Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-02-09
The work of Some OF Cur Benevolent
Societies.

Prominent among the secret asso
Citations founded to relieve distress ar
the Knights of Honor. Started OIL
the 3Olh of June, 1873. in the city o
Louisville, KY, with seventeen mem
bers, without any definite idea Of til,
aims or objects, it has been reduced t.
system, the foundation for which i.
as firm as human institutions can be
made, its plan so simple that child
NAV understand it, and its benefa
tions so large and extended that il
may we'll delight its members who
have contributed towards them. From
that little germ there have sprung
about fourteen hundred lodges, scat-
tered all over this broad land of ours,
excepting Louisiana and Florida,
where it has not been deemed pru-
d. Mt to establish the Order for The
present, and a membership counting
between fifty-fge and sixty thousapd.
The Order can not be ranked among
the Insurance Companies, for, while
its basis is the same as that relied on
by the companies, yet lis management
is entirely different In the knights
of Honor a member can not dispose of
a greater death benefit than two thou
saud dollars-it is intended with this
sum to relieve the family Of deceased
Knights, or those depending on them
instead of paying more than is
necessary to actually carry The riek,
and thus establish fund, liable to be
lost or stolen, each mem Der is his own
banker until his mite is actually need
ed and then called for These assess
ments or calls are small Gone dolIar),
ard almost any one can raise that
amount in thirty days, that time
being allowed by their laws.
TIE expenses of collecting and dis
tributing this widow and orphans
fund are small, and 40 one receives
salary, save paltry sum TO few of
the Supreme officers, whose time is
entirely devoted to the Order; and
lastly, though not least, each member
is Director, and has full voice and
vote in the management of its affaiTs.
The work of this great Order will
be better understood when We show
that the expense to one for carrying
an insurance or protection Of two
thousand dollar, who has been a mem
Der since its inception, from June
30th, 1874, until February 1st, 1879,
period of four years aud eight months,
has been fOrty-eight dollars GAS O0),
or less than twelve dollars per annum.
With this contribution, the Order
has discharged and paid the death
benefits Of five hundred and seventy
one pers0ns,or gross sum of one mill
ion, one hundred and forty-tWO thou
sand dollars.
In this immense sum, are included
four hundred thousand dollars paid
l.
three hundred thousand dollars of
which have gone 10 the city of Mem
phis and other places affected, in our
own State of Tennessee. 1t is we'll
worth while to contemplate how
much distress and suffering has been
avoided in our stricken State by the
practical charity of this noble Older.
There is no danger to be apprehend-
ed, as some OF its Interested opponents
predict, that as the members
grow older, the deaths will incre ase
and the assessments become burden.
This might we'll happen, if no new
were taken into the Order to
supply the places of those who have
died. The same thing might be said
of life insurance companies, whose
assets would fall far short of paying
the losses, il no new risks were OBJ.
lained.
But as long as the dead are replaced
by new additions, and as long as men
will be found anxious to provide for
their loved ones after death, life in-
surance companies, the knights of
Honor and kindred societies will
exist.
And suppose the Order should be-
come thing of The past, We kave paid
no more than was actually necessary
TO protect Us while We were mem bers,
and consequently We have lost moth
ing. So long as the Order is managed
As it now is; so long as each member,
from motives Of fraternal obligation or
self int rest, ls watching it's operations
and guarding it from imposition; So
org IS we see the glorious results
IF its iarge-hearted charity and mu-
1ificence; go long shall we say God
speed to them, and may they always
De ready and willing to ameliorate the
condition of humanity. S. V.D