Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-04-19
GRAND LODGE
OF NORTH AMERICA.
PINE BLUFF, March %, 1884.

! PINE BLUFF, March %, 1884.
To the Editor OF the Pine Bluff Republican
In your paper, dated March %
I find annexed article, viz:
"To all it may con corn, greeting
"There has been a call issued
some time ago for a convention
to meet at Morrilton, Ark, in the
hall of r II Gleaves Lodge, ,on the
25th day OF March, for the pur-
pose of organizing a grand lodge
of national compact masons for
the state Of Arkansas, under the
government of the supreme grand
lodge of the United States OF
America. w ID Mathews, OF
Kansas, one of the national grand
officers, and T F Hill. grand mas
ter of Tennessee, and Rev MI
Young, grand master of the Indian
territory, and others will be pres
ent."
This notice speaks of a body
which it refers to by the pom
pous title of 1.-The supreme grand
lodge of America and states
that wv ID Mathews, of Kansas,
one of the national grand officers,
will be present" 1t may inter
est some of your readers to know
who and what the body with the
tremendously big name is, and
why only one of the "national
grand officers" will be present
upon such an important occasion
as the setting up of a grand lodge,
when one would naturally snp-
pose that the national grand mas
ter would certainly be present.
1 propose to answer two qucs =
tons.
The body with the big name,
or ''national compact" as it is
called, was, some years ago, an
organization formed by the col
ored masons of the country, for
the purpose of extending =, the
work of the order over the coun-
try, and it's original intent is we'll
EXPRESSED by its nris,n"1 --:-~,
fhe ':national compact" that is a
mere association of grand lodges
for cooperation in preventing
unauthorized and spurious work.
After the body was formed, as
intelligent masons knew that
there was no such body as a
"compact" known to masonry, it's
name was changed to the ma =
tional grand lodge of North
America" as will be seen by ref,
erence to the printed proceedings
of the body which L have in my
possession, and from which it at
once appears that the writer of
the above notice does not even
know the correct name Of the
body he processes to represent.
After assuming the name Of
national grand lodge the body
soon proceeded to arrogate to it
self the powers of a grand lodge
and to hold the grand lodges in
other states as subordinates, and
it soon became SO arbitrary in it's
ruling and such regular stealing
machine that in few years near
ly every one of the grand lodges
withdrew from the "compact."
At present there is not single
state that acknowledges its juris-
diction. though it still has some
followers in some states, among
whom is small body of men in
Tennessee, headed by p F Hill, a
body formed about two years ago,
and not recognized by a single
masonic grand lodge in the coun>
try. According to the constitu-
ton Of this national compact, ar
ticle V, the communication of the
NJ w n g Lodge shall be held
triennially, on the first Tuesday
IN October" and the 9th triennial
communication was held, COM
mencing May II, 1874, in Louis
vile, Ky. At that communica-
ton there were present, all told,
just fourteen persons, five of
whom were residents of Louis
vile, who held proxies. The
grand secretary was blind and
deaf and tailed to be present with
his books and papers, and all the
business was transacted in execu-
tive session. These facts are from
the printed report of the proceed
ings which is in my possession
and which l am willing to sub
nit to the inspection of any per-
son interested in the matter.
The body met again in 1877, at
which time the following officers
were elected, viz:
Geo Levere, grand master :;
Lemuel Googins, D G NJ; w ID
Mathews, S g w; w n Cald-
we'll, j G w: 6 w Daniels,
grand secretary; and A Black,
grand treasurer.
have in my possession a COM
munication from w n Caldwell,
who was elected G j w in 1877,
as stated above, in which he says:
"The grand lodge has grounded
on the shores of time snd the
crew have all left, now let us see
where they are. q w Levere,
their national grand master, was
in the union of the two grand