The Workmen's Circle 35th Jubilee Convention
The Workmen's Circle 35th Jubilee Convention 35 YEARS OF THE WORKMEN'S CIRCLE By J.B. A JEWISH LABOR FRATERNAL ORDER apsj; Workmen's Circle was not, T-fcf say means, among the first ¦...
...Problems of the Convention And it is with pride that we find ourselves one of the few fraternal orders that has not decreased in membership during the last year...
...The YCLA is non-political in crmraeter...
...Labor in Orientation, NanPolitical in Character From its very inception some seven years ago, the YCLA has had as its aim, "to provide youth with an opportunity for physical, w, intellectual, social ^and ethical (levelop- ment in an atmosphere s y m p sthetie to the ideals of the Labor movement.'* This has been no hollow slogan, no abstract aim...
...It is our purpose to mold this vast strata of unassirailated youth into tnt finished product of a more rational society...
...all colors, all nationalities—youth of every opinion and leaning...
...Social-fdacotioMl in Method The broader social aim of the YCLA is intrinsically tied up with its immediate program of educational, recreational and fraternal n-.th-it...
...In order further to aid in these deliberations the National Executive Committee of the Workmen's i Circle, which will soon yield office to the newly elected body, has, as (Continued on Page Eight) is the custom, at a Tecent meeting adopted many important recommendations which it shall present to the convention for approval...
...At these conventions the chairman, vice-chairman, the treasurer and the rest of the officers of the Workmen's Circle are elected for a period of two years...
...A unique youth organization ? A youth organization with a distinction...
...All oppressions and discriminations agaii st the laborer and the Jew have always been valiantly fought by the Workmen's Circle and we may rightfully point with pride to the salient fact that the Workmen's Circle was the necessary initiating impetus to establish the existing Jewish Labor Committee which evolved from a general conference to find means to battle the menace of fascism...
...Nor is this a run-of-the-mill conf ere nee of routine deliberations...
...From the first day of its existence the League has tied up its hopes and destinies with thost" of the organised Xabor movement...
...Combining these two elements of necessity and ideal brings to mind the Biblical analogy of Jacob's dream of a ladder: its' top reaching into the heavens, its ends rooted in the earthy soil...
...and because he •at forced to live from hand to Matt with little insurance against Jessie or disability...
...Social Revolutionaries, ¦¦its and others soon began to B^P the ranks of an organization itoe very preamble had accepted "pod relationship with the rad3L th movement aml >n short jffgf the zeal of the revolutionary the laborer with an ideal, B^BJ an indelible mark on the gjT*ct*r of the Workmen's Circle now a Jewish Radical ^~*>eation became the means toL° en<l in the Workmen's Bm...
...A Convention arrangements committee, under the chairmanship of E. Jeshurin, has prepared a series of events and functions which will make this 35th Convention a landmark in the history of the Workmen's Circle as well as in the lives of each individual delegate...
...J7ROM the far corners of the * United States and Canada, with enthusiasm rampant, some thousand delegates representing practically every branch of the Workmen's Circle will assemble in a huge Thirty-fifth Jubilee Convention in New York for the week of May 5th to 12th...
...The aim and aeteese of our founders can no totter be illustrated than by turning to the keynote of their Deckration of Principles in which they •wgnated themselves as "Friends" —4m friends they were: friends in ¦ttd and friends in deed...
...After the gala opening at Madison Square Garden where the Workmen's Circle choir and a symphony orchestra will entertain in between greetings and addresses, a series of affairs are planned which include a luncheon at the Mecca Temple, a noteworthy dramatic and choral evening at the Peoples Theatre, an evening of Workmen's Circle school presentations at the Manhattan Opera House and a legitimate performance of "Carmen", tendered by the Chicago Opera Company at the Hippodrome...
...Baikal Beginnings of the W. C. With the advent of the 20th century and intense Czarist persecutisn in Russia a new element, the islfcll workers and revolutionaries, came to these shores for shelter...
...Therein lies ts distinction — therein is its uniqueness...
...This the Young Circle league holds out to its members as a worthy goal to strive and fight for —through education, through agitation and concrete day-to-day activity...
...The convention however, in session, will give the final verdict in all cases...
...Every branch has exerted almost impossible efforts in a concentrated drive to attain the quota of new members prescribed by the National Executive Committee...
...But although all wheels are moving smoothly, alchough all departments can report progress still this y e a r, as every other year, there are many weighty matters to be delved into...
...Membership Drive in the Unions Fortunately, however, the conditions of certain unions have been recently bettered — morally and financially they have been imbued with a new spirit, a new lease on life...
...And this in a year when a crippling depression was in full stride, when unemployment was a national scourge, when countless millions had to reosrt to relief for their very livelihood...
...OUR ENGLISH SPEAKING DIVISION The vigor and strength of the Workmen's Circle cannct be better J pi oven than by the fact that it is constantly broadening the scope of its activity...
...to build for the cooperative 1**"»onwealth, the land of the —to enlist in the radical Spr movement as a fighting ally ¦Wing side by side with its solThe aim of the Arbeiter ;W...
...The field of the Young Circle League is the unplowed field of American Youth—the vouth of all ages, all cieeds...
...With it, it has> fought for greater progress and better living conditions, against fascist encroachments and for u real "New Deal...
...The driving power of its growth impel is the Workmen's Circle to create additional benefits, tc extend its educational and social influence, and to seek new fields for soliciting members...
...of the Workmen's Circle and to all of us it gives a new ray of hope, a promise of safety in the future and a confident feeling^hat* we may and will win in this imi mortal struggle for a better worldV...
...branches fa the W. C. Convention...
...Sympathetic and understanding judgement may be rendered here when all sides of any question may be adequately heard...
...The Work1 men's Circle is an army of such ' men and women who are continually striving to the end that some day a- new sun shall rise on a new social order, free from the miserable brutalities and class crimes of our crazed capitalist system...
...Women Branches in the W. C. Another recent addition to the rolls of the Workmen's Circle were the women's branches...
...Established to afford protection and security to the worker in times of ¦hre Than Material Protection Bat soon a very important probtoa arose...
...Such a convention in the Workmen's Circle is not merely a series of plenary sessions, it is rather a testimonial, a vast demonstration of the might, heritage and ideal of the Great Ring— where once again the eyes of the world may see displayed the very soul of the Workmen's Circle—all that it has achieved through 'the long years of its existence—financially, culturally and ideologically...
...and it is not only a fraternal youth organization but a "Labor Fraternal" Youth Organization...
...During the thirty-five years of the growth of the Workmen's Circle all sorts of problems as to activity, existence and development of the Fraternal Ring have been brought to conventions, duly considered, and most of them decided to the satisfaction of all...
...The YCLA in answer to this need provides life insurance from $100 up, ¦*!%» bercular Benefit of $600, or consumptive care for one year at the Workmen's Circle** own sanitarium at Liberty, New York, medical treatment, cemetery provisions and a special system of sickness and | disability benefits nm A young Circleite ha* the walcome feeling that he is not alette in his little secluded corner of this vast, cold, alien world, but with him are thousands of other youths in scores of cities, like him and of him, striving, fighting, hoping and accomplishing the same thing fcr which he is itrivinf, fighting and accomplishing...
...The Convention will be a huge one...
...This convention is a nation-wide undertaking in which the W o r k m en's Circle participates once every ten years...
...The answer is this: The Young Circle League is not merely a youth organization but a fraternal youth organization...
...IBM to be, first and foremost, Igejp the workers on every front, "?*e their succor in battle, their BJj*a and mainstay in times of jJ"volutionaries fleeing from the g»idorian Reaction of the first Ptowan revolt in 1905, Social ¦•erats...
...The Workmen's Circle, always 1 an integral part of the liabor movement as an entity, has room in its ranks for all radical and progressive elements imbued with the energetic spirit of a more rational justice, afire with the willingness to fight for a better social order, a happier world...
...As to the role of the Workmen's Circle on the social and economic scene there is little to debate or discuss inasmuch as the years have established that everything vital to the laboring masses is vital to the Workmen's Circle...
...The League caters to young people of from 16 to 25 years of age, while the English Speaking Section is intended to accommodate people between the | ages of 25 and 45 years.—F...
...Previously' there were numerous Women's Clubs throughout the land which did herculean work for the declassed Jews of war-ridden Europe as well as being the focus of activity of the Workmen's Circle schools...
...A large general convention, such as this one, is therefore held in some key city where all reports are heard and debated, where national officers are elected, where future activity is planned and decided and where each and every Branch has at least one delegate representing its membership and the interests of its particular locality...
...Xad tat foundation was laid for the" snajr Jewish orders, such .as the ¦Jane class Independent Order of B*rith Abraham, B'nai B'rith etc These organizations, includfag hundreds of thousands of memhn, began to play an important rale in the life of the Jewish comsumity...
...And as for funds, figures show, remarkably enough, that in the last fiscal year instead of a loss the Workmen's Circle can boast a gain of some $400,000 with all departments and benefit.- in a solid, hrnlthy condition...
...As has been previously noted, I one of the major activities of the Workmen's Circle has always been a close cooperation and appreciation of the Trade Unions in America...
...The Workmen's Circle Organizes Its Youth It was only natural then, that for some time, the problem of new members was discussed at all conferences, at all meetings, and finally a very logical conclusion was reached...
...Continued en Page Eight) The Workmen's Circle, therefore, comes to this Convention enthused with past achievements, straining at the leash for future accomplishments, new work and improved organization...
...In the early years of organization, when immigration doors were wide open, hundreds of young Russian, Polish and Roumanian workers were yearly bolstering the ranks of the Workmen's Circle in numbers, and what is more, adding their aeal and energy of continental radicalism to the very character of the organization they were entering...
...In these days of crisis, of insecuriay and the uncertainty of a job, it is a vital and necessary guarantee...
...In such an organization, where constant general conferences are impractical and untorieldly, it is vital to the interests of the working body and the individual membership, that a representative conclave be called periodically to afford a closer tie between member and national organization and to furnish the general membership with an opportunity to review the labors and activities of their organization...
...There is not a department, an activity, a function of the WorkI I I men's Circle that can escape the close scrutiny of the assembled convention...
...National ia Scope The Young Circle League — or YCLA — has clubs and branches with thousands of members in every major city in the country...
...Center, 11 Union Square West...
...Every acitivity, every major committee, the combined membership of the organization is represented here in a mass assemblage ' to hear reports of the various departments, executives, c o m m ittees and General Secretary...
...the ceaseless efforts of Labor to win for itself a secure place in a society free from the blight of hunger, war and fascism...
...the National Executive Committee of the Workmen's Circle, taking advantage of this change in circumstance launched an intensive organization campaign amongst the organized Jewish workers which had its first happy result in the recent International Ladies' Giy-ment Workers' Union convention in Chicago which sent ont a resolution to all its locals urging them to support the Workmen's Circb...
...Never resting on laurels for past achievements the Workmen's Circle, with commendable foresight, began to look into the tomorrow, to see just where the Labor movement in general, and the Workmen's Circle in particular, was going to acquire new recruits, who were to carry on the noble tradition of unselfish effort and devotion to a cause...
...It embraces Youth between the ages of 12 to 30 in the following categories: Junior (Alumni) Clubs, 12-16 Intermediate Groups, 18-18 Senior YCLA Branches 18-30 There is no sharp division between the three categories, but on the contrary, all form a continuous link in the vast evolving) chain of organization...
...A demonstration not so much of numbers as of intrinsic value...
...to discuss the same and outline the f u t u r e year's work making any and all necessary changes dictated from the record of the past few y e a r s' experiences...
...In view of these facts it is needless to state that the Workmen's Circle nad a difficult problem of providing succor, and at the same time maintaining its strength...
...What more glowing tribute that_ a heroic job was done than the fact that the number of members expelled for the year 1934 | was the lowest in the history of the Workmen's Cirele since 1918...
...To effectuate this purpose it has created an English Speaking Section, ccmposed of branches in which the language used and the psychological media employed are in accordance with the cultural background of the persons to whom the appeal is made...
...It is here that our various departments must lay open the books and records of their transactions and labors, it is here that they must justify any and all proceedings...
...The assembled delegates, as well as the general membership of the Workmen's Circl find in this convention an active demonstration, I a breathing testimonial of the aims | and ideal...
...In a word, the Young Circle League is an organization National in Scope, Labor-Radical in Orientation, Social-Educational in Method and Political in Character...
...for from its very inception, realizing its blood relationship with the Labor movement which was an integral factor in its development, the Workmen's Circle closely allied itself economically with the Trade Unions, politically with the Socialist movement and has over its long years of progress fought bravely in the ranks of both, offering of its counsel and aid, until today, grown into the largest Jewish Labor Fraternal Order in the...
...Tiie Wvrknien's Circle knew that naught would avail by mass of numbers and brawn unless these were harnessed into a cultured understanding whole, unless the masses learned their position in the class struggle, saw the paradoxes of capitalistic economy and had an understanding of the way out, which would better enable them to battle for the overthrow of the existing' order and the building of the new, based on a greater understanding of the common justice...
...In the short span of these six years the Young Circle League has effectively demonstrated that it is not just another youth movement — for heaven knows there are enough of these—but that it is a youth organization of a unique kind, a youth organization with a distraction...
...All the major advances made by the Workmen's Circle in the past two decades resulted from resolutions and decisions handed down by the various conventions where problems and difficulties may actually be brought before a body of seme thousand men and women, representing every section and phase of the Workmen's Circle...
...Yet as the old adage has it "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," and inasmuch as to most of the delegates coming from the distant cities and states a visit zo New York is, after all, some sort of a holiday, more than adequate entertainment has been provided for the convention delegates throughout the entire week...
...Could they Jj t#J - Jhatf u«,i rivj** -longingsaaa eapbspBRS with these men, their rSfOfnized enemies...
...due to the privation of their conditions, due to the amount of time and resource necessary to keep the union healthy and alive, they were unable to land a hand to the Workmen's Circle...
...Organization is now going on all cylinders to welcome into our ranks strong, able, sympathetic branches from the membership of the unions in which effort we have the loyal support and aid of other units of the Labor movement, such as the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, who have promised to aid us in our present and future membership campaigns...
...the district organisations sponsor dramatic groups which present labor plays and recitations such as those produced at the recent Labor Drama Festival, and by way of pure recreation: socials, dances and boatrides are pleasantly intermingled with Sports, Hikes and Encampments...
...1062 saw the be- gBating of the first fcsjsh worker's fra- ./sV^M ¦ptl organization j^~~Srvi d men and women lAjt?*M fa this country—the j|^w5^jB atatiter Ring So- ?B^flSJ| SSty—out of which mjBBj^Rdf emerged a few years ^P*y fatsr the Workmen's ^imf&r Cirele...
...It gives its member* utmost freedom in the political field bounded only by the limits of it- preamble which is: sympathy with the ideals of the Labor movement—and so although the League is non-political in character it is decidedly partisan in aim being definitely with the forces driving for Socialism In its broadeat sense...
...An entirely new approach had to be formulated, it was...
...They worked in sweatshops—near hosts* and foremen...
...Il/LUTfN—The Young Circle League of America will hold its first National Conference in preparation tar the W. C coavention on Saturday, May 4, at the new Y.C.L.A...
...It is inevitable therefore that the week will establish a new high in entertainment for the delegate* and taking sincerity, obvioii- devotion and enthusiasm as a criterion it is just as inevitable that the convention shall reach even greater heights as a constructive organizational success...
...Here they found a home free frets the more hated oppression of a Cfar, but at the same time they were engulfed in an alien bourgeois society, where the very fire of lif» was slowly extinguished...
...The combined membership of the Workmen's Circle has been at fever pitch in the many preparations for this thirty-fifth convention...
...This was especially true in our sister-organization the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union...
...Protective ia Character With the advancing years youth, despite the careleju assertions of some of its more flippant members, is vitally interested in some sort of material protection...
...For which reason the various heads of departments and their staffs have long been at work preparing comprehensive and detailed reports to be delivered at the Convention during the allotted sessions...
...But in addition it also offers something else, something immediate and necessary—fraternal assistance in the form of insurance, medical and disability benefits, consumptive care, mortuary and the like...
...The ideal, of a classless society was therefore, interwoven with the daily needs of the membership so that they could have recourse to various, institutions and departments when distressed or stricken...
...However, such current and new problems as the Old Age Home, the protection and benefit of our elderly members, the support and subsidy of standing and necessary institutions will all he duly weighed and discussed...
...With this fact in mind the proceedings take on an added importance, a weightier significance...
...S. 35 Years of Workmen's Circle Progress An Account of Past Activities and Present Problems By Joseph Baskin General Secreatary W.C...
...After it had been decided to establish such a Youth Section the problem became one of delving into the pulse interest of 'these young men and women—activities and atmosphere had to be created which would be amenable to the young man of today, which would lead him into our order and imbue him with the same radical spirit for which we had so tenaciously built, which had become synonymous with the veryname "Workmen's Circle...
...From the distant outposts of the United States and Canada delegates will assemble to give and hear reports, to discuss vital issues and decide weighty matters...
...At the 29th Convention in Chicago where it was decided to organize Young Circle League branches, the women's clubs were given the Derogative of joining thjf Workmen's Circle as full-fledgjfl branches...
...But when stringent immigration laws were passed, the Workmen's Circle together with all ether immigrant organizations, as well as purely American ones, began to worry about possibilities for increased membership in the future...
...And wherein lies this distinction...
...It is needless to repeat the obvious platitude that the Workmen's Circle is not merely another fraternal organization, but more, far more than even the fondest dreams of its pioneer founders...
...Tl^e branches must not be confused with the Young Circle' League branches, to whom they stand in the relation of older brothers...
...It is no easy1 flippant task this, no mere academic hypothesis Modern Youth, whether through economic necessity or sheer intellectual honesty, is more and more coming to realize its blood-relationship with organized labor in the struggle for a hotter world...
...Today the Young Circle League of America offers its members what mast other youth organizations do not—a chance to throw in their lot with a cause worthy of the inexhaustible energy, the vast creative imagination of youth...
...Fraternalism irr America had lost its first life-blood—it was beginning to decline rapidly, a fact which can not be more fully discussed here...
...Was the WorkmenV &tle going to limit its energies, *» activities, simply to material VNttltion inherent in sanatoriums, wk benefits, mortuary provisions, **, or was it to take an active f*«t in the cultural development ^ to membership...
...Nevertheless, in the past, the response of these unions to the many Workmen's Circle appeals had been disheartening...
...The Workmen's Circle is a vast organization today with some seventy thousand members organized into branches and units through the length and breadth of this country and certain portions of Canada...
...The Workmen's'Circle realizes that the restrictions placed upon immigration has eliminated a valuable source of membership, making it . necessary to interest the Am erica nborn population in the organiza- tion...
...When the American citizen was farced to look to his own for frattna...
...Nevertheless we do not expect to find alien or new problems brought up for discussion, subjects which previous conventions have never undertaken to decide . . . for a? we do not expect, for example, that a good engineer will find new developments in his machine each day . . . similarly do we not expect a convention of an established orderly organization to bring to light drastically different tenets, unwarranted problems...
...How like the Workmen's Circle whose social aim and ideal of a classless society \ Teaches grasplnglylnto tire heaven of a happier existence while the Ijeality of its day-to-day activity and struggle for material irnprove¦ ment is firmly rooted in the ground...
...Ike membership, realizing that *be laboring masses will never be ** of the evils of the exsting ¦*J">onuc order unless the system j**jjf it overhauled, rose as one t?*» the belief that the aim and Btol of this order should be to ***** for a change in the existing **e...
...So, imbued srftt their old revolutionary iaWtfita, unable to adjust them•elves- to the existing order, they derided to organize an order, a tome for themselves...
...In them the Workm^fs Circle has found a happy addjKm ¦ to its membership...
...Sick benefits were rigorously planned and' enforced, mortuary assistance was offered, old-age insurance, sanatoriums for consumptives, a medical Health Clinic, a social service department and other minor devices were established to be used by the member when necessary...
...The ret iring officers address the assembled delegates fit an allotted moment during the lengthy proceedings to briefly sum up their efforts and offer any and all suggestions to the body and the suc:eeding officers...
...Among these are various changes in the constitution, measures for old age protection, and an increase in the tax for school and Young Circle League activity...
...S. O. C. WITH the advent of the 35th " Jubilee Anniversary Convention cf the Workmen's Cirele it is important to see what has evolved by way of a youth movement from the frugal begin- hsteMBSti^ nings first seen at BJ9BBSWr the 1929 Convention WKg*Jk in Chicago where W> . JsB the League sent its Nl first two official del- PjS^SSH egates to a Work- I > ' "' i 0A ( men's Circle Con- ¦f^Ban^aaanl ventibn...
...Among its most realistic recent efforts is the renewed emphasis it has placed on the development of its English Speaking Section...
...Its daily progress bodes well for the hope of even greater achievement in numbers'and activity in the future...
...for a cooperative commonwealth...
...And so in the short span of a few years the Young Circle League has crystallized into a definite and integral unit of the Workmen's Circle and an important power among the Youth movements in America...
...Workmen's Circle was not, T-fcf say means, among the first ¦ !yit11l orders in these United 2Lj*Long before its inception, ^ fang after, countless orders at lodge* have been chartered j^-v today include some 10,000,_H Biaajfaers, together with all tfcdr fanaticism, contrivances, rit¦sfa, Vfftk insignia and secret dan...
...irf fact we can happily record an increase of some few hundred over last year...
...What's more, besides being in its own right a prominent nation-wide youth organization it is an integral and active part of the largest Jewish Fraternal Order in the United States—The Workmen's Circle...
...ffasje organizations grew and sjgrisbed because the average .after and little fellow did not M any too secure, because the fef h* so patriotically saluted did sot ofer him nearly enough maBtfe) protection...
...IN THE VANGUARD OF PROGRESSIVE YOUTH THE YOUNG CIRCLE LEAGUE OF AMERICA By Y.M.G...
...and material aid it was natari] that the Jewish immigrant, cosnag to a strange land in an tots environment should organize a eras of his own with his own...
...Many were the members who could not possibly pay their bills to the organization, almost as numerous were the means and methods devised to ease these members, to lessen these payments so that expulsions for non-payment of bills might be minimized...
...W. C. 35th Jubilee Convention Held In New York Week of May 5th to 12th FIRST LARGE NATIONAL CONVENTION SINCE 1925 Proceedings Open with Huge Mass Meeting at Madison Square Garden May 5; Over 1000 Delegates to Assemble 1X7ITH banners flying and enthus" iasm rampant some forty thousand men, women and children participate in the opening of the 35th Jubilee Workmen's Circle Convention at Madison Square Garden, New York, where delegates from the far corners of the nation assemble together with members, Workmen's Circle sehool children and Young Circle Leaguers to initiate this important function of the Workmen's Circle...
...At all times have our members offered material and personal aid in the many struggles between worker and boss, at all times have the various unions felt that in time bf stress, in time of need—the Workmen's Circle stood ready to do its all in support of the union's struggle for a better life...
...Children's schools and clubs for young people were set up to provide the younger generation with a training intrinsically sympathetic with the ideals of the Workmen'is Circle...
...The Thirty-fifth Convention of the Workmen's Circle finds the organization financially lealthy, organizationally alert and morally active...
...In the first place I there is the question of the Old Age I Home and adequate protection ^or cur more senile members, there is also a problem of altering the conditions of specific cases of sick benefits, the different taxes murst be considered and discussed and any additions for the Workmen's Circle school and Young Circle League duly deliberated...
...This convention will assemble the various de (agates from the Y.C.L.A...
...The various c'.ubs therefore participate in cultural activities such as debates and symposia on such vital topics as Fascism, Anti-Semitism, Revolutionary Literature...
...Was the '¦kmen's Circle to be just an••tor lodge, another insurance ^afar or was it going to put its •¦¦alder to the wheel of the ela/s *hhBgle and take active part in ***labor movement of America...
...World, the Workmen's Circle stands loyal as one of the vital bulwarks of the Labor movement in America...
...The Workmen's Circle would and must interest its youth, and the youth of America, in the tenets and ideals of its order...
...That we have been successful can best be illustrated by the proud fact that throughout the land we have today some 3,000 Young Circle League of America members, gcod Workmen's Circle cohorts all, interested in our interests, battling in our battles, and today, entering forty strong as delegates in our deliberations at the convention...
...But while this ^vast struggle and its ideology was of paramount importance, j the 1 e a de r s of the Workmen's Circle did not overlook or neglect the day-today needs of the membership...
...A new division of the Workmen's Circle had to be established—it was—The Young Circle League of America...
...New York...
Vol. 18 • May 1935 • No. 18
