II^LINOIS STATE BBE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



69 



to wait until we see that a thing is a 

 success before we make the venture. 



I confess to you that the new changes 

 mixed things up. It had its offlcers 

 and its members in a tangle; we did 

 not know where we stood. But the 

 thing is working out, and is clearer 

 than it v/as at the beginning. 



Xow some of the obstacles that I, 

 as Secretary, have run up against are 

 these: 



We started out to do business with 

 $1.50 membership fee, fifty cents com- 

 ing to the local society and one dollar 

 going to the home office; and the first 

 thing we run up against was, what 

 about the States where we did not 

 have branches established? What were 

 we going to do with members in that 

 locality? 



The Directors considered this, and 

 felt that for the best interests of the 

 Association, its members must be 

 obliged to paj- the full one dollar and 

 a half, and for that one dollar and a 

 half would be made a member of the 

 nearest National Branch. 



That required some members to join 

 in branches that were entirely out of 

 their state. That was not a good plan, 

 but it was the best we could do under 

 the circumstances. 



Then we went a little further and 

 found some associations that wanted 

 to join, but did not want to force all 

 members to join. 



You can't have a successful organiza- 

 tion if you have a split in your ranks. 

 Unless you are all working for the 

 same point and all together, you are 

 going to have division, and a house 

 divided against itself is sure to fall. 



This proposition came up, and had 

 to be considered, and in some instances 

 we have overlooked that particular 

 clause in the Constitution, and have al- 

 lowed Associations to come in and take 

 membership even though all of tho 

 members did not take membership. 



The old Constitution provided that 

 all members should join — but they 

 didn't always do it. 



As publisher of the Bee-Keepers' Re- 

 view, I found that my work as Secre- 

 tary of the National and as publisher 

 of the Review conflicted. I w-as handi- 

 capped. I would try to take up things 

 in behalf of the National, and at the 

 same time was obliged to sacrifice the 

 interests of the paper, and vice versa — 

 and it came to be a question — although 

 I did not so put it up to the Directors 

 — it was almost a question with me 



whether I resign as Secretary of the 

 National, or whether the two unite. 



I contend that this Association needs 

 a mouthpiece. 



I want to say in behalf of other 

 Journals that are published, the Re- 

 view included^ — 'that they have always 

 done the fair thing by the Association; 

 they have been liberal in the space 

 given them, and you have always had 

 a chance to talk through those ' Jour- 

 nals; but that is not the same as talk- 

 ing through your own publication and 

 having your own ipaper coming to you' 

 own members. 



It was necessary, in order to build 

 up the Association, in my opinion, that 

 some means of communication should 

 come out from the head office at stated 

 intervals to its members. 



This matter was put to the Directors 

 — and here is an instance where the 

 question of five Directors came up. It 

 has been held that twelve Directors 

 are too many. 



The Directors do not have all of the 

 business to do with the Association. 

 Your Association, if you please, is the 

 supreme authority. You as an associa- 

 tion elect your delegates; your dele- 

 gate goes to the National Convention 

 and he is your representative. He is 

 in supreme authority at that conven- 

 tion. He changes or makes your Con- 

 stitutions or laws as they are presented 

 there, according to his instructions 

 from you. There he elects your five 

 directors and your officers, so that the 

 officers and directors are responsibla 

 to the delegates. 



Now the delegates cannot be in ses- 

 sion all the time, and it is only between 

 sessions that your Board of Directors 

 can carry on your business. 



The also follow out the delegates' 

 instructions which are given them at 

 Conventions. 



When you have twelve (12) director.-., 

 you have a machine that is unweildy. 

 You cannot get quick action; and with 

 five directors, it took months before 

 we could get this question of the Re- 

 view transferred or sold to the Na- 

 tional officially. 



These are some of the things that 

 no one is to blame for. One Director 

 was in Florida; the contract was sent 

 to him in Florida, and he was back 

 North before it got to him. 



And here is another obstacle we 

 met: Some of the State Associations 

 had had their annual meeting, and 

 wanted to act as a Branch of the 



