The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-17
MANY PRESIDENTS
 HAVE BEEN MASONS
Washington, Jackson, Garfield, Mokfn. ley, Roosevelt and Taft Were
 All Members of the


 All Members of the
 Brooklyn Eagle.
 A new Masonic President was in- ducted into offoe when William H. Taft held his right hand high and swore to do his duty in maintaining the coun-
 The addition M of the latest Chief Ex- eeutive to the noted order was accom- plished couple of weeks before he took his place as the successor of unusual hoROr of being admitted a Mason "at sight," a privilege that is only granted on rare occasions. and then only in the case of men of first there was good reason for having waived that strict law of probation aspire to membership. for undoubtedly 1t was his absorption in his duties to the country that deprived him of hav- ing long before the present time put into execution his long cherished de sire to become a member of kilwin- ming Lodge. of which hts father. member of President Grants Cabinet.
 At the time that the new President. at that time plain Judge Taft of Ohio, comparatively unknown to the coun- try. was sent to the Philippines by his great national services. and bring order out of chaos that had been legacy to Uncle Sam there at the close of the war with Spain and the contest with the Filipinos under Aguinaldo. MT. Taft was just on the point of becoming a member of Kilwinning Lodge.
 He had communicatsd his intention to some of his Masonic friends, but be- fore the application could be made he was summoned to Washington to have the conference with the President that to the White House. and hence the plan had to be temporarily shelved. In the intervening time not many public men have been called on .,,i, for He had to make long trips to the Ori- ent. He was the pacificator. tho administrator. Wherever there was consequently his desire to become Mason had to wait. It was only a natural natnneT, sentiment of of the Masonic Order of Sinoinnat: ,1on % 10 man made a Mason before he went into the chair of Washington. for the Father of His Country had a most act- i've pride in his membership.
 There were some Masons in other parts of the country. particularly in Texas. who raised the point of tradi-
 o ad tse aws sha o he erGer fop vdf without hayins M his case follow the regular order. but an examnation in the laws of Masonry show that pro vision has been made for admitting lat sight" in exceptional casess
 This was accomplished by the Grand Master of the Order of Masons in Ohio aoeemG :.oeeasionai lodge. S H for % the purpose of conferring the three symbolic degrees on MT. Taft.
 to make this ceremony binding. but with the fame of MT. Taft. and his great personal popularity among the citizens of his native State. it would nt inlnOaSfhlA the number down to proportions that small, hence there were 500 Masons Of high and low degree at the. ceremony. Without any previous passing Of the ballot box or probation of any kind. the noted public servant was admitted to membership.
 Taft had additional honor copferred upon him by wire from the Masonic Club of Yale University that he had been admitted as an honorary member
 This was the-second time in the his tory of Masonry in the State of Ohi. that any candidate had been admitted at sight.
 There was a touch of distinct pathos in the fact that Hiram Lodge. No. 21. sent a repr esentative to the initiation This was the lodge to which the late and the relations that MT. Taft enjoyed with him made the recognition from that lodge doubly appropriate.
  may be said that 1t was almost the rule for the President Of the United States to be q Mason" sa p.t4s..,}s
 One of the best~remembered pictures of George Washington shows the far ther of his country wearing his Mason ic apron, and holding trowel in his hand. Washington was at one time the master of his lodge at Alexandria, Va, and in that quaint old town can be seen many Masonic relics of him. in- cluding the chair which he used to oc.
 Andrew Jackson took high order in the ranks of Masonry. and progressed to the point where he was Grand Mas ter of the Masons of Tennessee.
 James A. Garfield was also an enthu- siastic Mason. He belonged to lodge in Washington, was one of Its charter members. and was noted for the close interest he took In its affairs; Ho the Knights Templar.
 William Mckinley went just as high in the practice of Masonry as his king the same number of degTees. During his administration. Mckinley took close interest in all that per present at the laying of more corner. stones of Masonic temples than any of his predecessors.
 Now that Theodore Roosevelt Is out of the highest office in the land. and will have a little more leisure to con suit his own pleasures, there Is no doubt that he will make good his promise to advance further along in the study of Masonry.
 MT. Roosevelt joined the order in Oyster Bay as member of Matin- necock Lodge, He received the first two symbolical degrees during Jan- uary and February. 1901, previous to his Inauguration n s as Vice President as,s In gress had adjourned, he took the de- gree of Master Mason.
 The whole study became intensely interesting to the President. and he threw himself into 1t with character tance between Washington and Oys- ter Bay. and the demands made upon his time, he was not able to give the theme the attention he wanted, but he has repeatedly said that just as soon as his term expired he wanted to take all degrees up to that of Knight Tenn plar, and would do so just as soon as he returned from his trip to Africa. MT. Taft has similar plans in view. He is going to take the Scottish rites and up to and including the thirty second degree.