Fraternity-Testvériség, 1953 (31. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1953-10-01 / 10. szám
IN PLAIN AMERICAN A monthly page conducted by Edmund Vasvary A few words of greeting are appropriate here to the Rev. Alexander Daróczy, who was elected by our Supreme Council to fill the place of the second Vice President, vacated by the death of Albert Fiok. At the convention of 1952 Rev. Daróczy was the third candidate for this office, beside the Rev. Charles Papp, our present first Vice President, and the late Albert Fiok, receiving an impresive number of votes. Since he was the only candidate besides the two successful ones, the Supreme Council elected him to succeed Albert Fiok. For one term Rev. Daróczy was a member of the Supreme Council, giving conscientious and valuable service to the Federation. We are certain that in his new office he will be able to render the same type of work and service. ★ ★ ★ Our newest publication in Hungarian, a booklet about the famous Martin Koszta case (currently published in installments in the “Testvériség”) by Dr. Andor Sziklay, which happened one hundred years ago, is already very popular. The American Hungarian Federation already distributed several hundred copies. The price of the booklet is 50 cents. Write for your copy to our Home Office. ★ ★ ★ The tragic death of Dr. Geza Soos was a terrible blow to all of us. Fired with the unquenchable zeal of the old time prophets, this young man of our times made an indelible mark wherever he had the opportunity to work. As a true follower of the Master, he “became obedient unto death.” ( Philipp. 2:8.) ★ ★ ★ In one of our branches four children who had the popular 25 cents insurance, had to be dropped from membership because non-payment of dues. In August one of the children was accidentally killed, and the branch secretary asked us for “instructions.” Naturally the only instruction we could give was the obvious one: the Federation has no obligation whatever to former members who dropped out. Life insurance is growing in importance every day, — don’t neglect to pay your or your family’s dues! ★ ★ ★ We had a similar case elsewhere. A number of children were given insurance certificates, but as it happens in some cases, the father neglected the payments entirely and after several months there wasn’t a penny paid. Then came the tragedy: one of the boys was killed by a speeding automobile. After the boy was dead, the father rushed to the branch secretary with the dues but naturally, it was too late. When we did not pay anything, the indignant father wrote to us, asking: “What’s the story?” We told him the “story” in plain words that his son was never a member of our Federation, since not a single penny was paid on his insurance certificate. ★ ★ ★ Some branch secretaries have a harmful habit, that is: harmful to them. From their own pocket they pay the dues of some members in arrears, just to save them from being dropped, but naturally hoping that sometime their money will be repaid. The sad experience however is that many of these good-hearted people are in for a bitter disappointment: they never see their money. Some of them turn to the Federation for reimbursement in vain, since the Federation cannot acknowledge and pay for such debts. Others swallow their disappointment, making a strong resolution: Never again! In these two words we are trying to give pure advice to our good-hearted friends: Never again! If you don’t follow this advice, sooner or later you will be sorry! ★ ★ ★ As our members know, the Federation places a wreath on the coffins of our deceased members. Many families however, have the mistaken idea that the price of the wreath is due to them and ask that the amount be paid to them. We must emphasize that the wreath is the symbol of the Federation’s sympathy to the deceased member and has nothing to do with the family or the amount of insurance. If there was no wreath, we cannot pay the price of it to anyone, except in cases when the family requests the Home Office that the amount should be turned over to our Bethlen Home as a donation in memory of the deceased member. And another thing: the price of the wreath is always paid by the Home Office. Don’t you ever deduct it from your monthly collections! ★ ★ ★ The Hungarian recipe books published by a few enterprising ladies’ societies, are continuing to be in great demand, all of them having reached several sizable editions. For those who did not order their copies as yet, we publish the names (Continued on Page 4)
