The Polity of 
 
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 the Young Men*s 
 
 Christian Association 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/associationpolitOOcoul 
 
THE 
 
 ASSOCIATION POLITY 
 
 A HISTORICAL STUDY OF 
 ASSOCIATION RELATIONSHIPS 
 
 PREPARED BY 
 
 JOHN M. COULTER, PH. D. 
 
 HEAD PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 
 
 READ BEFORE THE CONFERENCE OF VOLUNTEER WORKERS IN 
 CITY, TOWN AND RAILROAD ASSOCIATIONS, LAKE 
 GENEVA, WIS., THURSDAY, JULY, 18, 1901. 
 
 CHICAGO : 
 
 Published by The Secretarial Institute and Training School of 
 Young Men’s Christian Associations. 
 
 August 1, 1901. 
 
It is the purpose of The Secretarial Institute and Training School 
 of Young i\Ien’s Christian Associations to invite scholars of note and 
 Association men of large experience and ability to make extended 
 historical and critical studies of living Association themes and to pre- 
 sent the results in papers or addresses upon the platform of the Con- 
 ference of Volunteer Workers at Lake Geneva. Selected papers will 
 be published from time to time by the institution as a contribution to 
 the general investigation and discussion of themes vital to Associa- 
 tion work. 
 
 It is believed that this institution, educational in purpose, and 
 composed as it is of both volunteer and employed Association leaders 
 connected with local, state and international Association bodies, 
 is in position to furnish a platform where important questions bear- 
 ing upon the Association movement can be discussed with a freedom 
 and exhaustiveness not possible in state or international conventions. 
 It is to be understood, however, that neither this institution nor its 
 members necessarily endorse or are committed to the views expressed 
 or the positions taken in these papers or addresses. 
 
 4 
 
THE ASSOCIATION POLITY. 
 
 The Young Alen’s Christian Association has become so complex 
 an organization that the relationship of its parts is in danger of being 
 bewildering. Frequent and clear statement of these relationships 
 is necessary, for the first duty of every Association worker is to know 
 what every constituent organization is planned to do. Like ever}' 
 effective system, however, a very few ideas dominate, and what may 
 seem complexity to the casual observer becomes extreme simplicity 
 to the initiated. Non-professional workers become easily confused 
 among the relationships of the various constituent organizations, and 
 it may not be too much to say that there is also some confusion 
 among those who work professionally. As the Association has be- 
 come more widespread new needs have developed, and to meet these 
 new organization has been devised from time to time, until now we 
 have a system which has been developed by a sort of budding out- 
 growth, and not one which was deliberately planned and articulated 
 from the beginning. 
 
 Two prominent dangers always arise in an extensive organization 
 which has developed in this way. One is due to the fact that there 
 is at first no distinct definition of the limitations within which each 
 constituent organization should operate. Elach of these organiza- 
 tions, started to meet some immediate need, without any clear con- 
 ception as to Its possible sphere of usefulness, presently touches 
 other organizations, and must relate itself to them when its possible 
 usefulness has been discovered. 
 
 Tlie other danger which arises in an extensive system which 
 has developed gradually and tentatively is that organizations devised 
 to meet temporary needs may not recog'nize the time to let go when 
 the need has been met. Lmtil adjusted this leads to a waste of 
 working power, for it duplicates effort, and such duplication inevita- 
 bly develops friction. 
 
 The Association has had the reputation of being a conspicuous 
 illustration of a religious organization whose energy is conserved and 
 well directed. If this reputation is to be maintained, every possibil- 
 ity of duplication and of friction must be eliminated. Strain must 
 be relieved at every point, or there will be loss rather than trans- 
 mission of powder. The great business sense of the Association rec- 
 
 5 
 
ognizes this, and much of the thought and effort of its leaders is to 
 ease the machinery. We are pledged to service, and it is not a ques- 
 tion of individual rights, but of effective service. Individual judg- 
 ment or ambition or idiosyncrasy must be ruthlessly sacrificed to this 
 supreme purp>ose. It is an organization in which position has no 
 right of control, but the far higher right of service. 
 
 In view of these statements it may be well to examine our present 
 system, and to discover the proper limitations of its constituent or- 
 ganizations in so far as they touch or overlap one another. By this 
 means we may recognize the danger pioints, which every Association 
 man must devoutly desire to be avoided, for no one can wish to see 
 the waste of a single ounce of energy, all of which must be scru- 
 pulously conserved for the service of Christ. 
 
 It may be well to call attention to the fact that these danger points 
 can never be avoided by compromise, for they continue to exist after 
 the period of compromise is passed. A compromise is essentially 
 a suspension of hostilities, but even armed neutrality is always a 
 miserable locking up of energy. A compromise which supplies a 
 so-called “working basis” is an acknowledgment that hostility and 
 effective work cannot co-exist. As a compromise means an expres- 
 sion of hostility deferred rather than ended, it seems to me to be an 
 anomaly in such an organization as the Young Men’s Christian As- 
 sociation, smacking more of European politics than of the Kingdom 
 of Christ. 
 
 The most fundamental statement in reference to the organiza- 
 tion of the Young Men’s Christian Association is that the local asso- 
 ciation is the independent and authoritative unit, and that every 
 other organization is its creature and servant. It is necessary to em- 
 phasize this statement, since a superficial observer might imagine 
 that the local association is the lowest and least authoritative mem- 
 ber of the system. The combined local associations have delegated 
 certain duties to the general State and International committees 
 which it has constituted, but they have never delegated authority 
 to them. In so far as authority has been exercised by these com- 
 mittees, in reference to local associations, it has been self assumed, 
 without a vestige of right. The local Association is supreme in its 
 own field, and holds no relation to State and International commit- 
 tees except as it voluntarily seeks their aid. These committees have 
 been constituted by the local associations, among other reasons, that 
 they may have at their call the service of highly trained specialists ; 
 but these same specialists have no right to thrust their services up>on 
 any association unasked. Of course, that local as.sociation is the 
 
 6 
 
wisest which keeps in closest touch with these specialists, for it 
 should utilize the power that it has sought to develop. Just now, 
 however, we are speaking of the constitutional rights of local associa- 
 tions, rather than of their privileges. It is a fact well known, even 
 outside of the Young Men’s Christian Association, that specialists are 
 always tempted to assume authority. It is well to remember that 
 knowledge is power but not authority. I feel that this is so vital to 
 the usefulness of the Association in general that I would urge upon 
 every local association a jealous guardianship of its rights, and a 
 Christian resistance of everything which flavors of an assumption 
 of authority by w’ell-meaning but over-zealous secretaries. I know 
 that this is speaking bluntly, hut I feel that as a friendly student of 
 the Association it is my duty to speak plainly. Let me repeat, there- 
 fore, that it is of paramount importance to hold fast to the position 
 that all authority is vested in the brotherhood of local Associations, 
 and that it has delegated authority to no other organization. 
 
 There is but one possible contingency that can justify the un- 
 sought interposition of the general committees in the affairs of a 
 local association, and that is when the association has proved to be 
 so inefficient that its life is in danger. But even this is one of the 
 duties laid upon these committees by the brotherhood of local asso- 
 ciations, which has constituted them its agents in this matter, 
 
 I am speaking against the natural tendency in large organizations 
 to centralize authority. Whenever this tendency has found expres- 
 sion in religious enterprises it has led either to a hierarchy, which 
 paralyzes individual effort, or to a revolt, which leads to diminution 
 of power or to disruption. 
 
 It may be well to emphasize the fact, however, that although the 
 local association is its own master, and in the general interest of the 
 whole organization should resent any assumption of mandatory 
 authority by the general committees, it is still bound to them by the 
 strongest ties. It must seek from them the largest measure of serv- 
 ice; it must consult with them at every step, for it has constituted 
 them to act in this very capacity. It would be strange for one to 
 store up a sppply of power and then not to use it. 
 
 Passing to the Metropolitan Association, we discover that it is 
 merely a larger local unit, entirely independent and authoritative in 
 its own field. Its various branches or departments are not indepen- 
 dent units, but merely fractions. What has been said of die rights of 
 the local association, and its relations to the general committees, may 
 be applied word for word to the status of the Metropolitan Associa- 
 
tion, and there is no need to repeat it. There is an additional danger, 
 however, which arises from the more complex character of the Met- 
 ropolitan Association. Its departments or branches may become so 
 prominent as to be regarded as units rather than fractions. 
 
 The Metropolitan Association is organized like the human body, 
 with different organs to do different work, but all dominated by the 
 brain. The brain must be in sensitive connection with all the organs 
 in order that they may work harmoniously and that the brain may 
 plan effectively. To treat some branch as though it were not a part 
 of the whole Metropolitan Association is to attempt to isolate the 
 hand or the foot from the brain. The way to reach the organs of 
 the body effectively is through the brain, and that general committee 
 which attempts to touch a Metropolitan department or branch inde- 
 pendently, and not through the general office, has introduced an ele- 
 ment of discord. Such lack of method, just as in the human body, 
 leads to disorder and therefore to loss of power. If the Metropolitan 
 Association is to administer its branches wisely, the central office must 
 be the channel of every outside contact, whether from the branch to 
 the general committees, or from the general committees to the branch. 
 For example, for a secretary of one of the general committees to 
 enter into any relations with any Metropolitan department or branch, 
 except through the co-operation of the central office, is to introduce 
 confusion and to set a very dangerous precedent, which, if followed, 
 would threaten the life of the Metropolitan organization, because it 
 nullifies its purpose. 
 
 The two forms of organization just considered, the local and the 
 ^Metropolitan, are local, fundamental, authoritative, each one a 
 single unit. The two remaining organizations to be discussed 
 are totally different in character. They are general, secondary, and 
 advisory, the creatures and servants of the local units. It has become 
 customary to refer to the duties of the State and International organi- 
 zations as the work of supervision. The literal meaning of that word 
 applies well to their duties, for it means a “looking over” the whole 
 field, the purpose being to study and to be prepared to meet its needs. 
 A secondary meaning has crept into the word, however, and super- 
 vision almost universally implies the authoritative direction of work. 
 This derived meaning is entirely foreign to the functions of the 
 State and International organizations, so far as I have been able to 
 discover from a careful study of the past fifty years of Association 
 history. Every authoritative statement that I have seen implies that 
 the work of these organizations is advisory, and not supervisory in 
 any authoritative sense. I would recommend, therefore, that the 
 
 8 
 
word “supervision” be stricken from the lexicon of Association 
 terminology, and I am the more free to propose this since 1 have 
 probably spoken and written as much as any one under the title 
 “Endowment for Supervision.” Perhaps the very use of this word 
 has had an unconscious intluence in some cases in transforming 
 advice into direction ; tor I would not think it surprising for one who 
 is constantly told that he is to supervise a work, to infer that he is 
 expected to direct it. The word is too misleading to be retained. 
 I know that its application in Association work is plain enough, but 
 we cannot afford to use so prominent a word in so special a sense, 
 which must be explained historically to be understood. 
 
 The time has come when the limitations of these two general 
 organizations must be clearly defined. Their relations to each other 
 and to the local associations must not be left to individual impulse or 
 judgment, or duplication and friction will be inevitable. 
 
 The State organization began its existence in 1866, but for five 
 years there were no employed secretaries. Now the State Commit- 
 tee, with its one or more paid secretaries, is a prominent feature of 
 the Association system. This organization has grown in usefulness 
 and in importance, until now its boundaries need definition in so far 
 as they touch local associations and the International organization. 
 Its name well defines its field of operation, for its boundary is the 
 State boundary. So far the situation is clear enough. 
 
 The first question that arises is as to the relation of the State 
 organization to the local associations. It has been stated over and 
 over again in published documents that this relation is “purely 
 advisory, not authoritative.” This general committee, through its 
 secretaries, is to study the states, is to open new fields, and is to 
 strengthen existing organizations. In other words, when a state has 
 such an organization, to it is committed what were formerly the 
 functions of the International Committee; it replaces the Inter- 
 national Committee in that particular State. The advantage of this 
 in securing closer study, more intimate touch, more continuous 
 service, needs no discussion at this late day. 
 
 The relation of the State committee and its secretaries to the 
 local associations has been discussed under the latter head, but it 
 may be well to emphasize certain points. It has no authority over 
 any local association, but must hold itself in readiness to render 
 service whenever called for. To be of servdce implies that it must 
 make the intimate personal acquaintance of every local organization ; 
 and this lies at the basis of much of its visitation. I speak of this 
 because I have seen such visits regarded as official inspections, as 
 
 9 
 
the presence of superior official authority. This attitude is so far 
 removed from the real relations of the two organizations that it 
 seems only to need statement to be corrected. The visit is that of a 
 trained and paid servant of the local association, whose expert advice 
 may be useful, but whose authority is nil. Let the distinction be 
 clearly understood. The visits of these experts should be welcomed 
 and their advice heeded, for that is their business ; and woe 
 to the association that is so self-sufficient as to underrate the value of 
 larger knowledge and experience. If this advice assumes the attitude 
 of authority, however, the attitude, not the advice, should be resented, 
 in the interests of the association at large, as well as for its educative 
 effect upon the transgressor. 
 
 Furthermore, in the case of local associations with different 
 branches or departments, in charge of different secretaries, the whole 
 theory of the Association system demands that such associations be 
 dealt with as units. Therefore, it would be entirely out of the ques- 
 tion for a State Secretary to deal directly with a particular depart- 
 ment or branch except upon the invitation or with the consent of the 
 general office. It must be remembered that consent does not mean 
 merely assent to some announced procedure. The word means “a 
 thinking over together” of the proposed action, a partnership in the 
 planning. The provision that the secretary of a general committee 
 shall deal through the central office of a local association is not satis- 
 fied by merely serving notice that some particular thing is to be done. 
 This is not consent or co-operation, it is merely information, which 
 may or may not be acceptable. This dealing through a central 
 office is not making machinery interfere with the application of 
 service, but it is making machinery co-operate with the attempt to 
 serve. 
 
 It follows still further, from the principles already stated, that 
 when the State committee has effected the organization of a new 
 local association, or has restored to vigor one that has been languish- 
 ing, its direction of affairs must cease the moment that association is 
 able to shift for itself. There are two things involved here which are 
 important. One is that this duty of the State organization ceases 
 when the local association has attained self-support. The other, 
 which is the real reason for the first, is that self-support and inde- 
 pendence develop strength. The local association must be left to 
 itself as much as possible if it is to become a thing of bone and 
 muscle. 
 
 These same principles are also easy of application in discovering 
 the effective relationship between the State and the International 
 
 10 
 
organizations. In the absence of a state organization the Inter- 
 national Committee functions as such, just as it did before there 
 were any state organizations ; but when it has effected such an 
 organization its- direct contact with local associations ceases. It com- 
 mits the intimate advisory contact to the State organization, that its 
 own energy' may be applied in the larger field. This does not mean 
 that it has no further function in the organized States, for it is the 
 creature and servant of the brotherhood of local associations, just as 
 are the State organizations. It does mean, however, that its imme- 
 diate and independent contact with the local associations ceases, and 
 that it must find this contact through the State organizations, or 
 there will be duplication of effort, conflict of plans, waste of energy, 
 and inevitable friction. Having effected a State organization, it 
 must “let go,” except in its co-operation, upon the invitation or con- 
 sent of the State organization. The advisory work of the State 
 organization is a unit, in somewhat the same sense that a local asso- 
 ciation is a unit, and to deal directly and independently with any of 
 its constituent branches is to violate the first principles of effective 
 organization. 
 
 Co-operation is the word which expresses the relationship be- 
 tween State and International organizations, and co-operation implies 
 the fullest and most harmonious understanding between the co- 
 operating parties. The local associations have constituted the Inter- 
 national organization to supplement but never to duplicate the work 
 of other organizations. For different divisions of the same army to 
 plan independent campaigns in the same territory would be regarded 
 as a military absurdity. The local associations, the source of all 
 authority in the Association system, must see to it that there is no 
 such absurdity in the campaigns of its advisory forces. To this end 
 ever)' local association should see to it that every operation of an 
 international secretary in its State must be in full and sympathetic 
 co-operation with the State organization. This is not cutting oft any 
 of the privileges of the International Committee, but is adding effec- 
 tiveness to its contact. If it is said that this is curtailing the authority 
 of the International Committee, it should be remembered that it has 
 no authority to curtail. It is not a question of clashing authority, for 
 neither State nor International organizations have any authority ; it 
 is merely a question of the most effective use of working power. 
 
 The State organization, therefore, on the one hand holds an 
 advisory relation with the local associations of the State, and a co- 
 operative relation with the International Committee. And I must 
 repeat that co-operation does not mean equal rights in the same field. 
 
 11 
 
but a working together understandingly and harmoniously. I find 
 in association literature such a phrase as “forced co-operation,” 
 which seems to me to be self-contradictory when there is no ques- 
 tion of authority involved. Such a phrase implies that one party has 
 the authority to impose itself upon the other. Invited or proffered 
 and accepted co-operation is the only possible voluntary co-operation, 
 the only possible co-operation in the absense of authority. And when 
 the question of the source of the invitation is raised, it is perfectly 
 evident that the local association through the State organization, or 
 the State organization directly, must be the inviting party when the 
 International Committee is to co-operate. It would be an absurdity, 
 for example, for an International Secretary’ to invite himself to co- 
 operate with a State organization or with a local association. It is 
 inconceivable that he should come by letter or in person without any 
 desire to co-operate. 
 
 It remains to consider the relations of the International organiza- 
 tion. As has been said, it is the creature and servant of the affiliated 
 local associations, and has no authority over them. Any such far- 
 reaching organization is at once a blessing and a menace. It is a 
 blessing on account of its possibility of great service in the stimula- 
 tion and extension of Association work ; it is a menace on account of 
 human frailty, which is always tempted, when in influential position, 
 to assume an authority which does not belong to it. Few of us are 
 strong enough to resist this temptation when it really presents itself, 
 especially if we are young and ambitious. }^Iany of those Interna- 
 tional secretaries wdio come into most frequent contact with the asso- 
 ciations are young men full of vigor and of zeal. These qualities have 
 led to their selection. They feel the broad sweep of their activities 
 and it is entirely natural that this should intoxicate them just a little. 
 They are consecrated, but have also the splendid qualities of youth, 
 and cannot be expected to repress natural and innocent impulses as 
 can those longer in training. They recognize their own wide grasp 
 of the problems pertaining to their special work ; they feel that their 
 own judgment in reference to these problems is the best that is avail- 
 able. Their knowledge and their experience seduce them into uncon- 
 sciously assuming authority, and their advice insensibly merges into 
 command. Their tone becomes mandatory, for the councillor has be- 
 come the general in spirit. So gradually and unconsciously has the 
 mandatory spirit developed that any question as to authority is apt to 
 occasion surprise and probably resentment, any expression of which 
 self-respect of course represses. In my earlier experience as a teacher 
 I recognized this natural tendency in myself. My constant contact 
 
 12 
 
was with those who were inferior in knowledge and in experience. It 
 was my privilege to teach and to advise them. When some dissent 
 from my opinion was expressed, I was both surprised and chagrined 
 to find that there was a taint of resentment in my feeling. I discov- 
 ered that while I thought 1 was a teacher and a helper, I had the 
 feeling and perhaps the air of a commander. 
 
 I have made this analysis for two reasons : The first is to show 
 that an assumption of authority by one in a prominent advisory posi- 
 tion is natural and perhaps inevitable. The second reason is to call 
 attention to the fact that in so far as this tendency is natural it is the 
 more subtle and dangerous. If authority were consciously and delib- 
 erately and openly assumed by any one to whom it does not belong, 
 resistance would organize at once and dispossess the usurper. But 
 when the assumption is apparently unconscious and repeatedly dis- 
 claimed, and still continues operative, it is like ambush rather than 
 open warfare; something that may show itself unexpectedly and 
 with endless and baffling repetition. When a man persists in doing 
 something, and excuses himself each time by claiming that he w'as 
 not conscious of doing it, or that he did not mean to do it, what 
 chance is there to restrain him from doing it again ? 
 
 In brief, the great menace in an International organization is its 
 tendency to an unconscious assumption of the mandatory attitude, an 
 attitude wfflich is not only foreign to its purpose, but dangerous in 
 the extreme to the best interests of the organization. I fear that the 
 International Committee is too frequently regarded, even by Associa- 
 tion workers, as the organization of highest authority. The political 
 organization of our own country has furnished an attractive but a 
 misleading illustration of the organization of the Association. Local 
 associations are likened to the municipalities in which they exist, 
 self-governed, but within limits set by the State. The State organi- 
 zation is likened to the State government, which has great freedom, 
 and which legislates for the State, but within limits fixed by the 
 Federal government. The International organization is likened to 
 the general government, which leaves States and municipalities to a 
 large measure of self-government, but which legislates for the coun- 
 try as a whole. I mention the figure because I have heard it used, 
 and because I regard it as peculiarly misleading. The two systems 
 are alike only in the accident of political boundaries. In spirit they 
 are totally unlike. In the political organization the State and Federal 
 governments act upon an authority which has been specifically 
 delegated to them. In the association organization no authority 
 whatsoever has been delegated to the State and International organi- 
 
 13 
 
zations, and therefore they have neither legislative, judicial nor 
 executive powers. It might be well to call attention to tlte fact, 
 however, that with all this delegation of authority the Federal gov- 
 ernment does not presume to co-operate with a State except upon invi- 
 tation ; nor does a State government presume to co-operate with a 
 municipality except under similar conditions. This is merely the view 
 of statesmanship as to the effective method of using organization. 
 
 In emphasizing the fact that the International organization has 
 no authority which gives to it mandatory rights, I wish to call atten- 
 tion to the fact that there is a type of authority far higher in quality 
 and more effective in result than official authority; and to cultivate 
 this type of authority lies peculiarly within the province of the Inter- 
 national organization. I refer to authority which belongs naturally 
 to knowledge and to experience; not to the authority which gives 
 the right to command, but the authority which controls because it 
 inspires confidence. It is the Christian method of exercising author- 
 ity, which is not the issuing of edicts, but the attracting of free 
 agents. It is the authority of worth and not of position which must 
 ever be the possession of the International organization. 
 
 It may be well to state in positive form the functions of the 
 International organization, which have been delegated to it as an 
 agent of the local associations ; and it must not be forgotten that all 
 of these duties are to be performed in an advisory capacity. 
 
 The first prominent duty is to organize and to develop State 
 organizations. In the very nature of things the International Com- 
 mittee cannot keep its secretaries in close and continuous contact 
 with the work of a State, and in effecting a State organization it is 
 providing a substitute for this. But even when adequate organiza- 
 tion shall have been effected in every State, there will remain for the 
 International organization many conspicuous duties. 
 
 A second duty is very natural, namely, to respond directly to the 
 call of associations in States or Provinces where no State or Provin- 
 cial organization exists. Such local Associations hold no other 
 advisory relation than with the International organization, and they 
 must call upon it whenever assistance is needed. This w'as the origi- 
 nal advisory relation of all local associations before there were any 
 State organizations. 
 
 A third duty is to respond through the State or Provincial 
 organization to the requests of town, city, student, railroad, and all 
 other local Associations existing in organized States and Provinces. 
 The emphasis in this is to be laid upon the words “through the State 
 or Provincial organization.” This means that the International Com- 
 
 14 
 
mittee, having assisted in effecting a State organization, must pro- 
 mote its efficiency by recognizing and using it. To disregard it in 
 its owm field is to handicap it. This also means that any local Asso- 
 ciation may ask for the service of an International secretary, but 
 that having constituted State organizations it must feel bound to 
 regard and use them. While absolute authority belongs to the local 
 association in the conduct of its own affairs, the brotherhood of local 
 associations has legislated the State organization into existence, and 
 each member of this brotherhood is morally pledged to maintain 
 rather than to cripple its efficiency. 
 
 A fourth duty of the International organization is to supplement, 
 not duplicate, the effort of the corresponding department of State 
 work, and to place emphasis upon the responsibility vested in State 
 organizations, in this way securing economy of effort, time, and 
 money. This duty is also a natural outcome from the principles we 
 have been discussing, and needs but little comment. Where such a 
 vast amount of work is needed, to duplicate effort is almost criminal, 
 and duplication by two agencies can only be avoided by the closest 
 co-operation, a co-operation in planning as well as in execution. For 
 the State organization to plan a campaign in the interest of a certain 
 branch of its work, and then to discover that the International Com- 
 mittee is conducting an independent campaign in the interest of that 
 same branch, is so discouraging and even exasperating that it will 
 certainly result in friction. We must economize effort, time, and 
 money, and we must invariably and sternly rebuke any tendency to 
 wastefulness in these things. A man who cannot co-operate, or who 
 cannot recognize what co-operation implies, or who wilfully refuses 
 to co-operate, is totally incapacitated for holding any position which 
 demands co-operation. It seems to me that this is merely the state- 
 ment of a perfectly self-evident fact, as if I should say if a man can- 
 not teach he is totally incapacitated for holding any position which 
 demands teaching. 
 
 A fifth and very prominent duty is to promote the interests of the 
 -Association at large in the way of unification, stimulation, and public 
 recognition. The International secretaries are our general spokes- 
 men, and must possess those qualifications which commend them to 
 public attention. Their clear and forceful presentation of Associa- 
 tion work through speech and publication should bring increasing 
 recognition and support. In addition to this, they are in a position 
 to secure the large view, to suggest those things which will make the 
 whole vast mechanism work as a harmonious whole. They can 
 recognize and stimulate regions of relative weakness, and seek to 
 
 15 
 
bring up every organization to the level of wise and unflagging 
 effort. In fact, all the great opportunities of the International 
 organization are included in this fifth function, for the preceding ones 
 are but details of operation. 
 
 I have given a statement of relationships in accordance with what 
 I have recognized to be the principles involved in the history of the 
 Association. It must not be understood that these relationships 
 have ever been definitely formulated by the only authoritative body, 
 the brotherhood of local associations. They are matters of inference 
 rather than of formulation, much as is the common law of England. 
 What I have done is to apply well known principles in such a way 
 that they may be consistent and may not diminish or duplicate work- 
 ing power. Perhaps it would be unwise to make a detailed statement 
 of relationships the subject of legislation. The spirit of effective 
 relationship can be stated in a very few words and is sufficient for 
 those whose impulse is to obey in spirit rather than in letter. The 
 details of relationships, in every possible contingency, could not "be 
 stated fully enough or explicitly enough to restrain those whose ten- 
 dency is to obey personal impulse regardless of regulation. Detailed 
 legislation is cumbrous and often confusing, like the scores of rules 
 which burdened the old-fashioned boarding school. Effective obe- 
 dience must always be voluntary, and voluntary obedience is a thing 
 of spirit. The Association cannot legislate the right spirit into any- 
 one, but it can state principles ; and these principles should guide all 
 activities, not because they have any official authority, but because 
 they are the expression of the Association brotherhood as to the most 
 effective way of conducting the organization. To me just two words 
 sufficiently express all the relationships. To the local and Metro- 
 politan associations the relation of the State and International 
 organizations is advisory. Between the State and International 
 organizations the relation is co-operative. Of course, all depends 
 upon the meaning one puts into these two words. It has been my 
 purpose in this paper to suggest the meanings which seem to me 
 natural and effective, besides being in strict accord with the interpre- 
 tation of these relations as expressed in the official publications and 
 deliverances of the conventions and by the leading representatives of 
 the organization. 
 
 Price, ten cents; fifty cents per dozen. 
 
 16