January, 1948
Contents
A RULE OF LIFE THE INDIVIDUAL AND MASONRY
First Inter-American Conference FREEMASONRY IN FOREIGN LANDS
MUSIC IN MASONRY SEEDS OF TOMORROW
THE PHILALETHES SOCIETY NEWS The Romance of Paper-Making
By Walter A. Quincke, F.P.S.
Los Angeles, Calif.
ALTHOUGH every day is a new beginning, and so far as our personal experience is concerned a "new year" may start any time, there is something about the ending of December and the first weeks or so of January that makes even the careless thoughtful. The passing year has brought both joys and sorrows - what may not the new year have in store? Where shall we be when the bells fall on our ears again at the close of 1948 ?
It is the fashion to smile at New Year resolutions, so often made only to be broken; but they are a definite help if we make them firmly intending to keep them ! They will only weaken us if we throw them to a troublesome conscience merely as a "sop" - something tokeep it quiet for the time being, until it goes to sleep again. Providing that they be sufficiently elastic to change their form when there is reasonable cause, rules fence in duties that might be neglected and keep them in the forefront of our minds. But to multiply rules is a big mistake, for there is one which, if faithfully kept, will make us both blessing and blessed.
The rule of life! Just loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. Serving him, trusting him, hoping for him. Refraining even under grave provocation from saying what would sting if he said it to us; forgiving him as we would be forgiven; considering him as we would be considered; helping him when he needs it with the thoughtful delicacy which make help acceptable instead of humbling; respecting his weakness, his prejudice, his infirmity; laughing with him instead of at him; and, should there come a time when sincerity demands, we should say that we know will please him, taking care to blend truth with charity.
All the little rules we make for ourselves come into line with this one. The "rule of order," or, how many New Years have not begun with the resolution that we would not leave our things about, nor lose them, nor hide them away! For we cannot be untidy all to ourselves any more than we can be ill tempered and not spoil someone else's pleasure; and nothing is more upsetsetting than the fuss and worry of hunting for things which should be ready to hand.
And even if we often fail to keep, even fltfully, the golden rule which enjoins us to love others as ourselves, every effort we made in this direction brings its own reward, here and now. And as we grow into the habit of thinking of people kindly we cease to be annoyed at their peculiarities, and create an atmosphere of good feeling in which they cease to be annoyed at ours. We must always remember that the hearing and forbearing is not needed on our side alone - when we find our neighbor difficult to put up with, we may be sure that he finds it equally difficult to put up with us. There will always be great need for self-control and patience, but when we reckon up gain and loss on the eve of 1948, in the measure we have kept the "rule of love," so one will outweigh the other.
We should turn and look upon the valley of the past year and as we look a glow of sunlight will break upon the past and in the sunshine is a soft rain falling from heaven. It washes away the stain of our evil and our fear and from the purity of the upper sky a voice seems to descend and enter our sombered hearts - "Go forward, abiding in faith, hope and love, for lo, I am with you alway."
May the year 1948 bring us all near each other as "children of the same dear Father."
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By Lloyd llime, M.P.S.
Ottumwa, Iowa
EVERY individual is by nature endowed with certain traits of character which form the basis of reason and the conduct of life. In fact, these natural traits or tendencies are but sign-posts along the highway of life directing us in our words, thoughts and actions. If, by self-analysis, we can discover and discard those traits which seem to lead us in the wrong direction, and at the same time cultivate those natural tendencies which point the way to higher achievement, then we have carried into effect one of the great principles of Masonry.
Our station in life is fixed many time by conditions of circumstances over which we have no control, consequently the individual is master of his own destiny only in a certain degree. It would therefore seem that the niche which we are to occupy has already been carved for us by some natural or divine power, and the heights to which we can rise are pretty well defined by powers and deficiencies within us. Our ability to make proper decisions, the height of our own ambitions, and the relationship existing between ourselves and our fellowmen are the cardinal principles which determine our success as individuals and as citizens.
Masonry recognizes the inherent faults of the individual member and endeavors by precept and example to curb irregularities. It provides an opportunity for self-improvement by regular attendance at its meetings and through the study and application of its beautiful ceremonies and lectures. It provides the opportunity for social contact whereby men from every walk of life may meet upon a common plane. Here is taught the correct principles of righteous living, here we learn to get along with our neighbor and our fellowman. Here we are taught the three great values . . . Faith, Hope and Charity, reminding us of our triple duties as Masons, those we owe to God, to our brethren and to ourselves.
If Masonry as an institution and America as a nation are to survive, then we must have Faith in God, in our brethren, in ourselves. Our Hope in the future depends on the quality and sincerity of our Faith, while the journey of life will be judged by the greatest of all virtues; Charity.
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First Inter-American Conference of Symbolic Freemasonry
By Leo Fischer, F.P.S., Alhambra, California
AN IMPORTANT step towards the universalization of Freemasonry has passed almost unperceived by the Masonic press in the United States, and we fear that the ultra-conservative and and isolationist elements in American Masonry will pay little attention to it once it has come to their notice. We refer to the First Inter-American Conference of Symbolic Freemasonry held at Montevideo, Uruguay, from April 14 to 20, 1947.
Last year, the Grand Lodge of Panama, through its official organ, La Fraternidad, published an invitation to all Masonic Grand Lodges in the United States, Canada, and Central and South America, to send delegates to an Inter-American Congress of Symbolic Masonry to be held at Montevideo, Uruguay, on October 12, 1946. The idea had originated with the Grand Lodges of Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina in 1943, and the chairmanship had been turned over to the Grand Lodge of Chile (see "The Philalethes," December, 1946). Unsurmountable obstacles made it impossible to hold the Congress at that time ("The Philalethes," January, 1947); but half a year later, the official delegates of some forty Masonic Grand Bodies assembled at the Temple of the Grand Lodge of Uruguay, at 1481 Calle Dr. Duvimioso Terra, in Montevideo, and debated and traced the plans and designs for the work of pioneering that may, we hope, brlng us closer to the goal the most progressive Masons have been seeking ever since the Craft grew from a society of operative workers into a powerful army of men banded together to educate and free humanity: the universalization of Freemasonry and its elevation to the high plane of power and influence which it should rightly occupy.
The Masonic Grand Bodies represented at the Conference were:. The Grand Lodge of Argentine Masonry; the Argentine Federal Grant Orient; the Grand Lodge of Bolivia; the Grand Lodges of Minas Geraes, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, Para, Ceara, Sao Paulo, and Rio Grande do Sul (all in Brazil); the Grand Orient of Brazil; the Grand Orient of Rio de Janeiro; the Grand Lodge of Chile; the Grand Lodges of Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Benito Juarez, Tamaulipas, Valle de Mexico, Guadalupe, Victoria, Occidental Pensinsular, Baja California, San Luis Potosi, Chiapas, Hidalgo, Restauracion, Occidental Mexicana, Campeche, and Unida Mexicana (all in Mexico); the Grand Lodge of Peru; the Grand Lodge of Ecuador; the Grand Lodge of Panama; the Grand Lodge of Paraguay; the Grand Lodge of Uruguay; the Grand Lodge of Venezuela, and the Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico.
The officers of the Conference were: the Grand Master of Uruguay, President; the Grand Master of Argentine Masonry, Vice-president; and the Grand Master of Chile, Secretary-General; with the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Rio de Janeiro and a Past Grand Master of Panama acting as Senior and Junior Grand Wardens, respectively.
Each body represented had one vote, regardless of the number of delegates present. The resolutions of the Conference, passed by a majority vote, will take effect upon their approval by a majority of the powers represented.
Quite naturally, a large part of the time was taken up by work of organization. Rules were adopted, care being taken to make them general and elastic, and to leave it to agencies created by the Conference to work out the details.
The body created by the Conference to coordinate the inter-potential Masonic work will be known as Inter-American Masonic Federation. Its see will be the Grand Lodge of Chile, and its regulations will be worked out and approved by the Permanent Office, Advisory Committee, and Grand Assembly, for the creation of Which bodies the Rules provide. The next Conference will be held in Mexico in 1950.
Among the resolutions adopted by the Conference besides those concerning the creation and organization of the Inter-American Masonic Federation, there were several concerning important subjects that will be debated and acted upon at future conferences, among them the basic features of inter-potential jurisprudence, the standardization of symbolic instruction, the national and international organization of Masonic action and the post-war work to be done by Masonry.
The Sovereign Grand Lodge of Puerto Rico was represented at the Montevideo Conference by one of its Past Grand Masters, M.W. Brother Rodolfo Ramirez Pabon, whom the Grand Master had appointed for this mission. This Brother, upon his return, made an oral report at the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge, he presented his flnal report at the Quarterly Communication of that body.
Our esteemed contemporary "Acacia," the offlcial organ of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Puerto Rico, in its July-August, 1947, issue, from which we have taken the above data, closes its editorial with the following words:
"The Conference of Montevideo, which is the name under which the great gathering reported by us has passed into history, was not able to perform the miracle of improvising in six days what had not been done in two centuries; but it succeeded in opening the way, in a practical and constructive manner, for the getting together of the Masons of America, as a preliminary step towards the fraternization of all the Brethren of our Order, and it only remains for the Great Architect of the Universe to illuminate our minds in order that its decisions and resolutions may be translated into tangible reality."
QUESTION: We have in vain looked through the list of Masonic Grand Lodges represented at the Montevideo Conference for the names of any of the sixty odd English-speaking Grand Jurisdictions of North America. We understand that all were courteously invited.
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By Leo Fischer, F.P.S.
SPAIN. From a circular signed by Lucio Martinez Gil, G.M. of the Spanish Grand Orient in Exile In Mexico City, we glean the following facts: The Spanish Grand Orient registered in 1889 under the provisions of the Spanish Corporation Law and operated in full accordance with the law until the same was repealed by the Franco government. Nevertheless, even during that period, the police under the monarchy took advantage of the occasional suspension of the guarantees of the constitution to invade the Lodges and seize their records, and Masons were sent to prison without trial. The only time the Spanish Grand Orient was ever prosecuted in the courts of justice under the Franco regime, it was acquitted. In 1940, the Grand Orient had thus been operating legally for 51 years under the old law, when the Franco government enacted legislation establishing the "crime of Masonry", punishable with a minimum of 12 years and 1 day of imprisonment. Since then, 32,000 cases have already been tried by so-called special courts for the suppression of Masonry and communism under this infamous legislation.
SIERRA LEONE (West Africa). Until recently, only four Masonic Lodges existed in Freetown, the capital of the British Crown Colony of Sierra Leone. To this the Grand Lodge of England has recently added two more, Progressive Lodge, No. 6431, consituted on March 18, 1947, and Wllberforce Lodge, No. 6432, on March 21, 1947. The Lodge last named is the first in West Africa to comprise in its membership both European and African Brethren. It was named after William Wilberforce (1759-1833), the great protagonist of the abolition of slavery.
ENGLAND. The United Grand Lodge of England is now governed by the Duke of Devonshire, who is since 1874 the first Mason not connected with the royal family by blood or marriage to be Grand Master of that Grand Lodge.
SWITZERLAND. On May 31, 1947, the Swiss Grand Lodge ALPINA, at its 95th Annual Communication, elected Albert Natural, of Geneva to be its Grand Master for 1947-1952, with Gaston Nordmann, of Geneva, as Deputy Grand Master. Pastor Joseph Boeni, of Trogen, the retiring Grand Master, served the Grand Lodge during the eventful period from 1942-1947. Bro. Alfred Siza, of Geneva, was elected as Grand Secretary, vice J. J. Buehler. The 39 Lodges of Switzerland were all represented at the Communication.
FRANCE. At the closing of the Annual Communication of the Grand Orient of France, on September 19, 1947, the presiding officer announced that Grand Master Francis Viaud had been promoted to officer of the Lesion of Honour
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The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be. - Socrates.
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By Leo Fischer, F.P.S.
Alhambra, Calif.
IN MASONIC LODGES in the Latin countries, the organist is generally known as the "column of harmony" and is one of the most highly esteemed and considered officers of the Lodge. He arranges all the musical programs and enhances the beauty and solemnity of the ritualistic work by suitable music. On gala occasions, talented Craftsmen or non-Masons famous as singers or players are called in to enrich the musical program. Non-Masons are employed even when the ritual is exemplified; but are only admitted when their presence is required and are then separated from the Lodge proper by a special screen which prevents their seeing or hearing anything a profane must not see or hear.
In our Blue Lodges, the musical feature is as often as not sadly neglected or not properly appreciated. The Scottish Rite bodies, on the other hand, are showing a predilection for music. Musically inclined Brethren get together and organize Scottish Rite Orchestras which in many instances have acquired local, and sometimes more than local, fame. There is no doubt that our Fraternity attracts the musically gifted, and it will hardly be necessary for us to cite the names of the world-famous composers, pianists, and violinists who have been received into our Lodges.
Why is not a greater advantage taken of the musical talents among the Craftsmen in the United States? Why do not more of them organize and use their gift of music for the benefit of Masonry? The President of our Society, Bro. Walter A. Quincke, is setting the Craft a good example in those respects. His numerous vocal and instrumental compositions include a number of Masonic pieces. One of them, "The Scottish Rite March," is being played by a full orchestra during the conferral of the 32nd Degree and was recently performed by a 70-piece orchestra on the stage of the Al Malaikah Temple (Los Angeles, California) before an audience of several thousand Shriners and their families. Bro. Quincke uses his great ability as the pianist of the Orchestra to delight the members of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite whenever the bodies meet.
In European Masonry, music plays a much more important part than in our country. The famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, who is an honored member of the Philalethes Society, has composed ritualistic music and Masonic songs and hymns of great merit and is now, at the age of 82 years, still composing music for the use of the Craft. His activity in behalf of Masonry should be an inspiration to those of our members who are endowed with musical talents but do not seem to consider Masonry worthy of some special effort on their part.
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Never let your zeal outrun your charity. The former is but human, the latter is divine. - Hoseo Ballou.
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By Lee Edwin Wells, F.P.S.
Canoga Park, Calif.
(Being an address delivered bv Brother Wells on October 22, 1947, before Oxnard Lodge No. 341, F. & A. M., Oxnard California).
Worshipful Master, Wardens and Brethren:
Tonight Oxnard Lodge honors its Past Masters and in so doing follows an age-old tradition of Freemasonry. It has truly been said that there is no higher honor that can be bestowed upon a Mason than the exalted and well-earned title. "Past Master." The phrase in itself has deep meaning, many implications, and those who bear the title should certainly be respected and honored.
It has always seemed to me that we too easily discharge our duty toward our Past Masters. In all truth, when we honor them, we honor the traditions not only of our lodge, but of our Craft as a whole. When we speak of what they have done, do we not thereby silently imply the hope that we may do as well? You and I may never attain the title of Past Master, but in our place and in our time we also serve. By our ballots we can select those who will carry on as these men have so nobly done. We can promise no less. Nor should we keep this promise in mind only on Past Master's night, but it should be with us throughout the year.
For, my brethren, the hour of testing is not far off. We have come through a period of storm and stress and we seem to be approaching a period of rebuilding, of peaceful ways. Though the drums of discord still rumble, most of us feel that the fading sound is the last echo of these years of stress. Brethren, I assure you we have reached only a breathing period. How can we talk or think "Peace ! Peace ! " when there is no peace - only an armistice?
We of the Philalethes Society become daily more and more aware of what is happening behind the scenes. Our membership covers the world and the letters we receive from Europe, the Near East, South Africa and Australia have an ominous undertone when considered in the light of world events.
I do not speak of politics, except insofar as it effects the very life or death of our Fraternity. Our brothers in Europe know very well - too well - what war can do. But they also sense very deeply the dreadful implications of the future. Hitler and Mussolini were overthrown, and we thank God for it. But their overthrow awakened a slumbering giant of the East to a sense of his own power, and that giant, my Brothers, is an enemy of Freemasonry. When the red flag of the Hammer and Sickle appeared over Russia, Freemasonry vanished therein. Hitler and his Italian puppet were as nothing compared to the new menace that we face.
But you say - what has the world political situation to do with us? You may also say - Masonry is a philosophy, a speculative art, entirely divorced from world currents. Hitler did not think so little of us, my Brothers! He put Masons in concentration camps and hanged them. If we are so divorced from world events why has a church hurled interdicts and bulls against us for two hundred years? If we are only a social band of men, why then has revolutionary Russia banned us, and continues to do so wherever her power extends?
Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth - no dictator, whatever he is politically, economically, religiously, can tolerate these great principles that are the very heart of our Fraternity - the life blood of its tradition. Masons all over the world are aware that we face our supreme test and, as a consequence, they give serious attention to the strength of our Fraternity, try to guage its ability to survive should the worst come, endeavor to find some means by which perhaps we might avert the dark Masonic night that threatens. They see in Masonry today the sum total of its accumulated traditions just as you see before you in these Past Masters the symbol of the tradition of your lodge. Yesterday has shaped and formed Today, as Today will mark the boundaries of Tomorrow. It is well, then, that we evaluate ourselves, our aims and purposes here and now so that we may know whether tomorrow we stand or fall.
In America, we grew swiftly and easily during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Not so in Europe. In the Catholic countries, there has always been steady pressure exerted against the Fraternity, pressure exerted in society and in government. Men dared the thunders of the Church, risked their success in business or the professions to become Masons. They were few, compared to the total populations, but they were sincere and ardent. They studied the Royal Art and loved it. Seeking only a chance to live, Continental Masons had to enter politics and nght the forces arrayed against them - or go down. They fought - they lived, though they often brought down upon themselves the anger of their brethren in more fortunate jurisdictions.
When the Nazi hordes swept over Europe, what happened to these Masons? I think you know. They were shot, tortured, some sent to concentration camps, their property was confiscated, their lodges were destroyed and their books burned. But comparatively few of them ever denied their Masonic affiliation. They were proud of it - as we are. There was no wholesale desertion of the Craft.
In America and England there was no direct attack against the lodges because there was no invader. The American Fraternity served well and did much in all the theatres of war, and there were Masonic Clubs on Pacific atolls where a few years before primitive drums beat out the rhythms of savage dances. We have a right to be proud of our accomplishments. We returned victorious from the war and now we again pick up the old ways, and apparently there has been no real change in the Fraternity.
But what of Europe today? Let us look at some of the latest news the Philalethes Society has had from its members abroad.
Masonry has, of course, suffered heavily in the British Isles by the repeated and terrible bombings during the war which caused the destruction of many of the Temples and much property of the Craft, but it has carried on with the wonderful spirit that has always distinguished it. Its benevolent institutions have not suffered. The Royal Masonic Institution for Boys reports that 857 boys are now receiving the benefits, and 5,332 have been admitted without ballot since 1910, including 568 sons of Brethren who lost their lives or became incapacitated on or through active service in time of war. As a result of the vastly increased cost of all necessities, the annual expenditure has risen to ca. 150,000 pounds sterling and the income derived from invested capital amounts at present to about 26,000 pounds. The Board relies on the continued support of the Craft to enable the high standards of the schools to be upheld. The Royal Masonic Institution for Girls reports that "nearly 900 girls are now receiving the benefits of the Institution, of which 500 are in the School, the remainder being in receipt of grants for outeducation or for further training." The Royal Masonic Hospital of London, primarily a hospital for paying patients of limited means, supported by contributions of Masons all over the world, dedicated two-thirds of its accomodations to the Services during the war, admitting 8,600 men from the three services at its own expense and without any state grant or financial aid. The number of Lodges on the rolls of the United Grand Lodge of England is still growing steadily. Scotland and Ireland report progress and a fine Masonic spirit.
Little is to be said of Sweden and Denmark where Masonry has not suffered greatly. In Norway, the damage done to Masonic property and records by the Nazis is being rapidly repaired.
Finland is working hard to rebuild its Masonry. Its Grand Lodge is but a quarter of a century old, organized under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of New York.
France, Holland, Belgium had to start from "scratch," for the Nazi invader did not spare anything Masonic in those countries. The Craftsmen who survived began by cleansing the lodges of those few members whose conduct had been suspicious under the Nazi occupation. All the Masonic bodies are having a hard time replacing the buildings, paraphernalia, records and libraries, destroyed and lost.
In France, the disagreement between the two ruling Grand bodies, the Grand Orient and the Grand Lodge of France, has not yet been healed. The personal factor seems to be largely responsible tor this, as the rank and file of Masons desire a reconciliation.
Belgium and Holland both do their best to forge ahead, despite the handicap of the irreparable losses which thev have suffered. There is a profound, disturbing note, howeverCthe dread of another World War and invasion paralyzes much of the Masonic enthusiasm. Many of the Brethren fear that their countries will be overwhelmed by a wave of Communism, the "Red Tide."
Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia are too much under Soviet influence to show any Masonic activity, and the same may be said of Hungary and Austria. In the latter country, however, attempts to revive the Grand Lodge of Vienna are under way.
The Balkan countries do not show any great activity so far as Masonry is concerned. In Greece, attempts at reorganization are being made. In Turkey, Masonry has not shown any sign of life since its voluntary (?) dissolution in 1935.
In Switzerland, the lodges of the Grand Lodge Alpina have done good work for our Institution during the war. At their last annual communication in May, 1947, M.W. Brother Albert Natural was elected Grand Master, replacing M.W. Brother Boeni, a former Catholic priest. Swiss Masonry has three official languages - French, German, and Italian.
In Italy, the Masonic situation is rather confused. A number of Grand Orients and Grand Lodges claim the power, Mussolini did a fairly thorough job in "liquidating" Masons, destroying their records and confiscating their property, and there are numerous claimants for succession.
In Spain and Portugal, Masonry has practically ceased to exist since the advent to power of the dictators Franco and Salazar. There is a Spanish Grand Orient in Exile functioning in Mexico, where the Masonic bodies have extended generous hospitality to it.
Masonry in Germany, suppressed, ruthlessly persecuted and robbed of all its possessions by the Hitler government, is beginning to revive, at least in the part of the country occupied by the American and British forces. The Grand Lodge of Hamburg, founded in 1740 and closed by Hitler's government in 1933, has been re-opened. One of its lodges ushered in a new period of activity by initiating six candidates last April. All other former Grand Bodies of Germany are said to have been re-established, except the Grand Lodge of Saxony, in the Russian zone of occupation.
From China come reports of the proposed organization of a Grand Lodge of China by lodges working under the Philippine, English, Scotch, Irish and Massachusetts jurisdictions.
In the Philippines, where Masonry was wrecked by the Japanese, the reorganization has been rapid, in spite of the great losses in personnel and assets. There are now 118 lodges under the Philippine Grand Lodge as aginst 119 before the war. The President of the Republic is an active Mason, and so is the U.S. Ambassador.
So, in a brief and rather cold manner, we have reviewed the Masonic situation around the world. I think we are familiar enough with that of the United States, for your lodge is typical of almost every American lodge. Here in this country we are again discussing degree mills, lapsed time between degrees, and much the same sort of thing we discussed before the war. In England, property only was destroyed Masonry comes to life again in just those countries outside the Russian orbit. You will have noticed that satellite nations and the Balkans present a barren field for Masonic labor. You will also have noticed the attitude in Holland. "Why rebuild? The Red Tide will come and all our work will be destroyed again." Is this attitude prevalent throughout all Europe? I think it is. The letters from our French brethren that we o fthe Philalethes Society receive can, all of them, be summarized very briefly. Our French brethren, in essence, say to us:
"Everywhere Masonry is rebuilding except where the dictators still rule. We know that sooner or later these dictators will again strive for world conquest, either for their personal aggrandizement or to force their social, economic and political ideas upon us."
And now, it seems to me, our French brethren put the finger on the great problem of today and the key to the future. "If Masons all over the world united and pulled together, we could create a powerful force to counteract the evil influences that are silently working to undermine all of us. But we must unite, for no one of us can do much alone. If, on the other hand, this is impossible, then let us strive to assure ourselves that Masonry will continue to live, even though its lodges be darkened and destroyed, its members scattered."
So, from the foreign jurisdictions, the hand of fraternity is extended to us and, I can assure you, American Masonry, like the American way of life, is held in high respect by European Masons. They see us as the last firm and strong bulwark against Masonic darkness and chaos. They look to us for strength, encouragement and to heal the fraternal discords that too often have held us asunder. But let us suppose that, for a variety of reasons, we cannot extend the hand of fraternity to these Masons abroad, that the present interlocking system of recognition and non-recognition prevents any definite action in this direction, and we must look to ourselves. Then we have but one course of action left open to us. And this course of action cannot be taken by any Grand Lodge, though that Grand Lodge does everything in its power to forward it. This course of action for the future can be taken only by you, your officers, your Past MastersCin short only by your lodge. And what is this course ? Simply instilling into each and every member of your lodge a real and abiding love and allegiance to the Fraternity so that in times of stress, as well as in the days of calm, the Craft is foremost in our thoughts and hearts. It sounds good, doesn't it? It sounds as though all we have to do is vow, silently or audibly, to so dedicate ourselves. Thinking Masons all over the world only wish it could be that simple.
For let me ask you, Brethren, how can a man be loyal to an organization when he knows nothing of its past, with the possible exeption of a few garbled ideas he has picked up in occasional lodge room conversations? What is there to hold that man to the Fraternity if he were suddenly faced with a choice of leaving the lodge or facing social ostracism, or: worse? What would hold him ? Nothing !
Let me ask you, how can a man support Masonry when the ritual is no more than a series of beautiful sounding words and phrases strung together, and little else? If he does not understand the meaning of the ceremonies through which he has passed; if he considers the charges, the raising, the Middle Chamber, as "nice sounding stuff" that he does not know how to apply to his daily living, his onward growth and development, his own search for the God of his heart, is he not simply the hollow shape of a Mason? What do we gain if we initiate a hundred and they become only dues payers or pin wearers? What do we gain if we initiate a hundred who become little more than Brethren of the 6:30 Degree whose emblem should be the knife and fork rather than the Square and Compass? How much dependence can lodges place on them in time of stress?
We can say that we shouldn't get such men as I have listed into the organization. True enough, but do you realize that these men, for the most part, became what they are after they received the degrees of Masonry? I do not include those few who managed to slip by our committees and who join the Craft in order that our emblem may increase their business, or bring them promotion. Yes, the lodges themselves create these men who are in Masonry but who have little or no Masonry in themselves. Why do I say this? Let us consider the average man petitioning Masonry and follow him through the degrees.
He has been told how wonderful Masonry can be, he has petitioned and has been accepted. Remember, I am speaking of the average lodge throughout the United States and I am sure your lodge has avoided many of the evils I am about to mention. Our imaginary candidate is initiated an E.A. He is lost, in a new world, badly mixed up and confused. He has a thousand questions to ask. So we are going to instruct our Apprentice. We have him memorize a certain section of our work. It has strange phrasings, reviews the ceremonies. But, it has not answered his questions and, since under present regulations, his visits to the lodge are limited, only his instructor can answer, can bring Light to him. The Masonic instructor (or coach) should not only be letter-perfect in his "memory work" but should also be able to answer any question the candidate might ask.
Our candidate is passed and finally raised, and his curiosity and interest mount as each degree is conferred. He looks forward to the time when, as a Master Mason, he will be in a position to ask the well-informed brothers, of whom he has heard, about this great Craft. Why is this rite performed?, he wants to know. When was this custom first established? I can give my own experience as fairly typical, I believe. I asked one of the officers of my lodge. "Oh, you can find out about all that stuff in the lodge library. It's out there in the Secretary's room." It was - such as it was - three shelves of Grand Lodge proceedings from my own and surrounding states. A copy of Mackey an inch thick with dust and obviously unopened in years. This was the library of a lodge with 2,000 members! Another lodge, back east, has around 5,000 members and not a single Masonic pamphlet, paper or book that it can hand its candidates!
Frankly, my opinion of the "well-informed" brother dropped considerably. I soon came to learn that "bright" Mason meant only that a man could recite the memory work more glibly than I could. With patience and training, therefore, apparently a parrot can become a "bright" Mason.
Thousands of newly raised Masons at this very point are lost to Freemasonry. It can never penetrate to their hearts because there is no one to take an interest in them. This becomes even more tragic when we realize that there are literally thousands of books written about Masonry, covering every phase of the Craft, past and present. I have a small personal collection so far as libraries go and yet at this moment I own a hundred and twenty-five volumes on Masonic and allied subjects, of which all but a few can be obtained very easily by any Mason or any lodge.
I have heard this answer given to an inquiring brother. "Oh, that's pretty deep. Besides, you have to get it for yourself." That statement has truth enough in it - but it also has a basic fallacy. It is true, perhaps, that the real, mystical, inner mysteries of Masonry must blossom secretly in each heart, an individual process. But it is also true that before this can come about, the brother must be directed and guided to the books on history, ritual and symbolism. This, or an honest attempt to answere his questions, is the obligatory duty of each and every one of us. If we palm this "get for yourself" reply off on a new brother, then it is a mark of our own inadequacy and our own laziness.
Now, If a man is rebuffed when he seeks knowledge; if he is swiftly dismissed and left to fend for himself from the night he is raised, then what happens to his interest? He comes back, still hopefully seeking "that which was lost." Still getting no aid, his visits beconte less and less frequent. He finally becomes no more than a name to whom the Secretary sends dues notices every year. Of what good is that man to any lodge?
So the lodge passes by the very heart of Masonry. Masonic education is not the problem it seems to be. A set of Mackey's "Encyclopedia" or Gould's History of the Craft can keep a small study group going almost indefinitely.
We have briefly looked at Masonry as it is today. We have envisaged the problems of the future and have touched upon certain means of solving those problems or attempting to meet them. The seeds of the future of Masonry are being planted today - here and now. Not only by your lodge, but by every lodge wlthersoever dispersed over the globe. Each and every one from now on will become of increasingly vital importance to the others. We have almost reached the time, and our brothers in Europe realize it keenly, when it is no longer true that what your lodge does has no effect outside the state or the nation. In this new phrase we have heard and which seems to be with us now wherever we turn, the problems of One World are pressing and hard. This is being reflected in Masonry.
As your lodge trains its candidates, binds them with strong ties of tradition, knowledge of ritual, knowledge of the Ancient Landmarks, your lodge by that much strengthens California Masonry. It begins to stand as an example to other lodges and sends men of real Masonic stature to the Grand Lodge. If other lodges follow in your footsteps then it stands to reason that by so much California Masonry stands above that of other states. Can you not see how this process, like ripples from a stone dropped in a pool, can spread? Can you not see that universal Masonry, that real brotherly love, relief and truth can start right here - now in your lodge?
I have been introduced as a Fellow of the Philalethes Society and several times I have mentioned that body. You have probably wondered about it, its purpose and its history. The Society was originally established in 1928 as a society of Masonic editors, writers and students. We numbered such names among our Fellows then as Robert I. Clegg, revisor of Mackey's Encyclopedia; Rudyard Kipling; A. E. Waite, of England; the great French editor and writer, Oswald Wirth; Hugo Tatsch, and others. Since the war, the Philalethes Society has gone through a transformation. We of the Executive Committee feel that the information we have, the papers that are written for us, should not be confined to the few. Therefore, we have opened the membership to every Master Mason in good standing in a just and legal jurisdiction, wherever it might be in the world. We realize that not all of us can write papers on Masonic subjects or devote our lives to research. But the knowledge gained by those who can is, of right, the property of all Masons everywhere. In every possible way we are trying to forward the great ideals and aims of the Craft. We are trying, in the words of our Secretary, Brother Allister J. McKowen, "not so much to get more men into Masonry, but more Masonry into men." Heretofore, we have spread Masonic Light by our magazine "The Philalethes," which goes to every member. But that helps only the individual and we have long wished to flt our Society to the needs of groups of Masons. So now we are establishing study groups, large or small, devising programs for these groups. In short, we are endeavoring to bring the best in current Masonic thought and knowledge right to your own group of Masonic brethren. Through our world-wide contacts, we have become a clearing house of Masonic news (sometimes before it's officially announced in any journal) and of Masonic learning. We are endeavoring to bring about an understanding in America of the Masonic ideas of other jurisdictions. We work even harder to bring understanding of American Masonlc thought and endeavor to our brethren overseas.
If this be a period in which we may build a strong Masonic edifice before the storm, then The Philalethes Society, venerating the Ancient Landmarks, legends, traditions and ideals of Freemasonry, works on a Temple of Universal Brotherhood - not a meaningless phrase of which we all have heard much too much, but a real and vital edifice - a world-wide Temple of living stones, beautiful beyond what eyes can see, dedicated to that great and mysterious power whom we, as Masons, reverently call the Grand Architect of the Universe!
May the future for all of us be bright with hope, even though the storms beat furiously against us. May your lodge in this community build strong and well with living stones from which the rough corners of Masonic ignorance and apathy have been broken off and discarded! I salute these men whom you have honored tonight - there is the bright tradition of your past.
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New Members
David Wai Kwok Au; Shanghai, China.
James Frankland; Portland 12, Oregon.
Charles Ernest Holmes; Montreal 18 (Quebec), Canada.
Lucio Martinez Gil; Mexico, D.F.
Robert Dyson Jagger; Royal Oak, Michigan.
Aldo Lavagnini; Mexico, D.F.
Carl Pfau; Savannah, Georgia.
Reinstated
Nicolas-Andre Choumitzky, F.P.S.; Paris VI, France.
Change of Addresses
Albert L. Woody, F.P.S.; 3502 Wesley; Berwyn, Illinois.
Harry S. Hale, M.P.S.; 1377 S. Third; Louisville, Kentucky.
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The Philalethes - January, 1948; Volume 3, Number 1. Board of Editors: Walter A. Quincke, F.P.S.; Leo Fischer, F.P.S., and Lee Edwin Wells, F.P.S. - The official publication of The Philalethes Society, 274 South Burlington Avenue, Los Angeles 4, California, where all communications should be directed. - Publication schedule: Eight (8) issues per year, or volume: during January; February; March; May (April-May); July (June-July); September (August-September); November (October-November), and December. No advertising in any form is solicited or accepted. Annual subscription, in the United States of America, $3.00, payable in advance; elsewhere, $4.00. - Editor-Members of Craft magazines, here and abroad, are privileged to reprint, in part or in full, any articles first published in "The Philalethes," providing due credit is given as to its source. - The Philalethes Society was founded October 1, 1928, and is an International Body of Freemasons who seek more Light and Freemasons who have Light to impart. The Society's year book, "The Informant," tells the story since its inception and a copy will be mailed free of charge to any Freemason requesting the same.
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Important Announcement
To conform with the beghaning and close of The Philalethes Society's fiscal year, the current issue of "The Philalethes" (January, 1948) will mark Number 1, Volume 3.
Paid-up subscribers will receive, of course, all the eight (8) issues of "The Philalethes" to which they are entitled. - The Editors.
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WILLIAM MAJOR BROWN, F.P.S.
The distinguished Craftsman whose portrait appears on the title page of this issue was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on March 14, 1889. He first saw the Light of Masonry in York Lodge No. 563, F. & A. M., of Columbus, Ohio; but he subsequently transferred his membership to Albert Pike Lodge No. 162, at Guthrie, Oklahoma. He holds membership in the Consistory at McAlester, Oklahoma, and in the Commandery and Shrine at Columbus, Ohio. To enumerate his activities in non-Masonic societies would consume a good deal of space, so we must of needs confine our attention to his Masonic pursuits.
Brother William Major Brown is publisher and owner of the "Masonic Review," of Guthrie, Okla., and has kept interest alive in that wellwritten and edited magazine by reprinting outstanding articles from past issues together with present-day items contributed by Masonic friends. His hobby is the collection of odd Masonic facts, and he has given to Masons and their friends 11,000 Masonic charts and over 50,000 books of interest to Masons.
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BEFORE writing or writing surface was ever thought of, very crude devices were used as reminders. One of these survives today in the knotted handkerchief. Although the practice began ages before, the historian llerodotus gives an interesting example of its application in the story of how Darius, crossing the Ister in his Scythian expedition, left with the Greeks appointed to guard the bridge a thong with a number of knots in it. One knot was to be undone each day, and if the king had not returned when the last knot was reached, the soldiers were to destroy the bridge and go away.
Knots and notches were also used as adjuncts to verbal messages. Notches were cut in a stick in the presence of a messenger who received his instructions while they were being made and then carried the stick with him. The notches served simply to aid his memory by way of association of ideas.
The earliest known records in the form of writing are the inscriptions on tablets of baked clay which were excavated from the ruins of the ancient Chaldean city of Nippur. Such tablets probably were in use about 6000 B.C. These baked clay tablets were the first attempt to develop a portable writing surface and were thus the legitimate forerunners of paper. Finding a convenient, light strong surface on which to record his sayings was the step that man took to release writing from its bondage. Papyrus was that first step, for it was capable of being multiplied indefinitely.
The Egyptians found that a sheet could be made out of their papyrus plant. They cut the stems into thin strips and laid them side by side on a board with another layer on top at right angles. These were soaked with water, hammered, and dried in the sun. The surface was then smoothed down by rubbing with a shell or ivory. It was paper after a fashion, and was successful enough to make papyrus Egypt's principal industry. Our word "paper" is derived from the term "papyrus."
The use of skins of certain animals for writing material very naturally suggested itself. Ancient Egyptian skin-rolls dating back to 1500 B.C. are in existence.
While all these writing surfaces were being developed in the western world, the Chinese were discovering, in the second century B.C., how to make true paper as we understand it: Beating fibres to a pulp, then restoring the fibres to an artificial cohesion by suspension in water, shaking, straining, pressing and drying. Raw materials for their pulp were bark, hemp, rags and fish nets. For some 800 years this method of manufacture was known only to the Chinese, and remained their secret until Arabs captured some Chinese at Samarkand in 751 A. D. and from them learned the art. Its spread to Europe was even then gradual, and it did not replace the use of papyrus and parchment for many years. However, by about 1350 the use of paper was well established in all of Western Europe. The oldest paper manuscript in existence is an Arabic treatise written in 866 and now in the University of Leiden. Rittenhouse, a Dutchman, was the first to make paper in America, his mill being set up in Pennsylvania in 1690. Thus paper completed its circuit of the globe 18 centuries after the discovery of its process of manufacture in China.
In the early days of paper-making in Europe and America, rags were used almost exclusively as the raw material. The rags were broken into fibres by beating, first by hand and later in great wooden stamping mills. The fibrous mass would then be washed and mixed in a tub of water and the papermaker would dip his mould (a shallow rectangular box with a bottom of woven bamboo, cloth or wire) into the mixture and cause a web of fibres to form upon the wire by agitating and lifting the mould. This web was then transferred to a felt, pressed, and hung up to dry. Early papers were never quite pure white, as the natural off-color of the rags imparted various colors to the sheet, frequently a soft and pleasing yellow tone. Chlorine bleach and other agencies now enable paper-makers to get a pure white sheet.
The French physicist Iteaumur, in 1719, was the first to propose that wood could be used for papermaking. His inspiration came from the wasp, which extracts the fibres of common wood and makes nests with walls which are similar to very fine paper.
In 1799 the first papermaking machine to replace the old hand operations of moulding, pressing and drying was built by another Frenchman, Nicholas Louis Robert. He interested two wealthy London stationers, the Fourdrinier brothers, in his invention, whence the name Fourdrinier Machine.
Naturally, the first wood pulp was not very satisfy factory, but in 1850 Hugh Burgess, an Englishman, produced a wood pulp that made a clean, white paper. His invention was not well received in England, so he moved to America. His method was to cook and disintegrate the wood of the poplar tree in caustic soda. It is still widely used, and pulp made by this process is spoken of as soda pulp.
The sulphite process was discovered in 1886 by Benjamin Tilghman of Pennsylvania. In this process the pulp is cooked in sulphite liquor. Sulphite pulp is harder and stronger than soda pulp. The ground-wood process was invented by a German named Keller. As the name implies, the wood is ground against a stone after the bark has been removed. This is entirely a mechanical process as contrasted with the others, which are chemical, and so this pulp is known as mechanical pulp. Sulphite pulp was developed in Germany about 1870. In this process the liquor is made up largely of sodium sulphate.
Blotting paper was early discovered, but sand was generally used until comparatively recent times. Blotting paper was first mentioned in 1465. The cotton fibre for making blotting paper is secured from both rags and raw-cotton linters The rags are collected and sorted by rag dealers in bales of about 800 pounds. Old rags are preferred for blotting because the fibres are frayed and more absorptive.
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ONCE there lived a famous king who set himself to find happiness. First he thought it would come to him through great conquests, and so he set out with his army to conquer other nations. Victory after victory was won, and his dominion was expanded, but happiness did not come to him. He returned to his luxurious palace, thinking to find joy and peace in idleness and relaxation. Not finding happiness in his palace, he turned to his beautiful gardens, but it all seemed in vain.
One day he heard of an old hermit who could tell him the secret of happiness, and so he hastened to the old man's cave in the forest, and urged him to divulge his secret.
After much urging by the king, the old man led him along a narrow footpath to the foot of a rugged mountain. Far, far up the mountain side he pointed out to him an eagle's nest. "Why," asked the hermit, "did the eagle choose to build its nest so far from civilization ?"
After a moment's thought, the king replied, "To avoid danger."
"Right," answered the aged man. "Follow the eagle's example. Set your affections on things above. At the Redeemer's feet you will find real joy.
The king sought in various ways to find happiness, but when he thought he had found the prize and grasped at it, it was like the bubbles of our childhood. Many - in fact - most of us, have had the same experience. We have blown a beautiful bubble and labeled it "contentment." While beyond our reach it kept its rainbow hues, but as soon as we grasped it with our flngers, it broke and vanished into the air, and was gone.
Some have followed their bubble along the broad way of pleasure. This road is lined with pleasure seekers, who, as they travel, extract the sweetness from every flower that blooms along the roadside, only to find in the end that-
"Pleasures are like poppies spread,
You grasp the flower, the bloom is shed."
Many feel if they can accumulate large sums of money they will be happy, and they go out into the marts of trade to increase their talents. The money flows in, their bank accounts grow they become owners of great possessions. Their hearts are wrapped up in business to the exclusion of all else. And when the time comes to die, they pass into eternity with the text ringing in their ears: "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" Mark 8:36. Another bubble has burst, and vanished.
Another iridescent bubble is "fame." As it rises in the air, man follows it to dizzy heights. He sees his name in bold headlines in the daily papers; finds that books are being written about him. His name has become a household word. And when fame is within his grasp, he finds that "the paths of glory lead but to the grave."
The old hermit was right - only by setting our affections on things above shall we find real joy and peace. There is only one pathway to happiness - the pathway of service. He is happiest who serves most and who serves bests.