Masonry In New Zealand.

MASONRY IN NEW ZEALAND .

We have had transmitted to us two documents which throw very considerable light upon the present state of the Craft in New Zealand , or . to be as precise as possible , in the District of the Colony to which they relate . One of these documents is the Report of the Proceedings of the District Grand Lodge of Otago and Southland at its annual Communication at Freemasons '

Hall , Dunedin , on the 20 th May last , and the other a letter which appeared in the Otago Daily Times on the 23 rd of the same month , and in which the writer , who signs himself " A Brother Mason , " comments freely and at great length on the so-called "Masonic Grand Lodge of

New Zealand . From the former we gather , with much satisfaction that , notwithstanding the strife which has prevailed among the Fraternity throughout the Colony during the past 12 months , the section of the English Craft which has remained loyal , though diminished in numbers ,

is in excellent working order , and prosperous beyond what might have been expected . Until the inauguration , in April , 1890 , of the interloping Grand Lodge which absurdly claims to regulate the affairs of Masonry in the Colony , there were 16 lodges on the roll of this District Grand Lodge and of

these eight remain true to their allegiance to the Grand Lodge of England as represented by Bro . THOS . SHERLOCK GRAHAM , Dist . G . Master , and the District Grand Lodge of which he is the appointed chief . These eight lodges muster altogether some 300 members , or if we take what is described

in the " Synopsis of Lodge Returns " for two years ending May 12 th , 1 S 91 , which is appended to the Report , as the "No Financial , " some 260 members . The statements of account show that the balance in hand on the Fund of General Purposes on the 12 th May last was a fraction over £ 27 , and on that of

the Fund of Benevolence within a fraction of ^ 6 4 ; and though these are small amounts , we regard the- statements in the face of the violent disruption which preceded and has followed the establishment of the aforesaid irregular Grand Lodge , as being very satisfactory . The proceedings in District Grand

Lodge included the appointment of District Grand Officers for the new year , and the delivery of the usual address by the District Grand Master , in which he referred in sympathetic terms to the sudden death of Bro . G . P . PIERCE , Prov . Grand Master of New Zealand under the Irish Constitution , and ordered

that his District Grand Lodge should go into mourning for three months as a mark of respect to his memory . He also mentioned the circumstances connected with the recent grave irregularity committed by Bro . Sir ROBERT STOUT , P . A . G . D . C . of England , and Deput y District Grand Master of Otago and Southland , his

deprivation of the rank and station of a Grand Officer by the Grand Lodge , his vacation of the office of Deputy District Grand Master , and his complete severance from the English Constitution as terminating " a subject painful indeed" to the District Grand Master " both ' officially and privately , " and one which he ielt the brethren must deeply regret had ever occurred .

Ihe letter of " A Brother Mason" is most important , as it shows both how small is the claim of the so-called Grand Lodge ot New Zealand to be accepted as a sovereign and independent bod y having supreme control over the Masonic affairs of the district or colony in which it exists , and how little it has gained

by preci pitating a crisis which it should have been the business ot every Mason to prevent if possible . The writer points out that this Grand Lodge , after having been started irregularly by a section of the brethren which by no means represented a Majorit y , or anything approaching to a majority , of the Craft in he

Colony , has done little or nothing to justify its establishment , e writer appears to be actuated by no other desire than that ° endeavouring to promote the well-being of Freemasonry . " writes calmly and judicially , and in the whole of his long ter there is evident everywhere a spirit of fairness and impartiality . As " to the progress of the Grand Lodge of New

Masonry In New Zealand.

Zealand , he writes thus : " What has it done for , or what good has it effected in , Freemasonry since the ist May , 1890 ? After all the conundrums in figures , the fair promises and attractions of Grand Lodge collars , it evidently does not even carry the hearty support of the brethren connected with it , and those at

present standing aloof can have no feelings of even common respect for the body framed as it is , but rather the reverse . If the objects had been to injure a new career and split up an old well-managed Society , in no better way could the promoters of the Grand Lodge have secured these

than they have done . This conduct may be put down to ignorance , want of discretion , over-zeal , & c , & c , but the result is all the same . Why is the Book of Constitutions not printed and in the hands of the brethren ? What guide is there to go by ? What reference in case of questions arising ?

It should have been prepared by the promoters , submitted to the first communication of Grand Lodge , and put in force at once . Yet a year has gone past without it . Surely there is laxity here in a most important matter . It is no use shelving the question ; a Book of Constitutions of another body will not suit , and the re-hash

of such is not applicable to the internal working of a Grand Lodge in New Zealand . Besides , there has elapsed more than time to have had the book printed , and it is a wrong to the brethren not to have it in their possession to study and consider . Less important matters should be put aside until the foundation is

laid and members know on what terms and by what laws they are bound together . Brethren have been drawn into a system of which the controlling rules and regulations are submitted to them after they are caught . This is not ri ght or fair . Yet it proves my previous statement how easy it is to get the flock of sheep

together without due consideration . Coupling what is written thus temperately with the evidence we receive from time to time in the shape of Reports of Proceedings of District Grand Lodge meetings , we feel that our past strictures on the conduct of those who have plunged New Zealand from

a state of comparative harmony into one of violent dissension have not been undeserved . If we compare the manner in which the other Australasian Grand Lodges were established , with what an approach to absolute unanimity the movement for their establishment was entered upon ,

the earnest manner in which it was carried out , and the business-like character of the work which has since been done b y them when established ; with the ill-considered feverish haste with which the party determined at all hazards to found an independent Grand Lodge in New Zealand acted at the outset , the

lack of dignity which has marked their conduct from the very beginning , and the absence of everything like energy and a business-like mode of procedure , we feel that we have not too severely condemned those who have preferred the interests of a mere clique to the permanent interests of the Craft . Had there

been anything like unanimity on the part of our New Zealand brethren in their desire for a Grand Lodge of their own , it would have been established and recognised by our Grand Lodge just as those of South Australia , New South Wales , Victoria , and Tasmania have been recognised . The relations between the

daughter Grand Lodge of the Colony and its mother Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom would have been of the most friendly nature , and the Craft in the Colony would no doubt

have been as prosperous as in Victoria and its sister Colonies . As it is , the act of a few ambitious brethren has had no other result than to plunge Freemasonry in New Zealand into that condition of discord in which the late Bro . the Earl of CARNARVON found

it on his visit to Australia , and which he so materially helped to put an end to . Surely it was unnecessary to establish a state of dissension as a preliminary stage to the establishment of another Colonial Grand Lodge and the restoration of harmony !

Our New Zealand brethren cannot surely be so stupid as to quarrel with each other all round just for the pleasure ot making up the difference at some future time , and then congratulating themselves on the restoration of peace and goodwill !