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LONDON , EDINBURGH & GLASGOW ASSURANCE COMPANY , LIMITED . ASSURANCE FUNDS . ( 185 M £ 10 ( 5 , 517 On 31 st December , - > ' „„ „„„„„„„ 0 ( 1905 £ 650 , 965 Increase in 10 years £ 554 , 448 Representatives Wanted for Industrial , Ordinary and Accident Branches . Special Terms to Capable Men . insurance lliiildiiiifs . 'I'llOS . NKILL , Filrnii ' - 'ilcm Street , l . niutim . K . I ' . Ceuerul Mumiiiei :

The Constitution Of Grand Lodge.

The Constitution of Grand Lodge .

TOfusanc

IN a recent issue of this journal reference was made to Grand Loclge as the most unwieldy body in existence . The inference was that its numerical importance aclually impairs its usefulness . That the actual government of the Craft is in the hands of those brethren who can afford the

time and money to attend the quarterly communications , in other words , that affairs are practically controlled by the London and official brethren . This is the present actual state of things , and we may at the very outset , express our conviction that none would more gladly welcome any process

by which the government of the Craft by the Craft could be made effectual as well as theoretical , than the two classes of brethren referred to . This ought to be made clear , for there has been the tendency lately to sepaiate London and provincial brethren into two camps , as , for instance , evidenced

by the tacit convention that a London brother should be Grand Treasurer one year , if the election of a country brother were assented to the next . This feeling needs to be repressed , for London and the provinces are but geographical terms , and have no connection with what is Masonic or Unmasonic .

The practical disfranchisement of live-sixths of the members of Grand Lodge , owing to considerations of time and distance , is , however , a serious matter and it has engaged the attention of the authorities . Most of the suggestions made , however , are based on an initial mistake . They

assume the desirability and the possibility , if accommodation were found , of a much larger proportion of members being present at the quarterly communications . From the purely sentimental point of view the absence of 32 , 000 members out of 33 , 000 is to be regretted , but we fancy that if every brother who was qualified were to exercise his right to sit

and speak in Grand Lodge there would be some very prompt legislation . Whilst Grand Lodge is a landmark , its constitution is only defined by the words " general meeting of the Craft , " and the landmarks further give every Mason a right of appearand empower him to "instruct his representatives . " In any suggestion involving the reconstruction of Grand

Lodge , only these points need be borne in mind . We use the word reconstruction because any attempt to accommodate existing procedure to existing requirements could scarcely meet with more than temporary success . The fact is that conditions have completely changed since the present

constitution of Grand Lodge was formulated . Roughly speaking there are in London 550 lodges , in the country there are 1 , 500 , and in foreign parts 550 . In London a Mason only finds representation in Grand Lodge . In the country he is represented both in Grand Loclge and in the Provincial Grand Lodge . Abroad he has similar

representation . But the latter brethren have far more share in the government of the Craft than is to be found at home . A District Grand Lodge exercises both executive and judicial functions , and a District Grand Master issues certificates and practically warrants lodges .

There is a District Board of General Purposes which hears and determines complaints , and the District Grand Loclge hears and determines appeals . All this , of course , subject in the long run to the appellate jurisdiction of Grand Lodge . It will be seen , therefore , that the foreign brother has a scope for his energies such as is denied to the brother

at home . The latter is certainly represented in Provincial Grand Loclge where he can sit and speak as long as he can induce his hearers to listen to him . But he can do nothing more . Judicial functions are explicitly denied to it ( Article 103 ) and its executive functions are practically confined to disbursing

its own cash . The foreign brother feels that he is exercising on a small scale the privileges of a member of Grand Lodge and therefore he is not a Masonic cypher . The provincial brother has no such satisfaction . The time and distance and expense which separate him from Grand Lodge are not so formidable , as in the case of the foreign brother , but still

when multiplied by four , they are sufficient to give pause . As to the London brother , his case again is different . He is the recipient of no honours except those- of Grand Lodge , and certainly these will not come his way unless he attend regularly . He has no Provincial Grand Loclge in which his

Masonic ambition may find outlet , and unless he be a veryfrequent visitor at other lodges , he knows nothing of what goes on , and thus fails to make progress in Masonic knowledge .

Let the Mother 01 Giand Lodges not be above taking a lesson from the Mother of Parliaments . Extend large powers of self government to Provincial Grand Lodges , such , mutatis iiiiilandis , as Parliament gave to County Councils , and at the least bring them into line with District Grand Lodges . One result of this measure of reform

would be that country brethren would cease to experience the feeling of being extinguished , that some of them now labour under . Either following upon this , or preliminary to it , another proposal comes in . A Grand Lodge which in the course of the next ten years may number 50 , 000 members , is

an absurdity for any purpose except that of a plebiscite . There must be some devolution . Let ihe ordinary judicial and executive functions of Grand Loclge be exercised b y a central council , representing , not the lodges , but the Provincial and District Grand Lodges . As already stated the present condition of things does not

admit of being tinkered with . To appeal to the Masonic instinct of 33 , 000 Freemasons to attend a gathering where there is but accommodation for one-twentieth of that number is a manifest absurdity , nor would their attendance serve any useful purpose . If the British Empire can be governed by

an assembly of less than 700 surely that number , or less , ought to suffice for the Craft . No landmark would be transgressed . The princi ple of a plebiscite has alread y been admitted by Grand Lodge , when , as recently , the Craft was polled on the Grand Treasurer question .