calling" can establish a local union with federal affiliations.

This vast and potent organization is based upon the principle of
trade homogeneity--namely, that each trade is primarily
interested in its own particular affairs but that all trades are
interested in those general matters which affect all laboring men
as a class. To combine effectually these dual interests, the
Federation espouses the principle of home rule in purely local
matters and of federal supervision in all general matters. It
combines, with a great singleness of purpose, so diverse a
variety of details that it touches the minutiae of every trade
and places at the disposal of the humblest craftsman or laborer
the tremendous powers of its national influence. While highly
centralized in organization, it is nevertheless democratic in
operation, depending generally upon the referendum for its
sanctions. It is flexible in its parts and can mobilize both its
heavy artillery and its cavalry with equal readiness. It has from
the first been managed with skill, energy, and great adroitness.

The supreme authority of the American Federation is its Annual
Convention composed of delegates chosen from national and
international unions, from state, central, and local trade
unions, and from fraternal organizations. Experience has evolved
a few simple rules by which the convention is safeguarded against
political and factional debate and against the interruptions of
"soreheads." Besides attending to the necessary routine, the
Convention elects the eleven national officers who form the
executive council which guides the administrative details of the
organization. The funds of the Federation are derived from a per
capita tax on the membership. The official organ is the American