finally act by a vote upon the question of expulsion, or other punishment proposed. No member should be expelled by less than a two-thirds[1] vote—a quorum voting.
In acting upon the case, it must be borne in mind that there is a vast distinction between the evidence necessary to convict in a civil court and that required to convict in an ordinary society or ecclesiastical body. A notorious pickpocket could not even be arrested, much less convicted by a civil court, simply on the ground of being commonly known asa pickpocket; while such evidence would convict and expel him from any ordinary society. The moral conviction of the truth of the charge is all that is necessary, in an ecclesiastical or other deliberative body, to find the accused guilty of the charges.
If the trial is liable to be long and troublesome, or of a very delicate nature, the member is frequently cited to appear before a committee, instead of the society, for trial. In this case the committee report to the society the result of their trial of the case, with resolutions
- ↑ The U. S. Constitution [Art. 1, Sec. 5] provides that each house of Congress may, ‘‘with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.”
