Last Tuesday the jubilee convention of the Jednota Ceskych Dam (Bohemian Ladies' Unity) adjourned and with it ended the significant celebrations arranged in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of this ramified humanitarian organization. Delegates of 144 lodges representing about 23,000 members came from various states where the larger colonies of our countrymen have settled, and attended and took part in the proceedings of the convention which lasted over a week. It was, therefore, an occasion of some moment, because thousands of Bohemian families, whose importance in national and civic life cannot be underestimated, were represented there. If conventions and jubilees of our men's organizations are significant, then the same may be said, yet with much more truth, about our ladies' organizations. Members of the latter are wives and mothers, who have the greatest influence upon the education of our future generations; who are best fitted to instill into them the principle of national self-consciousness; and who can see to it 2that their children follow in the footsteps of their parents.

To claim such significance for this organization would be impossible if its only purpose were insurance, but this is not true in the case of the Jednota Ceskych Dam or any of our women's benevolent organizations in general. The death policy is only a part of their program; it is not the only object of their ambitions and efforts. Charity and the support of all our national causes is one of their greatest merits, and it is not an empty phrase to say that our ladies' organizations should serve as an example in our national work. It would be a hard task to estimate all that has been accomplished by the Jednota Ceskych Dam during the fifty years of its beneficent activity, even if all that has been done were estimated in dollars alone.

During half of a century of unselfish and generous activity, the Jednota Ceskych Dam has donated thousands and thousands of dollars toward patriotic causes and upon the altar of charity. Although an enormous sum has been 3paid out in the form of death benefits (and this remarkable result must in no way be underestimated), yet this achievement, in spite of its significance, ranks second in importance to the brilliant work which has been done for our national causes. To comprehend fully the significance of the Jednota Ceskych Dam, it is necessary to take into consideration all that has been done and is still being done for the benefit of our Bohemian-American schools, for our Bohemian Old People's Home and Orphanage, and for many other charitable causes. Monetary and moral support is given to every good and noble cause. With no little pride it is possible to point out the noble work which the organization and all its members accomplished during the World War. The organization enthusiastically made great financial sacrifices for the liberation of our old homeland, and with the same love its members have worked for the American Red Cross. When the problem of supplying the suffering women and children in Czechoslovakia with the most vital necessities arose, they worked like true Vcelky (Bees). They made all of these sacrifices willingly and gladly in the knowledge that they were contributing to the noblest of causes.

The last convention again gave proof that our ladies never forget our national and charitable causes. Although the financial resources of the central committee are limited, our schools in Chicago, New York, Cleveland, and many other Bohemian-American communities were remembered with monetary gifts. Hospitals and other humanitarian institutions were also remembered, and we are sure that if prevailing conditions had permitted, still larger sums would have been donated with the same pleasure with which all the charitable work of our women's benevolent organizations is carried on.

Therefore, in this respect the convention fulfilled all expectations, and we presume that as far as internal matters of the organization are concerned, the delegates are returning to their lodges well pleased with the results. During the convention, several days of diligent work were devoted to the task of amending the constitution; and although no radical changes were made, everything which a majority of the delegates desired was achieved. As a matter of fact, no radical changes were needed because the present 5constitution fully answers the present requirements as well as those of the next six years. Therefore, only a few minor changes were made, and the principal articles of the constitution, such as the amount of death benefits, etc., were left without change. Nevertheless, plenty of important work was accomplished by the convention, and the result surely will be viewed with satisfaction by all individual lodges. The delegates acted deliberately, with a proper knowledge of their duties, and, under the able leadership of their prudent chairman and with the help of capable committees, accomplished for the organization all that could have been expected from them.

The central committee of the Jednota Ceskych Dam, which has been located in Chicago during the past six years, will transfer all of its official duties in the near future to the new central committee in New York. Even in this respect the delegates are convinced that the main office during the next six years will be in capable hands. During the past six years, the Chicago central committee correctly and conscientiously performed its duties, and 6it refers to the results of its work with pride. As in the case of many other societies, the wartime conditions were not favorable to the Jednota Ceskych Dam, and although the organization was not endangered as much as some of the men's benevolent organizations, nevertheless the World War retarded its growth. This was a natural result of war conditions, but the Jednota Ceskych Dam emerged as strong as ever and can confidently look toward a better future. When, six years from now, delegates of the organization come together in their tenth convention, which will be held in New York, they surely will rejoice in the new successes and still greater growth of the organization for whose benefit they strove in the convention which recently adjourned.