Bill W.'s original Grapevine article introducing Tradition Four:

                  Tradition Four

                  Copyright © The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., March 1948

                  Tradition Four is a specific application of general principles
                  already outlined in Traditions One and Two. Tradition One
                  states : "Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small
                  part of a great whole. AA must continue to live or most of us
                  will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But
                  individual welfare follows close afterward." Tradition Two
                  states: " For our group purpose there is but one ultimate
                  authority -- a loving God as he may express himself in our
                  group conscience."

                  With these concepts in mind, let us look more closely at
                  Tradition Four. The first sentence guarantees each AA group
                  local autonomy. With respect to its own affairs, the group may
                  make any decisions, adopt any attitudes that it likes. No
                  overall or intergroup authority should challenge this primary
                  privilege. We feel this ought to be so, even though the group
                  might sometimes act with complete indifference to our
                  Tradition. For example, an AA group could, if it wished, hire
                  a paid preacher and support him out of the proceeds of a group
                  nightclub. Though such an absurd procedure would be miles
                  outside our Tradition, the group's "right to be wrong" would
                  be held inviolate. We are sure that each group can be granted,
                  and safely granted, these most extreme privileges. We know
                  that our familiar process of trial and error would summarily
                  eliminate both the preacher and the nightclub. These severe
                  growing pains which invariably follow any radical departure
                  from AA Tradition can be absolutely relied upon to bring an
                  erring group back into line. An AA group need not be coerced
                  by any human government over and above its own members. Their
                  own experience, plus AA opinion in surrounding groups, plus
                  God's prompting in their group conscience would be sufficient.
                  Much travail has already taught us this. Hence we may
                  confidently say to each group, "You should be responsible to
                  no other authority than your own conscience."

                  Yet please note one important qualification. It will be seen
                  that such extreme liberty of thought and action applies only
                  to the group's own affairs. Rightly enough, this Tradition
                  goes on to say, "But when its plans concern the welfare of
                  neighboring groups also, these groups ought to be consulted."
                  Obviously, if any individual, group, or regional committee
                  could take an action that might seriously affect the welfare
                  of Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole or seriously disturb
                  surrounding groups, that would not be liberty at all. It would
                  be sheer license; it would be anarchy, not democracy.

                  Therefore, we AAs have universally adopted the principle of
                  consultation. This means that if a single AA group wishes to
                  take an action that might affect surrounding groups, it
                  consults them. Or, it confers with the intergroup committee
                  for the area, if there be one. Likewise, if a group or
                  regional committee wishes to take any action that might affect
                  AA as a whole, it consults the trustees of the Alcoholic
                  Foundation, who are, in effect, our overall general service
                  committee. For instance, no group or inter group could feel
                  free to initiate, without consultation, any publicity that
                  might affect AA as a whole. Nor could it assume to represent
                  the whole of Alcoholics Anonymous by printing and distributing
                  anything purporting to be AA standard literature. This same
                  principle would naturally apply to all similar situations.
                  Though there is no formal compulsion to do so, all
                  undertakings of this general character are customarily checked
                  with our AA general Headquarters.

                  This idea is clearly summarized in the last sentence of
                  Tradition Four, which observes, "On such issues our common
                  welfare is paramount."


                  Copyright © The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., March 1948