The Right To Reject A Candidate.

THE RIGHT TO REJECT A CANDIDATE .

XT has often been our duty , and ifc is by no means an agreeable one , to call attention to the number of class Lodges that have of late sprung into existence , each of which has the ostensible and avowed object of promoting

the interests of a certain school of thought . And it must occur to every right balanced mind that when social , political , or other crotchets are regarded as a primary consideration , or even placed on the level of our Masonic principles , there

is great danger of such Lodges degenerating into the regions of partisanship , and of their being wielded for the personal interests and purposes of a party or clique . It has been recently deplored that more than one Masonic Lodge

has been utilised for the aggrandisement and assistance of a political faction , and that it has been largely made use of in promoting the candidature of brethren seeking Parliamentary benefits . We have in reference to this subject

pointed out that when once the golden rule is broken , and politics are admitted within the portals of a Masonic Lodge , its influence for good must of necessity be stultified , and that controversy and discord must inevitably take the

place of harmony and peace . We have no fear that this evil will be permitted to run far into our system , for its only tendency would be to sap Freemasonry of that which the brethren hold most dear , as to its universality and

cosmopolitan equality . The atmosphere of a Masonic Lodge must not be vitiated by disputation , nor should a shadow of the friction of parties be found within its walls . There are again other Lodges founded upon principles that

were never contemplated by the Craft , and amongst these are the so-called teetotal Lodges , of which several have been established within the last three or four years . We have all alonsr contended that such a distinctive title and

profession is not consonant with the Constitutions of our Order , nor is it conclusive or satisfactory as to tho composition of such Lodges . We are fully aware that in some at least of the "TemDeranco" Lodges the members

are not all rigid abstainers from intoxicating liquors ; just the same as there are profr ~***"* d teetotallers included in the membership of Lodges who practise conviviality and hospitality amongst their tenets . It does not

stand to reason , then , that a man who joins a teetotal Lodge must perforce be a total abstainer , any more than that men who eschew the generous grape should be excluded from these societies who mingle mirth with

their pleasures " across the walnuts and the wine . " We do not say that Lodges of this particular class are generally to be condemned , ancl , seeing they are in existence , they must , as a matter of justice and necessity , be recognised .

It should be borne in mind that due respect must be paid to the absolute tenets of the persons who conprise these Lodges , and our remarks on this subject are called forth

by certain matters that transpired recently afc Manchester , in connection wifch the Callender Lodge . As reported in our issue of the 20 th ultimo , a gentleman was proposed as a candidate for initiation who had been refused—a few

weeks previously—by the Wolseley Lodge , which as our readers know was the first " teetotal " Lodge instituted in this country—because of the occupation he was engaged

in , namely , because he was a publican by trade . An eminently satisfactory account was given of the antecedents of the applicant , whose nomination was supported by several brethren of the Lodge , and in the end the ballot

The Right To Reject A Candidate.

was unanimously in favour , so that the aspirant for participation in the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry stands no longer " out in the cold . " The question here very naturally crops up , as to whether ifc was right for

a publican to force himself upon a professedly Temperance Lodge . It transpired that the person referred to was born in a public-house , ancl on the death of his father , the widow " sold oufc , " and took her family of five children to America ,

where they settled on a farm thirty miles from any other dwelling . This particular son was engaged , through tho civil war of America , in fighting for the country of his adoption , and at the close of the struggle he returned to

Manchester . Being without any occupation or trade , and as a matter of course having to make a living , ho commenced the only business with which he was afc all

acquainted , that of a publican . In thafc business ho succeeded , and by his conduct , so gained tho good wishes of his fellow citizens that he was requested by them to allow himself to be nominated as a nandidate for the Town

Council of Salford , free of expense to himself . Tins honour he declined , bnfc a greater honour—that of becoming a Freemason—was uppermost in his desire , and with this view he sought admission into the Wolseley Lodge . Why it was that he was advised to endeavour to enter the

Craft across the threshold of a teetotal Lodge is a mystery to us , and we can scarcely be surprised at the rebuff which met him on his attempt to obtain an entrance by such a door . We can easily imagine the discussion which such

a Domination would excite in the Wolseley Lodge , the members of which might lean to the opinion that , although the testimony as to the character of the applicant might have been all that could be

desired , yet the business he was engaged in was such as to render ifc inadvisable to admit him . Wc repeat thafc the would-be brother had little reason to be surprised afc his rejection ; indeed , it was the only natural outcome of the inconsiderate counsel to which he had listened from his

nominator and seconder , whom wo aro thus led to infer are nofc rigid advocates of the principles espoused by the Wolseley Lodge . It is apparent , on the face of the circumstances we have narrated , that a publican had no right

to be nominated to join a teetotal Loclgo ; for , granting that this man bore a high character for respectability , and that his antecedents were all that could bo de-ired , still it was hardly consistent that he should seek to intrude into a

society whose principles were so diametr cally afc variance with his own and the avocation in which ho was engaged . When it became known that the candidature was objection : able to many members of the Lo'lge , the most

sensibleindeed fche only reasonable—course to have adopted , was to withdraw the nomination , and thus not only have spared the candidate the humiliation of an adverse ballot , but the brethren of the Lodge also fche pain of being conscientiously

obliged to pill one who was desirous of joining them . A man whose sole occupation is the sale of intoxicating liquors has no reason to feel aggrieved if he is ivjecfced by

a body of men who are pronounced in their opposition to his proclivities and trade . It would have displayed a much greater amount of tacfc and discretion had the brethren who nominated and seconded the wonld-be candidate

withdrawn his name a ; soon us tiiey discovered "how the land lay . " The question arising from this episode is , whether , seeing that a teetotal Lodgo is in existence ancl warranted , with this specific object in view , ifc was becoming that such a candidate should be forced upon the