REPORT OF DEPARTMENT ADJUTANT LEO A. SPILLANE. The Department of Massachusetts now comprises 262 actually chartered local Posts which are active and functioning. At the time of the First Annual Department Convention at Worcester last October there were 228 Posts, so that 34 have been formed during the interim. While Massachusetts has not as many local units as other States of the same size and population, it is the consensus of opinion throughout the country that it is organized on a sounder basis. This is because the policy that has been employed has favored the formation of the so-called community Posts almost exclusively. To-day practically every city and town of any appreciable size and population in the Commonwealth can boast of a Legion Post. The only communities where the Legion has not established itself are those where the number of eligible ex-service men is relatively small, and where, consequently the creation of a Post would not be justified, as it obviously could not be supported or maintained with any degree of success. In cases of this nature, ex-service men have generally affiliated themselves with Posts in near-by communities. Since the last Convention special attention has been given to the development of district organizations. Prior to the first Convention the Department was divided into nine Legion districts, embracing in all the fourteen counties which make up the State, this being done for the purpose of facilitating business at Department Conventions. This plan worked excellently at the Worcester Convention and also at the Special Constitutional Convention held at Boston in January. Later it was suggested that steps be taken to form in each district an organization to be designated as district councils, or some similar name, and comprising all the local posts within the boundaries of that particular district. Middlesex County was the first to organize, closely followed by Suffolk, Norfolk and others. These councils were formed primarily because it was thought that nine cohesive and well-organized district organizations, each one functioning for the interests of the Posts comprising it, would make for a better and more compact State Department. GAIN IN MEMBERSHIP. Confronted with a severe handicap in the shape of a high national per capita assessment, the adoption of which the Massachusetts delegates to the last National Convention opposed with all the strength they could muster, the Department had a difficult task on its shoulders the first of the year when it set about to collect the per capita taxes which had been levied. This, together with the change of the fiscal year disrupting the financial plans of several Posts, constituted an obstacle that seemed difficult to surmount. But despite all this, the Department has held its own, with the result that to date we have 58,099 paid-up members, as compared with 55,743 paid-up members at the time of the first Department Convention a year ago. When it is taken into consideration that this year's figures represent an amount at $1.25 per head, and the latter 50 cents, or less than one-half of the 1920 assessment, then it can be seen that the increase is greater and more appreciable than it may seem. The Headquarters of the Department, after much shifting around, are now, it is hoped, permanently established on the first floor of the West Wing at the State Capitol in Boston, in accordance with the special act of the State Legislature passed during the 1919 special session of that body. These offices, given the Legion through the kindness and generosity of the Commonwealth, are large and commodious, and entirely suitable for our purpose. The office personnel numbers ten, and in addition to the Department Adjutant includes his assistant, also the Department organizer, assistant War Risk officer (the Department Adjutant also acts in capacity of Department War Risk officer), the assistant treasurer, the chief of the women's auxiliary division, two expert stenographers and typewriters, and two mimeograph operators who also are stenographers. BIG VOLUME OF BUSINESS. The volume of business and correspondence handled is necessarily great where an organization consisting of 262 live and active units is concerned. In the large amount of personal correspondence, which approximates 200 pieces of mail, both inbound and outbound daily, it has been necessary, in order to establish strong lines of communication between Department Headquarters and its several Posts, to achieve maximum results, and to have an intelligent organization, one familiar at all times with what is going on, that the Posts be constantly supplied with bulletins transmitting rulings, recommendations, information, etc. An average of 10 bulletins have been sent out weekly, with at least four circulars and notices, so that in all an average of 10,000 mimeograph sheets of paper have been sent out in the course of a single week. The Department Adjutant, besides acting in the capacity of War Risk officer, has also been the publicity director for the Department. Through the courtesy of the metropolitan press and the State House News Service, also the editors of newspapers outside the metropolitan area, the Legion has been getting a good share of publicity. It has been found that the papers are eager to give space to Legion doings, which is quite the opposite to the general rule, other organizations finding it difficult to secure space. The most cordial relations exist between this Department and the National Organization; and Massachusetts has been looked to on numerous occasions to furnish advice on matters of policy and administration. Your Department Adjutant wishes at this time to give expression to his appreciation of the excellent co-operation furnished by the Department officers and the local Posts. Without their splendid support he realized that he could not successfully perform the duties of his office, and cognizant of this fact he is truly grateful for their support and assistance. REPORT OF DEPARTMENT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE. The following is a list of bills introduced by your Legislative Committee which have been passed in the 1920 session of the State Legislature: - Care of graves of veterans of the World War and compulsory inspec CHAPTER 218.tion thereof. CHAPTER 199.- Exemption from jury duty of the members of the militia who served in the World War. CHAPTER 408. Making continuous the service of the men who were in the Massachusetts National Guard. CHAPTER 290. Authorizing the proceedings of the Convention of the State Department of the American Legion to be printed as a State Document and circulated by the Secretary of the State at the expense of the Commonwealth. CHAPTER 367.- Providing a penalty for the unauthorized use of the insignia of The American Legion. CHAPTER 141. - Authorizing Legion parades with music on Memorial Sunday. CHAPTER 131. CHAPTER 235. Authorizing parades of Legion Posts with armed color guards. Authorizing cities and towns to pay the difference in pay of municipal employees who were inducted into the service. CHAPTER 616. — Authorizing the creation of a Commission to care for the graves of Massachusetts men and women who lie buried in foreign soil; also providing for the erection of a monument in France commemorating those who were killed in action. CHAPTER 254. — Authorizing cities and towns to appropriate money for quarters for Posts of the American Legion. CHAPTER 528. — Authorizing cities and towns to furnish the headstones on graves of veterans of the World War. CHAPTER 531.- Providing that veterans employed in the public service shall be given leave of absence on Memorial Day. CHAPTER 250.- Extension of time to make applications for State bonus to July 1, 1920. CHAPTER 574. - An Act relative to pensioning and retirement of veterans in the employ of cities, towns and counties of the Commonwealth. CHAPTER 82.-A Resolve authorizing the Governor to appoint a commission on memorial to those who lost their lives in the World War. CHAPTER 175.- Exempting property of Posts of The American Legion on $50,000 worth of taxable property. CHAPTER 137. - Exempting men and widows and orphans of men who were veterans of the World War on $2,000 worth of taxable property; also disabled men. CHAPTER 300. city clerks. Recording the discharges of veterans of the World War by town and CHAPTER 82.- Compulsory teaching of American history and civil government in public and private schools in the Commonwealth. CHAPTER 609. - - An Act to correct certain inequalities in the State Bonus Act of 1919. An Act relative to extending the time in which service men may re tain civil rating and return to civil service positions. CHAPTER 410. An Act to exempt a veteran of the World War from the age limits on examination for inspector in the Department of Labor and Industries. CHAPTER 621. — An Act authorizing the transfer of funds for the maintenance of the Employment Bureau for returned soldiers and sailors. CHAPTER 513. - An Act relating to the relocation of flags of the World War and Spanish War veterans in the State House. The following measures failed of passage: The Veterans' Preference Act, designed to give the veteran absolute preference in appointment and promotion, was referred to the next General Court. The Homestead Act, designed to assist veterans in acquiring homes, received a favorable committee report, was passed by the Senate almost unanimously, but was amended in the House and subsequently referred to the next General Court. The Bill to allow the yeomen (F) to share in the benefits of the $100 Bonus Act, from which they were specifically excluded in the original act, was defeated in the House after it had passed to a third reading. Colonel Logan: "The first notice of the patriotic societies with which we are intimately connected in comradeship is that of an organization which has helped the preservation of the Union. They kept alive the patriotism of America which inspired us later to serve during the war. We have here the head of that great Department, a Department which has carried the traditions which we helped to preserve, and it therefore gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Department Commander Goodwin of the Grand Army of the Republic." [Convention stands and cheers.] Department Commander Goodwin of the G. A. R.: "Commander and Comrades of The American Legion: When I received a notice about three months ago from Adjutant Spillane and by the Department Commander of The American Legion to address this Convention, my cheeks tingled with pride, because I knew the men who sent that to me sent it to me as the representative head of the Grand Army of the Republic in Massachusetts. "The G. A. R. is a small body of men to-day, but we are just as high-blooded and sun-kissed as in the days of long, long ago. They say we are old, but we are young. We are always young because we served our country in its direst hour of need, and so, Comrade Commander and Comrades, I bring to you the regards of the Department of Massachusetts of the G. A. R. Fifty-six hundred men left yet who were the bold boys of long, long ago. We called them comrades then. I have learned that over there you called them comrades and buddies, but it means the same thing, and, Comrades, I am here to-day as one of those comrades who enlisted in 1861. [Applause.] What a splendid heritage we had handed down to us in those old, old days! The men who landed on Plymouth Rock landed for a purpose. They landed there to worship God with the dictates of their own conscience, and every Grand Army man thanks God for that, that he can worship God as he sees fit, and I implore you never to allow any religious issues to come into your organization. "You came here as delegates of The American Legion, proudest distinction that can come to you, and you respect every man's right to do as you would do yourself. And so I say that we are proud of that great distinction, that heritage which came to us from those men, my comrades of the Grand Army, who fought four years in what I call the grandest army God's sunlight ever shone upon; and your army was the grandest army that God's sunlight ever shone upon, for I would not give a fig for the man who did not think that the army he served in was the grandest army in the world. And so, I say to you, that after fighting four years we marched toward yonder National Capitol with malice toward none and charity for all. 'They tell us that we are old, but we are young in spirit just as long as we live, because we believe that ours is a great country and one worth doing your duty for. 66 "It seems to me, Comrades, that there are some things in your Commander's report that deal directly with me. He spoke of the maimed and wounded soldiers of The American Legion. This country can never do enough for them. Do you think that I am jealous about you men because I am a soldier myself? God forbid! Anything they can do for you should be done because you saved this Nation, and back here in America we fellows of the Grand Army did as best we could in the Liberty Loan drives and in sending across to you the little things that make you as happy as possible under the circumstances, and so let me tell you one thing, that your firmest friend in the new days will be the Grand Army of the Republic. My organization meets on the nineteenth day of next month, and I will go there as Commander of the Department of Massachusetts, feeling that our grand old State is represented by real men, and that, Comrades, is how I greet you as real men, because I believe it is the proudest distinction that can come to man to have served his country in its direst hour of need. "Let me tell you, Comrades, that in listening to the report of your Commander I feel that you will meet many of the pitfalls that the G. A. R. had. You will have your troubles and you will get over them, but let me tell you stick to your organization and make it the real thing in this country of ours. Never let your organization go down into political parties, but whatever you do, do it for the |