754 BOAED OF AGEICULTUEE. 



what the rest of the dealers did at the end of the month. So at the end 

 of the month a lot of these Bohemians, Pollocks, Dutch and Irish would 

 meet around at the corner saloon, take a pretzel, swie glass beer, and 

 decide what us farmers should have for our milk that they had already 

 sold at a fixed price to the consumers. It went from bad to worse, until 

 it was a shame for a decent farmer to ship milk to Chicago. The ship- 

 pers became tired of this condition of things and met in Chicago in the 

 month of March, 1897, and organized what is called "The Milk Shippers' 

 Union," of which the following is the constitution: 



CONSTITUTION OF THE MILK SHIPPERS' UNION. 



Preamble.— We, the milk shippers tributary to Chicago, believing it to 

 be for our mutual interests, do hereby organize the Milk Shippers' Union, 

 and agree to be bound by the following constitution: 



Objects.— This association is formed for the pui-pose of promoting the 

 prosperity of the producers of milk tributary to Chicago, for mutual pro- 

 tection against unreliable dealers, for securing uniform action in all mat- 

 ters pertaining to the general good of the trade; for correcting the abuses 

 which hamper it, and for encom-aging and building up a common union 

 for the general good of its membership. 



Name.— This organization shall be called the Milk Shippers' Union. 



Membership.— Any person or firm engaged in producing milk or ship- 

 ping it to market may become a member of this association upon signing 

 an application for membership in which said applicant accepts and agrees 

 to abide by the provisions of the constitution governing this association. 

 Such application must be accompanied by the membership fee for one 

 year. 



Plan. — The organization shall consist of local unions, composed of mem- 

 bers at a shipping station or platform, and a central union composed of 

 one delegate from each local union, and the board of directors, and also 

 division unions composed of the members on a railroad division for the 

 purpose of electing and controlling a director. 



Board of Directors.— A board of directors composed of one member 

 from each division of railroad bringing milk to Chicago, elected by the 

 members of each of said divisions at or before the annual meeting every 

 year with the regular ofllcers of the central union, shall constitute the 

 board of directors of the union. 



Officers of the Central Union.- The regular officers of the central union 

 shall be a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, who shall be 

 farmers or milk producers, and shall be elected annually by ballot at the 

 regular annual meeting, and hold their offices for the term of one year, 

 or until their successors are elected and qualified. 



Duties of the Board of Directors.— The board of directors shall have 

 general charge and direction of the affairs of the union, and shall direct 



