Official Organ Of the Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas. Founded 1897. BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 56 — NO. 4
HUMANITY
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE SPJST, POB 100, TEMPLE, TEX. 76501
JANUARY 24, 1968
FROM THE EMOWS D SK THIS', THAT, AND THE OTHER Social Security Increases. The new SS law, signed by President Johnson, will give 24 million persons SS benefits in the form of increases of at least 13 per cent. They will also mean bigger payroll deductions on the part of the employee and the employer. The 4.4 per cent SS tax will henceforth be applied against the first $7,800 of earnings, instead of the present $6,600. Under the new provision, the minimum monthly allotments to a retired worker will be increased from $44 to $55, and for a couple from $66 to $83. Those whose monthly salaries in their working years averaged $650 or more will get an increase from $168 to $218, and couples from $252 to $328. This year, the rate of taxation will also increase in a series of steps until it reaches 5.9 per cent of the first $7,800 of annual income in 1987. Heretofore, the maximum contribution to social security by an employee earning $6,600 or more has been $290.40. By raising the maximum to $7,800 the new maximum tax will go to $343.20 this year. The new schedule of rate increases will gradually increase the maximum to $460.20 by 1987. To sum it all up: the present recipients of SS
THE WINDS OF FATE One ship drives east and another drives west With the selfsame winds that blow. 'Tis the set of the sails And not the gales Which tells us the way to go. Like the, winds of the sea are the ways of fate, As we voyage along through life: 'Tis the set of a soul That decides its goal And not the calm or the strife. --Ella Wheeler Wilcox benefits will get more, but those paying will have to pay more. • ♦ Too much is too much. Some oldtimers in the Central Texas area are saying that this has been one of the wettest falls and winters on record. If it isn't, it won't miss it by much. We've seen very little sun since way before Christmas, and when the sun did come out, it was only for a day or so. The fields are really soaked — but good. It would take at least three weeks of sunshine to dry out enough for farmers to venture out into the field. Areas of West Texas have gotten rain, but nothing like we have here. Last year
at this time, we were in the middle of a 7-month drought. The Weatherman seems to take us from one extreme to another. SPJST Bldg. Income and Expense. From the •directors'annual financial statement appearing in this issue, we see further evidence that the present structure serving as our headquarters office is on the verge of putting us in the red ink column, insofar as comparing income from rentals and expenses related thereto are concerned. Total income from rental space in 1967 was $27,931.62. Expenses for the same period totalled $27,650.81. This gave us a "whopping" gain of $280.81 for the year. While on the subject of expenses, I predict that the 1968 convention will cost us in the neighborhood of 70 to 75 thousand dollars. The last one cost us in excess of $60,000, and this one will beat it by several thousand dollars. • Fraternal Questionnaire. Has your lodge compiled the fraternal questionnaire mailed out earlier by the Supreme Lodge? If it hasn't, be sure that it is filled out soon, and moreover, that it is filled out completely. We have stressed the importance of this questionnaire many times, so suffice it to