The Sacredness Of The Ballot.

THE SACREDNESS OF THE BALLOT .

WE regret to say that on Tuesday , the 10 th instant , a case was tried at the Yorkshire Assizes , held at Leeds , before Mr . Justice Bowen , in which plaintiff and defendants were all Masons , while the matter in dispute had its origin in certain occurrences which took place in

the Alexandra Lodge , No . 1511 , Hornsea , as far back as the 10 th January 1877 . This Lodge , our readers will remember , was consecrated at the close of the year 1874 , and from the account which subsequently appeared in these columns , there was every reason to

anticipate that , having started under such favourable auspices , it would have enjoyed a happy as well as a prosperous career . This anticipation , however , does not seem to have been realised . Bro . H . E . Voigt and other brethren of Hull were the founders of the Lodge ,

and at the very outset of its career the Eev . E . L . H . Tew , Vicar of Hornsea , was proposed and elected , but never took up his membership , the proposition fee , as is common in such cases , not being paid . This abstention from taking up his membership , on the part of the rev .

gentleman , was regarded by some of the brethren of the Alexandra as a slight . However , on the 10 th January 1877 , the Eev . Mr . Tew , with a Eev . H . C . Oasson , Curate in Charge , North Ferriby , were proposed at an emergency meeting called for the purpose , balloted for , and rejected ,

there being the three requisite black beans found in the ballot box , when the voting was over . It seems that , as many of the members reside at Hull—and among them Bro . Voigt—it was the practice to delay the commencement

of business till after the arrival of the particular train by which such brethren would travel . On this particular occasion , however , when Bro . Voigt and his two companions arrived , it was found that the Lodge was close tyled . The three brethren were , of course , admitted and

were in time to take part in the ballot for the Revs . Tew and Casson , who , as we have said , were rejected by three out of the four votes that were cast , Bro . Carr , S . W ., at the meeting , and "W . M . immediately afterwards , being the only other member who voted . This result gave great umbrage

to the supporters of Bros . Tew and Casson , and especially to Brother Tudor G . Trevor , and an emergency meeting was called for the 29 th January for the purpose of excluding Brothers Voigt , Hockney , and J . Harrison from the Lodgefor certain " unworthy and

un-, Masonic conduct " as set forth in the summons for the emergency . Hence the action brought by Bro . Voigt , which terminated in a verdict in his favour , the damages awarded being one farthing . The judge , in his summing upexpressed his regret that the action should

, have been brought , as he considered the dispute should have been submitted to the proper Masonic tribunal , and we full y agree with his Lordship that all such differences should be settled , as he suggested , bv Masonic authority ,

TO- y a common j ury ln a regular court of law . TOV - ^ P ' ''> however , we are but little concerned . What it is of moment for us to consider is , the laxity of ideas which seems to possess , or let ns hope we may say , to have been possessed by our brethren of the Alexandra Lodge in reference to the sacredness of the ballot . In a Society like

ours the only proper mode of election is , for obvious reasons , the ballot , but the ballot is nothing if not secret , and its secrecy religiously guarded . In this instance there W ? s on ' y a make-believe secrecy , and for anything that might be urged to the contrary , the voting might just as

The Sacredness Of The Ballot.

well have been by show of hands . How many members were present was not mentioned at tho trial , but , at all events , out of those who did attend only four voted , and it seems to have become instantly known that tho throe black beans were cast by Bros . Voigt , Hockney , and Harrison

respectively , while Bro . Carr proclaimed that the white bean was cast by him . Several questions will naturally follow such a disclosure . In the first place , how came the Worshipful Master at the meeting to sanction the abstention of any member present from voting ?—a duty in which

it is imperative—in our judgment , at least—that all who attend the Lodge when a candidate is balloted for should take their part . In the second place , how came the same Worshipful Brother to so far forget his duty as either to sanction or connive at any inquiry being raised by any

brother as to who voted for whom , or to allow any one who had voted to make it known which way he had voted , so that , as in this case , it might be made clear to every one that the only other brethren who had done their duty had done so in a manner adverse to the candidates ? It is

unpleasant for any one to be blackballed , but it is equally so for members of any club , society , or Lodge to have one who is obnoxious to them forced into association with them in such club , society , or Lodge . It is usual in cases where an unpopular candidate is about to be balloted for , for an

intimation of his unpopularity or being obnoxious to certain members to be made to his proposer and seconder ; and it was elicited from Bro . Voigt , the plaintiff in this action , that owing to the bnsiness having been begun when he and his companions arrived , there was no time to follow

that course . Be this as it may , it is very clear to us that Bro . Carr , by whose orders the emergency meeting for the exclusion of Bros . Voigt , Hockney , and Harrison was summoned , had very peculiar notions about the secrecy of the ballot , and acted most indiscreetly in allowing any such

meeting to be called , while Bro . Tudor Trevor P . M ., who proposed the exclusion of Bro . Voigt and his two companions , was guilty of far more un-Masonic conduct than the brethren he proposed to exclude . But the greatest offender of all was the W . M . of the first emergency , when he allowed it to become known how those voted who had

taken part m the ballot . If this kind of laxity is to be allowed to pass uncensured , and if brethren to whom a candidate is , for reasons known to themselves , distasteful ,

aro to have malicious and un-Masonic conduct openly imputed to them in Lodge summonses , our Lodges will very soon discover that the Angel of Harmony has been supplanted by the Demon of Discord .

The Tendency Of American Freemasonry.

THE TENDENCY OF AMERICAN FREEMASONRY .

IT would have afforded us the utmost gratification if the public information we have received in respect of American Freemasonry had enabled us to withdraw the statements made in an article which appeared in the first number of this journal , that is , as far back as the 2 nd

January 1875 . Therein we drew attention to one of the most noteworthy characteristics of tho Craft in the United States , namely , the tendency which is there so

conspicuous in the direction of show in preference to substantial work . The remarks were questioned at the time by one whose opinion in all things Masonic is entitled to the very hi ghest respect , and having experienced his