TABLE 4.-Activities of Public Employment Service for Veterans, by State, August 1941 [Data reported by State agencies, corrected to Sept. 22, 1941] COMMUNITY RECREATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1940 TOTAL expenditures from regular funds, public or private, for community recreation in 1940 amounted to slightly more than $31,250,000 as compared with nearly $32,000,000 the previous year. The report of the National Recreation Association for the year' covers the activities in 1,116 communities which had play leadership or supervised recreation facilities. That the importance of full-time year-round leadership is receiving increased recognition is shown by the fact that there were 3,559 such leaders in 1940-a larger number than had been reported in any previous year. Of this number 2,119 were men and 1,440 women. During 1940, 24,533 leaders were paid from regular funds as compared with 25,042 in 1939. Of these workers 14,503 were men and 9,530 were women. Local recreation authorities continued to supplement their regular staff through the use of leadership personnel provided by emergency agencies. There were 14,393 such leaders in 1940, of whom nearly 9,000 were men. Volunteer workers numbered 35,054 as compared with less than 25,000 in 1938. There was a total of 9,921 outdoor playgrounds under leadership, or 172 more than were reported in the preceding year. The number of playgrounds for white and mixed groups, open under leadership during the school year only, increased 12 percent; those open only during the summer increased 6 percent over the previous year. A decrease of 4 percent in the number of white playgrounds open the year round is explained by the reduction in number of WPA leaders in many cities. The attendance of participants and spectators at the playgrounds during the periods they were under leadership was approximately 348,000,000. The number of recreation buildings open under leadership (1,750) and the number of cities reporting such buildings (421) show increases over the preceding year. The total attendance reported at 1,233 recreation buildings by persons taking part in activities was over 60,000,000. Indoor recreation centers in buildings not used exclusively or primarily for community recreation activities, reported by 459 cities, numbered 3,986. Although there I Recreation (New York), June 1941. Year Book number [Annual report of the National Recreation Association]. were 137 fewer indoor centers open under leadership in 1940 than in 1939, 15 more cities reported such centers. The reduction in the number of centers is explained by the closing of 132 centers by the New York City Board of Education because of lack of funds, and the failure of the British Columbia Education Department, which conducted 174 indoor centers in 1939, to report. The total yearly or seasonal attendance at 1,567 centers was 17,501,904. The majority of these centers were open three or more sessions weekly. With the exception of certain winter-sports facilities, practically all of the areas developed for special recreation use were reported in greater numbers than for the preceding year. The most important of these facilities from the standpoint of the numbers participating were ice-skating areas, athletic fields, baseball and softball diamonds, bathing beaches and swimming and wading pools, picnic areas, golf courses, handball, horse-shoe and shuffle-board courts, and tennis courts. 1941 CONVENTION OF AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AID for national defense and unqualified support of President Roosevelt's foreign policy were the outstanding features of the sixtyfirst annual convention of the American Federation of Labor, in Seattle, October 6-16. The attitude of the Federation on these two subjects was expressed by the convention on numerous occasions, in a variety of forms. The executive council, in the introduction to its annual report, said in part: All of our problems and our lives in the immediate future will be overshadowed and dominated by the necessity of protecting our liberties and our institutions against the world-wide menace created by the efforts of a few nations to dominate adjacent peoples. Serious as this situation is, the American Federation of Labor stands ready to do its part in complete confidence that the spirit of a free people cannot be crushed, and that victory will bring broader and more stable world institutions assuring freedom in life and work. The readiness of the American Federation of Labor to do everything in its power in support of national defense was emphasized by President Green in his opening speech, in his radio reply to President Roosevelt's message to the convention, in his presidential speech of acceptance for the 1941-42 term, and in his address at the close of the convention. It was stressed by every guest speaker addressing the convention, and was directly or indirectly the subject matter of more than a dozen resolutions. Perhaps the clearest expression of the Federation's desire to cooperate with the administration in the present world crisis may be found in the resolution introduced by the Vermont State Federation of Labor and adopted unanimously by the convention: "Resolved, That the American Federation of Labor go on record as commending the stand of President Roosevelt in urging increased aid to Britain, the Soviet Union, and China for victory over Hitlerism, and we declare ourselves ready to join with the people of our organizations in support of President Roosevelt's policy." The convention, however, made it clear that this resolution "should not and must not be accepted as any change in our attitude toward communism." Regarding the role of labor in bringing about a just peace among nations, it was resolved to "inform the President of the United States that at the conference table at the ending of this world conflict, labor must have its representation because labor is enormously concerned *** as labor has more at stake than any other branch of society." In the same resolution the convention instructed the executive council of the A. F. of L. to select a representative from labor men and to present his name to the President of the United States. Membership Growth During the year ending August 31, 1941, the total paid-up membership of the affiliated national and international unions and of the directly chartered trade and federal unions of the American Federation of Labor advanced from 4,247,443 to 4,569,056. This was a gain of 321,600 members during the year and an increase of nearly half a million members over the peak established in 1920. On the basis of the per capita tax paid to the A. F. of L. the following national and international unions recorded increases of 10,000 or more members during the year: Increase in membership International Association of Machinists... International Hod Carriers, Building and Common Laborers' Union of 31,700 International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America... 21, 800 and Station Employees.... Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America.. 14,000 Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express 14, 600 International Protective Association of Retail Clerks.. 13,000 11,700 International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers.. Hotel and Restaurant Employees' International Alliance and Bartenders' 11,700 11,600 10, 700 Many unions reported no change in their membership. Among these were some of the larger unions in the Federation, such as the carpenters and joiners (300,000 members), musicians (100,000 members), operating engineers (80,000 members), and railway carmen (65,000 members). Some unions reported a loss in membership. Among these was the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, whose paid-up membership declined by nearly 9,000 during the year. Constitutional Changes Per capita tax.-On the recommendation of the executive council, the convention adopted an amendment to the constitution lowering the monthly per capita tax on national and international unions from 2 cents to 12 cents for each member up to 300,000 and 1 cent for each member in excess of 300,000. This year only one organization, the |