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CONTENTS . PARE L EADERMisuse of the Ballot ... ... ... •••- 495 Masonic Jurisprudence ... ... ... ... - ... - 49 < 5 Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall ... ... ... ... 497 Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire ... ... ... ... 49 = >

I RELANDNew Masonic Hall at Kells ... ... ... ... ¦••499 Craft Masonry ... ... - - - - 499 Instruction ... ... - ••••••- •••499 MASONIC N OTESVisit of the Lord Mayor , Sheriffs , and Under Sheriffs to the Girls '

School ... ... ... •••- ,. •¦•SO " Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Lancashire ... 501 Stated Meeting of the Quatuor Coronati Lodee , No . 2076 . ... ... 501 St . John's Card , 1901 , of Lodge Canongate Kilwinning , No . 2 _ ... 501 Triennial Meeting of the Grnad Encampment of Knights Templar in the United States ... ... ... ... ... 5

Correspondence ... •••••••••— — 502 Reviews ... ••••••••••••¦¦••••502 An Irish Shrine ... ... ... •••- - 502 Craft Masonry ... — — - •••- 502 Consecration of the Borough of Islington Lodge , No . 2 S 61 ... ... 503

Presentation to the Sheriffs Elect ... ... , •;•. „ . - ., ¦ " 5 ° 4 Consecration of the United Service Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners , No . 489 504 Obituary ... - - •••••••••- 5 ° 4 Science , Art , and the Drama ... ... ... ... ... 5 ° 5 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 5

Misuse Of The Ballot.

MISUSE OF THE BALLOT .

It seldom happens nowadays , when a new lodge is constituted , that the Consecrating Officer neglects the opportunity afforded him of impressing upon the Master , officers , and members of the newly-formed body the importance of

exercising the utmost caution in accepting candidates for the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry . Other brethren high in authority in the Craft , such as Provincial and District Grand Officers , gladly utilise every similar opportunity that may present

itself of inculcating in the minds of those they may be addressing thc very obvious truth that the well-being and security—nay , the very existence—of a lodge depends primarily on the class of men who are received into its ranks ,

either as initiates or joining members . There is admittedly a very grave necessity for these admonitions on the part of our rulers . There is , especially in these days when new lodges are continually being formed , a tendency on the pait of Masters

and members to determine as to thc measure of progress which their lodges have made or arc making by the number of recruits they have enrolled , or have good reason to believe are coming forward for enrolment . At the installation of a new Master it

has come to be one of the stereotyped compliments which the I . P . M ., in proposing the health of his successor in the chaiV considers it a duty to pay him , to affirm that the new VV . M . is well qualified to perform all the ceremonies of the Craft , while

the W . M ., after modestly acknowledging the compliment , goes on to promise that , if only the lodge will give him enough work to do , he will do it to thc best of his ability . Merc , then , we have the two strongest incentives to lodges and their

members to disregard thc caution so frequently and so wisely impressed upon them by the rulers of thc Craft , namely : — ( 1 ) the habit they have contracted of looking upon increase oi

membershi p as necessarily indicating increase of prosperity ; ( 2 ) thc readiness of Masters and lodges to consider the amount of ceremonial work done in any given year as unquestionable evidence of successful Mastership . Thus , on the one hand , we

Misuse Of The Ballot.

have consecrating officers and Provincial and District Grand Masters laying it clown that it is quality not quantity which is essential to thc successful conduct of lodges , and therefore that it is impossible to be careful as to whom they accept as members ;

and on the other hand there is the growing tendency on the part of lodges to regard numbers as the one great criterion of success . These views are not necessarily antagonistic . Quality and quantity may advance together , but as a rule the standard of

merit in the matter of character is less pronounced among a large number of people than among a small number , and hence it seems to be far the wiser policy to be cautious in this as in all other matters of moment connected with Masonry .

One of the commonest , and at thc same time one of the worst consequences , that follow from a due want of care in guarding the lodge portals of our lodges is the admission of persons who neither know nor care much for the principles and

tenets of the Craft , but regard the lodge as a kind of club , of which sundry of their friends and acquaintances are members , into which they consider that , for this and other reasons , they are entitled , as , undoubtedly , so far as means are concerned , they

are eligible , to be admitted , and in which , when once they have been admitted , they consider they will have a splendid opportunity for exhibiting what they conceive to be their best points , without the slightest consideration for the feelings and opinions

of the brethren to whom they are indebted for this acceptance as members . In thc case of a lodge which is enriched b y the . admission of such a member or members , all goes well as a rule so long as the views of the brethren ' and these recruits coincide ,

but when the latter has become a full-Hedged M . M . and finds himself , as such , firmly established , he exhibits a tendency to assert himself " nilly-willy " as regards his brother members and those who differ with and venture openly to oppose him , become

at once , if not his mortal enemies , at all events persons whom must be made to understand and accept his wishes . Then follows the stage in which he resents opposition b y blackballing the candidates recommended by his opponents ; and then , when this

and other kinds of dirty underhand trickery have set all the members at loggerheads , the lodge suffers in repute as well as financially , and may consider itself fortunate if it docs not come to an untimely end . This is no imaginary picture . There

is hardly a Mason of long standing in the Craft in tin ' s or other jurisdiction who has not known of lodges being wrecked , or just escaping being wrecked by the skin of their teeth , through thc admission of such a person as we have described into their

mcnbcrship ; and such admission would , in the majority of cases , have b-en impossible had the advice of brethren in authority been followed and due caution exercised as to thc quality of those who sought admission into our Order . Onl y last week

we mentioned that in his address at thc recent annual mcelinoof thc Grand Lodge of Iowa , Grand Master ICA'TON vehemently denounced the abuse of the ballot by black balling , pointing out that " the absolute right to cast a secret ballot is a landmark of

this fraternity , but this right ought never to be exercised through unworthy or un-Masonic motives . " In the July number of the Canadian Craftsman , a correspondent writes to know what can be done to help a lodge which " has been held by the throat

for four years from initiating candidates through the exercise of the black ball privilege and as to which he adds that a candidate having been at length elected at a meeting of the lodge , during the absence of a member who had been suspected of casting the black ball , " " at the next regular communication of