The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1885-10-04
BUTLER AND THE GRAND ARMY


BUTLER And THE GRAND ARMY
Why the General Rsfassd 70 Bee. us q
Member Of the Organ,satiea.
In Lowell there 10 . Grand A, ny
post with the title OF "B. r. But Of
Post M. a." It was organised q
1883, ana has . membership Of ov I
$50. When 1t was organised It wa
confidently. expected that 0ener al
Butler would become . member. yet
he did not. He has been asked proba-
bly, hundreds II not thousands Of
times why no did not Join, and hi o
answer invariably has been TO assur Q
the enquirer that his heart was all
right.
About two months ago 3. F. Butler
post moved TO new quarters, and Gen.
Srsl Butler msde an address, In which
he euiogized the Grand Army. After.
ward two members OF the Grand
Army called ON the general ct his
residence In Belvidere, ono OF the
suburbs Of the oity, and used every
argument to induce him to Join the
post, but they were unsuccessful.
Finally they asked him for the reason
Of his re'u sAl, and his reply WAS sub.
stantially - follows:
~ have no faith In secret societies.
he said. ~ lost confidence In them
when was In command ct New
Orleans. had issued Q proclaim alton
fOrbiddinE ill secret conferences among
citizens, for they were merely meetings
OF c0usOirat0rs. had succeeded In Q
tolersble degree In abolishing many Of
the meetings, slshOugh not without the
application Of strong measures, when !
received Information that the members
Of lodge Of Freemasons, under the
gutse OF ordinary meetings, were con-
spirinR u do harm to the government.
l am FreemasOu myself, and ono
evening when I knew the 90 aspirs-
tors wers going to hold q meeting I
cast aside NV uniform, donned OWL
isu's, and presented myself ct the
portals Of the lodgs. knocked aud
gsvs the prOOer passwords and signs.
Ad 0issiou could not be refused, and
en,sr-d aud ok seat. I was probs-
b y tbs most familiar and the mOst
talke 1 Of parsonage In New Orleans ct
the time, aud could plainly see tn ct
nv presence was causing sensation.
When the good OF the order was
Gail ID, arose ami said: Brethren, I
nave positive proof that YOU have been
holding meetings to devise plans to in
jure my government and myself. I
assure you as brother Mason I have
the kindllsst feelings to ward you and
yours, but / warn you that you must
mold meetings FOR no such purposes In
the future"
Then, addressing bis callers, General
Butler said: III reasoned with the
members, aud told them that the Or
der Of Masonry was not instituted for
Matching consptrscies. 1 boldly ex-
pressed the utmost Adherence OF their
conduct, aud armly but kindly gave
them proper warning. Some OF
hem expressed regret at their course,
aud declared that they would
OF another M%>Onic conspiracy while l
wss In Nav Orleans. But when I left
that lOd Se.rOom II was With sad Aud
resolution hh II the high aims OF &C.
crSt societies could DO thus perverted,
l would never eater the portals OF one
again, and I have kept that resolution,
although more than 20 years have
passed, Tat, gentlemen, ts the rss-
son why have never joined che Grand
Army"
The visitors were very much i'm.
pressed by the generals narrative.
After = moment OF silsuse, General
Butler sprsug suddenly TO his feet, and
exclaimed: II will break my resOlu-
tiyu. I will sign an application for sd.
mission to the Grand Army."-(Nsw
York Sun.