NEVERTHELESS ABSOLUTE SECRECY IS IMPOSSIBLE.
By Christian Advocate
So many swindlers pretending to belong to the secret orders have defrauded people that the penal code of the State of New York has just been amended by the following. The act took effect Sept. 1, 1905: Any person who willfully, by aid of any false token or writing, or other false pretense or statement, or without the authority of the grand lodge of the order, obtains the signature of any person to any written application, or any money or property for any alleged or pretended degree, secret work, or secrets of, or membership in, any secret fraternal society having a grand lodge in this state, or in any subordinate lodge or body thereof, is subject to a penalty of imprisonment of not more than three years, or by a fine to an amount not exceeding the value of the money or property so obtained, or by both. Independent of the utility of the law, it reveals the fact that people of common sense and observation have long since known that it is impossible to make and maintain an absolutely secret society. Unless the so-called work of any society has been changed within six months, it is possible to get every ceremonial they have, and with substantial accuracy the language used.—Christian Advocate.