The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-07-31
TIE ORDER is ALL RIGHT.

So Says Trustee Thompson. Who Charges
the Trouble to superintendent Merrill.
Special to the indianapolis Journal
BINGHAMToN. N. Y, July S0.-Supreme
Trustee G. +. Thompson. of the Supreme
Lodge. Order of the Iron Hall, when shown
the Indianapolis dispatch. said: "Such
condition of affairs is utterly impossible.
can readily see from the face of it that it
is a story started to injure the iron Hail.
The figures themselves show that
the alleged insolvent condition Is im-
possible. The article bears plainly
the ear-marks of &. I. Merrill,
Superintendent of Insurance of Massa-
chusetts. 1t is exactly the line of argument
in his estimates made before the Senate
committee at Albany last winter. The Iron
Halls finances never were In better shape.
1t has over 50 SOC, 0c0 in it's reserve fund.
This telegram gives the order 1000
branches, with membership of 10000: in
reality we have q membership of over r.
coo. Another glaring false statement makes
the maturing certificates for the remaider
of 1892 amount to $780, CO0 which is utterly
impossible. but were Ii true the claims
could be paid by the order twice over and
there would still remain a large surplus.
Mr.. Somerby. the chief Justice of the or
der" continued Trustee Thompson was IN
Owego Wednesday. and paid SIS. 900 in on
twenty.three maturing certificates which
were not yet sixty days old and were not
due for ninety days. This trouble at Indi-
annapolis has been brought about by fraud
ulent sick claims, for, had they been ma
tured certificates. they would have been
identity found some party who demands
more sick benefit than he was en-
titled to. and il was then the east
est matter to secure an injunction
and ask for the appointment of a receiver
by alleging the order insOlvent. Any dis.
honest member can secure an injunction
upon contested sick claim. with the re-
suit stated in the telegram. Ii has been
done time and again, and will continue to
be- so long as there are assessment orders.
This Is one of the tricks of Mr.. Merrill. and
was undoubtedly done to excite distrust
and cast discredit upon the order"
Supreme Officers Not Scared
PHILADELPHIA. Pa, July 30.-One of the
supreme officers of the Order of the Iron
Hall says: THE information that an ap-
plication has been made for receiver for
our order does not worry me in the least. as
anyone can make such an application but
there will be trouble for the accuser when
matters come mp in conrt. i don't know
who has caused this trouble. but am sure
it has started from jealousy. The allega-
tiOnS arc mauo ASainst us At Indianapolis,
and 1t will be q difficult matter TO get
ahead of us in an Indianapolis court We
have about seventy thousand members In
this country and Canada. We have paid
away about Sc. 952. coo in sick and final ben
efts. and we have over S2.000.0O0 left in un-
doubted securities. There are about eight
thousand of our members in Philadelphia
organized into sixty-fou branches since
our order was started In 1881 We have
conducted everything on n square basis.
and have clean record. We have several
supreme officers here"
The Order In Detroit
DETROIT. July 30-Dr j. G. Younghus-
band, local representative of the Supreme
Sitting of the Order of the Iron Hall, to-
day said in regard TO the report from In
dianapols about the appointments of re-
ceiver. that the order is perfectly solvent.
He said: The proceedings looking TO tho
appointment of u receiver are not new.
Similar applications have been made in
tho past, and they have invariably been
disposed of promptly +. f. KIrke, a
prominent official of tho order said In re-
gard to the charges: They were started
by the enemies OF .ile order, and are base
leae.n
The Order OF Iron Hall was conceived in
this city. and this has ever remained one
OF the strongest localities. Az present
there are eighteen branches here. with n
mem bership Of over $500. Four of the
branches s.e composed of women exctu-
sively. During the eleven years the order