The Washington bee., 1907-08-17

to be reproduced in public prinr) they
hove up at the Grand Lodge sadly in
the minority.
Just'a side glance at the real strength
Of these people will show the falsiy Of
the claim that they are making, that
they could have been elected if give
fair deal
Now it seems that the contention frey
have IS. that the committee cr.ien-
ials consisted of fifteen mea. / want to
say. as a member of that committee, that
when / shall have explained the real
conditions that prevailed in Florence,
that II was a physical impossibility for
FIVE men to perform that duty for six
hundred and ten lodges creditably. with
members there contending for seats and
not in possession of the second degree.
Proxies were put in the hands of every
man who would support their gang. We
had ninety of these to come from one
certain source which were secured by
questionable methods Even the social
ed D. G. NJ. c. F. Johnson and D. g.
T. furnished the committee on creden-
tials with proxies from lodges they did
not even know, nor where the lodge was
located, nor the name and number. /
have in my possession now proxies that
were. presented at that Grand Lodge by
men who had not been members of the
order two months The D. G. NJ, Bro
ther Howe, knowing this to be unlaw-
full. seated these men for peace's sake,
thereupon giving them the advantage of
possibly ninety unlawful proxies. A
show of noses on a test vote showed
Howe supporters to be 462 against the
other sides II2. Seeing they were hope
lessly beaten, their next step was that of
honest legislation, which we needed for
the good of the order After the ad-
iournment Of the Grand Lodge a howl
went up all over the State, saying that
the Endowment was -defunct, and that
there was no money to pay off claims.
However. this has been proven false,
for the Board has paid out over seventy
eight thousand dollars since they claim
ed there was no money.
But now we come to the most deplor-
able and most disgraceful part of the
affair Our S. c. OF NJ, which was
ushered into Office at Richmond, Va,
by the most questionable methods Of
any S. c, Of NJ. since the order has
been planted on the American Continent
have trodden every constitution, gen
eral law, decision, and precedent under
foot to satisfy the whims of men Of
their ilk. They have called an extra
session Of the D. G. L. 23; which there
IS no law under the lids Of the general
law and constitution to justify.
Now, brothers, this is setting bad
precedent. If the Odd Fellows of Ala
bama are made to swallow this insult
heaped on injury, without being allowed
to vindicate themselves through all Of
the courts of the order, or even offer
ing a manly protest for their vested
rights as members Of this fraternity and
citizens Of this commonwealth, then we
say that no district is safe from the
merciless clutch of these corruptonists.
But we have not lost hope. We believe
that there are members yet in the order
who stand for right, justice, and equity
to all men regardless of their personal
ambition and we say to these brothers,
to rise up in their manly vigor and help
us put down this hydra-headed monster
who would destroy the principles that
render US social and happy.
Our modesty has caused US to refrain
from saying much about this affair pub
licly. We had thought that We could
save the great name and principles of
this grand old order from disgrace by
withholding this unholy affair from the
public until the expiration Of the terms
Of these politicians, but conditions have
shaped the situation as they have (drag-
ging the name and character of Ala
bama's greatest Odd Fellows IN the
dust). We are determined, hurt whom
it may, that the truth must and shall
be told, and we say further that if these
are the principles by which the order
must be governed, then the teaching we
had since our incipiency in the order IS
false and rotten to the core.
Just how long the members Of this
fraternity will supinely on their backs
and allow the cardinal principles of this
grand old order to be stamped under foot
it remains to be seen, but we say here
that if members Of the S. c. of NJ. are
allowed to overstep the limitations Of
their power by legislating laws to suit
themselves, assuming original jurisdic-
ton in trial cases, coming into dis
trict grand lodge and presiding, declar-
ing certain men as officers against pro-