FRATERNAL SOCIETIES

are voluntary a ociations formed to benefit their members without external aid or control except that exercised by State laws. They provide an insurance fund, contributed by members’ dues, out of which stipulated sums are paid to the beneficiaries of deceased members, and also for sickne , disability and other purposes. They are also animated by social aims in their cultivation of the fraternal spirit. Their local branches are popular clubs, conducted on the lodge system and their meetings are usually marked by an established secret ritual. The local lodges or chapters, which are self-governing in» their own districts, ‘elect a supreme body, which pays out the various benefits, and makes laws for the society as a whole. The formation of a society is based on the principle: of representative government. Each frames its own constitution and by-laws which operate as a contract between the members individually and the society. Its management is responsible to the members for the faithful performance of their duties. Among the leading fraternal societies of the United States and Canada are the Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Woodmen of America, Knights of Pythias, Order of Eastern Star, Good Templars, Rechabites, Loyal Order of Moose, Woodmen of the World, Red Men, Elks, Order of EHagles, Knights of Columbus, Ancient Order of Hibernians, United Workmen, Knights of the Maccabees, Order of Owls, and Royal Arcanum. American fraternal societies are a development of the friendly societies of England, and have similar foundations, and principles, but differ from them in certain features. They became first established by the institution of the Masonic Order in Pennsylvania in 1730. Later came the Odd Fellows, 1836, and the Foresters and Hibernians, 1839. The aggregate membership of the chief fra~ ternal societies in the United States and Canada in 1922 was about 17,500,000. There are numerous smaller bodies scattered through the United States of which no statistics become available,