Verhovayak Lapja, 1947 (30. évfolyam, 1-24. szám)
1947 / Verhovay Journal
VOL. XXX. AUGUST 27, 1947 51 NO. 16 RAISING SOME POINTS OF ORDER Some District’s Recommendations Out Of Order Due To Misconceptions Benefit Dance For Hungary’s Orphans To Highlight National Convention! — Pittsburgh Chapter 117 of American Hungarian Relief, Inc., Sponsors Dance To Be Held Saturday, September 13, at Fort Pitt Hotel. — The most representative assembly of Americans of Hungarian descent, the officers of the Verhovay F. I. Association and the 148 delegates to the National Convention, will attend a dance to be held on Saturday, September 13th, beginning at 8:30 P.M., in the F.nglish Room of Fort Pitt Hotel, the headquarters of the Convention, for the benefit of Hungary’s war orphans. The affair is sponsored by Chapter 117 of the American Hungarian Relief, Inc., whose outstanding contributions to the Hungarian relief program have stirred the hearts of American Hungarians all over the country during the last year. With this benefit dance, Chapter 117 enters the second year of its prolific activities. The first year was immensely successful, so much so, that Mme. Tildy, Hungary’s First Lady, when visiting Pittsburgh, made a point of specially mentioning the valuable aid rendered by this small but courageous group whose slogan, “600,000 Shoes For Hungary” became a byword among Americans of Hungarian descent. Horvath Guszti’s famous Hungarian gipsy orchestra has been engaged for the Benefit Dance. The Dance Committee is headed by Miss Yolanda Bencze chairman, who is assisted by Miss Vilma Balogh, in charge of tickets, Miss Molly Roncsol, Mrs. Lewis Diera, Miss Helen Erdeky, Mrs. Manci Kurjack, Miss Margaret Evans, Miss Sári Masztics and Mrs. Margaret Beres. Admission to this informal affair is $1.50 per person and tickets may be purchased from the members of the Committee or ordered from Mr. Julius Lenart, Treasurer of Chapter 117, (436 Fourth Ave., Verhovay Bldg., Pittsburgh, 19, Pa., telephone COurt 3454 or 3455). * The friends of Chapter 117, members of the Verhovay, supporters of the relief-movement, readers of the Journal and, last but not least, the officers of the Verhovay F. I. Associatiifh and the delegates to the National Convention, and their families, are cordially invited by the Benefit Dance Committee of Chapter 117, American Hungarian Relief, Inc. Memorial Meeting To Be Held By New York Branch 48 The members and friends of branch 48, New York, N. Y., are invited to attend a special meeting to be held in honor of two hero dead Verhovay members and their bereaved families on Thursday, Octobér 2, 1947, at the Arpad Hall, 323 East 82nd Street, beginning at 8 P.M. The portraits of the late Louis Szkocsek and Zoltán Puskas, who had given their lives in World War II., will be presented to the next of kin at this occasion, by director Aloysius C. Falussy, Atty. It is hoped that all members of Branch 48 will be present to witness the solemn ceremonies. The members of the Association have spoken. Their opinions and proposals have been recorded and published in the Journal. Now it is up to the National Convention to take final actions on all the recommendations presented by the district meetings to the highest forum of the Association. The Proceedings of the District Meetings have been published without editorial comment. Since it is impossible to explain an issue without, at the same time, judging it, any comment, either favorable or unfavorable, on the recommendations of the districts would constitute a violation of the prerogatives of the National Convention. However, if the Convention is to discharge its task in an efficient and constructive manner, it is imperative that it consider only matters which are the proper business of the National Convention. Every minute of the Convention costs at least $7.00. These, indeed, are “precious minutes”. It is the moral duty of the delegates to insist that these precious minutes be not wasted on irrelevant matters. Those who are well acquainted with the By-laws, the procedures and affairs of the Association, can’t help noticing that many of the districts’ recommendations are based on false premises, erroneous interpretations of the Board of Directors’ proposals, and various other misconceptions. We believe that some of the Convention’s costly time can be saved by explaining some of these errors, and, thereby, relieving the assembly of the necessity of engaging in lengthy debates on selfevident matters. The following is a brief study of district actions that have no proper place in the order of business of the National Convention. How many votes? Many of the districts had misunderstood the Board of Directors recommendation pertaining to par. 8, to wit: “The delegates of branches which at the closing preceedlng the District Sessions have more than 100 members, shall have an additional vote for each 100 members.” The true intent of the director’s proposed amendment is clearly indicated by both its title and text. Yet, the recommendation was rejected by several districts on the ground that the delegates to the National Convention having only one vote each would be subject to undue influence on the part of delegates having several votes, were this measure adopted. Obviously, no such measure was recommended by the Board of Directors in reference to the delegates to the National Convention. The proposal refers only to representation of branches at the district meetings, which is the subject of par. 8. In this instance the districts’ action was out of order because they rejected a recommendation which was never made. Sick Benefits Several districts recommended the- amending of the provisions pertaining to Sick Benefits, to the effect that certification of weekly treatments be not required of patients whose disability does not warrant so frequent medical attention. This recommendation is out of order because such rule already has been in effect for a number of years. In fact, definite instructions to that effect appear on the medical certificate of the sick benefit claim, reading as follows: “If weekly treatments are not necessary, please certify the fact.” Such sick benefit claims ara not honored only if the attending physician has failed to certify the fact that weekly treatments were not required. The provision recommended already being in force, no amendment of the By-laws is necessary and, therefore, the recommendation is out of order. Another district recommended that “ex-servicemen who previously had sick benefits, be given special consideration in this respect within one year of their return.” Such provisions had been enacted by the Board of Directors about two years ago, and ever since, special consideration has been given to all servicemen desiring to re-join the Sick Benefit Department. The provision recommended already being in force, the recommendation is out of order. Most of the districts have adopted recommendations concerning the Sick Benefit Department, notwithstanding the announcement of the Board of Directors to the effect that recommendations cannot be intelligently discussed until the preparatory calculations required by the Insurance Department and the drafting of recommendations on their basis, will have been completed. In view of this statement it certainly was not proper to commit the delegates to recommendations of which no one knew whether or not they may be lawfully enacted. Dividends. Almost every district adopted a recommendation that annual dividends, at the rate of 3% of the reserves, be paid to the membership as long as the ratio of assets to liabilities exceeds 110%. This recommendation, based on a formerly applied plan of computing dividends, derived its unprecedented popularity from a circular letter mailed to all districts. The supporters of this recommendation completely ignored the instructions of the Insurance Department, according to which “dividends are to be computed on a scientific basis in conformity with the provisions of the insurance statutes.” In the past, when supervision was not as strict as it is today, fraternal societies were free to indulge in amateurish practices which were as popular with the membership as they were detrimental to the Association. The computation of dividends on the basis of reserves and solvency valuation was an amateurish practice. Strict adherence to sound business principles is demanded today and, therefore, the dividends declared at the end of 1946 were computed in accordance with the then well publicized instructions of the Insurance Department and future dividends must be computed in the same manner. Recommendations contradiciting the insurance statutes are definitely out of order. Juvenile Death-Benefits Several districts recommended that full death benefits be paid on juvenile membership certificates at the age of 6. This recommendation is out of order because the Convention has no power to enact such provision. The maximum death benefits payable on juvenile insurance policies and certificates are determined by the insurance statutes of the various states most of which provide for the grading of juvenile death benefits up to the age of 10 or 11, (like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, etc.) Simplified Applications Some districts petition the National Convention to order the simplification of the applications for membership by reducing the number of questions appearing on these forms. These forms have been developed after consultation with the insurance departments whose approval had to be secured before the forms could be used in the various states. Applications for ordinary insurance policies of any other insurance company contain no less questions than Verhovay’s application forms. Under these circumstances it is difficult to see how further simplifaction could be efected. 90 days or 30? Several districts rejected the recommendation of the Board that in article 18 of par. 31, “90 days” be replaced with “30 days”. It seems that many of the objectors took this recommendation to refer section 2 of par. 31, which provides for a grace period of 30 days. Objection to the recommendation on such grounds is out of order because the directors did not propose the reduction of the grace-period. They recommended only the limitation to 30 days of the period within which application for any of the surrender value options may be made, wiiich is an entirely different matter. Bonded Officers One of the districts recommended that all branch-treasurers be bonded as a protection against theft or robbery. There is no need for the presentation and discussion of such a recommendation because all local and national officers of the Association are bonded. The Monthly Reports Several districts demand that the mailing of the monthly reports be expedited by an act of the Convention. The supervision of the Home Office is the business of the Board of Directors and not the National Convention, (By-laws 10, section f.) and, therefore, the demand, as a matter to be presented to the National Convention, is out of order. The early completion of the i processing of the Monthly Reports is as important to the Home Office as it is to the branchmanagers. In the first part of the year, however, several announcements were released explaining taht delays are to be expected for some time, due to the conversion to the Remington-Rand book-keeping system. A new cardsystem for the then 56,000 members of the Association had to be set up and, after transferring the data from the old cards to the punch-cards, they had to be checked and double-checked, while the regular monthly routine still had to be maintained. In the meantime, the Workingmens Sick Benefit Federation merged with the Association which further complicated matters. The most difficult part of the gigantic task has been completed and the errors, unavoidable at operations of such magnitude, are being weeded out at this time. The monthly reports already are mailed out earlier than two or three months ago, and, shortly, they wiil be mailed earlier than ever before. The costly time of I the Convention should not be taken up with such purely technical matters.
