The Hartford herald., 1879-02-19


few with the debts of the Lodge, its
charities, the c,re OF its widows and
orphans, the Grand Lodge support,
etc, until the surrender of the charter
becomes inevitable. | bescech all true
Masons in Kentucky to adhere TO their
membership. Leave to the miserly,
the half-hrartci. the indifferent, the
luxury OF non-aililia,ion, but let all
who feel their obligations, and have |
soul, above the mcanncss of life, hold
their grip upon the Lodge, for so sure,
brethren. ~ their is light in the East
the day of Kentucky Masonry dawn
eth. la the. let the Lodge
;rown upon those who cut loose from
duty. Le' them know that they can
not have Masonic relief. nor Masonic
burial, nor a welcome at Masonic feS-
tivilies. Encourage them 10 come
back. Remit all dues of afIiliaiion,
and assure them of welcome i'll their
old seats. Unless something OF this
kind is done, one half the Lodges IN
Kentucky must go down, and that
speedily.
III. The indiscriminatc AMI irregular manner
I h. nd
non payment Of dues.
| 1t has come to my knowledge that
very many cases have occurred IN
which. without trial. without an op-
por'uni;v Of explanation or appeal,
/ brethren of the blc>t class have been
suspended and published in the Grand
Lodge proceeding, as suspended, with
out even IA formal notice. Now, the
Grand Lodge law is specific on this
subject. 4 brother in arrears must
not only he notified of his arrearaee-,
but charges must be brought a-ainst
him aS AN offender. and Il summons Is
sued that he shall appear at specified
meeting. and show cause why lie
should not he suspended. Every case
of suspension in our Lodges where this
f,rmaliry has been neglected Is Illegal,
and the Lodges must renstate such,
and give them n fair trial. When Il
summons is regularly served, If the ac-
cused fails to put in an appearance, he
may be suspended. lie has violated
n c0venated duty in refusing TO obey
a summons, and so gives up his case.
But would, in fraternal kindness,
suggest that in hard times Ike these,
the Lodges should not too rigidly pu,
the law in force. A brother out OF
work. in debt, with his family to look
after. will not only fail to pay arrear'
r ages. but he, and his family as we'll
will attribnte il to cruelty and oppres
sion if he is published as deiaulter
II occurs to me that if Secretaries
, would collect dues quarterly instead o
annually the task would be easier
Are there not some of our Lodge
e whose dues are unnecessarily high
u Remember that four dollars have a
>, great a purchasing power in 1879 Il
n ten dollars had in 1869. This is n,
= time for Lodges To be boarding ul
money on interest; no time to b
-, building halls, or buying expensive
. furniture or regalia, or getting up cost
Il " demonstrations. Economy shOul'
i he the watchword in Masonry as il
p business.
' ". The prevalence ,nd constant in roductiO
If cf new ,oci,tIes.
1t is delicate thing to speak of, ant
there is danger of giving ofense, yet
-, as your Grand Master, | must do m.
- whole duty. Freemasons do not nee
h other secret brotherhoods. 1t is a
,i much as the average Mason can do t
= attend his Masonic bodies, pay hi
N dues, and keep his covenants. Ho,
z" can he perform these obi atiOns fai'h
fully if he belongs to other brother
- hoods which require possibly as muc
y time and as many duties | IN
clearly of opinion that one of th
d greatest evils under which Freemasou
re ry is suffering to-day, is the existenc
r. of these institutions that draw thei
r nutriment from Freemasonry an
, Weld Us nothing in return. | do no
presume to dictate in this matter
- Every Mason is perfectly free to jon
or abstain from joining; but whateve
re course he adopts, the least he can d
y to honor the Mother Sociely-th
ID fountain of all brotherhOOds- I
give the preference to it in Attendance
=, payment of dues, charities, fdnera
homors, and all that cnaracterizes aifi
iation.
ie Thi, official letter vii. reach w
ie AT the beginning of new Ma>oni
year. Many of the officers of Lodgt
ie have entered tor the first Time upO
'e h ir duties. Like myself, they al
q newly inlncied into office. Let |