Bethlen Naptár, 1956 (Ligonier)
Our Federation from 1936 to 1956
158 BETHLEN NAPTÁR The meaning of the change is revealed by this single fact: during the two first years of the new Home Office, in 1936 and 1937, the number of newly written adult and juvenile members was 5089. The new officers started their work Jan. 1, 1936 with $961,700.34 admitted assets. At the beginning of Aug., 1955, these assets were increased to $7,- 034,372.86. In the year 1935 all the branches of the Federation sent in $196,433.06 in dues, loan payments and interests. During the summer of 1955, based on the contributions of the members, the Federation reached a new milestone: the contributions of all branches in dues alone will be over one million dollars a year. A special headache was our Sick Benefit department. For many years this department was operated at a loss, steadily depleting the modest assets of the Sick Benefit Fund. During the eight years between 1932 and 1939 the total loss was $19,- 625.62, which means an average loss of $2,453.00 per year. At the end of 1939 the total assets of this fund were $4,805.27. During the next eight years, beginning with the year 1940, the income of this department was $38,172.57 more than the disbursements, meaning an average gain of $4,771.00 annually over the amount of claims. The Sick Benefit Fund is now over $100,000.00. Much could be written in proving that the audacious step of 1935 brought forth very substantial gains in every respect. Without introducing the modern methods and without creating a new unified Home Office, only gradual deterioration would have been the fate of the Federation. During these twenty years the work of the Auditor’s department multiplied also. While at the beginning of 1936 we had to work with 12,720 members and certificates, this figure grew to $34,980.00 by the end of August, 1955. The Auditor has five co-workers in his department. Their duty is to settle all adult and juvenile death claims, all sick benefit and hospitalization claims, all loan, interest and surrender cases, orphans’ deposits; to prepare all payroll and tax work, a great amount of statistical and bookeeping work, auditing every income and disbursement and giving payment vouchers to the treasurer. The Auditor’s department enters all individual payments on the cards of the members and distributes the amounts according to the different funds. This department prepares the monthly report sheets for every branch in duplicate, with all the latest changes entered every month. It also carefully registers every small or big change in the membership roll and on the individual cards, and prepares a trial balance each month. All this work necessitates a great amount of correspondence in English and in Hungarian. All this means a tremendous amount of incessant work, consuming every working minute. In spite of the multiplied work and results, there are at the present time only 13 people working in the Home Office. At the start in 1936 there were 8 people, officers included. Twenty years ago many people were worried about the future of the Fderation. Today there are few such worries. Members and leaders can await the 60th anniversary and the next Convention with confidence and satisfaction. ÖDÖN VARVÁRY, Auditor.
