And the following Constitution is adopted:

ARTICLE I.

SECTION 1. This Association shall be designated the NATIONAL BOARD OF TRADE.

ARTICLE II.

SECTION 1. Every local Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce, or other body organized for general commercial, and not for special or private purposes, and duly chartered under State or National laws, shall be entitled to membership in this Association, on the approval of two-thirds of the bodies represented at any meeting of the Association, and shall be accorded the following representation; Each such association having fifty members who have the right to vote therein, shall be entitled to one delegate; having one hundred members, two delegates; having three hundred members, three delegates; having five hundred members, four delegates; and for each additional three hundred members, one additional delegate.

SEC. 2. Delegates who shall in all cases be active members of not less than one year's standing of the respective bodies which they represent, shall be selected by the local organizations in such manner and for such term of not less than one year, as each may see fit. At each meeting of the Board they shall present credentials under seal from the Secretaries of their respective constituencies; these credentials shall certify the number of members authorized to vote then connected with the body which is claiming representation, and which may present or may have a copy of its charter on file in this Board.

ARTICLE III.

SECTION 1. Each delegate shall be entitled to one vote in person, but no voting by proxy shall be allowed. All votes, except for election of officers, shall be viva voce. Any delegate may demand a division of the house, and on the demand of three or more delegates, a call of the yeas and nays shall be had, the result of the same to be duly recorded.

ARTICLE IV.

SECTION 1. The administration of the affairs of this Board shall be vested in a President and fourteen Vice-Presidents, who shall be elected at the annual meeting by ballot on a majority of all the votes cast, and who shall serve until their successors are chosen.

Their election shall be the first business in order. They shall be constituted and known as an Executive Council, and five of their number shall be a quorum for the transaction of business. In the absence or disability of the President, a Vice-President, to be designated by his associates, shall serve.

SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the Executive Council, immediately after their election, to select a Secretary and a Treasurer, (neither of whom shall be of their own number,) who shall hold office for such time, and who shall receive such compensation as the Council may determine.

SEC. 3. The offices of the Secretary and the Treasurer may be located at such places as the Council shall determine.

SEC. 4. Special meetings of the Council shall be held on the call of seven members thereof, at such place as they may designate, on twenty days' notice to be given by the Secretary.

SEC. 5. In case of the removal, resignation, or death of any member of the Council, his place for the unexpired term, shall be promptly filled by the constituent association of which he was a

member.

ARTICLE V.

SECTION 1. It shall be the duty of the Executive Council: 1st. To provide for full and accurate records of the proceedings of the Board and of its own meetings.

2nd. To submit to each annual meeting a report of the doings of the Board and of its own official acts, as well as a statement of what new or unfinished business may require attention.

3rd. To make full statement concerning the finances of the Board to the annual meetings, and to other meetings, when called on to do so. 4th. To apportion to each constituent body, its assessment for the expenses of the Board, as provided elsewhere.

5th. To make such recommendations as it may deem to be necessary for the welfare and to promote the objects of the Board.

SEC. 2. The Secretary shall conduct the official correspondence, and shall make and have charge of the records of the Board and of the Executive Council.

SEC. 3. The Treasurer shall give such security as the Executive Council may require, receive and account for all moneys belonging.to the Board, and collect assessments and fines, but he shall pay out money and dispose of the property of the Board only on a warrant of the Secretary, countersigned by the President.

ARTICLE VI.

SECTION 1. A meeting of the National Board of Trade shall be held on the third Tuesday in October of each year, at such place as shall have been determined upon at a previous meeting, on the majority vote of all the constituent bodies represented.

SEC. 2. Special meetings may be held on the call of eight members of the Executive Council, at such place as they may designate.

SEC. 3. The attendance of forty delegates shall constitute a quorum.

SEC. 4.

Notice of the annual or other meetings shall be served by the Secretary on each constituent body at least thirty days before the time appointed for assembling. The notice shall state the objects of the meeting, and the questions to be considered.

SEC. 5. A meeting of the Executive Council shall be held on the day preceding the day of any meeting of the Board and at such other times as may be provided in its By-Laws.

ARTICLE VII.

SECTION 1. The expenses of the Board shall be provided for by an assessment to be made by the Executive Council on each constituent body, according to the ratio of its officially reported membership.

ARTICLE VIII.

SECTION 1. Questions or resolutions, except those which involve points of order, or refer to matters of courtesy, can be submitted only by the constituent bodies of the Board or by the Executive Council; and when any constituent body shall desire to present a subject for the consideration of the Board, it shall do so in a written paper to

be placed in the hands of the Secretary at least forty days previous to the annual or special meeting at which it is to be considered: Provided, however, That any subject not thus submitted may be considered and acted upon by a vote of two-thirds of the delegates present.

ARTICLE IX.

SECTION 1. Any constituent body charged with a violation of the laws of this Board may, after a formal complaint thereof in writing, on a vote of two-thirds of all the delegates of the other bodies represented herein, be expelled; but it shall not be exempted from the payment of assessments levied for the year current.

SEC. 2 Any constituent body may withdraw from membership in the Board on submitting a formal request to that effect at an annual meeting, and on full payment of all dues.

ARTICLE X.

SECTION 1. This Constitution may be amended at an annual meeting, on a vote of two-thirds of the delegates present; notice of the proposed amendment having been first submitted to the Secretary by a constituent body, at least forty days previous to the meeting at which the same is to be considered, and transmitted by the Secretary in circular copies to each constituent body at least thirty days before said meeting.

ARTICLE XI.

SECTION 1. This meeting of delegates, called in accordance with the plan of preliminary organization adopted by the Commercial Convention held in Boston on the fifth day of February last, shall be regarded as the first meeting of the National Board of Trade, and is hereby empowered to choose officers, to serve until their successors shall be elected, and to act upon all papers and resolutions laid before it, the same to be considered as having been submitted in the form and manner required by this Constitution.

BY-LAWS.

I. THE following shall be the order of business at the annual meetings of the Board:

1st. The call of the roll.

2nd. The reading of the reports of the Executive Council, and the Treasurer.

3rd. The election of officers.

4th. The reception of papers from associations seeking admission to membership, to be referred to a Committee on Credentials, to consist of five delegates, which shall have leave to sit during the sessions of the Board.

5th. The reception of letters from associations seeking to withdraw from the Board, to be referred to the same Committee.

6th. The consideration of any subjects proposed in the annual report of the Executive Council, or in the hands of Committees appointed at a previous meeting.

7th. The consideration of the subjects on the official programme, in the order in which they are there placed, unless otherwise recommended by the Executive Council.

II. At the annual election, before balloting for President, it shall be competent for delegates to make nominations for that office; and before balloting for Vice-Presidents, each delegation present shall be called upon to make a nomination, and the fourteen persons whose names shall stand highest upon the ballot, provided that they have received a majority of all the votes cast, shall be declared to have been elected.

III. Any resolutions on new business not upon the official programme, or recommended by the Executive Council, excepting those relating to points of order or matters of courtesy, shall be referred to the Executive Council before final action be taken upon them.

IV. At the meetings of the Board, no delegate shall speak more than ten minutes on one question, without the leave of the Board, nor more than twenty minutes without unanimous consent.