The Unrecognised Grand Lodge Of New Zealand.

THE UNRECOGNISED GRAND LODGE OF NEW ZEALAND .

There is much that is worthy of commendation in the address delivered by Bro . E . P . GiLLON at the annual meeting in Auckland of the unrecognised Grand Lodge of New Zealand on the 27 th April last , when he installed Bro . MALCOLM NICCOL as M . W . G . M ., in succession to Bro . HENRY T HOMPSON . In the first place , it cannot be otherwise than gratifying to be

told that the lodges under the New Zealand Constitution have so far " grown , thriven , and prospered , increasing in strength and numbers , and exercising stricter discrimination in their choice of candidates . " It is equally satisfactory to hear that " a most desirable class of young men are thronging to our lodges , to enter the Craft under a Constitution which bears the name of the

land of their birth . " This , we repeat , is eminently satisfactory , because it indicates clearly that , in spite of the divisions which exist among the Craft in this Colony , the career of Freemasonry itself has prospered . Our arguments against the present establishment of a local Grand Lodge rested principally on the injurious influence it would be calculated to exercise on the

Craft as a whole . We have stated in all , or nearly all , of the articles we have written on the subject , that it was not so much the constitution of a local Grand Lodge to which we took exception , as what we considered the premature creation of such a body . We argued that , as far as we knew , the lodges under the three Constitutions of England ,

Ireland , and Scotland had worked side by side in the main harmoniously but that if there was a prospect of that feeling of harmony which had heretofore existed amongst them being converted into one of discord , it appeared to us the establishment of a fourth Constitution must hasten and intensify the impending evil . We assume that Bro . GILLON

IS a man who is in the habit of weighing well the words that he utters , and he tells us in the address to which we are referring that Ihe lodges under the new Constitution are prosperous , and are receiving into their number " a most desirable class of young men . " Nor , it seems ,

is this renewal of prosperity confined to those existing under his own Constitution . " Not only , " says he , "have our own lodges thriven wonderfully under the new rule , but \ t has stirred up the dry bones of otfier Constitutions is well , and there is more vitality in the Craft now than ever before . " The

expression is not as complimentary to the " other Constitutions " as it might have been , nor , considering the marvellous progress which Freemasonry had made in New Zealand before the advent upon the scene of the unrecognised local Grand Lodge , can the vitality of the Craft have been at so low an ebb is the phrase might lead us to imagine . However , wc will not quarrel about

Ihe forms of expression which Bro . GILLON is pleased to employ . As a memberof the New Zealand Constitution , his remarks must of necessity we in them a considerable leaven of partiality , yet in spite of this very natural bias , he has no hesitation in admitting that in the matter of prosperity the condition of the three original Constitutions has kept pace with that of the new .

' assing over that portion of the address in which Bro . GILLON refers at s ° me length to the adverse opinions expressed at the time the Grand Lodge ¦ New Zealand was constituted , and shows how very slender is the probability Ineir ever being realised , we note with pleasure the tone in which he speaks [ he Grand Lodges of England and Scotland , and the evident sincerity

. » which he expresses a hope that at no distant period those Grand ges will be induced to recognise the Grand Lodge of New Zealand . saying this , we are very far from admitting that the Grand Lodge of ^ gland , in declining to recognise the Grand Lodge of New Zealand , has gnored its own Constitutional rules and well-established precedentsto

, ., lt > in the words of one of its high officers , to have a free hand in dealing "s as circumstances , policy , expediences , and Masonic harmony might neih ' " ^ maintam tnat tne refusal of our Grand Lodge to recognise the est hr 'S str'ct ' y ln accordance with our " Constitutional rules and well-, "shed precedents . " We recognised the Grand Lodrre of Canada in I 8 M .

iher SC " ' ' keen mac ^ manifest to the authorities of our Grand Lodge that ] Nas a preponderance of opinion amongst the lodges in Upper and a ncj r ~ ada in favour of a local Canadian Grand Lodge , and the one lr . i _ ' ¥ lrn Portant condition we attached to that recotrnition was that all

, to , i lcn elected to remain in their old allegiance should be at liberty Gr i S ? ' f ' same course was pursued in the more recent cases of the T asrna f ' ges of South Australia , New South Wales , Victoria , and aiice . ' d for the same reason , namely , that there was a preponderestahiiji ' among the lodges in those Colonies in favour of their New 7 , t ] Qnt - But when the question of recognising the Grand Lodge of ft ' ^ lan d came before our Grand Lodge , it was found that public

The Unrecognised Grand Lodge Of New Zealand.

Masonic opinion in the Colony was far from being in favour of the movement . As many lodges were opposed to it as had voted in its favour , and this is admitted in Bro . GII . LON ' S present address , in which , after enumerating the many evidences of prosperity which presently exist among the lodges under the New Zealand Constitution , he goes on to propound the

question— " If we have done so much with a strength little over that of half the lodges of the Colony , what great things might we not accomplish if the whole of the lodges of the Colony were arrayed under one banner ? " It must also be remembered that Bro . Lord ONSLOW , who at the time the question of creating a

local Grand Lodge was being considered was Governor of the Colony , expressed his willingness to accept the offer of the first Grand Mastership , conditional ! } ' that 120 out of the 150 lodges—there or-thereabouts—then working in New Zealand joined in the movement . His lordship , moreover , was invited a second time to accept the office , if 100 lodges joined in the

movement ; but neither the 120 lodges , nor even the 100 lodges exhibited the necessary desire for the proposed Grand Lodge , and under the circumstances our Grand Lodge , in strict accordance with its " Constitutional rules

and well-established precedents " declared in favour of maintaining the then existing order of things and declined to recognise the new Grand Lodge , when it was subsequently established with only about one-half of the lodges then existing in the Colony to support it .

But if we cannot accept Bro . GILLON ' S views as to the conduct of our Grand Lodge in denying recognition to the Grand Lodge of New Zealand under present circumstances , we warmly congratulate him on the tone of good-feeling wh ' ch characterises his later remarks . We join with him in hoping that " Lord ONSLOW will be in a position to put " the position of

the Grand Lodge of New Zealand " in a truer light before the Grand Lodge of England ; " that "he will be able to explain that we are not an aggressive body , that we do not seek to coerce any lodge into submitting to our jurisdiction , desiring none to join us save as the result of conviction , that doing so will be to their benefit and that of the Craft ; " and that "he will beable to

inform the Grand Lodgeof England how quickly this conviction is spreading amongst the lodges , as evidenced by the number throwing in their lot with us month by month . " If this can be done either by Bro . Lord ONSLOW or another , if this conviction can be brought home to the minds of the authorities of our Grand Lodge that the time is fast approaching when a

preponderance of opinion will be found among our New Zealand brethren of the various Constitutions in favour of the establishment of a Grand Lodge , which shall be the sovereign ruler of the Craft in the Colony , and independent of the Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom , we venture to think our Grand Lodge authorities will interpose no obstacle to the attainment of so desirable

an object , and Bro . GILLON and those who think and act with him may rest assured that the gratification of their wishes is only a question of time . It is , indeed , already pretty generally recognised in England , that when a Masonic community in one of our British Colonies is practically unanimous in its desire to be governed by a local Grand Lodge , the Grand

Lodge of England is prepared to renounce its supremacy over the lodges existing in such Colony by virtue of the warrants granted by its Grand Master . But it is most unreasonable to expect that it should surrender its rights at the bidding of a minority , or when public opinion is so evenly divided that it is difficult to say which are the more numerous body , those

who desire the new , or those who would retain the old order of things . Let it , however , be made unmistakably clear that the former are the preponderant body , and the desired autonomy will be at once granted , with the solitary proviso appended , that such existing lodges as desire it shall be at liberty to remain in their present allegiance .

Masonry As A Factor In Every-Day Life.

MASONRY AS A FACTOR IN EVERY-DAY LIFE .

The subject which I have undertaken to discuss to-night is one which interests every Mason , and ought to interest every one who has friends or relatives in the Order . I do not mean to convey the impression that you

are going to be interested by my treatment of the theme , but the theme itself is worthy the study of every one , whether Profane or Mason . It is Masonry as a Factor in Ever ) -Day Life—in other words , the practical effect of Masonry on the world .

I do not expect to be called on to offer an apology for the Kite in this enlightened age , nor do I see in the audience before me so little intelligence as to suppose that they would be willing to have me take up my time and theirs in defending an Institution whose existence is a self-evident proof of its right to exist , ancl which you have been glad to countenance by your presence here this evening .