NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MAN UFACTURERS, The. A convention, con sisting of several hundred representative Amer ican manufacturers, met in Cincinnati, Ohio, 22 Jan. 1895, and provided for the organization of a national association of manufacturers. At the first annual convention of the Associa tion held in Chicago 21 Jan. 1896, the name The National Association of Manufacturers of the United States of America* was adopted, a preamble setting forth the objects of the Association was published, and a constitution was adopted. The constitution has been re vised, elaborated and amended several times to cover the constantly expanding activities of the Association, and in 1908 a new constitution was adopted.
The general objects for which the Asso ciation works are: (1) the promotion of the industrial interests of the United States; (2) the fostering of domestic and foreign com merce; (3) the betterment of the relations be tween employers and their employees; (4) the education of the public in the principles of individual liberty and the ownership of prop erty; and (5) the support of legislation ad vancing development along the lines above de fined, and opposition to legislation retarding it.
To the Individual manufacturer the Asso ciation offers its trained and practical assist ance in supplying accurate and reliable infor mation on pertinent subjects, 'and organized protection against abuses and unlawful and unjust, exactions, unbiased mediation in cases of dispute, and the furtherance of cordial rela tions between the several members.
The foreign trade department has been highly organized in three divisions devoted to (1) Latin-American trade; (2) Russian trade and (3) Far-Eastern trade; and in six bureaus devoted to general information; foreign buy ers; credits; translations; trademarks and pub licity. These are in charge of a staff of ex perts in the several lines, and are in constant communication with a corps of over 2,000 cor respondents located in every city and town of commercial importance in all foreign lands. To the individual member of the Association the foreign trade department offers quotations and suggestions from foreign markets; con fidential reports on foreign trade opportunities; advice as to advertising, financing foreign ac counts, foreign collections, etc.; reports on the
financial standing of foreign firms; translations of foreign letters; information as to the cus toms duties of all countries and shipment thereto; registration of trademarks, etc.
The law department is devoted strictly to matters which pertain to the pursuits of the Association, and aims to keep its members fully abreast of all decisions and interpretations of the law which can in any way affect their business interests.
In the home department the Association has a number of committees specializing on health and safety; industrial betterment; industrial publicity; industrial education; immigration; banking and currency; trade acceptances; uni form State laws and foreign trade.
Through its business corporation, °The National Manufacturers' Company,* the Asso ciation publishes a monthly magazine under the title American Industries, and issues periodic ally The American Trade Index containing alphabetically.paragraphs concerning the busi ness and products of its several members. These are indexed in several foreign languages and are sent to prominent merchants and buy ers in foreign countries. Nearly 44,000 copies of this index have been thus distributed.
The membership consists of individuals, firms and corporations actually engaged in manufacturing. The executive officers, the president and the treasurer are elected annually by ballot and the secretary is appointed an nually by the executive committee. The execu tive committee consists of the president, the treasurer, secretary, a vice-president from each of the 12 States having the largest recorded membership in the Association upon election day of its annual convention, and six members at large elected by the executive committee as thus constituted. The members paying the same annual dues, $50, are exactly similar in voting power in the annual conventions, and the democracy of management is still further se cured by the choice of vice-presidents by the different State delegations attending the annual convention. The entire income of the Associa tion is expended in the interest of its members; the president, vice-presidents and the directors serve without compensation. The Association maintains an extensive reference library at its general offices in New York City.