Wisconsin Workman (Newspaper) - October 1, 1898, Sauk City, Wisconsin Or VOL a SAUK CITY WISCONSIN OCTOBER SPEECH BT Continued It is thus that Divine dence accomplishes ends from small beginnings What a soul stirring spectacle this is and bow it should gladden the hearts and stimulate the energy of every brother to new and continuous effort for the benefit and progress of our unapproachable Order Our own home achievements should make as Badger Workmen proud We have paid out nearly per annum for several years in this diction through our grand officers to the of deceased brothers and notwithstanding that the money has been handled and is handled by many individuals so far as I know not one cent has been lost through the dishonesty of any of cur trusted officers Ho estimate of any value can be given Of the number of homes that would otherwise suffer for the necessities of life and fail to receive the benefits of an education if this order did not exist We know ever that such cases would be without number Any one of us who has for any length of time been connected our order recall case after H to tMt we as individuals are members of this order engaged in a work of such magnitude and with such generous ends in view The man who has but little time to take from his business to devote to those good works that make all men better purer and brightens the lives of others can find no avenue as full of promise as membership in our order Here he can find play for the better sentiments of his heart in a systematic manner Here he can confer lasting benefits on fellow man a ad at tbe same time be laying up treasures for his own loved ones How admirably blended are the fra ternal and business features of our institution By doing good to others by being fraternal by loving and ing for our fellow man and those he loves and cares for the material wants of our own loved ones are ened and their pathway through life made less stony and rough There has been much criticism in time past among tbe members of our order directed against the Supreme Lodge and actions This criticism baa not been confined entirely to the individually but has been taken up in some instances by the papers published in the interest of the order Disloyalty has often been charged when in reality the led expressions amounted to no more than querulous fault Ceding Loyalty is one of the cardinal virtues It not in what avocation men are engaged in what are interested fast man to man worker to worker tbe of dissolution and disunion will sooner or later work ruin alty is tbe family's most tie Husband to wife father mother to children what a failure the existing U unless loyalty intervenes and blesses in Let one member ot a home or ote member of a business firm become untrue the discord en- gendered Is but a forerunner of dis- sension and failure and final disunion Can a worse state of affairs be imag ined than of brother to brother sister to Disloyalty is as dangerous an ment to the well being and prosperity of an order like ours as it is to a family circle Tbe Supreme Lodge stands for all Without the gent thought tbe untiring work and skillful management that has been given us by the members of this body the Ancient Order of United men would not be In existence No men bound by a common most sacred that can mate the heart of be standing shoulder to shoulder In the defense of our principles Often things have been done by tbe Supreme Lodge that warranted criticism but never denunciation It were often better that different action had been taken but never better that different purposes controlled the thoughts of the men who have composed that body Loyalty to your Subordinate to you f one fails all fail Lack of fealty to one is hurtful to the other Let the fight always end with victory whether you win or the star of success shines over the beads of your opponents After- wards let the thing commanded be the act of all In this way only can the greatest good to the greatest number be accomplished There has never arisen an cy that the Supreme Lodge has not grappled with and mastered The number of victories that have been achieved by this body need not be mentioned here What an impetus was given to our growth and stability when relief law was Disunion has been fre met and defeated and when the rebels have gone to certain and dismal failure Lately we have had the most noted example of the foresight and ability of the Supreme Lodge to meet desperate situations Our fathers builded well it is true but there were many falls and many false theories in the plan of organization flow like an inspiration however was that ple fundamental in character and life sustaining in Us operation that permitted the laws of the order to be changed without the consent of the individual member vet bound him in its operations Without this principle as fundamental we would have been absolutely i incapacitated and incompetent to properly manage our Had the theory been adopted that no change could be made n to our certificates or our relationship to the order that each number should remain for all lime lu toe exact position when joined that the contract inviolable and could not be that i ed or Urn Order of SEE ASSESSMENT ON TV United Workmen would long ago have numbered its days Many ot tbe Grand Jurisdictions had ceased to grow a few short months age and I venture the assertion that if the classified plan had not rone into operation in this State we would have numbered many less members than we now have the greater tion thereof being old men of short expectancy of life The relief calls instead of being as they were a year ago f of a million of dollars would probably have reached twice that sum The high rate jurisdictions would have been incessant in their demands for money from the relief fund The low rate jurisdictions would undoubtedly have met these calls until such time as the ual members in such jurisdictions revolted as the calls became more and more frequent and of greater amount at each call These low rate ta save theft compelled to withdraw from Supreme Jurisdiction Ruin absolute and positive would have been our lot The Supreme Lodge came to our rescue and the classified plan was devised That plan not only stopped disintegration but confidence firmly among the ship and built up into flourishing jurisdictions the weak and struggling ones Our present plan of organization and business is not equalled by any other similar institution We are entitled to and re the confidence and support of the public Our method of doing business as Grand and paying our losses therefrom gives us many advantages over those orders that have but one general jurisdiction Each Grand Jurisdiction with us attends to its own business and looks after the interests of its home people Local pride and feeling control in all we do Our classified plan is on the laws of mortality tbe result of tbe best posted minds in country on the subject of frater nal insurance That a mistake was made in the assessment per member in our beginning became patent to every lone intelligently engaged in tbe work of fraternal assess ment institutions Orders ing subsequent to the institution of tbe Ancient Order of men endeavored to remedy the take by various devices the chief one being to charge an is creased price per assessment In portion to at which be joined This worked to tbe advantage of the i order so doing f a limited period of time Young men were encouraged to join But as tbe amount of tbe assessment did not during tbe membership of the member a strange conglomeration of prices and con- ditions soon accumulated The man of 35 who had been a member for ten years paid much less than a member of 35 who bad just joined although be was entitled to no more ation had not even contributed the amount due from hliu by the Uws of mortality and was in fact a much worse risk at a much lower I say much worse risk because his day of examination and entry back ten years He might have contracted a number of diseases in the meantime while his brother of the higher ment was fresh from the doctor's room with a certificate of good health The inequalities thus continued for tbe rest of the ship of these members and throughout to all members and the whole order became a mass ot and incongruities The order who have given the subject of fraternal Insurance study thought and investigation came to the con- that some plan must be ed for our government on correct lines of experience that no man could have or should have in the long run something for nothing that a good thing must be paid for If a commensurate reserve fund bad been created In the beginning of our lodge life then the one dollar level assessment would have been ample to carry us through but without a reserve fund the older individuals In our order were not paying enough to carry their ce Tbe of mortuary experience were consulted and men learned and eminent in line of business employed and the present rates finally determined as a basis All kinds of fraternal societies must approximate to our or reserve funds must be created wise they cannot long exist Tbe new institutions that are continuity springing up based on false premises can for a time perhaps offer lower rates than we can promise Tbe un- wary steking cheap insurance out thought eagerly join these ies to get the favorable rates offered Time will show the hollowness of tbe and dissipate the illusions thus Inculcated The innocent tim when too old to get a fair rate of insurance will then tbe cost of his family that tbe promises of tbe are but idle zephyrs lolled him to insecurity I firmly believe in a and 1 would gladly one In our jurisdiction It large but It coald be and made to grow in a Mfc
