As soon as there can be found, in any Polish parish or colony in the United States of North America, a number of people of good will who desire to work in the interest of the motherland, as outlined by the principles of the Polish League in the United States and under its guidance, a mass meeting should be called for the purpose of organizing a branch of the Polish League.

After explaining to the audience the purpose of the meeting and the principles of the League--and after reading, if necessary, the statutes, circulars, and other literature of the League--those present may proceed immediately to organize a branch. To accomplish this purpose, the applicants for membership will sign their names on a proper form and hand it to the secretary of the meeting and, when this formality is over, the new members of the League may 2choose from their number the officers of the branch, namely: a chairman, a secretary, and a local collector. From this moment the activity of the branch begins, the first function of the branch should he to notify the secretary of the League that a branch has been organized.

DUTIES OF BRANCH OFFICERS

The duties of the respective officers may be prescribed at the meetings, and sent to the central board of the League, or district office (if such has been established), for approval.

The branches have the following duties toward the central board of the League and its district commission:

1) The chairman of the branch must see that all regulations of the central board and the district are scrupulously observed and that the other officers and members of the branch comply with the statutes of the League and with 3instructions as received.

2) The recording secretary of each branch is obliged to keep;a) a list of societies and their members together with their addresses; b) a minutes book in which he should record all details of the proceedings of the meetings held by the branch; c) a statement showing the payments made by the respective members to the Polish National Fund and the Polish League.

Moreover, the secretary must make monthly reports to the central board or the district office (as soon as the latter is established), in which he must report how many persons have joined the branch (the report must show the number of men, women, and children under fourteen years of age), how much was collected for the Polish National Fund, and how much for the League; also, he must report the most important activities of the branch during the month.

3) The collector is obliged to accept all payments for the Polish National Fund and the Polish League, and also to keep a record of payments made at 4the meetings. At least once a month he must deliver all collected money to the treasurer of the district or if this office is not yet established, to the treasurer of the central board of the League.

The monthly reports of the secretary and the treasurer should be mailed simultaneously at the end of every month.

It is a duty of every member of the branch, including officers, to contribute at least one cent a month to the Polish National Fund. The League has no right to impose any other assessments on its members. However, every member of the League may donate to the League as much as he wishes.

The officers of a branch, especially the chairman and the secretary, are obliged to observe strictly the sixth paragraph of Article I of the constitution of the Polish League.

The question whether the officers of the branch should furnish a bond may be 5decided by the branch itself.

OTHER ACTIVITIES OF BRANCHES

Besides the regular routine work resulting from membership in the Polish League, every branch should also engage in activities which will uplift the patriotic spirit of the members, bring moral (and if possible, material) benefit, promote education, prosperity, and, in general, work for the aims and principles of the Polish League.

In order to accomplish this purpose, the central board of The Polish League recommends to the branches the following:

1) To hold general meetings at least twice a month.

2) At these meetings, the members of the branches should discuss the general welfare, give lectures, dissertations, or debates on 6subjects in which the public is interested.

3) To stage national celebrations, either independently or in co-operation with other branches.

The branch has the right to appoint committees for the purpose of handling special matters, such as education, welfare, labor, etc.

The secretary of a branch should inform the central board of the League as to any special activities, and comply with instructions which might be sent by the board.

Therefore, outside of the duties toward the central board of the League or toward its district commission, the branch is in many respects independent, and it is not necessary to wait for the approval of the central board before beginning some good activity. However, the central board should be notified, and when this authority deems it necessary to give instructions in order to 7preserve uniformity of action, or for the purpose of guarding the principles of the League, such instruction should be strictly observed.

Moreover, in one of its bulletins, the central board supplimented its instruction as follows:

1) The bulletin issued by the central board of the League should be read at the meeting called for the purpose of organizing a branch of the Polish League.

2) The secretary of each branch may accept not only societies and groups, but also individuals, as members of the League. In the former case [group memberships] he is not obliged to keep a record of the name of every member of that particular society or group. To simplify and to facilitate this matter, the secretary records only the name of the society, the number of members belonging to it, and the amount it pays to the Polish National Fund and to the 8League. He is in direct contact only with the administration of the society or its authorized representative.

3) The officials of the branch will probably be supplied with a regular set of books by the central board. These books will be sent out as soon as they are printed, but this should not delay any activity or impede the business of the branch. The secretary and the treasurer will use the temporary books up to the time of receipt of the regular books, according to the enclosed instructions.

Joseph Napieralski, president

Stanislaus Szwajkart, secretary

The foregoing details exhaust all information concerning the process of organizing branches.

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In case someone desires to join the Polish League and contribute to its purposes by paying regular assessments to the Polish National Fund but does not wish to have his name appear in the records of the Polish League, he should have this privilege. In such cases, the secretary of an Agency is authorized to enter in the records the pseudonym or his initials of the applicant. The officials, including the chairman, the secretary and the collector must know his name, however, because strict records of all members must be kept, and also because the officials are responsible to the League for the observance of the sixth paragraph of Article I of the Polish League.