BY-LAWS CHAPTER I. RELATING TO MEMBERS. 1. Members only shall be entitled to vote or to be eligible to any office. 2. No member who shall be in arrears for two years, shall be entitled to vote, or be eligible to any office, and any failure to pay annual dues for two consecutive years, after due notice from the Treasurer, shall be considered a forfeiture of membership; and no person thus expunged from the roll of the Society can be eligible to re-admission without the payment of his arrears. 3. No person shall be elected an Active Member until he shall have previously signified his desire to become such in writing. 4. The yearly assessment is payable at the time of the annual meeting in January. CHAPTER II. OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES. 1. The president, or in his absence the highest officer present, shall preside at all meetings of the Society, and regulate the order thereof, and be ex-officio chairman of the Board of Managers, and when required give the casting vote. 2. The Recording Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Society in a suitable book, and at the opening of each one shall read those of the preceding one. He shall have the custody of the Constitution, By-Laws, Records and all papers of the Society, and shall give notice of the time and place of all meetings of the Society and shall notify all officers and members of their election and communicate all special votes of the Society to parties interested therein. In the absence of the Recording Secretary his duty shall be performed by one of the Corresponding Secretaries. 3. The Corresponding Secretaries shall conduct all the correspondence of the Society committed to their charge. They shall preserve on file the original of all communications addressed to the Society and keep a fair copy of all their letters in books furnished for that purpose. They shall read, at each meeting, the correspondence or such abstracts from it as the President may direct. 4. The Treasurer shall collect, receive and disburse all moneys due and payable, and all donations and bequests of money or other property to the Society. He shall pay, under proper vouchers, all the ordinary expenses of the Society, and shall deposit all its funds in one of the Vermont banks, to the credit of the Society, subject to his checks as Treasurer; and at the annual meeting shall make a true report of all the moneys received and paid out by him, to be audited by the Committee on Finance provided for hereafter. 5. It shall be the duty of the Librarian and CabinetKeeper, to preserve, arrange, and keep in good order, all books, manuscripts, documents, pamphlets, articles, and papers of every kind, belonging to the Society. He shall keep a catalogue of the same, and take especial care that no book, manuscript, document, paper, or any property of the Society, confided to his keeping, be removed from the room. He shall also be furnished with a book, in which to record all donations and bequests of whatsoever kind, relating to his department, with the name of the donor, and the time when bestowed. 6. The Curators, with the President, Vice-Presidents, Corresponding and Recording Secretaries, Librarian and Treasurer, shall constitute a Board of Managers, whose duty it shall be to superintend the general concerns of the Society. The President shall, from this Board, appoint the following Standing Committees, viz.: On the Library and Cabinet, on Printing and Publishing and on Finance. 7. The Committee on the Library and Cabinet shall have the supervisory care of all printed publications, manuscripts and curiosities. They shall, with the Librarian, provide suitable shelves, cases and fixtures, in which to arrange and display them. The printed volumes and manuscripts shall be regularly numbered and marked with the name of "The Vermont Historical Society". They shall propose at the regular meeting, such books or manuscripts, pertaining to the objects of the Society, as they shall deem expedient, which, when approved, shall be by them purchased and disposed of as above directed. They shall be required to visit the library at least once a year, officially, and shall provide a book or books, in which the Librarian and Cabinet-Keeper shall keep a record of their proceedings-and be entrusted in general, with the custody, care and increase of whatever comes within the province of their appointed duty. 8. The Committee on Printing and Publishing shall prepare for publication whatever documents or collections shall be ordered by the Society; shall contract for and supervise the printing of the same, and shall furnish the Recording Secretary and Librarian and Cabinet-Keeper, with such blank notices, summonses, labels, etc., as may be deemed requisite. 9. The Committee on Finance shall consist of at least one member of each of the former committees, and shall have the general oversight and direction of the funds of the Society. They shall examine the books of the Treasurer, vouch all accounts of money expended, and audit his annual report. |