The Craft Abroad.

The Craft Abroad .

GRAND LODGE OF NEW SOUTH WALES . A Special Communication was held at the Masonic Hall , Castlereaghstreet , Sydney , on the 12 th J une . The G . Master , Bro . J . C . Remington , presided . The business was the nomination of G . Master and G . Lodge Officers for the ensuing year . The G . Master was re-elected unopposed , as was also Bro . Spencer as President of the Board of General Purposes , and some other officers .

Nominations were also received for the Boards of General Purposes and Benevolence . No other business being on the agenda paper , G . Lodge closed at 9 p . m .

The Regular Quarterly Communication was held on Wednesday , the 13 th June , with the G . Master in the chair . The formal business being transacted , and the patronage of G . Lodge promised to the annual ball in aid of the Freemasons' Benevolent Institution , M . W . Bro . R EMINGTON delivered the G . Master ' s address :

The past quarter has been an eventful one for the welfare of Freemasonry in this territory ; and to-night I hope the voice of G . Lodge will be clearly expressed upon two questions which are important in the interests of the future of the Craft . At the regular meeting ol the Board of General Purposes held on the 29 th March , Wor . Bro . Richards , pursuant to previous notice , attempted to move the following motions :

1 . That the draft of all reports of the Board be submitted to the Board for approval before being submitted to Grand Lodge , and that no " explanatory note" as to the views of any individual member of the Board be permitted to appear in or at the end of any of the Board ' s Reports .

2 . That in the event of the President being on any occasion unwilling to act as the mouth-piece of the Board , and to properly advocate the adoption of any of its Reports , some other member of the Board who is in accord with its decisions shall be entrusted for that occasion with these duties .

The President ruled them out of order ; ana , upon the mover endeavouring to move dissent from this ruling , he declared the meeting closed . On the 12 th April the following petition was forwarded to me through the Grand Secretary's office : We , the undersigned , members of the Board of General Purposes under

the Constitution of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales , respectfully request that you will convene a Special Communication of Grand Lodge for the purpose of considering the action of the R . W . President of the Board of General Purposes in ruling out of order the following notices of motion appearing on the Board ' s Agenda Paper , and standing in the name of Wor . Bro . G . T . Richards .

The notices were quoted verbatim as above , and the petition was in the writing of , and signed by V . W . Bro . Shipway , Grand Registrar , and by 16 other members of the Board . The petition was enclosed in a letter , also signed by V . W . Bro . Shipway , Grand Registrar , as follows :

The brethren , whose signatures are attached to the accompanying request have deputed me to forward such request to you , and to respectfully ask that you will be pleased to either favour them with a reply , or convene the Special Communication asked for , before the next meeting of the Board of General Purposes .

I would respectfully point out that the accompanying request is signed by 16 out of the 21 members of the Board of General Purposes , and of the remaining five , Bros . Beeston and Hockey have not been asked to sign , as their residence from Sydney meant delay , and Bro . Docker has resigned all offices in connection with the Craft .

After carefully considering the minutes of thc meeting and the Agenda Paper , I wrote the following minute , which the Grand Secretary duly forwarded to V . W . Bro . Shipway : This petition signed by thc * Grand Registrar and 16 members of the Board of General Purposes , being one for which I have found no precedent , could not be dealt with in the hurried way which the covering letter seems to expect .

The summoning of a Special Meeting of Grand Lodge is , according to Clause 12 of the Kook of Constitutions , at the discretion of the Grand Master " whenever the good of the Craft shall in his opinion require it . " I do not consider that the action of thc President of the Board of General Purposes in ruling out of order motions practically censuring his conduct in a matter with which Grand Lodge has already dealt , is one which complies with above condition .

But I do agree that the question of whether the President ' s Reports should in future be submitted to the Board before presentation to Grand Lodge or not , is one which deserves consideration . There is no constitutional law on the subject , and therefore the only guide at present is the custom established by Presidents in previous years , each of whom prepared his own Report , practically in the shape of verbatim extracts from the minutes of the Board as per Clause 86 Book of Constitutions .

I purpose , therefore , submitting this question at thc meeting of Grand Lodge in June next , as a Special Communication , in terms of Clause 52 Book of Constitutions , taking precedence of all other business ; so that the' incoming President of the Board may know his exact position . On the 25 th April , at the regular meeting of the Board , the minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed , a motion for adjourn-

The Craft Abroad.

ment , moved by Wor . Bro . Richards , and seconded by V . W . Bro . Shipway , was carried by 11 votes to three ; notwithstanding an appeal by the Grand Treasurer that the Board would at least authorise payment of the accounts which had been passed by their Finance Committee . The immediate consequence being a slur upon the fair fame of Grand Lodge if its debts to tradesmen and others were left unpaid ( including the salaries of the Grand and Deputy Grand Secretary ) , the Grand Treasurer

next morning sought my decision . I would have been quite prepared to save the credit of Grand Lodge by authorising payment at my own risk ; but , with true Masonic spirit , V . W . Bro . Scott , Grand Treasurer , declined to lay this charge upon me , and advanced the money out of his own pocket . On the 28 th April a second petition reached me through the Grand Secretary's office , signed by the Grand Registrar and 13 other members of the Board , as follov s :

We , the udersigned , members of the Board of General Purposes under the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales , have read your minute upon the petition forwarded to you on our behalf of the 12 th instant , and regret that our request contained therein has not been granted by you . The notices of motion therein referred to are , we respectfully submit , motions concerning solely the regulation by the Board of its own proceedings and mode of procedure .

These notices of motion having been ruled out of order by the President of the Board , and your refusal to accede to our request , have resulted in the Board at its meeting last evening , by resolution , adjourning immediately after the confirmation of the minutes of the Board ' s previous meeting . We would respectfully urge you to re-consider your decision and grant

a Special Communication of Grand Lodge , to be held before the next meeting of the Board . Viewing this as an attempt to coerce the Grand Master into a course of action which he was convinced would not be "for the good ot the Craft , " I wrote the following minute in reply :

I cannot see , in this second petition , any reasons adduced to vary the decision conveyed in minute of 20 th April . I exceedingly regret to note the action of the Board in adjourning last week without authorising payment of the accounts passed by their Finance Committee . It is sure to arouse a heated state of feeling , during which a special meeting of Grand Lodge would certainly not be " for the good of the Craft , "

I sincerely trust that ere the main question comes before Grand Lodge on the 13 th June next , wiser counsels may prevail at the Board . The Grand Secretary will forward a copy of this minute to the Grand Registrar , for the information of the signatories . On the 30 th May , at the regular meeting of the Board , the minutes ol the previous meeting having been signed , a message from the Grand Master

was read . It referred to the Board a petition from 28 brethren for a warrant for a new lodge at Mosman . Discussion ensued , and the consideration of the message was postponed , by 14 votes to 4 . The accounts postponed at previous meeting and some others were passed for payment ; but all other business on the Agenda Paper was postponed to enable Wor . Bro . Richards to renew the motions ruled out of order on the 28 th March .

The President repeated his former ruling . Wor . Bro . Millen moved that the Board dissent from it . The President declined to put the motion , and declared the meeting closed . I purpose to-night submitting two questions to Grand Lodge for their final decision ; and I hope the result will be the satisfactory ending of this unhappy and unprecedented state of affairs .

On the 20 th March , accompanied by 13 of the Grand Lodge Officers , I visited Richmond , on the occasion of the joint installation of the Worshipful Masters ol Lodges Duke of Connaught , No . 150 , and Richard Coley , No . 152 , when there was a large and enthusiastic gathering of brethren of these and other lodges in the district . On the 4 th May I paid my long-promised visit to Newcastle , with n

Grand Lodge Officers , when in the presence of brethren of the 17 lodgesof No . 2 District , forming one of the largest Masonic meetings held outside the Metropolis , I was presented with a most artistic illuminated address , expressing loyalty to Grand Lodge , and personal esteem for myself . Owing to the circumstances already alluded to , and the threatened sequences thereto , doubtless familiar to you all , I postponed sine die my

promised visit to Nos . II , t 6 , and iS Districts ; although the time and route had been arranged , to occupy from the 22 nd May to the 4 th June . During that time I was to have laid the foundation stone of the new lodge room at Tenterfield , and that duty was consequently delegated to the Worshipful Master and duly performed by him .

On the 12 th April , R . W . Bro , Spencer dedicated , on my behalf , the Masonic Hall , recently erected at Germanton by Lodge Hume , No . 212 , and assisted at the installation of its Worshipful Master . He reports the building to be admirably adapted for Masonic work , * erected upon land presented by Wor . Bro . John McLaurin , P . M ., and is absolutely free from debt .

One hundred and forty-nine Master Masons' Certificates have been issued during the quarter , making a total of 719 for the year . Grand Lodge dues and fees are - £ 1658 , as against . £ 1409 in previous year j and I am happy to find our total funds at least exceed £ 10 , 000 . I hope the roll of members will also show a considerable increase when the statistical return is made up as usual . Fifty-nine Dispensations were granted during the quarter , viz . . *

Change of Night of Meeting ( Clause 115 ... ... 12 To continue as W . M . a third year ( Clause 118 ) ... 1 Change of time of meeting ( Clause 135 ) ... ... 3 Change of place of meeting ( Clause 140 ) ... ... 2 Emergencies ( Clause 155 ) ... ... ... 18 Initiation of a Lewis ( Clause 157 ) ... ... 1 Permission to wear regalia ( Clause 178 ) ... ... 22

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