Elective Offices In Freemasonry.

ELECTIVE OFFICES IN FREEMASONRY .

ANOTHE R Grand Treasurer has been elected for the English Craft , and we desire to tender him our heartiest congratulations on the appointment , secured as it was by an overwhelming majority in Grand Lodge , and evidencing beyond all question that he is a popular member of the Order , and one who carries the approval of a considerable section of the English Brotherhood . In taking this early

opportunity of paying our respects to Bro . J . D . Murraythe successful candidate of the year—we think some explanation is needed to clear us from the charge of playing fast and loose in this matter . We have been told we took up a strong position in support of the unsuccessful candidate on this occasion , and that in many respects our remarks on this annual election have shown a strong bias in favour of one candidate

as against another . This proves the difficulty of expressing one's opinions in regard to a system without appearing to take sides in the controversy raging in reference to that system , which , in the present instance at least , has resolved itself into a consideration of the desirability of continuing annual contests and unseemly scrambles for a purely honorary appointment . Our

remarks , it they have been strongly in iavonr oi one candidate , and as strongly opposed to the other , have certainly borne a meaning we did not intend for them , for what opposition we have shown was intended against the system itself , rather than against A . B ., C . or D ., or , in fact , any one interested in the contest . We have expressed disapproval of the whole principle involved in this annual election for Grand Treasurer , and we are even more convinced ,

after this latest election , than we were before , that the continuance of the electioneering tactics associated with the appointment are undesirable , and derogatory to the members of the Order who engage in them . Now that the election for 189 * 2 has been decided , and there is no possibility of knowing who will be nominated for that of 1893 , there can be no harm in expressing our views freely ancl openly . We shall

not now run the risk of being accused of making out a case against the elective system in favour of

one or other of the candidates , and our readers will also be in a better position to form an opinion for themselves , and decide whether there is any advantage in continuing a system that is so open to abuse , and which leads to so much rivalry—not the friendl y rivalry of legitimate comnetition . but

rivalry that engenders bitterness , disappointment , fv ? i even strife amorig different members of the Masonic Order . To our mind the whole subject resolves itself into a question whether the Grand J-reasurership shall be continued as an honorary office given by the Craft solely as a reward for merit , or whether it shall be put up time after time to the

Elective Offices In Freemasonry.

highest bidder , a mere bauble in the hands of clever manipulators ? Under the present system—and the abuses of it that have crept in—the appointment is really and truly one of barter pure and simple . We even go so far as to say that the least known member of the Order could in time win the appointment if he only cared to spend enough money over the prelimirninaries . We ask those who reallv take an interest

in this matter to answer for themselves whether this is not the case ? and although it may be next to impossible to put a stop to the system which is in vogue , we also know that in other quarters stringent rules have been adopted , with results which have quite justified the action taken . Should Grand Lodge see its way to take the subject in hand it would first be necessary to decide whether canvassing is to be allowed in any form whatever .

We do not think the Craft would forbid this , as forbidding it in connection with the . appointment of Grand Treasurer would imply it was equally illegal in regard to other appointments , and endless trouble and confusion would result . Having recognised the legitimacy then of canvassing , the authorities might step in and say what should be the limits to which

the canvassing should extend . In days gone by we have heard of special trains being chartered , and scores of brethren brought up to Grand Lodge merely to record their vote , and assist in securing the election of a neighbour , who valued the appointment of Grand Treasurer so much as to induce him to adopt these tactics in order to secure it . We do not say the candidate paid for the attendance of his

voters , because we have no means of judging one way or the other , but that rumour has been current on more occasions than once , and if only to prevent the possibility of such a scandal the authorities should step in and put some sort of restriction on the preliminaries , and as to the general conduct of the election .

We should be very sorry to see the Craft robbed oi its right to appoint its own Treasurer , but after all the honour is a very empty and substantial one , and the peculiarities which surround the appointment make it unacceptable to some whose high spirit will not allow them to be slighted , or whose social standing renders them the most eligible

of candidates . It is in reality a Grand Office without the rights and privileges of a Grand Officer ; this is fully borne out by the opposition of the Grand Officers ' Mess to allow holders of the appointment to associate with them . This exclusion is in itself a small and trivial matter , but it is the living and apparent

expression of the system which recognises the Grand Treasurer as being of a lower grade among the Grand Officers , so low , in fact , as to be unworthy of close commune and association with them . To our way of thinking the conditions which are associated with the Grand Treasurership are most unsatisfactory , and must remain so as long as a hard and fast line can