by Lech Komarnicki, Warsaw, Poland
| Return to Table of Contents | courtesy BAIS |
Much has been spoken about forming a World iris Association (WIA), and some minds seem so stirred up that I decided to add some questions to the discussion in the hope that someone would answer them.
The idea of uniting all the irisarians of the world sounds very attractive. It has some practical implications which may be of importance. However, there are problems which should be clarified.
1. Membership: If it would be a union of national societies, what about irisarians from the countries in which there is not a society? It would mean discrimination if they were to be left outside the new organization. Individual membership would need a big and multilingual membership office. Mixed membership would cause problems with the bylaws.
2. Membership Dues: Small societies from less developed countries or from the new democracies are too poor to pay equal subscription rates compared to the established societies. If the dues would depend on the number of members of each society, it would mean the AIS would take on its back nearly all the burden of WIA. The increase of membership dues of AIS would be imminent and would probably eliminate less prosperous members. In turn, individual subscriptions would make WIA a hazardous affair as only big membership would maintain such an organization. It should be remembered that while $10.00 may not mean much for some people, it may mean a lot of money for members from some of the new democracies and less developed countries.
3. Language of Communication: Obviously English. But what about other languages of the world-Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish? Certainly it would be more in the spirit of democracy to use them too. But can you imagine editing bulletins in all these languages? And the costs of translating and printing many editions? How many people would be needed for such work? So perhaps Esperanto as neutral would do? But who is able to read in Esperanto? So, back to English, which would mean the necessity of nominating an editor from the members of AIS and BIS only. Are these societies prepared for editing yet another bulletin?
4. Reading about "Headquarters": it is easy to imagine the need for an office, then possibly a building, some directors, secretaries, desks, telephones, computers. This would be apart from the costs of the meetings of the board at least once a year. And what about a general meeting?
5. Shadows of the past float over this idea: I remember the World Federation of Democratic Youth, World Federation of Trade Unions, etc. Now we are talking about the idea of a Central Iris Committee, central rules, central world awards, world popularity polls, world competitions, possible only in the USA. (In Australia the quarantine eliminates such a possibility.) To me this sounds a bit frightening.
6. How many iris society members are there in countries other than the United States? I would estimate the number would be less than two thousand, which would be about 25% of the AIS membership. Are we ready to undertake such an effort with such an imbalance of powers?
Please try to understand, I have nothing against the exchange of views, experiences, methods of operation, bulletins, etc. between the iris societies and individuals. On the contrary, I am enthusiastic about such contacts. But I am afraid of the weight of the new organization, once set in motion, may easily overwhelm an individual iris lover. An elephant may easily overlook an ant.
I am hopeful for some answers to lessen my doubts. Meanwhile, I would like to remind readers that an organization uniting all the leading hybridizers of the world as well as thousands of growers; an organization with many sections of special interests, editing an excellent bulletin four times a year, with a long tradition and knowledge of registering irises and how to promote them; an organization open for all irisarians from the most distant corners of the world, already exists. In fact, we already have the World Iris Organization. It is called The American Iris Society. Do we really need another one?