Nebraska State Council Proceedings Knights of Columbus 1905-1926

Worthy Brothers and Sir Knights:
At the time of the assembling of our last State Convention the terrible conditions incident to the war in Europe were commented upon, and we in this country stood almost appalled in view of the terrible conditions which so generally prevailed in all the principal European countries. A year has rolled around with little change in actual conditions there; but since that time the terrible effects of the war

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OF NEBRASKA

219

have been brought home to us and but recently the congress of our country found it necessary to declare that a state of war existed between one of the contending powers there and our own beloved country. We are now involved in a world war, and whether the individual citizen may individually feel that we are either rightfully or wrongfully in this conflict, the awful fact remains that we are at this moment at war with a great foreign power. In this crisis the members of our order, now representing nearly 400,000 of the very best citizenship of our country, have a positive duty to perform; we must meet that duty like men of honor and intelligent citizens. To do this, it is not necessary that we go about shouting our patriotism, or giving offense to those who may not entirely agree with us; the great need of our time is brave hearts and cool heads, and we should be very careful in discussing this momentous question with those of foreign birth to avoid giving unnecessary offense, or provokng (sic) those who are bound by ties of birth possibly to a power now an enemy, to the commission of acts or the making of statements which may in themselves be treasonable. We should ever be ready, as we have always been, to answer our country's call, and to do that which will render to our country the greatest service in its time of need, whether it be on the battle front or in following the peaceful avocations of life.
     The management of our great Order realizing that many of our insurance members would be called upon to join the colors and render military service, at the April meeting of the Board of Directors held in the City of Washington adopted a very important resolution for the protection of those carrying insurance in our Order. The resolution is as follows:

     "Voted--Until further action of this Board, that the disability of soldiers and sailors as extra-hazardous risks be removed as regards all present insured members of the Order who may now or hereafter bear arms on behalf of the United States during the present war."
     The Order has also placed itself squarely on record and points the way to all members of the order, either insurance or associate, by the adoption of the following resolution:

     "Voted--That any member of the Order now or hereafter engaging in military or naval service with any power in war against the United States shall be deemed to be an alien enemy and thereby forfeit his membership in the Order."
     In this dark hour we hear but very little of the many mushroom, so-called patriotic organizations; these dark-lantern concerns which at times have made, so much noise in pealing forth their claimed patriotism and in making either covert or open attacks upon our Order and our Church are now, strangely silent. They are proving themselves that we have always known them to be --"Invincible in times of peace--Invisible in times of war."
     I know that it is entirely unnecessary that I should make any recommendation as to the proper stand to be taken by the Knights of Nebraska, knowing the membership in this state as I do, I feel that our organization may be safely depended upon to be counted upon the right side. Every member I am sure stands ready to acquit himself as becoming a Knight, and to do all in his power for the preservation and defense of our country and to preserve unsullied the honor of our flag. I would, however, venture to recommend that this body authorize

220

PROCEEDINGS OF ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS

the sending of a message to the President of the United States, voicing the sentiments which I know to be uppermost in the heart of each representative here. This I belive (sic) will be done by other state councils in session at this time and I believe that the voice of Nebraska should be heard in unison with those of our brothers in the other states.
     The past year has proven to be one showing a healthy gain for our Order in the state. At our last meeting we had twenty-eight councils in Nebraska. On January 14 a new council was organized and instituted at Sidney with a membership of more than fifty, and is a vigorous young candidate for recognition among the councils of the Order in Nebraska. A year ago we had 1,683 insurance members and 3,754 associate members, or a total of 5,437. On April 1st of this year we had 1,718 insurance members and 4,330 associate members, or a total of 6,048. This number of course has been largely augmented by several classes of new members taken into many councils of the state since April 1st. While our total increase for the twelve months period in Nebraska has been 611, this increase is largely confined to the associate members. The increase of the insurance members is only thirty-five, which is approximately represented by the insurance membership of the new council at Sidney; hence the other twenty-eight councils in the state have only, as an average, held their own in the number of insurance members. This growth has been well distributed among all of the councils of the state, or nearly so, and as a rule our local councils have a larger membership than that of some of the neighboring states; taking the state of Kansas for example, it has sixty-eight councils of the Order as against twenty-nine in Nebraska; but its total membership in the sixty-eight councils is only 7,048, while we have, as before stated, 6,048 in twenty-nine councils.
     The Order suffered a loss during the past year of one of its most valued active members in the death of Brother Frank J. Doran, district deputy of the Seventh Nebraska District, which occurred at his home in North Platte on December 26, 1916. It was through the efforts of Brother Doran that the new council at Sidney was organized, and it was ready for institution when he was called away. Brother C. J. Pass of North Platte was appointed to succeed him and bravely took up the work and carried out the plans of Brother Doran; and the new council was organized on the original date planned. January 14. Brother Pass performed the rather remarkable feat of becoming familiar with the degree work and committing to memory all of the work of a district deputy in the short period of two weeks and acquitted himself well in the difficult part assigned him. He has proven a very worthy successor to Brother Doran.
     The Order in this state was also called upon within the past month to mourn the untimely death of its first State Deputy, Hon. T. J. Mahoney of Omaha. Each of these men had nobly performed his work in the spreading of our Order in the state, the one as a pioneer and the other as a co-worker with us in the present administration of affairs in our state. I am sure both of these members will long be remembered by the Knights of Nebraska, and all will gladly join in the prayer that eternal rest may be granted to each of them and that their souls may rest in pence.
     I will not attempt to give a detailed report of the membership and finances of the Order in this state, as these matters will be fully and

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OF NEBRASKA

221

accurately covered by the reports of the State Secretary and the State Treasurer.
     I deem it proper, however, to call attention somewhat briefly to the condition of the Order at large. Referring to the recent reports of the Supreme Secretary, it appear that our Order is enjoying a period of great prosperity and is in a splendid condition in all respects. On April 1st the total membership had grown to 378,541 as against 356,401 the year before. This was a gain of 22,140 in one year. We have now 1,770 councils of the Order as against 1,739 a year ago. We have an insurance membership of 118,929 as against 112,782 last year. This brings us to a realization of the enormous proportions assumed by the business or practical side of our organization. We paid in death claims to the surviving families of our deceased members during the past year the enormous sum of $946,219.03; and since the organization of our insurance system we have paid out up to April 1st of this year to the surviving families of our deceased members $9,660,603.87. We had on April 1st insurance in force amounting to $126,088,753.33 We had on that date assets invested in interest bearing securities amounting to $7,398,361.12 as a protection against our insurance reserve liabilities, which on December 31, 1916, were $5,314,098. The cost of management of this enormous business for the past year has been 65c per member or 5c less than the year before. The average age of our insurance members is thirty-five and our death rate is a fraction more than seven per thousand.
     Insurance organizations, and especially those of the fraternal class, are rated by the actuaries according to their percentage of solvency; that is, what per cent they would be able to pay if called upon to meet their insurance liabilities. In this respect our insurance department ranks the highest of any fraternal organization of like membership in the United States, and was rated on December 31 by the actuaries of the country at 130.42 per cent solvent. But one other fraternal society doing business in the United States is rated at over 100 per cent; all others are below that figure and many of the inadequate rate organizations are very much below it.
     At the O'Neill convention two years ago the State Council voted to make a levy upon the members in the state of 25c each for the purpose of aiding in missionary work in the sparsely settled portions of the western part of the state. There was realized from this assessment during the first year the sum of $1,215.03. Last year this sum was divided, $600.00 being paid to Bishop Tihen and the same amount to Bishop Duffy for use in the parts of the diocese presided over by each of these bishops where it was most needed. The fund for. this year's apportionment is being collected with the regular per capita tax and I hope that the amount realized will be much larger. This is a good work and I hope the members of the state council will continue to encourage it and bring it to ultimate success.
     The past is gone from us and we cannot now retrace our steps or call back the days that are gone. We must now turn our eyes to the future and look to the up-building of our order in the state until it penetrates every locality which needs its beneficent influence. I would wish that the members of this state council would realize that the up-building of the order does not depend so much upon what the Supreme Officers may do or may not do, or whether your state officers do

222

PROCEEDINGS OF ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS

their full duty in the part assigned to them; but I would have you realize that it depends entirely upon what you do in your council and what I do in mine as to whether or not we may be able to accomplish the great objects of our organization. Many things could be thought of in this connection and many little activities be fostered and conducted by the local council which would bear great fruit in each locality. Many councils are inactive; that is, they have their usual meetings and go through the routine, transact the necessary business, and adjourn. It follows that the membership generally find nothing attractive and feel very often when the time comes to attend the council meeting that the other fellow can attend to the matter of reading the minutes and allowing bills and they remain at home. The result is poorly attended council meetings in many places and must necessarily follow that the influence of such a council in the community is at the minimum. The office of lecturer is an important one in every council, and no council should rest in its effort until it has procured a proper man in this place who will furnish something at every meeting which will attract the membership there. It is not at all necessary that formal orations or lectures or expensive features be adopted; but if properly arranged every member of the council can give some help and an attractive evening is the result. This makes well attended council meetings and helps the Order to perform its great work among the people.
     I fear that too little attention is given the "Columbiad," our official paper. This publication is brim full every month of valuable information and should be received by every member and taken to his home and fully perused. The publication of this official organ costs the Order an enormous amount of money, and unless the members make use of it this money may be said to have been wasted. Grand Knights should see to it that their members are receiving the official paper, that their addresses are correctly given, and urge the members to make use of the paper in their homes.
     For the past few years the Supreme Council has made a splendid effort to aid the movement of spreading Catholic truth in all parts of our country. Three great lecturers are now permanently engaged in the work--Dr. James J. Walsh, David Goldstein and Peter Collins. These men will have given by the close of the present season 255 lectures in different cities and towns of this country, with a total attendance of more than 200,000. From sixty to seventy per cent of the attendance at these lectures has been in most eases non-Catholics. But few councils are so small that they cannot handle at least one of these great lecturers. Have it given in the most prominent hall or auditorium in the town, and the expense will be found to be so small that no member will be found to object to paying his share of it.
     During the past year our Order has performed a great work by looking after the comfort of the soldiers of the United States army on the Mexican border. The work was entirely new to us, but under the direction of the Board of Directors and Supreme Officers, Brother Moriarity was assigned the duty of establishing stations for the comfort of the soldiers, and while they were erected primarily for the use of Catholic soldiers, still all were made welcome; and while these temporary buildings were used for entertainment, largely of a musical character, they were also used for divine services, and plenty of free stationery and iced drinking water were furnished to the men at all

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OF NEBRASKA

223

times. Among these soldiers of course were many members of our Order. These members were made to feel very proud of their organization when they were enabled to offer to their comrades the many comforts provided for by these provisions. It might he interesting to know that as a result of Brother Moriarity's work at the front he found that twenty-four per cent of the troops on the border were Catholics.
     Another good work was performed during the past winter which was largely under the auspices of the Fourth Degree of the Order, in which lectures were arranged in all principal cities of the United States on February 22, commemorating Washington's birthday. These lectures were given by a Fourth Degree Knight, and the attendance at all of them aggregated more than 60,000, made up largely of non-Catholics. This first general celebration of this day has caused so much favorable comment through the United States that it has brought the Order to the very favorable attention of the people and will be celebrated next year on a very much larger scale.
     The Supreme Officers of the Order have been making a great effort to extend our insurance membership. This campaign has been in progress now for more than a year, and I am very sorry to note how little progress we have made in this regard in Nebraska. I appreciate the fact that all of our members do not fully understand the important question of life insurance, and are not able to distinguish between the good and the bad. Many inadequate rate concerns are failing to meet their contracts. This was to he expected, as the plan upon which they operate was fundamentally wrong. Our present insurance plan has the approval of all the great actuaries in the insurance world, has been demonstrated to be absolutely safe and sound, and offers the protection which every man needs and requires who has a family, or any dear one depending on him. We can safely say that we have the best insurance system of its kind in the world; and if many of our associate members who are eligible to take insurance were now to understand its advantages, they would certainly take advantage of them. The figures heretofore given you show the substantial nature of our insurance fund, and as an evidence of this the Order felt able to assume the added risk of carrying the soldiers and sailors in the service of our country for the same premium rate as those in less dangerous vocations. No other fraternal organization in the country has or could grant such a privilege. If they did, they would he bankrupt before the first campaign would have come to a close. If our Order were not in such a sound financial condition it could not make this concession, which has been done with the full approval of the official actuary.
     In our Order every member is the equal of any other member, and every member should know for himself what is going on in the Order, what business is being transacted, and every fact connected with its management. The official management has no secrets which it desires kept from the members, but on the contrary, desires every member to be fully informed of every work in which the Order is engaged. This information can be largely gained from perusal of the official paper. This should be done every month; the members should attend the meetings and know for themselves every fact which is known to any officer or member of the organization.

9:00 A.M.--	Pontifical High Mass at Holy Rosary Church by Rt.
	Rev. A. Duffy, Bishop of Kearney, and assisting priests.
11:00 A.M.--	Calling to order and appointment of committees.
12:00 M--.	Dinner.
1:00 P.M.--	Auto ride to Pine Ridge and lunch on Chadron creek, weather
	and roads permitting. Alternative is visit to potash plants.
	(The convention visited the potash plants.)
8:00 P.M.--	Program at Phelan Opera House:
	Music	Alliance Orchestra
	Vocal Solo	Miss Kate Kniest
	Address of Welcome	Mayor W. E. Rousey
	Address of Welcome	Earl D. Mallery, Pres. Commercial Club
	Vocal Solo	Misses Kate Kniest and Florence Williams
	Response to Address	Hon. George F. Corcoran, York, Neb., State Deputy.
	Vocal Solo	Miss Florence Williams
	Lecture--"For God and Country in Peace and War"
	Rt. Rev. J. Henry Tihen, Bishop of Lincoln
	"America"	Audience
	WEDNESDAY, MAY 9
9:00 A.M.--	Solemn Requiem Mass, Holy Rosary Church.
11:00 A.M.--	Business session.
12:00 M.--	Dinner.
1:30 P.M.--	Business session.
7:30 P.M.--	Banquet by courtesy Alliance Commercial Club, basement Holy Rosary Church.

State Deputy	George F. Corcoran, York
State Chaplain	Rev. L. A. Dunphy, Sutton
State Secretary	Frank M. Colfer, McCook
State Treasurer	P. J. O'Donnell, O'Neill
State Advocate	John H. Barry, Wahoo
State Warden	W. H. Bueschsentein, Alliance

State Deputy, ex-officio	George F. Corcoran, York
Alternate	John Barry, Wahoo
Past State Deputy, ex-officio	Thomas P. Redmond, Omaha
Alternate	James T. Brady, Albion
Associate Delegate	P. G. H. Boland, Omaha
Alternate	J. W. Guthrie, Alliance

Associate Delegate	Luke Mundy, Fremont
Alternate	P. P. White, Wahoo
,Insurance, Delegate	Rev. L. A. Dunphy, Sutton
Alternate	Fred Kerber, Norfolk

No. 1	John A. Bennewitz, Omaha
No. 2	John C. Mullen, Falls City
No. 3	James F. Burke, Sutton
No. 4	A. H. Berbig, Kearney
No. 5	John H. O'Malley, Greeley
No. 6	Edward H. Whelan, O'Neill
No. 7	Charles J. Pass, North Platte

	Council	Delegate	Delegate
1.	Omaha	P. G. H. Boland	J. J. Breen
2.	O'Neill	F. E. Marrin	M. H. Horriskey
3.	Lincoln	D. J. O'Connor	W. E. Straub
4.	Columbus	Morris H. Helms	Fred Gerber
5.	Alliance	John W. Guthrie	J. W. Tynan
6.	Hastings	William F. Flynn	Barton F. Kernan
7.	McCook	C. F. Lehn	H. W. Harr
8.	Chadron	Jacob Kass	P. Hyde

Dr. F. H. Morrow	District No. 1	Columbus
L. G. Brian	District No. 2	Lincoln
Judge J. H. Mullin	District No, 4	Grand Island
Dr. F. J. McRae	District No. 5	Albion
Edward H. Whalen	District No. 6	O'Neill

	Council	Delegate	Delegate
9.	Grand Island	George J. Baumann	B. J. Cunningham
10.	North Platte	F. J. McGovern	Carl E. Simon
11.	Hartington	Anthony Hirschman	George Beste
12.	Creighton	Henry P. Schwartz, Sr.	Joseph P. Ryan
13.	Wymore	Charles W. Delehant	Michael J. Moran
14.	Emerson	J. M. Liewer	L. L. Perrier
15.	Greeley	John E. Sullivan	John H. O'Malley
16.	Falls City	L. P. Wirth	R. A. Coupe
17.	Fremont	D. Radford, Jr.	H. J. Barrett
18.	Sutton	James F. Burke	F. E. Weston
19.	York	George J. Walsh	Peter Meehan
20.	David City	Wm. F. Delaney	Peter Vanderhyden
21.	Beatrice	Frank H. Kline	Henry Lang
22.	Kearney	R. B. Daugherty	A. H. Berbig
23.	Friend	Dr. D. C. Dorwart	Edward Smith
24.	Albion	James Brady	James Tierney
25.	Madison	Dr. J. C. Tighe	John C. Dickey
26.	Norfolk	Fred J. Hartlieb	Fred M. Koerber
27.	Humphrey	John E. Hugg	Charles J. Thielan
28.	Wahoo	P. P. White	J. H. Barry
29.	Sidney	Rev. Antone Link	Charles Kilroy