The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-12-16
Growth Of the Fraternals.

One OF the surest evidences that the
nation is prosperous is found in the fact
that fraternal organizations are. grow
ing. Just as soon as a man sees his
way clear to pay the butcher, the baker
and the candlestick maker he feels the
necessity of making some provision for
those near and dear to him. The man
who counts his money in the thousands
and tens of thousands naturally drifts
to the big insurance company The one
who counts his nickels and dimes turns
to the fraternals The idea is the same
with both. To the one the proposition
is strictly business. TO the other it is
a mingling of the business Of protecting
friends with the advancement of the
social being of the man. A single fra
ternal organization during the past year
has gained $4,000 members. There are
lot Of fellows who stand on the side
lines and laugh at the men who give
the "high signs" and the "sign of
distress" but these same fellows usu-
ally when they die leave their families
with nothing more than general sup
ply of debts and reputation which
takes the children ten or fifteen years
to live down. The man who joins the
fraternal organization is taking the
part Of prudence. Of course the in
surance offered by the fraternal organ
ization may not be the highest grade
OF insurance that man can buy. But
there are lot of men who can not buy
the highest grade of insurance. Insur-
ance of this kind costs money and some
times lots of money. The men with a
few dollars month can ioin the fra
ternals, have the pleasure of riding the
goat, get lodge home of his own and
at the same time feel the assurance that
for the present at least he is making
some provision for his burial and to
furnish his wife money enough for her
to live on until she has completed her
period in mourning and worked out the
problem of her own support and that
of his children. The man is not being
gouged. In most of the organizations
he is paying little more than the ac-
tual cost Of his protection and if in
years to come the organization goes
up the spout and fails to pay he is
little out of pocket. The bank drafts
sent out by the fraternal organizations
are not as beautifully engraved as
those sent out by the insurance com
panies which count their assets by the
hundreds of millions and the money
which is passed over the counter for
{ them has just the same purchasing
power. In this way the insurance of
the poor man is just as good as the
investments of the rich man. The fra
ternals fill place that the other or
CARNATIONS can never fill. Big insur-
ance companies are accustomed to deal
in big money. The extending of the
hand of friendship in deepest sorrow
is no part of the big company. It's
officers are far away and the policy
holder is looked upon only as one of
the liabilities. In the fraternal organ
a liability. He at once becomes the
friend of the other policy holders and
this friendship may be shown along
many lines. Fraternalism lifts the
burden of the sick-bed as well as that
of the death-bed and it offers homely
social pleasures which bring a smile
into the lives of men and women which
nothing else offers.
Fraternal insurance may not be the
best form of insurance, it may not be
the best investment of the funds of
any man, but it has lot to recommend
it, The fraternal organizations have
gone farther to take away the sting of
death than any other agency. 1t is
probable that they will continue to do
this, Helpfulness to fellow man is
one of the first principles of the fra
ternals and this helpfulness to the liv-
ing is worth nearly as much as the
helpfulness that is expressed in cold
dollars to the ones whom he leaves be-
hind him.