58 ASSOCIATION OF IRON, STEEL AND TIN WORKERS [iQG 



Year 



First Assessment 



Second Assessment 



Total 



1867 

 1868 

 1869 

 1870 



1^71 

 1872 



25 cents 



50 



30 



50 



50 



75 



50 



25 cents 



30 " 



30 " 



50 " 



25 " 



50 " 

 $1.25 



50 cents 

 80 " 

 60 " 

 Si. 00 



$1.25 



$1-75 



The "per capita tax" method of supporting the national 

 union was continued by the Amalgamated Association. It 

 was a convenient fiscal device. The principle of local au- 

 tonomy was preserved ; and local unions apportioned their 

 funds to suit their own peculiar needs.* The local unions 

 were financed by means of monthly dues. Some revenue 

 accrued from initiations, reinstatements and fines, but these 

 sources of income were of minor importance. 



The amount of the ordinary per capita tax has increased 

 proportionately with the growth of the activities of the na- 

 tional organization. Also, the extension of the field of 

 collective bargaining has meant increased cost of adminis- 

 tration. The quarterly assessment, which in 1885 was 

 twenty-five cents, was increased to fifty cents in 1900, and 

 since 1905 has been one dollar. Journal dues of $1.20 an- 

 nually were added in 1901, and raised to $1.50 in 1907. 

 The convention has frequently exempted lodges from the 

 per capita assessment, if it has been clearly shown that they 

 were unable to pay. The capitation tax was designed to 

 cover ordinary administrative expenses, although frequently 

 the revenue from this source was insufficient and the deficit 

 was borrowed from the defense fund. In 1914 this method 

 of financing was remedied by the consolidation of all funds. 



An increase in the national revenue by means of an assess- 

 ment of a higher per capita tax u[)on local unit)ns carried 

 with it, as a corollary, the requirement of higher dues from 

 the individual members of the subordinate unions. The 



* The so-called "community of funds" system (which provides 

 for the merging of the local funds with the national resources) has 

 never met with the favor of Association leaders. 



