United Grand Lodge.

blackballing every candidate , taking care not to say he should , because that would be considered a Masonic offence , but he took care to let it be known that every new candidate ought to be

blackballed . How was an indictment to be preferred against such a brother ; or even a general charge to be made . It had been urged as an objection that it seemed an unfair thing that 20 men should

be able to ballot out 12 men ; but he was prepared to say that rather than the whole 30 should be made miserable together , and what was too often the case , the success and happiness of the

lodge completely destroyed by the quarrel going on from year to year , he would have it so . There was a lodge within 120 miles of this place where there were 13 men on one side and 12 on the

other . They had been like the Kilkenny cats , and he really believed that before long , like them , there would be nothing left but their tails . "Would it not be better for the good of the lodge

that the 13 should be able to turn out the 12 ? Or if they expelled one only , the remainder would see what would soon be their fate , and would conduct themselves differently . He ( Bro .

Stebbing ) proposed that only one brother should be removed at a time , and when the ringleaders were gotjid of , depend on it the others would come to a sense of their duty . When the people on the

hustings were tormented by some one in the crowd if they got him to come on the platform how quiet he became ! He was immediately a man of order To compare Masonic with political matters , there

were brethren on the dais in Grand Lodge who were quite well conducted and quiet while there , but who had been rather turbulent before they had Grand office . Since he had been in Grand

Lodge a letter had been placed in his hands , con cerning a lodge at Liverpool . A man in a sea port town , who had been convicted of felony , re ceived 12 months' imprisonment ; he was after

wards proposed in a lodge , but objected to and blackballed . The matter was persevered in , and some friends of his proposed him in another lodge , where the same result occurred . He was brought

to another lodge and by some adroitness—he ( Bro . Stebbing ) had seen a similar thing done at a punctual meeting , where the business was done quickly—he was passed in . Thc brethren of that

lodgehad to sit with a convicted felon . That lodge ought to have the privilege of appealing from " Philip drunk" to " Philip sober ; " they ought to have the opportunity of rehearing and

reconsidering the case , and by a decided majority remove a brother , if his conduct was of that kind that he ought not to be associated with them . Then , as to the majority , although he thought

two-thirds was sufficient to compel the removal of a brother , the brother who wrote from Liverpool thought two-thirds too much , it ought to be a majority of one-third .

He was not wedded to his own proposition ; let it be three-fourths or live-sixths , but let it be a substantial and decided majority . He was sure

no injustice would be done , because in all cases where expulsion was endeavoured to be effected for personal feelings , there would be found a sufficient number of brethren to stand by an

oppressed brother . It was our weakness to stand by those who were unjustly charged , or charged with offences in general terms ; and a man must be a very black character indeed to

United Grand Lodge.

get three-fourths of his brethren to vote for his exclusion . There was a feeling of sympathy among people for the oppressed ; we could not even see two boys quarrelling in the street

without sympathising with the little one . He would give one more case , in which he had had to sit in judgment upon a man who got the Treasurer ' s books , the Secretary ' s books , and blackballed

every one . He would call on Grand Lodge to be masters of the position ; not to be a body of slaves , but to take the power into their own hands : they were stong enough to do it . In

their lodges , as in their houses , let them be masters , and if there was a disagreeable fellow in a lodge that ought to be turned out , let them rise in their majesty and do it . ( Great cheering . )

Bro . Raynham W . Stewart , P . G . D ., in order to g ive the brethren an opportunity of discussing the question , seconded the motion . Bro . James Mason , P . G . S . B ., opposed it , and

felt that Bro . Stebbing had made out no case . His facts were exceedingly weak , and if they tended at all to anything , it was to convince the brethren that they were wrong . The speech

was altogether illogical and most inconclusive . The Book of Constitutions provided for many of the evils Bro . Stebbing had pointed out . It said that no lodge should , exclude any member

without giving him due notice of the complaint made against him , and of the time appointed for its consideration . The name of every brother excluded , with the cause

of exclusion , shall be sent to the Grand Secretary , and if a country lodge , also to the Prov . G . M . It was a high privilege to be a Freemason , not to be foregone at the whim and

caprice of any private member . ( Hear , hear . ) He for one would be very sorry to be excluded from any lodge by such whim and caprice . Many men , he knew , had taken wrong views ,

and it was not always the case that the majority were right . ( Hear , hear . ) It was not always the majority in a private lodge that took a sound » nd proper view of the conduct of an individual ,

or of the propriety of his proceedings , of its consistency with the bye-laws of his lodge , or with the Book of Constitutions . It had , indeed , been his experience to find it quite otherwise .

He had never , in this Grand Lodge , heard of anything so monstrous or unconstitutional as to turn a brother out of a lodge without bringing a specific charge against him . If they could

bring a specific charge against a man , there was the Book of Constitutions , and let them do it . Bro . Stebbing had brought forward a case where the brethren , he said , had been compelled to sit

down with a felon . Now , there was no such compulsion . The brethren had a right to exclude such a brother , and he had the right to appeal to Grand Lodge . He begged Grand

Lodge to reject the motion . Bro . John Havers , P . G . W ., opposed the motion , and moved as an amendment " That it should be referred to the Board of General

Purposes to examine and report , " on the ground that the matter required careful consideration , that no injustice might be done . He reviewed the

cases brought forward by Bro . Stebbing , and contended that they really proved the soundness of Lord Zetland's circular , advising brethren to be very careful about men whom they initiated .

United Grand Lodge.

Bro . L . Alexander , P . M . 188 , seconded the amendment ; Bro . Col . Cole , acting ' J . G . W ., supported the amendment , and arrraed that where a brother

found the feeling of the lodge against him , if he were a right-thinking brother , he would resign . He would not be deprived of Masonic privileges ,

he could join another lodge . But at the same time he thought that lodges should have more power than they now have of getting rid of offensive members .

The Earl of Shrewsbury , Prov . G . M . for Stafford and Worcester , said that in his Province a matter was brought to his attention , and he

took counsel with Masons of position and influence , and they came to the conclusion to recommend the recalcitrant brother to send in

his resignation to his lodge . If a brother was contumacious , some power should be given to a lodge to exclude him , and he thought the matter might be referred to Grand Lodge in the

metropolis . Let the brother retire from the lodge , but God forbid that there should be an arbitrary power of getting rid of a man . Happily , politics were not recognised in Masonry , but in

some country places there might be a feeling against a brother on account of some step he had taken politically . Do not let a lodge have the power of turning a brother out on this

account . Bro . Stebbing ' s instance of the man whose digestion was bad might have been got over by the lodge subscribing to purchase him a

set of false teeth . ( Laughter . ) After a few words from Bros . H . J . P . Dumas , G . J . D ., and Bro . F . A . Philbrick , P . M . 18 ,

Bro . Horace Lloyd said that neither himself nor the Board would at all shirk any duty Grand Lodge might impose on them , and if Grand Lodge thought it was one of their functions to lick into

shape this crude and ill-digested proposition , in which there might be a grain of good sense , some suggestion of improvement in Masonic legislation to find out for themselves what that was and

recommend it to Grand Lodge , all he could say was the Board would cheerfully undertake that duty ; but he would ask permission f era few minutes to suggest to them that that scarcely fell within the

fair ordinary class of their duties , and that the way to' deal with thc ill-considered motion was to dismiss it altogether . At the same time they were properly prepared to conduct any reasonable

alteration in the same direction when it was brought forth . He had used strong words , " crude and ill-digested , " but he thought they were deserved . Bro . Stebbing talked of lodges

as if they were clubs , places in which they would blackball a man for the way he tied his cravat , or for the cut of his coat . It was an old joke that standing the blackball of a club when you

wanted to become a member was nothing ; but what a good thing it was that members had not got to come up for ballot three years after , for how little chance they would stand of going

in again ! A man had to go up for ballot , and he was successful ; he was afterwards excluded from his lodge . What did exclusion mean ? Exclusion from that lodge only r A great deal

more than that . No brother excluded from a lodge could enter another lodge without a certificate as to the circumstances under which he left the first ; and , therefore , a brother womd be