Freemasons At Issue

Master considered it was a case which could only be lawfully decided in a court of law . Justice Field , however , repeated his suggestion , declaring , at the same time , that in his opinion , it was eminently a matter for the Grand Master . Tho case , therefore , stands over for reference as

suggested , and we trust the Grand Master , acting on the advice of so eminent an authority , will decide the issue between the contending parties . Our readers , of course , will inquire what were the circumstances which induced the judge to make the recommendation he did . They were

these . In a young Lodge , in one of our northern provinces , the election of the present Master was only carried by a small majority of votes , and we are informed that the minority , in order to avenge themselves for their defeat , adopted the very objectionable course of black-balling candidates proposed

by members of the majority . This , of course , provoked a bitter quarrel , and a letter was written which was interpreted as libellous , by one who was , but no longer is , a member of the Lodge . Hence the action for redress which Justice Field so promptly arrested . Now , without

offering any opinion upon the merits of the dispute—to do so would of course betoken an utter disregard of all sense of propriety and justice—we say , without touching the pros and cons of the case , we lay it down most emphatically , that this was a matter which was very properly

referred in the first instance to the Grand Master , who alone , according to the Constitutions of Freemasonrythat is , if plain English has any meaning whatever—is competent to decide the difference . It follows , of course , that in our judgment , the Grand Master was wrongly advised when he declined to interfere and referred the

disputants to a court of law . The quarrel was purely and simply Masonic . It arose , in the beginning , out of a closely contested election for the Mastership of a Lodge . The rejection of candidates was a direct consequence of the ill feeling begotten

out of the contest , and the words which were taken as libellous were the direct outcome of the rejection of candidates . If ever there was a dispute which called for the intervention of the Grand Master , it was this ; and we repeat , with all the emphasis which it is possible to throw

into half-a-dozen words , and assuming the correctness of the facts as they have been represented to us , that the Grand Master was improperly advised when he refused to intervene , and told the litigants to seek legal redress . The words of our law are clear : " All differences between , or

complaints of members , that cannot be accommodated privately , or in a regular lodge , shall be reduced into writing and delivered to the grand secretary , who shall lay the same before the grand master or the board of general purposes , or other board or committee appointed

by the grand Lodge , or in the country to the provincial grand master , if there be one . When all parties shall have been summoned to attend thereon , and the case investigated , such order and adjudication shall be made as is allowed by the laws and regulations of

masonry . The distinction between referring a case to the Grand Master , or the " provincial grand master , if there be one , " is a distinction without a difference . The Provincial Grand Master is the Grand

Master ' s representative in the Masonic district over which he , the P . G . M ., presides . The intention of the law is , obviously , that a purely Masonic dispute shall be referred for settlement to a purely Masonic tribunal . So much for one of the two cases . The other was tried on Friday last in

the Rolls Court , before the Master of the Rolls . The plaintiffs were Messrs . Hutton and Co ., of Newgate-street , the defendants , Messrs . Bayliss , Agg , and Gilles , who carry on business as wholesale fancy warehousemen in Paternoster-square . Mr . ex-Sheriff Hutton is a Past Grand Deacon

of England , and the other parties to the suit are Freemasons . The plaintiffs' object was to restrain the defendants from selling a certain thread to which Mr . Hutton ,

as far back as 1869 , had given the name of " Flossette . " This thread had for many years previously been known as "Floss , " or "Flourishing Thread . " The defendants sold the same thread under the same

name as the plaintiffs . In his affidavit , Mr . Hutton claimed to have " invented an improvement in the manufacture of the thread in 1869 , but it was given in evidence by the defendants , in affidavits of the

manufacturer from whom both parties purchased the thread , that precisel y the same articles had been manufactured and sold to the trade generally for five-and-twenty years . His lordshi p did not even call npon the defendants' counsel .

Freemasons At Issue

Ho dismissed tho action with costs , and in doing so remarked that Mr . Hutton , to judge from his affidavit , must have a very peculiar idea of tho "Queen ' s English , " and that he had no trade mark , no copyright , and no property in the name whatever . Messrs . Chitty and

Williamson were counsel for the plaintiff , Messrs . Davey and Fullerton for tho defence . Now , in this instance , the dispute between the parties was purely and simply a trade dispute . They were Masons , but their differences were of a business , not a Masonic character . We may deplore the fact that

two well-known firms should have engaged in a law suit , but it is as clear as the sun at noonday that the facfc of both parties being Masons had nothing whatever to do with the case . Indeed , it would have been asl conspicuously wrong to have introduced tho

Masonic element into the question at issue as it was in the other question to refer a Masonic squabble to ono of our ordinary legal tribunals . As to tho decision of tho judge , it was manifestly a righteous one . The rights of the case were absolutely and entirely with the defendants ,

and Mr . ex-Sheriff Hutton , in common parlance , had not even the fraction of " a leg to stand upon . " Common sense and law are not always at one with each other , but in this case they were so closely allied , that we are astonished at any man of business having had the foolhardiness tc

refer a dispute of this kind to tho decision of any person possessing the usual allowance of sanity . However , to resume the thread of our article . Here , fortunately , we have before us two cases , occurring within forty-eight hours ,

which suffice to show what may and what may not be justly referred to the decision of a judge . Henceforth , we think there will be little , if any , difficulty in drawing the line between the two kinds of quarrel , the Masonic and tho non-Masonic . A Mason , like an official , acts in two

capacities . An official does certain acts , and has a certain knowledge qua official ; he does certain acts , and has a certain knowledge , qud ordinary individual . But his two capacities are entirely distinct . So a Mason . He does certain acts , and has a certain knowledge as a Mason ; he

does and has certain other acts and knowledge respectively as an ordinary individual . Yet the two capacities are entirely distinct . In the two cases we have taken for

illustration , the squabble in the former was a Masonic one , and should have come before the proper tribunal . In the latter , the squabble was a trade one , and was very properly determined by a legal tribunal .

Northern Lights.—No. Iii.

NORTHERN LIGHTS . —No . III .

A MOST EXCELLENT LIGHT . IF being applauded and made much of were as injurious to societies as to individuals , then , indeed , would our ancient Order be in some danger ; for , whether for good or for evil—let us hope the former—we Freemasons have become decidedly fashionable , and the one great fear that

agitates our body is , that in the crowd of candidates who are daily seeking admission into our ranks , some elements of a non-masonic standard may be introduced . It is not a

profitable task to gild refined gold , nor is the painting of the lily calculated to afford much gratification to those who undertake the operation ; it is equally questionable whether the laudation that the Craft receives at the hands

of the outside world is likely to improve the general status of the Brotherhood . It is doubtless more pleasing to find ourselves the object of friendly and flattering criticism , the recital of our movements filling considerable space in the London dailies , than to see covert sneers and animosity

in a vituperative publication , which actually libels the very title ifc adopts ; but we have that within ourselves , our instition , and our teachings , thafc renders us independent of , and indifferent to , outside praise or censure . Ours is not a history of to-day , and our past is so glorious that it will irradiate our noble science to all time .

Not to outer commendation , however well meant , do we owe our present position , but to the assiduity and hard work of those good men and true who are within our gates . What do we not , as a body , owe to those brethren

who bring great talents and perseverance to bear on the proper performance of our ceremonies , who devoto time and labour to small matters of detail , which render our system a harmonious whole , o , nd whose constant aim seems , both by precept and example , to impart a true knowledge of