159] GOVERNMENT 2/ 



a rule that no member be allowed to smoke in the assembly 

 hall while the convention is in session.^ 



In its judicial capacity, the convention considers griev- 

 ances brought by national officers, local unions, or individual 

 mem.bers. The charges may be some violation of the rules 

 of a- local union, equally as well as dereliction in duty to 

 the national union. The assembly, in one instance, may 

 suspend or even expel a local union for serious violation 

 of the rules ; while, in another case, it may be sustaining a 

 subordinate lodge in imposing a fine of a dollar or two on 

 a member for some petty misdemeanor. Much valuable 

 time of the convention is wasted in the consideration of 

 trivial appeals. 



The principal executive functions of the assembly are the 

 levy of taxes, the appropriation of re\'enue, and the ratifica- 

 tion of agreements. The convention fixes the amount of 

 dues and assessments ; it controls disbursements ; it has the 

 final power in making agreements. The Amalgamated As- 

 sociation, continuing the practice established by the Sons 

 of Vulcan, for a time held two conventions annually, one 

 to regulate the internal government of the organization, the 

 other to draw up the scale of wages to be demanded from 

 the employers. The district conventions, as also the scale 

 convention, composed of delegates elected by the various 

 district conventions, always met immediately before the 

 joint conference between employers and employes, and out- 

 lined the terms which its representatives were to demand. 

 Since 1885, these conventions have been merged.* The na- 

 tional assembly elects its own officers and audits their ac- 

 counts. 



As the union grew in numbers the convention became too 

 large to transact business efficiently. While the number of 



' Any amendment to the laws must previously have been sent to 



the national lodge to be printed in the '" programme of business." 

 This provision was made in 1877. 



' By the merging of these conventions, the union eflFected a saving 

 estimated at $3000 a year. The session was changed to meet in June 

 instead of in August, and the date of scale termination from June 

 1st to July 1st (National Labor Tribune, August 15. 1885. p. 4. coL i). 



