The incumbent of the Oriental Chair has powers peculiar to his
station; powers far greater than those of the President of a society
or the Chairman of a meeting of any kind. President and Chairman are
elected by the body over which they preside, and may be removed by
that body. A Master is elected by his lodge, but cannot be removed
by it; only by the Grand Master or Grand Lodge. The presiding
officer is bound by the rules of order adopted by the body and by
its by-laws. A lodge cannot pass by-laws to alter, amend or curtail
the powers of a Master. Its by-laws are subject to approval by the
proper Grand Lodge committee or by the Grand Master; seldom are any
approved which infringe upon his ancient prerogatives and power; in
those few instances in which improper by-laws have been approved,
subsequent rulings have often declared the Master right in
disregarding them.
Grand Lodges differ in their interpretation of some of the "ancient
usages and customs" of the Fraternity; what applies in one
Jurisdiction does not necessarily apply in another. But certain
powers of a Master are so well recognized that they may be
considered universal. The occasional exceptions, if any, but prove
the rule.
The Master may congregate his lodge when he pleases, and for that
purpose he wishes, provided, it does not interfere with the laws of
the Grand Lodge. For instance, he may assemble his lodge at a
Special Communication to confer degrees, at his pleasure; but he
must not, in so doing, contravene that requirement of the Grand
Lodge which calls for proper notice to the brethren, nor may a
Master confer a degree in less than the statutory time following a
preceding degree without a dispensation from the Grand Master.
The Master has the right of presiding over and controlling his
lodge, and only the Grand Master or his Deputy may suspend him. He
may put any brother in the East to preside or to confer a degree; he
may then resume the gavel at his pleasure--even in the middle of a
sentence if he wants to! But even when he has delegated authority
temporarily the Master is not relieved from responsibility for what
occurs in his lodge.
It is the Master's right to control lodge business and work. It is
in a very real sense his lodge. He decides all points of order and
no appeal from his decision may be taken to the lodge. He can
initiate and terminate debate at his pleasure, he can second any
motion, propose any motion, vote twice in case of a tie (not
universal), open and close at his pleasure, with the usual exception
that he may not open a Special Communication at an hour earlier than
that given in the notice, or a Stated Communication earlier than the
hour stated in the by-laws, without dispensation from the Grand
Master. He is responsible only to the Grand Master and the Grand
Lodge, and obligations he assumed when he was installed, his
conscience and his God.
The Master has the undoubted right to say who shall enter, and who
must leave, the lodge room. He may deny any visitor entrance;
indeed, he may deny a member the right to enter his own lodge, but
he must have a good and sufficient reason therefor, otherwise his
Grand Lodge will unquestionably rule such a drastic step arbitrary
and punish accordingly. Per contra, if he permits the entry of a
visitor to whom some member has objected, he may also subject
himself to Grand Lodge discipline. In other word, his power to admit
and exclude is absolute; his right to admit or exclude is hedged
about by the pledges he takes at his installation and the rules of
his Grand Lodge.
A very important power of a Master is that of appointing committees.
No lodge may appoint a committee. The lodge may pass a resolution
that a committee be appointed, but the selection of that committee
is an inherent right of the Master. He is, ex officio, a member of
all committees he appoints. The reason is obvious; he is responsible
for the conduct of his lodge to the Grand Master and the Grand
Lodge. If the lodge could appoint committees and act upon their
recommendations, the Master would be in the anomalous position of
having great responsibilities, and no power to carry out their
performance.
The Master, and only the Master, may order a committee to examine a
visiting brother. It is his responsibility to see that no cowan or
eavesdropper comes within the tiled door. Therefore, it is for him
to pick a committee in which he has confidence. So. also, with the
committees which report upon petitioners, He is responsible for the
accuracy, the fair-mindedness, the speed and the intelligence of
such investigations. It is, therefore, for him to say to whom shall
be delegated this necessary and important work.
It is generally , not exclusively, held that only the Master can
issue a summons. The dispute, where it exists, is over the right of
members present at a stated communication to summons the whole
membership.
It may now be interesting to look for a moment at some matters in
which the Worshipful Master is not supreme, and catalog a few things
he may not do.
The Master, and only the Master, appoints the appointive officers in
his lodge. In most Jurisdictions, he may remove such appointed
officers at his pleasure. But he cannot suspend, or deprive of his
station or place, any officer elected by the lodge. The Grand Master
or his Deputy may do this; the worshipful Master may not.
A Master may not spend lodge money without the consent of the lodge.
As a matter of convenience, a Master frequently does pay out money
in sudden emergencies, looking to the lodge to reimburse him. But he
cannot spend any lodge funds without the permission of the lodge.
A Master cannot accept a petition or confer a degree without the
consent of the lodge. It is for the lodge, not the Master, to say
from what men it will receive an application, upon what candidates
degrees shall be conferred. The Master has the same power to reject
with the black ball that is possessed by any member, but no power
whatever to accept any candidate against the will of the lodge.
The lodge, not the Master, must approve or disapprove the minutes of
the preceding meeting. The Master cannot approve them; had he that
power he might, with the connivance of the Secretary, "run wild" in
his lodge and still his minutes would show no trace of his improper
conduct. But the Master may refuse to put a motion to confirm or
approve minutes which he believes to be inaccurate or incomplete; in
this way he can prevent a careless, headstrong Secretary from doing
what he wants with his minutes! Should a Master refuse to permit
minutes to be confirmed, the matter would naturally be brought
before the Grand Lodge or the Grand Master for settlement.
A Master cannot suspend the by-laws. He must not permit the lodge to
suspend the by-laws. If the lodge wishes to change them, the means
are available, not in suspension but in amendment.
An odd exception may be noted, which has occurred in at least one
Grand Jurisdiction and doubtless may occur in others. A very old
lodge adopted by-laws shortly after it was constituted, which
by-laws were approved by a young Grand Lodge before that body had,
apparently, devoted much attention to these important rules.
For many years this lodge carried in its by-laws an "order of
business" which specified, among other things, that following the
reading of the minutes, the next business was balloting. At the same
meeting of this lodge was early (seven o'clock) this by-law worked a
hardship for years, compelling brethren who wished to vote to hurry
to lodge, often at great inconvenience.
At last a Master was elected who saw that the by-law interfered with
his right to conduct the business of the lodge as he thought proper.
He balloted at what he thought the proper time; the last order of
business, not the first. An indignant committee of Past Masters, who
preferred the old order, applied to the Grand Master for relief. The
Grand Master promptly ruled that "order of business" in the by-laws
could be no more than suggestive, not mandatory; and that the
Worshipful Master had power to order a ballot on a petition at the
hour which seemed to him wise, provided--and this was stressed--that
he ruled wisely, and did not postpone a ballot until after a degree,
or until so late in the evening that brethren wishing to vote upon
it had left the lodge room.
A Worshipful Master has no more right to invade the privacy which
shrouds the use of the black ball, or which conceals the reason for
an objection to an elected candidate receiving the degrees, than the
humblest member of the lodge. He cannot demand disclosure of action
or motive from any brother, and should he do so, he would be subject
to the severest discipline from Grand Lodge. Grand Lodges usually
argue that a dereliction of duty by a brother who possesses the
ability and character to attain the East, is worse than that of some
less well-informed brother. The Worshipful Master receives great
honor, has great privileges, enjoys great prerogatives and powers.
Therefore, he must measure up to great responsibilities.
A Worshipful Master cannot resign. Vacancies occur in the East
through death, suspension by a Grand Master, expulsion from the
fraternity. No power can make a Master attend to his duties if he
desires to neglect them. If he will not, or does not, attend to
them, the Senior Warden presides. He is, however, still Senior
Warden; he does not become Master until elected and installed.
In broad outline, these are the important and principal powers and
responsibilities of a Worshipful Master, considered entirely from
the standpoint of the "ancient usages and customs of the Craft."
Nothing is here said of the moral and spiritual duties which devolve
upon a Master.
Volumes might be and some have been written upon how a Worshipful
Master should preside, in what ways he can "give the brethren good
and wholesome instruction," and upon his undoubted moral
responsibility to do his best to leave his lode better then he hound
it. Here we are concerned only with the legal aspect of his powers
and duties.
Briefly, then, if he keeps within the laws, resolutions and edicts
of his Grand Lodge on the one hand, and the Landmarks, Old Charges,
Constitutions and "ancient usages and customs" on the other, the
power of the Worshipful Master is that of an absolute monarch. His
responsibilities and his duties are those of an apostle of Light!
He is as gifted brother who can fully measure up to the use of his
power and the power of his leadership.
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