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CONSTITUTION OF THE CALIFORNIA EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY.

PREAMBLE.

WE, as Teachers of California, in order to further the educational interests of the State, to give efficiency to our School System, to furnish a practical basis for united action among those devoted to the cause in which we are engaged, and, for those purposes, to elevate the office of the Teacher to its true rank among the professions, do hereby adopt the following

CONSTITUTION.

NAME.

SECTION 1. This organization shall be known as the "CALIFORNIA EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY."

MEMBERS.

SEC. 2. The qualification of members shall be: a good moral character, three years' successful experience, one of which must have been in this State, and ability to pass a thorough examination in Reading, Spelling, Penmanship, Drawing, Object-Teaching, Geography, Grammar, History, Arithmetic, Algebra, Physiology, and Natural Philosophy.

SEC. 3. This Society shall consist of male members only.

SEC. 4. All male graduates of State Normal Schools in the United States who have taught three years previous to their application for admission to this Society, and who are residents of this State, and all male holders of State Educational Diplomas, as provided by the laws of California, shall be eligible to membership upon the recommendation of the Examining Committee.

DUES

SEC. 5. Each member, upon his election, shall sign this Constitution, and pay into the Treasury the sum of ten dollars.

HONORARY MEMBERS.

SEC. 6. Honorary membership may be conferred upon any gentleman eminent for literary attainments, or for successful service in the cause of popular education, upon the recommendation of the Examining Committee, and a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting.

EXPULSION.

SEC. 7. Any member may be expelled for unprofessional conduct by a two-thirds vote of members present at any regular meeting; provided, that a copy of the charges be deposited with the Recording Secretary at least four weeks before the meeting at which the charges are acted upon, and immediate notice thereof be given to the accused.

OFFICERS.

SEC. 8. The officers of this Society shall be: a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, and a Treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot at a regu lar annual meeting, and shall hold their offices for one year, or until their successors be chosen.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

SEC. 9. The duties of the President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer, shall be the same as those usually devolving upon such officers. The duty of the Corresponding Secretary shall be to conduct the correspondence of the Society under the direction of the Executive Committee.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

SEC. 10. There shall be an Executive Committee, which shall be composed of the officers of the current year, together. with five other members of the Society, to be elected at each annual meeting, and to hold their offices for one year.

EXAMINING COMMITTEE.

SEC. 11. There shall be an Examining Committee of three members, who shall be elected out of six members nominated for that purpose by the Executive Committee; the three nominees having the highest number of votes to be considered elected.

DUTIES OF COMMITTEES.

SEC. 12. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to manage the general business of the Society, to examine the accounts of the Treasurer, and audit all claims upon the Treasury.

It shall be the duty of the Examining Committee to inquire into and determine upon the qualifications of candidates for membership, and to report to the Society, at its next regular meeting.

VOTING.

SEC. 13. All voting upon admission to the Society, or upon matters pertaining to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be by ballot.

SEC. 14. A two-thirds vote of members present at any regular meeting shall be sufficient to elect a candidate proposed by the Examining Committee.

PROXY.

SEC. 15. Members may vote either in person or by proxy; provided, that the proxy be made known in writing to the Recording Secretary.

MEETINGS.

SEC. 16. There shall be a regular annual meeting of the Society on the third Saturday of May, in each year, in the City of San Francisco, or at such other time and place as may be appointed by the President with the consent of the Executive Committee; but, in case a quorum be not present at that time, the officers shall hold over another year, or until their successors be chosen.

SEC. 17. There shall be a meeting of the Society at least once in three months, for the purpose of promoting the interests of Education in all its departments. The exercises at these meetings may be determined by the President in conjunction with the Executive Committee.

CHARACTER OF DISCUSSIONS.

SEC. 18. No political or sectarian discussions shall be allowed in the meetings of this Society.

ASSESSMENTS.

SEC. 19. Assessments may be made from time to time at any regular meeting, by a two-thirds vote of the members present.

DIPLOMAS.

SEC. 20. Every member of this Society shall be entitled to a diploma in such form as the Executive Committee shall decide upon, and under the official seal and signature of the Society; but no diplomas shall be issued to honorary members.

AMENDMENTS.

SEC. 21. After the close of the second annual meeting of this Society this Constitution shall not be altered or amended, except by a vote of three fourths of the members present at an annual meeting, and after one month's previous notice in THE CALIFORNIA TEACHER, or some other suitable medium.

President-JOHN SWETT.

Vice-Presidents-THOMAS S. MYRICK; D. C. STONE.
Corresponding Secretary-T. C. LEONARD.

Recording Secretary-BERNARD MARKS.

Treasurer-J. C. PELTON.

Executive Committee-The officers of the society, and Messrs. SWEZEY, STRATTON, MCGLYNN, WHITE, and GOODRICH.

Examining Committee-Messrs. SWETT, TAIT, and LEONARD.

Hon. John Swett, Superintendent of Public Instruction of California: MY DEAR SIR:-I have received the copy of your "Circular" calling a "State Teachers' Institute," to be held next May, in the city of San Francisco, which you had the kindness to send me..

You are aware that this is not the first educational document I have received from your State. I am not ignorant of what has been doing in your educational field for the past four or five years. The State and City Reports have come to me pretty regularly, and I have read them attentively. I was especially interested in the full and valuable minutes of the proceedings of the former Institutes; and through correspondence with residents, I have obtained considerable information respecting the interests of education among you. By these means I seem to have become, to some extent, educationally acquainted with your State. When I look at the map, I see that a continent lies between us; but when I think what you are, and what you are doing, you seem to be next door neighbors. Certainly we ought to feel and act as neighbors. We are fellow citizens. We are of one country, and own the same national tie. We are of one nation, and one people, and one tongue. Are we not, indeed, bound together by that "close affection which grows from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal protection ?—those ties which, though light as air, are strong as links of steel?"

I know not how it is, but somehow, your Educators and Teachers seem to me like friends and brothers. It is perhaps natural enough that I should sympathize with you in your efforts and struggles to establish a broad and liberal system of public educati‹n, considering that I have been all my lifetime engaged in similar labors. It has been my fortune to work here, where society is already fixed and settled, and institutior s are somewhat crystallized, and the task is that of preserving, and improving, and reforming a slow, tedious, and sometimes discouraging labor.

Let me congratulate the Educators of the new Empire State of the Pacific on their good fortune in being called to a grander work-the work of laying the foundations of things, of building institutions and systems. If your privations are greater, your labors more arduous, your reward is higher, and the glory of your achievements brighter and more enduring. If to build States is the highest of the honors and dignities of man, the next rank, certainly, must be accorded to the builders and formers of these Institutions which are the only hope and stability of all free Governments. Let ile education of a State-physical, moral, social, and intellectual-be right, and everything else will prosper. With such views, it is natural that as a patriot, as well as an eẻucator, I should appreciate profoundly your noble efforts to place your State in th front rank of the educating States of the Union, which is the same thing as to place it in the van of the civilization of the Union.