|
THE
NATIVIST ORDERS
ORDER OF
UNITED AMERICAN MECHANICS
JR. ORDER OF
UNITED AMERICAN MECHANICS
JR.
OUAM / DAUGHTERS OF AMERICA
The OUAM was founded in Philadelphia amidst the
anti-alien riots of 1844-45. It originally was called the Union of Workers. It created an
agenda specifically aimed at subverting immigrant prosperity in America. Members were
required to undertake efforts to publicize and campaign against the hiring of cheap
foreign labor. They were also to patronize only "American" businesses. It was
essentially anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic.
In 1853 the Junior OUAM was founded. It achieved
a peak membership of about 200,000 (1930-1937) compared to 40,000 for its parent organization.
The
Junior Order United American Mechanics National Orphan’s Home, known as the
Jr. Home, was significant in American history as an example of self-contained
residential institutions that flourished in latter 19th and early 20th century
America. The Jr. Home was a place “associated with events that have made a
significant contribution to the broad patterns of America’s history.”
The Jr. Home was maintained by The Junior
Order of United American Mechanics, an organization which began as the native
American Association, a preeminently American society that had it’s origin in
the anti-foreign movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Jr.
Order of United American Mechanics was organized in May, 1853, in Philadelphia,
PA, and quickly grew into a nationwide brotherhood inspired by the principles of
Virtue, Liberty, Patriotism. With a total of 2,950 councils, the Jr. Order in
1930 was given the distinction of being called the leading Patriotic Order of
the United States.
The Jr. Home Orphanage was established in
1896 and closed in 1944. The orphanage grew from a single farm residence
into a self-supporting community, populated by as many as 1,200 residents during
its peak years of the 1930-1937 area. As a self-sufficient
community, the complex included a wide range of structures; residence cottages,
a chapel, a gymnasium, grade and high schools, a vocational (trade) school, a
hospital, a central dining hall, a bank and a post office, a nursery, a library,
a laundry, a cannery, a power plant and an administrative building.
All structures were brick with stone or concrete trim, except the cannery, which
was stucco covered, the greenhouse, which was glass, and the chapel, which was
constructed of gray limestone.
By 1930, all the major campus buildings had been erected, numbering
approximately forty (40) buildings. The residential cottages were planned
according to the three (3) distinct architectural designs over a period of
thirty (30) years from 1897 – 1925. Each was sponsored by and named for
various state councils of The Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
The self-sufficiency aspect of the Junior Home is evident in the
construction of the Kentucky Memorial Hospital in 1908. Until 1928, the Junior
Home hospital was the only hospital in the area and was opened to serve the
local citizens of Tiffin, Ohio and surrounding communities until 1915. The
canning factory was constructed in 1913 to can the surplus fruits and vegetables
from the ever-expanding farm. The cannery was valuable to the Home, both
financially and educationally, as courses in food preservation were offered as
part of the Junior Home Vocational program. In 1920, for example, the canning
factory packed 995 cans of pears, 15,140 cans of corn, 2,673 cans of beans, as
well as large quantities of tomatoes and kraut. Other vocational training
consisted of home economics, auto mechanics, art fiber weaving, baking, cement
construction, electrical work, farming, dairying, animal husbandry, greenhouse
and garden, laundering, motion picture operation, painting, printing, plumbing,
practical nursing, stationery secretary, engineering, shoe repair, woodworking,
carpentry, newspaper work, proof reading, instrumental music, sewing, store
clerking, and cooking.
When the Tiffin, Ohio Junior Order Home took
in more children than its capacity, the Juniors pondered the possibility of
building a branch Home. The idea
failed twice during the National Convention, once in 1903, and again in 1921.
The National Convention was only held every two years, and the next time
it met in 1923 the Tiffin Home had over 200 children more than its capacity.
The North Carolina Juniors, having the highest Junior Order membership,
were eager to have a branch Home in their state.
They offered to fund this project considerably.
It was decided that a branch Home would be built in Lexington, North
Carolina.
The
cornerstone laying ceremony was held on August 19, 1925.
On March 1, 1928, the first
22 children (all from North Carolina) arrived.
The Home in Lexington continued to grow.
More buildings were constructed including the North Carolina Building,
South Carolina Building, Pennsylvania Building, powerhouse, barns,
superintendent’s residence, and the Sam F. Vance building (1932), which
included a large auditorium, high school classrooms, vocational guidance rooms,
home economics department, and a large modern gymnasium.
Daily
life at the Lexington Home was much like that of the Tiffin Home.
There was the routine of breakfast, farm work and chores, dinner,
homework, and bed. During the
summer months the children enjoyed organized recreational activities such as
tennis tournaments, basketball, and baseball.
They also had a swimming pool donated in 1933 by the Orphan’s Home
League of Louisville, KY.
Religious
services were an important part of the childrens lives.
Since the Home was in a rural location, worship services were held in the
Home’s auditorium. The Junior
Home Church had no denominational affiliations, but required the pastor to be a
regularly ordained minister of an orthodox, Protestant denomination.
There
was a general loss of membership in the Junior Order during the depression. Members who could not afford to pay their dues had little
choice but to withdraw from the Junior Order.
The Social Security Act of 1935 made it possible for mothers to support
their children.
The
National Council decided at their November 1939 meeting to revert to one Home
– in Tiffin, Ohio. It was decided
that the North Carolina Juniors would take the responsibility of keeping the
Lexington Home open for North Carolina children only.
Children in the Lexington Home who were from states other than North
Carolina traveled by train to Tiffin, and on the return trip the Tiffin orphans
from North Carolina were transferred to Lexington.
In
1944, the National Council announced that the Tiffin Home would be closed, and
the remaining 100 children be sent to the Lexington Home.
The Tiffin Home buildings would be leased to the State of Ohio for
institutional use. The Lexington
Home continued to operate on a largely self-sufficient basis during World War
II.
Despite
their declining membership, the Junior Order continued to promote the Home
throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s. The
admission requirements were relaxed in the 1940’s to include those whose
mothers were deceased, but the father was still living, and children whose
fathers were in the Armed forces. In
the 1950’s, the Home admitted children whose uncle, grandfather, or cousin was
a member of the Junior Order. In
1968, the Council amended its By-laws to allow the Council to provide financial
support for the Home even if no children of Junior Order members resided there.
Financial
difficulties continued to plaque the Home in the 1970’s.
Even though the Board applied for financial assistance for eligible
children through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program and
established an Emergency Repair Fund during the 1970’s, the North Carolina
Junior Order raised money for and built a Memorial Chapel at the Home.
The
Board of Trustees for the Home actively pursued certification by the Social
Service Commission. The North
Carolina Department of Human resources required that the Home and the state
Junior Order be incorporated separately. The
Social Service Commission licensed the Home as a child care institution in 1975.
Because of the licensing, the criteria for child care changed greatly
after 1975. In 1979, a financial
development officer joined the staff of the Home.
Today, restoration and renovation of the Home’s (now known as the
American Children’s Home) buildings continues.
Information taken from the book The Home Down South:
The Junior Order Children’s Home 1925-1985, Sam Leonard Beck, 1994
During its' (48) years of operation, The
Junior Home had been “Home” to over 5,000 children from over twenty-eight
states of these United States of America. It is obvious that with 850 acres and
(50) buildings, The Jr. Home was, indeed, a unique experience in the annals of
human endeavor. “We have written of events rather than of people, portraying
what has been built, rather than the architect. Architects there have been –
many of them – and they have built, not on the sands of the sea that are soon
washed away, but upon the firm rock of human understanding, and that which they
have built will long stand as monuments to their endeavors!”
The Junior Home Alumni Association still operates a website with
the goal to keep "HomeKids"
in touch with each other. A past alumni president Melanie Simons
would love to hear from those inquiring about the history of the Jr. OUAM.
Melanie can be contacted at:
lanie1241@yahoo.com
By
1979, the Jr. OUAM had only about 8500 members.
When the
National Council Jr. OUAM made the decision to close the Lexington Home in 1939
- 40 the Junior Order members in the state of North Carolina called a special
statewide meeting to discuss the closing. In a unanimous vote, the Junior
Order members voted to take over the Home. The deed to the Home resides in
the State Council Office on the campus of the Home. The North Carolina State
Council of the Jr. OUAM is the owner of the Home. Since 1941 the North
Carolina State Council of the Junior Order United American Mechanics has
operated, and continues to this day, the Home (American Children's Home see
their link at www.ach-nc.org ).
Over time, the Jr. OUAM opened its
membership to Jews, blacks, Catholics, and women. The lady’s order of the Jr. OUAM is
the Daughters of America.
Concurrent with these organizations was the founding of a
terrorist organization named the Know-Nothing Party. It also directed its energies against
immigrants and may well have been connected with one or both organizations.
It has also
been charged that the Jr. OUAM had links to the KKK in the 1920’s. There can be
little doubt that it once shared the same philosophy.
Jr. OUAM pieces are much more common than the
OUAM pieces (upper left). The OUAM piece shown is cheap stamped tin plate with poor
quality enamel. The OUAM was clearly a working class fraternity.
The Jr. OUAM irritated
the Masons with their use of the Square and Compass and it said the Masons hauled them
into court to try to get them to stop using it. This was obviously not successful as they
are still using it today.
This book clearly
describes the Jr. OUAM and their "No Immigrants Need Apply" policies.
History of the
Junior Order United American Mechanics
Published - 1896
Part 1. Edited by
Edward S. Deemer
Part 2. By
George A. Cleveland and Robert E. Campbell
Published in
Boston: The Fraternity Publishing Co.
Printed by Norwood
Press. Norwood, Mass.
Pages: 114 + 97 +
Plates. 12.00 inches x 10.50 inches
This is the history of a secret
American fraternal society which was created to assist native-born
Americans in combating the "threat" of immigrants and foreigners in
America.
This fraternal group was founded
in Germantown, near Philadelphia, in the mid 1800s.
The fraternity had 2 goals:
"restriction of immigration" and keeping the Bible in schools. There
were 160,000 members throughout the U.S.
Ironically enough, the
fraternity's first leader was Daniel Pastorius, a direct descendant of the
German immigrant Francis Daniel Pastorius, the founder of Germantown, who
is considered the the Father of Germans in America.
There are two 1896 books bound
into one volume. Book One is a history of the fraternity, with details and
statistics of the state-by-state organizations.
Book Two is a collection of
illustrations and descriptions of "our country's patriotic
shrines." Included are: Plymouth Rock, Jamestown,
Williamsburg, Roger Williams, Salem and Witchcraft, Colonial New Hampshire,
Historic Homes of Philadelphia, Boston and Liberty, Richmond, Independence Hall,
Lexington, Ticonderoga and Crown Point, Bunker Hill, Long Island, West Point,
Valley Forge, Trenton - Princeton - Monmouth, Yorktown, Mount Vernon,
Battle of Lake Erie, Andrew Jackson, Harrison and Tippecanoe, The White House,
Ft. Sumter and Appomattox, Gettysburg, Arlington Heights, Abraham Lincoln,
Ulysses S. Grant, etc.
Both parts state the 1896
publication date. Book One has an 1896 copyright date. Book Two has no
copyright date.
Junior Order of United
American Mechanics
First, or Degree of Virtue
1909
Opening
Councils will always open and close and transact their regular
business in the Third Degree.
The stated hour of meeting having arrived, the Councilor will
give one rap, when the officers and members will be seated. He will then rise
and say:
C.:
Council No. … is about to open. The officers and members will be clothed in
proper regalia and come to order.
C.:
Bro. I. S., you will secure the inner door and allow no one to retire or enter
till so directed from this station.
C.:
Brother W., you will advance and give to me the password’ and its explanation.
C.:
You will now satisfy yourself that all present are qualified to remain, report
to me and resume your station.
After testing the members the Warden will report from the altar
and resume his station.
C., giving two raps, the members rising:
Sons of a common country, reared under the same flag and influenced by like
tradition, we have come here that we may trim and brighten the sacred fires of
fraternity and patriotism.
Withdrawn from the tumult, selfishness and striving of every-day life; safe from
the inquisitive, the envious and the faultfinding, we find ourselves in a
presence where we may deliberate and resolve with that perfect freedom possible
only when men come together intent upon high purpose and where a true regard for
the opinion of others ever moves to speech and action.
With a
just pride in our country’s past and a sublime faith in its future, let us so
carry ourselves here as to fill full the measure of our own approval, and so
demean ourselves abroad as to bear witness that we hold our citizenship a
precious birthright and our exercise of it a privilege beyond price.
C.:
Brother Chaplain, upon what is our Order founded?
Chaplain:
Upon Virtue.
C.:
Brother V. C., by what are we made secure in the practice of Virtue?
V. C.:
By Liberty.
C.:
Brother Jr. P. C., to what must we look for our inspiration?
Jr. P. C.:
To Patriotism.
C.:
Brother Chaplain!
The Chaplain will here read a selection from the Bible and then
offer the following prayer:
Sublime
Master of The Universe! Humbly we bow before Thee and beseech Thee to move us to
loving kindness toward each other. Direct us that all our words and thoughts and
deeds may ever make for a higher and broader citizenship. Help us, that being
clean of heart and true to self, we can be false to none, God of Nations! We
offer our thanks that our Country has come to its high place among the peoples
of the Earth. Quicken, O Lord, the public conscience and steady the purpose of
our people, that our institutions may grow with the Nation’s growth, and that
our greater destiny shall continue as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by
night, to struggling mankind everywhere. Protect, and grant of Thy wisdom to
all, of high and low degree, who may be appointed to administer public business.
Ever incline the hearts of the people to respect for and obedience to law.
Prosper our Order and its purpose to make of us truer men and better citizens.
Amen.
C.:
Let us join in singing our opening ode.
Air, “America.” (Key of F.).
God
bless our native land;
Firm may
it ever stand
Through
storm and night.
When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of wind and wave,
Do Thou our Order save
By Thy
great might.
C.:
Relying upon a spirit of true brotherhood and invoking a perfect loyalty to our
institutions, I now declare this Council duly opened.
Brother
I. S., you will retire and so inform the O. S., and admit such as may be
qualified to enter.
Initiation
C.:
Brother W., you will retire and ascertain if there are any candidates in waiting
to be initiated, and report to me.
W.:
Brother Councilor, I find … naming the Candidate or
Candidates in the anteroom awaiting initiation.
C.:
Being informed that there is work to be done in the First Degree, with the aid
of the Council I will now proceed to confer the Degree of Virtue upon …, he
being a duly chosen candidate for membership in this Order. For this reason I
now declare this Council open in the First Degree, and will expect from every
officer a careful performance of-the duties of his station, and from every
member his thoughtful attention.
C.:
Brother W., you will conduct our Jr. P. C. and F. S. to the anteroom, where they
will perform the duties of t-heir offices.
Arrived within the anteroom, the Jr. P. C., addressing the
Candidate or Candidates, will say:
Jr. P. C.:
Please arise, Sir.
You are
here seeking membership in an organization composed only of those born within
the territorial limits of the United States or under the protection of its flag,
and who are banded together for the promotion of Virtue, preservation of Liberty
and the exaltation of Patriotism. Before being admitted to our Council room;
before undertaking the first stage of a progress that may end in your being
received into full fellowship with us, you must needs give certain assurances of
the sincerity of your purpose. You will raise your right hand.
Do you
promise upon your word of honor that you will true answers make to such
questions as I may put to you and that you will forever keep secret all that you
have seen and heard or may see and hear during your initiation, advancement and
perfection in this Order?
The Candidate having answered in the affirmative, the Jr. P. C.
will put to him the following questions:
1.:
Where were you born?
2.: What
is your age?
3.: Do
you believe in one Supreme Being, the maker and ruler of the universe?
4.: Are
you suffering or have you ever suffered from any hereditary or constitutional
disease?
5.: Are
you. so far as you know, in sound health?
6.: Have
you ever been a member of this Order?
If the answer is in the affirmative, then the following question;
if in the negative then omit No. 7.
7.: How
did your connection with the Order cease?
8.: Have
you ever been rejected by any Council of this Order?
9.:
WyptutApsstpitatetrotHBitst.
10.:
Wyptdatyctptluosoti, tpatcftOW?
11.:
Wyptaisakptfaitaaeosnl?
12.:
WyptgtA-htpwtcbdwityaf?
These questions having been properly answered, the pledge book
signed by the candidate and the proper fee collected by the F. S., the Jr. P. C.
will say:
Jr. P. C.:
Bro. W., we will now return to the Council and report. In the meanwhile you will
prepare the Candidate for initiation.
Having returned to the Council room and presented themselves at
the altar, the Jr. P. C. and the F. S. shall make report as follows:
Jr. P. C.:
Bro. Councilor, I find … duly qualified and ready to proceed.
F. S.:
Bro. Councilor, the Candidate has paid the initiation fee.
C.:
Thank you, my brothers, you may resume your stations,
While the Jr. P. C. and F. S. are in the- anteroom, the Councilor
will have designated one of the brothers as Accuser and another as Sponsor. In
the appointment of Sponsor the Councilor should select a member coming the
nearest filling the role of friend to the candidate. In the meanwhile the W., in
the anteroom, will be making a somewhat ostentatious display of laying out and
preparing paraphernalia as for initiation.
Accuser:
Bro. Councilor,
may I retire?
C.:
You have my permission.
The Accuser retiring to the anteroom, indicates one of the
Candidates and asks the W.:
Is this Mr. …?
Upon being answered in the affirmative, he carefully scrutinizes
the Candidate in question and then remarking as if to himself, “That is the
man,” returns to the Council room.
Accuser:
Bro. Councilor.
C.: Bro. …
Accuser:
Bro. Councilor, hearing the name of … read by the Jr. P. C., I suspected that
this Candidate was one whom I had known. In order to verify the fact, with your
permission. I retired to the anteroom. There my suspicion was confirmed. I,
therefore, feel called upon to protest against the initiation of this Candidate,
and I now formally present against him the following charge:
Violation of the obligations of citizenship.
C.:
This is a weighty charge, and the burden of proof falls upon him who makes it.
Are you,
my brother, determined to proceed?
Accuser:
I assume the burden and stand upon my rights as a member.
C., addressing the accusing brother:
Brother …, since you insist we must proceed in the manner provided by our law.
You may be seated.
C., addressing the Council:
My brothers, this charge, coming as it does from a brother of the Order,
requires immediate investigation and demands our most careful consideration. The
Tribunal will assemble for judgment. All other brothers will retire below the
altar.
The Tribunal shall consist of the C. presiding; the R. S., F. S.,
Jr. P. C. and Chaplain. The C., R. S. and F. S. shall occupy their stations. The
Jr. P. C. and Chaplain shall take seats immediately in front of the R. S. and F.
S., respectively, and shall face each other.
Each member of the Tribunal shall be clothed in a black gown with
hood, and each shall be masked in black. All lights shall be extinguished,
except that there shall be lighted candles upon the pedestal of the C. and upon
the desks of the R. S. and F. S.
C.:
Brother I. S., it is my wish that you direct the W., now in the anteroom, that
he forthwith deliver to the Conductor, a candidate awaiting initiation. You will
admit them without ceremony. And Brother Conductor, as they enter the Council
room, you will relieve the W. of his charge and bring him before the Tribunal.
I. S., giving one rap upon the door, will say: Brother
W., it is the wish of the Council that you forthwith deliver a candidate
awaiting initiation to the Conductor. You will enter without ceremony.
The W. shall securely blindfold the Candidate in the anteroom.
Upon entering the Council-room the W. and his charge will be met by the
Conductor and the latter will say:
C.:
Brother W., by direction of the Councilor I am to relieve you of your charge and
conduct him before the Tribunal as one accused.
The Conductor will lead the candidate thrice about the room and
then removing the hood-wink, leave him standing alone, before the Tribunal. The
W. shall seat the other Candidates, if any there be, in the rear of the hall,
these not blindfolded. During the progress of the Conductor and the accused,
about the Council-room the utmost silence shall be maintained.
C.:
Stranger, you came here this evening voluntarily seeking admission into this
Order. You have been regularly elected to become one of us. We were about to
proceed with your initiation when the work was interrupted by one of the
brothers, who recognizing your name and afterwards yourself in person, solemnly
protested against your further progress, until such time as you had been
confronted with and had satisfactorily met a certain charge accompanying the
protest. Embarrassing as this may be to you, it is none the less so to us, and
yet there is but one thing to be done. I have summoned to my aid our Tribunal,
that it may sit in judgment. Be assured that we are moved only by a spirit of
exact justice and that no harm can be done you, not warranted by the facts. Let
the accuser advance and confront the accused with his charge.
Accuser:
Brother Councilor, I charge this man with having violated the obligations of
citizenship.
C.:
It falls upon him who accuses to- furnish the proof. Are- you prepared to do so?
Accuser:
I am.
C.:
If, then, it be the will of my associates, proceed.
The Tribunal, in unison:
Proceed.
Just as the Accuser is about to begin the presentation of his
proof, the brother, who has been designated as Sponsor, comes up from the rear
of the hall, and taking station between the Accuser and the accused, faces the
Tribunal and says:
Sponsor:
Brothers of the Tribunal, this man can not be guilty, nor can there be any
foundation for this charge. I have known him long and well. We have been
friends. I have found him always a true man, faithful: in all things, loyal to
every obligation of life.
For him I will stand sponsor. Let the initiation proceed. I make this demand
within the law and as a brother: of the Order.
C. to the Sponsor: My brother, think of
yourself. Give heed to caution. Weigh well the consequences: should this, your
friend, fail you.
Sponsor. I care not for the charges. I know the man. I likewise know the law,
and knowing it, I offer my good name—my honor, as surety for the truth and the
loyalty of my friend. I ask that this distressing scene be brought to a close.
C.: Since being forewarned, you persist,
that which you ask must be granted.
Addressing the Tribunal:
Is it not so, my brothers?
The Tribunal, in unison: It is so.
Accuser: Brothers of the Tribunal, I
resent this interruption. I am acting under a sacred obligation. If the proof
that I offer does not bear out the charge I make, then I am in the wrong, but it
is your duty to hear and consider the proof.
C.: Say no more, my brother. It was your
duty to offer this proof and you are to be commended. This worthy brother
indicating the
Sponsor under a seldom used, but most
solemn law, has pledged as surety for the character of this Candidate his own
honor and standing in our society, and the Tribunal has decided.
You may be seated.
Accuser: With this; brothers of the
Tribunal, I am not satisfied. I have rights and responsibilities that cannot be
waived aside or thus discharged. I cannot submit—
C.:
Submit! You must submit. The Tribunal has decided and I am its voice. Take your
seat.
Accuser, not moving:
I have rights.
C.:
You can have no right that rises above the splendid devotion to friendship just
interposed between this Candidate and further trial. I trust that you will do
nothing more to mar this occasion. Will you take your seat, or must I enforce
our commands?
The Accuser slowly and with reluctance retires to a seat.
C.:
Mr: …, you are to be congratulated that at a time of peril to you, you found a
friend, willing to put at risk his own good repute that you may be saved, surely
annoyance, and, perhaps, disgrace. We rejoice with you.
C.:
Brother Conductor, you will reconduct this stranger to the W., that, in due
form, he may be returned here for initiation.
Conductor:
Brother W., I return to you your charge. With him you will retire to the
anteroom and make ready for initiation in due form.
W., with his charge and the other
Candidates, if any, retires and the officers will resume their stations.
The W. will give one rap upon the door, when the Conductor,
having responded with a similar rap, will say:
Conductor:
Who comes there?
W.:
The W. with a Candidate seeking initiation into this Order.
Conductor:
Enter.
Thereupon the W. will enter and deliver the Candidate to the
Conductor, who, moving at right angles, will conduct his charge to a position
immediately in front of the altar. The Chaplain will leave his station and face
the Candidate from the other side of the altar. He will then administer to the
Candidate the following obligation:
Chaplain, addressing the Candidate, will say:
PyrhutHBywgcattfowIwnp.
IpastIwnrtswowImba dtmi, tapnktmtbam, igs, otO.
Ifpastaaibt J. O. U. A. M. Iwnh cnear, as, wapoaop, ctbamomotO, usmidrbtNC.
Kimtltitd; IsbmtabrfaactoemotO, ktmtbs, wiCoooi atasrfarottlotO, N, SaC.
RmrhulHHW, IcuGtwtmso.
Chaplain:
Do you take upon yourself this obligation?
Candidate:
I do.
Chaplain:
Brother Conductor, you will now lead the Candidate to the V. C. for further
instruction in this Degree.
The Conductor, having led the Candidate to a position in front of
and facing the V. C. will say:
Conductor:
Brother V. C., this Candidate having been duly obligated, I now present him to
you for your further instruction. Seats Candidate.
Lecture
V. C.:
My friend, you have just witnessed a scene that at the time may have impressed
you as an unhappy break in the orderly movement of our work. I must now tell you
that it was planned as the lesson of this, the first stage of your progress into
our Order.
This
Order is founded upon Virtue, and the foundation is laid broad and deep. Yet it
lies not within the scope of its purpose to teach or to seek to enforce a code
of morals or religious ethics, except as these underlie political virtue—that
virtue that must sustain the fabric if free government, else it fall, and which
consists of love of the commonwealth. Whilst all will agree, that to be in the
highest, a good citizen, a man must be temperate, chaste and honest; the
presence of these virtues must, for our purposes, be in large measure taken for
granted.
It is,
however, with that virtue—love of country—that this Order is most concerned.
This quality of the human heart may be resolved into three parts: fidelity,
sacrifice and courage. That elemental part of civic virtue that we would
especially mark in this Degree is fidelity. Fidelity—faithfulness, cannot be
found in the larger relations of life—as that of man to country—unless there be
fidelity—faithfulness, in the lesser relations, as that to friend or
associations of friends. For this reason we would teach the lesson, that by
example as well as precept, we are now trying to fix in your mind.
In all the relations of life there is none so free
from a belittling selfishness, so essential to nobility of character, so useful
and inspiring, as friendship. In its growth to its best there is none that in a
higher degree calls for sublimity of sacrifice, purity of purpose and rightness
of action. While its exercise serves our friends, it enriches ourselves.
In order
that there may be true friendship as between man and man, there must be mutual
respect, unwavering confidence and a certain range of ideas held in common. And,
that friendship may broaden into brotherhood, there must ever be present, in a
wider, if not in a higher degree, this same respect, confidence and community of
interests.
Thus it
follows that in an organization like ours, wherein the public welfare is the
common purpose, and in order that it be cemented into true fellowship, there
must be, as the cornerstone to its temple, friendship.
As there
are no limitations upon true friendship, so it cannot be defined. We feel its
presence; it warms us when we are cold, cheers us when we are sad and heartens
us when we are discouraged. We feel it, but do not know it in the sense that we
can submit it to critical analysis—describe it in terms.
Friendship is to the human soul as pure air to the human body—essential to a
healthful existence. Says an ancient philosopher, “Whosoever is delighted in
solitude is either a wild beast or a god; ” that is, such an one is either far
above or much below an enlightened human nature. Bacon wisely tells us, “that
this communicating of a man’s self to his friend works two contrary effects, for
it redoubleth joys and cutteth griefs in halfs; for there is no man that
imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more, and no man that
imparteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieveth the less.”
Akin to
friendship is friendliness. The one is close, the other more remote, but without
capacity for the former there can be none of the latter. Emerson sweetly says,
“the whole human family is bathed with an element of love like fine ether.” This
is friendliness. It is of this, as well as of friendship that we would make
much. Friendship comes, from personal contact; flowers in association.
Friendliness is as wide as humanity. It is not given to all men to be friends,
one to another. Circumstances and temperament forbid. But there are no limits to
friendliness, which is but another name for that human sympathy, in the exercise
of which man finds himself nearest the divine. Where friendship be impossible,
let friendliness have full sway.
Brother
Conductor, you will conduct our friend to the Councilor for instructions.
Charge
C.:
My friend, standing as you do, just across our threshold, I admonish you that an
unquestioning faith in and a ready devotion to friendship and brotherhood is not
only to be highly esteemed, but is vitally necessary.
I charge
you that during the time that may pass between this, your initiation and your
further advancement in the Order, you give serious thought to the lesson that we
have sought to teach you. I am sure that you will find in it ample food for
serious reflection.
Instructions
C.:
Mf, uya, ywbetatCwwitfd. IwobntypyttWita, gynatdoyiaishwstyaawc. Ywnbptvoctyhbp.
Wweyeaffa, bbtt, wtaosbtbabm, ywctmtootd.
C.:
Brother Conductor, you will retire with our friend to the anteroom and then
return to your station.
C.:
The Council will now resume its work in the Third Degree, and those who have not
been perfected will retire.
Closing
C.: Brother F. S. will you
kindly name the receipts of the evening.
F. S. states the amount.
Brother
F. S., I will thank you to enter the amount upon the records.
Brothers, the business of the evening has been transacted and we are about to
retire. Recalling to your minds the precepts that should at all times, whether
in or out of Council, govern our conduct as members of this Order, I will ask
you to join with me in repeating our three cardinal principles.
Tbtatog,
ii, cal.
TgtptaAierolataabotO, iin, wIedsijtmaf.
TglsarottoalotCtSaNCanta, aoctracawtO.
C.:
We will now sing our closing ode.
Air, “Auld Lang Syne.” (Key of F.)
We meet
in love, we part in peace,
Our
Council labors o’er;
We’ll
ask, ere life’s best days shall cease,
To meet
in time once more.
‘Mid
fairest scenes of mem’ry dear,
In change of joy and pain,
We’ll
think of friends assembled here,
And hope
to meet again.
C.: Brother W., you will
return to me our secret work.
C.: I now declare the
Council closed until our next regular meeting, when it will be opened at …
o’clock of the evening. The Council is duly closed.
Junior Order of United
American Mechanics
Second, or Degree of Liberty
1909
Opening
Councils will always open and close and transact their regular
business in the Third Degree.
The stated hour of meeting having arrived, the Councilor will
give one rap, when the officers and members will be seated. He will then rise
and say:
C.:
Council No. … is about to open. The officers and members will be clothed in
proper regalia and come to order.
C.:
Bro. I. S., you will secure the inner door and allow no one to retire or enter
till so directed from this station.
C.:
Brother W., you will advance and give to me the password’ and its explanation.
C.:
You will now satisfy yourself that all present are qualified to remain, report
to me and resume your station.
After testing the members the Warden will report from the altar
and resume his station.
C., giving two raps, the members rising:
Sons of a common country, reared under the same flag and influenced by like
tradition, we have come here that we may trim and brighten the sacred fires of
fraternity and patriotism.
Withdrawn from the tumult, selfishness and striving of every-day life; safe from
the inquisitive, the envious and the faultfinding, we find ourselves in a
presence where we may deliberate and resolve with that perfect freedom possible
only-when men come together intent upon high purpose and where a true regard for
the opinion of others ever moves to speech and action.
With a
just pride in our country’s past and a sublime faith in its future, let us so
carry ourselves here as to fill full the measure of our own approval, and so
demean ourselves abroad as to bear witness that we hold our citizenship a
precious birthright and our exercise of it a privilege beyond price.
C.:
Brother Chaplain, upon what is our Order founded?
Chaplain:
Upon Virtue.
C.:
Brother V. C., by what are we made secure in the practice of Virtue?
V. C.:
By Liberty.
C.:
Brother Jr. P. C., to what must we look for our inspiration?
Jr. P. C.:
To Patriotism.
C.:
Brother Chaplain!
The Chaplain will here read a selection from the Bible and then
offer the following prayer:
Sublime
Master of The Universe! Humbly we bow before Thee and beseech Thee to move us to
loving kindness toward each other. Direct us that all our words and thoughts and
deeds may ever make for a higher and broader citizenship. Help us, that being
clean of heart and true to self, we can be false to none, God of Nations! We
offer our thanks that our Country has come to its high place among the peoples
of the Earth. Quicken, O Lord, the public conscience and steady the purpose of
our people, that our institutions may grow with the Nation’s growth, and that
our greater destiny shall continue as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by
night, to struggling mankind everywhere. Protect, and grant of Thy wisdom to
all, of high and low degree, who may be appointed to administer public business.
Ever incline the hearts of the people to respect for and obedience to law.
Prosper our Order and its purpose to make of us truer men and better citizens.
Amen.
C.:
Let us join in singing our opening ode.
Air, “America.” (Key of F.).
God
bless our native land;
Firm may
it ever stand
Through
storm and night.
When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of wind and wave,
Do Thou our Order save
By Thy
great might.
C.:
Relying upon a spirit of true brotherhood and invoking a perfect loyalty to our
institutions, I now declare this Council duly opened.
Brother
I. S., you will retire and so inform the O. S., and admit such as may be
qualified to enter.
Advancement
The Council being at work in the Third Degree, the C. will say:
C.:
Brother W., you will retire and report to me whether there are any candidates
awaiting advancement.
Returning from the anteroom the W. will report:
W.:
Brother Councilor, I find … (naming Candidate or
Candidates) in the -anteroom awaiting advancement.
C.:
Brother W., you will present the Candidate at the altar for examination.
The Candidate being at the altar, the Councilor will say:
C.:
My friend, are you prepared for examination?
Candidate answers:
I am.
C.:
Then repeat the obligation of the First Degree.
Candidate repeats.
C.:
Brother W., you will reconduct our friend to the anteroom and prepare him for
advancement.
C.:
There being work to do, with the aid of the Council I will proceed to confer the
Degree of Liberty upon …, he being a duly chosen candidate for membership in
this Order and having already passed his initiation. I now declare the Council
open in the Second Degree and will ask of all, proper assistance and careful
attention.
The W., being in the anteroom, will carefully hoodwink the
Candidate or Candidates. If there be more than one candidate, having selected
the one appearing to be best fitted to the character, he will costume him as a
Puritan. This done, addressing the Candidate or Candidates, he will say:
W.:
Friend, having, upon a former occasion, been taught the lesson of Virtue as
sought to be practiced by our Order, I am about to present you to our Conductor,
who will guide you in your quest for Liberty. You will find your way dark,
threatening and beset with difficulties. I am sure that, if you meet every
obstacle with courage, you will find at your journey’s end both light and
welcome. Follow me.
In the meanwhile the Council room will have been prepared for the
ceremony. There should be provided some illusionary contrivance, preferably a
mechanism representing the pitching and tossing of a boat at sea, or something
that will thus impress the blindfolded subject; a machine upon which the
Candidate shall stand, with a short mast in its center to which he must cling
for support; something likely to produce more effect upon the mind than the
body. On no account should anything making possible, physical danger, be
permitted. The machine being upon wheels should be located immediately in front
of the Chaplain’s station.
The Candidate being prepared, the W. will give two raps upon the
inner door to which the I. S. will respond. in the same manner, and speaking
through the wicket will say:
I. S.:
Who comes there?
W.:
Friends seeking Liberty and asking advancement in this Order.
I. S.:
You will await the commands of the Councilor, to whom I will report your
presence. Addressing the Councilor:
Brother Councilor, there is without the W. with a friend asking advancement in
this Order. What is your pleasure?
C.:
If our W. will vouch for this friend he may be admitted.
I. S., opening the door:
Brother W., will you vouch for this friend.
W.:
I will.
I. S.:
Then by direction of the Councilor, enter.
When all are within, the Conductor approaching the W. will say:
Conductor:
Brother W., it is now my duty to take charge of this friend and accompany him
upon a journey, that if it does not result in disaster, will end in his coming
into the light and finding welcome. Addressing
the
Candidate: My friend, we will proceed.
The Conductor will then lead the procession formed of the
Candidate, the W. and such other attending brothers as may be needed, to a
position near by the Chaplain’s station, where he will halt, and facing the
Candidate will say:
Conductor:
We have arrived at the place of your departure upon a voyage, the beginning of
which is known, but the end of which is wrapped in mystery. Should fortune favor
you, upon the other side of the vast deeps, you will find a land where you may,
within bounds, be as free as you have been oppressed. Be brave, be steadfast and
have faith. Taking the Puritan Candidate by the hand
the Conductor will continue. Enter then upon your voyage.
Then leading the Candidate upon the machine he will
place his hands about the mast and say: Hold fast.
Whereupon the machine will be put in
motion, the other Candidates, if any there be, and the attending brothers
following and proceed once about the hall and again until the Councilor’s
station has been reached, when the procession will come to a halt and the
Candidate will be led from the machine and it will be quietly removed from
sight. The Puritan Candidate will be left standing before the Councilor and the
others, if there be any, will be seated immediately in the rear: The hoodwinks
shall then be removed.
Here, if possible, such arrangements shall be had that just as
the hoodwinks are removed a curtain shall be drawn disclosing the Councilor or
someone selected by him for the part, costumed as an American Indian and
standing in a blaze of light. The scene is to represent a Puritan just stepping
ashore upon the American continent and being welcomed by a native of the soil.
This scene and its setting may be made as realistic as the circumstances of the
Council will permit.
C., in character and addressing the Candidate standing before
him:
Who are you? Whence came you?
Conductor, answering for the Candidate:
One who, leaving the land of his birth, which has become a land of oppression,
is seeking liberty.
C.:
It is well. By the sign of the Great Spirit I know you. Long have I waited for
this hour. The note of warning has come to my ears in the roar of the angry sea;
in the song of the rippling lake; The north wind has called it aloud; the summer
breeze has whispered it. Moreover, the spirits of my fathers, gone before, have
told it to my soul when darkness has put out the light and sleep has stilled the
weary body.
You have
come from over the vast deeps, whence the bright God of day. Of a surety, these
shores bound upon its hither side a land of liberty. Your quest has met with
success, but before you and before those who are to come after you, lie many
generations of toil and sacrifice. It has been given me to see, not to the end,
but far into the future. I know that in receiving you, my people will invite
your mastery, if not their destruction. But in doing so we yield to the
inevitable; to a law as certain as that which governs the coming of the seasons.
Therefore, speaking not for the past, not for the present, but for the future, I
welcome you to a land where liberty may be first wooed, then won. No easy task,
but the task is for you and for your children.
The
liberty that has been ours has been the liberty to do as we willed, unless
restrained by an arm stronger than our own.
The
liberty to which you aspire is designed to protect the weak as well as the
powerful.
Our government has been that of the strong, our law
the law of might. Your government will be of and for all the people; your law
will mean not the heavy hand of power, but the even hand of justice. May you
fulfill the high destiny of your blood and race. You will now be conducted to
the sacred altar upon which you will be obligated as a free man in your new land
of liberty. Pass on.
Immediately with the last word of the Councilor the lights shall be extinguished
and the hoodwinks replaced, whereupon the light shall be renewed and then in
silence the procession shall proceed to the front of the altar behind which the
Jr. P. C. shall have taken station. The Puritan Candidate shall be placed in the
center, supported on right and left by the other Candidates, if any, with the
Conductor upon the extreme right and the W. upon the extreme left. The hoodwinks
shall then be removed.
Conductor:
Bro. Jr. P. C., this friend having advanced thus far in his quest for Liberty,
is now
prepared for obligation as a freeman.
Jr. P. C.:
My friend
YwpbhotHBagcattfowIwnp.
IitpoGatwasbmtekitotbmamiitO;
IptIwnrbwaodtaonktmtbamigsotO, apooapttc, o, 1, ocotd.
AafIptIwcahmirtdtltiaac-stAi, aftIwgcottloolabpaeeotdts.
TatfIspas.
Jr.P. C.:
Do you solemnly promise and swear?
Candidate:
I promise and swear.
Jr. P. C.:
Brother Conductor, you will now reconduct this friend, just obligated as a
freeman to our Councilor, who will finally instruct him as to matters
appertaining to this degree and his duties with respect thereto.
Conductor, addressing the Candidate:
I will now conduct you to the Councilor’s station.
When arrived before the Councilor, the
Conductor will say:
Conductor:
Brother Councilor, it is the pleasure of the Jr. P. C. that I present to you
this friend as a freeman, duly obligated and ready for your instructions.
The Conductor will then seat the Candidate or Candidates in front
of and facing the Councilor.
Lecture
C.:
You have just passed through an experience typifying a journey in quest of
liberty. Your efforts met with success.
From
your initiation as a friend you have now advanced to the dignity of a freeman.
The dignity of it is that without free men, political liberty would be a
delusion.
A wise
man has wisely said: “There is no word that admits of more various
significations and has made more varied impressions on the human mind, than that
of liberty.” In order that we may measure the true value of political liberty,
we must constantly bear in mind the difference between liberty and license.
“Liberty is a right of doing whatever the laws permit, and if a citizen could do
what they forbid, he would be no longer possessed of liberty, because all of his
fellow-citizens would have the same power.” Thus wrote a noted publicist before
our republic was born.
The test
by which the existence of political liberty is to be tried is the state of mind
of the citizen-body. If the government is so constituted and administered that
“one man need not be afraid of another,” the test will be complete. This
condition, however, would be perfection. It is an ideal toward which we must
strive.
By
striving we will not only draw nearer and nearer to the goal, but we will honor
our citizenship.
The
lesson that we would now teach is that the liberty for which our forefathers
broke the ties that bound them to home and native land, severing themselves from
all the associations of life, is without value unless we keep it undefiled of
license. And this, no matter in whatsoever guise license obtrudes itself.
Political liberty, such as we hold it to be, is constantly menaced from below as
well as from above; from subject-citizen as well as from governing-citizen; from
the tyranny of labor as well as from that of capital. Upon us and upon such as
we are; upon all those who hold American citizenship to be a title that cannot
be gilded to greater splendor by gold, but as one that can be soiled and
degraded by such as would make it a secret instrument for narrow and selfish
purposes, is laid an enduring responsibility.
Trite as
it may be, no profounder truth was ever spoken or written than this, “Eternal
vigilance is the price of liberty.” Candidate
rises.
Charge
C.:
You are now a freeman. You have advanced one more stage toward full membership
in our Order. I would admonish you that in accepting the title of freeman you
should in no wise forget that of friend. In your initiation we sought to impress
upon you that friendship was the foundation upon which our temple was built, and
we would now have you fix it in your mind, beyond the possibility of
forgetfulness, that to neglect that friendship will put in jeopardy the
completed structure.
Bear
this also in mind: The liberties that will be yours as a member of this Order
are wholly dependent upon those that you are willing to accord your fellow
members. You cannot possess more than you cheerfully allow to others, and such
as are theirs are without
value unless shared equally with you.
Instruction
Until
your perfection in the work of our Order you will be permitted to attend the
Council when working in the First and Second Degrees.
TtCwwitsdywgaitsmatpftfd Ayecwweyahtymbpio wbbtt, wtaosbtbabm, ywctmtootd.
C.:
Brother Conductor, you will conduct this our friend, now a freeman, to the
anteroom and than return to your station.
C.:
The Council will now resume its work in the Third Degree, and those who have not
been perfected will retire.
Closing
C.:
Brother F. S. will you kindly name the receipts of the evening.
F. S. states the amount.
Brother
F. S., I will thank you to enter the amount upon the records.
Brothers, the business of the evening has been transacted and we are about to
retire. Recalling to your minds the precepts that should at all times, whether
in or out of Council, govern our conduct as members of this Order, I will ask
you to join with me in repeating our three cardinal principles.
Tbtatog,
ii, cal.
TgtptaAierolataabotO, iin, wIedsijtmaf.
TglsarottoalotCtSaNCanta, aoctracawtO.
C.:
We will now sing our closing ode.
Air, “Auld Lang Syne.” (Key of F.)
We meet
in love, we part in peace,
Our
Council labors o’er;
We’ll
ask, ere life’s best days shall cease,
To meet
in time once more.
‘Mid
fairest scenes of mem’ry dear,
In change of joy and pain,
We’ll
think of friends assembled here,
And hope
to meet again.
C.:
Brother W., you will return to me our secret work.
C.:
I now declare the Council closed until our next regular meeting, when it will be
opened at … o’clock of the evening. The Council is duly closed.
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