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ISB T HMK fllUSTRATEP .

The Latest Addition To The Constitutions.

The Latest Addition to the Constitutions .

Al Grand Lodge , on March 5 th , an important addition was made to Article 175 . This article provides that when a member of a lodge allows his dues to fall into arrear , that fact shall be noted on the quarterly return , and in such case the usual quarterage shall not be paid . This provision is not permissive , nor does it exist for the sole

purpose of saving the funds of the lodge , but rather that Grand or Provincial Grand Lodge may be kept informed of the un-Masonic conduct of such defaulting brethren . The presumption is that in due course enquiries will be made whjthe lodge by-laws are not enforced against such members ,

and why they have not been excluded for non-payment of dues . The following addition to Article 175 has been approved by Grand Lodge , and will be put for confirmation at the next Communication : —

" Should a member be three years in arrear he shall thereupon cease to be a member of the lodge , and can only become a member again by regular proposition and ballot according to Rule 18 9 . The lodge may require payment of the arrears as a precedent to

election . This rule shall not prevent a lodge proceeding against any of its members under Rule 210 for non-payment of contributions according to its by-laws for a shorter period than four years . When a brother ceases to be a member under this rule , the fact shall

be forthwith notified to the Grand Secretary , and , if the lodge be within a Province or District , also to the Provincial or District Grand Lodge . The provisions

of Rules 211 , 212 , and 213 shall apply in each case , as if the brother had been excluded by vote . " That is to say , to quote the Grand Registrar , the defaulting brother shall perform the "happy dispatch" upon himself , and so save the lodge the trouble and annoyance involved in excluding him .

Before discussing the change , we might say we do not quite see how Article 211 is affected . That rule derives all its force from the words " illegally or without sufficient cause , " that is , it deals with questions of law , whereas the new rule deals exclusively with matters of fact . It may possibly be

intended to save the Grand Master ' s prerogative in cases where there has been a misrepresentation of facts , but the ipso facto nature of the new legislation is quite sufficient safeguard . There is one point which needs thinking about before the new rule becomes law . There will then be two alternative

penalties for the same offence , viz ., exclusion by vote of the lodge ad hoc , and automatic exclusion after three years by the operation of the Constitutions . We may safely say that , whatever may be in the mind of Grand Lodge to-day , no brother will ever regard these two processes as conferring the same Masonic and moral stigma . In course of time the

" sufficient cause " of Article 210 will be held to have nothing to do with arrears , and exclusion for non-payment of dues will be a thing of the past . This may or may not be a desirable consummation , all we have to do with it is to recognise the probability . We cannot see that it is desirable

to provide for the perpetuation of two classes of defaulter , for it is quite certain the distinction will be made . The new rule awaits confirmation , and , as at present drafted , there are one or two points as to which future explanation may be demanded . For instance , the exact

meaning of the word arrears should be defined . The Grand Registrar explained that the period of a brother ' s arrears depended upon the lodge by-laws , that is , whether dues were payable in advance or not . Thus it is possible that in the one case a brother gets four years' grace , in the other only

three . Again , we have known the case of a brother whose dues were paid by a vote from the charity fund . Would this be considered as an attempt to evade the law ?

We ask these questions , and there may be more such , because the penalty accrues without any effort on an } " one's part to put the law in motion . It may operate without any possibility of redress , because there is no one from whom to seek it , and this is why we consider that in course of time it may possibly cease to carry such stigma as ought to be

inflicted on a defaulting brother . It is with much diffidence that we venture to criticise a proposition that bears traces of so much care in its preparation . But it would appear as if Article 210 had been found to be insufficient to meet the case of the defaulting brother .

In many colonial lodges there has been a misapprehension which has caused this rule to be practically inoperative . A brother , after some two or three years' enjoyment of membership , goes to another part of the world and forgets all about his lodge . He has left no address , and therefore

it cannot be certain that such notice as is required by Rule 210 will ever reach him , and the lodge doubts its power to exclude him . Cases of this kind are of frequent occurrence . The new rule certainly affords a way out of the difficulty , and we know

of more than one lodge whose list of members will in a very short period be considerably curtailed by its automatic operation . Still it must not be supposed that Article 210 did not reach such cases . It has been held that a letter

forwarded to the brother s last known address was quite sufficient to meet the requirements of that rule . Some lodges , again , do not like to incur the supposed odium which may attach itself to the exclusion of its members . We confess we cannot altogether sympathise with that attitude . If a lodge has gone to the trouble of

drawing up by-laws , and takes the further trouble of reading them through once a year , as it should in open lodge , we may reasonably expect it to abide by them .