The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-05-15
Chancellor Young Holds Out Much
Hope for Order In Future.
WHAT FIGURES ACTUALLY SHOW
Receipts Fall OF During the Ysar;
EsSixtesn Past Head Officers Die:
Information for Members.

Minneapolis, May l3-That the past
year has not been one of special prog
ress of the order in Minneapolis, was
disclosed by the reports of the officers
of the grand lodge, Knights of Pythias,
at the annual convention held in Min
neapolis. Grand Chancellor Frank L.
Young of Duluth, however, called at
tention to the fact that the member
ship report for the year ending Dec.
81 did not reflect present conditions,
as many lodges which were inactive
last year were now doing good work.
Indifference on the part of officers of
subordinate lodges was referred to by
the grand chancellor in these worlds.
ct is high time that officers in
charge of grand lodge affairs, SO ad-
minister the affairs of the grand lodge
as to make the officers of subordinate
lodges realize that the honors of their
office fully compensate for all the Ia
Dor required in the performance of the
duties involved. And when men
of this type cannot be found to take
charge of the subordinate lodge that
their charter be taken up and the
misrepresentation of the order stop
ped in that community"
The grand chancellor was opposed
to the insurance branch of the order,
and he presented resolution which,
if adopted, would instruct delegates
to the supreme lodge to work for leg
islation which would divorce the in
surance branch of the order from the
fraternal.
During the past year only one new
lodge had been instituted, and one had
surrendered it's charter. Increases Of
membership were reported from TWEEN
tynine lodges, and in this connection
the grand chancellor said:
clad the balance of the lodges in
the domain but held their membership
stationary, we could have shown
very creditable increase instead of
decrease"
The Loss of Members
In his report, Fred E. Wheaton,
grand keeper of records and seals,
after paying tribute to the princi-
Piles for which the order stands, called
attention to the loss of membership
during the past two years. In this
connection he said:
cit is manifestly true that it was
not within the power of the grand
lodge officers to prevent it, nor could
any like number of individuals have
stemmed the tide Any number of
causes may be cited, but the truth,
boiled down, lies in the fact that
during the past few years, our lodges,
generally speaking, have been inactive,
and the membership generally indiffer-
ent This condition, coupled with the
business prosperity and commercial ac-
tivity, and the over taxed condition OF
our communities in respect to too
many lodges has wrought havoc with
some, in which this order has suffered.
limitations have been fewer than for
many years past, and the rule follows
that when lodges are doing nothing,
members will decline to pay dues,
hence our suspensions have been abb
normally high"
A portion of the loss of membership
was accounted for by reasons of the
proving of membership" which has
resulted in cutting off from the roster
of many lodges names that have been
carried there incorrectly, in some cases
for years. This resulted in the report
of a fictitious membership, which has
now been reduced to an accurate basis.
The report confirmed that of the grand
chancellor that since the first of the
year there has been marked i'm
provement," and that cat the present
time there are more lodges experience
ing revival in interest and work
than has been known, at any time
during the past three years" The
report continued:
Throughout the various sections OF