The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-30
IMPORTANT MEETING.
Representatives of A. o. U. w. Lodg

| Representatives of A. o. U. W. Lodges Discuss Separate Jurisdiction. At meeting held in the odd Fellows building last night an effort was made
 to settle the present agitation among l the lodges of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of the state as to the | adVisability of separate beneficial Jurisdiction for Connecticut. It was K only partially successful. As it is now,
 the lodges of the state are under the jurisdiction of the Grand lodge of Mas sachusetts. Some of the members of the order claim that everything is ! working as nicely as could be desired 1 under the present arrangement and ! that the Connecticut lodges are as we'll ! off as they possibly could be. Others claim that the detachment of Connec- ticut from the Massachusetts body and
 the organization of a separate grand lodge in this state would work wonders ! in the organization by increasing it's \ membership, importance and be an es- timable benefit in every respect.
 The meeting ended in the presenta- eAciA cA s 1Sotl0LlO4I io lllt clLCCI LlldI ! a committee of six be appointed, to be composed of three who are in favor of separate jurisdiction and three who op- ! pose the same, this committee to pre- pare circular containing facts and ! figures pro and con, giving the full status of the situation, and that these circulars be sent to each lodge of the state and that these lodges after hav- ! ing given their members a chance to express their views on the same take a vote on the matter and that the re- suit of the votes of all, both for and against, be returned to this committee, who should then decide upon the advis- ability of calling another meeting simi- I lar to the one last night. This resolu- tion was passed by about two-thirds vote.
 Before its passage there was consid- erable discussion as to it's validity af- ter being passed by body called only in an informal manner and not by vir- tue of authority of the Grand lodge. It was argued by some that such resolution would not be recognized nor such such a circular be allowed to be distributed by the Grand lodge, but this was not agreed to by many, as the vote on 1t shows.
 Only past master workmen were ex- pected to be present. but there were a few others who came to hear the differ ent arguments and endeavor to decide upon the best course to pursue. Of thirty-five lodges invited twenty-one sent representatives and there were about one hundred present altogether, many of whom are prominent men both in the lodge and in the state. Dr. Frank H. Wheeler of this city was chairman and A. F. Culver, city editor of the Bridgeport Farmer, secretary. The discussion waxed rather warm at different times, and one man made very strong remarks which he afterward retracted. The arguments of both sides were presented in forcible man. ner and to the one who had not de- cided which way to vote decision last night would have been quite difficult One strong argument used by those op- posed to Q separate organization was that the Connecticut lodges had al- ready this year drawn out over $13,000 from the Grand lodge more than paid in and that the assessments would be in no way reduced. Those in favor said that all the money paid in assessments would be for the benefit of the state lodges and the assessments would be reduced at least 50 per cent.
 Some of the speakers substantiated their claims by figures.
 Of those who spoke were K. N. Blakeslee of Bridgeport, Harry c. Voorhees, of Meriden, J. F. B. Tickets of New Haven, Burnice Hotchkiss of New Haven, L. J. Mundelin of New Haven, w, c. Lambert of New Haven, J. R. Hunie of New Haven, B. P. Or cutt of North Haven, R. G. Demarest, James H. Kershaw and Charles E. Keith of Bridgeport, F. N. Piercy and John Shea of New Haven.