Why the creation of life insurance policies......................investments i think.......


The original insurance system devised by McGivney gave a deceased Knight's widow a $1,000 death benefit. Each member was assessed $1 upon a death, and when the number of Knights grew beyond 1,000 the assessment decreased according to the rate of increase.^[21] Each member, regardless of age, was assessed equally. As a result, younger, healthier members could expect to pay more over the course of their lifetimes than those men who joined when they were older.^[22] There was also a Sick Benefit Deposit for members who fell ill and could not work. Each sick Knight was entitled to draw up to $5 a week for 13 weeks (roughly equivalent to $125.75 in 2009 dollars^[23]). If he remained sick after that, the council to which he belonged regulated the sum of money given to him.^[24]

Creation of the Fourth Degree

From the very early days of the Order there were calls to create some sort of recognition for senior members,^[25] and a special plea was made at the National Meeting of 1899.^[26] As early as 1886 Supreme Knight James T. Mullen had proposed a patriotic degree with its own symbolic dress.^[27] The Grand Cross of the Knights of Columbus was established, but the only recipient was Cristobal Colón y de La Cerda, Duke of Veragua and descendant of Columbus, when he visited the US in 1893.^[25]
About 1,400 members attended the first exemplification of the Fourth Degree at the Lenox Lyceum in New York on February 22, 1900,^[25][26] and it was infused with Catholic and patriotic symbols and imagery that "celebrated American Catholic heritage".^[28] The two knights leading the ceremony, for example, were the Expositor of the Constitution and the Defender of the Faith.^[28] The ritual soon spread to other cities.^[25] The new Fourth Degree members then went back to their councils and formed assemblies composed of members from several councils. Those assemblies then chose the new members going forward.^[29]
In 1903, the Board of Directors officially approved a new degree exemplifying patriotism Order-wide, using the New York City model.^[25] There was from early on a "desire to receive within its ranks only the best", and each candidate was required to produce a certificate from his parish priest attesting that he had received Holy Communion within the past two weeks.^[30]