Brian,
I can only speak for Kimberley, British Columbia, and I am not
really interested in researching lodges per se. I was aware that some
lodges were "benefit" lodges which offered their members various types
of payments, but in Kimberley these benefits were probably less
important than in other places (such as farming communities). Charter
members of the Knights of Pythias were also founders of three programs
which applied to ALL employees of Cominco (then Consolidated Mining and
Smelting Company Ltd.). Firstly, a Medical Society which hired doctors
in a clinical type of environment and which owned the hospital. This
medical covered all doctor and hospital bills locally, as well as
travelling expenses and medical costs if a patient were sent to
specialists in other areas (e.g. Calgary, Alberta). Employees fees were
matched by the company, but anyone in town was allowed to join so long
as the full fee (including the employers contribution) was paid. I was
covered by this throughout my childhood and after I returned to the town
as a teacher. When the teachers developed a provincial medical plan
(prior to the introduction of a government medical plan) I left the
Kimberley plan, but a few teacher's did not, because their children with
chronic conditions like asthma were covered by the miners' medical, but
not by the teachers. Secondly, these men established a benevolent fund
which paid employees an amount equal to compensation when they were
suffering from an illness which was not work related. The committee was
prepared to make this payment larger than compensation payments until
the doctors advised them that by making benevolent payments higher,
workers would draw on this fund rather than workmens' compensation.
Thirdly, they set up a Welfare fund which would make special payments to
workers and workers' families in special cases of need.
Miners in many of the mining towns of the "Inland Empire" (and I
believe Virginia City, Nevada, and Butte, Montana) set up such
Societies. As with Kimberley, these plans covered people outside the
scope of lodges or churches. The developers of these plans probably
came from different organizations in different towns; seldom, I believe,
from the unions. This was probably only because members of lodges would
be received more warmly by company officials than would union members.
All lodges had visitation committees which would visit the
hospitals, and the ladies' lodges often visited the home bound ill.
Members of the Knights of Pythias visiting committees visited EVERYONE
in the hospital and reported at lodge meetings to members who were
serving on the Benevolent and Welfare Committees. Although these
societies elected their officers in general meetings, KP's were expected
to stand for election if nominated, and were usually stuck with the
job. There was no competition or resentment between the various lodges
and organizations, and they often contacted each other for help with
their special projects. A committee to oversee the senior citizens
home, for example, traditionally had one representative from each of the
major organizations in town plus the City Clerk. In my opinion ALL
lodges played an important part in making the town a healthy and happy
place to live. Lodges in our western mining towns seemed to be less
inward looking than lodges in other places, and thus the benefit aspects
did not seem as important. Some lodges such as the Moose had lodge
projects such as Mooseheart, but they seemed to view them as charitable
endeavours rather than as personal investments.
The Odd Fellows and, I assume, the Masons had special benefits
for their members, but in a town where everyone was receiving benefits,
noone needed to rely upon lodge benefits. In other places things were
probably much different.
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