The Polish people are, no doubt, the most highly organized of the
Slavic nationalities. It may be said that Chicago is their national
center in the United States, and the headquarters of the three great
national fraternal insurance societies, the Roman Catholic Union of
America, the Polish National Alliance, and the Polish Women's
Alliance. As these organizations are much alike in general plan, a
description of the organization, character, and methods of work of one
will give an idea of them all.
While these societies have always been divided upon political issues,
and while there has been at times considerable bitterness in the
antagonism between them, they have been able to unite their efforts in
important undertakings for the general welfare of the Poles throughout
the United States. Common interest in the Polish cause during the
war, too, has united them as never before, and there is every reason
for the confident expectation that they will co-operate in any new
projects undertaken for the benefit of the Polish community in
America.
The Polish National Alliance is the largest single organization. In
addition to providing insurance, this society carries on, through its
national organization, extended work of a social and educational
character.
There is, for example, among its "commissions," an Emigration
Commission for aiding immigrants, which is charged with the duty of
framing rules for the proper supervision of homes established for the
care of newcomers. Under this Commission the Alliance has maintained
immigrant aid stations in New York, Baltimore, and Boston. In New York
there is a home in which immigrant girls and women arriving alone may
be accommodated until relatives can be located.
The Chicago office co-operates with the offices at the ports of entry
in securing information about relatives of Alliance members, and in
case of special necessity arranges to have immigrants destined for
Chicago met at the station. As relatives are supposed to be notified
of the expected arrival before the women leave New York, the Chicago
office has done little in this direction. The need for such services,
however, has been made clear in the Annual Reports of the Immigrants'
Protective League, showing the numbers of unattended Polish girls
coming to Chicago to be much larger than the number in any other
national group.
The Polish National Alliance has been carrying on a number of
projects, both for the Polish people throughout the country and for
the local community in Chicago. During the war many forms of work that
had been developed for the service of Poles in the United States were
laid aside for the more urgent needs of the time, and the funds of
this organization were devoted to the support of the Red Cross and of
other relief work. When the needs especially arising out of the war
have been met and the necessity for sending relief to Poland is no
longer urgent, these projects, abandoned for the time, will be taken
up again. Polish immigration has for a time ceased. In the opinion of
the Poles in Chicago it will be very light for years after the war, so
that projects hereafter undertaken will be concerned with the welfare
of the community as it has become established in the United States.