| Show au AK bessay on the A au 0 17 W you can not expect one so 80 young lu in the cause as I 1 am to be able to give you as instructive and logical an article as older heads and those who are better posted as to the workings ings and ild needs of our noble order but there must be a beff beginning I 1 inning to all and there can be no better time tian the present to begin C with your permission I 1 will confine myself as much as possible to this subject the good of the order otisa it is a very wide field and one which should engage our thoughts we want members without which no organization can hope to succeed good men lien business men moneyed men working men and gentlemen it is wisely said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world and to this let me add that the hand that holds the plow that wields tile the ax that guides the trowel that handles our dry goods and groceries that controls our rail way engines and ste steam ira ships has as much to do towards ruling the world as the liand hand that rocks the cradle it is from this class of men that we obtain I 1 our membership how to make our lodge a success is the question let us each appoint ourselves a committee of one to secure candidates men bien are not going to seek admission into our lodge but on oil the other hand the lodge mut must seek the man and by plain and honest words induce them to cast their lot with willi us there is much to overcome there is prejudice against 0 all secret societies but let us all strive in our daily life and in our dealin dealings t with men to show to the world th that a t we are not a set ol of thieves banded together for self protection as many seem to think but that we are men and deal oth iral men in a manly way and be ll 11 bere iere jye that in union there is strength th a show how the feelings a against against secret 5 ties let me here quote from froia an amess ess delivered before the pennsylvania 8 vania state christian association a at t allegheny I 1 reb feb by one of the leaders of aute ante secret reformers Kcf cring fering to the oath he says 1 I believe that if these oaths arid and tile the penalties attached were abolished the whole institution of organized 0 secrecy would soon be a thing of the past kast 22 to this we agree agree but what is there so terrible in our oath we inc take no oath that degrades us its OR on tile the other hand the oath is legal to our god and country x quoting n again from the address abe h gentleman says since we say alla that secret societies have been able to perpetuate their existence largely by means of the obligations 0 imposed upon apoll their members the question Orl may arise wherein consists tile the sin and crime of these obligations we say sin and crime since it can be shown that both elements are arc included now this is a broad stater statement neut and I 1 am unable to see upon what grounds the learned gentleman bases his statements it if it is a crimp crime to take our oath then we must be subject to prosecution bythe by the courts and if it is a sin then we must be disobeying the grand master blaster of the universe but who of us ever heard of a person being prosecuted simply because he be is a member of any secret society again who of us ever felt that he be was breaking any of the ten comman or any other law of god by being a member of these same societies james A garfield who was chosen to fiat the highest office iu in the united states was a member of several secret societies and his daily life is pointed to by the leading clergy of tile the land as an example to us lie lived and died a christian in tile the f fullest sense of the word and in view of these facts why do the same people say that our lodge is a sin and crime would to god that the world were full of such men as james A garfield and that they all belonged to the A 0 U IV s we must show to the people that it is not sin nor crime to belong to our noble order but that it is folly and carelessness and shows I 1 a I 1 lack of interest for their own and in the well fare of those who are near and dear to them by not joining with us its we take an oath to help each other in time of need I 1 Is that it a sin or crime we care for our sick and help the widow and orphan in case the messenger of death comes to a brother and pay to the widow or orphans two thousand dollars Is t this his a sin or crime we believe in charity chari one of the foundations of our noble order wherein is that a sin or crime show me one single 0 le abill thing 0 in the odge lodge t that has the color of crime or sin and I 1 will show you ten things each ach one of which can be compared to 0 sin or crime as the elephant is compared to tile the mouse it is said by ante secret society leaders that when a man enters a lodge 0 room he leaves his god at the outer door but we know this is not true for there is not one single 0 thing that we do or say in the lodge room that is it against 0 ainest his deachin teachings el ff 9 simply because we are non sectarian floes does not signify that we are not just and honest in our 0 ir dealings 0 on the contrary it shows that we look deeper unto the hearts of our fellow men and say any brother to a fellow member be he jew or gentile we must work to get members and labor with those with whom we may have any influence work ourselves into their good graces and in this way show them that we have their interests at heart we must make a close study of character to one man we may come out in the plainest english 0 and ask him to come with us while another man would have to be handled like eggs or all would be lost we often hear people say when approached approach dd on the subject oil oh the order is dead well perlis perhaps ps we may be dead but the undertaker would find us the liveliest corpse he be ever drew a sheet over according to official returns during the year 1892 the eastern division of the A 0 U VV increased in membership and the western division making a total increase of this would not lot indicate that the or order deris js dead As I 1 said before there ia a much to over come but let us buckle on the armor arid and shield and go forth to I 1 fir fight b t the battle of life and fight figh t to win E |
