CHAPTER I.

SECRET SOCIETIES.
The so-called Secret Society question is the most serious problem facing the Catholic Church in the United States today.
I have for various reasons been compelled to think and study much about this subject.
As a Priest I have studied the situation from the religious point of view, and by dint of perseverance I have the advantage of getting a view in no sense dis- turbed by prejudice.
In the following pages T am dealing with secret societies as organizations, and not with individual members of sach societies. Xine out of every ten of such members do not understand the underlying prin- ciples of these societies.
On the correct solution of this momentous ques- tion depends the eternal salvation of millions of our fellow-citizens, who, as things are now, are mislead- ing others as they themselves are misled.
I deal with these societies in v^hat I may call a new aspect, for the nature of secret societies as false reli- gions is not yet fully understood.
By a secret society was formerly meant a society which was known to exist, but whose members and places of meetings were not publicly known. Today we understand by a secret society a society with se- crets, having a ritual demanding an oath of allegiance and secrecy, prescribing ceremonies of a religious character, such as the use of the Bible, either by ex- tracts therefrom, or by its being placed on an altar within the lodge-room, the use of prayers, of hymns, of religious signs and symbols, special funeral ser- vices, etc.
There are also a number of so-called Patriotic so- cieties, some of which, like the Know-Nothings and A. P. A., caused quite a stir for a time. But as ignorance and prejudice disappear in proportion as Catholics are better understood I need not say any- thing about these societies.
Members of secret societies are not ashamed or afraid to avow their membership, nay, they are rather proud of it, and wear tlieir I'adge or jewel quite osten- tatiously. Numerous periodicals are published to advance the interests of the different orders.
During the latter third of the nineteenth century activity in secret society lines had been transferred to America, where the bent seems still to be to invent new secret societies, legions, circles, unions or orders ; most of them designed to provide machinery for col- lecting assessments and paying them over to those whose misfortune and the terms of their contracts, pol- icies or certificates make them the recipients. The Cy- clopaedia of Fraternities, published by Albert Stevens in New York, in 1899, says in its preface: ". . .inter-
esting is the fact that in free and democratic America there are more secret societies and a larger aggregate membership among such organizations than in all other civilized countries. The probable extent of the influence of secret society life may be inferred from the fact that more than six millions of Ameri- cans are members of three hundred organiza- tions, which confer about one thousand de- grees on two hundred thousand novices annu- ally, aided in many instances by a wealth of paraphernalia and dramatic ceremonial which rivals modern stage effects. More than three hundred thousand members are annually added to the rolls of Masonic lodges in the United States; quite as many join the Odd-Fellows, and one half as many the Knights of Pythias; more than a hundred thousand join other secret societies, the lodges, chap- ters, or councils of which dot the country almost coin- cidently with the erection of churches and school ' houses.^'
According to "The Eleusis of Chi Omega," June 1, 1900, Fayetteville, Arkansas, there were, at that date, in the higher institutions of learning within the United States, 24 Greek letter societies with 768 branches for male students, and eight such socie- ties with 120 branches for female students, and a total membership of 142,456.
That these so-called College societies are a fruitful source for spreading secret society principles by the graduates when they return to their respective homes is self-evident.
Men of all ranks in public and private life belong to secret societies. The character of many of these people is such that it is a sufficient proof by itself that the final aim and object of these societies are not understood by them.
I firmly believe that the majority of my fellow citizens who belong to secret societies do not know the^ real character and tendencies of these orders. Most men in their hearts love fair play, and hundreds of thousands of lodge members would throw off their allegiance to their lodge did they understand the true nature, final aim and object of secret societies.
There are thousands of excellent, moral and intel- lectual men, devoid of all prejudice, who join these secret societies for no other purpose than to get the insurance, or for mere social and political purposes.
But surely the pursuit of these objects can not need any sacred rite, traditions and ceremonies, any grip, password, symbolic sign or oath.
Can it be otherwise to human nature than that all these things will have an influence on belief and will ? Again and again do the higher officials call attention to the strict observance of the ceremonial part of the lodge work.
All these ritos and ceremonies have a deep, very deep, religion? meaning and arc based on old and new paganism and naturalism.
The Constitution of the United States guarantees every citizen his liberty. "We can worship God ac- cording to the dictates of our conscience. We have our freedom of going and coming as we please, we have a right to vote as we please, we have our civil
o
rights equal for all. There is no difference between rich and poor before the law. The law protects onr ^ property, we can meet when and where we please to r^ ^^ confer on public or private enterprises. We have ^^Aj^ Tiniveri^ities, colleges, high schools and other -fi^ schools in which to gain an education. Periodicals, re- ^-^y*
views and newspapers of all kinds are in abundance to give us all information desired. There is an abun- dance on every hand for acquiring knowledge and literary culture. Secret societies are not needed to secure any of these objects. These objects may be helped but more frequently they are hindered by se- cret societies. There are thousands of ways and means of innocent amusement and cordial sociality without the aid of secret societies. Even the object sought by so-called Temperance societies can be gain- ed far more effectively outside of these societies. We can do our duty to God and our fellowmen without secret societies.
The founders and framers of these societies are chiefly responsible for their objectionable charactei and points. The great mass of the common mem- bers have had no hand in making them what they are. They have simply organized lodges on the founda- tions laid by others. They are to blame, however, in proportion as they have neglected to examine the principles upon which the order is based, and thus fail to know what the order is, or they willfully and know- ingly endorse these principles.
Most of the new orders have their beginning thus :
This or that member of an existing lodge becomes
dissatisfied with the management of his lodge, or his
ambition is not satisfied, he may not be allowed to control the lodge, is displeased, and as a final result starts a new lodge or order. Of course the new insti-' tution must be new, it must differ in some points from the old orders ; and so the whole realm of ancient and modern history, both profane and sacred, is ransacked to find something new. The discoveries during the last fifty years in the literature of the Indies, China, Japan, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Old Mexico, etc., furnish ample material for the purpose. Within the last fifty years the Sanscrit language has become a source of information about the people of ancient China and India. Egyptologists have made us ac- quainted with ancient Egypt, and Chaldean investi- gators have found stores of knowledge in Babylonian bricks.