The foundation and the future existence of the Russian Independent Mutual Aid Society, RNzOV, depend upon the Russian youth. The question of encouraging our youth to join the organization has, for a number of years, occupied the minds of our most active members, of our board of directors, and of our local branches. No matter how many older men join our society, we cannot plan for the future unless and until we have enlisted the help of our sons and daughters.

As the mortality tables indicate, and as we ourselves know very well from our personal observations, the mortality rate among older men is greater than among young people. And every increase in the mortality rate among our members endangers and undermines the financial stability of any insurance organization. For this reason, we fathers and mothers should encourage our sons and daughters to join our society; similar organizations of other national groups are doing so.

Let us notice, for instance, how the Poles strive to enlist their youth, since we know that this national group is far ahead of us in solving this vital problem. They seek constantly to make their young people understand that it is important for the continued existence of the Polish mutual aid societies to have the sons and daughters join their fathers and mothers in the common cause. The Polish organization "Garczers" alone lists over 20,000 young members.

We Russian immigrants in America should also consider our youth as an indispensible element in our organizations. We should make every effort to bring our sons and daughters into our fold. Of course, the formal enlistment alone of our youth into our organizations would not bring the desired results. We must develop in our youth an attachment to the organization they join, and this can be accomplished only through the development, within the organization itself, of activity which would interest and absorb the minds of the young people.

This problem should be taken up by the locals of our society. They must organize literary and dramatic clubs for the young people, nature-study circles, music and 3dance clubs, schools for the children, excursions for the adults, choral singing, etc. A chain of such organizations created around a central administration, and in conjunction with the branches will bring young people into our ranks and will prepare our sons and daughters for social activity. They will learn how to manage our organization in the future, for sooner or later they will have to take our burden upon their shoulders.

Our annual convention is approaching and the delegates selected for the convention, as well as the locals, should prepare in advance a program of action around this important problem. If we voluntarily assess ourselves a small amount toward a fund to cover the expenses involved in broadening the scope of our activity, so that the young people will join our society, the money so collected will go a long way toward attracting our sons and daughters to our organization. What is more, it will give our active members the means to promote the general welfare of our society. On the success of the steps taken in this direction depends, in reality, the future of our organization, which has been built up and cared for by the older generation for the past twenty-three years.

Draw the youth into our ranks; prepare worthy successors for ourselves in the ranks of the Russian Independent Mutual Aid Society.