THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 503 



who have been admitted to membership without any 

 reference to their fitness for the position, has sometimes 

 proved very unruly. Latterly, however, the introduc- 

 tion of the plan of voting by proxy has greatly re- 

 duced the power of the comparatively small fraction 

 of shareholders who are disposed to be troublesome. 



" The pay of the committee, too, for duties involving 

 much sacrifice of well-earned leisure, considerable 

 labor, and great responsibility, is very low. So long as 

 salaries are limited to 80 or 90 a year, the com- 

 mittee must remain a too changeable body, since 

 capable men cannot be permanently retained on such 

 terms. Hitherto the Association has been mainly 

 served by men whose chief motives were pride in its 

 success, and a desire to benefit their fellow-officers, but 

 of course this will not last. The time must come 

 when the chief inducement to such service will be the 

 desire of adding to income ; nor should it be expected 

 that the Association will be maintained in full vigor 

 unless the payment to the committee be made sufficient 

 to induce well qualified men to serve mainly as a matter 

 of business. 



"A reduction in the shareholding body, with a limi- 

 tation of it to suitable persons, is now out of the ques- 

 tion. Many of us Post-Office men thought, and still 

 think, that a great mistake was made in not resolutely 

 retaining the control of the Association in the Post- 

 Office service ; though, of course, we quite approved of 

 admitting the remainder of the Civil Service to all the 

 othei advantages of membership. I feel no doubt that 

 should the present Association ever collapse, the Post- 

 Office men would rapidly and successfully organize a 

 new society on the plan of keeping the control in the 



