one's self. An excited chairman can scarcely fail to cause trouble in a
meeting.

A chairman will often find himself perplexed with the difficulties
attending his position, and in such cases he will do well to heed the
advice of a distinguished writer on parliamentary law, and recollect
that--"The great purpose of all rules and forms, is to subserve the
will of the assembly, rather than to restrain it; to facilitate, and not
to obstruct, the expression of their deliberate sense."

41. Clerk or Secretary [and the Minutes]. The recording officer is
usually called

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the "Clerk" or "Secretary,"* [When there are two secretaries, he is
termed the "recording secretary," and the other one, the "corresponding
secretary." In many societies the secretary, besides acting as
recording officer, collects the dues of members, and thus becomes to a
certain extent a financial officer. In most cases the treasurer acts as
banker, only paying on the order of the society, signed by the secretary
alone, or by the president and secretary. In such cases the secretary
becomes in reality the financial officer of the society, and should make
reports to the society, of funds received and from what sources, and of
the funds expended and for what purposes. See § 52 for his duties as
financial officer.] and the record of proceedings the "Minutes." His
desk should be near that of the chairman, and in the absence of the
chairman, (if there is no vice president present) when the hour for
opening the session arrives, it is his duty to call the meeting to
order, and to preside until the election of a chairman pro tem., which