Standing Orders of
The Royal Canadian Regiment
(1935)

The RCR Standing Orders
Appendix 4.

Rules for Serjeants Messes.

(a)        Membership.

1.         All regimental Warrant Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of and above the rank of Serjeant are to be Permanent Members of the Serjeants’ mess, and single members will be dining members.

2.         Membership on the part of Lance-Serjeants and Acting Serjeants is optional.

3.         All Warrant Officers, Petty Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian permanent Force and Royal Canadian Air Force, not below the rank of First Class Petty Officer or Serjeant, are ipso facto Honorary members of the Mess.

4.         Warrant Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of the Militia, not below the rank of Serjeant, who are attached for instruction, shall be Temporary members of the Mess during their period of attachment. They may be permitted to attend mess meetings for instruction but will not be permitted to vote.

5.         Civilians, proposed and seconded by two permanent Members, may, subject to the approval of the Commanding Officer, be elected Honorary Members of the Mess by a majority vote of the Permanent Members. On election they will be provided with a membership-card signed by the Mess-President and the Commanding Officer. Honorary Members will have no voice in the management of the Mess nor will they be called upon for any fee or subscriptions, but will be otherwise entitled to all privileges of membership. Subject to re-election, such membership will expire one year after the date of the membership-card, and may at any time be revoked by the Commanding Officer. An Honorary Member whi infringes the mess rules, or who in any way renders himself objectionable, may be forthwith suspended by the Mess-President who will report the case to the P.R.I. for the decision of the Commanding Officer.

(b)        Fees and Subscriptions.

1.         Every Permanent Member on joining will pay an entrance fee equal to three times his daily rate of pay. Lance-Serjeants and Acting Serjeants who elect to become members will pay an entrance fee equal to three times the daily rate of pay of a Serjeant on first appointment to the rank of Serjeant. A Permanent Member on each promotion, except as above, will pay a further fee equal to three times the difference between his old and his new daily rates of pay.

2.         Permanent Members may be charged a monthly subscription not exceeding 50 cents in the case of dining members and 25 cents in the case of non-dining members. Such subscription is not payable by any members while on command or on the sick list for any consecutive period of one month or over.

(c)        Management.

1.         The Serjeants’ Mess is under the immediate supervision of the President Regimental Institutes.

2.         The Regimental Serjeant-Major is ex officio President of the Mess at Regimental Headquarters and of the Regimental mess when Companies of the Regiment are serving together. The Acting Station Serjeant-Majors are ex officio the presidents of the Messes at their respective Stations. The Mess-President is responsible to the Commanding Officer that the rules of the Mess are strictly observed, that no discreditable or undesirable conduct is tolerated on the part of any Member, Permanent, temporary, or Honorary, and that the Mess is conducted with regularity and economy.

3.         A general meeting of the Mess, which all Permanent members are required to attend, will be held monthly on a date, not later than the 15th, to be fixed by the P.R.I. In the absence of the President, the senior Permanent Member will preside.

At each meeting the minutes of the previous meeting will be read by the Secretary, and the accou8nts of the previous month with vouchers submitted by the Treasurer, for the information of all members. Minutes will be recorded by the Secretary and submitted on the following day to the Commanding Officer for his approval.

4.         The President will be assisted in the management of the Mess by a Committee consisting of a Treasurer, appointed quarterly by roster, and two members, one to act as Secretary, elected quarterly by a general meeting. Elections will be effective from the first day of January, April, July, and October and will in each case be carried out at the mess-meeting of the previous month. One member of the Committee will always be a dining member.

5.         The Secretary will record the minutes of all meetings of the Mess, and will be responsible for the conduct of correspondence and the custody of all documents.

He will be responsible for the appearance and behaviour of the waiters.

He will generally assist the president in all matters, other than financial, connected with the management of the Mess.

6.         The Treasurer will conduct the handing over of bar-stock monthly from the out-going to the in-coming caterer, and will obtain the signature of the latter acknowledging the value of the stock taken over. He will at once report any deficiencies to the President.

He will take stock weekly and will render a certificate on the following day to the President, for the information of the P.R.I., stating the correctness or otherwise of the stock and cash on hand.

He will sign all requisitions for bar-stock, entering all orders in the order-book. He will initial the counter-foil as soon as the goods have been received and entered in the stock-book.

He will take an inventory of Mess property at the end of each month, making a record of all losses, breakages and damage, which he will lay before the next general meeting in order that the members may decide by whom they are to be made good.

He will daily collect cash takings from the caterer and deposit them to the credit of the Mess. He will enter each amount in a book kept for the purpose which, on every occasion, will be signed by the caterer and himself.

As soon as possible after the end of each month he will check the accounts of tradesmen and, if correct, will prepare the cheques in payment thereof for the signature of the President.

He will prepare, sign and submit to the President, not later than the 8th of each month, a statement of the accounts of the Mess for the preceding month.

7.         The Caterer. A Serjeant, not a member of the Mess Committee, is to be detailed monthly by roster, subject to the approval of the Commanding Officer, to act as caterer. He will be excused from all other duties.

He will take charge of all bar-stock taken over at the commencement of, and received during, his tour of duty, and will be responsible for its safe custody.

He will take over all bills receivable at the commencement of his tour and will be responsible that the total credit authorized by the Commanding Officer is not exceeded by any member.

He will be responsible for the cleanliness of the Mess and for the care of its property.

He will be responsible that the bar is open only during authorized hours, and he will lock it, retaining the key, when it is necessary for him to leave the Mess.

(d)        Dining Mess.

1.         The Dining Mess will be managed by a committee of three, who will be elected by a majority vote of the dining members, and the senior of whom will act as President.

2.         The Dining Mess Committee will have charge of catering, and they are responsible that the cooks and waiters satisfactorily perform their duties, that the waiters are properly dressed when serving at table, that the meals are served at the specified hours, and that the table-linen, cutlery, crockery and utensils are kept clean and in good condition. They will furnish to the Mess-President at the end of each month a statement certifying that the property of the Dining Mess is complete and serviceable or showing in what respect it is otherwise.

3.         The hours for meals will normally be:-

Breakfast          7.30 to 8.30
Dinner              12.30 to 1.30
Supper              4.30 to 5.30

4.         The daily rate of messing is not to exceed 25 cents for members for whom rations are drawn by the mess, and 75 cents for members for whom rations are not drawn.

Single meals will be charged at rates not exceeding the following:-

Breakfast          25 cents
Dinner              40 cents
Supper              25 cents

A member introducing a guest for any meal will be charged the current rate for that meal.

5.         Non-dining members taking any meal in the Dining Mess will notify their intention a reasonable time before such meal, and will afterwards, before leaving the Mess, sign a voucher covering the charge.

6.         The president of the Dining Mess, as soon as possible after the end of each month, will pay all charges against the Dining Mess. He will make up the accounts for each month and submit them to the Mess-President not later than the 8th of the following month.

(e)        General Rules.

1.         All members of the Mess are of a rank which demands of them soldierly and dignified behaviour, and their conduct must at all times be worthy of their rank.

2.         While all members, as such, are equal, they will remember that, as soldiers, their seniors are their superior and will accord them the deference which for that reason is always their due.

3.         Permanent Members may invite civilian male friends into the Mess. Civilian guests will not be permitted to purchase or pay for anything whatever in the Mess, and the member or members introducing them will be responsible for their conduct and for every expense connected with their entertainment.

4.         Honorary Members are not permitted to introduce guests.

5.         No entertainment is to be given without the concurrence of two-thirds of a general meeting and the sanction of the Commanding Officer.

6.         Every complaint concerning the Mess, whatever the subject, will be made to the president or a member of the Committee. No member of the mess, not a member of the Committee, is permitted to reprimand an employee of the Mess.

7.         Discussions tending to create ill-feeling or misunderstanding are not permitted.

8.         Nothing is to be sold or served in or from the Mess to any soldier below the appointment of lance-serjeant, nor to any civilian who is not an Honorary Member. When liquor is stocked in the Mess it will on no account be sold to Honorary Members for the purpose of being taken from the Mess premises.

9.         Members are always to be properly dresses when present in the Mess.

10.        Dogs are not allowed in the Mess.

11.        The senior warrant officer or non-commissioned officer present in the Mess is responsible for the maintenance of good order.

Standing Orders of The Royal Canadian Regiment (1935)

  1. The Commanding Officer
  2. An Officer in Temporary Command
  3. The Second-in-Command
  4. Officers Commanding Stations
  5. Officers Commanding Companies
  6. Seconds-in-Command of Companies
  7. The Adjutant
  8. The Signalling Officer
  9. The Quartermaster
  10. Subaltern Officers
  11. Officers Generally
  12. Warrant Officers
  13. The Regimental Sergeant Major
  14. Orderly Room Clerks
  15. The Sergeant Cook
  16. The Sergeant-Tailor
  17. Non-Commissioned Officers Generally
  18. The Band
  19. Employed Men Generally
  20. Officers' Servants
  21. Married Soldiers
  22. Soldiers Generally
  23. Battalion Parades
  24. The Colours
  25. Passes

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