Reporting Lodge Meetings.

REPORTING LODGE MEETINGS .

QUESTIONS on the one hand , and complaints on the other , have recently been addressed to us as to the regular appearance of reports of Lodge meetings . Members , young in the Craft , have

expressed surprise there was no official organ connected with Freemasonry which recorded the doings of the several branches ; and subscribers to our paper have grumbled that they never saw anything in its pages

relating to their own Lodge , and although , like the old man in the fable , we have every desire to try and please everyone , we do not know what we can do to

satisfy these two classes of seekers after information , except it be to invite their co-operation for the future , with the object of lessening the cause of their grievance , if not wholly removing it .

Dealing first with the former of the two classesthe newly made Masons who think an official organ , giving details of the work in all our Lodges , might be published—there may be something to be said both

for and against such a proposal , although very little chance of such a publication ever being attempted under the English Constitution , unless things Masonic change very materially , and a very different spirit is introduced into the workers of the future . Such a

publication , if it merely gave brief details of Lodge work , would be little else than a tabular compilation ; while if anything like descriptive , reporting was attempted the work would become a really stupendous

undertaking , and not only would there be an immense amount of matter to deal with , but there would be such a sameness about it all as to really rob it of general interest . No doubt our younger friends , who

think such a publication necessary in connection with Freemasonry , will in due time come to recognise there is little or no room for such a . work , as really very little purpose would be served by its publication , the

Masonic Craft being . averse to the regular preparation of public lists of members ; or information relating to new admissions into ' the Order ; in . these particulars

being diametrically opposed to those secret societies which make , a boast of their-membership , and take special pride in advertising the progress of their subordinate organisations .

But while this is true in regard to an official publication , dealing with every Lodge on the Roll ; and while it may answer the first class we have spoken of in our introduction , it by no means disposes of the

other class—those of our subscribers who " grumble " at never seeing anything in our pages relating to their individual Lodge ; and as , by a strange coincidence , we have had three such growls during the last few days ,

it would seem that there are many who consider us at fault in this particular ; yet we think we have a very good answer to the complaint , and in explaining our

position we may not only clear ourselves , but open the way to more satisfactory arrangements in time to come . In the first place it must be distinctly borne in

Reporting Lodge Meetings.

mind that we do not send a representative , or sanction anyone's attendance at a meeting on our behalf , without a definite invitation ; and although we know that we have occasionally given offence by a too rigid

adherence to this rule ,- we have at least spared ourselves from a charge of " hanging on " or " sponging " for an evening ' s entertainment ; and as our experience teaches us that the very men who are loudest in

general invitations—the " shall be pleased to see you at our next meeting , " or " give us a look in at our regular Lodge , " and so on—are the first to call out that Press representatives are a nuisance , present on every

occasion , and putting a Lodge to expenses which are wholly unnecessary ; it may be understood why we prefer to stay away than run any risk of pushing ourselves where we are not wanted .

The majority of our Lodges at the present day have to be conducted with a very watchful eye on the balance sheet . The sums received in subscriptions generally total up into respectable three figure amounts ;

but , as most of us are aware , there are several heavy calls to be made upon the receipts , and he is indeed a fortunate Master who can leave his chair , after a year ' s working , with a balance anything like what might be

expected in what is probably the richest Society in the world . Charity—the watchword of the Order—should be the first and foremost outgoing , but most of our Lodges present a very sorry figure in this respect , it

being customary for members to subscribe individually , rather than through their Lodge dues ; or at least that is one explanation we remember as having been made some years back , when we used to publish week by

week the figures of different Lodge balance sheets , as they came under our notice , and when the refreshment item among the outgoings was generally in the

proportion of about io ' or 20 to ras compared with the grants in Charity . . - -. * - - It is this refreshment item that is at the bottom of

the difficulty associated with the more general reporting of Lodge meetings . The Press representative takes his place at the banquet table , and is charged for accordingly , and when the item comes before the

Auditors , or when it is found that the Lodge expenditure has exceeded the receipts , it is one of the first sums to be challenged , and , instead of finding out who was responsible for the reporter ' s presence , it is

immediately assumed he came uninvited , and has put the Lodge to unnecessary expense , whereas we think it might truly be said that not once in a thousand times is anything of the sort attempted by Press

representatives in this country . We have carefully inquired into several such complaints , and have always been able to clear the Brethren associated with our profession , and that too without our paper being particularly concerned

on every . In conclusion , we maintain that the absence of Lodge reports from our pages is no fault of ours . We never neglect an invitation , and as we cannot attend without one , we think we have made good our case .