The morning call., 1890-11-30

10 repay MS Obligations from the money
he earned in freedom. Provision also was
made for relieving the distress and mitigating
! the hardship Of many worthy Scot when
| friendless and stranger in foreign land"
| OF course emigration then was numbered by
tens and not by tens of thousands as now,
| so the society at its organization was limited
to membership of 100. The initiation sub
scription was twelve pence and the quarterly
dues six pence. These very moderate
figures show, too, what great changes have
taken place in the peoples minds fnan-
| cially as well as otherwise. That humble re-
| union Of Scotcbmen $50 years ago in the
struggling village or township of Boston
| Harbor did its work in its day and passed
| through the inevitable charges of reorganiz-
alton AS required by growth and develop
ment of population, doing good all the time,
till it has attained to an eminence benevo-
| iently. socially and financially, that marks it
| great success. Taking the State of Mas
sachusets as an example, we find that only
| one Scotchman has ever been buried by the
State. and as soon as this became known the
| Scots Charitable Society of Boston promptly
refunded the cost of burial to the State.
Doubtless the reason why so many of our
countrymen have been prevented from seek
ing public aid has been due to the heroic en-
beavers of the different societies, such as the
one just named, who devote time and money
| freely to relieve their less fortunate couu-
trymen.
HELPING FELLOw-MEMBERs.
Many other Scotch societies and clubs
have been organized ard are doing their
share 10 help their fell0w-countrymeD
Notable is the Philadelphia Scots Thistle
Society, formed on N0ven Der so, 1876; also
the st. Andrews Society of Philadelphia,
started in 1749. Caledcnian and Thistle
nj, he 10 Md hr,t i Wi M
encroach. but promise to give brief his
tory Of these societies IN the future through
your valuable paper, which has done much
to advance the interests OF the Scotch people
OF San Francisco. Now let me say. some,
thing about the latest Scotch society formed
in these United States. 1t is destined to do
the most good for the widows and orphans
or dearly beloved mother or sister. refer
to the Order Of Scottish Clans. This order
is engaged in the noblest work that animates
the human heart-that of providing for
the weak and helpless, so as TO leave
them sufficient sum SO that they will be
independent OF the cold ptileSS charity that
is so often doled out to those who have often
been left to face the world by the death of
an improvident husband who was not mem
Der of this some other of the sister societies
of like nature And what q man may
leave to his family cannot be called charity
in any sense of the word, for the treasury of
each clan is held as joint stock for the
his heirs may receive at his death is what
he has provided for them by contributing
his mite for the heirs of brother clans
mon under like circumstances. Now, while
athletics may be regarded as the basis of
Caledonian and Thistle clubs in this city,
insurance is undoubtedly the foundation of
the Order of Scottish Clans, and for the in-
formation of many Scotch people, who may
be DESTROYS Of forming Scotch Clan on the
Pacific Coast. it will not be out Of place to
mention tho nf cavavo1 olans
representing its own tartan. They are:
Abercrom bic, Buchanan, Cameron, Camp
bell. Chisholm, Colquhiun, Cumyn, David
son, Douglass, Dalziel, Drummond, Fraser,
Forbes, farquharEson, Ferguson, Gordon,
Graham, Grant, Gum, Hay, Lamont Lo-
gan, Leslie, Lindsay, MacAlllster. MeAulay,
Macdonald, MacDougall, MacDuf, Mac
Farlane, MacGillivary, MacGregor. MacIn-
tosh,- Mackenzie, MacKay. MacKinnon,
MacLaughlin, MarLeau, MaeI cod. MacNab,
Qusrrie, MacLennan, McUhirr, MacAlpine,
MacRae, MacLaurin, Mcintyre, Maclnness,
Menz!es, Munroe. Murray, Matheson, Ogil-
vie, Robel tson, Ross, Rose, Sinclair, Stuart,
Sutherland. Scott and Urquhart This Order
OF Scottish Clans has passed through the
trials of infancy and youth and is now in
robust manhood, and claims to take its
place as one of the most useful Scottish So
cieties in America. 1t was organized in ST.
Louis some twelve years ago. For time
10 oSbtlhCo NClc COnllutu w luut Sllyy uut
after year or two it was taken up by
number Of Boston Scots. and a boom" was
started on its behalf which still continues as
vigorous as ever. AS The advantages offered
by the order became known clans COM
menced to spring up all over the country,
until at present there are eighty of these.
and several In course of formation, Eight
or ten clans are located in Canada, but
across the border the order has not
progressed as was at one time expected.
A GRAND FEDERATION.
When the ord er was started the idea was
in America. which, by united effort and
display of the truest fraternal spirit, was to
combine sentiment and patriotism with
more practical matters. The members were
to unite in insuring their lives, sick benefits
were to be provided, and a helping hand
extended 10 any overtaken by misfortune.
The fraternity was to be a secret one, that
is, it was to meet with closed doors and have
signs and passwords, after the fashion of
the Odd Fellows or Masons. 1t was TO have
Caledonian or Thistle clubs. and, if need
be, it would give public exhibitions of old
| Scottish games. 1t was to be a complete
organization, offering TO fill all the require
| ments of Scottish Americans, only that its
| benefits were to BE- confined to its own men,
bers, possibly on the theory that all Scotch
| men should be on its rolls OF be regarded as
unworthy of the name The ideas of the
| new organization, while well enough for
| local organization, the members of which
| were known TO each other, were too crude
| to be successfully worked in large fratern-
| ity, the members of which were scattered
| throughout the country. The insurance
/ scheme. that OF each surviving member
| paying dollar on the death of one of
| their number, seemed the very essence
of simplicity. but experience had demon
| strated in other societies that the plan was
| not an effective nor as equitable as 1t appeared
on the surface, and after few years Of the
| existence of the order doubts were enter
| tanned by many Of its. warmest adherents.
| This. however, might have been expected.
| In insurance ma tiers no society was ever
organized at once on perfect basis. Expe-
rience is tine great requirement of them all;
| and until that experience has been gained,
| mistakes are certain to be made. Such So
| cieties require to be watchful; to put into
practice one year what they learned during
the year before; to make changes after
conSideratiOn-and practice shows the ne
| cessity for change-and to be constantly
| strengthening the organization at every
| point, no matter how trivial. This policy
has evidently characterized the officers of the
| order during the past few years They have
| proved themselves thoughtful, progressive
| and capable. and the fraternity has advanced
| under their direction in surprising manner.
| They have had to encounter opposition,
| sneering, grumbling and fault-findirg, but
| they Lave kept on doing their appointed
work, and the last assessment Hetied close
| ON two thousand dollars to Scottish widow,
| who would otherwise have been left with
almost nothing. Fault-fnding does not
| amount to very much, but $1,000 is happy.
| tangible fact.
A DEGREE OF PREJUDICE.
| There is undoubtedly Il degree of prejudice
| in this country against assessment life in
| surance schemes. They have been repeat
| eddy tried and the number OF failures Is APP