The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1872-08-31
Square Work.
From the Masonic Tidinga. !


charge one portion of our duty as work
men on which in a large degree will de-
pend the comfort, the stability, and the
prosperity not only of the Immediate
but the remote future. We aliudc. of
course, to the selection and election Of
officers Of lodges. This is Il subject on
which so much has been we'll said, that
1t seems impossible to expose it under
any new light and its Importance is
so great, that it would seem llnpardOn-
able III the TidingS to allow the Occa-
sion to pass without few words of rX-
hortation. This may the more readily
be admitted when we reflect that the
same persons rarely participate twice in
succession III an election of officers in
given lodge, so constant is the change
going on by the admission of ncwmem-
bcrs, the death Omission, OF absence
Of old ones, that lodge may be fairly
understood as practically dealing with a
new membership at every election. But
even where this is not the case, and
where tie personnel remains suhStan-
| TALLY the same, no harm can possibly
result from such preparation as shall
| tit the membership for the effective dis
| charge OF IN admittedly important du-
| ty. The life of a lodge is in many res
poets like that of an individual, and it
will be found i'll both eases that appar-
| emily slight errors OF omission and COM
| mission are frequently the turning points
| from which may be dated misfortune
and dcCadencc. We shall not argue, of
course, that all errors are avoidabIe. be-
cause that would require IL reconstruc-
| tlOn OF human nature but we can and
do say that I; reasonable degree Of cau-
| ton and such forecast as men, really III
earnest, may exercise, would go a long
way toward securing the ounce of pre-
| ycntlOn which, we all know, is 50 intin-
itely to be preferred to the pound Of
! cure.
The usual admOnition at this time is ::
Select your best men" for officers :;
! and the sentence certainly contains ii
| great deal of wisdom. The difficulty,
however, lies in the fact, as Il general
rule, no opportunity is afforded for
such selection. In the majority Of
lodges 1t is safe to say Il few men as
sumo to know what is best to he done and
who best calculated to do that which
appears to be needful, and it is quite as
| true that i'll Il majority Of instances the
brethren at large acquiesce in this meth
Oh OF doing business, and vote as they
are told to by those whom they instinct
lively recognize as knowing all about it.
1t is possible that this system has its
merits, though a casual observer may
fail to discover them. It is, at all events,
a charming arrangement for those who
are too lazy OF too needless to think fU1
themselves and it tlatters exceedingly
those who feel Il natural gift for as
suming responsibility and directing the
acts Of other and less favored individ-
uaIs ; but that it is in any way calcula-
ted to forward the best interests of a
lodge, we fail to perceive. The prOba-
blllty Is, however, that it will prevail
this year as it did last, and the years
before, and that it will rule and govern
until the brethren come to understand
the saying OF Bro. Franklin " When
you want anything done, do it your
SELF
| The means of applying this saying tC
the case in hand, is one of the secrets Ol
Masonry which has in great measure
it not entirely, escaped the multitude
OF MasOnS, and it is Il secret that will
never come to them unsOught. Neither
password, nor sign, nor any occult pro
cess OF divinatiOn, will ever make then
masters of it, nor will they ever be able
to select their best men for officers un.
til they learn it. And yet the process
by which this mystery is to he obtained
. is as simple as the primary rules of ar
ithmatic, and only requires that eacl
Mason should apply the Franklin rul'
to himself.
This he can only do by studying on
for himself the qualification needed
by officers Of Masonic Lodge, an'
thus prepared, he can judge of his OWL
motion whether the brethren presented
for his suffrage are those best entitled t,
it. Many other benefits will accrue t.
| I,n e 4
undertake to find the key of this mys
t not the least of which will be breakin:
up of the system Familiarity known a
the making slate and the selection
} of officers for real merit, and not on ac
count OF personal popularity or seniori
ty, or any other reason. NeCessaril,
. this is work of more time than cal
now elapSe before the annual elections
hut as everything must have a begin
ming, this is first rate opportunity t
c commence, and those who now ente
I upon it in earnest will by the next yea
l be in position to apply their knowledg
l and make the mistakes of this year til
basis for their correction next. w
z might here insert Il dissertation on thOa
qualities which distinguish the goo
s and effective officer, but as that wOul
) in q great measure save the reader tn
trouble OF finding out for himself, W
) propose to do nothing Of the kind, hu
J rather encourage the brethren to tax
t enjoy Il triumph due to their own exe1
g tions. The fact of the prepOnderin
: element of weakness, the element whic
prevents the fraternity from 0xercisin
its real strength and rising to the levt
: OF it's true greatness, is that the major
d ty will not take the trouble to grid @
1 the armOr of knowledge, will suffer otl
: ers to think and act for them, will be
guile themselves with the idea that a
l. long as things go on smoothly they ma
t, be well satisfied, and the unvarying X
n suit is, that errors and troubles thf
n might we'll he avoided arc grated o
e the parent stock, and growing to 4
Q considered as landmarks which ma
|. not be removed, and that we are ne
= doing as square work as we might if W
: would only understand the facilitie
t. within our reach, and to be had for til
searching,
II 1t will be easily OWNED, from wht
: has beenalready said, that we do not al
u tiGipate much, if any, difference in IL
e elections of this year from those of the
e predecessors but we venture to maE
q one suggestion, which we have see
+, practiced with good effect, and that
n that instead of few individuals NAL
u ing all the appointments Of Office hole
e ers, Masters of lodges should summC
y the members one meeting before thi
: set for election, and, slightly easir
e the discipline, allow and encourage
T full and free interchange of opinion
4 4 to the selection Of brethren proper
q be elected. This proceeding won