St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-30
MINNEAPOLIS.
FOR MUTUAL BENEFIT.
The Retail Lumbermen Gath
ep and Discuss Their
Grievances.
The "Ring'' Attempts to Con-
troll Proceedings and
Gets Left.
The Constitution and By
Laws Adopted After Much
Discussion.
Last Nights Banquet--0ffi-
Last Nights Banquet--Offi-
GERS to Be Elected
Today.

Over one hundred retail lumbermen,
representing the four states of Mime
sofa, Iowa and the two DakotaS, as
sembled at the West hotel, Minneapolis,
yesterday afternoon at p. M, to form
an association to protect the mselves
from the encrOachmentS of the whole
salers. A. A. Moore, of Iowa, was,
upon the nomination of &. A. Wood, of
Milbank, S. D., elected temporary
chairman, J. n. Mind being appointed
temporary secretary. A. A. Moore
opened the convention with a few re-
marks upon the nature of the business
which called them together. g. A. Wood,
of Milbank, SD, moved that committees
be appointed by the chairman, on the
order of business, on the constitution
and bylaws. on nomination and on res
OlutiOnS. Those appointed as the COM
mittee on order of business were j. II.
Queal, W. E. Sawyer and q. Ellison. of
Montevideo. Those on the constitution
and bylaws were q. A. Wood, Milbank,
S. D.; a. A. Spatford, Thompson,
Mimi, and A. Jackson, of Waterloo, 10.
of j. n. Mind. of Minneapolis; q. n.
Robinson. Mayville, n. d.; D. Strunk,
Mankato; W. t. Reynolds, Iowa Falls,
and E. l.. Arnold, city. The following
were the committee on resolutions: W.
G. Dickinson, Webster. S. D.; c. n.
DietZ, Omaha; r. G. Jefferson, st. Paul.
Ten minutes recess was given i'll order
that the committees might make re-
port, and the meeting was again called
to order.
The committee upon order of business
I,,t t,aS,.
stances it was not adhered to. The
committee on constitution and bylaws
gave its report, and an attempt was
made to force the entire constitution
through as whole, but A. r. Stephens
moved that it be taken up section by
section and the Objectionable portions
removed. In regard to the qualitica-
tions of members the following was
adopted:
Any member who may be regularly in the
retail lumber trade in the states of Mime
sofa, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota
and who shall at proper business hours keep
his offices open for business, may become
member of this association by subscribing to
the constitution and by paying the annual
dues prescribed by the bylaws. Any men,
Der who has paid his dues in full may with
draw from membership by giving notice to
the secretary in writing and surrendering his
membership certificate, but membership
shall not be transferable. In case of doubt
arising under this article the same shall be
referred TO the board of directors to deter
mine.
The directors shall examine the books
OF the secretary twice year, and an
1temlZed account of the expenses of the
organization shall be presented by the
secretary to the president on Nov. of
each year.
The affairs of this association shall be
managed by board of seven directors.
OF which the president, vice president
and secretary shall be ex-officio mem
hers. The secretary shall act as treas
urer unless otherwise ordered by the
association. The president and vice
president shall be elected annually; two
members of the board of directors shall
be elected for term of one year; one
for term of two years, and one for
term of three years.
Each member shall pay an initiation
fee of SIS and $40 year dues, with an
additional $40 for each yard more than
one controlled by him which he may de-
sire to have protected by the associa-
ton. A lengthy discussion concerning
the meaning of "building materials"
arose, and mention was especially made
of the various kinds of materials which
are sold by retail lumbermen. If any
wholesaler shall be found selling to any
SOhouilCl Quail UC cut VII 1lOitl tllc
patronage of those in the association,
and after such wholesaler shall have
done this. and retailer be found pat
roniZing him, the name of that retailer
shall be stricken from the list of the
association. Local agents of whole
salerS shall not be allowed to sell to
consumers, and if found so doing the
manufacturer or wholesaler shall be
held amenable to the laws of the asso-
citation. The annual meeting of the as
sociation will be held the last Wednes-
day in January of each year. Each
member or firm shall have one vote in
the election of all officers except the
secretary and treasurer, and majority
of all the votes cast is necessary to a
choice. The secretary and treasurer
shall be elected by the board of direct
Ors. The officers shall receive cents
mileage and s. per day while attending
any special meeting which shall be
called by the board of directors. North
ern Nebraska was allowed to be part
of the territory covered by the associa-
ton, which now includes Iowa, Neb-
raSka, Minnesota and the two Dakotas.
During the discussion, the accommoda-
tons were so OVertaXed that the meet
ing adjourned to Dyer hall, and the
greater part of the business was trans
acted in the latter place.
The clause IN the bylaws which
caused the greatest discussion was that
of the initiation fee and the member
ship dues. A large number were in
favor of a small fee, as many of the
smaller retail men were unable to con-
tribute large amounts. In opposition
to this it was argued that the OrganiZa-
ton must be placed upon a strong
financial basis in order that it might do
effective work, land that the cause of the
failure of many similar organizations
was due to the fact that there was no
financial backing. The latter feeling
finally prevailed, and the organization
is expected to be one of the strongest of
its kind.
AS stated in the constitution,
THE title of this association shall be the
Northwestern Lumbermen's association, and
it shall have for its object the protection of
its members against sales by wholesale deal
ers and manufacturers to contractors and
consumers, and The giving of such other pro-
operative association.
The association proposes to obtain the
best of talent to manage affairs in order
that the expectations of its members
may be realized. To obtain this large
sum OF money is necessary, and the size
OF the dues was regulated in consider
alton of this fact. The meeting, after
adopting the constitution and bylaws
as a whole, adjourned to the same place
at 9 o'clock this morning, when the
officers will be elected and the business
&c ln tfot,