The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-11-26
THE KNIGHTS AND
LADIES OF SECURITY.
Topeka's Home Company Highly
Honored at the National
FraternaI Congress.

Eraternal Congress
The National Fraternal Congress held
their twelfth annual session at Balti-
more, Nd, last week, commencing on
Tuesday, November Is, at 10 o'clock,
and lasting until Friday evening.
All the leading fraternities are repre-
scented at this congress and much good
has been accomplished by these meet
ings.
The report of Hon. James E. Shepard
the president of the congress, who for
the past fifteen years has been supreme
secretary of the Pilgrim Fathers, a
noted Massachusetts society, has been
received and is a masterpiece OF elo-
quence and business sagacity.
In his opening he says: 1t Is mani
fest on every hand in no preceding year
of our life has there gone out from US
so much practical DeneVo1ence TO
stricken and dependent families as in
the year now SO near it's close. Never
has there gone greater and more album
dant blessings to orphan child or widow
ed mother, and never did it go out more
freely or more in consonance witt a true
fraternal spirit We have failed in no
direction to make good all demands
made upon us in the name of F'raterni-
ty, even when circumstances created a
demand that came as suddenly as 1t
was urgent.
So far as has come to my knowledge,
the past year has been one of prosperi-
ty to the orders in general. None have
come to grief and few have failed to
make a substantial gain.
Without further preface, I crave your
patience while bring to your attention.
as briefly as 1 may, some of the more
important matters that will come be-
fore you for action. Greatest of all in
importance is finding of the best and
most practicable remedial measure that
shall counterfeit the evil tendencies
coming from our failure to adequately
provide for the certain and ineXable
demands of the future. Argument is
not demanded, as once it was, to estab-
lish the fact of such requirement. All
the older orders by experience and
many of the newer ones by observation,
I hope ALL have become convinced of
the necessity of affirmative action. In
fact it would seem as if all basis for ad-
verse argument was destroyed by the
action of several orders in this body,
whose mem berShip is more than half OF
all the membership of the orders here
represented, and who in some one of
the many varying directions have
sought safety, either by change in rate,
providing for reserve, or reduction Of
certificate.
In less than a generation, and always
and INSCRIPTIONS opposition, this vast
business has been built up; the bust
ness secured and managed, and four
hundred million dollars paid to de-
pCuQduLS, all dl al 8pSIS6 IOE UldU-
agement so small as to be insignificant
when compared with the expense of
management of any other kind Of in
surance on human lives.
In the heading of this article we sta
ted the facts that Topeka's own society,
The knights and Ladies of Security
have been highly honored. This society
was organized in 1892 and indeed until
1894 made but little stir in the fraternaI
world, having a membership of but 800
in October of that year.
But it started on a new and unheard
of basis. The claim was made by it's
protector DR.. H. A. Warner, that OF
the societies then doing business in the
United States, none had a plan that Sc
cured perpetuity and while Tor the
transient death of a member they Sc
cured the payment of the certificate
there was no security for those who
lived out lfe'S expectancy and from
statistics then available, the founder
of the order was convinced that a rad
zeal departure from prevailing methods
was necessary to place fraterna1 orders
on a safe and sure basis and unite on
the oneahand the cheapness of fraterna1
protection and the safety OF legitimate
old time insurance.
When this order was admitted to the
fraternal cOnEresS in 1894 and the pa
pers bearing on the safety of the pro-
tective plan We're read, it carried if not
conviction at least food for serious
thought and an executive session was
called to consider the subjects present.
ed by these papers and the report of
committee appointed to gather statis-
tics of the various orders From that
date fraternal insurance has had new
meaning among the thinking and in
vestigating fraternal men and from
the part quoted from the address OF
the hOnored president of the congress:
Societies whose membership is now
half the membership of all the or
ders in the congress have sought safety
by changing their plans"
That the knights and Ladies of Sc
curity have devised the best, yet SIM
pie plan to perpetuate the order has
been admitted by the best posted fra
ternal men in the country. That the plan
isb perfect is not claimed by its mem
bers but that the foundation has been
laid for the grandest fraternity ever or
ganized is claimed by all familiar with
it's plans.
In the fraterna1 congress DR.. Warner
has been member of the committee on
statistics since 1894 and his practical
papers have done much to shape the
legislation that has been passed.
The congress is divided into sections
and J. M. Wallace, secretary of the or
der and editor of the Knights and La
dies of Security, the official organ OF
the order is named to discuss 1.-The Sc
cular press a factor in fraternalism.
w. b. Kirkpatrick, the president of
the knights and Ladies of Security was
in attendance at the session of the con-
gress and took part in the proceedings.
We hope later to have the official
proceedings of the congress and publish
for the benefit OF our readers some of
the prominent features brought out.