The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-10-31
OATH OF GIDEON'S BAND.
MEMBERS SWEAR TO OBEY ALL
ORDERS WITHOUT QUESTION.


The Body of the Gideonite Who Breaks
His Oath to Be Surrendered TO the
Just Vengeance CT the Members Of
This order"
Pvorn the Raleigh On. CO Netes and Observe r..
The following letter from J. H.
Dunn of Vance county to VI. /. Reed of
Buneombe has bsen forwarded to Chair
man Simmons with permission to publish
Henderson,. n. G. Oct. 90, 1892
N. L Reed Esq, BiltBiOre, \. g..
IxAR SIR-In reply to your letter OF inquiry
Just received, beg to say was present in
GoIdsboro when yon were initiated into the
order known as "Gideon's Band" by Ohio VII
son and my recollection confirms your state
TneHt as TO what trsnspired at the time Of your
initiation.
Morehead City on the night of Aug. H. 1891, in
the presencs Of several gentlemen, among them
appointments candidate on the state ticket Of
the Peoples party. ! notice you say you do
not remember the exact terms Of the obliRa-
ton but that the obligation was rigid one
Upon this point beg to say, further replying
TO your letter, that the following is an exact
copy OF the obligation administered TO me at
she time Of my initiation:
OBLIGATION
81. ---, a free citizen of this republic,
do hersby, ia the presence or God and these
witnesses soemnly swear never to reveal to any
human being on earth any Of the signs or
secrets OF this order, or the existence OF the
same.
THAT will not divulge by any means calcu
lated to convey an idea, either directly or in
directly, the name OF any person belonging 10
this order, or the method by which its work Is
conducted, or any work that has been done or
accomplished or sought to be accomplished.
That will implicitly obey all laws, rules
and regulations of this order and unquestion-
inglY carry out all instructions and commands
from superior officers.
That will, without any evasion or mental
reservation whatever, speak the exact truth
when conversing with brother OF this order uR-
der the -.
THAT will Immediately, upen receipt of any
Information which leads me to suspect the hdel-
ity to the cause or integrity Of any brother re-
port the same 10 my superior officers
That will not make or preserve for my own
use or qualification aHy written or other eVi-
uence calculated to convey the names of
brothers, or slgnsy grips passwords or other
That will never propose any one for mem
bership who is not honest, faithful, true and
devoted to the cause which we espouSe.
That will abor for the acc mplishnent OF
Industrial freedom from monopostic greed
That will, upon any and all occasions de-
fend the principles Of this order and the good
name OF the members thereof.
TO all of which most soIemnly swear and
sign my name, binding myself under no less
penalty than that of being held up to the CON
tempt of all mankind.
anu DlGNiE6 liIe, my ilDefLy anu
my sacred honor; and should 1 willfully break
this oath, hereby surrender my body to the
Just vengeance of the members of this ORDER
lconsented TO become member OF the Band
Of Gideon after being assured most positively
that it had no political Significance and that l
could retire at any time l saw TT. l should not
have Joined the order il had supposed it was
tho purpose to use il for political objects or to
Improperly direct or control the councils Of the
alliance, and as soon as | became convinced
that it was being used to further political
schemes and TO influence in that direction the
noble order to which We both belong, | at once
severed my connection with iC.
Ny first suspicion that the order was being
used In this way was at the speaking at Hen
derson by Marion Butler and Col. Harry Skin
ner, when received a sign from a gentleman
whicA l recognized to be sign of the order
known as "Gideon's Band" It is not neces-
sary for me 70 detail what this gentleman said
10 me subsequently which further aroused my
suspicious. These suspicious were strength
eRed and confirmed at q meeting of
the alliance delegates to the democratic state
convention of 1892, held in Raleigh the night
before that convention assembled. In this
meeting s. Ohio Wilson suggested and advo-
Gated the retirement OF the alliance delegates
when the convention reached the election of
delegates to the national democratic conven-
ton, TO be held at Chicago. and / opposed the
suggestion. During the discussion MIR. Wilson
gave sign which recognized as a sign of the
order, and delegate touched me and stopped
and we retired together, when ne suggested to
me that should cease from opposition and let
the thing go on.
l then became Thoroughly satisfied that the
order was being given q political significance,
and on my return home l surrendered to Mr..
Wilson his papers and have had nothing to do
with II siace
send you a letter written TO me by Mr. Will
son, in reply to one written to him by me.
maze this statement because l am satisfied
that my duty to nay state and my fellow citizens
lmperatiVely demands that / should break
silence about matter which seems to me
serious menace to the peace and good order of
our people, and because believe it is my duty
to the alliance, VIII ose cause is being ruined by
this secret. l am still an alliRnceman, and
Joined this order TO serve this alliance cause
but am now satified that so far from serving
asau allianceman, as well as q citizen. demands
that should take THESE steps to secure the sup
preston of the band"
Yours very truly and fraternaHy.
j. H. DUNN.
The letter written to Mr.. Dunn by Mr..
Wilson and mentioned above is printed be-
low. We have seen the original and also
the envelope in which it was mailed. which
bears the printed address of s. Ohio Wilson,
etc. 1t will be noticed that the letter is
signed Wilson OD. (G4 was the title Of
office held by Wilson in the secret organiza-
ton. Here is the letter:
RALzIGH, Aug 20, 1891.
Proceed to appoint one in each 7. s., who
selects say two to four more to work with
him.
Collect and hold dues of So till further in
structions. Truly, WILSON o..
CAROLINA'S CAPITAL CITY.