Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1901-07-19
The Semi-Centennidl
of TrdnS-MiSS0uri
Odd Fellowship
The Celebration at Santa Fe Today One of Great Historic
Importance. 1.-The Commemorative Exercises Were Held
in the Hall of Representatives at the Capitol..Ad
dresses by Eloquent Speakers---The Ami
versaTy Banquet This Evening".

Today is semi-centennial day. an
the celebration partakes of the charac
ter of jubilee. Quite number of ad
ditional visitors arrived last evening
to attend the commemorative exer
cises today and additional flags wer
floating to the breeze this morning
The city was in holiday attire and tn
streets We're thronged. The band rem
dered forenoon and afternoon concer
on the Plaza which was enjoyed by
large crowd. This afternoon a pro
cession was formed with the band il
the lead and the grand lodge and othe
Odd Fellows following. The route o
march was to the capitol where the eX
ercises of the day were held in the hal
of representatives in the presence of al
interested audience. Grand Secretary
Alexander Bowie, chairman of the gen.
eral centennial committee, called the
meeting to order and after reading the
circular letter of invitatn to the semi.
centennialin troduced Past GranG
Master Homer T. Unsell as presiding
officer. Rev. G. S. Madden, the grand
chaplain, led in fervent prayer after
which Solicitor General z. L. Bartlett
representing Governor M. A. Otero
who was unavoidably absent, deliver
ed the following forceful address:
Grand Master, Ladies' and Gentle
men: In the name of the Governor of
the Territory of New Mexico, I con-
gratulate you upon this most auspic-
inns annivercarv oa1ahra tod in tho b;c-
toric city which gave you official birth
half century ago, this city in which
the church, the school and the print
ing press were first established in the
wilderness west of the Missouri river,
from which has radiated all over this
great territory and into what is now
Arizona and southern Colorado the
blessings which these beneficent insti-
tutions dispense, and from which your
great order has extended itself with
its message of Friendship, Love and
Truth into all those regions, the help
meet and exponent of them all. A
week before your first lodge was in
territory then comprising the vast ex-
panse above named, recognized the no.
BILE principles of your order and your
great power for good in the communi-
ty and by an act of the territorial leg
islature approved July 70, 1851, it was
enacted that Joseph D. Ellis, Horace
l.. Dickinson, Charles l.. Spencer, Geo.
H. Estes, Jacob Davidson, Robert Per-
ry, Isidor Sampson and Robert Carey
and their successors, and all persons
who now are, or hereafter may be as
sociated with them as members of said
fraternity, be and they are hereby en-
acted and erected into body of pol
itic and corporate in deed and in law,
by the name, style and title of "The
Fraternity of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows of the Territory of New
Mexico" with all the powers, duties
and obligations pertaining to corpor-
alton.
Section 2 Of that act stated the OBJ
jects of such fraternity to be "That the
object of said corporation shall be for
the dispensation of charity, and the
establishment of all the moral and So
cial virtues, and to provide and furnish
all such halls and buildings and other
conveniences in said territory as may
be necessary for the comfort and &C
commodation of the members of saii
fraternity, who may be residing or So
journing in said territory"
During the fifty years that have
elapsed since that time, all the original
,I,o or%o,, I,o
but the order has grown and multiplied
in the territory until now believe
there are twenty-five working lodges
in this jurisdiction, and it is recognized
here as well as all over the civilized
world as potent factor for good, not
only to its members and their families,
but to the community at large and So
ciety in general. 1t is one of the obli-
cations of each member, and one of
the cardinal principles of the order, to
obey the laws of the country in which
1t is located, and it, together with the
church, Is a recognized factor in the
up-building and preservation of char
acter, the sustaining Of the laws, and
the general promotion of the progress
and welfare of the community. What
nobler purposes could be stated, than
these contained in the objects of the
incorporation, solemnly enacted into a
law of this territory more than fifty
years ago? For the dispensation of
charity and establishment of all the
moral and social virtues
1t may be said that many members of
the order have not lived up to these
sentiments, nor their obligations;
doubtless this is true, but your frater-
nifty is not at fault. AS long as this
round world has an existence and
there is a future to look forward to-
ward so long will men err, suffer and
grow strong by suffering, notwith-
standing all the prayers of friends, eff
forts of societies, and the precepts of
the church. A part of our divine ORR
gin is the power to forgive. Even
among the angels who in glittering
throngs surrounded the great white
throne, there were some who fell. Our
first ancestors, in the very presence of
the great God who gave them being
and surrounded them with all that
could crafty the eye and taste, culti-
vate the mind and bless the heart with
love, and with only one commandment,
disobeyed that one and were driven
from Paradise. OF the chosen twelve
in the companionship and life Of the
Master himself, there was one who de-
MED Him thrice, with oaths. repented