CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE AMERICAN HEALTH AND TEMPERANCE ASSOCIATION.
This Association shall be known as the American Health and Temperance Association. The objects of this Association shall be,— 1. The promotion of the health of those who become members of it. 2. To advance the interests of the cause of temperance in its truest and broadest sense, by the circulation of health and temperance literature, by securing popular lectures upon those subjects in various parts of the country, and by the wide circulation of suitable pledges and earnest efforts to secure numerous signers. SECTION 1. The officers of this Association shall consist of a President, a Vice-President, a Recording Secretary, five Corresponding Secretaries, a Treasurer, a Publishing Committee of three, and an Executive Board consisting of the President and Secretary and three additional members. SEC. 2. The officers of this Association shall be elected by a majority ballot at the meetings of the Association. SEC. 3. The duties of these officers shall be as described at length in the By-laws. SEC. 1. Any person of good moral character may become a member of this Association by paying the initiation fee and signing the constitution and one of the three pledges. SEC. 2. Three grades of membership shall be recognized, as designated by the three distinct pledges hereinafter described. SEC. 3. Persons wishing to become members of this Association who are otherwise qualified, may become such by signing either one of the following pledges:— I do hereby solemnly affirm that with the help of God I will wholly abstain from the voluntary use of alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee,2opium, and all other narcotics and stimulants in any form. ANTI-RUM AND TOBACCO PLEDGE.
I do hereby solemnly affirm that with the help of God I will wholly abstain from the voluntary use of alcohol in any form, as a beverage, or in any equivalent manner, and from smoking, chewing, or snuffing tobacco, or using it in any other form, and from in any way encouraging the use of these poisons. I do hereby solemnly affirm that with the help of God I will totally abstain from the voluntary use, as a beverage, or in any equivalent manner, of all liquids or substances containing alcohol. SEC. 4. After signing one of the pledges afore-mentioned, the candidate for membership shall pay to the Treasurer the sum of twenty-five cents, when he shall receive a certificate of membership. Each member of this Association shall annually pay into the treasury the sum of ten cents, to create a fund to defray the incidental expenses of the Association, and such other sums as may be assessed by the Executive Committee when authorized by a two-thirds vote of those present at any regular meeting of the Association. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting of the Association. ARTICLE I.—DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
SECTION 1. The President shall preside over the meetings of this Association; shall issue certificates of membership; and shall perform such other duties as are usually required of such an officer in similar societies. SEC. 2. The Vice-President shall perform the duties of the President in his absence. SEC. 3. The Recording Secretary shall keep a faithful record of all the business transacted by the Association, and shall keep a roll of membership, and attend to such other duties as usually devolve upon such an officer. SEC. 4. The Treasurer shall collect initiation fees and annual dues of the members, together with assessments, and shall appropriate the funds which may thus accrue as directed by the Executive Committee. SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to devise ways and means for the carrying out of the purposes of the Association; to appoint special agents and prepare plans for the organization of State and local societies of a similar character in various parts of the country; to direct the appropriation of funds; to settle questions of discipline which may be brought before them; and to attend to other matters pertaining to the general management of the Association. SEC. 6. The Corresponding Secretaries shall act as solicitors of pledges by personal solicitations and by correspondence; and shall perform such other duties as shall be assigned them by the Executive Committee. ARTICLE II.—DUTIES OF MEMBERS.
It shall be the duty of each member of this Association to keep most religiously the pledge which he signed upon becoming a member of the Association; to exert himself to the utmost of his ability, as is consistent with other duties, for the advancement of the interests of this Association, in the promulgation of correct ideas of health and temperance, by the circulation of health and temperance literature, by the circulation of pledges, and by all other proper means. SECTION 1. A regular meeting of this Association shall be held on the first Wednesday evening of each month. Special meetings may be called by the Executive Committee whenever necessary. SEC. 2. The meetings of the Association shall be devoted to the discussion of health and temperance topics, and listening to lectures on the subject, and to reports from individual members. ARTICLE IV.—RULES OF ORDER.
This Association shall be governed by the parliamentary laws established by usage, as presented in “Robert’s Rules of Order,” and other standard works on the same subject. In order to stimulate special effort on the part of members to procure signers to the pledges among those who may not, for various reasons, be induced to become members of the Association, the following premiums are offered:— For 50 signatures to the “Teetotal Pledge,” a copy of GOOD HEALTH for one year. For 100 signatures, health and temperance publications to the amount of $2.50. For 1000 signatures, a scholarship in Battle Creek College. ARTICLE VI.—RESPECTING VIOLATION OF PLEDGES.
Upon violation of any of the pledges, the name of the person shall be placed upon a roll of dishonor; and for the first offense shall be publicly read at the next successive meeting, for the second offense shall be read at the next two successive sessions, and upon a third violation shall be read at each of the next three successive meetings, and in addition a third violation shall render the member liable to dismissal from membership according to the discretion of the Committee of Discipline. ARTICLE VII.—DISMISSAL OF MEMBERS.
When a person has committed a breach of discipline his case shall be referred to the Committee of Discipline, which shall consider the case and shall report upon it to the Association. If the decision of the committee is in favor of dismissal, the member may be dismissed from the Association by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting. Persons who have been dismissed from this society for violation of the pledge may be taken back on trial, on recommendation by the Committee of Discipline, and a vote of two-thirds of the members present at any regular meeting. State and local organizations which send in funds to the general treasury shall receive the full amount of the same in health and temperance works, after deducting the cost of blank certificates and other printed matter furnished to the several societies. These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting.