New Zealand Masonry.

NEW ZEALAND MASONRY .

Has it never occurred to our worthy New Zealand contemporary—the Neiv . Zealand Craftsman—that in its efforts to bolster up the self-styled Grand Lodge of New Zealand . it is making itself supremely ridiculous ? Has it never even heard or read of statements which are made exparte , and the exceedingly low estimate which is placed upon their value by men of

ordinary common sense ? It would seem so , for it is never weary of ascribing to that irregular body—which , during the last three years and a half , has made New Zealand Freemasoniy a byeword and reproach , or , worse still , the laughing-stock of the whole Masonic community—all the highest and best attributes by which all good men and Masons , from time immemorial , have

been distinguishe d , and to those who have not seen fit to cast in their lot with that irregular b ody whatever as vulgar and contemptible . For aught we know to the contrary , this may be the proper style of advocacy to adopt in behalf of a body for which , though it has done little else during the brief period of its existence , than destroy the harmony of Freemasonry in New

Zealand , is charged , as we have said , with the possession of all the virtues . For ourselves , we have no very high opinion of this peculiar style , which we associate with those peripatetic quacks and cheapjacks who consider no praise too monstrous if only they can palm off their worthless commodities on a simple-minded public .

We have said the self-styled Grand Lodge of New Zealand has been in existence for some three years and a half , and that within that period it has very successfully managed to destroy that harmony and good feeling which had previously existed among the lodges and brethren of the three Constitutions then and still located in the colony . It might have been supposed

that aftersuch an achievement as this , the said Grand Lodge would have rested awhile on its laurels . It is evident , however , that its appetite grows by what it feeds upon , and it is now ravenous to win further distinction of the same or a similar character . Thus at the meeting of this self-constituted body on the 14 th July last , a notice of motion was recommended for adoption

by the Board of General Purposes to the effect that a return showing the number of lodges and members working under the New Zealand Constitution be forwarded to the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland , " accompanied with a respectfully-worded protest against the issuing of any new charters in this colony , as the Grand Lodge of New Zealand possesses

supreme jurisdiction of this territory . " On the motion of Past Grand Master THOMPSON—formerly District Grand Master of Canterbury under the English Constitution—the motion was ordered to " stand over till the next Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge , " and if the counsels of the wiser members of the Grand Lodge are allowed to prevail , it is possible we

may hear nothing further of the matter . But this does not appreciably detract from the arrogance of an irregularly-begotten Constitution in ordering off the premises the Grand Lodges which founded and are still the chie promoters of Freemasonry in the colony . But it we call this conduct of the NewZealand Board of General Purposes in recommending the adoption of this

motion monstrous , what words can be found in the English language sufficiently emphatic in which to condeinn the attack of the New Zealand Craftsman on the authorities of our Grand Lodge , both in New Zealand and in the colony , because they insist that the laws and regulations of Freemasonry as contained in our Book of Conititutions shall be strictly observed . It

appears that Bro . GEORGE S . GRAHAM , our D . G . M . for Auckland , North Island , has addressed a circular letter to the members of three lodges formerl y in his district , which have seceded from the English Constitution . In that circular he informs them that , having heard they had seceded from English Masonry and joined a lodge or lodges working under an

irregular and unrecognised body , and also that they had left their present lod ges without paying their dues , and were parties to the detention of the warrants of those lodges , he , " acting under imperative instruction from "ie United Grand Lodge of England , and in accordance with Article No . 73 of the Book of Constitutions , " calls upon them to attend on a certain day

¦ it a certain hour in the . eveningatthe Masonic Hall , Auckland , and answer 'he said charges ; and he further informs them that unless they appear as summoned or address an answer in writing to the D . G . Secretary " it will ° assumed " that they " plead guilty to the serious Masonic offences charged " against them , and thatbeing thus contumacious , they will be

, dealt with in accordance with the law . The circular is a proper one to "ave issued with or without "imperative instruction" from the supreme au -thority , while , on the other hand , we have never yet heard of the

nonpayment of dues , especially under the circumstances existing in New Zea-* nd , and the misappropriation of lodge warrants , which are the property of ' Grand Lodge that issued them , being regarded in the light of honourle achievements . Yet , in speaking of this circular , our contemporary

New Zealand Masonry.

says , "it would be difficult to match this document for stupidity , inconsistency and downright impudence . " Our contemporary excuses itself for indulging in this ebullition of splenetic anger on three grounds —( 1 ) the members to whom the offending circular has been sent are . not addressed as Masons ; ( 2 ) notwithstanding this , they are summoned to

appear before a Masonic tribunal ; ( 3 ) they are already condemned before being heard , and that , too , by men who stand towards them in " the double role of accusers and judges . " But there is more to follow—a whole page of paragraphs , of which about one-half are occupied with abuse of the Grand Lodge of England and its belongings , while the other half is devoted to the

g lorification of New Zealand Masonry as exemplified by the character and conduct of some of its members . Thus we are gravely informed that " this arbitrary attempt to degrade Freemasonry" by calling upon defaulting former members to pay up their dues and respect the property of the Grand Lodge of England , proves yet another argument , if one were needed ,

" in favour of establishing the Grand Lodge of New Zealand ; " arid then that there is " not much liberty , equality , and fraternity about this circular ; not much of the spirit of Charity and brotherly love ; it sounds much more like the ukase of a Czar of Russia than what we would naturally expect from the Grand Lodge of England . " This is very probably the case—from

the New Zealand point of view ; but whatever it may become hereafter , the so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand has not yet attained the distinction of being the accepted censor vioriim and arbiter elegantiarum of all the Masonic communities throughout the civilised world . Then , our contemporary , having for the moment expended its indignation upon conduct so uncharitable

and unbrotherly , proceeds to ask , and in a fashion peculiar to itself , to answer the very important question " Of what have these brethren been guilty ? For what heinous crime are they to be expelled the Craft ? " the answer to these queries being as follows : " The circular says the accused have seceded from their allegiance to the Grand Lodge of England and

joined a lodge under the so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand , an irregular and unrecognised body . " This statement contains what is known in logic as the " suggest io falsi , snppressio veri . "—we have inverted the usual order of the words , for reasons which will be obvious . The circular does contain this statement , but the statement does not constitute the whole

of the circular . On the contrary , it is merely the opening clause of the preamble on which the material part—the bill , so to speak—is based . Says Bro . GRAHAM in effect—Whereas I am given to understand that you have seceded from the Grand Lodge of England and joined the irregular Grand Lodge of New Zealand , and whereas I am told that on joining the latter

body " you left your parent lodge E . C . without paying the dues you owed thereto "—we can do a little in the way of italicising as well as our contemporary—and are " also charged with being a party to the illegal detention of the lodge warrant , the property of the United Grand Lodge of England , in the face of a request having been made for its

return ; now therefore , 1 , acting under imperative instruction , . . . and in accordance with Article 73 "—and Bro . GRAHAM , had he chosen , might have added Article 106—do hereby summon you to appear before myself —the D . G . M . —and the officers of the District Grand Lod ge on———at to make answers to the said charges—not of secession

merelywhich though an offence , and particularly in a case of this kind , is rarely one it is worth while prosecuting the offender for—but of secession accompanied by non-payment of dues to the parent English lodge , and participation in the detention of the lodge warrant . As for the regularity with which " the Grand Lodge of New Zealand " was constituted , we are prepared to accept

it when our contemporary is able to specify and quote in full from any authority on international or interjurisdictional Masonic jurisprudence , which is accepted by the Grand Lodges and Grand Orients of the world , those laws and that practice " regulating the Creation of Supreme Governing Bodies " to which it so complacently refers . As for the concluding

paragraphs in which the New Zealand Craftsman announces that " there is a limit to our forbearance , " and that " United action is necessary , and will , we understand , be taken to prevent this self-constituted Court of Inquisition from carrying out their thi eats , " we have no particular remark to offer .

We do not imagine they will have the effect of deterring our Grand Lodge authorities from discharging their duty towards those of the seceders who may be adjudged guilty of having broken our laws , and of whose connection with the irregular Grand Lodge of New Zealand our esteemed contemporary appears so very proud .

With the series of seven questions , based on Bro . GRAHAM ' S circular and the editorial comments of our contemporary , and propounded by Bro . ELIOT WARBURTON in its August number , and the answers thereto severally furnished by it , we shall take the liberty of dealing in some future article .