Official Organ Of The Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas, Founded 1897. HUMANITY
BENEVOLENCE VOLUME 59 — NO. 52
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE SPJST, P.O. Box 100, TEMPLE, TEX. 76501
DECEMBER 29, 1971
PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE AND REPORT lodges have already elected their delegates, or if not, will do , so in the remaining weeks of 1971. lnease report their names to Brother Urbanovsky's office, if you have not already done so. The number of delegates will be the largest ever; as of September 15, 1971, our lodges were entitled to a total representation of 307 ; delegates. Of course, some of the lodges will not send a delegate or delegates, but that will be offset by whatever increase in membership takes place between now and 60 days before the convention. A lodge losing the required number of members after the election and before the convention will not lose any delegate strength (Art. 4-c and 4 (a) 3 of our by-laws).
Dear Members, It has been October since I reported to you. That was not too long after my return from the hospital. Since my return to the office on 'almost a full schedule, most of my time and efforts (and that of the other officers) has been spent working on the by-laws to be considered by the next convention in June of 1972. Tii, by-law committee has met and considered our proposals for changes and they will appear in the Vestnik as time and space allow. We feel we have excellent committee and that they w11 view everything with groat care and with an open mind. We believe our proposals have merit. They were submitted after long and careful consideration by the entire Supreme Lodge. We believe they are in the best interest of our Society. There will be more proposals from various individuals and from different lodges. It is every member's prerogative to submit such proposals. It is possible the By-Law Committee will not submit all our proposals to the convention delegates, and it is also quite likely that some of them submitted by the committee will not be accepted by the delegates. For the first time, the Supreme Lodge is submitting reasons, or reasoning, behind each major change so that the delegates and members will know WHY such a change is being proposed. If you don't
agree with all or part of our proposals, be prepared to tell the convention WHY you disagree and have some facts (and/or figures) to back you up. The final decision will be up to the convention delegates. Don't let emotions rule your reasoning. If you don't agree, you have the privilege and opportunity to let your views be known, both before the convention and during, if you are a delegate. The convention will be here before you know it — June 18, 1972, in the Rice Hotel in Houston. Most of the
Besides an increase in membership since the last convention, the principal reason for an increase in the number of delegates is that members with paidup certificates were counted this time, and this was not the case in 1968. We had 220 delegates to the Dallas convention, so we see a sizable increase in the number of delegates. Since the last convention, we have also had 6 lodges to disband; 5 lodges merged with other ;lodges. At the present time, we afre carrying 130 lodges on our roster so that we should have 130 lodges represented at the coming convention, if they are all represented. The last year has been an historic one for the SPJST in more ways than