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THE LIBRARY OF
THE
UNIVERSIT
B
COMMUNE.
VINCULUM
OMNIBUS. ARTIBUS
OF MINNESOTA.
CLASS 339.806
BOOK G599c

TBRARY OF
CONGRE
DUPLIC..TE
EXCHANGED
**
THE
GOOD OF THE ORDER:
BEING A
SERIES OF PRACTICAL ARTICLES REL-
ATIVE TO THE WORKING OF GOOD
TEMPLAR LODGES.
BY
S. B. CHASE, P.R.W.G.T.,
OF T
R. W. GLODG
ORTH
NoH AMERICA.
MINNESOTA
LIBRARY
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY
J. C. GARRIGUES & CO.,
608 ARCH STREET, PHILADELPHIA.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS,~
CITY OF WASHINGTON
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
S. B. CHASE,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
ATOZIMMIN
WESTCOTT THOMSON,
Stereotypers, Philada.•
39.806
G599 c
1914
NAT
INTRODUCTION.
To all Good Templars:
The following articles were prepared while the
author was "on the wing," in the discharge of the
duties of G. W. C. T. of Pennsylvania, and first
published in the Keystone Good Templar, the offi-
cial organ of the Grand Lodge. Written at depôts
while waiting for trains, with our bat for a writing-
desk, and here and there as we could catch a few
moments fleire here was no tihe, or oppor-
tunity to revise or.elaborate, so as to make them as
readable as we could wish. They were intended as
practical, and no attempt was made at embellish-
ment.
e
The interest taken in these articles by many of
our members, and pains taken by many Lodges to
file the numbers of the paper containing them, and
3
163771
4
INTRODUCTION.
of others to place them in scrap-books for future
reference, induced their publication in book form.
Hoping good may come from the circulation of
"The Good of the Order,"
I remain,
In F., H. and C.,
S. B. CHASE,
P. R. W. G. T.
GREAT BEND VILLAGE, May 2, 1870.
Discipline..
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
7
CHAPTER II.
Discipline.—Continued..
CHAPTER III.
12
Influence. How to make Lodge meetings interesting. 17
CHAPTER IV.
How to make Lodge meetings interesting.-Order... 22
CHAPTER V.
Punctuality, promptness, despatch in the transaction
of business..
27
CHAPTER VI.
How to make Lodge meetings interesting.-Readiness
to discharge duty.-Exercises under the head of
"Good of the Order."-Personal duty...
CHAPTER VII.
How to make Lodge meetings interesting.-News-
papers, music, etc..
33
41
1*
5
6
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
How to make Lodge meetings interesting.-Regular
attendance of the members necessary..
CHAPTER IX.
How to make Lodge meetings interesting.—Outside
work.-Public meetings..
CHAPTER X.
Difficulties in Lodges.-What causes them and the
results.-Why Lodges fail.....
CHAPTER XI.
Delinquent Lodges.-Damaging influence of getting
in arrears, both upon members and Lodges....
CHAPTER XII.
Our unwritten work.-Its importance, use, disuse and
abuse..
CHAPTER XIII.
PAGE
48
53
59
69
76
The Good Templars' obligation.-What it means.—
Good Templars should not frequent dram-shops... 81
CHAPTER XIV.
The rights, privileges and duties of deputies....
85
CHAPTER XV.
1
Correspondence...
93

உ
THE
GOOD OF THE ORDER.
CHAPTER I.
DISCIPLINE.
HERE is no feature of the Good Tem-
TH
plars' work which should be so marked
with care and charity as the discipline of way-
ward members; and yet many of our Lodges
act as though the great end of our organization
is to get men to join and secure the fees, and
then put them out as soon as possible. No
mistake can be greater.
A minister in the M. E. Church who had
committed some act censurable under the
ecclesiastical law at once went to the bishop,
with a request that he should have immediate
steps taken to have him disciplined. His
bishop mildly told him that the object of the
7
8 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
Church was not to throw men out, but to in-
duce them to unite with and stay in the
Church, and lead lives worthy of church mem-
bership; and that he had better go back to his
charge, and thereafter conduct himself so that
his case would not require church judicatories.
So our great object should be to induce per-
sons to join us and to throw around them such
influences as shall keep them with us. We
have been in Lodges where all manner of
charges were being preferred against A., B.
and C., and some of a very trivial nature in-
deed. So far as I could judge, no attempt had
been made to discipline by mild and persuasive
means.
Our Constitution and By-Laws prescribe the
constitutional or legal mode of procedure in
cases of violation of obligation; but it is not
necessary the constitutional course should be
pursued in the first instance. A man may
commit some trespass on his neighbor, for the
redress of which he has his remedy in a suit
at law; but if they be Christian neighbors, it
would be thought unchristian to resort to his
suit before any effort had been made at an
amicable settlement.
Let us, brothers and sisters, exhaust every
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
9
mild and charitable means for the restoration
of violators before resorting to the constitu-
tional. As soon as it is known or suspected a
member has been violating the obligation, let
some member go at once, and, in a friendly
and fraternal conversation, try to induce such
member to come into Lodge and state all the
facts in the case, and, if deemed a violation, be
re-obligated at once, and submit to such other
punishment as the Lodge may require. If no
one will volunteer to do this, let the Lodge
appoint judicious members and those best
adapted to such a work for such purpose.
Generally, accused members led by such in-
fluences will acknowledge all they have done,
humbly ask forgiveness of the Lodge, and
meekly submit to its punishment; whereas, if
a written charge is preferred in the first in-
stance, they think it uncharitable, their pride
is aroused, and they are prepared to defend
the charge to the last extremity, and, if finally
expelled, a large number of friends go with
them in sympathy, if not in person.
Again, our Lodges often commit real in-
justice by following too rigidly the legal course
as laid down in our Digest, forgetting that
they are both court and jury to determine
ΙΟ THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
whether the law applies to the particular case
in hand.
Take the following instance of discipline,
where the Lodge supposed it must pursue the
constitutional course, without exercising any
judgment as to whether the cases were both
violations or not.
-
A. was charged with drinking sweet cider,
and, in answer to charge, said he had drunk
it and would continue to do so when he pleased,
and the Lodge might help itself. The same
charge was preferred against B., who, in
answer, said that, one day while making cider
(he was a farmer) at the press, he inadvert-
ently, and without any intention of violating
his pledge as a Good Templar, drank a very
small quantity, but, though he regretted the
act and would not repeat it, he did not con-
sider that he had violated his obligation, and
would not be re-obligated. He was a valuable
temperance man, and, of course, our Order
needed his aid.
The result was, the Lodge, in its pursuit of
a strictly legal course, because both had drunk
sweet cider, treated both cases alike, and ex-
pelled them, thus for ever losing the influence
of B. to our Order. There was no parallel in
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
I I
these cases. A. ought to have been severely
dealt with, and expulsion was undoubtedly
proper, because he placed himself in defiance
of the Lodge and its laws; but in the other
case, if the Lodge, knowing the character of
B., really believed he did it inadvertently and
would not repeat it, might have passed a vote
that the act of Bro. B. be considered not a
violation, and thus saved him. The Lodge
could not find him guilty and then excuse
him, because our laws forbid it; and probably
the brother would not have remained in the
Lodge if such a course had been taken.
Recollect that the law can only be laid
down in general terms, and that the Lodge,
being acquainted with the character of the
members and circumstances attending the par-
ticular case, is to determine whether the law
applies to the case or not; and members
should act as though they felt this responsi-
bility, and not forget that one great object
in discipline is to keep and save, rather than
turn out and lose.

THE
CHAPTER II.
DISCIPLINE.-CONTINUED.
'HE inquiry is often made of me, How
many times I would re-obligate a mem-
ber who has violated his obligation? Briefly,
I answer, just as many times as such member
manifests sorrow for the violation and a deter-
mination to be faithful in the future. Toward
those who have joined us from pure motives
and with bona fide intention to try to reform
we cannot exercise too much charity; but, on
the contrary, when we are satisfied that a
member under, or who is liable to, charge,
never joined from laudable motives, nor had
any sincere desire to keep his obligation, we
cannot manifest too much despatch in en-
forcing our discipline.
Sometimes individuals join us because they
are sent in by our enemies to spy out our plan
of operations and bring us into disrepute, and
thus accomplish on the inside what the most
12
THE GOOD OF THE order. 13
violent opposition on the outside never could
effect-namely, the dissolution or demoraliza-
tion of the Lodge. Of course, all such will
violate the pledge as soon as possible, for in
no other way can they so effectually bring the
Lodge into disrepute. The disparaging in-
fluence of one violation upon a Lodge, what
human arithmetic can estimate it?
Generally, members of this class, when an
attempt is made to discipline them, are very
obstinate, will interpose every obstacle pos-
sible, and are ready "to fight it out on this
line" and defend to the last extremity. Such
I would not re-obligate, but discipline and sus-
pend or expel as soon as possible, that the
wound may not have a chance to spread and
infect the whole body. Indeed, if you have
evidence that such came in for the purpose of
subjecting the Lodge to ridicule or breaking it
up, I would at once deal with and cut them
off before they have had time to otherwise
violate our obligation.
The re-obligation is administered by the
W. C. Templar, and in open Lodge. Mem-
bers have sometimes refused to be re-obligated
in open Lodge, but have expressed a willing-
ness to be if it could be done by W. C. T. in
2
14
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
private or before a committee. The uniform
Constitution, sec. 6 of Art. 8, requires it to be
done openly. See Digest, 7th edition, p. 48.
Considerable difficulty is experienced from
our Lodges so often inflicting the penalty of
expulsion, even for non-payment of dues. Ap-
plications are frequently made to me for dis-
pensations to initiate expelled members before
the expiration of the time required by the
Constitution, assigning as a
a reason therefor
that such person's safety is dependent upon
his being received again into our organization.
Of course, there is no power to relieve in
these cases, as dispensations cannot be granted
to do an unconstitutional act. Although, under
the terms of the Uniform Code, now in force
in this State, only three months must elapse
before an expelled person can be proposed
and initiated, still it would be better to simply
suspend indefinitely, in all cases, for non-pay-
ment of dues, or for any offence not very
flagrant, instead of expelling; as the former
just as effectually cuts off such disciplined
members from participation in the meetings
of the organization, and they occupy a posi-
tion where the disability can be removed at
any time by a vote of the Lodge, and their
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
15
former relations to the Order be at once re-
sumed. As a general rule, in all cases where
two doors are open through which the goal
of discipline can be reached, let us walk
through the one which will the most readily
fly open when we wish to retrace our steps.
It appears strange to many that, with all
the restraining influences surrounding our or-
ganization, so many who have been addicted
to the artificial stimulus should be unable to
keep their obligation of total abstinence. The
fault is not altogether our failure to discipline
wisely. It is not altogether because we are
too "harsh," or because our membership is
not faithful, though many are lost because we
do not extend our fraternal sympathies in the
time of need; but the great difficulty lies in
the fact that our members who have been
slaves of the intoxicating bowl do not abandon
their old haunts of dissipation and former com-
panions. The laws of association are such
that even to enter a place where we have been
wont to get intoxicating beverages brings back
the tempter with all his terrible power for
destruction. The old companions of our vices
are anxious to pull us along with them, and
our first attempt to break away from their
16 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
snares is a signal for all to unite in efforts to
prevent our escape from the maelstrom of
death. With my present views, if ever again
privileged to prepare an obligation for our
Order, after the present pledge, I would add,
"And you also promise for ever to abandon
all your old associates and all places where
intoxicating beverages are sold." This would
strike a key-note that would lead our brothers
to a successful reformation.
1


חון
CHAPTER III.
INFLUENCE.-HOW TO MAKE LODGE MEET-
INGS INTERESTING.
OOD TEMPLARS are reputed to be a
G working temperance organization; and
hence we are expected to occupy advanced
ground on all questions connected with the
temperance reform, and to mark out plans of
action in this work, not only for our own or-
ganization, but for other friends of the cause
outside who are willing and anxiously waiting
to turn in and aid us. The splendor of our
fashionable saloons is never tarnished, and
their attractive lights are never suffered to go
out. Years ago I saw a bright light in a cer-
tain grog-shop, which always burned until
early dawn, and now the same light is there,
still kept burning in the same position. So
our Lodges ought to be possessed not only of
vitality, but their lights, like the vestal fires of
antiquity, should be always burning. Then,
2*
17
18
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
as so much is expected of us, and we are to be
the aggressive temperance organization, we
must labor to increase our influence.
This can be done in two ways-by waking
up and energizing our own membership, and
also by going out and carrying our principles
among others and inducing them to come in
with us, the last being the natural result of the
first. As to having a revival of religion, it is
necessary to commence it in the hearts of be-
lievers, so we will consider first how we can
wake up and energize our membership.
This must principally be done in our Lodge
meetings. We ought to render the meetings.
of our organization so interesting that mem-
bers will never leave them without feeling
that they have been made better by having
attended.
The question, How can we make our Lodge
meetings interesting? is often asked; and, as
the key-note to our success as an organization,
we will give our views, in answer to the in-
quiry, in this and subsequent articles.
As the first requisite to make our meeting
interesting, we must have a pleasant and at-
tractive place of meeting, so that our members
will become interested in the Lodge-room. It
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
19
should be comfortably and attractively fur-
nished, easy seating, carpet or matting for the
floor, pictures and pleasant walls for the eye,
well heated and ventilated, and commodious,
the dimensions being adapted to the numbers
which will generally occupy it. Let it be not
too large, for a few members in a very large
hall makes a meeting seem cold and cheerless.
Our natures are so sympathetic that we must
be near together if we would have interesting
meetings.
A young lad of our Order once said to me,
after attending a meeting in a pleasant and
nicely fitted up Lodge-room, that he wished
he could attend meeting there always. "Why?"
I asked. 66
Oh, because they have such a
splendid place to meet in." This is the out-
gushing opinion of a young Good Templar
who had enjoyed a meeting in an attractive
room. He volunteered no opinion of the
exercises of the meeting, because the pleasure
induced by the surroundings was so great as
to envelop all else.
It is our especial object to gather in the
young and train them in the principles of total
abstinence; and, as we know they are at-
tracted by a pleasant place of resort, which
20
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
1
our great enemy everywhere furnishes them in
the gilded, gorgeous saloon where the fiery
serpent lurks, to turn aside from virtue, entrap
and ruin, we ought to furnish pleasant and
socially attractive places where they may fre-
quent, and have a guaranty that no great arch-
enemy is concealed within, ready with a syren
voice to charm its victims on to death.
Consult good taste in a Lodge-room. We
must, of course, provide halls proportionate to
our means; but extra efforts ought to be made
to raise funds to fit up a Lodge-room, and
sacrifices made, if need be, for such purpose.
Again, we must have efficient and faithful
officers, always selecting the best members we
have for the several positions; and the officers.
should strive to qualify themselves to discharge
their respective duties as well as possible.
The membership of a Lodge will never at-
tain a higher standard of working or interest
in the Order than that attained by the officers;
and if the members see their officers full of life
and energetic action in our work, they will
manifest a corresponding degree of vitality,
energy and faithfulness. Especially is it neces-
sary to have a presiding officer who is well
qualified for the position-a well-tried and
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 21
persistent friend of the cause of temperance,
and one who commands the respect of the
Lodge and entire community. If a Lodge, in
its early history, will exercise great care to
select competent W. C. Templars-such as
will enforce our rules and usages and preserve
strict order—the members will very soon learn
to pay such deference and respect to the
opinions and mandates of the chair that,
though you might happen to have the most
inexperienced lad or the weakest sister in the
chair for the time, the same order would be
preserved and deference paid, because the
members have learned to respect the posi-
tion rather than the particular incumbent.
W. C. T.s have been known to be engaged in
whispering and laughing with his Supporters
even during the initiatory ceremonies, when,
of course, the members followed suit, and thus
the greatest confusion and disorder charac-
terize ceremonies which should be as orderly
and solemn as the prayer-meetings of Chris-
tian churches. In my next I shall speak of
Order in our Lodge meetings, and prescribe
a course of action which will do much to bring
any Lodge up to a standard of good order
during its sessions.

CHAPTER IV.
HOW TO MAKE LODGE MEETINGS INTEREST-
66
"O
ING.-ORDER.
Not a
RDER is Nature's first law."
leaf, flower, insect, bird or animal
exists but bears proof of the existence of this
law in its very highest state, both in its crea-
tion, preservation and action. The entire
planetary system is the object of motion,
which, regulated by two different attractive
forces, reduces every movement to the most
perfect exactness.
No Lodge can expect to have its meetings
interesting without good order in the trans-
action of all its business. The W. C. T.
should have a programme or docket, with the
business of the evening all laid down, the
name of each committee to report, each item
of unfinished business, and especially, under
the head of "Good of the Order," there should
be an established order of exercises for the
evening; and each member should respond
22
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 23
promptly, when called upon, to perform the
part assigned.
If we attend a public anniversary or any
entertainment, where every part is in readi-
ness as the chairman or master of ceremonies
makes an announcement, so that no delay en-
sues, we are interested in it, even though some
of the exercises might bear criticism, and
would be exceedingly dull and unentertaining
if they did not form a part of exercises which
are being performed with promptness and
regularity. Anything but this happen-so,
don't-know-what's-coming-next, rather-be-ex-
cused, waiting-between-exercises, ever-drag-
ging, dull way of conducting any meeting,
and especially of a Lodge meeting. Con-
fusion, dullness and for ever dragging and
waiting and asking to be excused will destroy
the leaven in any meeting and the life and
energy of any Lodge. They may not be as
rapid in their disastrous effects as is prussic
acid upon the human system, but none the
less sure.
Especially during our initiations must we
have order and system: no waiting-no mis-
takes-no laughing-no whispering-nothing
to distract the attention. The object of this
24 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
ceremony is to impress; but such object is
thwarted if the ceremony is not conducted
with strict decorum.
A Rev. brother related in my hearing the
following occurrence, which is in point. He
was soliciting a person to join the Good
Templars, when he received the following re-
ply: "Two years ago I was invited to join
your organization, consented, was elected, and
had proceeded as far in the initiation as the
close of the first paragraph in the obligation,
when some one in the room burst out in a fit
of laughter. I was so amazed and grieved
that the members had no higher appreciation
of the solemnity of the obligation I was taking,
and the terrible struggle I had passed through
before I could make up my mind to pledge
myself for life to total abstinence, that I wanted
nothing to do with such an organization, and
turned and abruptly left the room, and never
could I be induced since to give my name to
the Good Templars."
This laughter, probably, was inadvertent
and not designed to produce disorder, and yet
the result proved none the less disastrous be-
cause the offspring of carelessness.
At one of our District Conventions last sum-
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
25
mer, while this subject was under discussion,
a brother clergyman said that, when he was
initiated, during the obligation some one
laughed aloud, and it embarrassed and morti-
fied him exceedingly, as he supposed some-
thing wrong in his dress or deportment gave
rise to it; so that the impression which our
ccremonies are calculated to make upon the
initiate was lost upon him.
To bring a Lodge up to a more correct
standard of working, allow me to suggest the
critic system which originated in No. 4, and,
proving successful, has since been tried in
other Lodges, with like results. The plan is
this: The W. C. T., at the opening of each
session, appoints two of the most competent.
members as critics, who take pencil and paper,
and everything occurring during the session
requiring criticism-such as a wrong signal,
entering without regalia, incorrect salutation.
or response, errors in pronunciation or emphasis
while reading or speaking, W. C. T. giving
unwritten work wrong, whispering, laughing,
crossing the room while a member is speaking
or the chair is stating a question,-in short,
anything and everything which is contrary to
our Constitution, By-Laws, Rules and usages,
3
లు
26
THE GOOD Oof the order.
or good taste, is noted down, and at the close of
the session they are called upon for a report.
This report of the critics, especially when
spiced with a little pleasantry and wit, is ren-
dered exceedingly interesting, and thus two
purposes are accomplished: first, you add one
of the most attractive features to your meet-
ings, which induces the members to remain
until adjournment, for each desires to hear the
report; and you will also, in time, bring your
Lodge up to a correct standard of working,
for experience proves that members judiciously
but faithfully criticized for a mistake or incor-
rect habits will not repeat the error nor persist
in the habit. Especially is this the case with
the young; and who can estimate the salutary
effect of this system of criticism upon a young
lad as in after years he engages in active life,
free from many faults which, but for these fra-
ternal criticisms in the Lodge-room, would
have followed him through life?
Of course, we must exercise care in our
selections, as the members appointed must be
able to command the respect and confidence
of the Lodge, and the criticisms must be
strictly impartial and never undeserved, or
they will not be respected.

CHAPTER V.
PUNCTUALITY, PROMPTNESS, .DESPATCH IN
THE TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS.
PUNCTU
NCTUALITY and promptness on the
part of officers and committees of a Lodge
are essential to its efficient working and the
interest of its meetings.
Each Lodge has a fixed hour of meeting,
and the W. C. T. should always be on time to
call the Lodge to order at the precise hour.
Sometimes when the W. C. T. is promptly in
attendance, fifteen or twenty minutes elapse
before the Lodge is called to order, waiting
for the members to come in. This is erro-
neous, for the members will never learn punc-
tuality from such a practice. If the W. C. T.
himself is tardy, or, being on time, does not
call his Lodge to order, the members will
generally consult their own convenience about
attending. If one has a letter to write and
post, a call to make, or any chores to do, he
generally does them before going to Lodge,
27
28 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
1
rightly thinking that the W. C. T. will be be-
hind, and he will be there in ample time even
if he consults the caprice of convenience.
On the contrary, if the W. C. T. is prompt
in attending and calling the Lodge to order at
the hour, the members will very soon learn
that, if they would not find the doors closed,
they must be there at the hour; and all gene-
rally prefer to be present during the opening
exercises. Our membership will learn to be
on time at our meetings if the example is set
them by our officers.
Lodges should also have an hour of adjourn-
ment, and, when such hour arrives, adjourn,
unless it may be some special occasion that
seems to require an extension of the time.
We have business men connected with our
Order whose time cannot be given to our
work unless they can know precisely when
they are required to meet and when they will
be able to return from the Lodge. They have
business engagements, and must stay away
from us unless our session hours are so definite
that they can adapt their business engagements
to them. We need more of this class of men
in our various localities to come in with us if
we hope to be successful against alcohol; but
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 29
we cannot get them, and we cannot reason-
ably expect them, if they never know when
the Lodge is to meet, nor whether they will
get out at nine and a half or twelve o'clock.
Irregular hours are especially objectionable
to parents who have children belonging to our
organization, and many are deterred from
granting consent to their children to join us
in consequence of the lateness of some of our
sessions.
An obvious advantage is derived in the
transaction of our business from a fixed hour
of adjournment, as we have before us a given
time in which our work must be done; hence
no time will be frittered away on non-essen-
tials; and certainly our time is too valuable to
be wasted, and we should avail ourselves of
every feature calculated to aid us in husband-
ing it.
The other officers should be prompt as well
as the W. C. T., and especially those who
have charge of the books and property of the
Lodge. We have been in Lodges where the
entire membership waited twenty minutes for
a dilatory Secretary to come in with his books.
Twenty or thirty business men, the value of
whose time all well know, waiting the motion
3*
30 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
or convenience of one officer of the Lodge, is
not only annoying, but positively wrong; and
no Lodge can hold these members long in the
meetings or prosper under such action. In
some Lodges committees are never ready to
report when called upon. When the W. C. T.
calls for reports of Committees of Investiga-
tion, the Secretary first looks to see who con-
stitute the committees; then part are found to
be absent, and the vacancies have to be filled;
then the committees gather around the Secre-
tary's table and make out their report, causing
great confusion, and the Lodge is obliged to
wait for them to prepare business which should
have been in readiness before the Lodge was
called to order. All committees should have
their reports made out during the week, or
meet previous to the opening of the Lodge, in
time to have the reports prepared, so that
when that order of business is reached busi-
ness may move on, unruffled by delay, and no
time wasted.
In many of our Lodges one-fourth of the
time is exhausted in tedious waiting and un-
necessary dragging of business, thus leaving
little or no time for the good of the Order
or for devising general plans of action, be-
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 31
sides disgusting the better class of our mem-
bers at the slowness of our movements.
In the initiation of candidates especially is
this true. Some time since, at one of our Dis-
trict Conventions, some brother expressed a
wish that a memorial might be prepared to
the R. W. G. Lodge asking for an abridgment
of the Ritual, as the initiation consumed so
much time as to deter some business men
from connecting themselves with our organiza-
tion. I inquired of the brother if he knew how
much time was required, necessarily, to initiate
candidates. He replied he did not, but fre-
quently an hour was consumed on this busi-
ness in their Lodge. I then stated that the
committee preparing the present Ritual, and
other skillful workers in our Order, had timed
the initiatory ceremony, and twenty minutes
was all the time necessarily required in per-
forming the ceremony. Now, how is so much
time consumed? It is in the officers not having
everything in readiness, and in frittering away
much time in movements and on matters en-
tirely foreign to the ceremony. The Marshal
is sent out into the ante-room to see if there
are any candidates in waiting, and stays per-
haps ten minutes, holding converse on the
32 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
state of the weather and prospects of crops in
general; then the P. W. C. T. and F. Secre-
tary consume fifteen minutes frequently in the
discharge of their duties; and thus the busi-
ness drags along, the W. C. T. probably giving
the finishing touch to this prodigality, in occu-
pying the length of time required for the entire
ceremony in explaining the unwritten work.
All these wastes must be avoided; and we
will only render our ceremonies impressive
and our entire Lodge sessions truly interesting
when we have learned punctuality, prompt-
ness and despatch in the workings of our
organization.

$
1

CHAPTER VI.
HOW TO MAKE LODGE MEETINGS INTEREST-
ING.-READINESS TO DISCHARGE DUTY.
EXERCISES UNDER THE HEAD OF "GOOD
OF THE ORDER.”—PERSONAL DUTY.
G
OOD TEMPLARS are generally ready
to engage in our work in any capacity
they may be placed. Our most active, long-
tried and honored members are frequently
selected for Outside Guard, and enter upon
the discharge of its duties with cheerfulness
and earnestness. Those who have the love
of the cause at heart are ready and anxious to
labor in any sphere of action where they can
be promotive of good.
Sometimes, however, we have been in
Lodges where there was a great mania for
asking to be excused, and frequently the W.
C. T. found it difficult to fill his committees
and appointed offices. Now, if there is any-
thing in the world that falls like an iceberg on
33
34
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
the interest of a Lodge meeting it is this habit
of asking to be excused. We are aware many
members make excuses because they really feel
incompetent to fill the position assigned them,
but more do it from a disinclination to be
troubled or an unwillingness to make sacrifices
for the cause, and in either case the example
is detrimental to the interest of the Lodge, and
often proves positively disastrous.
Though we much dislike to see members
striving for the offices in the Lodge, we confess
to having much more hope for such a Lodge
than where the offices have to go begging for
incumbents. Let us take hold of any duty as-
signed to us as though we loved the work and
as if we felt proud to be thus engaged and
honored by the appointment; then others will
begin to feel interested, and our glorious enter-
prise will be pushed on to certain success and
the enemy against which we are warring be
driven to destruction.
Under the head of "Good of the Order" it
becomes the special duty of each member to
do something to make the meetings interest-
ing. We have attended meetings where the
regular routine of business was gone through
with hurriedly, and when the order, "Has
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
35
any one anything to offer for the good of the
Order?" was reached, some one moved to ad-
journ, which motion was carried, and the
Lodge adjourned and the members separated.
Now, how much better or more interested is a
member for having attended such a meeting?
How much stronger to go forth into the world
and battle against intemperance?
Our meetings are intended as preparatory
schools to get our members interested in our
work and the cause, and to arm them with the
arrows of truth, which they can draw upon
the enemy as they mingle in the business and
social circles of life.
Lodges should have a regular programme
of exercises for each evening under this head.
This may consist of a manuscript paper, edited
by some competent brother or sister and sup-
ported by the liberal contributions of the
membership, select readings, original essays,
a question-box, discussions of questions re-
lating to the cause, or miscellaneous or such
other exercises as the good taste and expe-
rience of the members may suggest; but, in
case these prepared and arranged exercises do
not occupy the whole time, or none are in
readiness, then each member should feel as
36
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
though he or she was responsible for some
profitable entertainment.
No one who attends our meetings but can
say, read, write or sing something of interest
to others. We are all interested in each other,
and are profited by each other's thoughts and
suggestions.
When quite young I became connected
with a Christian church, and was once slightly
reproved for not attending the prayer-meetings
more regularly. I had to confess that I was
not interested and I thought the meetings dull.
My pastor said the difficulty was with me: if
I would go to the meeting prepared to take
some part which would interest others, I would
become interested myself and no longer con-
sider the meeting dull. I readily saw the
point was well taken. So in our organization,
if each member would be prepared to offer
some remarks, read some selection, sing an
appropriate song-anything to interest-there
would be no lack of entertainment at our meet-
ings. So many of our membership go to
Lodge and sit with hands folded and mouths
closed through the entire meeting, as if they
expected to be perpetually fed at the hands of
Brother A. or Sister B., and seem to think it
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
37
is the especial duty of certain members to as-
sume all the responsibility, do all the work
and afford all the entertainment, and then, if
perchance they have not been as much in-
terested as they desired, go away remarking
how dull the Lodge meetings are becoming,
and they don't think it "pays" to go.
Members of this class frequently thus sit
during the meeting while important business
is transacted, not offering a suggestion or op-
posing action in any form, and yet the next
day stoutly condemn the passage of some resolu-
tion, and affirm that such unwise action must
sooner or later tear the Lodge into fragments.
Now, this action may not have been wise, and
may prove very detrimental to the best interests
of the Lodge and Order, but no member should
say aught against it after it has passed, and
certainly such members as those just referred
to are the last ones who should condemn it.
The time to offer an opinion upon any ques-
tion or to make an opposition against any
measure is when it is under consideration, and
then, if one's views are correct, the majority
of the Lodge will generally see it and adopt
them; but, if it should not so adopt our opinion,
instead of arraying ourselves in opposition, so
4
38
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
much greater is the need of our aiding in the
execution of the measure. Unwise measures
endorsed by all, after they have passed, are
often less disastrous in their consequences than
wise ones with a portion of the membership
arrayed against their enforcement.
The
But I have inadvertently digressed.
point especially designed to enforce is that
each member should feel and act as though
the interest and efficiency of the Lodge meet-
ings were dependent upon him, and if there
is any
want of interest or decrease of efficiency,
look to himself as the cause and seek the
remedy there.
The following extract from the Boston Good
Templar is so exactly apropos that I take the
liberty of copying:
"We know of no word that is oftener used
in a manner to excite the contempt of the faith-
ful than the little pronoun they. Take our
own loved Order for instance. How often is
an expression like this made when speaking
of the Lodge and its meetings: 'Well, I rather
think they are going down hill;' and, being
questioned why he does not attend more punc-
tually, the answer is, 'Why, they don't ap-
pear to have interest enough. If they would
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 39
only make the meetings more interesting I
should like to be there.' That is the cry: if
they-they-THEY would only make the meet-
ings more interesting.
"Now, let each brother put to himself this
question (and sister too): If I wait till they
create an interest in my Lodge, how long be-
fore I shall attend its meetings?" When you
feel like solving this question, you will un-
doubtedly find yourself unconsciously inter-
ested. But if you really want to see the meet-
ings interesting-if you want to find a pleasure.
in participating in that interest-just go to
your Lodge and MAKE an interest. Never
say, 'They; always use the word, 'I' 'If I
can't feel an interest in the Lodge,' not 'They
don't make an interest.'
"Dear brother or sister, if you will only set
yourself to work to make the meetings of your
Lodge interesting, that very work on your part
will create an excitement in your bosom that
will give you an interest in spite of yourself.
Go to your Lodge meetings determined to feel
an interest in the proceedings, get up at the
proper time and introduce some subject of in-
terest to the members, and push it ahead till
others are moved, and then remember that
40
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
'I' did it, and that 'I' can do it again if
need be.
“Above all, never let the individual 'I' be
swallowed up by 'they' Remember that
your Lodge is composed of individuals, and
that each one has an equal share of its bur-
dens. If interest is wanting, remember that
it is 'I' who must create it. If I lay back and
look for the interest that they must create,
then an eternity might roll away without it.
Lodges would crumble, and Good Templarism,
with all its high and noble aspirations, become
lost to the world, under the influence of such
a principle. When the individual becomes
merged in the mass, losing all personal iden-
tity, society is at once placed on the retro-
grade; and, in an institution like ours, the
principle is death.
"Brothers and sisters, when you refer to
the affairs of your Lodge, do not forget that
you are part of it. If any one does wrong,
point out the delinquent. But when you feel
a lack of interest, look to your own exertions:
never wait for a reform longer than you are
putting your shoulder to the wheel. Never
let the individual 'I' be sunk beneath the in-
discriminate 'THEY.""

CHAPTER VII.
HOW TO MAKE LODGE MEETINGS INTEREST-
ING.-NEWSPAPERS, MUSIC, ETC.
IN
N our last chapter we endeavored to en-
force upon our membership the personal
duty of each to do something to render the
Lodge meetings interesting.
Willing and anxious as we may be to per-
form our part toward accomplishing this end,
we are wholly unfitted to contribute even our
-mite unless we seek to inform ourselves in
reference to the great questions connected with
this reform.
No one can hope to be thus informed with-.
out giving a liberal patronage to the temper-
ance press and studying the works that dis-
cuss these questions in all their various aspects.
We are interested ourselves, and our hearts
are enlisted in any theme just in proportion
as we read upon and give thorough investiga-
tion to it; and we must become intelligent
4: *
41
42 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
workers in the great temperance reform if we
would hope to be efficient.
In my own brief professional experience I
have found that I became intensely interested
in some suit at law, in which I have studied
well the adjudicated cases bearing upon it, not
merely because there is a certain amount of
money at stake or the title to some homestead
dependent upon the issue, but because the
principles involved in the case have been so
thoroughly scanned and analyzed.
The agriculturist reads the periodicals espe-
cially devoted to his pursuit, until his vocation,
in his estimation, is lifted from the mere me-
chanical plodding after the plough and har-
row, and elevated to a high profession, calling
to its aid all the natural sciences. He has
made farming in all its branches his study
until he has become an enthusiast upon all
subjects connected with the soil, and all his
tasks and aspirations have become ennobled
thereby. He is now fitted to interest others in
his calling, and can consistently become a
teacher in these questions which have so long
occupied his earnest attention and reflection.
Not long since, at a District Convention, a
brother asked me, as is usual, how the cause
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 43
progressed in the State. I replied that never,
in my recollection, was there so much perma-
nent interest in the cause, and never was our
organization so prosperous as now. "Ah,
indeed," he replied; "why, our Lodge has
been going down this winter, and I supposed
the interest in the cause was declining."
During the reports from Lodges, I requested
a statement of the number of temperance
papers taken by the members of each Lodge,
and this brother's report disclosed the too
common fact that his Lodge took only one
copy, and a little cross-examination brought
out the further fact that this copy was sent by
the Grand Lodge gratuitously, and even this
copy was never read or seen by the member-
ship. Why should not this brother have sup-
posed the cause on the decline? He judged
its status elsewhere by his own place; and
how else could he judge it? Wholly ignorant
of the unusual activity of our temperance
workers in other places, what wonder is it
that the members in that place became luke-
warm and disheartened?
If the members of this Lodge had been
readers of our official organ, how would their
hearts have been encouraged by the thrilling
44 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
accounts of the progress of our work in dif-
ferent localities, the stirring resolutions of Dis-
trict Conventions, and earnest appeals from
our lecturers and officers! and how would
their minds have been stored with valuable
truths, as the various questions connected with
our grand enterprise are fully and elaborately
discussed in its columns by the first pens of
the age!
Good Templars should patronize the tem-
perance press, because it is the prolific source
of information to all engaged in our glorious
reform which is to give them wisdom to de-
vise and plan for judicious action, and earnest-
ness and zeal to work heartily and effectively.
In my experiencè as an administrative officer
of our organization, our best Lodges are those
where the most temperance papers are taken
and the most comprehensive libraries are sus-
tained, and vice versa.
The remarks of the Keystone Good Tem-
plar, our own official organ, are sound and in
point, and my own observation confirms the
statement in every particular:
"We would earnestly invite your immediate
attention to the great importance of extensively
circulating THE TEMPLAR among the members
THE GOOD OF THE
45
THE ORDER.
of every Lodge throughout the State, firmly
believing that no single agency can possibly
be employed that will so effectually revive and
vitalize the Order generally as a cheap, popu-
lar, sound and reliable weekly paper.
"A number of Lodges have already sub-
scribed, in clubs numbering from five to sixty
each, and as far as we have been able to as-
certain all these are prospering. Lancaster
Lodge, for instance, three months ago, enjoyed
but little more than a mere existence. After
several unsuccessful efforts had been made to
revive it, a proposition was made to use a por-
tion of the funds remaining in the treasury to
subscribe for THE TEMPLAR-one copy to
each member for one year-which was unani-
mously agreed to, and the paper has been for-
warded accordingly. The result is most grati-
fying. Members who had been almost for-
gotten now attend the Lodge regularly; the
meetings are large and interesting; new mem-
bers have been added; old ones are squaring
their accounts on the books; money is again
flowing into the treasury, very soon to replace
the comparatively small sum paid for the sixty
papers subscribed for; and the Lodge is in a
truly prosperous condition. That this is the
46 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
natural result of making each a READING
member of the Lodge seems clear and un-
questionable. With such results before us,
argument as to the importance and value of
such a paper is deemed unnecessary."
Again, we must add the charms of music
if we would have our Lodge meetings really
interesting. Let Lodge choirs be formed and
sustained, so that not only our excellent odes
may be sung with spirit and effect, but that we
may also have provided other fresh and stir-
ring temperance music which shall thrill the
hearts of the membership. Our Good Temp-
lars complain that it is difficult to obtain good
temperance music-that what we have is of a
juvenile character. We admit this, and add
that it will never be furnished us until we pay
more attention to this department of our ex-
ercises, so as to create a demand for temper-
ance music. Publishers of music are business
men, and will only publish what will sell, and
we have ourselves to blame for not having the
shelves of our music stores teeming with
choice sheets of temperance songs, and music
fresh from the press. Lodges should always
have an instrument, when any reasonable sac-
rifice will result in securing one. It is a sine
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
47
qua non, and no Lodge is so poor but that one
can be obtained if each member goes to work
with that end in view.
Without good music our meetings will seem
dull, even when we have a fair programme of
interesting exercises. With it, a meeting
otherwise dull will be lively and entertaining.


1
CHAPTER VIII.
HOW TO MAKE LODGE MEETINGS INTEREST-
ING.-REGULAR ATTENDANCE OF THE MEM-
BERS NECESSARY.
N°
O Lodge meeting can be interesting if
but slimly attended. An audience is as
essential to an interesting meeting as a lively,
entertaining programme of exercises; and a
speaker of John B. Gough celebrity cannot
make a meeting successful without the sympa-
thetic, mesmeric influence of good listeners.
Our Grand Lodge lecturers have often left the
reputation behind them of tame and dry speak-
ers, when the fault was in the audience, or in
the people in not securing an audience.
Nine-tenths of the benefit of a good point is
lost when alone I hear it, while there are nine
others that should be present to hear the same.
It is poor encouragement for an active member
of a Lodge to spend time in the preparation of
entertainment when only a small proportion of
48
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
49
the membership manifest sufficient apprecia-
tion to attend the meeting and hear it.
The closing charge of the W. C. T. to the
initiate, "that it is expected you will be present
at all our meetings," is placed last because
believed to be one of the most important
duties of the members, and yet many of our
ablest and most influential members act as
though attendance upon the Lodge meetings
was a matter of mere convenience.
We believe it a violation of our obligation
to voluntarily, without reasonable excuse, ab-
sent ourselves from the Lodge meetings; and
when our membership shall have become edu-
cated up to this standard of action we shall
have fewer complaints of dull meetings and
declining interest, and, as a logical sequence,
less suspensions of Lodges.
The following original speech, which we
publish by permission, is in point:
"One of our eighteen-year-old Templars
made the following private speech recently,
out in the ante-room, immediately after closing
a Lodge meeting, which had been attended by
about fifteen faithful ones out of one hundred
members in good standing:
"I used to think that Brother J————— and
5
50 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
Brother N were the head men of the
Lodge, for I often see their names in the papers
when State meetings and conventions are held,
and in the proceedings of national Lodges and
similar organizations; but right here, at home,
they are never on hand when anything is to be
done to help the subordinate Lodge or to carry
on our meetings. I wonder how they ever
came to figure so very prominently abroad,
whilst at home they are never thought of as
active temperance men? There's Brother J—
who thinks nothing of traveling from three
hundred to five hundred miles to attend a Na-
tional convention, or a National Lodge or
society, where he and the other leading men
cut out the work for us to do, but he never
shows his face here. I suppose he's got to be
above us rank and file. But, then, it seems to
me, he ought not to palm himself off as our
representative when among his kind of tem-
perance leaders abroad, for the truth is, he's
no representative at all, but only for himself.
I wonder whether the members of the Right
Worthy Grand Lodge, of the Grand National
Division and of the national temperance socie-
ties are all like him—a Good Templar, without
caring more for a subordinate Lodge than a
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 51
cow does about preaching? And then there's
Brother D-; he isn't a bit better. Since
last August I have attended every meeting of
the Lodge except two, and, you may b'lieve me
or not, I didn't see him in the Lodge once
during all this time, and yet the temperance
men abroad, I know, look upon him as one of
the most powerful and influential champions
of the cause! Where's the Financial Secre-
tary? I would like to know whether he isn't
enough in arrears to enable us to suspend or
expel him for non-payment of dues? If he is,
we ought to hoist him out at the very next
meeting. He can make a good speech, as we
all know, and likes to do it-in State conven-
tions, Grand Lodges and National conven-
tions-but he's entirely above us and never
comes near our meetings. We'd better be
without such members, for then they wouldn't
keep others away, as they now do, by popular-
izing the impression that it isn't at all dignified,
fashionable or necessary to attend meetings
and come down to our level. But just let
some leading functionary come along from
abroad-one who's at the head of the heap-
and I'll warrant you he'll be on hand, too, and
cut the biggest kind of a swell. Now, I honor
52
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
110
and respect leaders of brain, character and
reputation, but, somehow, I do think they might
call in at Lodge meetings occasionally-once
in a while without seriously lowering their
dignity. Let's turn down the gas and go
home!'"

I
!

CHAPTER IX.
HOW TO MAKE LODGE MEETINGS INTEREST-
ING. OUTSIDE WORK.-PUBLIC MEETINGS.
T is frequently charged against us that we
IT
are an
an exclusive organization, confining
our beneficial operations to our own member-
ship. With some Lodges the charge is well
founded. Selfishness, brothers and sisters,
should not actuate the Good Templar in this
great Temperance reform. Let us recollect
that we are not to work merely to save our-
selves and families; but when these interests
are securely guarded by the benign influence
of our organization, our neighbor and his
family are in danger, and humanity demands
all our energies in reaching out to save them.
I am frequently invited to visit Lodges which
seem to be on the wane, and invariably I find
such to be lukewarm and stupid as neglect
entirely to hold stated public meetings in
5*
53
54 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
which all who love the cause and sympathize
with Temperance work may participate.
We are so constituted that we only really
appreciate our blessings and privileges when
we share those gifts with others, and we best
enjoy the blessings of total abstinence when
most ardently laboring to extend those bless-
ings to others.
Our organization is not close enough to live
and grow when our membership are shut up
in our Lodge rooms, and not striving to scatter
the golden beams of Truth and Temperance in
the by-ways where so many are being led as-
tray and made victims of the flowing bowl.
Our reform cannot advance without agita-
tion and persistent discussion; and no better
means can be devised to keep the public atten-
tion constantly alive to the interests involved
in this great enterprise of humanity than fre-
quent and periodical open Temperance meet-
ings.
Each Lodge has the ability to initiate this
movement and creditably sustain such meet-
ings. Do not wait for the Grand Lodge to
send you a lecturer, or even until some emi-
nent speaker from abroad can be secured, but
learn self-reliance, and go to work and develop
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 55
the resources within yourselves. Draw upon
your own membership for addresses, recita-
tions and music to make public meetings in-
teresting, and invite your ministers, physi-
cians and lawyers who are not Good Temp-
lars to give you addresses or sermons from
time to time.
Not many months since a member of a
Lodge in one of the border counties of the
State wrote me a most desponding letter in
reference to his Lodge-that it had suspended
meetings, and must go down, &c.; and also.
remarked that "they had been waiting all
winter for the Grand Lodge to send them a
lecturer!" Poor, feeble souls! that have lost
their vitality while waiting for the nourishment
to be sent them which was all the time in their
own possession.
I hope our Lodges will divest themselves of
this feeling of entire dependence either upon
the Grand Lodge or any particular member
of the Subordinate Lodge.
If deprived of assistance from the Grand
Lodge, or providentially of the services of a
valuable member, the loss may be made
marked gain if thereby the Lodge is stimu-
lated to greater exertion and develops the
56
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
hidden resources that are certainly within
it.
The effect of any public Temperance meet-
ing is to induce earnest discussion of the ques-
tions connected with this reform. After a lec-
ture, on the street corners, in the stores and
shops, and especially the liquor shops, may
always be seen small debating clubs improvised
for a discussion of its merits, and it matters not
whether the verdict of such circles is favorable
or unfavorable; so far as the meeting has re-
sulted in awakening the public attention to the
evils of intemperance, and the importance of
effort to arrest its spread, great good has been
done.
If the interests of the Christian religion
were not oftener brought before the public
than the temperance cause, what a terrible
spiritual dearth would we see around us! The
zeal of the most pious would wax cold, and
wickedness would stalk abroad at noonday
with entire impunity.
With several churches in each little place,
each supporting stated preaching on the Sab-
bath, and week-day prayer-meetings and lec-
tures, and this having been continued for
nearly nineteen centuries, Christianity is yet
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
57
far from having gained the victory over the
great enemy of human souls.
Then with only occasionally a Temperance.
organization, and holding open Temperance
meetings once or twice a year, the subject dis-
cussed only by a select few whose hearts are
interested in the work, what wonder is it that
we see so much lukewarmness? Let us wake
up, brethren, and bring this subject to the at-
tention of our friends and neighbors and force
them to think upon it. It is not material
under whose auspices a public Temperance
meeting is held, nor whether the lecturer or
hearers in the meeting are good Templars or
not, our membership should aid them all in
their power.
It is of course natural and commendable
that we should seek to advance our own or-
ganization, but the result of any Temperance
meeting, or of any orthodox Temperance lec-
ture, is to build up and strengthen our organi-
zation, if it has existence in such place.
When you have induced thinking on the
part of the public, some are at once led to the
conclusion that it is duty to act, and when at
this point the next question is, How and where
shall we act? The only answer that can be
58
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
given is: "In some working temperance or-
ganization," which we claim to be, and popu-
lar opinion generally concedes that merit, at
least, to us.
The modus operandi of a public meeting,
that it may be attractive as well as instructive,
will suggest itself to the good judgment and
taste of all our membership.
Such meetings must always vary with dif-
ferent localities and tastes. In this article I
merely wish to impress upon all the import-
ance of holding them.


DIFFICULTIES
CHAPTER X.
IN LODGES. WHAT CAUSES
THEM AND THE RESULTS.—WHY LODGES
FAIL.
OOD TEMPLARS might hope for rapid
G surides in the
strides in the great Temperance reform
working through our organization could we
always count on the permanent existence of
our Lodges. If the machinery of a Good
Templar Lodge, when once put in running
order and set in motion, would continue its
revolutions without friction, by the ordinary
application of motive power, we would have
the happy influence of thousands more of
Lodges than exist to-day.
Unfortunately, our Lodges fail; some slight
disturbing element creeps in and grows until
it breaks the Lodge into fragments. In my
experience, Lodges do not go down from op-
position from the outside enemy; do not fail
because our principles are too stringent, or
from differences created from construing our
59
60 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
obligation or platform of principles, or any of
the great issues that underlie our organization,
but are destroyed by internal dissensions that
are generally traceable to some member who
is determined to have his own way. Indeed,
the bane of our organization is that we have
so many brothers who think they are the be
all and end all of parliamentary law and the
laws, rules and usages of our Order, and who
are determined continually to raise small points
during a session, and to have their own way in
the settlement of these questions.
:
My observation and experience are that our
appeals do not generally arise from the more
important and general questions, such as pro-
hibition, total abstinence even from sweet wine
and cider, liquor as a medicine, etc., but from
some of the minor and insignificant points, such
as Should the concluding motion of a session.
be to "" adjourn," or "close?" Is a motion
made by a member without regalia legal? In
voting for officers, must the full name be on
the ballot? etc. Upon the settlement of these
and kindred questions, long and earnest dis-
cussions arise, and appeals are taken and car-
ried to our highest judicatories, while issues
arising from the other class very seldom engen-
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
61
der sufficient feeling to carry them beyond the
subordinate Lodge.
To all, I would say, avoid raising trifling
points of law, usage and order, because,
First. It gives rise to long and exhausting
discussions, and time is too valuable to be con-
sumed in this way. The various important
questions connected with the Temperance re-
form are prolific sources of interest, and time
can be profitably employed in their considera-
tion; and if we ever hope to awaken public
attention to the importance of these subjects,
we shall have to give our time and thoughts to
them, both in the Lodge-room and elsewhere.
Second. Discussions upon technical points.
are not interesting even to our own member-
ship. We should not forget that our member-
ship is made up of the whole family, and
though some of our men may become intensely
interested in some of these discussions upon
trivial questions, our sons, daughters and wives
may not take one particle of interest. We
should aim to shape our discussions and all
exercises so as to afford entertainment as far as
possible to our united membership.
Third. It leads to disastrous results. From
such discussions arise party feeling and bitter-
6
62 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
ness, which, sooner or later, end in the disso-
lution of the Lodge. Great and sad endings
come from small beginnings. Hundreds of
our best Lodges, illuminating the entire com-
munity with their radiance, have gone out in
the darkness of dissensions and distracted
counsels. In such Lodges our best and wisest
men have found themselves powerless to avert
impending ruin. In conducting Lodges, we
need to be as "wise as serpents and harmless
as doves."
The bickerings and strifes in some of our
Lodges remind us of a quarrel between two
small boys, who were going along a road,
talking together in a pleasant way, when one
of them said,
"I wish I had all the pasture-land in the
world."
The other said, "And I wish I had all the
cattle in the world."
"What would you do with them?" asked
his friend.
"Why, I would turn them into your pasture-
land."
"No, you wouldn't," was the reply.
"Yes, I would."
"But I wouldn't let you."
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
63
"I wouldn't ask you."
"You shouldn't do it."
"I should."
"You sha'n't!"
"I will!"
And with that they seized and pounded each
other like two silly, wicked boys, as they were.
And we have also often been reminded of
the well-known farce-comedy of "Paul Pry,"
where everything comes right in the closing
scene; Colonel Hardy, belonging to the tra-
ditional testy class, alone appears discontented.
Somebody says to him, "You ought to be
satisfied, for you have had your own way, at
last;" but the Colonel replies, "Yes, but I
have not had my own way of having it."
Hundreds of our best and most efficient
Good Templars leave us for no other reason
than that they become disgusted with the per-
sistence of some brother in raising and discuss-
ing insignificant points, and in the continual
agitation of questions of no real importance.
Our business men have no time to spend in
listening to such profitless harangues and no
taste for such egotistical displays. Many strik-
ing illustrations might be adduced in our own
State, where Lodges in the zenith of usefulness
:
64
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
and prosperity have been rent into fragments
in three months' time, from taking advantage
of technical points and raising insignificant
questions. I would not censure our brethren
who so nobly stand upon the constitution and
defend it from violence. When you feel that
it is really being violated, raise your point and
have it decided, but never raise points for the
sake of showing your own skill as a debater or
parliamentarian, or merely to trip up your op-
ponent in a discussion.
Again, when a question you raise has been
decided, yield a cheerful compliance, and go
to work with all the earnestness you can com-
mand to sustain such decision. If the final de-
cision is contrary to your convictions and the
position previously occupied by you, your pres-
ent compliance with and support of the de-
cision will make your advocacy all the more
potent for good. Oh how strong would our
Lodges become if our membership was only
united in supporting every measure adopted
by the majority and sustaining every decision
made by the constituted authorities!
Though the W. C. T. or G. W. C. T. may
not be any better qualified, or even as well
qualified, to adjudicate questions of law or
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
65
usage as yourself, still it is necessary to have
that power vested somewhere in all human
organizations, and as it has been given to those
officers, their decision should receive your
hearty concurrence. Feasible as may
be your
plan of action, it is not possible for it to be
always adopted in any organization. The ob-
ject of organized effort is that we may have the
benefit of collected wisdom; and that an or-
ganization may work harmoniously upon a
united plan, you must yield some of your con-
victions of policy and I must yield some of
mine. So long as we pull in different direc-
tions we cannot hope to work effectively.
At the close of a lecture a few days ago,
a good brother, very much excited, said,
"Brother Chase, will you not do something to
save our Lodge ?”
Upon inquiring as to the difficulty, "Why,"
said he, "they have gone and spent a hundred
and fifty dollars for those curtains," pointing to
the curtains for dramatic entertainments, "and
the Lodge is ruined!"
This Lodge had adopted a series of dramatic
entertainments, and this brother, with many
others who opposed the measure, had ab-
sented himself from the Lodge meetings, and
6 *
66
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
openly said he would not attend again so
long as the dramatic paraphernalia remained.
Now these brethren committed a great mis-
take. Admitting that the dramatic policy
was a bad one, for the sake of argument, they
took a strange course to correct such policy.
They should have remained regular attendants
at the Lodge, and then, in due course of time,
they might hope, to correct the evils, if any,
which had crept into the Lodge. A few mem-
bers, who are not in sympathy with some move-
ment of the Lodge, absenting themselves from
the Lodge meetings, or withdrawing from the
Order and circulating the report that the Lodge
is ruined, make very short work of the Lodge's
destruction.
9
The inside of an organization, and not the
outside, is the place to purify and bring it up
to a more correct standard of action. Many
influential and good people have told us they
would join our organization but for A-
who belongs, whose conduct does not please,
or for this action by the Lodge, which is dis-
approved, when such should join and give their
potent influence and example to correct such
members and change the Lodge's action for
the better.
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
67
Again, Good Templars should never run
down or speak disparagingly of the Lodge.
We frequently have members tell us, on in-
quiry as to the progress of the Lodge, "Oh, it
is going down;" "It is no use trying to keep it
up." And such remarks, if allowed to start,
will constantly increase, until you soon have a
public sentiment created that the Lodge is de-
clining, and the members begin to neglect the
meetings and their duties, and, finally, what
was the expression of some faint-hearted, do-
nothing member has become a living reality,
and the Lodge is, in fact, going down rapidly.
The members control public sentiment in
reference to the Lodge, and if any one express
the thought that the Lodge is going down, no
one on the outside will stand up and arrest the
spread of such infectious sentiments.
There is a portion of our members—and all
organizations have them-who never come in
until it is manifest it is to be a success or be
popular, and such are careful to abandon the
ship the moment she springs a leak, for fear
they may be caught in her while sinking.
How then can we expect accessions to our
membership when so many of our members
are constantly predicting the downfall of the
68 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
Lodge? No organization will ever sustain a
higher reputation than its own friends give it,
and many a Lodge has died from no other
cause than its own members giving currency
to the report that it was dying.
Truly, selfishness predominates in the human
heart, and to-day it may be placed at the head
of those causes which result in the downfall of
Good Templar Lodges. When will we learn.
to forget self in the great warfare for the dearest
interests of humanity?

1

DELINQUENT
CHAPTER XI.
LODGES.-DAMAGING
INFLU-
ENCE OF GETTING IN ARREARS, BOTH
UPON MEMBERS AND LODGES.
N the working of our Lodges we have a
IN
certain established financial basis for the
support of the subordinate and Grand Lodge.
In the Subordinate Lodge, a member delin-
quent in paying the regular dues is after a
stated time suspended from all privileges in the
Order; and the Grand Lodge virtually sus-
pends the Subordinate Lodge delinquent in
the payment of its tax, by withholding the
current quarterly pass-word until such delin-
quency is removed.
Nothing is so essential to vitality and ac-
tivity in Lodges as promptness on the part of
the members in discharging all pecuniary obli-
gations. Good Templars should always recol-
lect that paying dues and assessments is as
much a part of our obligation as abstaining
69
70 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
from intoxicants, and the vitality of the Lodge
is dependent upon it. Though the Lodge
treasury suffers when members allow them-
selves to get in arrears, still the members them-
selves are the greatest sufferers. Members
should always pay dues when, under our
rules, they are payable, and there will be a
satisfaction in so doing which makes them of
"good heart," and thus earnest in their work.
A member in arrears is without the pass-
word, and will sometimes make this an excuse
for not attending a meeting; and if the dues
are allowed to accrue any length of time, it
soon becomes inconvenient to pay, and he
ceases to attend altogether.
Attendance upon meetings is as essential to
Good Templar life as is breath to physical,
and we have reason to tremble for the safety
of any Good Templar who neglects the tem-
perance associations afforded by our Lodge
meetings. We would not have occasion to
mourn so many declensions from virtue in
our membership, if the injunction, "you will
be expected to attend all our meetings," was
always respected.
The payment of a few cents may seem a
small affair to make the subject of our article,
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 71
but could all our readers see the scores that
have fallen back to their cups, whose fall was
induced primarily by allowing themselves to
get in arrears, they would cease to wonder
that we make promptness in the payment of
dues a sine qua non in the Good Templar's
standing.
But, especially, see the disastrous effects of
delinquency in Lodges which are in arrears
to the Grand Lodge. There are Lodges that,
claiming to have sent the dues in money by
letter to the Grand Lodge, refused to pay it
again; and not receiving the pass-word,
worked along under the old, term after term,
until the members finally refused to pay their
dues to the Lodge, and utter demoralization
and dissolution ensued.
We have a Lodge in mind (and it is a rep-
resentation of many others) that occupied
some six months in correspondence upon the
subject of its account with the Grand Lodge,
claiming to have sent a ten-dollar bill in a
letter, which was never received, and posi-
tively refusing to pay it again; and after drag-
ging along for another quarter, it died, having
become completely demoralized. In this case,
the Lodge Deputy who claimed to have sent
72
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
the money was a lawyer who knew the rule
of the Grand Lodge requiring all moneys to
be sent in drafts, checks or postal orders,
and who would not have remitted money in
that manner for a client without making it up
in case of a loss; and yet he allows a Lodge to
go down, and a place to lose the salutary in-
fluence of its workings, because, forsooth, he
says it has been sent once, and he will not
send it again, and insists upon the Grand Lodge
sending the pass-word, and defiantly takes the
stand, "that the Lodge will pay no more dues
to the Grand Lodge until the pass-word is
sent."
As well might a man order some flannels
for his family's winter wardrobe, sending the
money in a letter to the merchant, and because
the goods are not sent, the money not having
been received, declare that he will not fur-
nish any more money to buy flannels, and the
tradesman must send those he has once paid
for if he has any, and persist in such a course
until his shivering children freeze from the
chilling blasts of winter.
It is useless for the Subordinate Lodge to
violate the laws of the Grand Lodge in remit-
ting money, and then ask the Grand Secretary
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 73
to balance the account, when the Grand Of-
ficers have no discretion but to execute the
laws as made by the Grand Lodge.
Lodges ought to recollect that they are vio-
lating their own laws; for the Grand Lodge
is made up of the Subordinate Lodges, and
the laws have been made by the represen-
tatives of the Subordinate Lodges, in Grand
Lodge assembled, for the preservation of the
Grand Lodge and its treasury, and each Lodge
is interested in the preservation of these laws
intact.
It is like a man making a contract to pay a
hundred dollars, and then, upon sending a one-
hundred-dollar bill by post, insist that the
contract was performed, and demand the bal-
ancing of the account.
Some of our Lodges are slow in paying dues
to the Grand Lodge because they have not
had lecturers sent them, and act as though they
must receive back in lectures all they pay to
the Grand Lodge.
It is true, the Grand Lodge lecturers now
have to visit old Lodges, and three-fourths of
our entire lecture fund is expended in keeping
alive old Lodges. This is a great perversion
of the fund. In my judgment, Lodges ought
7
74
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
to pay this fund to a missionary to occupy new
ground; and in the language of Mrs. Dr.
French, of Philadelphia, at Grand Lodge,
whose words should be made historic among
Good Templars, "When a Lodge is put in
working order it ought to be able to keep itself
in activity, and contribute something toward
extending our Order." Our lecture fund ought
not to be spent in old Lodges. There is not a
Lodge in the State but has the elements of
activity and success, if it would develop these
elements; which it will not do as long as it
cherishes this feeling of dependence upon the
lecture fund to keep it in breathing condition.
Recollect, Lodges, that if you are not re-
ceiving the benefit of the money you pay, some
one is, and go on paying it cheerfully and lib-
erally, never doubting the words, "Cast thy
bread upon the waters, and it shall be returned
to thee after many days.”
Some Lodges labor under the impression.
that if dues are paid to the Lodge Deputy,
such payment releases the Lodge. This is an
Under our system, each Lodge is per-
mitted to recommend a member for this posi-
tion, and the G. W. C. T. commissions the
member so recommended. Thus, it is ex-
error.
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 75
pected the Lodge will make a selection of this
officer, with direct reference to the fact that he
is to act as the agent of the Lodge in the trans-
mission of money due the Grand Lodge, and
exercise such care and caution as generally
characterize individuals in the appointment
of agents for the discharge of important trusts.
In so far as the Lodge Deputy has a general
oversight of the workings of the Lodge, it is
a very important position; and as the efficiency
of the Lodge depends so much upon its finan-
cial credit, and the Lodge Deputy is generally
responsible for all delinquencies in this par-
ticular, no office in the gift of the Order ex-
ceeds it in importance.


&
}
CHAPTER XII.
·
OUR UNWRITTEN WORK.-ITS IMPORTANCE,
USE, DISUSE AND ABUSE.
HIS subject is not taken up thus late in
THIS
our series of articles upon the "Good of
the Order" because deemed of less importance
than others; though, judging from the indiffer-
ence which many of our members manifest in
reference to it, we would suppose the unwritten
work was appended to our organization as lace
to a lady's collar-merely as an ornament, to be
worn or not, as may suit the caprice or con-
venience of the member.
Now it is believed that our signs, pass-words
and grips would impart a real vitality to our
Order if they were correctly and forcibly used.
The most perfect system of operations becomes
weak and inefficient when not well adminis-
tered. The manner in which our signals, signs,
etc., are given in some Lodges creates the im-
pression that it is a matter of indifference how
they are given, if given at all. What we un-
76
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
77
derstand by giving our signs forcibly is to give
them as though our heart was in them-as
though we felt them just as important as any
part of our work. Some of our members act
as though they were ashamed to give our
signs, and many, alas! act as though they were
ashamed of being Good Templars, and on
being asked whether they belong to the Order,
on some occasions hesitate, and reply stammer-
ingly, “Well-yes—I did ;” “Well, I joined it
once, I believe; I don't know much about them
though;" or, "Well, I suppose I do belong,”
all in a low, hesitating, suppressed tone. As
such are a detriment to our cause, so this faint-
hearted, tip-of-the-finger style of going through
with our unwritten work is surely disastrous.
As in the working of machinery, if a single
piece, however insignificant, be imperfect, the
whole motion is marred, so in our organiza-
tion, a failure to use or the incorrect use of any
part of our work detracts from the beauty and
efficiency of the whole. Take our signs of
recognition, for instance, which are designed
as tests to ascertain beyond a doubt whether a
person claiming to be a Good Templar is really
such or not; of course, under ordinary circum-
stances, persons who are not dumb can ascer-
7 *
78
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
tain this without the aid of signs, but circum-
stances will arise when it becomes desirable
and quite necessary to apply the tests common
to our Order, and our signs cease to be any
test when incorrectly given, for any impostor
could pick up enough of our work to go through
with them as creditably as two-thirds of our
membership.
The grip, or Good Templar's shake of the
hand, is seldom employed, though if deemed
of sufficient importance to be made a part of
our work, it certainly ought to be observed.
There is no part of our unwritten work that is
more significant and which may be rendered
more prolific of real vitality to our Order. If
when we take by the hand a young lad who
belongs with us we give him the grip, we signify
by the act that we fellowship with him in his
determination to grow up a total abstainer, and
that our prayers are for him that he may ever
have strength to resist the temptations to which
youth are ever exposed. We cannot estimate
the potent influence of one such act, by those
matured in life, upon the young. It may be a
tower of strength. To him who has formerly
been addicted to the use of intoxicating drinks,
we extend our hand in fraternal greeting, and,
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
79
as we gently and heartily give him the grip, we
manifest our sympathy with him in his terrible
struggle to overcome the power of his appetite,
and show him that he has the prayers of the
good and the true that he may successfully
fight this hand-to-hand contest with the fell
destroyer, Rum.
It may be he has not for years, if ever be-
fore, felt the gentle pressure of a female hand,
or heard her soft, persuasive, sympathetic
voice; and as some kind sister greets him with
the Good Templar's shake of the hand he feels
stronger for the battle that is before him.
A W. C. T. whom I installed in one of our
Lodges, in a brief speech upon assuming the
duties of the position, after relating that the
Good Templars had, two years before, picked
him up from the very cess-pool of vice and
iniquity and restored him to his family, friends.
and society, said that he felt that under God
he owed all that he was to the act of a sister
of that Lodge the morning after his initiation.
He said, early the next morning, after be-
coming a member of the Order, as he was
going to a shop on an errand, and passing by
the dram-shop where he had been accustomed
to go for his morning dram, the inclination to
80 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
enter was so strong that he forgot all the scenes
of the night previous, when he promised to ab-
stain from all that intoxicates for life, and was
on the point of entering when a sister of the
Lodge came along from an opposite direction,
and instead of passing by, as most would have
done under like circumstances, she recognized.
him, and approaching, took his hand and said,
"I am so glad, brother (calling him by name),
that you joined our Lodge last night, and I
pray God that you may have strength to keep
your obligation ;" and she gave him the Good
Templar's grip so earnestly that, novice as he
was in our organization, he recognized it, and
from that time he had no further desire to
enter that haunt of vice, and he passed on,
strengthened by the prayer and sympathy of
that noble sister, and from that time he had
kept his pledge with all due fidelity.
We hope none of our members will forget
that the grip may be made an efficient means
of strengthening the young in the formation of
total abstinence principles as well as of rescuing
the inebriate from the grasp of the fell de-
stroyer. Let us ever use it, and try to raise the
standard of administering the unwritten work
in all our Lodges
į

CHAPTER XIII.
THE GOOD TEMPLARS' OBLIGATION.—WHAT
IT MEANS.—GOOD TEMPLARS SHOULD NOT
FREQUENT DRAM-SHOPS.
WE
HEN a person assumes the Good Tem-
plars' obligation he has taken upon
himself weighty responsibilities. Not only must
he practice personal abstinence, but the safety
of others and the reputation and vitality of the
Lodge which he joins are committed to his
care. Few Good Templars fall but some one
has neglected duty, and no Lodge ceases to
exist-and many of our Lodges seem to die
very easily-but some of the members have
been neglectful of trusts resting upon them.
That part of our obligation requiring us to do
all in our power to advance the cause of Tem-
perance is just as binding as that requiring
personal abstinence from intoxicants. In sup-
porting this clause of our obligation the ex-
ample of our members becomes potent.
81
82 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
A want of appreciation of the Good Tem-
plars' obligation seems to be very general.
Many of our good brothers frequent the bar-
room and saloon, enjoying the social influence
and participating in the jokes and witticisms
of the place, unwittingly and inadvertently
bringing disrepute upon our organization and
the cause.
Such need not be surprised if it be reported.
of them that they have been violating their
obligation. If I frequent places where intoxi-
cating drinks are sold, in my own place of
residence, I must expect such unfavorable
rumors will be current; for no Good Templar
has a right voluntarily to be in such places,
participating in the contaminating influences.
incident to the dram-shop. Hotels and saloons
are not licensed or kept for the accommodation
of their own citizens. Home is the place for
all of us, and no necessity can arise to justify
us in lounging about these haunts of vice and
dissipation. When traveling we are justified
in stopping at public-houses, even though in-
toxicating drinks may be sold, because it is ex-
pected that we will, and known that we must,
stop at some house of entertainment; and in
most localities all public-houses sell liquors.
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 83
We teach more by example than theory. "If
a man is known by the company he keeps,"
then surely some of our Good Templars can-
not expect to enjoy a very high reputation for
consistent temperance principles.
In a certain place I heard it currently re-
ported that some of the Good Templar young
men were in the habit of calling at the hotel-
bar and taking a drink, and then proceeding
to the Lodge meeting. Now, how much truth
there may have been in this statement of
Madam Rumor I cannot say, but I did learn
that our brothers in that Lodge were in the
habit of calling at that bar-room and sitting,
enjoying a social chat and possibly a cigar,
and then proceeding to the Lodge meeting.
Now I was not surprised at the currency of
this report, and I would affectionately urge
upon all brothers who read this article to shun
the associations of the bar and club-room, and
any place which is contaminated by the cor-
rupting influences of strong drink. If busi-
ness unavoidably calls you to such places, go
and transact it, and then leave as you would
flee from a den of asps, or the poisoned
miasma of some loathsome disease. Leave as
you would escape from the snare of the great
84
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
evil spirit who is personified in alcoholic
liquors, and whose grand mission-ground is
the dram-shop. Flee, O ye young men, for
your moral lives, which are in imminent peril
from the time you first begin to breathe the
"impurities that always surround intoxicating
beverages. Enter not voluntarily into such
places, for your own safety and on account of
your example to others. The proper construc-
tion of our obligation forbids it; and the wel-
fare of our brothers who are struggling to gain
the mastery over appetite, who cannot with
any safety be found in such places, demands
that all of us should scrupulously avoid them.
If we throw around our weak brothers in-
fluences that will make them strong and vig-
orous in their warfare with the tyrant appetite,
then we must not ourselves be found in any
place, nor with any associations, where the
weakest cannot safely enter. If we would
hope to make the drinking usages of society
unpopular and disreputable, then we must
show in our example that we despise all places
where intoxicating drinks are sold or drunk as
a beverage.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES AND DUTIES OF
N°
DEPUTIES.
O officers seem to have so much difficulty
in discharging their duties without fric-
tion in the Lodge as our Lodge Deputies.
This is not surprising, in view of the imperfect
understanding of the rights, privileges and du-
ties of Deputies.
The following is a letter written in answer
to certain inquiries, and is published here as
covering points of interest and importance to
all Good Templars:
Your first inquiry is this: "In time of dis-
order or unconstitutional proceedings, has the
Lodge Deputy the right, without appeal, to
demand the chair or adjourn the meeting?"
I answer, only in cases of unconstitutional
proceedings, not merely disorderly.
In our Order the W. C. T. is the presiding
8
85
86 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
officer, and entitled to occupy the chair; and
neither the G. W. C. T. nor any Deputy has
any right to take the chair unceremoniously,
without being invited, or to demand the chair
of the W. C. T. merely because such G. W.
C. T. or Deputy may think the Lodge is
working" disorderly."
The decision giving this right to a Deputy
is intended to cover cases of clear violation of
the Constitution, and extreme cases only; such
as this, for instance: Suppose A has been bal-
loted for by a Lodge, and five members, deem-
ing such applicant unworthy of membership
and knowing that the admission of such person
will result in great injury, if not disaster, to the
Lodge, vote against such applicant. The W.
C. T., however, notwithstanding such rejec-
tion, orders the Lodge to proceed to the initia-
tion of A, and directs the proper officers to go
to the ante-room and discharge their duties.
Here is a case of such plain infraction of
the Constitution as to admit of no doubt or
dispute, and such an extreme case as requires.
the immediate and absolute interference of the
Deputy to arrest all further proceedings, which
he may do by demanding the Chair peremptor-
ily; or, if that is refused him, by declaring the
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 87
Lodge adjourned. In this case it would not
do to wait for redress in the usual way of ap-
peal, for in twenty minutes the mischief would
be irreparably done.
Second question: "In all questions of doubt
or dispute, has the Lodge Deputy the right to
decide (whether appealed to or not)? and in
case he gives a decision, should not the deci-
sion be binding until reversed by a higher au-
thority ?”
Answer: This question, in my judgment, is
fully answered in section 2d, page 120, 7th edi-
tion of the Digest and remarks, and section.
5th, page 121; and there is no conflict be-
tween the two sections, as may seem to the
casual reader of the Digest. The Lodge
Deputy may decide when not appealed to, or
when questions are not submitted to him by
the W. C. T. or the Lodge, only when the
Lodge is working unconstitutionally, or not
in conformity with our rules and usages,
written or unwritten (rules and usages being
those of general application, like the signs or
ritual ceremony).
In ordinary cases of doubt or dispute, like
a point of order raised during a session of
the Lodge, or some member making a motion
88 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
or offering a paper when not in order, the
Lodge Deputy or G. W. C. T. has no more
business to interfere, unsolicited, than any
other member. In our Order there are cer-
tain laws, rules and usages which are common
to all, such as the unwritten work, ritualistic
ceremonies and Constitution, and in well-de-
fined decisions in the Digest, binding on the
whole Order; and these it is the duty of the
G. W. C. T. and his deputies to see observed,
whether the Lodge or any member of the
Lodge submits questions for decisions, or ap-
peals to him on them, or not; but in the ob-
servance of the by-laws of a Lodge, rules of
order, order of business, and other matters
which are left to each Lodge to regulate for
itself, neither that officer nor his deputies
should interfere peremptorily, or decide ques-
tions pertaining thereto, without being invited
by the Chair for said purpose, or having such
disputed questions submitted to them.
66
A large proportion of the "doubts" and
disputes" in our Lodges arise from questions
of order or local government, which the Grand
Lodge has no interest in, further than the final
results of these disputes may lead to injury, if
not disaster, to the Lodge; and further than
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
89
this it is a matter of indifference to the Grand
Lodge, and its officers representing it, how any
of these questions are decided.
As a matter of course, if not decided satis-
factorily, any member can appeal, when the
Deputy and the G. W. C. T., or one of them,
will have the privilege of adjudicating the case
as shall appear legal and wise; so that if the
final results of these "disputes" are disastrous
to the Lodge, it will not be because the Deputy
has not had the privilege of displaying his
wisdom and discretion in averting such an
issue.
Section 5th, page 121, provides, in general
terms, how all matters of doubt, in business
form, law or usage, shall be adjudicated;
while the remarks under section 2, page 130
(for they are the remarks of G. W. C. T.
Chase, which have been made by law in
Pennsylvania, and not the decisions of Cali-
fornia, Wisconsin or New Hampshire), provide
that in certain cases the Deputy is not obliged
to wait until some one appeals to him or sub-
mits questions to him for decision; for he
might never have the opportunity to correct a
wrong if so required.
In the decision of section 2d, page 120, the
8*
90
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
reasonable construction of "informality" is,
that it relates to the unwritten work and ritu-
alistic forms, and that "instruction" relates
to the Deputy's correction of such errors in
our forms and ceremonies as are of a general
nature.
My answer to the last clause of your second
question is, that in case a Deputy gives a de-
cision, it is binding until reversed by higher
authority, even though given under circum-
stances when he had no right to interfere, or
no right to decide, or though the decision is
wrong in itself, unless such decision comes
within the scope of remarks by P. R. W. G.
T. Chase, as found under section 5th, page
261, 7th edition of the Digest; nor can the
Lodge criticise it and declare it by vote to be
wrong. The Lodge or any member can ap-
peal.
But a few weeks since a case substantially
this occurred: At a session of a Lodge the
Lodge Deputy took the chair without any
right to do so, and one member at first refused
to recognize him as the W. C. T., or presiding
officer of the Lodge. This was an error. The
Lodge Deputy is made, by virtue of his com-
mission, the representative of the Grand Lodge,
THE GOOD OF the order. 91
and is the highest authority in the Lodge, in
the absence of the G. W. C. T.; and when he
decides a question, or takes the chair, primá
facie he is correct and is de facto the presid-
ing officer, if not de jure; and it is the duty
of members to recognize him as such, availing
themselves of the door of appeal which ever
opens to such as seek redress. Any other
course must result in rebellion or anarchy.
Section 11, page 122, 7th edition of Digest
(p. 14th, s. 14), having been adopted prior to
the remarks under section 2, page 120 (p.
15th, s. 23),, must be governed by the latter if
there is any conflict.
Seemingly there may be some discrepancy,
but really there is none. Section II starts out
with the general statement of the manner in
which questions are decided, followed by an
affirmation of the remarks under section 2,
that the Deputy may, and it is his duty to tell
the Lodge when about to take illegal action
(and informing the Lodge of any proposed
illegal action is tantamount to making a de-
cision), and then prescribe what shall be done
in case the Lodge does not heed the counsel
or obey the decision of the Deputy.
Of course, in any case where a Lodge is
92 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
working "illegally," and, despite the interfer-
ence of the Deputy, persists in pursuing its
illegal course, the only thing the Deputy
can do is that pointed out in the last clause
of section II, unless it is one of those ex-
treme cases of violation of the constitution al-
ready mentioned in the first part of this letter,
as the power of taking away Charters and
punishing Subordinate Lodges is vested only
in the Executive Committee.
It is hoped our Deputies will recollect that,
because they are clothed with a little brief au-
thority, they are not therefore to forget the
common courtesies of life, and undertake to
reign over the Lodges with a sway as absolute
as that exercised by the Czar of Russia over
his subjects.
The W. C. T. has been chosen presiding
officer of the Lodge, and is made responsible
for its workings; and Deputies should always
appreciate and acknowledge the authority of
such officer, and yield a cheerful and deferen-
tial compliance to all his orders and decisions,
only interposing his own higher power and
authority when invited to do so by the W. C.
T. or Lodge, unless under circumstances abso-
lutely requiring it.

THE
CHAPTER XV.
CORRESPONDENCE.
HE following two letters, originally ap-
pearing in the Keystone Good Templar,
cover many important points which very
properly may be treated under the head se-
lected for this book. We give them by per-
mission.
WHAT SHALL WE DO?
NO MATTER WHERE, PA.,
January, 1870.
}
Sister Wright: From your long experience
in the cause of Temperance, and especially in
the Order of Good Templars, you will please
excuse the liberty I take in this epistle, as our
Lodge has appointed me a committee to make
a statement of facts and circumstances, and,
ask your advice in the premises. Our Lodge,
No. was organized, as you are aware,
several years ago; our beginning was small,
1
93
94 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
we were composed of an earnest, honest,
simple-minded band of men and women, and
our only object was to do good, and, if possi-
ble, aid in the extension of the principles of
our Order. For many months peace, harmony
and good order prevailed; our progress was
slow, but very satisfactory, and we had been
the means of reforming upward of twenty
persons previously very intemperate, and were
rapidly gaining the confidence, respect and ap-
proval of the public at large, and without this
no association need expect to succeed.
Unfortunately for us, at this time a family
with the significant name of Croaker came
into our town. I am uncertain as to where
they came from, but that of course was none
of our business. They are a large family;
there is old man Croaker, old lady Croaker,
and five young men Croakers, and three young
lady Croakers. They seemed to be respecta-
ble people, and professed to be religious, and
they all joined the
Church, the largest
and most wealthy church in town. Some of
our friends deemed it important to secure the
Croakers with us as Good Templars, and after
considerable exertion, we succeeded in having
the entire family join our Lodge, and great
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
95
were our rejoicings in view of so large an ac-
cession of members. But, alas! our rejoi-
cings were short-lived. The Croakers began to
give us trouble in the Lodge and trouble in
the church from the start. Old man Croaker
seemed possessed of the idea that it was a
matter of surprise how the church and the
Good Templars had attained their present
great proportions without the aid of the
Croakers! Old Mr. Croaker evinced a great
desire to be elected to a position in the church
and in the Lodge; and he not only sought po-
sition for himself, but likewise for old lady
Croaker and the whole family compact; and
our first difficulty occurred in consequence of
the old gent failing to be elected presiding
officer of the Lodge and deacon in the church.
Old lady Croaker declared that the church
was all going to ruin, and that the Lodge was
committing suicide! Our beloved pastor, who
has ministered to us in holy things for many
years without any dissatisfaction, they dis-
covered was not the man for the times or the
place; and his excellent wife, too, they found
fault with on frivolous pretences; and in short
they sowed a great deal of discord among the
brethren and sisters, causing us all much pain.
96
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
1
But the principal evil done by the Croakers.
has been in our Lodge. Nothing has been
done to suit them since the old gent was de-
feated for office of W. C. T. They not only
seem and are miserable themselves, but they
seek to make all around them uncomfortable.
Every movement of a wise and liberal nature
they oppose. We tried to get up a club of
twenty-five additional subscribers for the KEY-
STONE GOOD TEMPLAR, and had it not been
for the Croakers we would have succeeded.
They opposed it strongly. Old Croaker said
he was certain Mr. L. E. Wright was not the
right man to have control of such a paper.
He is just that ignorant, and we let him alone.
in his ignorance. If he calls on you, and asks
to see Mr. Wright, he will perhaps discover
his error.
Old Lady Croaker finds fault with
the KEYSTONE GOOD TEMPLAR because it
has no letters in it from Horace Greeley or
George F. Train. She says Mr. Greeley and
Mr. Train are the wisest men in all America,
and any paper they don't write for is not up
to the age!
The Lodge attempted to raise something for
the German tract fund, but the Croakers in
solid phalanx opposed it, and we were under
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
97
the mortification of standing alone in the good
work. Old Brother Croaker says he means to
go to the next Grand Lodge to set the Order
right on various points. He thinks he can
write a Ritual far superior to ours, and he in-
tends to move the remodelling of all our
forms, laws and work. He says we are all
going to smash up if his advice is not taken.
And so we are in constant hot water with this
family. What shall we do with them? Is
there any way in which we can become free
from their baleful influence? I could say muchı
more, but have said enough. I am sure no
Lodge is crossed and crushed as is our Lodge.
When, on suggestion of Brother Chase, our
noble leader, the Lodges of the State were
taking up collections in aid of the "Lecture
Fund," the Croakers had much to say in oppo-
sition, and did all they could to prevent those
who were willing to donate a small amount.
Lady Croaker finds fault with some of our
lecturers because they do not surpass GOUGH
in eloquence and ability; and old Mr. Croaker
is of opinion that the Grand Lodge should
employ him [Croaker] as a lecturer, and dis-
charge Roberts, Davidson, Boyce, Brosius and
Hartman! Brother Croaker says this would
9
*98
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
place the Order at once on a safe financial
basis.
1
The Croakers think, in short, that the Order
is all going to the wall, and they do their best
to hinder our progress, but still they continue
with us, and seem in no way likely to leave
the Lodge until they have accomplished its
destruction. They have already been the
means of disgusting away from our meetings
many who were very faithful until the
Croakers came among us.
Sister Wright, what do you advise? I write.
facts, painful facts; what remedy do you ad-
vise?
Yours, in F., H. and C.,
MANY SUFFERERS.
NO MATTER WHERE, PA., March 31, 1870.
Dear Sister Wright: When I wrote you
some time since giving account of the condi-
tion of our Lodge, and explaining the princi-`
pal source of difficulty experienced by us, and
asking your advice as to the course we should
best adopt, I had little idea that my letter
would be the humble means of bringing about
a result that we have long desired. I have
often heard of the influence of the newspaper,
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
99
and verily, THE KEYSTONE GOOD TEMPLAR,
by the publication of that one simple letter, has
done for our Lodge what the united energies
and efforts of our best members could not ac-
complish. We really rejoice at our deliver-
ance.
As I stated in my former letter, the Croaker
family, father and mother, sons and daugh-
ters, were the principal hindrances to that
peace and harmony and prosperity that at-
tended our Lodge before the Croakers became
members. They seemed to care for no one
but themselves, and, unless they could carry all
their points and plans, were at swords' points
with all the Lodge, keeping us continually in
a very unhealthy condition of irritation and
excitement. Nothing met their approval that
they did not introduce, and no matter how
good the proposition, the Croakers would in
general vote solid against its adoption, unless
their permission to introduce the motion wast
first privately secured. Composed as human
nature is in our region, this style of thing
would not go down, and the results were as
stated in a former letter. We had confusion,
discord and disturbance.
The week after my letter appeared in THE
100 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
GOOD TEMPLAR, the entire family of Croakers
came to the Lodge meeting, and we all could
see that there were squalls ahead. At the
proper time for the introduction of "new busi-
ness," old man Croaker arose, and addressing
the W. C. T., said he had some important
business to introduce; and pulling out THE
KEYSTONE GOOD TEMPLAR containing my
letter, he commenced reading, and read it
through. On conclusion of reading he said,
“W. C. T., I consider that letter a direct
insult to me and my family, who are in
membership with this Lodge, and I call on
this Lodge to proceed at once to expel the
writer of that letter, as we are determined
not to remain in fellowship with any one who
can write such statements in reference to us."
When I heard this, I began to quake and
tremble lest I should be sacrificed to appease
the wrath of the family compact. But I was
soon relieved by the W. C. T. inquiring of
Mr. Croaker if he wished to bring a charge
against the writer of the letter, and if he was
prepared to give the name of the author.
Then old man Croaker said he had written to
Mr. L. E. Wright, demanding the name of
the writer of the letter, and that gentleman
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. ΙΟΙ
""
had sent him back a short and very unsatisfac-
tory reply, utterly refusing to give the name.
But said he, Croaker, "I know who wrote
the letter it was no one else than Elder
naming our excellent pastor, and the chaplain
of our Lodge, who was present. This at once
relieved my fears, as I saw the enemy was on
the wrong scent entirely. Elder at once
arose and in his usually mild and kindly
manner stated that he was not the writer of the
letter, neither did he know who wrote it. This
was a stunner, and it took the compact back
considerably, the W. C. T., in the mean time,
intimating that Mr. Croaker was out of order.
Just here old lady Croaker arose, and in a
towering rage said: "If Elder
didn't
write it, then it was written by Bro.
naming an excellent member of much ability
with the pen, one of the class leaders in the M.
E. Church. Brother is somewhat quick
of temper, and he at once arose and denied the
authorship, but added, "If I was the writer of
that letter, I would not be ashamed of it; for
I consider it was all true and all called for."
At this there was some stamping of feet, which
the W. C. T. at once checked; when Croaker's
eldest daughter got up and said in a sharp key,
9*
102 THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.
"Father, let's go! I wouldn't stay here an-
other minute !" Then the whole tribe arose
and made for the door, but Jake
"
who
acted as W. I. G., would not allow them to
pass, as they were somewhat informal and
irregular in movement. Then the old man
turned and said: "We wish to dissolve all
connection with this Lodge, and desire to
withdraw from it." The W. C. T. then said:
"What is the pleasure of the Lodge?" A
brother moved that the request be at once
granted if the parties were clear of books
of F. S.; and thus we were delivered of the
Croaker incubus. As they descended the
stairs, Brother
,
the class leader, arose
and proposed that we sing "Praise God from
whom all blessings flow," etc., which was
done with no ordinary energy, and we now
anticipate peace and prosperity again.
I would add that since that letter appeared,
THE KEYSTONE GOOD TEMPLAR is looked
upon as our deliverer, and we are preparing
to send you a club of at least thirty additional
names. Many thanks for what you have done
for us.
We are once more a united, happy
band of workers, with no disturbing elements.
We have been taught wisdom by the Croakers,
THE GOOD OF THE ORDER. 103
and let young Lodges elsewhere learn a lesson
by what we have suffered. Our mistake was
in ever admitting such disputatious, conceited,
proud creatures into our Lodge. Because
they appeared respectable we thought them
suitable persons to receive. It will always be
found that vain and proud people out of a
Lodge will exhibit their pride and vanity to a
tenfold degree in the circumscribed limits of
our little Lodge-rooms. We should aim to
secure the co-operation of the wise, the good,
the virtuous, the humble, the modest and the
unpretending. Such members are a power;
but the presence of the elements of self-seeking
or sham, hollow pride and conceit, only act as
poisons and irritants. Take our Lodges in the
rural districts, for instance, where the honest,
industrious and intelligent farmers and the
members of their households are largely repre-
sented among the members, and common sense
prevails, how pleasant the meetings, how pleas-
ing the results! How good and how pleasant
the sight where brethren dwell together in
unity! Let us one and all work for this result.
Yours in F., H. and C.
JUST OUT.
THE GOOD TEMPLAR'S DIGEST.
Published by authority of the R. W. G. Lodge
of North America.
By S. B. CHASE, P. R. W. G. T.
SEVENTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
Being an entire revision of the work, and the supple-
ments incorporated in the body of the work, and contain-
ing many hundreds of new decisions which have never be-
fore appeared in any accessible form. Each Lodge and
Deputy should have a copy of the new edition, even
though in possession of the old work.
Price, $1.35 a copy, when sent by mail. Liberal dis-
count by the dozen or hundred.
For sale by S. B. CHASE, Great Bend Village, Pa., and
by G. W. Secretaries generally. Orders by mail promptly
attended to.
What is said of the New Edition of the Digest, in Letters
just received.
"I like the new Digest very, very much. I am disposing of them
rapidly. I hope to send you another order soon.
""
MRS. ADA GREGG, G. Sec., W. Va.
"We like The Digest much."
REV. H. P. CUSHING, G. W. S., Vt.
"This edition is certainly far superior to any former edition. I
have not had time to examine it, but a glance is sufficient to show that
fact."
J. NORWOOD CLARK, G. W. S., Iowa.
"I acknowlege receipt of the last edition of the Digest, and have
read it through. It is complete and indispensable."
JAMES C. BOYCE, Esq., Oil City, Pa.
"We have examined the work, and pronounce it complete. With
this work in hand, any one of ordinary mind can at once point out the
law on any and all subjects. Every member of the order should have
a copy."-Messenger, Canada.
"It is an invaluable book and should be studied by every member
of our order.”
C. W. WASHBURN, Fla.

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