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Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. ← Page 2 of 2 Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. Page 2 of 2
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United Grand Lodge.
the first instance anything scandalous on the face of the notice ; next , was there anything irregular ; and lastly was there anything not within the cognisance of the Grand Lodge . He could not understand anyone saying that there was . If there was , what power had they to
bring anything before Grand Lodge ? The Grand Eegistrar had irregularly and improperly advised the Chairman to strike out the first and second parts of tLe notice . It was a matter of great importance to the Brethren that they should have all fair opportunities of
bringing matters before Grand Lodge , which Grand Lodge had the power to decide upon . This was not the first notice on an important matter which he had sent in and had been thrown aside by the same Brother , who decided that this notice was out of order . He brought
this matter before the Brethren in order that the principle should be thoroughly enunciated and that they should not be ruled by a Brother who had any particular feeling on the matter in hand . He wanted matters decided on broad principles , and that if they did err it should be on the side of latitude rather than of
repression . In June 1893 Grand Lodge passed this resolution " That this Grand Lodge declares that the conclusion of the Colonial Board , viz ., that Article 219 did not apply to the case of the Cambrian Lodge , No . 656 , of Australia ,
is totally opposed to the uniform practice of Grand Lodge since 1779 , and that the correct construction of the law is that laid down by the V . W . Grand Eegistrar , Brother Philbrick , and the V . W . the President of the Board of General Purposes , Brother Eenu , on the 3 rd June 1885
by the late M . W . Pro Grand Master , Lord Carnarvon , on the 5 th December 1888 ; and by the E . W . Brother W . W . B . Beach , and by the V . W . Grand Eegistrar ,
and the V . W . the President of the Board of General Purposes on the 2 nd December 1891 , and adopted by Grand Lodge on those dates . And that the alleged cancellation of the Warrant was in direct contravention
of the terms on which Grand Lodge granted recognition to the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales . And that these Brethren who adhere to their allegiance to this Grand Lodge are therefore entitled to recognition as
the Lodge . His notice was not given till May 1894 . He had received information from Brethren of New South Wales that no step had been taken for the purpose of obtaining recognition ; no step was taken by the Colonial Board
to remedy the wrong the Cambrian Lodge was suffering from ; the then Grand Secretary took no steps , and nothing was done after the passing of this resolution to further the rights and privileges of the Brethren of the
Cambrian Lodge of Australia , No . 656 . The Brethren would see the great importance to them of this question , whether they were to have the
right to get up and ask a question without notice . To test this he gave notice . With lespect to asking the G . Master to use his gracious influence , he knew there was a difficulty about interfering by one body with another on a question of jurisdiction , and that was the reason he
withdrew his motion last June , which had been altered by leaving out the first and second parts . He thought it might have led the Grand Master into a difficulty . But in regard to the Colonial Board and the Grand Secretary it was different ; they were Officers of Grand Lodge . The Grand Secretary , though appointed by the Grand Master , was an Officer of Grand Looge , and the Brethren had an undoubted right to call upon the Grand Secretary if they wanted an answer with reference to , certain matters ; they ought to be able to get the best information they could , particularly when a wrong had been done . G . Lodge was jealous of the powers it possessed and of placing them in other hands . No obstruction should be placed by Officers in the way of the full
of the General Committee ; that as a matter of fact the matter was dealt with entirely by the Chairman ' s ruling , and nothing was left to the General Committee to consider or decide , and that the action of the respondent , W . Brother James Brett , was therefore totally illegal , unconstitutional and opposed to the Book of
Constituexercise of the Brethren ' s rights . He asked Grand Lodge to decide that the President of the Board of Benevolence , acting as Chairman of the General Committee , had no power to iuie any motion , or any part of a motion , out of order without submitting is to the vote
United Grand Lodge.
tions . That even if the President had the power so to rule , neither he nor the General Committee were justified in refusing to allow any motion to be placed on the paper unless on the ground that it was either scandalous , irregular , or not within the cognisance of the Grand
Lodge , neither of which , according to the letter of the V . W . Grand Secretary , is alleged as the ground of rejection . He submitted that the words struck out were neither scandalous nor irregular , but that the matter was properly within the cognisance of the Grand
Lodge . He asked Grand Lodge to decide that the action of the Acting President of the General Committee was illegal and unconstitutional , and that the motion as submitted to the Genoral Committee might be placed upon the Agenda paper of the next or other Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge .
Bro . Loveland Loveland asked Bro . Eve to let the motion stand over till December , as neither the Grand Eegistrar nor Deputy Grand Eegistrar was present . He was sure Brother Eve was too good an Englishman to snap a verdict or condemn Brethren without hearing them .
Bro . Eve said he should be pleased to fall in with Bro . Loveland ' s view , but no one could accuse him of trying to snap a judgment . As required by the Book of
Constitutions , he gave twenty-one days' notice of his appeal , and the day before sending it to the Grand Secretary he sent it to the acting Chairman of the General Committee . Bro . J . E . Le Feuvre P . G . D . seconded Bro . Eve ' s motion .
Bro . James Brett P . G . P . said : As the acting Chairman of the General Committee in May he could assure Grand Lodge that Bro . Eve ' s notice was fairly , impartially and carefully considered by the Grand Eegistrar , the Deputy Grand Eegistrar , himself and
other Brethren . It was been at once that it was not a question in the first place necessary to put on the Agenda paper , and in the second place it was considered irregular and out of order . He agreed with the Grand Eegistrar . There was no formal show of hands taken
by the chair , because the Committee was unanimous ( cries of No , No J . All who had anything to say about it said it was not a notice of motion that should go oh the Agenda paper—except Bro . Baskett . Anyone could put a question in Grand Lodge ; it was for the acting
Master to say whether it should , or should not be answered . When the motion came before Grand Lodge Bro . Eve withdrew it , and he had that evening explained why . He ( Brother Brett ) knew this was not a blow
directed against himself , it was against the Colonial Board , and he would tell them why . This question about the Cambrian Lodge had been before the Colonial Board some years .
[ Bro . Brett was proceeding with some details of the matter when , on Bro . Eve rising to a point of order , the acting Grand Master ruled that Bro . Brett was not speaking to the question of the rejection of Brother Eve ' s notice of motion , and Bro . Brett accordingly sat down ) .
Bro . S . E . Baskett then spoke on the rule that it was the Committee and not the acting Chairman who were to decide on the regularity of a notice of motion ,
and said that this was fought out on the last revision of the Book of Constitutions , when the revisers sought to give the power to the Chairman , but were defeated in Grand Lodge .
Bro . George E . Langley , as a member of the Committee present when Bro . Eve ' s notice was brought forward , gave his testimony to the unanimity of opinion among the Brethren that the motion was out of order ( cries of " No , " accompanied by cries of " Yes ") .
The acting Grand Master regretted that Bro . Eve did not see his way to postponing the appeal till next meeting , when the Grand Eegistrar and Deputy Grand Eegistrar would be present . However , he had no option but to put the question that the appeal be allowed .
The Grand Lodge divided after a show of hands had been taken . On the division the numbers on the respective sides were so unmistakeably unequal that Col .
Noel Money without calling on the tellers declared the majority to be in favour of Bro . Eve ' s appeal , the votes being probably about 3 to 1 on his behalf . Grand Lodge was then closed .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge.
the first instance anything scandalous on the face of the notice ; next , was there anything irregular ; and lastly was there anything not within the cognisance of the Grand Lodge . He could not understand anyone saying that there was . If there was , what power had they to
bring anything before Grand Lodge ? The Grand Eegistrar had irregularly and improperly advised the Chairman to strike out the first and second parts of tLe notice . It was a matter of great importance to the Brethren that they should have all fair opportunities of
bringing matters before Grand Lodge , which Grand Lodge had the power to decide upon . This was not the first notice on an important matter which he had sent in and had been thrown aside by the same Brother , who decided that this notice was out of order . He brought
this matter before the Brethren in order that the principle should be thoroughly enunciated and that they should not be ruled by a Brother who had any particular feeling on the matter in hand . He wanted matters decided on broad principles , and that if they did err it should be on the side of latitude rather than of
repression . In June 1893 Grand Lodge passed this resolution " That this Grand Lodge declares that the conclusion of the Colonial Board , viz ., that Article 219 did not apply to the case of the Cambrian Lodge , No . 656 , of Australia ,
is totally opposed to the uniform practice of Grand Lodge since 1779 , and that the correct construction of the law is that laid down by the V . W . Grand Eegistrar , Brother Philbrick , and the V . W . the President of the Board of General Purposes , Brother Eenu , on the 3 rd June 1885
by the late M . W . Pro Grand Master , Lord Carnarvon , on the 5 th December 1888 ; and by the E . W . Brother W . W . B . Beach , and by the V . W . Grand Eegistrar ,
and the V . W . the President of the Board of General Purposes on the 2 nd December 1891 , and adopted by Grand Lodge on those dates . And that the alleged cancellation of the Warrant was in direct contravention
of the terms on which Grand Lodge granted recognition to the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales . And that these Brethren who adhere to their allegiance to this Grand Lodge are therefore entitled to recognition as
the Lodge . His notice was not given till May 1894 . He had received information from Brethren of New South Wales that no step had been taken for the purpose of obtaining recognition ; no step was taken by the Colonial Board
to remedy the wrong the Cambrian Lodge was suffering from ; the then Grand Secretary took no steps , and nothing was done after the passing of this resolution to further the rights and privileges of the Brethren of the
Cambrian Lodge of Australia , No . 656 . The Brethren would see the great importance to them of this question , whether they were to have the
right to get up and ask a question without notice . To test this he gave notice . With lespect to asking the G . Master to use his gracious influence , he knew there was a difficulty about interfering by one body with another on a question of jurisdiction , and that was the reason he
withdrew his motion last June , which had been altered by leaving out the first and second parts . He thought it might have led the Grand Master into a difficulty . But in regard to the Colonial Board and the Grand Secretary it was different ; they were Officers of Grand Lodge . The Grand Secretary , though appointed by the Grand Master , was an Officer of Grand Looge , and the Brethren had an undoubted right to call upon the Grand Secretary if they wanted an answer with reference to , certain matters ; they ought to be able to get the best information they could , particularly when a wrong had been done . G . Lodge was jealous of the powers it possessed and of placing them in other hands . No obstruction should be placed by Officers in the way of the full
of the General Committee ; that as a matter of fact the matter was dealt with entirely by the Chairman ' s ruling , and nothing was left to the General Committee to consider or decide , and that the action of the respondent , W . Brother James Brett , was therefore totally illegal , unconstitutional and opposed to the Book of
Constituexercise of the Brethren ' s rights . He asked Grand Lodge to decide that the President of the Board of Benevolence , acting as Chairman of the General Committee , had no power to iuie any motion , or any part of a motion , out of order without submitting is to the vote
United Grand Lodge.
tions . That even if the President had the power so to rule , neither he nor the General Committee were justified in refusing to allow any motion to be placed on the paper unless on the ground that it was either scandalous , irregular , or not within the cognisance of the Grand
Lodge , neither of which , according to the letter of the V . W . Grand Secretary , is alleged as the ground of rejection . He submitted that the words struck out were neither scandalous nor irregular , but that the matter was properly within the cognisance of the Grand
Lodge . He asked Grand Lodge to decide that the action of the Acting President of the General Committee was illegal and unconstitutional , and that the motion as submitted to the Genoral Committee might be placed upon the Agenda paper of the next or other Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge .
Bro . Loveland Loveland asked Bro . Eve to let the motion stand over till December , as neither the Grand Eegistrar nor Deputy Grand Eegistrar was present . He was sure Brother Eve was too good an Englishman to snap a verdict or condemn Brethren without hearing them .
Bro . Eve said he should be pleased to fall in with Bro . Loveland ' s view , but no one could accuse him of trying to snap a judgment . As required by the Book of
Constitutions , he gave twenty-one days' notice of his appeal , and the day before sending it to the Grand Secretary he sent it to the acting Chairman of the General Committee . Bro . J . E . Le Feuvre P . G . D . seconded Bro . Eve ' s motion .
Bro . James Brett P . G . P . said : As the acting Chairman of the General Committee in May he could assure Grand Lodge that Bro . Eve ' s notice was fairly , impartially and carefully considered by the Grand Eegistrar , the Deputy Grand Eegistrar , himself and
other Brethren . It was been at once that it was not a question in the first place necessary to put on the Agenda paper , and in the second place it was considered irregular and out of order . He agreed with the Grand Eegistrar . There was no formal show of hands taken
by the chair , because the Committee was unanimous ( cries of No , No J . All who had anything to say about it said it was not a notice of motion that should go oh the Agenda paper—except Bro . Baskett . Anyone could put a question in Grand Lodge ; it was for the acting
Master to say whether it should , or should not be answered . When the motion came before Grand Lodge Bro . Eve withdrew it , and he had that evening explained why . He ( Brother Brett ) knew this was not a blow
directed against himself , it was against the Colonial Board , and he would tell them why . This question about the Cambrian Lodge had been before the Colonial Board some years .
[ Bro . Brett was proceeding with some details of the matter when , on Bro . Eve rising to a point of order , the acting Grand Master ruled that Bro . Brett was not speaking to the question of the rejection of Brother Eve ' s notice of motion , and Bro . Brett accordingly sat down ) .
Bro . S . E . Baskett then spoke on the rule that it was the Committee and not the acting Chairman who were to decide on the regularity of a notice of motion ,
and said that this was fought out on the last revision of the Book of Constitutions , when the revisers sought to give the power to the Chairman , but were defeated in Grand Lodge .
Bro . George E . Langley , as a member of the Committee present when Bro . Eve ' s notice was brought forward , gave his testimony to the unanimity of opinion among the Brethren that the motion was out of order ( cries of " No , " accompanied by cries of " Yes ") .
The acting Grand Master regretted that Bro . Eve did not see his way to postponing the appeal till next meeting , when the Grand Eegistrar and Deputy Grand Eegistrar would be present . However , he had no option but to put the question that the appeal be allowed .
The Grand Lodge divided after a show of hands had been taken . On the division the numbers on the respective sides were so unmistakeably unequal that Col .
Noel Money without calling on the tellers declared the majority to be in favour of Bro . Eve ' s appeal , the votes being probably about 3 to 1 on his behalf . Grand Lodge was then closed .