Some Notes On Freemasonry In Australasia.– –(Concluded).

but his death unfortunately intervened . The jewel is now to he held in trust by his successors . English Freemasonry had nourished in New Zealand up to i 8 ( io when internecine troubles arose through the setting - up of a Grand Lodge . At that time no fewer than

ninetythree lodges had been warranted from the year 18 45 . Very soon the Masonic community of the colony was in a turmoil , and the confusion was accentuated when seceding members i f lodges walked off with lodge charters , in order to put a stop to working . The heads of the different districts were

powerless under such an extraordinary slate of things , and what added to the difficulties was the practical refusal of the home authorities to interfere , it being in effect ruled that warrants , not being " lost " in the strict acceptation of the ter : y there was nothing in the Constitutions empowering the issue of confirmation warrants . The clause of the Constitutions then read thus : —

ISIiO . T . SIII'liLOCK GRAHAM , RIGHT WORSHIPFUL DISTRICT GRAND MASTER OF OTAGO AND SOUTH I . A X D . N . Z ., K . i ' . "If a warrant fie lost , or withheld by competent Masonic authority , the lodge must suspend its meetings until a warrant of confirmation has been applied for

and granted by the Grand Master , or until the warrant so withheld be restored . " This was the position until the writer had the honour of initiating and moving in Grand Lodge an alteration in the :-. !'• ic ! e of the Constitutions , drafted by His Honour Judge Philbrick , Grand Registrar , which was agreed to unanimously , and now reads : —

" If a warrant be lost or improperly withheld from those lawfully entitled to hold or use the same , 01 withheld by competent Masonic authority , the lodge must suspend its meetings until a new warrant or warrant of confirmation lias been applied for and granted by the Grand Master , /// sin h terms , or on such

conditions , as he mav think />/<>/>< •/' . or until the warrant so withheld be restored . " Exception was taken b y one or two brethren , whose "p inions were entitled to respect , to the insertion of , or the necessit y for , the words now italicised ; but the situation was

c ' . es ; - crate , so far as ( lie loyal brethren in New Zealand were concerned , and , all things considered , half a loaf was better thai : no bread . The foregoing timely legislation rendered the seeeders' action of no avail henceforth ; but there can be little doubt that those who seized the lodge warrants disp layed a keen divination that a practical closing of ( he

lodges , in the absence of the authority to work , would gradually gather them into tiie Grand Lodge fold by a sort of Hobson ' s choice . Seeing that more than forty English lodges went over to the Grand Lodge of New Zealand at the outset of the

movement , the various Districts have become depleted in numbers , the totals according to the 1905 Grand Lodge Calendar , being : —Canterbury , 8 ; Otago and Southland , 4 ; Westland , 6 ; Auckland , 17 ; Wellington , 7 ; and in a part of the South Island , where there is no District Grand Lodge , 2—

making an aggregate of forty-four English Lodges left . The Irish lodges in New Zealand have always been under one head , the Provincial Grand Masters being : —

Henry de Burgh Adams ... ... 1859 George P . Pearce ... ... ... 186 9 William J . Rees 1892 There are only four lodges remaining under the Irish Constitution .

Scottish Freemasonry , like that of the other two Constitutions , has declined in . numbers and influence since the advent of a Grand Lodge , indeed , there are only about a dozen left in the three Districts . Originally the colony had onl y one head , and then it was subdivided . Below is the full list : —

NKW ZEALAND . Hon . Vincent Pyke ... ... ... 1871 J . Hislop ¦¦• ••• ••• ••• 18 77 judge G . W . Harvey 1878 NORTH ISLAND .

Hon . F . Whittaker 1878 W . J . McCiilloiigh ... ... ... 1892 Sou-iii ISLAND . J . Gore ... ... ... ... 1890 CAXTKRHUKY .

Rev . J . Hill 188 4 C . Lonisson ... ... ... ... 18 90 It was in 18 76 that the idea of organising a Grand Lodge of New Zealand was first mooted ; but the propositi came to nothing , and the scheme merely slumbered till 188 9 , when

THE I . ATI' IlliO . It . DUNN THOMAS , RIGHT WORSHIPFUL DISTRICT GRAND MASTER OF ( 'A N'I'ER III' R Y . X . Z ., E . G . more strenuous and united efforts were put forward by the promoters . At that time the Earl of Onslow was Governor of the Colony , and his lordship was approached with the object