New Zealand Institute.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 36, 1903, Unnumbered Page

New Zealand Institute. Established Under an act of the General Assembly of new Zealand Institute “the new Zealand Institute act, 1867”; Reconstituted by an act of the General Assembly of new Zealand Under “the new Zealand Institute act, 1903.” Board of Governors Ex Officio. His Excellency the Governor. The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Nominated by the Government Under Clause 4. Sir James Hector, K.C.M.G., M.D., F.R.S.; E. Tregear, F.R.G.S.; John Young; J. W. Joynt, M.A. Elected by Affiliated Societies Under Clause 4. Wellington: Martin Chapman; Professor T. H. Easterfield, M.A., Ph.D. Auckland: Professor A. P. W. Thomas, M.A., F.L.S.; J. Stewart, C.E. Napier: H. Hill, F.G.S. Christchurch: Professor Charles Chilton, D.Sc., F.L.S.; Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S. Westland: T. H. Gill, M.A. Nelson: L. Cockayne, LL.D. Otago: A. Hamilton; G. M. Thompson, F.L.S. Officers for the Year 1903-4. President: Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S. Hon. Treasurer: J. W. Joynt, M.A. Editor of Transactions: A. Hamilton. Secretary: T. H. Gill, M.A. Affiliated Societies. Date of Affiliation. Wellington Philosophical Society 10th June, 1868. Auckland Institute 10th June, 1868. Philosophical Institute of Canterbury 22nd October, 1868. Otago Institute 18th October, 1869. Westland Institute 21st December, 1874. Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute 31st March, 1875. Southland Institute 21st July, 1880. Nelson Institute 20th December, 1883.

New Zealand Institute Act. The following Act reconstituting the Institute was passed by Parliament:— 1903, No. 48. An Act to reconstitute the New Zealand Institute. [18th November, 1903. Whereas it is desirable to reconstitute the New Zealand Institute with a view to connecting it more closely with the affiliated institutions: Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— 1. The Short Title of this Act is “The New Zealand Institute Act, 1903.” 2. “The New Zealand Institute Act, 1867,” is hereby repealed. 3. (1.) The body hitherto known as the New Zealand Institute (hereinafter referred to as “the Institute”) shall consist of the Auckland Institute, the Wellington Philosophical Society, the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, the Otago Institute, the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, the Nelson Institute, the Westland Institute, the Southland Institute, and such others as may hereafter be incorporated in accordance with regulations to be made by the Board of Governors as hereinafter mentioned. (2.) Members of the above-named incorporated societies shall be ipso facto members of the Institute. 4. The control and management of the Institute shall be in the hands of a Board of Governors, constituted as follows:— The Governor; The Colonial Secretary; Four members to be appointed by the Governor in Council during the month of December, one thousand nine hundred and three, and two members to be similarly appointed during the month of December in every succeeding year; Two members to be appointed by each of the incorporated societies at Auckland, Wellington, Christ-church, and Dunedin during the month of December in each alternate year; One member to be appointed by each of the other incorporated societies during the month of December in each alternate year.

5. (1.) Of the members appointed by the Governor in Council two shall retire annually on the appointment of their successors; the first two members to retire shall be decided by lot, and thereafter the two members longest in office without reappointment shall retire. (2.) Subject to the provisions of the last preceding subsection, the appointed members of the Board shall hold office until the appointment of their successors. 6. The Board of Governors as above constituted shall be a body corporate, by the name of the “New Zealand Institute,” and by that name they shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, and may sue and be sued, and shall have power and authority to take, purchase, and hold lands for the purposes hereinafter mentioned. 7. (1.) The Board of Governors shall have power to appoint a fit person, to be known as the “President,” to superintend and carry out all necessary work in connection with the affairs of the Institute, and to provide him with such further assistance as may be required. (2.) It shall also appoint the President or some other fit person to be editor of the Transactions of the Institute, and may appoint a committee to assist him in the work of editing the same. (3.) It shall have power to make regulations under which societies may become incorporated to the Institute, and to declare that any incorporated society shall cease to be incorporated if such regulations are not complied with, and such regulations on being published in the Gazette shall have the force of law. (4.) The Board may receive any grants, bequests, or gifts of books or specimens of any kind whatsoever for the use of the Institute, and dispose of them as it thinks fit. (5.) The Board shall have control of the property hereinafter vested in it, and of any additions hereafter made thereto, and shall make regulations for the management of the same, for the encouragement of research by the members of the Institute, and in all matters, specified or unspecified, shall have power to act for and on behalf of the Institute. 8. Any casual vacancy on the Board of Governors, howsoever caused, shall be filled within three months by the society or authority that appointed the member whose place has become vacant, and if not filled within that time the vacancy shall be filled by the Board of Governors. 9. (1.) The first annual meeting of the Board of Governors hereinbefore constituted shall be held at Wellington on some day in the month of January, one thousand nine hundred and four, to be fixed by the Governor, and annual meetings of the Board shall be regularly held thereafter during the month

of January in each year, the date and place of such annual meeting to be fixed at the previous annual meeting (2.) The Board of Governors may meet during the year at such other times and places as it deems necessary. (3.) At each annual meeting the President shall present to the meeting a report of the work of the Institute for the year preceding, and a balance-sheet, duly audited, of all sums received and paid on behalf of the Institute. 10. The Board of Governors may from time to time, as it sees fit, make arrangements for the holding of general meetings of members of the Institute, at times and places to be arranged, for the reading of scientific papers, the delivery of lectures, and for the general promotion of science in the colony by any means that may appear desirable. 11. The Colonial Treasurer shall, without further appropriation than this Act, pay to the Board of Governors the annual sum of five hundred pounds, to be applied in or towards payment of the general current expenses of the Institute. 12. (1.) On the appointment of the first Board of Governors under this Act the Board of Governors constituted under the Act hereby repealed shall cease to exist, and the property then vested in, or belonging to, or under the control of that Board shall be vested in His Majesty for the use and benefit of the public. (2) On the recommendation of the President of the Institute the Governor may at any time hereinafter, by Order in Council, declare that any part of such property specified in the Order shall be vested in the Board constituted under this Act. 13. All regulations, together with a copy of the Transactions of the Institute, shall be laid upon the table of both Houses of Parliament within twenty days after the meeting thereof. Regulations. The following are the new regulations of the New Zealand Institute under the Act of 1903:— The word “Institute” used in the following regulations means the New Zealand Institute as constituted by “The New Zealand Institute Act, 1903.” Incorporation of Societies. 1. No society shall be incorporated with the Institute under the provisions of “The New Zealand Institute Act, 1903,” unless such society shall consist of not less than

twenty-five members, subscribing in the aggregate a sum of not less than £25 sterling annually for the promotion of art, science, or such other branch of knowledge for which it is associated, to be from time to time certified to the satisfaction of the Board of Governors of the Institute by the President for the time being of the society. 2. Any society incorporated as aforesaid shall cease to be incorporated with the Institute in case the number of the members of the said society shall at any time become less than twenty-five, or the amount of money annually subscribed by such members shall at any time be less than £25. 3. The by-laws of every society to be incorporated as aforesaid shall provide for the expenditure of not less than one-third of the annual revenue in or towards the formation or support of some local public museum or library, or otherwise shall provide for the contribution of not less than one-sixth of its said revenue towards the extension and maintenance of the New Zealand Institute. 4. Any society incorporated as aforesaid which shall in any one year fail to expend the proportion of revenue specified in Regulation No. 3 aforesaid in manner provided shall from henceforth cease to be incorporated with the Institute. 5. All papers read before any society for the time being incorporated with the Institute shall be deemed to be communications to the Institute, and then may be published as Proceedings or Transactions of the Institute, subject to the following regulations of the Board of the Institute regarding publications:— Regulations regarding Publications. (a.) The publications of the Institute shall consist of— (1.) A current abstract of the proceedings of the societies for the time being incorporated with the Institute, to be intituled “Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute”; (2.) And of transactions comprising papers read before the incorporated societies (subject, however, to selection as hereinafter mentioned), and of such other matter as the Board of Governors shall from time to time determine to publish, to be intituled “Transactions of the New Zealand Institute.” (b.) The Board of Governors shall determine what papers are to be published. (c) Papers not recommended for publication may be returned to their authors if so desired. (d.) All papers sent in for publication must be legibly written, typewritten, or printed.

(e.) A proportional contribution may be required from each society towards the cost of publishing Proceedings and Transactions of the Institute. (f.) Each incorporated society will be entitled to receive a proportional number of copies of the Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, to be from time to time fixed by the Board of Governors. General Regulations. 6. All property accumulated by or with funds derived from incorporated societies, and placed in charge of the Institute, shall be vested in the Institute, and be used and applied at the discretion of the Board of Governors for public advantage, in like manner with any other of the property of the Institute. 7. Subject to “The New Zealand Institute Act, 1903,” and to the foregoing rules, all societies incorporated with the Institute shall be entitled to retain or alter their own form of constitution and the by-laws for their own management, and shall conduct their own affairs. 8. Upon application signed by the President and countersigned by the Secretary of any society, accompanied by the certificate required under Regulation No. 1, a certificate of incorporation will be granted under the seal of the Institute, and will remain in force as long as the foregoing regulations of the Institute are complied with by the society. 9. In voting on any subject the President is to have a deliberate as well as a casting vote. Management of the Property of the Institute. 10. All donations by societies, public Departments, or private individuals to the Institute shall be acknowledged by a printed form of receipt, and shall be entered in the books of the Institute provided for that purpose, and shall then be dealt with as the Board of Governors may direct. Honorary Members. 11. The Board of Governors shall have power to elect honorary members (being persons not residing in the Colony of New Zealand), provided that the total number of honorary members shall not exceed thirty. 12. In case of a vacancy in the list of honorary members, each incorporated society, after intimation from the Secretary of the Institute, may nominate for election as honorary member one person. 13. The names, descriptions, and addresses of persons so nominated, together with the grounds on which their election

as honorary members is recommended, shall be forthwith forwarded to the President of the New Zealand Institute, and shall by him be submitted to the Governors at the next succeeding meeting. 14. The President may at any time call a meeting of the Board, and shall do so on the requisition in writing of four Governors. 15. Twenty-one days' notice of every meeting of the Board shall be given by posting the same to each Governor at an address furnished by him to the Secretary. 16. In case of a vacancy in the office of President, a meeting of the Board shall be called by the Secretary within twenty-one days to elect a new President. 17. The Governors for the time being resident or present in Wellington shall be a Standing Committee for the purpose of transacting urgent business and assisting the officers. 18. The Standing Committee may appoint persons to perform the duties of any other office which may become vacant. Any such appointment shall hold good until the next meeting of the Board, when the vacancy shall be filled. 19. The foregoing regulations may be altered or amended at any annual meeting, provided that notice be given in writing to the Secretary of the Institute not later than the 30th November.