Evening star., 1923-06-05
Text of Speech
By the President
At Shrine Council
Imperial Potentate and Mobiles

Imperial Potentate and Mobiles
of the Council:
1t is a great pleasure to partici-
pate in this opening session of the
council. 1t need not be said that
l cordially join in the words of
welcome and hearty greetings al
ready uttered.
! like the atmosphere of frater-
nifty. / rejoice in the knowledge
that / am addressing a body where
every heartbeat is loyally Ameri-
can. where every impulse is Amer
lean, where every commitment and
conservation are to the republic
and its free institutions
False Impressions.
Sometimes there are. false i'm
pressions about fraternai organi-
cations. No man. ever took the
oaths and subscribed to the oblf-
cations with greater watchfulness
and care than ] exercised in re-
ceiving the various rites of Ma
sonry, and I say it with due delib-
Grafton and without fear of break
ing faith. have never encounter
ed a lesson, never witnessed an
example, never heard ans obliga-
tion uttered which could not be
openly proclaimed to the world.
More, II. the lessons taught were
needed, the obligations read. were
assumed. II the relationships urged
were adopted, men would be in
finitely better in their human re-
lation ships.
Fraternities must be just. IL they
are to survive. And they must be
just to appeal to men in their fell
low relationships. Secret frater-
nifty is one thing; secret conpsiracy
is quite another. This meeting
One must recognize that frater-
nifty has it's abuses. Abused fra
ternity is no more avoidable than
the hypocrisy which teaches how
beautifully worth while is honest
religion. But fraternity deals with
realities and cures it's own abuses.
A President would not be ethical
If he related fraternal appeals to
which he must turn a deaf ear. l
will have said enough II suggest
that men lose their right Of fra
ternal hearing when they transgress
the law Of the land.
80. Cites Experience.
The abuse I had in mind Is the i'm
position upon fraternal relationship
TO promote selfish ends. Perhaps
recital Of a hometown experience
will illustrate my point. There came
to our town two brothers to engage
in a mercantile enterprise. One
Joined the Methodist church and the
other the Presbyterian. Still, bust
ness failed to move with a whnl.
Then one Joined the MasonS and the
other the knights of Pythias. They
picked out the churches with the
larger congregations, and the fra
ternities with the larger member
ship. Some local observer wondered
at these divergent inclinatious in two
brothers, and there was comment
about it. Here was fraternity being
PLAYED for selfish ends. We had
another fraternity rare in kind and
transitory in existence, which dealt
with mems idiosyncrasies and foibleS
and imperfections. 1t was a fra
ternal play ground. which sometimes
witnessed rough play. and performed
many a surgery in character So
cient and Honorable Order Of Hay
makers was held out to the joining
merchants, and they fell for 1t. The
fee was very modest, and the treas
urer spent all the funds at each
meeting of the order, but the initta-
tion was imposing, revealing and
never forgotten.
Losing Prorposition.
When the two merchants came
to receive their degree their f1rst
revelation came to them while
locked in a little six-by-eight
antechamber, between which and
the lodgeroom there was a partf-
ton only eight feet high, with
- o.
which could be heard all that was
said among the Haymakers in SOL
emn session. The eligibility and
desirability of the candidates were
discussed for an hour, and / fear,
alas! the candidates heard every
word. Their joining proclivity
was emphasized. and I suspect OBJ
jections were urged that were
not wholly justified. In a bit Of
cheating, which must have been
forgiven ere this, the ministers Of
the two churches were imperson-
ated, though the impersonators
sometimes fell short of clerical
terms of speech. The Haymakers,
with rare facility, turned tanners,
and did a wonderful job of it.
Manifestations Of .restlessness ~in
the anteroom were ignored, and
after the alleged pastors had re-
was given, and given without
stint. All went well until the
next day, when the two brothers
started out to interview the min
listers who had spoken. 1t was
difficult for the innocent ministers
to understand, but the two joiners
soon came to understanding, and
the Haymakers lost two members.
the town lost dts new. mercantile @
- ee,-zF-y