VOLUME L. ON ri ih or? BELOIT, KANSAS, SEPTEMBER, 1900. NUMBER 9, The Value of Fraternal Insurance. From the time the fraternal societies commenced operations in the United States, there has been a constant hue and cry that they are only temporary in character, and doomed to failure. Some of the antagonists of these societies lim- ited their duration of life to ten years, and some to twenty years. They were all agreed, however, that even if they succeeded in prolonging their existence for two decades, that the end would then surely come. They have not been good prophets. That there have been defects in the fraternal societies, no one has been quicker to recognize than the fraternal men, and the societies have been and are devoting their en- ergies towards providing remedies for these defects. In other words, they have been going through a process of evolution, and we predict that when this process of evolution has been fin- ished, that they will be on a stronger and more secure basis than the so- called old line life insurance companies. They will not be hampered with the irherent weakness of the legal reserve, and they will have in addition to the financial security, the fraternal bond which is invaluable. But apart from the question of the future and its out- come, the fraternal societies have ac- complished a work that could not have been accomplished through any other medium, and has been invaluable. They have convinced the people of small means that the welfare of their families lay in protecting them against the contingency of death, and they have thrown around the homes of their deceased members a financial protec- tion.that has been invaluable to the community, the state and the nation. Many a home would have been under the hammer had it not been for the money paid at death by some fraternal society. Many a widow would have been compelled to resort to menial labor for the support of her family had it not been for the work of the fra- ternal societies, and many boys and girls would have been reared amidst poverty and denied the influences of a good home and an education had it not been for the membership of their fath- er in some fraternal society. So, no matter -what the criticisms have been upon the crudeness of the system, the work that has been done is entitled to warm commendation. It is certain that this work would not have been done through the agency of an old line in- surance. In educating the people to the necessity of insurance, these socie- ties have been the strongest allies that the insurance companies could have found, and instead of being denounced as they have been they should have been welcomed and commended for their work of education and _ protection. They occupy a field peculiarly their own, and that field is the protection of the home. They do not enter into the investment field, and, consequently, the old line companies and the fra- ternal societies have each their own mission and should be content to oc- cupy their respective fields, and should realize that just as the same basic prin- ciple underlies their operations, i. e., guarding against the contingency of death, so in their respective fields there is scope for them both. —Colum- bian Herald. A Man’s Home. Home is the place where a man’s heart dwells. It may be called by some a saloon, a race track or an office, but if that is where a man’s whole heart is centered, that is his home. How well we know that if a man’s heart comes to rest trustfully in wife and children, then where they are be- comes his home. Nothing will make his house cease to be his home but their departure from it. How frequently such a man thus surrounded and happy, because of vi- cissitudes, is unable to make provi- sion for that home in the event of his untimely taking away; how frequently, after such an hour, the home is ruth- lessly snatched from his loved ones by the law, which is not always tempered with mercy. The rigors of such a time can be greatly ameliorated by membership in The Mischief Maker. In all orders and in all movements of the fraternal beneficiary society. The| importance, there will always be found man is without excuse today, who, some individuals with personal motives having a sincere purpose to care for| to promote, personal animosities to those dependent upon him, refuses to affiliate with the order, which stands at his very door equipped to do for satisfy, or personal ambitions to ad- vance who will not hesitate to injure the institution they obligated them- him that which he cannot, apart from | selves to protect in order to do so. By association with his fellows, do for evil insinuations, false statements, himself. The principle is the same as|and sometimes direct attacks, these that which leads a citizen to contribute of his means in taxes for the support false members, true only to their own interests, circulate from hive to hive, of the government, the public schools, | agitating, reviling, and endeavoring to and the protection of his house from destruction by fire. No man is truly independent. Forces may bring him wealth and plenty today, while penury may stalk forth at noonday and visit his home tomorrow. The fraternity affords the best pro- tection against life’s uncertainties as they may concern the maintenance of the home. The thoughtful man is the truest home protector. Yes, a man’s home is where his heart dwells and he that is true in deed will conscientious- ly guard its future. —Bee Hive. break confidence and accomplish their own ends. As a rule their object is so plainly evident that they only succeed in in- juring themselves, and forfeit the re- spect and*confidence of the hive and community. Such a course meets with its own punishment. If such a woman is a member of your hive or of your state, beware of her. A woman who has no regard for her obligation, can- not be trusted. If she does not have confidence in the order,she should join one in which she has and thus relieve the one she is reviling from her _pres- ence. When a member comes to you with false statements, look for a motive. There is always a personal motive somewhere back of all false statements. Do not allow them to be made if you value your membership, for it is your order, your $1,000 certificate to be protected and your own personal inter- ests as a member of the order which are affected if injury results. —Ladies’ Review. Illegitimate Fraternal Orders. Amid the crash of corporations, business enterprises, schemes and as- sociations by a hundred names, it is with pride that the record of the past can be pointed to, and nowhere along the line is there the record of a fail- ure of a single legitimate fraternal or- der. Whenever a fraternity has been built upon honest fraternal founda- tions, that institution is still in ex- istence. All of the great benefit orders which have been instituted for the good of mankind and for truly sacred and unselfish purposes, are still here, and will be here as long as the neces- sity exists for mutual relief and protec- tion. No other cause of such a character can show such a record. Creeds, re- ligious parties, sects, monetary, moral, benevolent, charitable and business en- terprises of every variety have changed, been added to or taken from, appeared or disappeared by the hun- dreds, but the legitimate fraternities stand today as at the beginning, only gathering strength for humanity’s good as the years and centuries go by. Op- position in almost every form has been hurled against them. Money and _ in- fluence have been lavishly expended to destroy them, but while the men who denounce them are relegated to oblivion and have been forgotten, the grand orders are still here. The fra- ternities may well be pardoned for having some pride as they view this great record.—San Francisco Call,