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A
membership decline set in, and although near the close of Mr. Callahan's
administration there were indications of a revival or upturn, the great depression was just beginning to spawn its brood of unemployment,
poverty, pessimism and national dejection, all of which not only thwarted
a Columbian revival, but threatened to suffocate the very existence of all
organizations, fraternal as well as social and industrial.
That
the order had such capable leadership during the period of reaction, 1923
to 1930, is a matter for profound gratefulness to Divine Providence, and
even more so during the dismal decade that followed. Our Faith teaches us
that by tribulations we are purified, and that an omniscient God knows how
to draw good from besetting evils. And so it was with the order in
Louisiana during those days of reaction. Just as in the days of
persecution in the early Church, the weaklings and the insincere were
weeded out, but the strong and the sincere were confirmed in their faith.
Those loyal Knights who clung to their devotion to the order and its
ideals became the bulwark of the order in the 1930s and saved it. They
exemplified the fact that out of trials and tribulations, the better man
comes forth.
Francis
L. Knobloch, the next State Deputy, was a native of Thibodaux, La.,
educated at Thibodaux College and at Tulane University. From the latter he
received his degree in law. For 50 years, he was a member of the Lafourche
Bar Association, making for himself an enviable record as attorney. He
handled the legal work for all the Catholic churches of the Lafourche
area. Mr. Knobloch was an active member in the Holy Name and St. Vincent
de Paul Societies, and held membership also in the Catholic Knights of
America. He was also a member of the Edward Douglass White Assembly,
Fourth Degree, Knights of Columbus, and a director of St. Joseph's
Hospital at Thibodaux. For 20 years, he served as editor of the
"Thibodaux Commercial Journal," and was at one time president of
the Louisiana Press Association. Among the pioneer members of Lafourche
Council, he gave unstintingly of his time and efforts to his Council and
to the order in Louisiana.
The
new State Deputy took office on July 1, 1923. Promptly, he issued a blunt,
emphatic message to all officers and members in the state. The
"million member" drive was just about ending, as he took the
reins, finding that the order in the state had reached a peak of 10,455
members. Of these, 7339 were associate members and 3116, insurance
members. But as a Knight of the old school, a stickler for quality in the
membership, he had many misgivings over the rapid increase, and sensed the
reaction that would set in, from the laxity that was already cropping up.
In his message, State Deputy Knobloch stated crisply:
"To
retain the membership we have to avoid or reduce suspensions to lowest
possible minimum. Increase number of Knights. All are not welcome, nor are
all capable of being real Knights. Admit none but practical Catholics, who
know, accept, and put forth their best efforts as citizens, as Catholics;
men who live up to the laws of the order, the Church and the state . . .
Take up all matters with District Deputy ‑ be absolutely guided by
him. It is not pleasant to lecture, or emphasize well established laws
known to all Councils, but OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW TO THE LETTER shall be,
and is most emphatically insisted upon, all the way down the line.
DISCIPLINE is necessary, essential, and must be maintained . . . We shall
insist that every District Lecturer visit every Council in his
jurisdiction not less than once a year."
Mr.
Knobloch issued similar bulletins periodically, giving subordinate
Councils and officers, and the membership likewise, an idea of what was
going on, but principally what was expected of them. He continued the
system of gathering his official family around him for periodical
meetings. Two such conferences were held at the beginning of his
term at Lafayette in October, 1923, and at New Iberia in April,
1924. The District Lecturers were not present, "because our funds did
not warrant the expenditure, and we could not permit them to establish the
precedent of payment of their own expense," as he explained it.
New
members were being received by the various Councils throughout the
state, in the wind‑up of the "million‑member" drive.
An additional Council was organized as the outcome of this. A group of
seven Knights in the Church Point area in Acadia Parish, who
had been initiated at Opelousas and were members of the Council
there, decided to form a home‑town Council in 1923. These pioneers
obtained 40 candidates from Church Point so a charter was granted in
December, 1923. The first Grand Knight of Church Point Council No. 2504
was Dr. E. J. Petitjean, who served six terms. This was the only Council
instituted during Mr. Knobloch's terms, in fact four years elapsed before
the next Council was formed.
The
state had heretofore been divided into four districts, and the following
District Deputies were appointed by Mr. Knobloch: Morris B. Redmann, New
Orleans, District No. 1; Thomas C. Grace, Baton Rouge, District No. 2;
Richard Melancon, Donaldsonville, District No. 3, and H. Roland Minvielle,
Jeanerette, District No. 4. But in 1924, the state was divided into seven
districts and the following District Deputies were designated: L. L.
LeBlanc, T. M. Callahan, Leo Turregano, Emmet Herring, L. E. Chaplin and
John Prescott. The District Lecturers for 1924 were: Charles Rivet, K.S.G.,
Adrian Caillouet, Adrian Schwartz, Mr. Robertson, A. L. Tassin and Thomas
L. Huber. Before the end of his term, State Deputy Knobloch again
re‑arranged the districts, establishing 10 of them. Seven districts
each had four Councils, one had seven, one six and two five. This brought
the state jurisdiction the closest it had ever been to compliance with the
national requirements.
During
State Deputy Knobloch's administration, an important movement got under
way, one that was destined to have wide repercussions in the years to
come. Rt.. Rev. Msgr. Leo F. Gassler, pastor of St. Joseph's Church at
Baton Rouge and Dean of the Baton Rouge Deanery, and Past Grand Knight
Paul Amiss of Baton Rouge Council No. 969 became deeply interested in the
plight of the growing number of Catholic students at Louisiana State
University, especially since the move to the new site of the university,
which was some two and one‑half miles from the nearest Catholic
church. Mr. Amiss and other members of his Council urged fellow Knights to
take up the sorely needed project of providing a center for the Catholic
students. This was in 1921. Activities for the students were provided for
these students by Baton Rouge Council, with the assistance of the Catholic
Daughters of America. |
