106 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



greatly surprised and pained upon reading it- 

 surprised, because we are certain ttiat none of 

 the niemljers wiio were instrumental in liaving 

 the N. A. B. K. A. incorporated had the least 

 thoufilit that that action would cause the Cana- 

 dian' brethren to withdraw. We were pained, 

 too, because of some statements in the report 

 that are calculated to carry the impression that 

 we desired to put out from the N. A. B. K. A. 

 the Canadians and break down their '• national 

 dignity." etc. Nothing could be further from 

 the real truth. We have since received a pri- 

 vate letter from one of the members of the com- 

 mittee, to the effect that the grievance was not 

 against the bee-keepers of the U. S. as a body, 

 but against a/eu; of the leaders, and mentioned 

 Thomas G. Newman. Dr. A. B. Mason. Dr. C. C. 

 Miller, and the two Roots. We know that every 

 one of the gentlemen named will be as much 

 surprised as ourselves; but they will doubtless 

 speak for themselves. 



VVe greatly regi'et that the two members who 

 were present at Keokuk should still misunder- 

 stand (we can not believe intentionally) the 

 purpose of incorporation. Although it has 

 been explained heretofore, it seems they have 

 entirely overlooked the fact that organizations 

 in the United States that are national or inter- 

 national in their character and influence, are, 

 or should be, incorporated under the laws of 

 some one particular State; and. as was also 

 ably explained by Capt. J. E. Hetherington, at 

 the Albany convention, incorporation does not 

 make the association local, but a legal body 

 politic, amenable to the laws,with special func- 

 tions, rights, duties, and liabilities; capable of 

 suing and of being sued — in short, transacting 

 business. It is quite probable that the mem- 

 bers of the O. B. K. A. as a boOy, not being fa- 

 miliar with the laws of the United States, were 

 not in position to appreciate what incorpora- 

 tion on this side of the line means. We could 

 not incorporate under both the national govern- 

 ments, nor under the laws of the United States, 

 but under the laws of some one State. But, we 

 repeat again, the North American is not less 

 international now than before. Let us give one 

 illustration of what the society now under in- 

 corporation is capable of doing: 



As a body it can sue any packing-houses in 

 any State, where the laws are strict enough, 

 that may be engaged in the adulteration of 

 honey. It is in better position, also, to protest 

 against injurious legislation from national or 

 State governments, because it is an incorporat- 

 ed body. 



Nine-tenths of the bee-keepers of the North 

 American are residents of the United States; 

 and Chicago, the place of incorporation, is the 

 most central of any point for those bee-keepers. 

 The great mass of them in the United States 

 are in the North. This our subscription-books 

 show very decidedlv. Nothing was more nat- 

 ural than that the iState of Illinois should have 

 been selected; and it seems to us, to speak plain- 

 ly and in all kindness, that nothing but a parti- 

 san spirit, or a silly quibble on technicalities on 

 the part of the committee, could make any ©b- 

 jection to it. We have no grievance against 

 the body of the Canadians who voted for the 

 adoption of the i-eport, for they were acting in 

 good faith. Some of our warmest and best 

 friends we number among the Canadians. 



The report goes on to say, " We have reasons 

 for believing that the official report of the Keo- 

 kuk meeting, in the matter of the protest made 

 by your representatives there, is largely char- 

 acterized by a suppressio veri; that commu- 

 nications sent by them to two leading bee- 

 papers . . . were not published." We have 

 before us the report of the Keokuk convention, 

 as written by the secretary, C. P. Dadant. The 



report had to be brief, necessarily, on almost 

 every subject that was discussed: and yet it 

 seems, as we look it over, that the Canadian 

 brethren were given a fair hearing. Glean- 

 ings was one of the leading l)ee-pubiications 

 designated, that is sold to have suppn-ssed 

 one of the communications. The matter at the 

 time was " not available;" and, moreover, we 

 weresure thewriter did not properly understand 

 what incorporation meant on this side of the 

 line, and we thoughtit useless to stir up discord 

 or partisan feeling over misconception and 

 misunderstanding. We were not aware, until 

 we read the report as above, that the life- 

 members in the United States only were the 

 incorporators. We are very sui'e that the Can- 

 adian life-members were left out for no other 

 reason than that the laws of incorporation re- 

 quire that the incorporators be residents of the 

 United States. By the way, if we are correct 

 there is only one life-member in Canada, and 

 twelve in the United States. The Canadian 

 member is D. A. Jones, and we are sure he 

 would never quarrel with us on that point; and 

 of the committee who make thisasa big handle, 

 not one is a life-member. 



Reference has been made to the fact that bee- 

 keepei's on this side have called the North 

 American "'national." As we had no really dis- 

 tinct national association, the nearest to it was 

 the North American Bee-keepers' Association; 

 and when " national" was used it was employ- 

 ed as a convenient term, without any thought 

 of excluding Canada. 



As an evidence of the fraternal feeling, we 

 presume it will do no harm to let out the secret 

 that there was a strong effort on foot at Albany 

 to put S. Corneil, a Canadian, in as president of 

 the N. A. B. K. A. for the ensuing year. A 

 number of members, including President EI- 

 wood, approached the writer on the subject, 

 asking whether he would vote for him. and 

 what he thought of our CanadianT)rother for 

 the position. We not only indorsed the name, 

 but said we would give our support to it. which 

 we did. Those who were present at the Albany 

 convention know well that Mr. Corneil would 

 have been elected president if he had not abso- 

 lutely refused to accept the honor. After this 

 we were a little surprised that his name should 

 appear among the members of the committee 

 who drafted the report as above. This ought 

 to show, beyond a question of doubt, that the 

 American bee-keepers, who are members of the 

 North American, desired to recognize Canada, 

 and desired, also, to continue their past pleas- 

 ant relations, as we had done heretofore. Mark 

 this: The very bee-keepers who voted to elect 

 Mr. Corneil are the same ones who voted to 

 adopt the article of incorporation. 



Now, brotiter bee-keepers across the line, does 

 this not show that the idea of crowding Cana- 

 dians outside of the association was the fur- 

 thest from our thoughts? and does it not prove 

 that we on our part desired to continue otir 

 pleasant fraternal relations ? 



We have taken a good deal of space to reply 

 to this; but the reason we have done so is be- 

 cause it is an international matter; and now 

 that the O. B. K. A. has taken the action that 

 it has. it is proper that, as one of the Roots, and 

 as a member of the N. A. B. K. A., we should 

 explain our side so that our Canadian brethren 

 can see that we were not intending to break 

 down, nor even thinking of breaking down, 

 their " independence, self-respect, and national 

 dignity." If the Canadians refuse to reconsider, 

 of course that will leave our association dis- 

 tinctly national, for Canada has been the only 

 nation, outside of the United States, which had 

 a voice in the proceedings of the North Ameri- 

 can. 



