Verhovayak Lapja, 1947 (30. évfolyam, 1-24. szám)
1947 / Verhovay Journal
VOLUME XXX DECEMBER 31, 1947 51 NO. 24 AMENDED BY-LAWS GO INTO EFFECT — A Review Of The Changes Affecting Verhovav’s Management, Operations And Benefits. — IS3 The district meetings of the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association voted by an overwhelming majority of 135 affirmative over 13 opposed votes to ratify the amendments to the By laws adopted by the XXI. National Convention. The amended By-laws, therefore, going into effect on January 1st, 1948, will already be in force by the time this issue of the Journal reaches our readers. How the amended By-laws will affect the management and the operations of the Association and the privileges and benefits of the members, will be explained in the following. Our readers are requested to keep this issue of the Journal on file for future reference. Judging from past experience we may expect a great volume of inquiries from our branch-officers and fellow-members during the next few months, though the subjects of most of these inquiries will have been dealt with in this review. We urge our fellow-members to study the information rendered in this article and, thereby, avoid misunderstanding and unnecessary correspondence. The new provisions are reviewed here in the order as they appear in the By-laws of the Association. THE CONVENTION In the past, an electoral district consisted of at least 300 members. Each branch having more than 300 adult members constituted a district by itself. The delegates to the National Convention were elected by these districts according to the following key: 300 to 450 members 1 delegate, 451 to 750 members 2 delegates, 751 to 1050 members 3 delegates and so forth. Hereafter an electoral district shall consist of at least 400 members. A branch, to constitute an electoral district by itself, also must have at least 400 adult members. Each district will elect a delegate to the National Convention for every 400 members. In other words, districts embracing at least 400, but not more than 799 members, shall elect 1 delegate each; 800 to 1199 members shall be represented by 2; 1200 to 1599 shall be represented by three delegates, etc. Qualifications for eligibility to the National Conventi«n have been modified as follows: “American born members, or those who have attended American elementary (grade) schools, and who are in good standing are eligible to be representatives in the English speaking districts”, provided they are “American citizens, have attained the age of 21, have been members of the death and sick benefit departments for two years on the day of election,hold at least a Five Hundred Dollar certificate in the death benefit class, and are duly elected representatives of their resp, branches.” The requirement of membership in the sick benefit class may be waived only in the cases of veterans, who “due to illness or injury suffered in World War II., could not be reinstated in the Sick Benefit Department.”' “Reinstated” is the decisive term in this provision which means that such veterans are eligible to the National Convention only if 1.) they had been members of the sick benefit department before enteringmilitary service, 2.) their membership had been automatically cancelled by the Association due to their induction, 3.) they have applied for reinstatement in the sick benefit class upon their return to civilian life and 4.) their application had been rejected due to injury, or illness, contracted while in military service. THE DISTRICT SESSIONS Heretofore, each branch having at least 15 members had the right to send a delegate to the district sessions and branches having more than 100 members had the right to send one additional delegate for every 100 members, or fraction thereof. Hereafter, each branch having at least 25 members shall have the right to send a representative to the district sessions and the branches shall be represented according to the following key: from 25 to 199 members by 1 delegate, from 200 to 299 RING OUT, WILD BELLS Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the time; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of good. Ring out the old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousands wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be. —Alfred Tennyson. members by 2 delegates and from 300 to 399 members by 3 delegates. The names of the district delegates must be submitted to the Home Office. The requirements of eligibility to the district sessions have been tightened. Members of the Board of Directors and the Auditing Committee, National Officers, Field Supervisors and District Managers cannot be elected as delegates to the district sessions. Only such members are eligible to be district delegates who meet all the qualifications required of the delegates to the National Convention. In other words, the rules covering the election of convention delegates apply also to the election of representatives to the district sessions. Important changes have been effected in regards to the jurisdiction of the district sessions. In the past, the recommendations of the Board of Directors as to amendments to the By-laws had been submitted to the district sessions for preliminarystudy and tentative action. Hereafter, the recommendations of the Board of Directors will be mailed to the branches in the month of December preceding the National Convention. When acting upon these recommendations, the number of votes to be cast by each branch will be the equivalent of the number of its adult members. In the event the recommendations of the Board of Directors are approved by the majority of votes cast by the branches subsequently adopted by the Convention, they shall become effective. On the other hand, recommendations presented directly to the National Convention, if adopted by that body, will be subsequently submitted for final approval to the branches (and not the district meetings) and will become effective if approved by the majority of votes cast by the branches. (Continued on page 2)
