Proceedings of Sixth Annual State Council,
Held at Omaha, May 10, 1910

State Officers

Proceedings of the Sixth Annual State Convention

Knights of Columbus Hall,
Omaha, Nebr., May 10, 1910.

     The Sixth Annual State Council of the Knights of Columbus of Nebraska convened in accordance with the action of the last State Council, at Omaha.

     The Council was called to order by State Deputy Arthur F. Mullen at 10:05 a. m. and opened with prayer by State Chaplain Rev. William Windolf.

     The following State officers answered present at roll call: State Deputy Arthur F. Mullen, State Secretary Mark Burke, State Treasurer Jos. H. Schmidt, State Warden Jas. F. McNulty, and State Chaplain Rev. William Windolf.

     State Deputy Mullen appointed the following committee on credentials: J. P. Ryan, of Creighton; A. P. Mentgen, of Wymore; C. J. Pass, of North Platte; Dr. H. A. Copsey, of Alliance; and J. H. O'Hara, of Grand Island.

     The committee on credentials submitted the following report:

     We, your committee appointed on credentials, hereby submit the following report: Upon examination of credentials presented to the committee we find the following are entitled to seats in this convention:

     Also the following state officers: Arthur F. Mullen, S. D.; Mark Burke, S. S.; Jos. H. Schmidt, S. T.; Jas. F. McNulty, S. W.; C. F. Skalla, S. A.; Rev. Wm. Windolf, S. C., and the following district deputies:--E. D. Geoghegan, Jas. A. Donoghue, W. E. Straub, D. A. Jones, and J. B. Kennedy.
Respectfully submitted,

     Voted that the report of the committee on credentials be adopted as read.

     Voted that the State Deputy appoint all committees necessary and they to meet immediately after lunch.

      The State Deputy then appointed the following committees:
     Committee on Resolutions--E. W. Simeral, Jas. P. Boler, Frank J. Gerharz, C. J. Ryan, Wm. Chisholm.
     Committee on Bills and Mileage--E. T. Kalleher, A. V. Johnson, T. J. Brennan, P. J. Flynn, L. P. Wirth.
     Auditing Committee--T. P. Redmond, Theo. A. Helmig, C. J. Pass.

     Voted that we now hear the reports of the state officers and district deputies.

     State Deputy Arthur F. Mullen then submitted the following report:

To the State Convention of the Knights of Columbus of Nebraska: Brothers:
     In compliance with the provisions of Section 62 of the Laws of the Order. I submit the following as my report.
     For the seventh time, the Knights of Columbus of Nebraska have assembled in a state convention. The growth of the Order in this state has been little less than marvelous. On March 16th, 1902, the Order was first introduced into the state by the institution of Omaha Council. On April 30th, 1910, the Order had a membership of 3,265, distributed in sixteen subordinate councils. On March 4th, 1905, Brother T. J. Mahoney, the Territorial Deputy of the state, convened a convention at Omaha for the purpose of organizing a state council. At that time, the Order in the state consisted of four councils, having an aggregate membership of 610. Since the first state convention, a little more than five years ago, twelve new councils have been instituted, and more than 2,500 new members have been added. Attached to this report is Table I. It is complete statement of the members of the various councils in the state as shown by the records of the national office on April 30th, 1910. Table II is a record of the suspensions, deaths and other lapses in the various councils from April 30th, 1909, to April 30th, 1910.

Order at Large

     The Order during the year has made much progress and has had a very substantial growth. On March 15th, 1910, the total membership of the Order at large was 235,612. The insurance membership was 74,909, the associate membership was 160,703. The total number of subordinate councils was 1,419, distributed in forty-seven different state councils. There are subordinate councils in every state in the Union, in nearly all the provinces of Canada, in Mexico, in Porto Rica, in Cuba, in the Canal Zone and in the Philippine Islands.
     On February 28th, according to the records of the national office, the amount of funds on hand were as follows:
     General fund, $53,676.17; death benefit fund, $50,000.00; mortuary reserve fund, $2,960,359.83, making a grand total of $3,064,036.00.

Order in Nebraska

     During the past year no new councils have been added. An application to organize a new council at Sutton has been granted. Applications to organize new councils at Albion and Fremont are pending. Practically all of the councils in the State have initiated a class of candidates during the year. Several classes are now ready to be initiated. The growth of the Order in the state during this year has been substantial and permanent. While it should be the earnest wish of all that our Order grow, both in membership and influence, still we should not seek to increase our membership with undesirable members. If we do this, we lessen our influence and subtract from our usefulness. As the the (sic) laws of this Order provide that the delegates here assembled consist of the Grand Knights and Past Grand Knights, it is but proper to impress upon you the important position you hold with reference to controlling the membership of the Order. The selection of good members is largely in your hands. If you exercise the power given you by our laws with wisdom and discretion, there is little danger of having undesirable and unworthy men in this Order.

As you, no doubt, know, it is easier to keep undesirable and unworthy members out than it is to get them out after they become members. The members in general should not propose those who are not up to the required test, but if such are proposed, it is the duty of the Grand Knights and the investigating committees to see to it that only worthy candidates are selected. The officers and members of this Order should protect it in every way possible. This should be done not only as a matter of right to the Order, but also in justice to ourselves.

Reports of Officers

     It is important that the business of the Order be conducted in an orderly and intelligent manner. I urge the officers of subordinate councils to make all reports promptly and in detail. In particular your attention is called to Section 44 of the "Laws of the Order," in which the Financial Secretary of each subordinate council is required to prepare and submit on December 1st and June 1st of each year, a report of the conditions of the various councils. These reports have not been made uniformly, in fact, some subordinate councils have made no reports at all, either to the national body or to the state and district deputies. It is very important that these be made as directed, and I urge all Financial Secretaries to prepare and submit these reports as directed by the rules.

Insurance Members

     One important thing in this Order seems to be overlooked by many of its members. That is that the Order, primarily, is an insurance Order. Not enough of importance is attached to the insurance feature. At the present time, less than one-fourth of the members in the state are in the insurance class. Experts tell us that our plan of insurance is better than the plan of any other fraternal insurance order. All effort should be made to have more of our members in the insurance class. The Knights of Columbus would have been a great organization without insurance, but it is a greater organization because of the insurance feature. As insurance is the basis of the Order, every effort should be made in Nebraska to fortify it by having a strong insurance membership in every council.
      Without question, the insurance membership could be materially extended within the membership. A very little effort upon the part of the officers and insurance membership would induce many of the associate members to take insurance and this should be done. There is no good reason why our associate membership should help build up other fraternal organizations and contribute to the support of old line insurance companies and at the same time deny themselves the right of taking insurance in our great Order. Every effort should be made by both officers and members to extend insurance to the membership in every way possible.
     While discussing this question of insurance, I desire to call the attention of the officers and members to the rules of this Order with reference to the payment of insurance assessments. The laws of this Order provide that monthly assessments are to be paid without notice within thirty days from the first day of each month. A failure to do this suspends the member ipso facto, in other words, if an insurance member fails to pay this assessment within thirty days from the first day of the month, that act in itself suspends him and it is necessary

for him to be re-instated in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Order. In several instances, my attention has been called to the custom of councils paying the assessment of insurance members for considerable periods of time and then collecting the assessments from the member. This must not be done. First, the payment by the council does not protect the member. If this payment is made by the council, it is a waste of money, and, secondly, if death should occur, no recovery could be had on the policy, so it is very important both to the subordinate council and to the member himself that these assessments be paid in the way the laws direct. Under the provisions of Section 246 of the laws, a council may authorize the payment of a member's assessment from the general fund to a number not to exceed six assessments, but this money must be paid by the Treasurer of the subordinate council to the Financial Secretary within the thirty days. This cannot be done without a by-law or standing resolution of the council authorizing the payment. This by-law or resolution must be approved by the Board of Directors before it becomes operative. I desire to impress the importance of this matter on you at this time for the reason that there is a misunderstanding among the members, generally, with reference to this important provision. Nobody but the member himself has the right to pay these assessments unless the bylaw mentioned above has been adopted. The payment by the council without the by-law does not protect the member in his insurance. This important question has been passed on by the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut, Conklin vs. the Knights of Columbus, 64 Atlantic, 223. I quote from the Syllabus:
      "The laws of a fraternal benefit association provided for a monthly assessment against each subordinate council on the number of its members as reported monthly, payable immediately after the first day of the month, and provided that each member of the council should pay his legal monthly assessment within thirty days from the first day of each month under penalty of ipso facto suspension."

     "Held-that the payment by the Treasurer of a subordinate council of the monthly assessment immediately after the first day of each month was not a payment by any member of the council of an individual monthly assessment."
     Also, this same doctrine is announced in the case of Modern Woodmen of America vs. Tevis, 117 Federal, 369.
     This matter should be called to the attention of every insurance member in the Order. The proper procedure is this, if an insurance member fails to pay his assessment within thirty days from the first of each month, and there is no by-law authorizing the Treasurer of the council to pay it for him, then it is the duty of the Financial Secretary to enter a suspension of the member on the records and to notify him that he has been suspended. This may appear drastic, in view of the lax system that has heretofore existed, but this is the only was that the Order can protect itself against loss. It is the only way that the insurance member can keep his insurance in force.

Suspensions of Councils for Non-Payment of Assessments

     During the year a number of councils were suspended by the National Council for non-payment of death benefit assessments. As a rule, these suspensions are the result of carelessness and neglect on

the part of local officers. There is much danger in allowing these suspensions to be made, for if a death loss should occur during the time the council stands suspended, legal complications could, and. no doubt would, arise. The Treasurer, Financial Secretary and Grand Knight should zealously watch these assessments and should see to it that the amounts due are remitted within forty days from the time the assessment is levied. I make this suggestion, not for the purpose of finding fault, but for the purpose of impressing on you the necessity of paying all amounts due the National Body within the time limited. By doing this your council will always be in good standing and there will he less trouble and annoyance than if you allow it to he suspended and then go through the routine necessary to have the council reinstated.

Catholic University of America

     The State Convention of this state has twice passed a resolution declaring in favor of the $500,000.00 endowment fund for the Catholic University of America. The plan for raising this endowment has been adopted unanimously by the National Council. During the year this question has been presented to the councils of Nebraska. So far ten councils have reported favorably on the resolution; two councils in the state have rejected it and four councils so far have not reported. The councils that have not yet reported are Fitzgerald Council No. 833, Chadron Council No. 1128, St. Patrick's Council No. 1211, and Emerson Council No. 1309. I urge all councils to take immediate action and report such action to the National Secretary. The two councils that have rejected the resolution are Charles Carroll of Carrollton No. 701 and Count Creighton No. 1238. I regret exceedingly that any councils in this state have taken unfavorable action on this important proposition and I trust that during the present year their action will be reconsidered and that they will take their places along with more than ninety-five percent of the councils in the United States. In urging councils to take favorable action on this endowment, I call the attention of the membership of the Order to the last annual report of my illustrious predecessor, Brother C. J. Smyth. The arguments made by him in favor of building up a strong Catholic Institution of learning in the Capitol of our nation, are unanswerable. I endorse all that he has said on this subject, and renew recommendations made by him. The Catholic citizenship of this country ought and should build up a great Catholic University. The only way this can be done is for each individual to do his full share. There never has been a time in the history of the world when there was so much need for strong Catholic institutions of learning. The Catholic population of the United States, numbering over twenty millions, ought to have a great University, in which all have an interest. This Order should do everything in its power to advance the cause of Catholic education. In doing this, it will carry out one of the objects of the Order; It will render an independent service to both the Church and the Nation. The Order has already done much to advance Catholic interests and Catholic influences. So far it has done but little in a material way for the advancement of Catholic education. The project of having the Knights of Columbus raise a $500,000.00 endowment for the Catholic University at Washington, marks an important event in the life of this Order. I appeal to the membership in Nebraska to do its full share in carrying out this project. The funds raised are

not for the direct benefit of the Order. These funds are to be used by the Church for the purpose of carrying on the work of Catholic education.

New Districts

     During the year it became necessary to re-district the State. This was done for the purpose of placing the District Deputies in closer touch with the local councils and also with a view to lessening the expenses of initiations. At the present time the state is divided into five districts. The names of the Districts and the Deputies in each are as follows: Omaha District, Edward F. Geoghegan; O'Neill District, J. A. Donahoe, of O'Neill; Lincoln District, W. E. Straub, of Lincoln; Hastings District, D. A. Jones, of Hastings; Alliance District, J. B. Kennedy, of Alliance.

Homes for Subordinate Councils

     One of the important things in civilized society is the home. The individual that has no home, as a rule, is not very useful to himself or society. An organization that has no fixed place of abode is not as useful as it would be if it had a home. For this reason every subordinate council should have a home of some kind. It is with much satisfaction that I am able to report that much progress has been made along this line in Nebraska. The Charles Carroll of Carrollton Council No. 701 has built and furnished a home that cost nearly $20,000.00 Hartington Council No. 1233 has purchased a building and has remodelled it so that it will be the permanent headquarters of that council at a cost of more than $15,000.00. Columbus Council No. 938 has purchased a site and arrangements are now being made to erect a permanent home at a cost of about $25,000.00. St. Patrick Council at North Platte No. 1211 has purchased a home at a cost of about $6,000.00. Hastings Council No. 1123 has a home worth about $5,000.00. I heartily recommend that all other councils in the state take some steps and that at once, to acquire a permanent abode for the council. This Order cannot stand still. If it is not moving forward, it will retrograde. If the members are striving for something and working to a common end, there will be interest in the Order. There is no way that so much interest can be enlisted as by the effort to provide the council with a permanent abode. This Order is a permanent institution. The subordinate councils that have been chartered in this State are permanent fixtures in the communities where the council now exists. It is sincerely to be hoped that no subordinate council now in existence in this State will surrender its charter. Let us lay the foundations of this great Order in Nebraska so firmly that it will become a part of the life of the State. In the past, too much money has been spent by the subordinate councils in giving expensive banquets and defraying the expenses of costly initiations. The Order has passed its experimental stage. Wisdom suggests the necessity of saving our funds and using them for the purpose of making permanent improvements. The subordinate council should not spend its money in matters of pleasure until it has provided itself with the necessities of life. A permanent home for each subordinate council is a necessity.

Resolutions of the Last State Convention

     At the last State Convention three different resolutions were passed, instructing the delegates to the National Convention to intro-

duce and support amendments to the by-laws of the Order. One of these resolutions was the one asking for a change of the by-laws of the Order so that each member would be required to furnish each year satisfactory proof of his practical Catholicity. This matter was presented to the National Convention by the delegates from Nebraska. It was debated at length and finally was defeated by a large majority of the Convention. There is a strong opposition to any change in this rule. After listening to all the debates, those in favor of the change in this by-law were as much in the dark as to the cause of the opposition as they had been before the debate began. One source of opposition was very unexpected. Several Catholic priests who were members of the Convention voted and spoke against the proposed change. The record of the yea and nay vote on this resolution has been published in the "Columbiad," along with the other official proceedings of the Convention.
     One of the other resolutions was one limiting the number of consecutive terms to be held by a National officer. This resolution was defeated and still another resolution, relating to the serving of intoxicating liquors in any building used or maintained by the Knights of Columbus. It was a surprise, indeed, to learn that there was very much opposition to this resolution. It developed in the debate that there were several Knights of Columbus Clubs or Columbus Clubs that have been connected with their buildings. This resolution was finally amended in such a way that nobody cared to pass it and finally was defeated. Under the circumstances, I think that it is hardly worth while to renew the resolution to change the by-laws so that members of the Order would be required to furnish satisfactory proof each year of their practical Catholicity. Unless things change very much, this resolution cannot be adopted in the National Convention. I recommend that the resolution with reference to the maintaining of bars, adopted by our last convention, be re-adopted at this Convention, and also the resolution attempting to limit the number of consecutive terms of the National officers.

Our Dead

     In the hurry and bustle of life, even Catholics reflect but little on the common end of man. We shrink from contemplating the most important event of human life;--its end. When death strikes our household or touches a dear friend, then, and then only, do we realize that it is the Imperial Master of us all. At the grave, the material things for which we strive so much are cast aside like the toys of the tired child in the evening. No matter how unfair or unequal the race of life has been, the grave makes us all equal. Here the weak are as strong as the strongest, the powerful as weak as the weakest; the rich are like paupers and paupers are like kings; the proud are subdued, the mild are submissive; the sick need no physician, the overburdened are relieved, the busy stop and the weary rest.
     From the human standpoint, how dreadful to the living are death's silent darts that are ever striking with impartial hand the old man in his dotage, the young man in his strength, the busy man in his affairs, the worldly man in his pleasures. Before Christianity came, the mystery of death perplexed the mind of the human race. Thousands of years ago when the Greeks buried their heroes, they looked into their graves and asked in grief and anguish, "Is there no work,

nor thought, nor wisdom, nor breathing of the soul in the silence of the grave? Will there be no rolling of chariots nor voice of fame heard in the dark abode? Wrapt in pale Elysian mists will you waste on forever?" No satisfactory answer can be given to these questions except by the Christian religion. That alone gives us hope;--hope even in death. What a consolation it is for us to believe that important Catholic doctrine of a future life where we will meet again, the loved ones that have gone before and those that will follow after.
     In the year just passed nineteen of our members in Nebraska have died. Only two of these were in the insurance class. Time and space forbid a specific mention of each. However, I feel that it is my duty both officially and personally to mention, in particular, one of our deceased brothers. Were I to omit, at this time, to mention the name of Frank Moriarity and to say a word in appreciation of him, I would be both negligent and indifferent. Although my acquaintance with him was not extended he seemed very near to me. As Chancellor of Omaha Council, his was the voice that first instructed me and many others in the lessons of this Order. He was a Knight worthy of the name; mild as a child, gentle as a woman, solicitous for the welfare of others; loaded down with business cares and responsibilities, he helped by word and deed to make the burdens of others lighter; a responsible business man that applied the principles of his religion in his business; prominence in the business world did not make him dictatorial or forgetful of the rights of others. Death came to him in the prime of his manhood. He has complied with the stern decree, that man must die. His mild and gentle soul has passed to the great beyond. Somewhere in eternity he waits for the friends he loved so well. His immortal part has found a better place. May his soul and the souls of all our departed brothers, through the Mercy of God, rest--rest in peace.

Conclusion

     The membership of this Order should appreciate the important position of the Catholic Church in the civilization of the world. The Church in the past has been the guardian of the civilization of the human race. In the present, the principles of our faith are the bulwarks of civilized society. William Allen White, the thoughtful observer and talented writer, on his return from Europe recently expressed himself as follows:

     "The Holy Roman Catholic Church, whether we like it or dislike it, still must be admitted by serious-minded persons of every faith to be the cement that is holding civilization together. For if the influence of the Catholic Church were removed, barbarism and anarchy would arise rampant in the world. The debt of civilization to the Catholic Church is the greatest single debt in the world. Reverence is due to this great fundamental force in modern civilization working toward the common coming of the kingdom for which every man and woman is striving, each in his own way, and, by striving, becomes the brother of all men."

     Nothing truer or more just than the foregoing has been said in many years. Thoughful (sic) persons outside the Church are beginning to appreciate the importance of the Church in the world's affairs.
     As members of this Order, we should realize that it is only one of the agencies of the Church. While our Order is important, it is

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