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The Election Dilemma
IN MY PREVIOUS ISSUE, I brought up the subject of a nominating committee to help make our elections more efficient and run more smoothly, and asked for cards and letters condemning or advocating a procedure such as that. I have not been overwhelmed by the response.
In perusing my collection of journals, I ran across a very interesting one in Alf Babcock’s The Kitten No. 88 for October 1968. If you have a copy, I suggest you read it. If not, following the gist of what Alf said:
“Absentee ballots are an utter waste of the Secretary’s time and NAPA’s money. No one is named for office, so no one knows for whom to vote. Each convention has to dig up some officers – and do they have to DIG!
“Times have changed, we need to do some changing too. A Nominating Committee has been suggested, but that is not much good as committees can’t work fast. The Secretary would actually be the one to advise as to who is willing to serve. He [or she] could send that data along with the absentee ballots.
“Some years back, when I was Secretary, I decided the absentee voters deserved to know who was willing to serve if elected. I told them. And forty nitwits at the Newark convention acted as though that was a crime worse than murder or rape. So I won’t suggest you pick the Secretary, he [or she] has enough year-end work as it is. That leaves one other logical man – the President.
“He should be in touch with a lot of members. He should have more influence than any individual or committee he might appoint. He could have the Secretary send a list of willing candidates along with the absentee ballots. Or he could send out that data on a post card at NAPA expense about June 15th. Something needs to be done and the Prexy looks the best for it. Possibly he won’t have great success, but at least he could inform the membership who is willing. That would help.”
Thanks, Alf, I think you’ve made your point. And thanks for letting me reprint your thoughts from your excellent journal The Kitten.
Now, Fellow Members, how about it? I hereby propose myself as the “central point” for those who volunteer to serve as officers and for those whose names are proposed by others. I will then contact those proposed and ascertain their willingness or unwillingness to serve as officers. Then, in either the May or June issue of my journal, I could provide the list of willing candidates & save NAPA the cost of postals as Alf had suggested.
It certainly would be something if we could get some people to serve who have not served before – and remember, folks, it gives one much more satisfaction to volunteer than to have one’s arm twisted. Wouldn’t it be just great if we had at least two candidates on the ballot for each office?
So – don’t be bashful about stepping forward to offer to run for office. However, if your bashfulness or inane modesty precludes your letting me know, please have a fellow member propose your name to me and I’ll take it from there.
Greely’s Report from Jan. 1906 The Inland Printer
An acquaintance met Horace Greeley early one day and said: “Mr. Greeley, I’ve stopped your paper.”
“Have you?” said the editor; “Well, that’s too bad,” and he went his way.
The next morning Mr. Greeley met his subscriber again, and said: “I thought you had stopped The Tribune?”
“So I did.”
“Then there must be some mistake,” said Greeley, “for I just came from the office and the presses were running, the clerks were as busy as ever, the compositors were hard at work, and the business was going on the same as yesterday and the day before.”
“Oh!” exclaimed the subscriber, “I didn’t mean that I’d stopped the paper; I stopped only my copy of it because I didn’t like your editorials.”
“Pshaw!” retorted Mr. Greeley, “It wasn’t worth taking up my time to tell me such a trifle. My dear sir, if you expect to control the utterance of The Tribune by the purchase of one copy a day, or if you think you will find any newspaper or magazine worth reading that will never express convictions at right angles with your own, you are doomed to disappointment.” – MasterPrinter
Collector’s Items
I have the following issues of The Inland Printer for sale: Jan. 1906, Aug. 1906, Dec. 1906, Jan. 1907, Jun. 1907, Aug. 1907, Sep. 1907, Dec. 1907, Jun. 1909, Jul. 1909, Jan. 1910, Feb. 1910, Apr. 1910. What am I offered? Shipping will have to be extra. All are in good condition.
A Special Welcome to NAPA
To our niece, Linda Warner, whose The Owl’s Nest appeared for the first time in the September bundle.
Bundle-ing
Jake Warner made the Cincinnati convention come alive again in The Boxwooder 122. A fine Galley Proof from Lowell Adams, with a beautiful drawing of New Orleans’ Pirates Alley. Rhoda Werner’s Hi-A-Line 5 very interesting, and shows what can be done by a writer who is a non-printer. The usual fine printing by Joe Bradburn in Experiment 26.
Colophon
Flag is Shadow, dateline is Garamond Italic & body type is Garamond. Ink is Kelsey Bond Black and paper is 20 lb. White Ripple Nekoosa Bond. Hand set & hand fed [all by Clarence] to a 7 x 11 Pearl at The Oasis Press of Clarence and Millicent Prowell, Sun City, Arizona 85351. Published for members of The National Amateur Press Association.