Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1898-06-18
Lodge Organizations Versus Busi-
ness Agencies.

b0uKt ORGANIZATIONS NtENue
ness Agencies.
There are large number of mem
bers of the a. O. u. w. who recog-
nizc the Lodge only as a business
agency operated by the Financier to
receive their monthly assessments.
These men are of no value to the
Order, in giving it enthusiasm, or in
increasing its membership. They
regard their membership as pure
" business transaction of insurance
and only belong 10 the Order because
through its combination of Lodge
fraternity they can save a few dol
lars annually on an insurance poll
cy. There are more of this class OF
people belonging to the city Lodges
than in the country; and Tor this
reason the city Lodges, as whole,
have far less of enthusiasm for the
Order than the country Lodges.
In a general way these men know
nothing about the work of the Or
der, because as business men, they
are so absorbed III their business,
that they haven't time to read an Of
hcial paper, and prefer TO have their
notices OF assessments come IN the
form of postal card.
w, know some of these men per-
sonally, and have known them to be
in the Order for more than twenty
wears, and never to have been in "A
| Lodgc-room from the day OF their
initiation. We know, too, that they
solcmnly agreed to promote the
growth OF the Order, and from the
day of their initia ton to the present
time, they have considered that obli-
CATION null and void for all other
! purposes, except payment of month
| ~ assessments. They have no part
or lot in promoting the benevolent
| features of the Order. And sum
ming up their entire interest, we
| find il to be the baSest form OF self
ishncss, wherein they reap all the
benefits of organized effort, without
| turning a hand or spending a mo-
mcnt's time TO sustain the Order, or
| by even speaking word in its ia
vor.
| This class of members do not want
an official paper, they do not want to
| be actuated by any sentiment OF fra
| ternity ana are only acting as suck
ers, expecting to receive without
| giving
! We do not expect that this article
will be read by many OF the class
whose portraturc is here given-but
/ there are Il goodly number of Broth
ers who Will read the article, and
may, perhaps. think il will do good
TO prod some of them up to a little
consideration OF their obligations to
| the Order.
Societies like the \. .. L. w. could
not exist except by Lodge organiza-
ton; and the men who JON such n
society from "A business point OF view
alone, and without intending to do
any work along the lines OF trater-
nity, are not desirable members,
even though they may have stand
| inr in the community as public-spir-
tied, enterprising and intelligent
men; because their attitude OF indlt-
ference to Lodge interests is in the
nature of n bad example to other
members who would be only too
glad to cooperate in Lodge work II
good example was before them.
1t is not necessary to Lodge growth
that all members should be present
at Lodge meetings, but 1t Is import
ant lndI All nlcDlDtlS SlloulNl w tllpI .
oughly imbued with the fraternal
spirit, not simply on Lodge night,
but daily and hourly, when occasion
offers, to say a good word for the
Order. The outside talks are the
arguments to bring in new mem
bcrs. But how can man talk intel
ligcntly ON subject of which he
knows nothing? Hence, members of
traternal societies should always be
posted upon the advantages OF their
particular society. Suppose Tor in
stance, Brother Smith or Brown
Ghcsc standing for well-known busi-
ness men whom we could name out
right were asked if they knew any
thing about the standing of the A.
10. u. w. Their reply would be
something like this: I'VE do not
know anything about the society,
except that we have been members
tor twenty or more years, having
been induced to go into it because it
was cheap insurance society, only
about one-third or onc-half the ex-
pense of straight life insurance. We
have been receiving postal cards
from month to month, and have
promptly paid assessments; and in a
general way we know that the so
cicty is paying all its death claims
promptly. But we have not attend
ed Lodge meetings, and we do not