Fortunate the lodge which has many; poor that body of Masonry in
which Past Masters have lost the interest with which they once
presided in the East! The honorable station of Past Master is
usually honored by the brethren; generally it is considered as
second in importance only to that of the presiding Master. And he is
a wise and good Master who sees to it that the brethren of his lodge
understand that “Past Master” is no empty title,
but carries with it certain rights and privileges, certain duties
and responsibilities, all set forth in the general body of Masonic
Law, although differing in some respects in different Jurisdictions;
certain unwritten attributes which become more or less important
according to the character and abilities of the individual Past
Master. It has been well settled in this country, as it is in
England, that a Past Master has no inherent, inviolable right of
membership in the Grand Lodge, such as is possessed by the Master of
a lodge. But in
many American Jurisdictions, by action of the Grand Lodge, Past
Masters are members of the Grand Lodge (in Nevada, all Master Masons
are members of the Grand Lodge, but only the three principal
officers and one among all the Past Masters of a particular lodge
are considered voting members of Grand Lodge). In some Jurisdictions
they are full voting members; in others they have but a fraction of
a vote, all the Past Masters of a lodge having one vote between them
on any Grand Lodge question to be decided by a vote by lodges.
Whether full voting members of Grand Lodge, or members with but a
fraction of a votes, they are such by action of their own Grand
Lodge, and not by inherent right. Before the formation of the Mother
Grand Lodge in England in 1717,when General Assemblies of Masons
were held, Past Masters were as much a part of that body as the
members of the Craft. But the Old Constitutions of the Mother Grand
Lodge did not recognize Past Masters as members of the Grand Lodge.
Dermott’s “Ahiman Rezon” of 1778, quoting Anderson’s edition of the
“Old and New Regulations” says: “Past Masters of Warranted Lodges on
record are allowed this privilege (membership in Grand Lodge) while
they continue to be members of any regular lodge.” But his previous
edition of this same work does not contain this statement, and
Preston refers to the Grand Lodge, at the laying of the corner stone
of Covent Garden Theater, in London, by the Prince of Wales as Grand
Master, in these words: “The Grand Lodge was opened by Charles
March, Esq., attended by the Masters and Wardens of all the regular
lodges;” he does not mention Past Masters as a part of the Grand
Lodge. These Past Masters, or course, have long since gone the way
of all flesh; Past Masters who are now members of Grand Lodges are
made so by the action of those Grand Lodges, and not by any inherent
right. But the very fact that a Past Master “May” receive such
recognition at the hands of his Grand Lodge, which ordinarily would
not be given to brethren not Past Masters (except Wardens), must be
considered as one of the rights and privileges of a Past Master.
Past Masters are said by Mackey to possess the right to preside over
their lodges, in the absence of the Master, and on the invitation of
the Senior Warden, or in his absence, the Junior Warden. According
to the ancient laws of
Masonry, which gives a Master very large powers, any Master Mason
may be called to the Chair by a Master. Here the question is as to
who may be called to the Chair by a warden, who has congregated the
lodge in the absence of the Master. The great Masonic jurist gives
unqualified endorsement to the idea that then only a Warden, or Past
Master with the consent of the presiding Warden can preside over a
lodge, and counts this as among the rights of a Past Master. However
true this may be in this specific case, the practice and the law in
many Jurisdictions gives to the Master the right to put any brother
in the Chair for the time being, remaining, of course, responsible
for the acts of his temporary appointee, and for the acts of his
lodge during such incumbency. It may be considered a moot question
as to just when a Master becomes a Past Master. He is installed as
Master “until your successor be regularly elected and installed.”
From this point of view the Master is Master until his successor has
been made Master by installation; in other words, the right
to install his successor is inherent in the office of Master, and
not Past Master. Under the law of Masonry, however, for this purpose
Masters and Past Masters are identical; the Master really becomes a
Past Master when, after election he “passes the Chair” in an
emergent Lodge of Past Masters, or when, as a virtual Past Master,
made so in a Chapter, he is elected Master of his lodge. In those
few American Jurisdictions in which the elected Master is not
required to receive the Past Master’s Degree, prior to installation,
a Master does not become a Past Master until his successor is
installed. The right to install his successor is inherent; the
privilege of delegating that duty to another is within the power of
any Worshipful Master (Courtesy would indicate that the desires of
the Senior Warden be considered for installing officer, as well as
the date for the installation). He should not delegate the
installing power to any brother who has not himself been installed,
in order that the succession of the Oriental Chair be unbroken, from
regularly installed Master to Master-Elect, regularly to be
installed. Therefore, in most Jurisdictions, the installation power
which is the right of the Master, may be considered also a privilege
of Past Masters.
A very important right of all Past Masters is that of being elected
to the office of Master, without again serving as Warden. Perhaps no
regulation is more jealously guarded by Grand Lodges than this,
which dates in print from 1722 (Old Charges), that no Mason may be
elected, or installed as Master who has not been regularly elected,
installed and served as Warden. There are exceptions; when a new
lodge is constituted, a brother who has not been regularly elected,
installed and served as a Warden may be elected and installed
as Master (In Nevada it is permissible for any Master Mason to be
elected and installed as Worshipful Master); when no Wardens in a
lodge will accept election to the East, a brother may be elected
from the floor, provided a dispensation is secured from the Grand
Master. A Past Master may be elected Master of a lodge (whether the
lodge over which he once presided or another is immaterial) without
dispensation. |
