MASONIC OFFENSE
Masonic offenses fall in two distinct classes; those which are committed
against the laws, customs, ancient usages of the Fraternity, and those which are
in conflict with the laws of the Nation, State, or community; usually (not
always), these latter must involve moral turpitudes to he classed as Masonic
offenses. Thus, violation of a parking regulation, while an offense against a
local law, could hardly be held a Masonic offense, whereas selling liquor, legal
in many places, in many Grand Jurisdictions is a Masonic offense.
Many offenses in the first class are the result of ignorance; a brother ill
informed as to his duties in the Lodge, as a Mason, and not educated as to
Masonic law, may easily commit a Masonic crime in all innocence. In a vast
majority of such cases, admonition and instruction have been found much more
effective than the preferring of charges and the holding of a Lodge trial. Thus,
a newly made Mason, not yet instructed in all that a Mason should and should not
do in Lodge, might easily state openly how he had voted upon an applicant for
the degrees, or fail to answer a summons, or insist on speaking in Lodge without
recognition by the Master, with no taint of guilty intention. Obviously,
instruction will cure such ignorance and prevent a recurrence of the offense,
far more easily than preferring charges and holding a trial.
Some Masonic offenses of the first class cannot be overlooked or cured with
an admonition, especially those which are calculated to alter the opinion of the
general public towards Freemasonry. Thus, it is universally held that as Masonry
is greater than any man, the man must seek Masonry of his own free will and
accord, and without the solicitation of friends or the hope of gain. For any
Mason to ask his friend to join his Lodge is a Masonic offense. Because the
practice, if continued, would seedily put Freemasonry in the public mind in the
same class as secular organizations which proselyte, it is an offense justly
regarded as grave.
Any violation of any obligation is obviously a grave offense and one which
may, and always should, subject the offender to Masonic discipline.
Jurisdictions differ widely as to what must and what must not necessarily
become a matter for Lodge action. "Every violation of law involving moral
turpitude and any conduct likely to bring the Fraternity into disrepute is a
Masonic offense" is the attitude of many Jurisdictions. Others are much more
specific, and list a large number of actions to be, or not to he, Masonic
offenses. Thus, in Codes, of the several Jurisdictions it may be discovered
that:
"It is a Masonic offense for a brother to assist in stealing a Master Mason's
daughter to marry a profane person to whom the parents are opposed."
"The mere running of a pool or billiard table is not a Masonic offense. If
there is no gambling or sale of liquor in connection with the business, a
brother so engaged who is elected Senior Warden may be installed. But in
contemplation of Masonic law, the practice and the understanding between the
parties who play the game of pool or billiards that the losing party shall pay
for the game is gambling, and if the owner of the table has knowledge of such
practice, he, too, would be guilty of unmasonic conduct."
"Where a father was expelled from Masonry and died, and his sons, also
members of his Lodge, knowing of his expulsion, caused a monument to be erected
over his grave bearing Masonic emblems, this is a grave offense and a subject
for discipline."
"It is not a Masonic offense for a Mason to blackball a brother Mason in an
Odd Fellows Lodge."
"No Lodge shall entertain a charge against any Mason for the purpose of
adjusting mere legal rights, pecuniary or otherwise, unless such charge
specifies fraud on the part of the alleged offender, or involves moral
turpitude. When the charge against the accused is one which has been made the
basis of an action in the criminal courts, the Lodge may proceed regardless of
such pending criminal action."
"The payment or acceptance of any monetary or other consideration for service
as attorney in a Masonic case shall constitute a Masonic offense."
"A Master Mason who purchased goods upon the promise to pay for same next
clay, which he failed to do, but subsequently gives the brother from whom he
purchased the goods a promissory note, which he subsequently fails to pay, does
not clear himself of unmasonic conduct by giving of such note. The question in
the ease is, did the brother really intend, at the time of the purchase, to pay
his brother the next day, or was it his intention to deliberately swindle a
brother Mason by a fraudulent misrepresentation. If it was his intention never
to pay for the goods so purchased, and the statement was made designedly to
deceive a brother Mason, he should be expelled as common cheat and swindler."
"Disputing the correctness of a debt with a Mason, the transaction not
involving morals, is not unmasonic conduct. Masonry is not a collecting agency.
Nor a refusal to submit business differences to the Lodge's decision before
going to law. Nor suing a brother without notice. Nor simply taking advantage of
what the law allows, such as taking a homestead to prevent a brother Mason's
collecting his debt."
"As piety, secrecy, obedience, temperance, truth honesty, chastity and
charity, are a few of the many virtues upon which mystic covenants and virtues
are based, so their contrarities, profanity, evil speaking, insubordination,
deceit, intemperance, lewdness and derision, are a few of the many vices which
are subject of fraternal discipline, and for the correction or vindication of
which every Lodge involved is responsible to the whole Fraternity."
"A Lodge has the right to try a member for an offense committed before hiss
initiation, when it is of such character that if known at the time of balloting
it would have prevented his acceptance."
"A candidate's drunkenness being discovered during the conferring of a
degree, proceedings should be stopped, charges preferred, and the candidate
punished."
"The following acts, among others, have been held to constitute unmasonic
conduct, punishable by reprimand suspension, or expulsion according to the
nature of the charge and the circumstances under which the offense was
committee:
"Attacking the proceedings of a Lodge in a scurrilous communication through a
newspaper, and seeking thereby to cover Masonry with contempt and ridicule;
denial of Divine authenticity of the Bible; dishonest or fraudulent acts;
disobeying the summons of a Lodge, which, under ordinary circumstances, should
not be punished by expulsion; defamation of character, by sending scurrilous
matter through the mail; dues, non-payment of; drunkenness: embezzlement; false
swearing; fighting; fraudulent conduct in receiving a degree under an assumed
name (an applicant using a fictitious name within the knowledge of members of
the Lodge who recommend his application, was not guilty of fraudulent act);
going under an assumed name may or may not be an offense, according to the
circumstances, cause, object and intention; gambling; habitual drunkenness:
holding Masonic communication knowingly with an expelled Mason; homicide;
intoxication while in attendance on Grand Lodge, indecent exposure of the person
in the presence of ladies and others; incest and adultery; keeping or cohabiting
with a lewd woman; Masonic symbols, improper use of; obscene and vulgar language
unbecoming a Mason and gentleman: obtaining money from Masons and others under
false pretense; profane swearing; refusing to abide by a settlement of a
pecuniary difficulty, made by the Lodge at the request of the parties; seduction
of a Mason's wife; seduction; sending a challenge to fight a duel to a Mason;
slander of a Mason; slander of a Mason's wife; striking a Mason in anger but
repelling, in self-defense, an assault by a Mason, is not an offense); refusing
to be installed in office in which he has not served; slander of a profane;
street brawling and fighting between Masons; to inform a candidate by whom he
was blackballed: willful abandonment of family."
"It is a Masonic offense to become a member of, or policy holder in, any life
insurance of assurance company or association, or organization, having or using
the word "Mason", 'Masonic', 'Freemason', or referring in any way to the Masonic
Fraternity or to any so-called Masonic Body; or which uses any Masonic insignia
or emblem of so called Masonic Body, in its title, business, signs, cards,
circulars, or correspondence; Provided that this paragraph shall not affect any
membership or policy which was in existence prior to March 31st, 1899."
"To ask or solicit a Mason, within the body of a Lodge, or in the Lodge room,
or any of its anterooms, at any time preceding, during or following a
Communication of a Lodge, to apply for the degrees of any organization whose
membership is confined to Master Masons. whether or not said organization is
recognized as Masonic by this Grand Lodge, is a Masonic offense."
"It is a violation of State and Masonic law and contrary to the rules of
decorum and common decency, for a brother to enter the Lodge room carrying a
deadly weapon and should he do so he shall be charged and tried for unmasonic
conduct."
"Masonry should not be used for advertising purposes. Business cards bearing
Masonic emblems are prohibited, nor should such cards carry any parody or
doggeral tending to make light of any Masonic lecture or ceremony. A violation
of this edict is gross unmasonic conduct."
"Adultery or fornication with any one, although not related to a Mason,
subjects the offender to discipline, but when the woman in question is known by
the offender to be the wife, widow, mother, daughter, or sister of a Master
Mason, there is the added guilt of the breach of a Mason's obligation, and the
want of chastity on her part does not excuse the offender."
"When a Mason occupies an official position such as judge, prosecuting
attorney, juror, mayor, etc., he should perform his official duties without
showing partiality to any one, whether Mason or profane. If, for example, in the
performance of such official duty, a Mason issue a tax execution against a
brother Mason, this constitutes no Masonic offense."
Methods of handling Masonic offenses differ in practically all the forty-nine
Jurisdictions. The older method of trial in open Lodge has been abandoned in
many States in favor of some form of trial by Commission. The reason for the
change must be sought in the changed conditions of this day and age, contrasted
with that in which Lodges were few and small, distances great, travel difficult
and slow. Trial Commissions are elected by the Lodge, elected by Grand Lodge,
appointed by the Grand Master for a specified term, drawn for by lot in Lodge,
appointed by Master of the Lodge, appointed by the District Deputy Grand Master,
selected by a Committee appointed by Master. In some Jurisdictions the trial
body is termed a Committee, not a Commission, and is either appointed or
elected: by Master, the Grand Master, the Lodge or Grand Lodge.
In some Jurisdictions alternate methods are permitted; a brother against whom
charges have been preferred may he tried in open Lodge, or by a Commission, the
determination left either to the Lodge or the Master. It is noteworthy that in
Jurisdictions in which a choice is permitted, Lodges rapidly adopt the
commission form of trial, finding that the hard feelings schism in the Lodge,
and disagreeable features connected almost inevitably with a Lodge trial are to
a large extent avoided by leaving the matter to a Commission.
The power to adjudge the penalty is in some Jurisdictions in the Lodge, in
others in this Commission, in others in Grand Lodge. Masonic penalties are but
four - expulsion, indefinite suspension, definite suspension, reprimand. In a
majority of Jurisdictions, an appeal lies from any decision, from any penalty,
to Grand Lodge, unless guilt and penalty have been assessed by Grand Lodge, when
no appeal can be had, there being no body superior to which to appeal.
Grand Masters in practically all Jurisdictions have the power to suspend a
lodge officer from his office, or "arrest his jewel" as it is phrased in some
States. In five the Grand Master has the power to suspend an individual brother
from the time of the commission of an offense, until charges have been preferred
and trial held. This unusual power, in the few Jurisdictions in which it is
possessed, has worked to the benefit of the Fraternity; so much so, that the
desirability of an increase in the number of Jurisdictions possessing this power
was argued with much effect in a recent conference of Grand Masters in
Washington, D. C. A case cited in support of the power may be of interest:
In a certain Jurisdiction a visiting brother was admitted to a Lodge with
more alcohol inside him than the committee realized. The warmth of the room had
its inevitable effect, and the brother became very drunk. He also became
quarrelsome, attempted to interrupt the degree, uttered scurrilous and
defamatory remarks, became profane, and was finally ejected from the Lodge room
with difficulty and force !
Complaint was promptly made to the Grand Master. In turn, he requested
advices from the Grand Master of the Jurisdiction from which the offending
brother came. The response was immediate - the offending brother was promptly
suspended from all the rights and privileges of Masonry, pending his trial, and
caused the brethren of the Jurisdiction in which he temporarily resided no more
trouble.
It is practically universal that a sojourning brother may be tried by the
Lodge in the Jurisdiction of which he commits the offense but the sentence is
left to his own Lodge, for obvious reasons. Any brother is obligated to abide by
the laws, usages, customs, edicts of the Grand Lodge in whose Jurisdiction he
resides, no matter where he holds membership. A sojourning brother who commits a
Masonic offense must obviously be tried by those whom he offended, and who know
the facts, rather than his home Lodge, which has no evidence. Having been tried
and found guilty, it is obviously not possible for a Lodge in Jurisdiction A to
suspend or expel him from his own Lodge in Jurisdiction B. The power to suspend
or expel is vested in the Lodge or Grand Lodge to which he owes allegiance.
Freemasonry is so much more an organization of laws which state "thou shalt"
than "thou shalt not" - is so much concerned with charity and toleration, and
has so few among her far flung membership who are not upright citizens, that
Masonic trials (in proportion to the number of Lodges and Masons) are
comparatively rare. It is one of the glories of Freemasonry that she wins
obedience to her laws and customs, not because of fear of penalty and deterrent
sentences for guilt, but because of genuine love for, an veneration of, her laws
and customs.
So may it ever be, and so must it ever be, if Freemasonry is to continue as
she has always been, a great force for good in the communities in which she
lives and serves !
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