68 



TWELFTH ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE 



every single name we had on our Na- 

 tional list, it took just a little over 

 three thousand and not all of those 

 three thousand were paid up members; 

 a lot had not been paid up. 



No one had deliberately stated a 

 falsehood, but the impression was 

 given that we had Ave thousand. I 

 give you this information so that you 

 will understand the conditions that ex- 

 isted when the new constitution took 

 place. 



Our membership was actually de- 

 creasing, toward the last, under the old 

 constitution. "What was the trouble? 

 It was not because the officers were not 

 doing their part, nor because every- 

 body was not trying to do their part, 

 but because your plan of organization 

 was wrong, and it never would become 

 a success until the plan was right, so, 

 at the last convention, under the pro- 

 posed constitution, we had a represent- 

 ative form of government. This 

 representative form of government 

 made your little association in Illinois 

 a part of the National, and not a sepa- 

 rate society. 



It made it so that every single mem- 

 ber of your society, whether fifty or 

 five hundred, would be represented 

 when your delegate went to the Na- 

 tional Convention; and should that one 

 delegate go to the convention, backed 

 by three hundred members, he has six 

 votes against a delegate coming from 

 an association with less than fifty 

 members with but one vote. 



This is the only way you could be 

 honestly represented in the National 

 Association. 



It is necessary, in covering the big 

 territory that we are trying to cover, 

 the United States and Canada, to have 

 a central organization with its various 

 branches scattered throughout the 

 territory. 



It is a mistake, in my opinion, to 

 have three different and separate so- 

 cieties in the state of Illinois. T feel 

 that those three societies should be a 

 part of the State Society. I wish 1 

 could explain how I believe that could 

 be worked out. 



Now some will say that the raising 

 of the dues was a bad move, making 

 the fee one dollar and a half instead 

 of one dollar as in thel past. 

 . If you will take your records and 

 look over them carefully, you will find 

 that the fifty cents that went to the 

 National in the past was a very small 



amount of money to accomplish any 

 material benefits and do the things we 

 were trying to do. 



It is a fact that when we took over 

 the association work the first of Feb- 

 ruary, we started with a little over 

 twenty-eight dollars in the treasury to 

 do business with. 



You will remember that last year, 

 after your convention, a circular was 

 sent out to your bee-keepers of Illinois, 

 telling them that if they would join 

 prior to the change in the Constitution 

 (which took effect January 1st this 

 year), they could have their member- 

 ship in the National for fifty cents for 

 the year. A majority of the members 

 took advantage of that fifty cent 

 clause, and the result was, the money 

 v,-as sent in before the new constitution 

 went into effect, and it was necessary, 

 as Mr. France will tell you, to use it 

 to pay up bills that had been incurred 

 under the old Constitution. 



So it is certain, my friends, that, if 

 the National was going to accomplish 

 something for you, there must be some 

 way whereby a larger income could be 

 assured. 



We sometimes, in discussing things, 

 lose sight of the future, and if Mr. 

 Stone will lend me a dollar for about 

 five minutes, I will agree to return it 

 with interest. 



(Mr. Stone hands Mr. Tyrrell a silver 

 dollar.) 



Now I can furnish the cent. I have 

 made the statement, through the Jour- 

 nals, that it is not a question so much 

 of what we pay as it is a question of 

 what we get for what we pay. 



I contend that the fifty cent mem- 

 bership fee can, under certain condi- 

 tions, be more expensive to the mem- 

 bers than a one dollar fee, and I want 

 to illustrate that fact. 



Taking this dollar and holding it up 

 this way (illustrating), with that 

 penny against it, we can see the dollar. 



But if we hold the dollar at arm's 

 length and place the penny close to 

 the ej'e, we cannot see the dollar. 



The point I want to illustrate Is this: 



You and I oftentimes consider the 

 present expenditure of a cent and lose 

 sight of the possible dollar that stands 

 in the future as the result of the ex- 

 penditure of that cent. 



(Applause.) 



We are conservative people. We want 

 to wait and not take a chance because 

 we might make a mistake. We want 



