The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-05
IFE PTTHIAN CONGRESS-.
me Important Subjects Now Under
Consideration in the Council.

THESE 4 W. \ OAAb9s
The supreme lodge knights of Pythias.
,ov in session at Washington City. has
rnser consideration two important cues
ions. the decision of which is awaited
rith great interest by all of the members
dthe order. Both questions are espe-
dsIv interesting TO the Savannah
nights One is whether the ritual of
he order shall be printed in German or
,ry other language besides English, and
the other is the question of the exclusion
eHquor dealers from the order.
At the biennial session of the supreme
hjge at Kansas City two years ago a new
ritual was adopted. 1t was prepared by
Walter B. Richie of Lima, o., who was
last week elected supreme chancellor of
the order The new ritual was regarded
as a great improvement upon the old, the
phraseology especially being considered
more beautiful and better suited for the
occasions for which it is intended. I'm
Al nediately with the adoption of the new
81 ritual the question was raised whether it
al should be printed in any other language
q than English, and by a vote of 81 TO so the
grand lodge decided that the ritual should
be printed only in the English language.
WANTED THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE.
This decision caused great dissatisfac-
r ton among the thousands of German
members, who had formerly had the
s. ritual printed in their own language,
there being many lodges in which Ger
man was used entirely in the initiation,
and the comforting Of degrees. There
were lodges of other nationalities using
their own language, but the bulk of those
using foreign languages were German.
The German lodges appealed to the su-
preme chancellor to relieve them of the
decision of the supreme lodge, but he re-
fused to grant their request
Agitation was then begun for the rever-
sal Of this decision of the grand lodge at
+ the next meeting. The result was that
q the grand lodges of several of the states,
az their annual meetings, instructed their
representatives to the supreme lodge to
\ vote for the reversal of this decision.
TeutOnia lodge No. of Savannah, the
II only German lodge in Georgia, took up
the work here and presented a memorial
to the meeting of the grand lodge in Co
lumbus for this purpose. There was con-
siderable discussion of the subject, which
finally resulted in the passage Of resolu-
ton requesting GeOrgia's representatives
10 The supreme lodge to use their infu-
ence for the repeal of the decision.
MADE TOUR OF THE STATES
When the then supreme chancellor, w.
w. Blackwell, saw what proportions the
movement had assumed he began a tour
Of the country, attending the meetings
of all the grand lodges, where he made
determined opposition to this movement.
He visited nearly every grand lodge in the
country, and was on his way to Georgia
when called north by the failure of the
bank in which the funds of the order
were deposited. So successful was he in
his efforts that many Of the grand lodges
reversed their instructions to their repre-
sentatiYes. In his report to the present
supreme lodge the supreme chancellor
takes the ground that the knights of Py-
thias are strictly American orCaniza-
ton, that it is the duty of natives of other
countries who cope here to become Amer
leans, and that 10 permTt the use of the
ritual in foreign languages is directly
in opposition to the principles of
Pythiauism, and tends TO encourage those
members of foreign birth to retain the
ideas and sentiments of the countries
from which they came. The supreme
chancellor expressed himself very
strongly on the subject and there is no
doubt in the minds of those members of
the order who have kept track of the
, matter that the decision of the grand
lodge will be against the printing and use
Of the ritual in any foreign language.
THE LIQUOR QUESTION.
The liquor question has assumed con-
siderable proportions among the Knights
otPythias in the last few years, and the
opinion seems to be that the grand lodge
will, at it's present session, adopt a rule
declaring all saloon keepers, bartenders
and professional gamblers ineligible for
membership hereafter. This will not af-
feet members of the professions named
already members of-the order, but will
only prevent any additions from these
sources in the future A very strong
sentiment has developed in the order
against the liquor business. Past Grand
supreme Chancellor Blackwell in his
annual report expresses himself in the
strongest manner on this subject and
urges legislation on the line indicated.
te takes the ground that themem bership
Of persons engaged in the handling of
liquor is injurious to the order by keep
lng out better and more desirable ele-
nent, AND injurihg the standing of the
order with the public in general. He
took the position that the order is now
strong enough to be Independent and
vigorous in its action and character, and
That 1t is the duty of all interested in its
welfare to elevate the plane of its mem
0ership.
EFFECT OF THE CHANGE.
.- Three prominent Pythians who were
seen by MORNING News reporter yes
terday in regard to these two measures
announced themselves in favor of the &C
Ton which it appears, the grand lodge is
about to take, both as to the exclusion of
liquor dealers, and the use Of only the
English language in the eXemplihcation
OF the ritual. There are many German
members of the order in Savannah who
VIII get it in the neck both ways, If the
action Of the supreme lodge is as ex-
pected. The members of TeutoniC lodge
Prefer the use of German for the reason
mat many of their members have a very
poor understanding of English and they
argue that it is not worth while to ini-
ylate a man into the order unless
ne can comprehend the meaning
OF the language used. There are
many German saloon keepers who are
members of the order also and they will
naturally feel disgruntled if action is
Aken in the supreme lodge rejecting
upon their occupation. IL was claimed
mat 10000 of the'500, 1000 members of the
order were Germans, but the grand chan
CeLor in his argument upon the subject
says that he found only 10000 members
Oh strictly German lodges. Teutonia is
theonly German lodge in the southeast
anu probably the only one in the south
outside Of New Orleans.
A revision of the ritual of the uniform
rank by the supreme lodge is expected, the
plrpose Of the change being to raise the