The Coolidge examiner., 1940-03-21
Townsend Or
ganization Yields
Enormous Power
BY BAXTER G. RANKINE
Director of Organization

The average individual who does
not belong to a Towsend club has
very little conception of the
strength Of, and the power welded
by, our Organization. Very often
the question is asked by those who
are not well informed. "Just how
many members has a Townsend
club?" AS Townsendities know,
this is a question which is difficult
to answer. Our clubs vary all the
way from thirty members in new
ly formed clubs to thousands in
older clubs. The combined voter
strength of the Townsend Organi-
zation can only be estimated, but
individual club officers know the
numerical strength of their own
clubs and the tremendous sympa-
thetic strength in their communi-
ties.
However, the person outside the
Movement gets a different picture
of the strength we possess when
we point out to them that we have
an average of more than twenty
clubs in the Congressional Dis
tricts of the United States. This
does not mean that there actually
are twenty clubs in each District.
There are still some Congressional
Districts, especially in the South to
be organized But it does mean
that our total number of clubs
would average more than twenty to
each District. When one realizes
that there are twenty active units
in a District meeting regularly
and working in unison for a parti-
cular objective, he begins to get
some idea of the strength of this
Movement.
Many strangers come to Ma
tional Headquarters and are tre-
mendously surprised at the size of
the staff busily engaged there, but
this tells them only part of the
story In practically every state
there is an additional staff COM
posed of the national representa-
i've and his deputies, whose efforts
all are coordinated through the
National Headquarters in Chicago.
Even then, we can point out to
those who do not realize what this
organization is, that this perman-
ent staff only scratches the sur
face. The bulk of the work in
building the organization has been
done, and continues to be done,
by thousands of volunteer workers
without whose efforts this organi-
Zation could never have obtained
its present Importance.
At present, about 800 new clubs
are being formed each month, in
addition to Towsend Youth As
sociations which are capturing the
imagination of the young people.
These Associations, designed es-
pecially for the young folks, are
springing up in every state, and it
is expected that at least 1000 will
be in operation by the time we
meet in st. Louis, June 80, for the
Fifth Townsend National Conven-
ton.
Conventions Prove Strength
Convention after convention has
shown increasing Organization
strength and the coming conven-
ton at st. Louis should eclipse
them ALL If we could just take Mr..
John Layman, who has given no
serious study to the Plan, on a
trip to a Townsend convention,
where he would have to find audi
torium facilities and housing fa-
cilities for the delegates of this
great movement, he would prob
ably rub his eyes and ask, Where
have l been for the last five
years?'
Gradually, however. the un-
informed are being informed, due
to the never-ceasing labors of
Townsend club members. The per-
son who two years ago shrugged
his shoulders, now reaches into
his pocket for membership fees to
join the Movement The old say
ing that nothing succeeds like
success" still is true, but today
the Townsend organization spells
success, and the doubter be-