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National Fantasy Fan, v. 5, issue 7, October 1946
Page 11
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good points be examined for consideration of adoption to our present Constitution. I'd like to thank Boff Perry for his letter endorsing my policy of setting up committees to accomplish the work. I sincerely trust that my successor, whoever he may be, will find that a more cooperative board is elected with him so that such a setup can be put into operation. Best wishes, Dunk * * * Jack Speer: Several people with whom i've talked or corresponded about it instinctively distrust an instrument as short as the constitution i've drafted. Apparently there is a feeling that something must have been omitted that is necessary, in view of the radical contrast with the usual multipaged constitutions. Yet very few commentators have been specific about vital omissions. One of the points on which other constitution-makers for NFFF have differed is the detailing in the constitution of the size of the majority required in the board for removing officials or expelling members. I expect that one of the first acts of a newly elected board will be to adopt the rules of the previous board as they existed at the end of its term, among which rules will be requirement of a nearly unanimous vote for impeachment or expulsion, and of a nearly unanimous vote for changing the rules. (This is substantially the procedure upon organization of a newly elected House of Representatives.) It is true that these rules will have been written by a small number of men; but if such rules are put in the constitution instead, they will actually have been written by an equally small number of members who are engaged in constitution-making, and merely adopted along with the rest of the constitution by the membership at large. There is another way of looking at it: An impeachment or an expulsion is not likely to come up once in a blue moon. Of more real importance would be a requirement that 4 of the 5 board members concur on expenditures bver $20; yet no one has proposed writing this kind of a limitation into the constitution. There is less reason for including the less important. Some may feel that the dates for the annual election should be set more exactly. Specific constitutional dates, such as June 1st, have been more honored in the breach than the observance in FAPA as well as NFFF thruout its life. Such factors as another (which however would not leave any fandom) slowing mail service, or the discovery that members are oftem tied up with exams in June, are agruments for allowing some elasticity in the time limits on elections. The name "Fantasy League" has been criticized. Ever since i proposed it a year and a half ago, i've been hoping that someone would come forward with a better suggestion, because i'm not enthusiastic about "Fantasy League" myself. However, despite considerable thrashing in the official organ and private correspondence, the ideal name has not been discovered, and i begin to doubt that it exists. "Fantasy League" is at least an improvement over "National Fantasy Fan Federation", and there are no serious objections to it. While your and my experience with the word "league" may have been mainly in connection with young people's groups, the word is actually used by organizations of all types--League for Industrial Democracy, League of Women Voters, American Classical League, not to mention the League of Nations and the Science Fiction League! At any rate, at Don Brattons suggestion, the word "organization is used in sections of the constitution after the first, so that it can be amended easily if we ever get a bright idea. One of the other suggested constitutions that i've seen permits the board candidate with the most votes, while primafacie president, to resign that position and remain on the board member and another 11
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good points be examined for consideration of adoption to our present Constitution. I'd like to thank Boff Perry for his letter endorsing my policy of setting up committees to accomplish the work. I sincerely trust that my successor, whoever he may be, will find that a more cooperative board is elected with him so that such a setup can be put into operation. Best wishes, Dunk * * * Jack Speer: Several people with whom i've talked or corresponded about it instinctively distrust an instrument as short as the constitution i've drafted. Apparently there is a feeling that something must have been omitted that is necessary, in view of the radical contrast with the usual multipaged constitutions. Yet very few commentators have been specific about vital omissions. One of the points on which other constitution-makers for NFFF have differed is the detailing in the constitution of the size of the majority required in the board for removing officials or expelling members. I expect that one of the first acts of a newly elected board will be to adopt the rules of the previous board as they existed at the end of its term, among which rules will be requirement of a nearly unanimous vote for impeachment or expulsion, and of a nearly unanimous vote for changing the rules. (This is substantially the procedure upon organization of a newly elected House of Representatives.) It is true that these rules will have been written by a small number of men; but if such rules are put in the constitution instead, they will actually have been written by an equally small number of members who are engaged in constitution-making, and merely adopted along with the rest of the constitution by the membership at large. There is another way of looking at it: An impeachment or an expulsion is not likely to come up once in a blue moon. Of more real importance would be a requirement that 4 of the 5 board members concur on expenditures bver $20; yet no one has proposed writing this kind of a limitation into the constitution. There is less reason for including the less important. Some may feel that the dates for the annual election should be set more exactly. Specific constitutional dates, such as June 1st, have been more honored in the breach than the observance in FAPA as well as NFFF thruout its life. Such factors as another (which however would not leave any fandom) slowing mail service, or the discovery that members are oftem tied up with exams in June, are agruments for allowing some elasticity in the time limits on elections. The name "Fantasy League" has been criticized. Ever since i proposed it a year and a half ago, i've been hoping that someone would come forward with a better suggestion, because i'm not enthusiastic about "Fantasy League" myself. However, despite considerable thrashing in the official organ and private correspondence, the ideal name has not been discovered, and i begin to doubt that it exists. "Fantasy League" is at least an improvement over "National Fantasy Fan Federation", and there are no serious objections to it. While your and my experience with the word "league" may have been mainly in connection with young people's groups, the word is actually used by organizations of all types--League for Industrial Democracy, League of Women Voters, American Classical League, not to mention the League of Nations and the Science Fiction League! At any rate, at Don Brattons suggestion, the word "organization is used in sections of the constitution after the first, so that it can be amended easily if we ever get a bright idea. One of the other suggested constitutions that i've seen permits the board candidate with the most votes, while primafacie president, to resign that position and remain on the board member and another 11
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