NORTHERN PIONEER LODGE OF GOOD TEMPLARS.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1945, 30 March 1875, Page 2

NORTHERN PIONEER LODGE OF GOOD TEMPLARS.

ANNIVERSARY DEMONSTRATION.

A soiree was held in St. George's Hall last night to commemorate the anniversary of the Northern Pioneer Lodge of Good Templars. The attendance was considerable, but not so large as it might have been, owing to the absence of many members of the order, and. those of the general public who would have- attended, at Ohinemuri. The tables, which abounded with delicacies, were presided over fey the following ladies :—Mesdames Vine and Martin; and Misses Kidd, Kichardsi Logan, Bagnall, Wood, Vial and Walker. Tea having been disposed of to the great satisfaction, apparently, of everybody engaged in the disposal thereof, the succeeding portion of the programme was commenced, opening with a Templar hymn, which Mr. Speight, who occupied the chair, called upon those present to sing. :

The Chairman then, made a few remarks. In alluding to the attendance, he said they might congratulate themselves that it was so good, considering the extraordinary circumstances under which the anniversary was held, th,ere being so many members of the order absent, in the carrying out of a certain engagement to which they were bound, namely, the excursion to Ohinemuri. It was unnecessary for him to say anything of the position of Good Templary on the Thames, inasmuch as a statement/setting forth the position of the Pioneer Lodge, would be placed before the meeting by the Secretary; but he might say of Templary on the Thames, that, if it had done no more than that which was apparent, there was ample in that of itself to show that it had accomplished a most important work. He had no doubt there were many present- who did not belong to the order, and who might entertain a strong objection to joining. He asked these to consider one important item; that they were impelled to their work solely by a desire to do good to their fellow men, and, though there might be wrong impressions abroad, begot of the expressions of those who were enthusiastic in the cause, people | should not lose sight of the fact that to benefit mankind was the fundamental principle upon which the institution was based. To those who were inclined to doubt the disinterestedness and faith of their motives, he would say " What have we to gain by this singular position ? Do we gain any popularity ? " ■■No. To be popular one had to go with the tide of popular opinion, and those who wished to deviate from that tide to stem the current of ah evil which was ruining thousands, being in advance of the age in which they lived, had to make a firm stand, and be content to meet, with a bold front, the repeated rebuffs they were sure to encounter in advocating a. principle, which was not generally accepted as good. They believed, however, that in maintain-1 ing the position which they had taken up, for the purpose of benefiting mankind, :they would achieve their object, and were firmly convinced of the ultimate success and spread of their order throughout the world. "

The Chairman then called upon Mr Crick, Assistant Secretary of the Lodge, to read the report for the year. The fol- I lowing is the report:—" Worthy Chief; Officers, and Brethren.—At the first anniversary meeting of the lodge, held on Easter Monday, 1874, your then Secretary; reported to. you the very satisfactory progress made since the establishment of the Order in this province, and it affords me very sincere gratification to be able to inform you at this, our second anniversary that the lodge continues in a very prosperous condition, We have received during the past year 192 new members; 179 by initiation and 13 by clearance, \ being an average of seven for each initiation night throughout the year; total number of members good on the books to this date, 350.. Our losses through expulsion for breach of 0.8. have amounted to 20, showing a percentage on our total strength of 4 percent. 8 members have drawn clearances, and have either left the district altogether or joined one or other of the lodges here, and I regret to say that we have lost by death an esteemed member of the Order, viz., the Rev. Mr Wilson, who died on the 18th of October, 1874, much regretted for his many sterling virtues. If we consider the long period of depression which has existed on this field for many months past, the large number of inhabitants of the district who have been attracted to Ohinemuri,. the position arid wealth of our avowed opponents, and the apathy of many*, who, thoughnot openly against, us, yet contrive to ' damn with faint praise,' the foregoing figures are extremely encouraging, and i ought to be a strong incentive to each,! of us to endeavour to achieve still greater ! results in the future; Practically the field of operations for the extension of the principles of our Order is unlimited, but the labourers in proportion to the work to be done^are as yet few ; let us, however, hope this is but a temporary want soon to be supplied. Daring the year we have received a visit from Bro, Hastings, Past Bight Worthy Grand Templar, the past head of the Order in America. During his stay with us, which was necessarily limited, in addition to many valuable suggestions afforded us for the proper working of the Order, a Grand Lodge for the ; North Island was established, the necessary power being invested, in Bro. Hastings, and it is a matter of sincere congratulation that the first Grand Chief appointed for the new district, Bro. Speight, is a member of this lodge. 2he duties he will be called upon to discharge in connection with the high office to which hie has been elected can be rendered lighter and legs arduous by perfect unanimity amongst the lodges under his care.

Union is strength as well in Good Templarismas in other institutions, and knowing how"any signs of internal dissension are taken advantage ot bp.*our adversaries as arguments against th<s cause we advocate, Jot us not leave any opening by which its influence may be lessened or its success endangered.—(Signed) Kobt. M. Mitchell, W.S." Brother French was next called upon. That gentleman glanced at the inauguration meeting of the Lodge two years ago, when there w« re about 37 or 38 person! present in the Freemasons' Hall, Owenstreet. Ho then referred to the secret of their success in the first.place, and in, the second, to the reason they fell short in their results. One reason they hid been so successful hitherto was the thoroughness of the remedy which they applied to the evil. People had tried a partial one, but it would not answer. Good Templarism urged total abstinence for the individual, and for the State prohibition. If the firsc was accomplished the second would, of course, follow; bmt they did not wish to wait for this ; they proposed to bring it before the tribunal of. the people, whom they wished to hare a voice in saying whether or no the liquor traffic should exist. As to why th«y failed to attain the great results they aimed at, he apprehended that one reason was the apathy displayed by some of the members. In all societies, a certain proportion of the membership always failed to realise its individual responsibility, and it was to this he attri- | buted the failure to attain results such as they proposed. Mr French continued to discpurse upon the subject in an earnest and well-qualified manner, and read a letter h from Bishop: Selwyn touching the Maine liquor law,.from which it appeared that s the inhabitants of that part of America were enjoying an immunity from the evils which trading in alcohol begets in other places. He referred to Mr Fox'f definition of the Permissive principle as opposed to that of the Prohibitory system. The former was a more gradual mode of extinguishing the evil, while the latter struck at the root at once, and would endeavor to wipe it off suddenly. In concluding, he said he had seen a great deal in the past two years to encourage them to a continuance of the. exertions in support of the cause, net the least of which was the marked decrease in committals for drunkenness, as made known to him by Mr Bullen, the Sub-Inspector of Police.

Mr , .Richards (manager of fine Caledonian and Gtago mines) then delivered i reading-in really excellent style, illustrative of the misfortunes of a young man who, in the course of his courtship with a damsel of an affectionate nature, met with an alarming chapter of accidents. The moral appeared to be " Fidelity," and Captain Eichards made some very sensible remarks upon the bearing of the story to his young friends. The Eev. William Tinsley, Chaplain of an Auckland Lodge of Good Templarg, next addressed the meeting, and was very entertaining, his speech being enlivened by numerous well-told anecdotes, which served the better to illustrate his meaning. Bro. W. Carpenter, P.W.C.T., and Bro. the Eev. J. Da vies, W.L.D. Star of the Thames Lodge, also addressed the meeting, but our limited space will not admit of their publication to-day. Several of the sisterhood lent their services to contribute to the enjoyment, and sang in the intervals between th« speeches. After the ode "Heavenly Father, give thy blessing," had b«en sung; arid the usual benediction pronounced, the members of the meeting separated.