Suspension And Its Penalties.

expedient . Were it otherwise , it would be a grievous anomaly , and one that could not be too seriously condemned , for a brother to be deprived of his Craft status and yet retain his rights and privileges as a Royal Arch Mason . It is very possible for one who has been guilty of

some dereliction of duty which has been deemed worthy of punishment in Craft Masonry , to have done so withont having , in the slightest degree , committed an offence against the laws of Arch Masonry , and vice versa . There

is , then , in those cases , no anomaly \\ hatever in one suspended from the Craft still retaining his position in the Arch . But the offence for which this particular brother has been visited with so signal a punishment is not of this character , and it follows , that if the sentence is to be a

real one , it must apply equally to his Arch status and functions as to his Craft . We will go further , and say that if he is a member of the Mark , Templar , and other Masonic degrees , it will be necessary he should be suspended from all these

for the same term . It is no good being mealy-mouthed , and mincing matters . When a brother , told off to fulfil a dut y of trust , is faithless to the trust reposed in him , he must be prepared to undergo the just consequences of his crime . Breaches of discipline are serious offences , and so is neglect

of duty , still it is quite possible to explain and even palliate them in certain circumstances ; but malfeasance in a post of honour and trust is a crime which admits of no palliation or excuse , and only those will sympathise with this class of wrong-doers , who are capable of committing a similar offence .

We have no personal feeling in this matter . We deeply regret its occurrence , and that chiefly because we are anxious to uphold Freemasonry in all its purity . There are plenty of places in this world where people , who are so

minded , may earn for themselves an nn enviable notoriet y for sharp practice and malpractice of all kinds , but let them reserve all their misappreciations of duty for circles outside the pale of Masonry . We are anxious the Craft should retain its character for unsullied Durity .

We may add that if any Lodge should be weak enough to receive this brother during his period of suspension , it will be guilty of contumacy , and will render itself liable to suspension , or even erasure , from the roll of Grand Lodge . And having said this , we dismiss this unpleasant subject accordingly .

Rivalry—Jealousy.

RIVALRY—JEALOUSY .

WHEN we take into consideration the number of Lodges working under warrant from the Grand Lodge of England , and the greater number of brethren who acknowledge that body as their head , we cannot refrain from expressing our gratification at the general

harmony which prevails , nor from referring to the pleasure it must afford our rulers that they are so seldom called npon to adjudicate on matters of an unpleasant nature between either brethren or Lodges . It appears to ns an irrefutable argument in favour of Freemasonry that the

Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter of English Freemasons are able to hold their Quarterly Meetings time after time without having anything of a disagreeable nature to refer to . A great part of this good feeling is , we believe , engendered by a species of emulative rivalry . The

members of a Lodge are naturally jealous of those neighbours whose working may compare favourably with their own ; or their friends may have performed some particular act of Masonic benevolence which at once arouses the spirit of emulation among the Lodges in the vicinity , and this

frequently leads to the whole of a Masonic district advancing a long step in the march of improvement , which march affects our Lodges as it does most other institutions at the present time . Such is the general good feelin g which characterises our meetings that this question is often referred to by

visitors at the several Lodges , and is at all times a source of satisfaction to the Masters who frequently , during i he evening ' s proceedings , comment on such expressions ; in fact , it seems that each brother is jealous lest his neighbour

should conduce more to the comfort of those assembled than himself . As regards our Charities , we have always considered that a great part of their success is due to a similar feeling , and that larger lists are obtained from those parts where pure rivalry exists . Time after time

Rivalry—Jealousy.

we hear it remarked at Lodge meetings , where a large amount has been collected for a previous festival of one of the Charities , that the Steward who may be acting for the forthcoming one will not be content unless he far exceeds the amount realised by his

predecessor , and thus , urged by a becoming jealousy of his brother ' s position , he often exerts himself to a greater extent than otherwise would have been the case . We could continue our remarks on this subject for an indefinite time , but our readers must be well aware of the

benefits arising from a system of friendly competition , and we may content ourselves with what we have already urged , as being sufficient to defend the existence of rivalry in our Lodges . There is , however , a dark side to this as to all other worldly questions .

Some time since a case came under onr notice , which at the time we considered of so exceptionable a character that we did not think it advisable to refer to it in our pages ; but , for some time past , we have been arriving at the conclusion that we were wrong in our surmise , and a passage

in the short article which we last week reproduced from the Masonic Review convinces us . The passage referred to , bearing as it does on American Masonry , carries us yet further , and reminds us that not only English Masons , but Transatlantic brethren also , are but human , and that even

in matters intimately connected with the Craft disagreeable rivalries do occur . The article containing this passage has reference to the question , " Have we too many Lodges ? " In it the writer points out that it is much more desirable to have two or more " manageable " Lodges ,

than one with so many members as to render it impossible to carry on anything beyond the manufacture of Masons . He states that he knows of several immense Lodges , with memberships ranging from two to four hundred , who hold meetings every week , and yet are obliged to have

emergencies to clear off the business which offers itself . In these it is natural that very little is known of Masonry beyond the ritual of the three degrees ; hence it is the writer urges the advisability of forming new Lodges . He then points out various influences which tend to retard

the formation of a second Lodge in any town or district , and among them classes jealousy . Our contemporary goes so far as to believe that this jealousy , in actual practice , falls to the ground ; but on this point our experience

induces ns to disagree , at least in so far as English Masonry is concerned . The case to which we particularly refer occurred in a flourishing suburb of London , several of the residents of which were members of a certain

London Lodge . Thinking they would prefer holding their meetings in the pure air of the country rather than in the close atmosphere of the City , they went to work to obtain the necessary sanction for removing their Lodge , and had , so we believe , all but succeeded , when a most unlooked-for

opposition arose . Some of the members of the Lodge already established in the town it was intended to move to , held an unofficial meeting , and by a majority agreed to a proposition made by ones of the number , that they should use every endeavour to prevent the London Lodge

coming among them . They even went so far as to decide to petition the Prov . Grand Master to refuse to receive the new Lodge within his jurisdiction ; but this step was unnecessary ; the members of the London Lodge , hearing of the

" fraternal " greeting which awaited them , decided to give up all idea of enjoying the company of snch " brotherly " neighbours , and therefore let the matter drop . Since that time we have heard of other instances of such

narrowminded and un-Masonic behaviour , but hope that the cases which have come under our personal notice are all that have occurred in this country during the past three years . We think that such opposition is not only objectionable

from a Masonic point of view , but is likely to tend to the disadvantage of the objecting Lodge , as it is now generally admitted that friendly competition is desirable if we wish to keep any business or society from falling into decay and eventual ruin .

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