It is something approaching a universal practice among Masons to erroneously speak of Grand Lodge as a separate entity; as though it were something apart from the Lodges from which it derives revenues for its support and upon which it imposes rules and regulations. I sense two reasons for this mistaken conception.
Within my memory it was the common practice to designate Lodges as "subordinate" and to speak of them as such. Some Grand Lodge codes may yet designate Lodges as subordinate. The Oregon code formerly used that expression. Happily, however, the inaccurate word has been replaced, or is being replaced in all codes by the more accurate "constituent," or reference is made to "Lodges," without any qualifying adjective, yet the idea expressed by "subordinate" still prevails among the greater number of the Brethren.
As a matter of fact, the Lodges, instead of being subordinate, control the operation of Grand Lodge. It is true that its officers, committee members and past elective officers, the last named usually being Past Grand Masters, are members of Grand Lodge; but every officer, every committee member and every past elective officer might be present in his capacity as such and yet Grand Lodge could not be opened. The representatives of a specified number of Lodges (seven seems to be universal) must be registered and present before the Grand Master may sound his gavel. No legislation may be enacted, no change in any law, rule or regulation may be made, no Grand Lodge officer may be elected or installed unless the representatives of the required number of Lodges remain present to maintain a quorum and the number required for a quorum was fixed by the representatives of the Lodges while assembled as a Grand Lodge. The officers, committee members and past elective officers are powerless to proceed as a Grand Lodge unless the representatives of the Lodges make it possible for them to do so. In my opinion, it might with more truth be said that Grand Lodge is subordinate to the constituent Lodges than that the Lodges are subordinate to the Grand Lodge.
After Grand Lodge has been legally opened, each constituent Lodge is entitled to three votes if it has any representative whatsoever present, while officers, committee members and past elective officers have only one vote each. The constituent Lodges, therefore, have a great preponderance in voting power, and their representatives not only may control the acts of Grand Ledge, but are responsible for whatever laws, rules and regulations may be in the code for enforcement by the Grand Lodge or by the Grand Master.
It is true that the Grand Master, except for the few days of each year when his Grand Lodge is in session, is actually the Grand Lodge and rules the Fraternity in his jurisdiction, but he does that wholly through powers given him by representatives of the Lodges while assembled as a Grand Lodge, or through lack of restraint placed upon powers inherent in the office by ancient custom; but the Grand Master completes his term in office by reporting his acts and decisions to the assembled representatives of the Lodges, who may nullify anything the Grand Master has done while acting as the Grand Lodge. Happily, nullification of the acts of a Grand Master is not common.
Showing further the powers of the representatives of the Lodges, there is no appeal from their decisions when acting as the preponderant force in Grand Lodge; not even if they should illegally override the provisions of the code which they have themselves enacted .
A second reason why Grand Lodge has been pictured as a separate entity, as something apart from the Lodges, is that representatives of Lodges have so frequently played such a small part in Grand Lodge communications. Usually the representatives of Lodges are persons unaccustomed to giving voice to their ideas before such an assemblage as a Grand Lodge. The result often has been that officers and Past Grand Masters, accustomed to participation in Grand Lodge proceedings and to expressing themselves in assemblies, have seemed to take the proceedings out of the hands of the representatives of the Lodges. This has been, not because the officers and Past Grand Masters wished to play that part, but because the representatives of the Lodges hesitated to take the part that was theirs to take.
In Oregon, all Grand Masters of at least the last half dozen years have informed the assembled delegates, as soon as Grand Lodge had been opened, that they were the Grand Lodge, have urged them to participate and have given them every opportunity to do so. Representatives of the Lodges have followed that advice to such an extent that a new and healthful feeling toward Grand Lodge has developed.
Inasmuch as representatives of the Lodges may control the acts of any session of Grand Lodge, have power to enact any legislation they may desire and to defeat any legislation which they disapprove, and are responsible for the election of those who carry on the business of Grand Lodge for them, they should realize that any criticism offered by them of any action taken by the Grand Lodge of which they are a part is, in fact, criticism of themselves for having failed to exercise their prerogatives in accordance with the desires of the Brethren whom they represented.
Grand Lodge is not a separate entity. It is composed of constituent Lodges which, through their representatives are responsible for it and all its acts.
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Bro Elbert Bede - Editor and publisher of several periodicals. Born June 28, 1881. Retired in 1936, moving to Portland, Oregon where he purchased the Masonic Analyst, changing its name to Oregon Mason in 1938 and later to Oregon Freemason.
Raised in Chicago Lodge No 271, North Branch, Minnesota and later affiliated with Ashlar Lodge No 209 of Portland, Oregon. Raised in Cisago Lodge 232, Illinois. Member of Cottage Grove Lodge No 51, Oregon.
Bro Elbert Bede was editor of the Oregon Mason for many years. He was also an accomplished speaker, and in 1945 a number of his 3-5 –7 Minute talks were published together as a book; it seems to have weathered the years well. After his death thirty more of his talks were collected; and are published for the first time. They are not intended to be brilliant papers on Masonic education, or glittering gems of oratory, but just simple thoughtful addresses for the banquet hour. They have a distantly American flavor; but, if finding words doesn’t come easy to you, some of Bede’s talks could be adapted for use as well. For example, he has good thoughts on “Interpreting our Symbols.” “The Hour of Refreshment,” and “Why not Organize for Public Service?”
Famous for his masonic books, 3-5-7 Minute Talks on Freemasonry, 5-15 Minute Talks and 1st Landmarks of Freemasonry (1954).
As researched from various web sites. [MCBJ, Moderator]
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Article above first appeared in the May 1946 Issue of the Philalethes.
Reposted by Ed Halpaus in [Corinthian] More Light #222 - Grand Lodge.
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