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Article THE EIGHT OF BEPOftTING IN GRAND LODGE. ← Page 2 of 2
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The Eight Of Bepoftting In Grand Lodge.
Freemasons * Magazine not being officially acknowledged as an organ of the Craft . " Whether officially acknowledged or not , it cannot be doubted that it is generally recognised as the organ of the Order , whose increasing patronage proves their conviction of its value , and that nothing has ever appeared in its pages to which the most con-The of
scientious ^ Mason could object . House Parliament once stood out against the right of p ublishing their debates , but public opinion bias long since forced them to succumb , and now reporting is not only acknowledged , but every accommodation is afforded to the representatives of the Press . We respectfully warn the M . W " , G . M ., therefore , not to enter upon a Quixotic crusade against the Press ,
which is sure to end in his disgrace , since the Graft at large will speedily demand that the right of reporting shall be accorded . II the G . M . does carry out his threat to the Ml , what must be the result ? The reports will be written from memory , there being always a Brother in the Dodge who is a practised memory reporter , and the ^ rM 7 ~ will hav e no right to complain if the reports of dis
cussions do not then exhibit that verbal fidelity which we have for some time endeavoured to impart to every speech of importance , especially when coming from the dais . A . s to the reports issued by Grand Lodge , approved by the Gl . Master , or G . Sec ., we put it fairly to the Craft , whether the miserable abortion of Minutes dignified with the name of Quarterly Communications are worthy of that title , and what kind of
reporting that can be considered which , a few months since , gave the G . M . 's statement on the Canada question , on which he now admits at the time he was not fully acquainted , verbatim , and ignored the whole of the remaining proceedings of the evening ! But even allowing that the Quarterly Communications were the very acme of reporting and impartiality , ' are they issued with such regularity as to render
them of real value to the Craft ? Bare indeed is it that they are seen until a few days before the next Quarterly Meeting , and it is not two years since five Quarterly Communications were issued to the Brethren by the same post ! How truly useful it must have been to tell the Craft in the early part of 1855 what had taken place in Sept . 1853 , and confirmed in December of the same year ! But we
fear that it is not the reporting of the discussions which has given offence , but the spirit of inquiry and determination to remove abuses which has been by our means raised in the Craft , and rendered the seats of some Brethren not quite so soft and pleasant as they formerly were . Eor ourselves , we are determined to do our duty to the Craft
despite all threats , and to support a great principle threatened in us , namely , the liberty of the Press . We may add , that we have perfect confidence that the public spirit of the Brethren will sustain us in tins determination , whose rights and liberties are asswedly imperilled the instant " Press-gagging" is attempted .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Eight Of Bepoftting In Grand Lodge.
Freemasons * Magazine not being officially acknowledged as an organ of the Craft . " Whether officially acknowledged or not , it cannot be doubted that it is generally recognised as the organ of the Order , whose increasing patronage proves their conviction of its value , and that nothing has ever appeared in its pages to which the most con-The of
scientious ^ Mason could object . House Parliament once stood out against the right of p ublishing their debates , but public opinion bias long since forced them to succumb , and now reporting is not only acknowledged , but every accommodation is afforded to the representatives of the Press . We respectfully warn the M . W " , G . M ., therefore , not to enter upon a Quixotic crusade against the Press ,
which is sure to end in his disgrace , since the Graft at large will speedily demand that the right of reporting shall be accorded . II the G . M . does carry out his threat to the Ml , what must be the result ? The reports will be written from memory , there being always a Brother in the Dodge who is a practised memory reporter , and the ^ rM 7 ~ will hav e no right to complain if the reports of dis
cussions do not then exhibit that verbal fidelity which we have for some time endeavoured to impart to every speech of importance , especially when coming from the dais . A . s to the reports issued by Grand Lodge , approved by the Gl . Master , or G . Sec ., we put it fairly to the Craft , whether the miserable abortion of Minutes dignified with the name of Quarterly Communications are worthy of that title , and what kind of
reporting that can be considered which , a few months since , gave the G . M . 's statement on the Canada question , on which he now admits at the time he was not fully acquainted , verbatim , and ignored the whole of the remaining proceedings of the evening ! But even allowing that the Quarterly Communications were the very acme of reporting and impartiality , ' are they issued with such regularity as to render
them of real value to the Craft ? Bare indeed is it that they are seen until a few days before the next Quarterly Meeting , and it is not two years since five Quarterly Communications were issued to the Brethren by the same post ! How truly useful it must have been to tell the Craft in the early part of 1855 what had taken place in Sept . 1853 , and confirmed in December of the same year ! But we
fear that it is not the reporting of the discussions which has given offence , but the spirit of inquiry and determination to remove abuses which has been by our means raised in the Craft , and rendered the seats of some Brethren not quite so soft and pleasant as they formerly were . Eor ourselves , we are determined to do our duty to the Craft
despite all threats , and to support a great principle threatened in us , namely , the liberty of the Press . We may add , that we have perfect confidence that the public spirit of the Brethren will sustain us in tins determination , whose rights and liberties are asswedly imperilled the instant " Press-gagging" is attempted .