Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1960-06-01 / 6. szám

8

FRATERNITY

INVESTMENTS

Although in our By-Laws there is no provision for it, during the past twenty-five years the placing of investments belonged among the duties of the staff of officers, on the basis of the authorization and direction of the Supreme Council. So the staff of officers was active as the Investment Committee of the Supreme Council. The procedure is that we investigate the security possibilities of the investment based on the opinion of our financial advisor, and, if we find it satisfactory, availing ourselves of the services of our attorney, we execute the investment and authorize the remittance. Excepted from this are the Hungarian church loans, about the granting of which the Committee makes the decision according to the conditions determined by the Supreme Council. We have carried out every single investment case on the basis of joint discussion, and I can assure you that all of our investments proved to be sound and that the interest rate shows growing percentage from year to year.

UNDETERMINED TASKS

Among the directions concerning my duties there is a sentence that sounds insignificant: “He (the president) handles all matters which by their nature are to be attended by the central offices but which are

not listed specifically under the jurisdiction or duties of the respective offices.” This innocent sounding sentence has come to mean, these days, that a very considerable time and energy of my office must be devoted to carrying out these duties “not listed specifically”. I should add right away: Thank God for that! Our settlement in the nation’s capital, our

official paper, other publications and — not least — the religious and social services performed by invitation by our staff of officers, made our Federation so widely known that there was hardly any corner of the world from which we did not receive inquiries or requests. No matter how fantastic or impossible some of these were, we never left any of

them unanswered. Whenever we could, we helped with advice, information and also, occasionally, material things (medicine, clothing, food), because we wanted the scattered refugee Hungarians to feel the spirit of fraternity.

OFFICIAL PAPER

Since 1932 I have been editing our official paper, which was first known as “Református Újság”, then, after a few years, as “Testvériség- Fraternity”. I attended to this task during four years as a member of the Supreme Council, eight years as field secretary, thirteen years as

national secretary and the last three years as president. I did it with pleasure because of my conviction, which has grown stronger and stronger over the quarter of a century, that this paper is indispensable for us. Through the official reports published in it, our members receive a clear picture about the state of their Federation, which has few precedents among similar organizations. In addition, the paper is the monthly visitor which, in the era of the weakened or almost extinct, old-fashioned type branch-life, reminds the member of his belonging to our beloved fraternal community. Through its bi lingual nature it reaches