The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-04

nan at Kansas Clty, MO-, tuesday morn
ing. June g. and which will attract to
the city on the Kaw not less than 100000
members OF that society, from nineteen
of the mid-Western, Northwestern and
far-Western states, pertinently suggests
the wonderful and constant growth of
class of secret societies, which, in their
luXuriance. are peculiar to American
soil, and which have attained monu-
mental proportions since 1868, when the
parent United States society was organ
lied
These societies are called fraternal
benevolent societies, or simply fra
ternaI" They are unique in that, using
many of the forms of the ancient mys-
teries in their wealth of paraphernalia,
dramatic ritualism and symbolism they
find their ethical Inspiration in the
Christian declaration of the ''fatherhood
of God and the brotherhood of man.
and they combine. with the practical ex-
application of this declaration, what is
In fact. if not in name, huge life in
surance business. They are the giant
opponents of the life insurance corpora
lions of New York and London. COM
monty called the "oId liners and are
in the ranks of the policy holders Of
these companies However, the fra
ternaIs' do not call it life insurance; they
call it @fraternal protection" They do
not issue life policies, but benefit GER
-tificates." All of which aptly illustrates
the difference 'twixt tweedledum and
tweedledee.
A FIELD FOR STUDY.
q But it is In the fraternal societies adop-
ton of pagan ritualistic symbolism.
ceremonials and legends TO illustrate GER
tain lessons; it is in their purely Chris
tan teachings and practices, and in
! their hair-splitting distinctions between
the terms 'fraternal protection" and
Insurance. benefit certificate" and
policy" that they suggest elemental
incongruitieS which to the student Of
the history of ancient and modern secret
societies affords interesting field for
study. For instance, the Modern Wood
men of America with total member
ship of over 100000 and about $4,000 mem
bers, divided among SEQ local lodges in
Minnesota alone, and claiming to be
truly American" with an original
American ritual" take some of their
ritualistic rites from ancient Rome. The
chief officer of the society is called head
consul. a purely Roman title. Only the
working tools of the Woodmen-the axe,
beetle and wedge-are original to the So
ciety; all the rest are adaptations of an
Client rites Of heather Rome and the
symbolism of a society that was popu
lar IN England in 1I69-the Ancient Or
der of the Golden Fleece. That the au-
thor of the original Woodman ritual did
not attain greater originality is mex
cusable, He did not lack the subject.
but apparently was content to rest after
selecting the novel working tools which, 4
If Skilfully used, might have given
Woodcraft a ritual original and thor
oughIy American in all truth.
By common consent the most reliable
authorities agree that the genesis of
practically all modern secret societies is
in the venerable speculative craft which
succeeded the ancient English operative
Masons. The symbolism of the operative
MaSons of the sixteenth century was
largely secured from the workingmen's
guilds of the middle ages, but specula-
tive seventeenth century Masonry
edopted several of the more prominent
characteristics of the powerful religious
and mystic organizations of that period.
Thus, in the Masonry of today are sur
VivaIs of rites peculiar to the most noted
of the ancient heather mysteries those
practiced at Memphis, which revolved
about Scraps, Isis and Osiris and
taught the lesson of regeneration
through death" Evidences also of the
Influences of the NIithraic, Adonaic Ca
brio, Eleusinian and Druidic mysteries
ere easily discoverable. The teachings of
the KabbaliSts, Pythagoreans, earlier
Rosicrucians, and Druses also left
marked impress upon Masonic ritualism,
which preserved the noblest and best of
ell. and which, when undefiled, taught
purity, immortality and the existence of
ever living and true God" To the
Masonic craft, therefore, is due the pres
Of al he
tic lore, the dramatic legends and the
varied and elaborate symbolic cere-
monialS designed to teach the master
craftsman and wide-eyed and trembling
nOvititiate many valuable lessons From
this Masonic repository of universal
knowledge the present modern secret So
cieties have at will drawn practically
all they possess. Hence, receiving their
inspiration from Masonry, and adapting
all their secret work from the treasure
house of Masonry, it may be said that
every society in existence today and or
ganized since the seventeenth century,
finds it's source directly indirectly in
Masonry.
HUNDRED YEARS GROWTH
One hundred years ago there were not
all told. over 200 members of secret So
cieties in the United States and $500 of
these were Masons, the rest being mem
bers of local secret patriotic societies-the
children of the Loyal Orange Institution
which was a child of masonry-and a
few members of Phi Beta Kappa at Yale,
Harvard and Dartmouth. Since then there
has been organized in this country more
than Cos secret societies of all kinds 800
of which survive These have an aggre-
gate membership at the present time of
over 40 per cent of the male population
of the nation. One hundred years ago the
members Of secret societies comprised
one-fOurth of ] per cert of the adult Am
erican citizenship
Purely mutual assessment societies, like
the Modern Woodmen, however, trace
their American parentage back only to
1868. when the original mutual assess
ment( or secret insurance )society, the
Ancient Order of United 5Voodmen, was
organized in Meadvile Pa, by John Jor-
dan Upchurch-"Father" Cpchurch he IS
called. The Modern Woodmen IS the big
geSt (ard the Youngest Of this class III
the world. passing the parent society In
membership last March The total mem
bership of all these modern fraternal
beneficiary societies is row about $500. 0o1
all secured since 1S6S-and aggregate in
surance guaranteed by them is at least
81. 00. 900. In the past thirty-ffve years
they have paid an aggregate Of 500 900 :
1000 to benefciaries. At present the an
nual sum paid is about $50.OG0 900. and Is
increasing each year. The Woodmen
alone have now In force over $3.50 900 00O
of insurance, and they have paid since
1884 over $3.50 ,0f0 in death benefits
Very few people have an intelligent con-
ception of the relationship of these secret
societies to American sociological deyel-