Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1914-03-24
THE WOODNEN
COUNTY CAMP
Will be Held at Camp Hall in This
City on Wednesday, April -
Fight on Head Camp.
INSURGENTS ARE IN CONTROL.
Delegates to be Elected to the State
Camp.-A Statement is
Issued.
INSURGENTS ARE IN CONTROL.

The county convention of thu
Modern Woodmen of this county
will be held in this city on Wednes
day, April LIST, at camp hall and del.
egates will be elected to represent
the county in the state camp to be
held at Des Moines. A strong insur-
gent delegation will be sent from
thoroughly aroused and is almost
unanimous in the desire to put the
management of the orders affairs
into the hands of new men-into
the hands of honest men who will
not exploit it for personal aggran-
dizement or conduct it more in the
interest of old line insurance COM
panies than in the interest of it's
own members. It is desirable that a
full attendance be present at the
camp meeting on April first and it is
practically assured that solid insur-
gent delegation will be sent to Des
Moines. Iowa will in turn send an
insurgent delegation to the national
head camp. The state executive
committee has issued the following
statement:
''As the time approaches for the
holding of the county camps on
April 1 every Woodman should be
alert to the effort being made to re-
store the government OF our society
to the hands of it's members.
"For the last two years, the Mod
ern Woodmen has been paralyzed,
and for the first time in its history
approaches. a session of the head
camp with an enormous net loss in
membership.
"The head officers of this society,
in Chicago in January, 1912, at
tempted to force upon our member
ship, a change in the fundamental
plan of our society and an exorbi-
tant increase in rates and now with
the exception of Head Clerk Halves,
those directly responsible for the
adoption of the Chicago plan and
rates are candidates for reelection
to Office.
"Bear in mind that these men,
only two years ago, formulated this
plan to raise the rates and have
spent hundreds of thousands of dol
lars of our money in an attempt to
force them upon the neighbors with
out giving the membership an OPP
portunity to approve or disapprove
the plan. They now claim that the
rate question is settled. If so, we
ask who settled it? No credit can
be given to any head officer, because
the Chicago plan and rates are not
in force and effect, and we challenge
them to show one official act upon
their part or one official utterance
tending towards the disposition or
settlement of the rate question and
the protection of the interests of
the membership of this society or to
show where they have expended any
money Of the society to bring about
the so-called settlement of the rate
question.
Director F. R. Korns of Iowa now
says in his published statement and
in an address made to Grant camp
after the election of the delegates:
"I honestly believed the rate
was not too high when voted for
it and, therefore, have no apologies
to make to anyone for that vote.
The question still remains: Shall
the men responsible be once more
returned to power or shall we not
bury the planners with the plan?
They have halted in their career,
but the damage of their counsel and
leadership is apparent to every
thinking neighbor.
''Our society is greater than any
individual and is not the private
property of any group of head Of
fcers.
'The question now before the
membership is: Snail we support
for Office or for reelection to Office
men who, by their vote and official
actions, have declared that they
have no confidence in the plan of
rates of our society as they existed
prior to the Chicago head camp in
1912? No man would employ an
agent to sell his goods when that
agent had repeatedly declared that
he did not believe in the merits Of
the goods. No man would vote for a
candidate for any political ONCE or
to represent him In the legislative