OFFICE ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 571 



information to the hidden meaning and intent of the official acts, yet its 

 mere recording is bound to inject a personal opinion into the official records 

 which cannot possibly be unbiased unless, perchance, every word of the 

 debate is taken down in shorthand and thus recorded. The necessity of 

 this procedure is in most cases questionable, although there may be cer- 

 tain local conditions which make such procedure imperative. Ordinarily 

 its cost is out of proportion to the benefits received. It is probably the 

 best policy to adhere to the recording of only actual facts. It is well for 

 the rules to require that all motions and committee reports be presented 

 in writing, properly signed by the makers of the motion or the committee 

 members, as the case may be. It is well for the secretary to have a thorough 

 knowledge of Robert's Rules of Order or the rules under which the board 

 or commission is acting, and it might be added that there are good points 

 of instruction, in the recording of minutes found in Robert's Rules. 



If the secretary can exercise any influence in the writing of committee 

 reports (quite frequently these reports are actually compiled by the secre- 

 tary and signed by the committee members) it might be well for him to 

 keep in mind the answering of those questions which future generations will 

 be bound to ask upon the passage of certain motions and reports. They 

 should be brief and yet not so brief as to give no information concerning 

 the motive actuating the decision by which future generations may learn 

 the lessons of past experience. This is especially true when milestones in 

 the history of the department are being made, when valuable acquisitions 

 are made, important improvements carried out, a definite policy decided 

 upon, or the attitude toward inventions, such as the automobile or the 

 airplane, is determined. All such actions should be accompanied either by 

 resolution or by a rather detailed committee report setting forth the "why 

 and the wherefore" in taking such action. 



In the case of some commissions, the minutes of the meetings are 

 printed and when this is done the minutes of the meeting should always be 

 approved as printed. This makes the printed minutes official, and the original 

 notes of the proceedings, although of importance and of permanent value 

 (and consequently worth keeping), are not of the legal importance of the 

 printed minutes. Whether the minutes are printed or not, they should be 

 very carefully and permanently kept in just as secure a fashion as possible. 

 A complete index to each fiscal year's minutes should be compiled and there 

 should be a master index made which will apply to all minutes from the 

 date of establishing the commission to the present date. Although indexes 

 take time and are difficult to prepare, a great deal of time will be saved by 

 their compilation. In fact, without indexes it is frequently next to impossible 

 to locate all actions of the commission when they are wanted the most. 



