Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1897-10-30
The Foundation or success.

The object of Lodge work in fra
ternal societies is to interest the
members in Lodge attendance, so
that they may have a constant re-
minder that the success of the Lodge
depends upon getting in new and
active members. 1t IL, perhaps, true
that many persons are induced to
Join simply for the cheap protection
the society offers in the form of in
surance, and that they are so su-
premely selfish as not to be moved
by the beautiful and impressive rit-
ual, and consider the initiation sim
ply a form Necessary to secure the
protection. With this spirit anima-
ting many members of a Lodge, we
are sure to have a Lodge with no
life in it, and which, while in this
condition, is a drag upon the Order,
and for the general well-being should
be forced out of existence.
We have time and time again ex-
y
of social activity in the Lodges to
the welfare of the fraternity. For
this reason we have urged the De-
gree of Honor as a great social FAC
tor, and well calculated to stimulate
Lodges to activity.
The foundations of the Order are
found in the social life of the Lodge.
The object of our Lodge formation
is to create means of intercourse
between the members, to the end
that by their mutual efforts they
NAV increase their mutual enjoy
ment. This is of itself a great end,
and for its own sake should be cul-
tivated. But the social activity of
Lodges, in addition to this value as a
means of affording enjoyment tor
the member, lies at the foundation
of its fraternity.
Fraternity among men is the out
growth of personal association alone.
1t is merely personal friendship
built up by personal association; |;
hence without social activity OF the
Lodges which brings members to-
gether, the fraternal ends of the
Order fail of attainment. The aid
the Order gives to it's members ls
directly proportioned to the trater-
nal feeling created by personal asso-
citation in the Lodge-room, and every
member is interested in raising to
its highest degree, the feeling OF ira
ternal regard upon which 1t rests,
which can be accomplished only
through the social activity of the
Lodge. The social life of the Lodge,
however, is more necessary to the
maintenance of its protective feature
than it is to the maintenance of the
fraternal. If any members feel
that the benefit they seek from the
Order is merely its protection, they
should understand upon what basis
the security of that protection rests.
The system of Workmanship con-
templates that the members will do
the work themselves necessary to
perpctuate the Order, and it is an
observed fact that the members
work tor the Order in this respect
Just in proportion to the enjoyment
they derive from it. Those who at
tend the Lodge constitute the entire
working force OF the Order; its so
cial life, its fraternnl life, and the
working force that maintains its
protection, resides entirely. with
them. The members who do not at
tend the Lodge contribute nothing to
the welfare of the Order, except to
the extent that they participate in
the payment of its death claims.
On the contrary, their indifference
to it's welfare leads them to lapse
from it's membership and they thus
give it its entire lapsation. The re-
moval of its non-attending class of
members will relieve these Difficult
ties, and the only way in which that
removal can be effected is by max
ing the Lodge meetings sufficiently
interesting to attract their attend,
ance and thereby transfcr them
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