Bridgeton pioneer., 1905-02-23
THE RED MEN
AT COUNCIL FIRES

Reports of Great Sachem Fred P.
Rees, of Trenton, and Great Chief of
Records Daniel M. Stevens, of Cam
den, to the fifty-fourth annual session
OF the Great Council to be held in
Trenton Thursday and Friday show
the past year to have been record
breaker for the Order Of Red Men IN
New Jersey. Already the largest and
most powerful secret organization in
the State, numbering %, ,625 members
last year, it has increased it's member
ship to 1904, by far the larger pro-
portion of which comes from South
Jersey.
On the subject of the Increased mem
bership Great Sachem Rees in his re-
port says "When l took up the toma
hawk of authority, Irealized the great
responsibility had assumed; that /
had duty to perform and that 1 was
hardly equal to the task which it I'M
posed. But, thanks to the Great
Spirit, can report that this great sun
has been history maker in the I'm
proved Order of Red Mems ranks of
New Jersey. Thanks to the efforts of
my Board OF Great Chiefs, deputy
great sachems and the brothers at
large. the greatest and grandest gain
ever made by the order in New Jersey
has been given to me-a grand total of
1889 increase, making an army of 25,
Ola banded together in our reservation
and in our beloved order, fighting for
the perpetuation of those glorious
principles emblazoned on our banners,
freedom, friendship and CHARITY
He reports the institution of three
new tribes, also having made so Off
ciaI visits to different sections of the
State and decided large number of
questions which had been referred to
him for adjudication from about 45
tribes. In closing his report he thanks
all who have assisted him in the work
OF the year, and pays tribute to
Great Chief of Records Stevens, who
has served in that position Tor 10
years. To Great Chief Stevens the
sachem pays this tribute:
II wish to make special mention of
the services, and to. thank one OF the
great chiefs whom you all know and
love. One who has ever stood ready
to assist and advise me, and one to
whom much of the success of our or
der in the past is due. No problem
was ever too hard for him to solve, no
duty too arduous for him to perform,
nor no night too stormy, cold or dark
to prevent his taking the trail where
duty called. No request made that did
not meet with prompt compliance on
his part, no sparing of kind words
when deserved and no limit to his
good deeds. =
The report of Great Chief of Records
Stevens bristles with figures, Is full
pages being taken up with a:.detailed
statement of the transactions Of the
business done by the 200 tribes and the
affairs of the office under his charge.
Summarized they show besides the
membership figures the financial con-
dition of the order, of which the fol-
lowing is brief summary:
Amount OF tribes receipts, 1926, $40 So
Paid for relief of members, rs, 807. 80
Funeral benefits, 26, 165 62
Widows and ophans, 1,219.OO
Paid for other purposes, 103, 318. AZ
Wealth of all tribes, 446, 277. 56
An increase in the total
wealth of the tribes of, $4,000. 03
In connection with the above statis-
tics the chief of records says: 'The
figures given will show that so far as
the numerical increase in our tribes is
concerned it has been record break
ing period. 1t has also broken the
record OF all previous great sums in the
amount of wampum paid out for sick
and funeral benefits, for the first time
in our history those two items amount
ing to over $lO0, 900, the exact figures
being $104. 973. A, an excess of more
than $l4, 600 over any great sun in our
history. The wealth of tribes has also
increased $50, 600, and they now have
$464, 277. 36 securely invested or in
their wampum belts prepared to meet
any demand that may be made upon
them for the further relief of their
brothers unable to follow the hunt, to
defray the funeral expenses of those
who may be called to the hunting
grounds of their fathers, or tosallevi-
ate the wants of the widows and or
phans of deceased members. This last
item alone appeals to the heart of
every true Red Man, and our tribes
have expended $l2l9 for widows and
orphans in addition to the amount of
the above two funds. -
At last years session, after several
years struggle on the part of those
who favored reduction in the age
l.