William Penn, 1957 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1957-11-06 / 11. szám
PAGE 4 November 20, 1957. William Penn Journal of the William Penn Fraternal Association OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 7907 West Jefferson Ave. Detroit 17, Michigan PUBLISHED SEMIMONTHLY BY THE William Penn Fraternal Association Managing Editor: COLOMAN REVESZ Editors: JOHN SABO and ALBERT J. STELKOVICS Editor’s Office: 435—442 FOURTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH 19, PA. Telephone: COurt 1-3454 or 1-3455 All articles and changes of address should be sent to the WILLIAM PENN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION 436—442 FOURTH AVENUE, PITTSBURGH 19, PA. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States and Canada ..................................... $1.00 a year Foreign Countries .................................................... $1.50 a year Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post Office at Detroit, Michigan under the Act of March 3, 1879.--------------------------------THANKSGIVING DAY Thanksgiving Day this year will be celebrated on November 28 By an Act of Congress (1941), this great American holiday is observed nationally on the fourth Thursday in November. Although days of thanks stem from ancient times according to researching scholars, our own American Thanksgiving is believed to go back to the day of thanks ordered by Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony in New England in 1621. Thereafter until the time of Lincoln Thanksgiving was celebrated irregularly in the various sections of the country, al though in many cases this festival after establishment became an annual affair. In short, the origin of our American Thanksgiving is credited to the Pilgrims, who, having fled persecution and come to the shores of America, originally called for this celebration after their first harvest in 1621. The regular yearly observance of this great day is attributable to President Lincoln, and each president has followed his example. With the exception of Christmas, no other holiday in our country possesses the warmth and the intimacy of Thanksgiving Day. Like Christmas, which it precedes by a little more or a little less than a month, Thanksgiving is a wonderful occasion for family reunion, when relatives join one another, coming sometimes from afar, to partake together in the family feast, later to gather by the proverbial fireside for hours of cheer and chitchat. Thanksgiving Day is more than just a day of epicurean tables, of turkey (or other fowl), stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and all the trimmin’s. It is truly the day when we ought to give special thanks to God for all the bountiful blessings, spiritual and material, which He has bestowed on each and every one of us. Unless we do this, we fail to observe the real meaning and spirit of the day. The feasting itself, which is perfectly proper, is but the manifestation of the Creator’s beneficence to His creatures. It would appear almost as if by divine decree that Thanksgiving as a holiday of national magnitude be the wonderful privilege of our land, for no other people and no other nation has received so much both spiritually and materially. Consider just these which we usually take for granted — Freedom of Religion, of Assemblage, of Speech, of the Press; food in superabundance and modern conveniences galore. Yes, we here have Thanksgiving because we have everything. We Americans are a privileged lot whose great blessing is a very beautiful holiday called Thanksgiving Day, the day of thankfulness for many many blessings that are ours. BE THERE WHEN DISASTER STRIKES: SUPPORT YOUR RED CROSS! National Secretary, Albert J. Stelkovics, Speaker at the West Virginia Fraternal Congress The West Virginia Fraternal Congress held its Convention in the City of WHEELING, West Virginia, October 12, 1957. Mrs. Alta Dunnington, President of the Congress invited our National Secretary to be a speaker on the afternoon program. Mr. STELKOVICS chose as his subject “Field Work and Underwriting”. The audience enjoyed the instructive and stimulating talk. Also present at the Congress representing the William Penn Fraternal Association was Mr. GUS G. NAGY, Field Supervisor of Field II to which West Virginia also belongs. Mr. GUS G. NAGY served as an executive committee member during the past year to the West Virginia Fraternal Congress. ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS Happenings That Affect the Future of Every Individual. National and International Problems Inseparable from Local Welfare You are going to hear a great deal about the four-day work week as time goes on. It is a major goal of many of the big labor unions. Walter Reuther will seek a shortened week — without pay cuts — when the United Auto Workers and the motor makers enter into contract negotiations next year. And no less a personage than Vice President Nixon thinks the four-day week will be commonplace in the not too distant future. This is, of course, a highly controversial matter, with many opposed arguments on either side. The labor leaders say that increased worker productivity, resulting from automation and other causes, make the short week logical and inevitable. Industry leaders, for the most part, deny this, and are convinced that the result would be more inflation at an extraordinarily heavy cost to the country. Such considerations to one side, there is another extremely interesting aspect to the matter. It is discussed in an article appearing in Parade magazine for October 13, written by Sid Ross and Ed Kiester. The gist of it is found in their title: “Do you Really Want a Four-Day Week?” On first glance, that may seem a foolish question to many. They’ll reason that the answer of America’s workers can’t help but be an enthusiastic “Yes!” However, as Messrs. Ross and Kiester show, it isn’t that simple and clear cut by any means. First of all, they quote surveys by the Trendex News Poll and Dr. Gallup’s American Institute of Public Opinion which indicate that a majority of Americans don’t want the short week. The Gallup Poll, for instance, showed that 54 per cent of men are against it — and an overwhelming 67 per cent of women. The Trendex poll came up with the news that most people prefer more income to more leisure. In this connection, a machinist told the polltaker: “With a four day week, I’d have another day at home with nothing to do.” Such attitudes' are supported by a New York University economist who says: “I doubt that a four-day week is likely in the near future without a reduction in pay — and people won’t pay the price.” But even if that situation should change, the authors of the article go on to show, othe^ problems would remain. They quote a psychiatrist as predicting that the short week would produce more broken homes: “Husband and wife are thrown together just two days a week; they can stand that. But the extra day might be enough to push them over the brink.” An other psychiatrist thinks the short week might result in a better family relationship, yet warns that “. , . with three days of leisure, Americans might face many, many more temptations.” The article also points out that if the four-day week spread to school — which would certainly seem reasonable if it were general in industry — big dislocations would result. Here the former U.S. Commissioner of Education says: “At the moment most educators would oppose shortening the school week. It’s not the same as speeding up an assembly line.” Time will tell v/hat is to happen. One thing is sure — the four-day week is going to be a subject of hot debate for a longtime to come.
