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Article THE REVISED BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS. ← Page 2 of 3 Article THE REVISED BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS. Page 2 of 3 →
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The Revised Book Of Constitutions.
report , of any board or committee appointed , either by the grand lodge or bij the grand lodge and grand master conjointly . " " 51 . The chairman of the general committeo Bhall direct
that any notice of motion which , in his judgment , is not within the cognizance of the grand lodge , shall be omitted from the list of business to bo brought before the grand lodge , and in such case , he
is specially to report the same , with a copy of the notice , to the grand master j the member who gave notice of the motion shall also be informed thereof before the meeting of the grand lodge . "
" 55 . All nominations for boards or committees must be given to the general committee in writing , signed by a member of the grand lodge , and stating the masonic rank of every proposed
candidate , and whether a master or a past master at the time of his nomination , together with the name and number of his Lodge , and in the case of a master adding also the date of his installation . "
" 56 . Notices of motion shall be set down for consideration in the order in which they were given , and , if renewed at the general committee , shall stand on the paper of business in
precedence of all subsequent notices , and shall , so long as renewed , maintain such precedence until they have been considered by grand lodge , or otherwise disposed of . "
" 57 . The printed report of the proceedings of the last grand lodge and a printed copy of the notices of motion for the ensning grand lodge , with the names of all candidates nominated for any
board or committee , shall be sent to all grand officers and masters of lodges in England and to the members of the Board of General Purposes and the Colonial Board at least ten days before each quarterly communication . "
" 58 . All members of the grand lodge may have snch papers of business and notices of special grand lodge meetings , together with all reports of the
quarterly communications forwarded to them by post on registering their addresses and paying a fee of five shillings per annum in advance . "
" 59 . A paper of the business to be transacted in the grand lodge shall be placed in tho hands of each member on his entrance into the hall . "
" 60 . At the general committee , six masters or past masters of lodges shall be nominated , who shall attend , within the porch of the grand lodge , at the subsequent quarterly
communication , for the purpose of assisting the grand pursuivant in the discharge of his duties ( 38 ) . In addition to the six brethren so nominated , four grand stewards of the year shall
also be summoned to attend for the same purpose in rotation , according to the numbers of the lodges which they represent . The grand master shall nominate six brethren to attend in the
porch of tbe grand lodge , for tbe purpose of assisting the grand pursuivant on the day of the grand festival , and also on any special meeting of the grand lodgo . "
[ N . B . —No snob law as that proposed is in the existing code . ]
8 ... " No nomination for any board or Committee shall be received , unless it be in writing , signed by a member of grand lodge : the masonic rank of every proposed candidate , with the
name and number of his lodge , must be stated . "
8 . . . "Notices of motion once given shall stand on the paper of business in their order of precedency , if renewed at the general committee , until they have been considered by grand
lodge , or otherwise disposed of . "
11 ( p 22 ) . "In order that all lodges may be duly informed of the business to come before grand lodge , the printed report of the proceedings of the last grand lodge , and a printed copy of the
notices of motion for the ensuing grand lodge , shall be sent to all lodges iu England at least ten days before each quarterly communication . "
11 . . . "All brethren , being members of grand lodge , may have such papers of business and notices of special grand lodge meetings , together with all
reports of the quarterly communications forwarded to them by post on registering theiraddressea and paying a fee of five shillings per annum in advance . "
11 . . . "A paper of the busi . ness to be transacted in grand lodge shall be placed in the hands of each member on his entrance into the hall . "
10 ( 21 ) . "At such committee , three masters or past masters of lodges shall bo nominated who shall attend , within the porch of the grand lodge , at the subsequent quarterly communication ,
for the purpose of guarding , under the superintendence of the grand pursuivant , against the admission of any but those who aro qualified , have their proper clothing and jewels , have signed
their names to the accustomed papers , and are in all respects entitled to admission . The three brethren so nominated shall be as . sisted by three grand stewards of the year , who shall be summoned
to attend for that purpose in rotation , according to the num . bers of the lodges which they represent . For the like purpose the grand master shall nominate
six brethren to attend in the porch of the grand lodge , on the day of the grand festival , and also on any special meeting of the grand lodge . "
The Revised Book Of Constitutions.
As regards this group of Rules as proposed , we may state generally , that the arrangement shows a great improve , ment , while tbe omission of the preamble to Art . 8 , p 20 , which , for the sake of perspicuity , we have given in italics , is unobjectionable . Proposed Rule 50 needs verbal altera .
tion . Many may think us hypercritical , when we question tbe correctness of a " which " or similar apparently unimportant word . But it is impossible to be too exact in the wording of laws and regulations , and this rule , though we all know its intent and meaning , is liable to
misconstruction . Thus the word " which " at tbe beginning of the last clause is intended to refer to tbe " general committee , " but , grammatically , its proper antecedent is " lodge . " The chance of such a misconstruction may be done away with by wording tbe Rule thus : " All business to be brought
. . . . must be previously communicated to a general com . mittee , which shall consist of the present and past grand officers , and the master of every lodge , and meet on the fourteenth . . . . " Moreover , it seems desirable that tbe
first part of Art . 9 , p 21 , which is rightly enough omitted from Rule 51 , should be added to the proposed Rule SO , when , with the verbal amendments just pointed out , and this addition , it would read compactly and clearly , as follows : —
" All business to be brought under the consideration of the grand lodge must be previously communicated to a general committee , tvhich shall consist of the present and past grand officers , and the master of every regular lodge ,
and meet on the fourteenth day immediately preceding each quarterly communication . This general committee , when assembled , shall be governed by the laws enacted for preserving order in the grand lodge dztring the time of business . "
The last part is almost verbatim the same as that portion of Art . 9 , p 21 , for which no place is found either in Rule 51 or elsewhere . Now the general committee , when assembled , must be under some kind of government
during its conduct of business , and the character of that government should , with as much reason , be indicated in the proposed as in the existing edition . Certainly the rules for the management of business in General Committee ought not to be left to any one ' s imagination .
Nos . 51 and 52 are unaltered . In No . 53 , what we have printed in italics is added , for the purpose , we presume , of placing it beyond question that it is open to any member of Grand Lodge to move , without previous notice , the acceptance or rejection of such reports as those of the
Lodge of Benevolence or Board of General Purposes , or of the recommendations contained in such reports . "We see no reason for taking any exception to this addition , which , if it errs at all , errs through excess of caution , not through any lack of it . To Rule No . 54 it is certain that grave
objections will be raised . It is unreasonable to expect that brethren will be content with leaving it to the " judgment '' of the " chairman of the general committee " to determine what does , and does not , come " within the cognizance of the grand lodge ; " { nor is it a safeguard worth speaking of against
the erroneous exercise of his judgment that it is provided he is " specially to report the same , " —that is , the motion he rejects— " with a copy of the notice , to the grand master . " The chairman of the general committee may or may not be capable of exercising a just discrimination in
matters of doubt and difficulty , but were he a perfect Solomon , he ought not to possess the preponderating authority which it is proposed to invest him with under this Rule . The general committee itself is left in the unenviable position of being an absolute nonentity in respect of this class of
question , and it is the prerogative of the chairman alone to accept or reject such notices of motion as may be submitted to the committee . The Rule does not even say that he shall report the notice of the rejected motion to the grand master for the latter ' s endorsement , so that his power of
rejection cannot even be reviewed by the highest functionary in the Craft . We trust to see this Rule * materially altered in the direction of greater liberality , and that some other means will be found of exercising that supervision over notices of motion which all are prepared to admit is
necessary . As to the other Rules in this group , they need no further remark than this : Where the language has been modified , it has been for the better , especially in the case of
No . 56 , the existing Art . 8 , p 21 , being incomprehensible as it stands . We next come to the Rules which affect the " Proceedings in Grand Lodge . " Nos . 61 , providing for the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Revised Book Of Constitutions.
report , of any board or committee appointed , either by the grand lodge or bij the grand lodge and grand master conjointly . " " 51 . The chairman of the general committeo Bhall direct
that any notice of motion which , in his judgment , is not within the cognizance of the grand lodge , shall be omitted from the list of business to bo brought before the grand lodge , and in such case , he
is specially to report the same , with a copy of the notice , to the grand master j the member who gave notice of the motion shall also be informed thereof before the meeting of the grand lodge . "
" 55 . All nominations for boards or committees must be given to the general committee in writing , signed by a member of the grand lodge , and stating the masonic rank of every proposed
candidate , and whether a master or a past master at the time of his nomination , together with the name and number of his Lodge , and in the case of a master adding also the date of his installation . "
" 56 . Notices of motion shall be set down for consideration in the order in which they were given , and , if renewed at the general committee , shall stand on the paper of business in
precedence of all subsequent notices , and shall , so long as renewed , maintain such precedence until they have been considered by grand lodge , or otherwise disposed of . "
" 57 . The printed report of the proceedings of the last grand lodge and a printed copy of the notices of motion for the ensning grand lodge , with the names of all candidates nominated for any
board or committee , shall be sent to all grand officers and masters of lodges in England and to the members of the Board of General Purposes and the Colonial Board at least ten days before each quarterly communication . "
" 58 . All members of the grand lodge may have snch papers of business and notices of special grand lodge meetings , together with all reports of the
quarterly communications forwarded to them by post on registering their addresses and paying a fee of five shillings per annum in advance . "
" 59 . A paper of the business to be transacted in the grand lodge shall be placed in tho hands of each member on his entrance into the hall . "
" 60 . At the general committee , six masters or past masters of lodges shall be nominated , who shall attend , within the porch of the grand lodge , at the subsequent quarterly
communication , for the purpose of assisting the grand pursuivant in the discharge of his duties ( 38 ) . In addition to the six brethren so nominated , four grand stewards of the year shall
also be summoned to attend for the same purpose in rotation , according to the numbers of the lodges which they represent . The grand master shall nominate six brethren to attend in the
porch of tbe grand lodge , for tbe purpose of assisting the grand pursuivant on the day of the grand festival , and also on any special meeting of the grand lodgo . "
[ N . B . —No snob law as that proposed is in the existing code . ]
8 ... " No nomination for any board or Committee shall be received , unless it be in writing , signed by a member of grand lodge : the masonic rank of every proposed candidate , with the
name and number of his lodge , must be stated . "
8 . . . "Notices of motion once given shall stand on the paper of business in their order of precedency , if renewed at the general committee , until they have been considered by grand
lodge , or otherwise disposed of . "
11 ( p 22 ) . "In order that all lodges may be duly informed of the business to come before grand lodge , the printed report of the proceedings of the last grand lodge , and a printed copy of the
notices of motion for the ensuing grand lodge , shall be sent to all lodges iu England at least ten days before each quarterly communication . "
11 . . . "All brethren , being members of grand lodge , may have such papers of business and notices of special grand lodge meetings , together with all
reports of the quarterly communications forwarded to them by post on registering theiraddressea and paying a fee of five shillings per annum in advance . "
11 . . . "A paper of the busi . ness to be transacted in grand lodge shall be placed in the hands of each member on his entrance into the hall . "
10 ( 21 ) . "At such committee , three masters or past masters of lodges shall bo nominated who shall attend , within the porch of the grand lodge , at the subsequent quarterly communication ,
for the purpose of guarding , under the superintendence of the grand pursuivant , against the admission of any but those who aro qualified , have their proper clothing and jewels , have signed
their names to the accustomed papers , and are in all respects entitled to admission . The three brethren so nominated shall be as . sisted by three grand stewards of the year , who shall be summoned
to attend for that purpose in rotation , according to the num . bers of the lodges which they represent . For the like purpose the grand master shall nominate
six brethren to attend in the porch of the grand lodge , on the day of the grand festival , and also on any special meeting of the grand lodge . "
The Revised Book Of Constitutions.
As regards this group of Rules as proposed , we may state generally , that the arrangement shows a great improve , ment , while tbe omission of the preamble to Art . 8 , p 20 , which , for the sake of perspicuity , we have given in italics , is unobjectionable . Proposed Rule 50 needs verbal altera .
tion . Many may think us hypercritical , when we question tbe correctness of a " which " or similar apparently unimportant word . But it is impossible to be too exact in the wording of laws and regulations , and this rule , though we all know its intent and meaning , is liable to
misconstruction . Thus the word " which " at tbe beginning of the last clause is intended to refer to tbe " general committee , " but , grammatically , its proper antecedent is " lodge . " The chance of such a misconstruction may be done away with by wording tbe Rule thus : " All business to be brought
. . . . must be previously communicated to a general com . mittee , which shall consist of the present and past grand officers , and the master of every lodge , and meet on the fourteenth . . . . " Moreover , it seems desirable that tbe
first part of Art . 9 , p 21 , which is rightly enough omitted from Rule 51 , should be added to the proposed Rule SO , when , with the verbal amendments just pointed out , and this addition , it would read compactly and clearly , as follows : —
" All business to be brought under the consideration of the grand lodge must be previously communicated to a general committee , tvhich shall consist of the present and past grand officers , and the master of every regular lodge ,
and meet on the fourteenth day immediately preceding each quarterly communication . This general committee , when assembled , shall be governed by the laws enacted for preserving order in the grand lodge dztring the time of business . "
The last part is almost verbatim the same as that portion of Art . 9 , p 21 , for which no place is found either in Rule 51 or elsewhere . Now the general committee , when assembled , must be under some kind of government
during its conduct of business , and the character of that government should , with as much reason , be indicated in the proposed as in the existing edition . Certainly the rules for the management of business in General Committee ought not to be left to any one ' s imagination .
Nos . 51 and 52 are unaltered . In No . 53 , what we have printed in italics is added , for the purpose , we presume , of placing it beyond question that it is open to any member of Grand Lodge to move , without previous notice , the acceptance or rejection of such reports as those of the
Lodge of Benevolence or Board of General Purposes , or of the recommendations contained in such reports . "We see no reason for taking any exception to this addition , which , if it errs at all , errs through excess of caution , not through any lack of it . To Rule No . 54 it is certain that grave
objections will be raised . It is unreasonable to expect that brethren will be content with leaving it to the " judgment '' of the " chairman of the general committee " to determine what does , and does not , come " within the cognizance of the grand lodge ; " { nor is it a safeguard worth speaking of against
the erroneous exercise of his judgment that it is provided he is " specially to report the same , " —that is , the motion he rejects— " with a copy of the notice , to the grand master . " The chairman of the general committee may or may not be capable of exercising a just discrimination in
matters of doubt and difficulty , but were he a perfect Solomon , he ought not to possess the preponderating authority which it is proposed to invest him with under this Rule . The general committee itself is left in the unenviable position of being an absolute nonentity in respect of this class of
question , and it is the prerogative of the chairman alone to accept or reject such notices of motion as may be submitted to the committee . The Rule does not even say that he shall report the notice of the rejected motion to the grand master for the latter ' s endorsement , so that his power of
rejection cannot even be reviewed by the highest functionary in the Craft . We trust to see this Rule * materially altered in the direction of greater liberality , and that some other means will be found of exercising that supervision over notices of motion which all are prepared to admit is
necessary . As to the other Rules in this group , they need no further remark than this : Where the language has been modified , it has been for the better , especially in the case of
No . 56 , the existing Art . 8 , p 21 , being incomprehensible as it stands . We next come to the Rules which affect the " Proceedings in Grand Lodge . " Nos . 61 , providing for the