Convention Problems
COMMUNICATED
AS TO ORGANIZATION.
TO THE MACCABAEAN :
In your issue of May you speak of the important work at the next convention and mention that one of the most important questions before the next convention, that the delegates will be called upon to solve, is, whether we shall have a well organized movement in this country, with a definite policy or a continuation of the present aimless and ineffective disorganization which ooes hv the name of Zionist Movement.
An organization and a definite policy exists, but the most important issue to me is whether the system now in use to keep the wheels of our organization moving is the most practical or not. To me the system we now have is not practical for the Zionist movement, although it may work out all right for some fraternal movement, where the benefits are mutual. The relationship of the societies to the Federation is too distant and therefore very little interest is taken in the Federation by the societies, outside of paying their Shekel and Federation dues.
This must be overcome and the societies should be interested in the Federation in order that when communications are received action should not be postponed as ix often the case. No doubt the same conditions and problems which appear in our city usually appear in some form or other in other cities. Wherever two or more Zionist societies exist in one city, you very seldom see very much co-operation, which is so very important for success, among them for any one special fund of the movement, therefore how can the Federation expect any desire on the part of the societies to carry out all the demands when they are miles away with no power to insist that matters be attended to at once The thing to do now is to establish more co-operation in every locality among the existing societies and the Federation office. The council idea is not the right sort—of course, there may be exceptions, but on the whole it has proven a drawback to a good many organizations simply because a council with delegates from all societies without full
power to act, cannot accomplish anything. It takes so much time to have all societies approve the propositions as they arise, and sometimes action must be taken on very short notice, and a council with full power to act you cannot have because no society will give full power to two or three of its members in all matters coming up before the council. I therefore propose that immediately after the convention the executive committee of the lFederation appoint in every city where- ever two or more Zionist societies afhı- liated with the Federation exist, a local executive committee consisting of three ot the most active Zionists to represent the l’ederation‘ in every respect in their respective territories mapped out by the executive committee of the Federation. Cities where only one society exists should communicate direct with the Federation office. The powers of this committee should be the same as the head executive committee in their given territory; appeals from their decisions may be taken to the Head Executive Committee. This would create a committee that would have full charge of the Zionist work in the given territory, and they could make much better suggestions of how to improve one or the other societies and would also be on hand all the time to look after the interests of the Federation, which to me seems very important.
The dues of the Federation should be advanced to 75 cents a year and 25 cents for a Shekel for each member per year, a total of $1 per year per member. The executive committee should allow a rebate of 25 cents for each member to the local executive committee for expenses and propaganda for local use and 20 per cent. of all monies collected from Federation members in their locality. The members on this committee could be chosen from the most active in each locality not necessarily one to represent a certain society but Zionists at large, whose names could easily be gotten from delegates or secretaries of the societies. This would create, if my experience in Zionist work counts for any thing, more interest in the societies, as well as members, because they would see that the Federation is trying to do something for them and thereby closer relationship would be established between so-