Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-10-08
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would have 1t provided that lodges
which do not meet in accordance with
their bylaws be denied representation
This grand lodge meeting should have
been held In August, but was post
poned, and Porterfield recommends that
the date of annual meeting be changed
to date later than August. IAN extern
sion of the term of office to two years Is
recommended.
During the year warrants were Issued
to six new lodges, at Walcott, Mel
bourne, Hawarden. Lamont. Durant and
DEBORAH. Reorganizations were effect
ed in Ute, Bayard, Churdan, Creston,
Pocahontas and Carroll Lodges were
closed and their business terminated in
Creston, Fort Dodge, Toledo, Wesley
and Whittemore.
Grand Chancellor Porterfield created
a sensation by the manner in which he
went after persons who had been seek
ing votes for office In the lodge by
attacking others and laying claim to
knowledge Of a clique or ring within
the grand lodge. At the last session
of the grand lodge a resolution was
passed designed to prevent as far as
possible the personal solicitation of
votes. and early in March the grand
chancellor learned that persons We're
even then engaged in soliciting votes.
He therefore sent out letter to the
representatives calling attention to the
resolution and advising them not to
give their pledges until they met at
the grand lodge. He urged that they
utterly refuse to recognize letters or
circulars soliciting support: This re-
ferred to those who were making at
tacks on the grand lodge officers and
others. On this subject the grand
chancellor said:
1--WE are not political organization
in any sense of the word. and the mem
Der who dares to attempt to serve his
own material interests by prostituting
to that purpose an institution that most
of us believe is too sacred and too
holy for anything Of that kind. should
be made to understand instantly and
emphatically that he has made grave
mistake. Some of the methods that
have prevailed this year in the an
nouncement of candidates. is an In
and should be made Pythian offense,
i
is nothing more to this order than
office holding and Office seeking. then
1t is high time that this grand domain
should surrender its charter; and to
any members whose highest ambition,
so far as the order is concerned. is
to hold Office in 1t, say to him, with
out fear of contradiction, that the order
would be better off without him. The
laws of this domain are known to- all;
the offenses are clearly defined; II there
is ring in this domain whose purpose
as demonstrated by their present con-
duct or past record is to prostitute the
affairs of this body to their own selfish
purposes; to direct them for Interior
ends and unworthy motives, they are
guilty of conduct unbecoming Knight
of Pythias and should be tried for
the offense In the tribunals Of the
order, and not in the announcement of
some candidate for Office by ex-parte
testimony; the character of some of the
announcements this year fall nothing
short of scandalizing the order and
some of its officers and are outrageous,
indecent, un-Pythian and untrue. So
far as I am personally concerned
want to go on record that there is
no Office nor official preferment with
in the gift of this order that would
recompense me for the impugment of
a single official act, in the mind of
single member OF the order, and want
1t understood that when I am suspected
of misconduct that demand that be
arraigned before the proper tribunal,
and not indirectly by an unlicensed
issued by some one who turks
covertly behind the methods sometimes
used, but always condemned, in COM
mon ward politics."