The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-01-27
HEADQUARTERS.
Sta tie Circle of Maine, B. P. l..

PORTLAND, ..........18..
This certies that Circle No. c;,a; L.. located ;te
organized and is working under the authority
OF the State Circle of Maine, b. p L..
'..-..''.-............... state Pres.
..,........-.........r state Sec
Under this document circles were organized
at Deering, mo. .. Letter B." Oct q at
North Gorham, ''B, A. Oct 30; at Yarmouth,
"B, 5" Oct. 81. These, with the Cape Eliza
beth Circle, "B, 81 make five local circles in
this county. The "Letter A" circles, taking
their start in Biddeford, are confined to York
County, and the ''letter E'' to Knox, and so
on. The parent Knox circle was instituted at
Rockland Oct. q.
When an applicant is accepted into the order
he is informed OF his acceptance and at the
next regular meeting of the circle the form of
initiation is gone through with and the ritual
of the order read The following is the oath
by which each member pledges himself to the
purposes of the organization:
+, Pledge my most sacred honor as
man that L will do all in my power to bnild
up and sustain this order, and the purposes as
set forth in its Declaration OF Principles. l
further pledge my honor that l will not
propose the name nor vote for any man as a
member of this order whose honor | can not
rely upon, duu tldU Will uOt uldhO hIlOWu buO
name of any member or the work done in this
organization to any one not member Of the
the same.
The organizer then goes on to ex-
pound the ritual as follows:
This organization is known as the B. ?. L. or
Its local
organizations are known as Circles, and in
these Circles composed of not more than TWEEN
ty members each, of known and tried men, all
preliminary work of the national Greenback
party should be performed and their powerful
influence brought to bear upon che caucus the
convention and the several committees of the
party which should as soon as possible be COM
posed of members of this order, to the end that
principle be not sacrificed for what by some
may be deemed policy, thus defeating the es-
Enlistment of those principles for which the
party has been forced into existence.
In voting upon any question brought before
the Circle, you will raise the closed right hand
thus bringing the fist to the shoulder by bend
ing your elbow which is the voting sign of the
order.
Our signs and words of recognition are as fol-
lows:
If I, a member of the B. P. L., desire to.
learn if you are also a member, after getting
your eye make this motion "a placing of the
left hand to the throat in an Indifferent man
ner that, unless looked for, would easily escape
observatory with the left hand, as much as to
say, the industries of the country are choked,
and 1 endeavor to relieve them.
You being member also, recognize the
meaning of the sign and reply thus (raising the
right hand and bending the elbow ard when
elevated to the height of the shoulder closing
the hand to form fist with the right hand
signifying that they shall be relieved by the
ballot backed by the strong right arm.
In using words of recognition the
challenging party says x;
and the party challenged if a mem
Der of the B. P. L. replies " when
the challenger finishes the sentence by saying
X the import of which needs no ex-
PLANTATION to any who are liable to find their
way into this order.
Ciphers used for calling meetings are made
Tins.