rules and Regulations, and she cannot notify each member through a newspaper.

Question 3.

Does a Past Department President, who removes from the State in which she gained her right to vote in the National Con

vention, taking a transfer card and depositing it in a Corps in the Department to which she has removed, lose her past honors, and her seat in the National Convention, if she remains a member in good standing?

Answer.

No. She has by services rendered gained a right to a seat in the National Convention, and is carried on their roll as a member of that body, and cannot be deprived of her honors or her seat as long as she remains a member in good standing of any Corps.

She has not, however, a seat in the Department Convention in which she now resides.

The ruling of the Grand Army of the Republic is: "A Past Department Commander, though a member of a Post in another Department than that of which he was Commander, is a member of the National Encampment, but not a member of his present Department." Revised Blue Book, page 129.

Question 4.

Can a candidate be initiated at a special meeting, if a Dispensation is secured from Department President?

Answer.

No. A Department President cannot give a Dispensation to initiate at a special meeting, it being contrary to Rules and Regulations.

Question 5.

A member of a Corps is nominated for President. There being no other candidate, a motion is made that the ballot be dispensed with, and the candidate be elected by acclamation; three voted against it, but the candidate was declared elected by acclamation. Was such election legal?

Answer.

No. Rules and Regulations, Chap. II., Art. VII., Sect. 1, reads: "The election shall be by written ballot, unless such

ballot be dispensed with by unanimous consent." The fact that three voted against dispensing with the ballot would necessitate the ballot being taken in the usual way. When the ballot is dispensed with by unanimous vote, it does not elect the candidate. A motion must be made and seconded and properly put, that the Secretary cast the ballot for the candidate nominated. The Secretary must write the ballot, and holding it, announce, "I cast the unanimous vote of the Convention for Mrs.

Question 6.

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What is the legal course for bills to take when presented to the Corps for payment?

Answer.

All bills should be brought to the Secretary's table, and presented in due form to the Corps for approval.

The President should order Secretary to draw orders for all approved bills, and a duplicate record should be made on the stubs of order-book. After being signed by the President and Secretary, these orders, with the bills, should be passed to the Treasurer.

The Treasurer should pay all bills and have them properly receipted and filed for reference.

Question 7.

Has a single member of the Auditing Committee the right to take the books of the Treasurer to her home to audit them alone?

Answer.

No. The majority of any Committee is necessary to the proper work of the Committee.

Question 8.

Can special Committees for special purposes be appointed, or must all the work be planned and executed by the Executive Committee?

Answer.

Special Committees are often needed where money is being raised by entertainments, or some special service.

The President has not exhausted her authority in appointing all standing Committees. She has the right to appoint all Committees not otherwise provided for.

Question 9.

Can a Corps President authorize the Conducter to give out the pass-word, she not feeling well when the new pass-word was to be given out?

Answer.

No. Under no circumstances may the Corps President allow the Conductor to give out the new pass-word. "The pass-words of our Order are never to be given by one member to another, but always by the President."

If the Corps President is not able to perform that duty, she should call the Senior Vice-President forward, give her the password, and allow her to occupy the chair of the President and give out the pass-word.

Question 10.

Can a Department President reprove or officially reprimand an officer or member without being authorized by a Court of Inquiry?

Answer.

No. A Department or National President may not reprove or officially reprimand an officer or member, unless it is authorized by the verdict of a Court of Inquiry.

Every member of the Order is deemed innocent until proven guilty; and no member can be reprimanded, reproved, or discharged without a regularly authorized Court of Inquiry, and a fair opportunity to make defense.

Question 11.

Can a Department President give the pass-word to a member of a Corps whose dues are paid in advance, but for reasons she

considers good does not care to attend Corps meetings, or to ask her Corps President for the pass-word.

Answer.

No. Members must secure the pass-word from their own Corps President. She has been chosen by a majority of the members of the Corps to the office of President, and must be respected and obeyed accordingly. And no matter what a member's private grievances may be, she has no right to show it in the Corps, or neglect or refuse to perform a plain duty. Such conduct would be subversive of Corps interest and a violation of the obligation of the member.

Question 12.

A Past Department President refuses to ask or receive the pass-word from her Corps President, but obtains it from someone else. Is anyone else authorized to give officers the pass-word? If not, what is the penalty for receiving the pass-word from an unauthorized person?

Answer.

No one but the President of a Corps to which a member belongs is authorized to give the pass-words, no matter how high the rank of the officer desiring them.

There is no punishment for those who receive the pass-words from unauthorized parties, only the shame and humiliation that is always the penalty of illegal and unjustifiable proceedings; but if it can be ascertained who it is who gives her the pass-words, the parties so violating the rules on secrecy can be tried and expelled from the Order.

Question 13.

In case of the resignation or death of a Department President, how shall the vacancy be filled?

Answer.

The Senior Vice-President assumes the duties of the office, and notifies the members of the Department Council of the facts, and, in consultation with them as to time and place, calls a meeting

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