Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-06-12
MASONRY IN EUROPE

a., .,ft until now the tim" mas ar
.;,.od chen IL Is beginning To impose
a., ,icxs and principles upon the Or
der. .ot,,
What those doctrines are. eVcryp''y
knows. They include the hpoh',oil
all monopolies the coniisca''oi -
ropds. mines, etc, by the state a"' -
redistribution Of property VI coni
these are not ideas which coiiiIil'n'
themselves to the Rothschllds anu "
The other great financial interests Wii'''i
have until now found in the craft an
instrument of politlcal power
France Nor do they meet WIN w
aprroyal of the well to DO boursep''
element. IL has been found imposslpi''
hoxovcr ia exclude socialists from the
,odpes and. whereas, in their inception,
those we,. distinctly aristocratic ana
subsequently became bourgeois, 'hrS
seem henceforth destined to De
dominated by communistic ideas.
It may he added that for the last
quarter of a century there has pceh ~
intercourse whatsoever between frehch
and English Masons. In 1871 me
Grand Orient of France banished, so |"
sneak. the Almighty from its lodges
exluding in the most rigorous faShloi
from its ceremonies all acknowledge
mcnt of or reference to the Grand
Architect of the Universe. a rev
weeks after this the Grand Lodge OF
England issued a decree renounclhG
recognition Of the Grand Orient OF
France on the ground that the latter.
bv removing from its constitution the
, paragraphs asserting that belief IN
supreme Being, which has been
tradition. practice and feeling Of all
true and genuine MasOns from the
earliest to the present time, had placed
itself beyond the Masonic pale. From
that time English Masons have been
strictly prohibited from any Masonic
relations with French lodges or MEM
bers of the craft.
In Italy, on the other hand, Free
masonry still retains in its ceremonies
the acknowledgment of the existence
of the Grand Architect of the Uni
verse" While il is mistake. there
fore, to desribe the Italian lodges as
atheistic it cannot be denied that they
are violently anticlericai. Indeed, the
political aims of Italian Masonry
aims publicly proclaimed in writings
and SpeeChcS-cOmprSe the exclusion
of every Catholic or clerical element
from all public administrations, from
schools hospitals and phlianthropic in
stitutions. from the councils which
govern the destinies of the Country,
from accidental and other unions. from
| companies committees and even fam
lilies: an exclusion from everything,
everyW mere and forever. Thereby the
way will be sfnoothed toward the abo-
litiOn Of the papacy and Italy will thus
be free from its impIacablc and deadly
enemy" And the lodges. moreover. eX-
press their determination to bring
about the suppression of ali religious
corporations and the cOntiscation of all
ecclesiastical property" Were these
merely empty threats the Vatican
could afford to treat them with con-
tempt but unfortunately they are quite
the reverse for of the 5O4 members of
the Chamber of Deputies at Rome ther
are usually over 300 who are avowcd
t'reemascnS, and for the past 20 years
there has always been Il Masonic
majority in the cabinet. several of the
premiers. notably Depretis AMI
Zanardelli. being indeed buried with
Masonic honors. Furthermore a few
weeks ago the grand master Of the
Grand Orient of italy issued sentences
of expulsion from the craft against
two sena tors and two deputies for no
other reason than that they had ven
tured to join hands with the Clericals,
with view to common action against
the Socialists in the recent municipaI
~ min,
ties thus punished was the universally
respected Signor Villa who has no.
only held on two occasions the office of
cabinet minister. but was likewise ten
dered the premiership at one moment
by tho late King Humbert.
Similar cases have occurred in France
Tor after the collapse Of the General Bon
hanger bubble in France those of his al
herents who belonged to the craft were
supJectcd TO severe disciplinary measures
nS 'heir lodges. not because they had
taken part IN a political movement IN.
because they had been on the ins,nr yi,i.,
IN or,itr t. appreciate this lei any
t ,eilcan Mason consider how he would
~. , ~ Ca'ied I" account and punished by
ms Ipusc Tor having voted with some or
announcer fractional movement against no
party III office. -
In Austria ~ d Germ ,ny-in fact cvorv-
n
rrn Europc-frec- maSnnarv b;s ,.rmr
ne, II arraHed against the chuyc.l. This is
~ ~ inccnt development III the history of
,hG craft, but dates from the clos. III III,
n>,m century. IN those days not only
i r"ft,ih"iSm; nht likewise atheism. was ,
~, M, cSp"ri1ilI among the ari~tncrIcv: |
new cults. beliefs and philosphias Of ~,
iiu irlStan character were being in
or' &C., q every day and constituted the Iad !
W tne h'Ehly educated CLASSES wliTb
found in Masonry a convenient is. tr y
i,'c' - ior inc expression of their IDEAS /, |
- ti'crclofc to the anti-Christian ten
th.I'S u tn" Free m,ScnS Of thc 1ItI J
century thai must be ascrihcd mo bnltii
i' oh pi thc hGman Catholic Church. Thn
.ns'S TOOK w til" hight against the LII
- 'hu history teaches us how ;mnnrtn,t,
~ part masonry played in Austro I'm
antN ana Germany IN bringing ahout tb.
IL ,rricdi legislation Of Emperor Josanb
rom mat tim" the craft and H.
IInnIch nay" always boon II var HIN -,
M winch WAS first led to- condemn |
.,l' nin"r on account OF It's irrcIirinn ~
C..1f I1y