The membership declined considerably in 1913 and 1914, since which time it appears to have increased slightly. Conservative estimates fix it at about 15,000 in 1913, 11,000 in 1914, and 15,000 in 1915.[677] The author has not yet been able to get a reliable estimate of the membership for 1916. The reports of the tenth convention (November, 1916) as published in _Solidarity_ give no clue. A dispatch to the _Weekly People_ (December 9, 1916, p. 1) reports that the delegates claimed to represent a constituency of 35,000 to 40,000. As to 1912, Professor Hoxie said the average paid-up membership was 14,300 and that "local and national bodies have an additional dues-paying membership of 25,000 on which no _per-capita_ tax has been paid to the General Organization," and credits the organization (for 1913) with a "nominal non-dues-paying _enrolment_ of from 50,000 to 60,000." He came to the conclusion "that 100,000 or more men _have had_ I. W. W. dues cards in their possession during the past five years."[678] The figures in Appendix IV indicate that more than 191,000 persons have at one time or another during the last ten years been members of the I. W. W. This table also shows that the I. W. W. often gives very exaggerated membership estimates. This was true in 1913 when unofficial I. W. W. estimates ran into the hundreds of thousands. At this time, it is reported that, "Hoxie walked into the office of St. John, the General Secretary, and said, 'Look here, St. John, I've got the goods on you. You have only 14,300 members.' 'You're a liar, Hoxie,' replied St. John, 'we have 14,310.'"[679] Levine gives an estimate (doubtless furnished by the general office of the I. W. W.) which is unquestionably much too high. He puts the membership for August, 1913, at 70,000, distributed as follows: textile industry, 40,000; lumber industry, 15,000; railroad construction, 10,000; metal and machinery industry, 1,000; and miscellaneous, 4,000.[680] The numerical insignificance of the I. W. W. as compared to the American Federation of Labor was strikingly indicated by Professor Hoxie in the course of his remarks before the American Economic Association in December, 1913. He said that in 1913 the I. W. W. had paid-up membership amounting to (1) Less than one-hundredth of the membership of the American Federation of Labor; (2) Less than one-sixtieth of the voters of the Socialist ticket in 1912; (3) Less than one-twentieth of the membership of a single industrial union in the A. F. of L.; (4) Less than six one-thousandths of the general body of organized workmen; (5) Less than one in 2,000 of American wage-workers.[681]