THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



171 



davit asking for a chancre of venue, averring that 

 I " could not ^ot a fair trial nntl that he was prej- 

 luliccd." etc. 



I am coiilliU'iit that if hoeknepers could fully 

 realize my CDinlition, tlie Beekeepers' Union 

 would have 10,000 members in twenty-four houra. 



By the enforcement, of an unlnwful or- 

 dinance of the city, Mr. Chirk has been de- 

 prived of his lilierty, and the constitutional 

 riu;iits jruaranteed to every citizen of the 

 United Statt's. Even irrantiiig that it was 

 vsToiiir in ISIr. Ciarlv not to oix-y the city 

 antliorities, he should have liacl a speedy 

 trial by an impartial jury — all of which 

 have been denied him. Even when re- 

 leased under a writ of habeas corjms, he 

 was, within three liiiurs, re-arrested and 

 fined. After demanding a change of ve- 

 nue, because of tiie prejudice of the may- 

 or, that functionary again fined him, de- 

 nying him his constitutional riglits. Mr. 

 Clark has a strong case, and in justice to 

 tlie pursuit, ought to be defended. The 

 Union agreed to paj' tlie Hon. S. W. Wil- 

 liams $2'M for defending the case up to 

 and including the trial at tlie Circuit 

 Court next week. 



A meml)er of the Union gives his views 

 of this case in these words : 



II is our duty to stand by him and hold up his 

 hands while he is sufl'ering imprisonment and 

 put to sreat inconvenifiic.e and pecuniary loss in 

 the defence of a principle which is dear to us all. 

 Surely, in a matter of this character, the injury 

 of one is the concern of all. 1 would willingly 

 pay a dozen assesRmeiits rather than have Mr. 

 Clark worsted in this matter. 



No extra assessment would be necessary 

 if but one-tenth of the beekeepers of 

 America should join the Union. The man- 

 ager does not favor an extra assessment 

 and will not consent to such, unless it be- 

 comes an absolute necessity. If its dev- 

 otees will not defend the pursuit, who 

 should do so? The defence should have 

 universal support. A few ought not to 

 bear the burden for all. Donations of any 

 amount will be cheerfully received, but 

 extra assessments are not desirable, be- 

 cause what may be a mere bagatelle to 

 some might prove a burden to those less 

 able to contribute their quota. 



The only wonder is that there were not 

 10,000 members of the Union within a few 

 months after its organization. There 

 ought to have been a general rush to the 

 defence of the pursuit. 



It is' a shame that, with 300,000 bee- 

 keepers in the United States, so few are 

 willing to defend tlie pursuit against its 

 enemies. Many are selfisli, and tliink that 

 so long as tliey are not molested, they will 

 not join the Union; but as soon as they 

 are even threatened, they rush around 

 for some help, and want the Union to 

 tell them what to do, etc. But the advi- 



sory board has decided that the Union can 

 defend only those who liave become mem- 

 bers before they were in trouble of that 

 kind. 



It will take nearly two thousand dollars 

 to successfully defend the cases now on 

 hand, and the Union must have two tliou- 

 siMuI dollars during the coming year, or it 

 will be obliged to let the cases go by de- 

 fault — and the pursuit will suffer an igno- 

 minious defeat ! 



To those not members of the Union. 

 Header, are you satisfied to accept the 

 latter as the result of your apathy? If 

 not, sit down at once and send a dollar as 

 a membership fee to the National Bee- 

 keepers' Union. You will get a receipt 

 by return mail, and may then have the 

 consolation of knowing that you have 

 done your duty in this case! It is 7iow or 

 never! Inaction will insure defeat — activ- 

 ity is life — energy — power! 



UNION IS STKENGTH. 



Still another victory for the Na- 

 tional Beekeepers' Union. — Z. A. Clark's 

 case, who was put into jail at Arkadel- 

 phia. Ark., last spring, for maintaining 

 his apiary in the suburbs of that city, came 

 on and was tried before tlie Circuit Court 

 in the July term. The case was tried on 

 the " clean-cut" law question, viz. : that 

 the "city ordinance was illegal and void." 

 The first victory in this case \s for the Un- 

 ion, the Circuit Court deciding that the 

 city ordinance was illegal and void — that 

 the keeping of bees was not a nuisance ! 



When the prosecution realized that bee- 

 keepers had an organized body for defend- 

 ing the pursuit against the malicious at- 

 tacks of the ignorant and the prejudiced, 

 it iveaJcened — it tried "to hedge" — was 

 willing to dismiss all the cases against 

 Mr. Clark on a pretended informality in 

 his bonds ! 



The city of Arkadelphia has decided to 

 appeal the case to the Supreme Court. 

 This is very fortunate, for we want a de- 

 cision which will count. One from the 

 highest court is what we need to declare 

 that beekeeping is not a miisance! And 

 it will be done. The Union has paid the 

 retaining fee, and it will be ably defended 

 again by Judge Williams, the most suc- 

 cessful attorney in Arkansas, who assures 

 the general manager of the Union that he 

 is ready for the fray. The Supreme Court 

 meets next October. 



Here is what the Little Rock daily Oazette 

 of Aug. 7 remarks about the trial, under 

 these headings : " A Celebrated Case. Af- 

 ter a Long Legal Contest, the Little Busy 

 Bee is Set at Liberty at Arkadelphia." 



