CHAPTER II 



Government 



The Sons of Vulcan, the oldest and most important of 

 the constituent societies of the Amalgamated Association, 

 adopted a constitution and by-laws in 1863. The commit- 

 tees which formulated the constitutions both of the Koll 

 Hands' and of the Heaters' Unions borrowed, with slight 

 changes and unimportant omissions, the constitution of the 

 Puddlers' Union.^ . 



The joint committee of the three unions which drew up 

 in 1875 the temative draft of the constitution of the Amal- 

 gamated Association likewise used the Vulcan constitution 

 as a basis upon which to build. The system of government 

 employed by the puddlers was continued by the consolidated 



°From what societies the Sons of Vulcan have borrowed 

 in piecing together their instrument of government cannot 

 be determined. It is reasonably certain that they obtained 

 it from no one source. The fraternal societies, no doubt, 

 exercised an important influence on the government of this 

 as well as of nearly all the older unions.' 



Fraternal orders have influenced the government of the 

 union in minor ways. The mystery of a secret pass word. 

 the ceremony of initiation, the regalia, and other forms 



iThe first available constitution of the Sons of Vulcan is to be 

 found in the ProcecdinRS of 1869. It contains the Grand Forge con- 

 .Htution in full "along with all amendments adopted smcc 1866 

 (Vulcan Record, no. 4 PP- 23-31)^ The first sub-forge co,,st.tut.on 

 is printed in the Proceedings of 1870 (ibid., no. 6. pp. 5fr^7). 



«G E Barnett, "The Printers: A Study m American Trade 

 Unionism" in American Economic Association QH^'-t^rly- th>rd 

 ser es vol x no. 3. p. 58. Professor Barnett has pointed out that 

 "e consUturion adopled l,y the first permanent national trade union 

 n th? United States, the National Typographical Union, was bor- 

 rowed by the committee "almost without change .. . from the 

 CoTstitutU of Odd Fellows of the United States of America. 



