On Referendum Election of General Officers and of Delegates to Conventions of the A. F. of L. and of the B. T. Dept. of the A. F. of L. LaFayette, Ind., Jan. 31, 1912. To the Officers and Members of the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America. Greeting:-We, the undersigned, selected as members of the General Election Board, to canvas and count the vote for the election of general officers and delegates to the A. F. of L. and B. T. D. conventions, as submitted by our local unions, respectfully submit the following report: Per instructions we met at LaFayette, December 18th; after organizing, Brother Fred Miller of Local 102, of Cleveland, was elected chairman, Brother Frank Heenan of Local No. 147, Chicago, Secretary. A line of proceedure was adopted and the committee adjourned until 1 p. m. A motion prevailed that one watcher be allowed for each candidate. Brother Otto Damm, Local 194, Chicago, candidate for 1st G. V. P., presented his card and stated that he desired to look after his own interests. Brother Frank Leslie, Local 137 of St. Louis, presented credentials from St. Louis District Council as watcher for Bro. Lammert, candidate for General President, and Brother Eisenring, candidate for delegate to A. F. of L. conventions. Both broth ers were granted the privilege of the committee room; they were present at every session and were shown every possible courtesy. A motion prevailed that where packages were received open or broken, the union be requested to forward duplicate tally sheets, before counting. This was necessary in several cases, many were received which had never been sealed, others with seals broken. All were investigated before they were counted. Several unions sent in returns, some without a poll book or a tally sheet, and others without either. All such were held until same was forwarded, unless decided to verify the vote by the stubs, also tally sheets and vote in many cases differed. As the work progressed, the vote of certain unions were protested, most of these protests were later withdrawn. The vote of Local 892, of New York, was protested by affidavit of Otto Zimmerman, candidate for 3rd G. V. P., that the vote was illegal. Affidavits were also received from the election board of that union certifying to the legality of their returns. In the same affidavit, Brother Zimmerman charged Local Union 716 of Brooklyn, N. Y., with fraudulent returns. The election officers of these unions certified to the correctness of their vote. Protest not sustained. Miller voting to sustain. The vote of 831, of Los Angeles, was protested by Brother Leslie, on the ground that the number of votes returned exceeded the membership. The bookkeeper furnished proofs that this union had acted within its right. Protest not sustained. A number of local unions returned ballots for the election of delegates to the A. F. of L. convention on which more than 4 candidates were voted for, also many B. T. D. delegate ballots on which more than 5 candidates were voted for. These were thrown out. This will account for the difference between the vote sent in and the credit given different unions in this report. lots. This was the principle cause of our long session. The votes returned by the following unions were not counted for reasons as follows: Local 368 had 212 names in poll book and 218 ballots. Satisfactory explanation was not received. Local 99 had 3 names in poll book, sent in 20 ballots, no tally sheet. Local 153 had 16 names in poll book, 17 ballots, and no satisfactory explanation received. Local 426 had 88 names in poll book, 91 ballots, and no satisfactory explanation received. One (1) ballot from Local 48 was thrown out, the ballot was mutilated and should not have been included in the union's returns. The vote was then found to be correct and was counted and recorded. The following unions returned poll book and tally sheet but no ballots what When the vote of Local 405 was counted, no vote was recorded to the credit of either candidate for 1st. G. V. P. Later a claim was made that Brother Damm had received 7 votes. ever: He was present when the vote was counted and recorded, and made no claim at the time. Claim not sustained. Through an error, the name of Brother Ed. Ackerly of Local 531, candidate for delegate to B. T. D. conventions, was placed on the A. F. of L. ballot. This caused considerable confusion, but as shown by the large vote he received, it did him no injury but much good. A change in the manner of selecting delegates to the conventions by referendum is quite necessary, and it is hoped that this matter will receive consideration at the next convention. A large number of candidates had their names on two and some on all three bal Local 326, 474, 867, 934. Returns received too late: Locals 9, 228, 330, 365, 654, 689, 727, 764, 805, 843, 1076. Unions returning no delegate ballots for either A. F. of L. or B. T. D. conventions Locals 34,, 71, 122, 210, 280, 422, 509, 900, 756, 784, 795, 816, 913, 975, 1034. Unions returning no B. T. D. ballots. Local Union 745 returned no A. F. of L. ballots. Blank returns were received from the following unions: Locals 20, 198, 207, 471, 520, 530, 600, 654, 701, 763, 880. Local Union 16 sent in 2 sets of B. T. D. ballots but no A. F. of L. ballots. LAST YEAR OUR BUSINESS DOUBLED ITSELF ON RED DEVIL CUTTERS. We gave away 14000 Cutters to the Glaziers who sent in for samples to see if what we said was true. This year we will give away 25,000 samples It's all in the wheel" For 3 Two Cent stamps, will send any Glazier a hand honed Genuine RED DEVIL Cutter, put up in a nice box, FREE. Try them. SMITH & HEMENWAY COMPANY, 150-152 Chambers St., New York, N.Y. HOLLARAN, J., L. U. No. 191.. 447 3,158 3,019 3,803 595 474 1,327 178 1,032 235 792 2,292 407 476 3,367 208 663 511 800 1,820 3,970 996 ELECTION OF DELEGATES TO B. T. D. CONVENTIONS. ACKERLEY, ED., L. U. No. 531. BAKER, JOHN H., L. U. No. 286.. ORONIN, JOHN A., L. U. No. 11. 1,695 618 5,888 362 571 661 1,846 854 DOUGHERTY, M., L. U. No. 277. 1,157 556 890 -SANITAS THE WASHABLE WALL COVERING You can sell SANITAS where you cannot sell wall paper, for SANITAS will stand what wall paper cannot. SANITAS is made on a strong muslin foundation with oil and paints and dull or glazed surface. Many new patterns this spring. It is waterproof-all dirt and dust can be wiped from its surface with a damp cloth It will not fade. Can neither crack nor tear You can sell SANITAS for every roomlin the house, but we call special attention to its value in bathrooms, kitchens, laundries, etc., where wall paper is barred. There is good profit in SANITAS. Standard Oil Cloth Co. 320 Broadway, New York City HANNING, HENRY, L. U. No. 8.. HOWARD, O. A., L. U. No. 8. 2,746 488 469 348 502 1,026 582 3,437 1,866 338 1,103 1,468 LAMBERT, JOHN, L. U. No. 10. LANGE, H. H., L. U. No. 261. LAVIN, CHAS., L. U. No. 127.. LOWE, W. J., L. U. No. 602.. LYONS, JAMES, L. U. No. 8--MAGUIRE, M. J., L. U. No. 83. 1,445 949 945 415 421 350 The following candidates having received the highest number of votes are de 738 clared elected: 530 John H. Baker, local 286.. 3,083 E. A. Fitzgerald, local 11. .5888 4096 .3970 ..3904 ..3437 In conclusion, your committee wish to inform the membership of the enormous expense of this system of electing General Officers and delegates to conventions. Much of this expense could be saved if local unions were not compelled to return unused ballots, which immediately become junk alter being returned (at enormous expense) by our local unions. The present system of referendum had its first trial at this election and, from our observation, decided improvement can be made. We, the undersigned, members of the General Election Board, after carefully examining the returns, do hereby make affidavit that the above is a true and correct statement of the vote cast in this election. F. D. MILLER, Chairman. C. V. FRENZ, JAMES F. MELAVEN, J. E. CUNNINGHAM, FRANK HEENAN, Sec'y Com. |