no money shall be paid out of the common fund for the benefit of any
who are not members, or of their families; and that all diseased and
infirm persons, and very poor people, such as "have no visible means
of support," and are likely to need pecuniary aid, shall be excluded
from the company and from its benefits. Perhaps men have a right to
form themselves into an association with such regulations; perhaps
they have a right to leave "an unworthy brother" (a member who fails
to pay his "quarterly dues") and his family to the charities of
"ignorant and prejudiced" people who will not join secret societies;
and in case of the death of such a member, to leave his poor
heart-broken widow to beg of the same "ignorant and prejudiced"
outsiders enough of money to bury his dead body decently; _but they
have no right to call themselves a charitable association_. It is
probable that many Masons, Odd-fellows, Good-fellows, etc., are kind
to "unworthy brethren," and to the poor in general; but if so, they
are better than the associations of which they are members. Bankers
and money-brokers, no doubt, sometimes show kindness to the poor, but
it does not hence follow that banks and money-shaving establishments
are charitable institutions. Neither does it follow that secret
societies are charitable because their members, in case of sickness or
death, are entitled to a certain portion of the funds which they
themselves have contributed as initiation fees and quarterly dues,
while those who are in real want can not even become members. What
charity is there in persons pledging themselves to aid each other in
sickness or other misfortune, and to let widows and orphans, the lame
and the diseased, and the wretchedly poor, perish with hunger and
cold? It may not be improper for A, B, and C to promise that they will
take care of each other in sickness, and that in case of the death of
one of them his dead body shall be buried by the survivors. It may,
also, not be improper for a man to get his life or his property