The Ballot In Our Lodges.

and other moral teachings , which are openly or symbolically inculcated in our Lodges . By a due care in this important and essential particular Ave shall enhance the success and popularity that true Freemasonry has acquired

amongst the outer Avorld , and while we are always ready and willing to welcome into our fraternity good men and true , it should be our most earnest endeavour to prevent the admission of any Avho are at all likely by their conduct or

character , either in or ' out of the lodge , to bring discord amongst us , or to throAV the slightest discredit upon the Order to Avhich we belong . I say the slightest discredit advisedly , for when the outer world attempts to criticise a secret society ,

of whose doings and actions it must of necessity be in perfect ignorance , it is always too ready to look upon the dark side , and to magnify any deriliction from the path of duty which may have been committed by any of its members thereby

throwing odium upon the whole fraternity , on account of the failings of one or two persons who have gained admission into its society . While the two forms of ballot , which I have just described , have much in common , Ave have also to notice some important points of difference .

AU the competitive ballot , such as , for example , that for the Worshipful Master of a lodge , there are of necessity many—very many—brethren , who are undoubtedly well qualified for the chairqualified from the fact of having duly and diligently

occupied the chair of a Warden for the prescribed space of twelve months , and qualified to preside over the lodge from a true and genuine knowledge of our ritual , and of the science of our Order ; and were it possible to do so , many of us Avould be

glad to confer the honour of Mastership on more than one deserving brother . In this lodge there are at the present time no fewer than 33 brethren qualified for the Mastership , and only one chair to be filled ; it therefore follows of necessity that the

honour cannot be given to all , and that 32 out of 33 must be amongst the number of the nonelected . Such being the case , the non-election of any brother cannot be considered to cast any reflection upon him , either as to his character , or

the respect in which he is held by his brother Masons , but simply shews that in the judgment of the majority of the members present at the lodge ( be that majority large or small ) it has been

considered advisable that another brother should preside over them for the ensuing year . With regard to the Elective or Exclusive Ballot , we have this very important difference , that instead of one individual being selected from a

number to fill a certain office , the number of persons who may be elected is unlimited ; and as we are all desirous of seeing Freemasonry progress by the addition of worthy men to our fraternity , the fact of a candidate being rejected , makes it

apparent that there is probably something in his character or conduct at variance Avith the principles of the society in which he has been refused admittance ; and as the Avorld in general entertains a favourable opinion of theAntientand Honourable

Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons , the fact of the exclusion of a candidate from that society must tend to give to others an adverse opinion of his character and conduct .

The deductions I would draw from an examination of these two forms of ballot , are that which Ave are bound in exercising each form of ballot to be particularly careful that the person elected is one upon Avhom Ave can depend , aud Avhose life

and actions will stand the test of diligent enquiry , in order on the one hand , that an improper person should not be placed in authority in our lodge , and ou the other that Freemasonry should not suffer from the admission of any who would in the

slightest degree disgrace our Order . Yet Ave must always remember that the rejection in the first form of ballot cannot in any Avay injure those Avho are not elected ; Avhile in the second form the rejection of a candidate for initiation must cast a

reflection upon his character , and tend to do him injury in his intercourse with the Avoi-ld . We must also bear in mind that the adverse

voting of two or three members might not alter the result of the election in the first instance , but in the second the same number of black balls would result in the exclusion of the candidate from our Lodge .

Let us , therefore , in making use of this powerful agent , the ballot , never forget to give the probable consequences of each vote onr full and earnest consideration before recording it , reviewing it fairly with respect to the advantage or

disadvantage it may be to the Lodge , as Avell as with regard to the well-being , or injury it may entail upon the individual for or against