Piled on top of that came an even wilder flight of humor! Margaret Haley moved that Congress be asked to amend the charter and abolish the life-directors; whereupon ex-Superintendent Field Secretary Magill explained that Congress would never again pass another special charter—this trick was positively the last that could ever be played in America! Miss Haley’s motion was tabled by a shout of the rehearsed Utah teachers; and the convention proceeded to elect Superintendent Life-director Hunter of Oakland its new president, and to hear his fervid speech in celebration of “democracy”!
It is interesting to note that the minutes of this meeting were withheld from the membership of the N. E. A. for eleven months, and were finally published in very inadequate and doctored form. Margaret Haley had arranged with a stenographic agency to obtain a transcript of the proceedings, but after the show was over she discovered that she had been cheated out of this transcript. The agency would not be permitted to furnish a transcript until it had been “edited.” You see, the gang had also ordered a transcript from this same concern!
I obtained a copy of this “edited” transcript, and have checked every statement in this chapter. In case you find my account incredible, I suggest that you consult in your public library the “Journal of Education,” Boston, August 19, 1920, in which an eye-witness tells the story with amiable mockery. That American school teachers should have had their own organization stolen away from them seems to Editor Winship just the most delightful joke in the world. Such a comical spectacle—a great convention, lasting for six days, with several thousand people devoting all their labors to keeping one little woman from getting the floor![[K]]
[K]. Just to make the thing real to you, I give you one glimpse of the steam-roller, taken from the transcript as furnished by the N. E. A. secretary. The assembly is here voting on Section 9, which provides for the packing of the N. E. A. with a hundred and fifty-one ex-officio delegates, state superintendents, state directors, life directors, and miscellaneous officers. It has been moved to amend this section by striking out the ex-officio members; but in the uproar it is impossible for the opposition to know what is being voted on. The amendment is voted down, Section 9 is jammed through, and Margaret Haley is refused the right to ask a question. Field secretary Magill starts to go on to Section 10; but the protest against this becomes so vehement that the gang sees it has to give way, and Professor Driggs blandly rises and pleads for fair play—delicious irony! So Margaret Haley receives an opportunity to be informed by the chairman that the measure she has been trying to oppose has already been carried! The text follows:
The Chairman: Are you ready for the question? (Cries of question, question.)
A Delegate: I rise to a question of personal privilege.
The Chairman: What is your question of personal privilege?
A Delegate: There has been some imputation cast upon the teachers of Salt Lake and Utah as to the packing of this convention. (Cries of out of order, out of order.)
The Chairman: You are out of order. (Cries of question, question.)