Redmanship in Kentucky for Fifty Great Suns

by Frank L. Smith

Robert Lee Page, of No. 80 was elected Great Junior Sagamore, Past Sachem J. W. Matthews, of No. 67 being also in nomination. J. H. Kemper of No. 18 had been nominated, but desired his name to be withdrawn.

Henry Wood Ray, of No. 3 was unanimously elected Great Chief of Records for the third consecutive term.

S. C. Moore, of No. 7 was, upon motion of O. R. King, of No. 1, who had been placed in nomination against him, unanimously re-elected Great Keeper of Wampum for the fourth consecutive term. Past Sachem King declined to be a candidate.

Gustav A. Ellerkamp, of No. 8; John H. Buschemeyer, of No. 8; W. A. Crader, of No. 8, and M. B. Wallerstein, of No. 60 were elected Great Representatives to the Great Council of the United States for two Great Suns each. Other candidates in nomination were Lawrence S. Leopold, of No. 8; Frank L. Smith, of No. 1 and C. P. Harding of No. 5.

The Great Council agreed unanimously to return to Frankfort one Great Sun hence and again kindle its Great Sun Council fire in the Capitol City.

Past Sachem Albert Miller of No. 1 presented the Great Council with a magnificent Great Sachem's Stump, carved from the solid wood in representation of a Chieftain's bust, decorated with feathers and emblems of the Order.

The Committee on Revision of the Laws, which had been appointed at the previous Great Council, now presented its report in print. Shortly after the adjournment one great sun ago, the committee had met, and realizing the magnitude of the work before them, expressed its belief that one brother could accomplish the desired result with less difficulty and in a shorter time than a number, and agreed to employ Past Sachem Frank L. Smith, of No. 1, to do the work, if he would undertake it. That chief accepting the commission, submitted his report to the full committee in Sturgeon Moon, G. S. D. 413, and with slight changes was adopted by the committee.

This report, embracing an entirely new code of law, founded upon the general plan outlined by the Great Council of the United States, making an entire separation of the legislative, executive and judicial departments, was now before the Great Council, which went into the Committee of the Whole for its consideration. Upon the rising of the committee, the laws as presented by the Revision Committee were adopted, with the exception of that article relating to the establishment of the Widows' and Orphans' Home Fund. This article was made a special order of business, and was the subject of earnest debate.

Those opposing the adoption of the law were not adverse to the principle, but to the method of applying relief to the needy, their plan, which they wished to substitute for a Widows' and Orphans' Home, was the establishment of an Endowment Fund, the income from which should be used to defray the expenses of its beneficiaries in private homes rather than in an institution. After protracted debate, the law as presented by the Committee on Revision, establishing the Widows' and Orphans' Home Fund, with some slight technical alterations, was adopted by an almost unanimous vote. The law as finally adopted was almost identical with that presented at the previous Great Council and which was then tabled.

The Committee on Incorporation of the Great Council presented a verbal report, stating that articles had been prepared and would be submitted when properly recorded. The articles prepared by this committee, while published as preface to the new code of laws, were never recorded, and consequently never were in operation.