Secret Societies In America.

members of more than one Society , " every fifth , or , possibly , every ei g hth , man you meet is identified with some Iralernal organisalisn , for the preservation of whose secrets he has given a solemn oath , a p ledge more binding in its nature , than perhaps any other known among men . "

On turning to the Table which presents a list of these organisations , with the number of members belonging to each , we lind quite a formidable array of these Orders , ranging from that of the Freemasons down to Roman Catholic and

Jewish Societies , the principal being the Masonic Order , which , including the coloured Masons and certain Knig hts of Malta , & c , musters close upon a million ; the Oddfellows , white and coloured , some ; 040 , 000 ; Foresters , of various

organisations , some 28 7 , ; " 'Improved Order of Red Men , 165 , 000 ; Knig hts of Pythias , 475 , ; " Ancient Order United Workmen , " 3 61 , 000 ; " Koyal Arcanum . " 1 . So ,, 000 ; "Modern Woodmen of America , " . 204 , 000 ; Independent Order of Good

Templars , 2 S 1 , 000 ; "Knig hts of the Maccabees , " 24 ^ 5 , 000 ; "Knig hts of Honour , " 118 , 000 ; and "Knig hts and Ladies of Honour , " 8 5 , 000 . What is the special purpose for which many ol these orders have been established wc arc unable

to say , but wc judge they are mostl y charitable from the column appended , in which the amount estimated to have been distributed bv these various orders in the shape of

" beneficences" is set down at about 6 50 , 000 , 000 dollars ( . £ 130 , 000 , 000 ) . But though " beneficence " is evidentl y the great object which these various Societies have 111 view , it is b y no means the onlv ono . the value ol Bro . IlARWOOD ' s article

consisting ( 1 ) in the care he has apparently bestowed upon its compilation , and ( 2 ) in the opinions he expresses as to the value or otherwise of these Secret Orders . Il is , indeed , more particularl y in this latter respect that , in our opinion , lies the true worth of Bro . HARU'OOI / S article . He seems to have taken tlie utmost

pamsto be impartial in his estimate ol their merits and dements . Thus , their beneficence—which is bv no means restricted to the immense sum we have quoted—is undeniable , but against that must beset the huge sum which is annually spent in regalia ,

banquets , & c , o ' : c . But setting this consideration aside for the moment , we find Bro . llAkWOOD writing in the following strain , " So numerous , " he tells us , " so powerful have these orders become , that those closing years of the

century might well be called tbe golden age ol fraternity . So strong has their hold become upon so many millions of people lhat the occasions have not been infrequent where other ministers than the priests ol the Church of Rome

have inveighed against the lodge , and sought to show its pernicious activity in tearing down what the Church would build up ; or , lo put il more mildly , they have protested against ( he usurping influence of ( he lodge , its tendency lo induce men to

accept it as their Church , and lo make its standards , and forms , and laws their guide' of rig ht conduct . " But though , as the writer very properly points out , the secret society is not without ils dangers , it has , on the other hand , many . counterbalancing

advantages to recommend it . 1 hese are well set forth by Hro . HAKWOO " > , when he points out that the " influence " of such a Societv " in making thoughtless men reverential , in increasing respect for government by law ; ils influence in maintaining and

promoting allegiance to country , these arc important elements ol its service . While men with evil tendencies and deformed moral natures are known to be members ol fraternal orders , and while , when so known , they are not always so promptly removed

as might be wished , yet I think it is but lair to say thai cases are exceedingly rare in reputable organislions where , men of known badness are admitted . Indeed , one of the greatest powers of the secret fraternal orders of fhe present day is found in

the element ol selection . No other organisation in thc immediate hands of man and unidentified with reli g ion , so universally sets so hig h a standard of sobriety , integrity , and honesty ; none other , when a seeker for admission appears , so sharply

scrutinises ins past , so . searchingl y investigates his present . The prime essential in all secret organisations ol this character is that the initiate shall be a manly man ; after that a

companionable man . " There is undoubted truth in this statement . Whatever , for instance , may be . the demerits which some people are wont to associate with Freemasonry , there is no getting over the

Secret Societies In America.

fact that extreme care is taken to admit as members of our lodges onl y men of character and in reputable circumstances . There , are lodges which arc not as careful as they mi g ht be in this respect—the advice constantly , given by Consecrating

Oilicers to new lodges , and by Provincial Grand Masters and others to lodges generally , is evidence of this—but the cases are exceedingl y rare in which a man of acknowledged bad rliaracler is accepted as a candidate for initiation into one of our lodges .

But this " element of selection , " as Bro . HARWOOD describes it , is very far from being the onl y merit pertaining to such a Society as ours and thc others which are enumerated in this article . It must not be forgotten that there is " a demand upon these millions of oath-bound men in our land " —a demand lhat

is imperative upon their conscience—that they acknowledge " a Supreme Being as ruler over all , " and , further , that they should exhibit a " positive , unequivocal , and constant reverence for the Scriptures . " No " test of religious belief is exacted , " but Bro .

HARWOOD considers it no more than just " both to those who are inside and those who are outside these organisations to say that the Bible , taken as the most sacred book of the Christian nations , is a work to which peculiar reverence is always given

in fraternal organisations . No other organisation of men 111 the world , with the single exception of the Church , so universall y , so consistently , and so insistentl y demands that recognition of the Divine authority which is at once the test and the evidence of the hi g hest type of life . "

The question whether these fraternal orders do or do not exercise a considerable , amount of influence in political and municipal elections and whether it is or is not the case that members of such orders prefer to help their fellow-members to

those who are not of their societ y is one whicii Bro . HARWOOD appears to have fought shy of . " We may make , " lie says , " some allowance for weakness in this regard upon the part of some , " but he does not think—though we do not quite grasp his

meaning here— " that , because a man is a member of one of these organisations hc stands ready to stultif y himself when he enters the polling booth or when he comes into social or commercial contact with those who are not members of hi < - ;

organisation . " But he need not have spoken with so uncertain a sound , at least as regards Freemasonry , one of the main objects of which , in its modern organisation , is well-known to be the provision of a neutral ground on which brethren of different

reli g ious and political views may meet and learn to know and respect each other . As a matter of fact , there are many prominent members of the rival political parties and different reli'dous sects , who are members of the Masonic Order , but they

leave their political and relig ious differences outside the door of the lodgo . But while they do this readil y enough , they are not expected to sacrilice their , political or reli g ious partisanshi p merel y because they are Masons .

The article concludes with a few remarks upon the vast increase in membershi p ol these " secret fraternal orders" which has taken place , especiall y ol late years , in the United States , and Bro . HARWOOD expresses his belief that while this enormous

increase may have been an abnormal one , "the indications all point lo a constant augmentation of their enormous secret power . " lie suggests that in no other country in the world than the United States could these orders have thriven as they

have done , or shown themselves to be so entirely free "from any suggestion of national censure . " "If , " hc concludes , " all their secrets were paraded before the eyes of the world , we should lind none directed against the . best interests of our country . '

Grand Lodge Of Canada.

GRAND LODGE OF CANADA .

The 42 nd annual Communication of the above Grand Lodge was opened in the Opera House , Brantford , on Wednesday , 21 st July , by Bro . Wm . Gibson , M . P ., Grand Master , who was supported by Bros . A . A . Stevenson , Hugh Murray , Harry Robertson , Q . C , R . T . Walkem , Q . C , J . Ross Robertson , M . I \ , | . K . Kerr , Q . C , and W . R . White , Q . C , Past Grand

Masters ; Ii . T . Malone , D . G . M . ; W . R . Hickey , B . P . George , W . G . McMillan , Dr . J . W . Shaw , Dr . J . S . Tennant , T . Allshire , A . J . Oliver , J . G . Liddell , R . McKnight . S . Amsden , Aubrey White , A . M . Ross , H . Pringle , G . A . Ajlesworth , D . A . Macdonnell , E . D . Parlow , R . A . Mather and J . H . Kingston , District D . G . Masters ; A . McGinnis , S . G . W . ; A