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Article THE MASONIC MIEIOR. ← Page 5 of 14 →
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The Masonic Mieior.
Lodge to spare no effort to restore that province to a condition of Masonic efficiency , union , and harmony . "The step k ( . thatmay now be necessary for the attainment of this most desirable consummation , will doubtless in due course be pointed out by the Prov . Grand Lodge . u official' information , however , having as yet reached England , of the course proposed to be adopted b y the Prov . Grand Lodge , nor any answer having been received to the last communication from Grand Lodge , it only remains for Grand Lodge to delay all further action till such communication shall have arrived . \
" The Board has received and replied to communications from Lodges in Victoria , Australasia ; St . Thomas ' , West Indies ; Trinidad , and Jamaica , relative to various points of Masonic discipline . " . ' : . ¦ _ " The Board have further to report that an appeal has been received from the W \ M ^ of Lodge No . 781 , against the suspension of that Lodge by the Prov . G . M .
of Tasmania , and the Board recommend that such suspension be confirmed . " On the motion that the report be adopted , — Bro . Havers , P . G . D ., said he hoped some Brother , from a sense of duty , would move that only a portion of the report be adopted . If no one else would do so he would himself make a motion in the following terms : —;' .
u Resolved- —That all such portions of the report of the Colonial Board as relate to the performance of its executive duties , consisting of the two first and three concluding paragraphs , be received and entered oh the minutes . " . Bro . Havers said : "I contend that the Colonial Board is a purely executive body , to which Grand Lodge has deputed such duties as it cannot conveniently perform for itself , and so long as they confine themselves to the performance of those duties , they are entitled to our thanks . Without imputing ( as I do not
impute ) to any member of that Board s amongst whom I number some of my greatest friends and earliest acq ^ uaintaiices—without imputing tothem the slightest inclination of intentionally exceeding their duty , I believe they have done so , This report , as it appears to me , is not such a communication as ought to be addressed by a subordinate to a superior body . It takes Up things with which the Grand Lodge has given it no power to deal , and assumes a power which belongs to the Grand Lodge alone . If I might use the term without being offensive ,
I should say that the tone in which the Colonial Board , as the subordinate body , addresses the Grand Lodge which appointed it , is dictatorial . " ( Cries of "hear" and "No , no . " ) Bro . Havers here read the paragraphs which he proposed should be omitted , consisting of all but the first two and last three . He continued : "We , as the Grand Lodge , don't intrust our powers blindly to the Colonial Board ; we require from them not simple announcements of their decisions , but accounts of the cases . . Appeals from the decisions of a Provincial Grand Master , according to the Book
of Constitutions , lie direct to the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England , and to none other . In this case , the appeal was directed to the Grand Master , and , by his desire communicated to the Colonial Board ; because it is the wish of the Grand Master , and of every one else connected with Masonry , that colonial matters may be speedily and satisfactorily disposed of ; but the duty of the
Colonial Board was to have considered the subject referred to them , and then to have reported to the Grand Master in respectful language the result of their deliberations ; but , instead of this , what have they done ? Why , they have taken upon themselves first to decide the matter , and then to report their decision . Now in doing this I do contend that they have encroached upon the prerogative of the Grand Master . If we remit to the Colonial Board the consideration of our
unhappy differences in Canada , we expect them to place before us as the result of their deliberations some definite , practical , and substantive mode of remedying those differences ; but the Colonial Board has specified no plan whereby harmony may be restored ; and as they have not done this , let them not place themselves in a superior position to Grand Lodge , and talk to us about ' sparing no efforts /
We have ' spared no efforts . * ( Hear , hear . ) There is not a man amongst us who would not make any sacrifice consistent with the Constitutions of Masonry to restore that harmony which , in this vague and most meagre report , the Colonial Board tells us we ought to seek . Let me for a moment call the attention of the Grand Lodge to a point on which this report appears to me to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Masonic Mieior.
Lodge to spare no effort to restore that province to a condition of Masonic efficiency , union , and harmony . "The step k ( . thatmay now be necessary for the attainment of this most desirable consummation , will doubtless in due course be pointed out by the Prov . Grand Lodge . u official' information , however , having as yet reached England , of the course proposed to be adopted b y the Prov . Grand Lodge , nor any answer having been received to the last communication from Grand Lodge , it only remains for Grand Lodge to delay all further action till such communication shall have arrived . \
" The Board has received and replied to communications from Lodges in Victoria , Australasia ; St . Thomas ' , West Indies ; Trinidad , and Jamaica , relative to various points of Masonic discipline . " . ' : . ¦ _ " The Board have further to report that an appeal has been received from the W \ M ^ of Lodge No . 781 , against the suspension of that Lodge by the Prov . G . M .
of Tasmania , and the Board recommend that such suspension be confirmed . " On the motion that the report be adopted , — Bro . Havers , P . G . D ., said he hoped some Brother , from a sense of duty , would move that only a portion of the report be adopted . If no one else would do so he would himself make a motion in the following terms : —;' .
u Resolved- —That all such portions of the report of the Colonial Board as relate to the performance of its executive duties , consisting of the two first and three concluding paragraphs , be received and entered oh the minutes . " . Bro . Havers said : "I contend that the Colonial Board is a purely executive body , to which Grand Lodge has deputed such duties as it cannot conveniently perform for itself , and so long as they confine themselves to the performance of those duties , they are entitled to our thanks . Without imputing ( as I do not
impute ) to any member of that Board s amongst whom I number some of my greatest friends and earliest acq ^ uaintaiices—without imputing tothem the slightest inclination of intentionally exceeding their duty , I believe they have done so , This report , as it appears to me , is not such a communication as ought to be addressed by a subordinate to a superior body . It takes Up things with which the Grand Lodge has given it no power to deal , and assumes a power which belongs to the Grand Lodge alone . If I might use the term without being offensive ,
I should say that the tone in which the Colonial Board , as the subordinate body , addresses the Grand Lodge which appointed it , is dictatorial . " ( Cries of "hear" and "No , no . " ) Bro . Havers here read the paragraphs which he proposed should be omitted , consisting of all but the first two and last three . He continued : "We , as the Grand Lodge , don't intrust our powers blindly to the Colonial Board ; we require from them not simple announcements of their decisions , but accounts of the cases . . Appeals from the decisions of a Provincial Grand Master , according to the Book
of Constitutions , lie direct to the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England , and to none other . In this case , the appeal was directed to the Grand Master , and , by his desire communicated to the Colonial Board ; because it is the wish of the Grand Master , and of every one else connected with Masonry , that colonial matters may be speedily and satisfactorily disposed of ; but the duty of the
Colonial Board was to have considered the subject referred to them , and then to have reported to the Grand Master in respectful language the result of their deliberations ; but , instead of this , what have they done ? Why , they have taken upon themselves first to decide the matter , and then to report their decision . Now in doing this I do contend that they have encroached upon the prerogative of the Grand Master . If we remit to the Colonial Board the consideration of our
unhappy differences in Canada , we expect them to place before us as the result of their deliberations some definite , practical , and substantive mode of remedying those differences ; but the Colonial Board has specified no plan whereby harmony may be restored ; and as they have not done this , let them not place themselves in a superior position to Grand Lodge , and talk to us about ' sparing no efforts /
We have ' spared no efforts . * ( Hear , hear . ) There is not a man amongst us who would not make any sacrifice consistent with the Constitutions of Masonry to restore that harmony which , in this vague and most meagre report , the Colonial Board tells us we ought to seek . Let me for a moment call the attention of the Grand Lodge to a point on which this report appears to me to