Removal Of Lodges

REMOVAL OF LODGES

IT ia worth while calling attention to the fact that , lately , a circular letter was issued from the office of Grand Secretary , addressed to the Worshipful Masters of the several Lodges , and enclosing a form to be filled in and returned forthwith , in order that the needed

information may be incorporated in the Freemasons' Calendar and Pocket Book for 1878 , which will be published in the first week of November . We say it is worth while calling attention to this Circular , not because the information to be embodied in the form is other than is usually required to be furnished in accordance with the Constitutions , but

because of the notorious laxity with which tho regulations of our Society are observed . Were brethren who are elected to rule our Lodges as mindful of the responsibilities of their office as they are of the honour it is presumed to confer , and the decorations they become entitled to wear ,

the information contained in our Grand Lodge Calendar would be infinitely more valuable than it is , or , as it seems more desirable to phrase it , infinitely more accurate , and therefore trustworthy . As the case stands now , little reliance is to be placed in the announcements made in it

as to the days and places at which our different Lodges meet . This is not owing to any want of diligence on the part of those charged with the duty of preparing the list of Lodges and Chapters , or to any want of supervision on the part of the Calendar

Sub-Committee of the Board of General Purposes , but simply because the requirements of tho law are in so many instances entirely disregarded by whom it does concern . We speak with a painful experience of the errors which occur in Grand Lodge Calendar . Again and again have

we been taken to task for misleading brethren as to the day and place of meeting of this or that Lodge . Our answer has been , we prepare our Weekly Calendar from Grand Lodge Calendar . We have simply reproduced the announcements contained in the Official Guide-book , published , as its

titlepage declares , " under the sanction of the United Grand Lodge of England , and by the command of the M . W . Grand Master . " Thus have we been able to acquit ourselves of all responsibility for the errors complained of . However , as our readers are aware , it is extremely unpleasant to be called to

account even for the mistakes of others , or , be it said , for the mistakes into which others have been unwittingly betrayed . We therefore resolved that in our Weekl y Calendar no Lodge should , under any circumstances , be

inserted , the accuracy of which was not duly vouched for b y the Secretary . Naturally , these Weekly Calendars of ours are imperfect , but they have the merit , so far as they go , of being accurate .

We , who in our time havo had much laborious compilation of a somewhat similar character thrust upon us , know perfectly well the difficulties attendant on the production of a perfect Calendar . But if perfect accuracy be not attainable , it is possible to approach it . In order to secure this

happy consummation , the Grand Secretary has just invited Worshi pful Masters to lend him their hearty co-operation , and we trust that Worshipful Masters will promptly obey the summons . We must remember that the proceeds of the sale of the Freemasons' Calendar and Pocket-book is paid

mto the coffers of our three Masonic Institutions , and the more trustworthy the Calendar is , the more considerable will be the sale ; and , as a consequence , the greater will be the amount of benefit conferred on the Charities . While , however , we properly hold out this as an inducement

Removal Of Lodges

to W . Masters to do what is required of them , it is incumbent on us to point out , at the same time , that what they are now invited to do is neither more nor less than their duty . As laid down in article 8 , page 64 of the Constitutions , " Every Lodge , when removed to a new place of

meeting , or whenever the day of assembling shall be altered , shall immediately send notice thereof to the grand secretary , and , if a country lodge , also to the provincial grand master . The officers of a removed lodge shall not be permitted to attend tho grand lodge or provincial grand lodgo until

the removal be properly notified . ' Again , by article 3 , page 93 , it is laid down that " when a lodge shall have resolved to remove , or to alter the day of meeting , the master or a warden shall forthwith send a copy of tho minutes of the lodge for such alteration to the grand secretary , and

also to the provincial grand master or his deputy , that it may be ascertained whether the above laws have been strictly complied with , and that the alteration may be duly recorded . " Here , then , are two laws , which lay ifc down most clearly and emphatically , that the removal of a Lodgo

and any alteration in its day of meeting shall le notifiedthere is no option—to certain authorities ; and in ono of the law s a penalty is attached to the officers of a Lodge if the law is not observed . It further occurs to us that in the event of siich removal or change of day or meeting not

being duly notified to the authorities , then , ipso facto , the propriety or accuracy of the Lodge proceedings might be vitiated . In other words , the requirements of the law not having been strictly observed , its proceedings would be illegal . There are then three sufficient reasons why the recent

invitation of the Grand Secretary should be complied with . It will ensure greater accuracy in the Calendar , and greater accuracy in the Calendar may confer a greater amount of

benefit on our Charities . It is the duty of W . Masters to do what they are asked to do . Thirdly , Non-compliance with the law may render illegal the proceedings of a de < faulting Lodge .

Organisation Of London Lodges For Voting Purposes.

ORGANISATION OF LONDON LODGES FOR VOTING PURPOSES .

A FEW weeks since there appeared in these columns the report of certain proceedings of the Tredegar Lodge of Instruction . To Bro . Lacey belongs the credit of having —on this occasion at least—initiated the movement , the object of which is to secure a larger share of success for London candidates at the elections to our several

Institutions . Bro . Lacey took the more recent elections to the Boys' and Girls' Schools , and proved to demonstration that , in proportion to the amount of her contributions , London was not as successful in the ballot for vacancies as she

might , could , should , or would be , if her voting powers were properly directed . He urged , therefore , that London Lodges should combine together , in order to promote the success of the London candidates , just as in very many of the Provinces the Provincial Lodges combine top-ether for

the purpose of carrying the day for their candidates . He remarked that London gavo far more towards the maintenance of these Charities than did the whole of the Provinces taken together , while the numbers of the elect in

certain cases , which he cited , were hugely out of proportion , as between the two , London with its excess of contributions having a most noticeable defect in the number of its successful nominees . There is a great show of reason in