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 FROM THE 
 
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 COLLECTED BY 
 
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 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNlVgRjSITY 
 
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 Masonic parliamentary iaw: or. Parljamen 
 
 3 1924 030 300 341 
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Cornell University 
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 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
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MASONIC 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
MASONIC 
 PARLIAMENTARY LAW: 
 
 OR, 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY LAW APPLIED TO THE 
 GOVERNMENT OF MASONIC BODIES. 
 
 A GUIDE FOR 
 
 THE TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS IN LODGES, 
 
 CHAPTERS, COUNCILS, AND 
 
 COMMANDERIES. 
 
 BY 
 
 ALBERT G. MACKEY, M. D, 
 
 PAST GENERAL GRAND HIGH PRIEST, U. S. A. ; AUTHOR OF THE " ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF 
 FREEMASONRY," " MANUAL OF THE LODGE," " BOOK OF THE CHAPTER," ETC. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 Moss & Company, 
 
 432 Chestnut Street, 
 1875. 
 
 ""1 li^, 
 
Ho 
 
 A:R1L^' 7. 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S75, by 
 
 ALBERT G. MACKEY, M.D., 
 
 in the Office of the librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
 S^ T.A ^^ 
 
 ^^ 3. TAOAN ft SON, *^j 
 
 STEEEOTTPERS, PHILAD'A. ^^ 
 
 ^^ J^ 
 
 Printed by Heni^y B. Ashmead, Philadelphia. 
 
TO 
 
 ROBERT FARMER BOWER, 33 
 
 PAST GRAND COMMANDER 
 
 AND 
 
 PAST GRAND HIGH PRIEST, 
 
 OF 
 
 IOWA, 
 
 AS 
 
 A MARK OF HIS ESTEEM, 
 
 AND AS 
 
 %, f rihute of ^is <f mnbsl^ig'. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Preliminary 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Of Business Lodges and of Working Lodges. ... 24 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Of a Quorum 28 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Of the Presiding Officer 36 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Of Appeals 39 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Of Motions 48 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Of the Motion itself, and how it must be offered . .51 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Of the Debate, and how it must be conducted . • . SS 
 
 vii 
 
Vm CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of the Vote, and how it must be taken 65 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Of the Announcement of the Decision, and how it must be 
 
 MADE 75 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Of Subsidiary Motions 80 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Of Amendments 85 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Of the Motion to Amend an Amendment .... 94 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Of the Motion to Lie on the Table 97 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Of the Motion to Postpone Indefinitely .... 102 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Of the Motion to Postpone to a Day Certain . . . 103 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Of the Motion to Commit io6 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Of Incidental Questions 108 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Of Questions of Order iii 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Of Questions FOR Reading Papers 119 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Of Questions on Leave to Withdraw Motions . . . 120 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Of Questions ON Suspending A Rule 127 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Of Questions on Calling for the Yeas and Nays . . . 132 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Of Questions of Privilege 13S 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 Of Privileged Questions 139 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Of the Motion for Reconsideration 141 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 Of the Motion for Reconsideration of the Ballot . .149 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 Of Special Orders. 157 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 Of the Order of Business 165 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Of the Appointment and Functions of Committees . . 172 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 Of the Report of a Committee 182 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 Of the Report of a Committee on Character . . . 192 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. pack 
 
 Of Filling Blanks 209 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 Of Co-existing Questions 213 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 Of THE Division OF THE Question 216 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 Of Amendments to the By-laws 219 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 Of Nominations to Office 225 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 Of the Confirmation of the Minutes 227 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 MR. WILSON, in his very able Digest of Parliamen- 
 tary Law, has remarked that "it would be well for 
 persons presiding at meetings of any description to make 
 themselves familiar with the rules of Parliament in regard to 
 questions and amendments which have been tested by long 
 experience, and are found as simple and efficient in practice, 
 as they are logical in principle." 
 
 Much experience in conducting the business of Masonic 
 bodies, or in seeing it conducted by others, has convinced 
 me that a treatise which should, in perspicuous language, pre- 
 scribe the rules for the government of Lodges, Chapters, or any 
 other assemblies of Masons in their Masonic character, could 
 not fail, if properly executed, to be of service to the Craft. 
 
 It is evident that when one is, for the first time, called to 
 preside over a Lodge of Freemasons, he must come to the 
 performance of that important duty, either with no knowl- 
 edge whatever of the rules of order that govern the proceed- 
 ings of deliberative bodies, or with a familiarity with those 
 rules only that are exclusively derived from the ordinary 
 parliamentary law. 
 
 From either of these conditions, errors must inevitably 
 arise. He who knows nothing of the rules which direct and 
 govern deliberative bodies, will, when he takes the Oriental 
 
XII PREFACE. 
 
 chair, find himself at an absolute loss to control a debate or 
 to put a question. He who derives his knowledge from only 
 the general principles of parliamentary law, will be contin- 
 ually committing errors by applying those principles, with- 
 out modification, to the government of a Lodge. 
 
 The business of Masonic bodies must be conducted by es- 
 tablished rules ; but these rules differ in many respects from 
 those which govern other assemblies. A proper text-book 
 of Masonic parliamentary law should be one in which the 
 law of Parliament should be given as it is modified by the 
 higher law of Masonry ; so that the presiding officer of a 
 Lodge or Chapter may find in it the authority for his deci- 
 sions on points of order, and a guide for the direction of his 
 conduct in controlling the deliberations and discussions of 
 the brethren over whom he has been placed. 
 
 Manuals of parliamentary law are not uncommon. But 
 unless they are accompanied by those modifications which 
 make them applicable to Masonic law, they are not only use- 
 less, but productive of error to the Mason who takes them for 
 his guide. 
 
 A book which should point out the essential differences 
 between the ordinary law of Parliament and the parliamen- 
 tary law of Masonry, has never hitherto been written. The 
 present work, as an initiative attempt to supply a long re- 
 cognized deficiency, is fraternally offered to the Craft. 
 
 Albert G. Mackey. M. D. 
 1440 M St., Washington, D. C. 
 May I, 1875. 
 
PARLIAMENTARY LAW 
 
 APPLIED TO THE 
 
 GOVERNMENT OF MASONIC BODIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY Law, or the Lex Par- 
 liamentaria, is that unwritten law originally 
 collected out of records and precedents* for the 
 government of the Parliament of Great Britain 
 in the transaction of its business, and subse- 
 quently adopted, with necessary modifications, 
 by the Congress of the United States. 
 
 It must not be supposed, from the name, that 
 no such law was known before the establish- 
 ment of the British Parliament. It is evident 
 that at all times when, and in all countries where, 
 deliberative bodies have existed, it must have 
 been found necessary to establish some regula- 
 
 * Such is the definition of Sir Edward Coke. 
 
 2 13 
 
14 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 tions by which business might be faciUtated. 
 The pariiamentary law of England and America 
 has been reduced by long experience to the 
 accuracy of a science, but it is well known that 
 other, though simpler, systems prevailed in for- 
 mer times. In the Roman Senate, for instance, 
 although, judging from the character of such 
 productions as Cicero's Orations against Cati- 
 line, and his Philippics against Antony, rules of 
 order could not have been rigidly enforced ; yet 
 we know from historic evidence that the pro- 
 ceedings of that body were regulated by an 
 established system of rules. The parliamentary 
 law of Rome was not so extensive as that of 
 England or America, but it was just as positive, 
 for all the purposes which it was intended to 
 accomplish. Thus, the times and places of meet- 
 ing and adjournment of the Senate, the qualifi- 
 cations of its members, the number that consti- 
 tuted a quorum, and the mode and manner of 
 taking the question or of proposing and perfect- 
 ing a law, were all absolutely defined by statutory 
 regulations ; the intention of which was, to secure 
 a faithful and orderly transaction of public busi- 
 ness. A similar system prevailed in all the other 
 countries of antiquity, where deliberative bodies 
 existed. In the popular assemblies of the 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 1$ 
 
 Greeks, in their Senate of Five Hundred, their 
 Court of Areopagus, and in all their legal or 
 political meetings, the business was conducted 
 by established rules of order. 
 
 But what was found requisite for the regula- 
 tion of public bodies, that order might be secured 
 and the rights of all be respected, has been 
 found equally necessary in private societies. 
 Indeed, no association of men could meet 
 together for the discussion of any subject, with 
 the slightest probability of ever coming to a 
 conclusion, unless its debates were regulated by 
 certain and acknowledged rules. 
 
 The rules thus adopted for its government are 
 called its parliamentary law, and they are selected 
 from the parliamentary law of the national as- 
 sembly, because that code has been instituted 
 by the wisdom of past ages, and modified and 
 perfected by the experience of subsequent ones, 
 so that it is now universally acknowledged that 
 there is no better system of government for 
 deliberative societies than the code which has so 
 long been in operation under the name of Par- 
 liamentary Law. 
 
 Hatsell, in his well known work on " Prece- 
 dents of the Proceedings of the House of Com- 
 mons," cites the remark of Mr. Speaker Onslow 
 
l6 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 that " the forms instituted by our ancestors 
 operated as a check and control on the actions 
 of the majority, and were in many instances a 
 shelter and protection to the minority against 
 the attempts of power." And Hatsell himself, 
 whose long experience as Clerk of the Com- 
 mons gives his opinion a peculiar weight of 
 authority, says, that "it is not so material that 
 the rule should be established on the foundation 
 of sound reason and argument, as it is that order, 
 decency, and regularity should prevail in a nu- 
 merous assembly." 
 
 Of course, as private societies are restrained 
 within inferior limits, exercise less extensive 
 powers, and differ in their organization and in 
 the objects of their association, many portions 
 of the parliamentary law, which are necessary 
 in the business of Parliament or Congress, must 
 be inapplicable to them. But, so far as their 
 peculiar character requires, the parliamentary 
 law has been adopted for the government of 
 these societies. 
 
 Seeing, then, how necessary it is that every 
 association, convened for deliberative purposes, 
 should have specific rules for its government, 
 and seeing also that just such a code of rules, 
 the result of the sagacity of wise men, and well 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 1/ 
 
 tried by the experience of several centuries, is to 
 be found in the parliamentary law, it is surpris- 
 ing that any one should be found who would 
 object to the application of this law to the gov- 
 ernment of Masonic bodies ; and yet there are 
 Masons who really believe that the government 
 of a Lodge or Chapter by parliamentary law 
 would be an infringement on the ancient land- 
 marks, and a violation of the spirit of the Insti- 
 tution. And these men, too, at the very time of 
 their objecting, are benefiting by the lights and 
 following the directions of this very law, to 
 which they appear to be so inimical; for no pre- 
 siding officer can recognize a speaker, put a 
 question, or decide the results of a division 
 without referring for the manner in which these 
 duties are performed to the usages of parlia- 
 mentary law. 
 
 There are, it is true, on the other hand, some 
 Masons, not well instructed in the jurisprudence 
 of the Order, and not conversant with those 
 peculiarities of the organization, in which it dif- 
 fers from other associations, who would apply to 
 it Indiscriminately the rules of parliamentary law, 
 and thus would decide many questions contrary 
 to the spirit of the Institution. Both of these 
 are wrong. There is a mezzo termine, or neu- 
 
 2* B 
 
l8 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 tral ground, on which it is wisest to rest. Here, 
 as elsewhere, a middle course will be found the 
 safest: Medio tutissimus ibis — we shall consult 
 truth and propriety by avoiding all extremes. 
 
 The true state of the case is this : Masonry 
 has an organization peculiar to itself. Wherever 
 this organization comes in conflict with that of 
 other associations, the parliamentary law will be 
 inapplicable. Where, on the contrary, this or- 
 ganization does not differ in a Lodge from that 
 of other deliberative bodies, the rules of order 
 by which such a Lodge should be governed will 
 be best found in the provisions of the parliamen- 
 tary law. Let us illustrate this by examples. 
 
 Under the operation of the unwritten law of 
 Masonry a Lodge cannot adjourn, but must be 
 closed by the Worshipful Master at his good will 
 and pleasure. Now, in the parliamentary law 
 there are provisions for the government of ad- 
 journments, such, for instance, as that a motion 
 to that effect is always in order, and must take 
 precedence of every other motion. This rule is 
 applicable to all societies wherein the members 
 have reserved to themselves the right of adjourn- 
 ment ; but is wholly inadmissible in a Masonic 
 Lodge, where no such right exists. If, then, a 
 motion for adjournment should be made in a 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. IQ 
 
 Lodge, it would not be necessary that the pre- 
 siding officer should refer for his instruction to 
 the provisions of parliamentary law in reference 
 to adjournment. He should at once declare the 
 proceeding out of order, and properly refuse to 
 entertain the motion. 
 
 Again, although the members of a Lodge can- 
 not select the time of adjournment, they have an 
 undoubted right to close at any time a debate, 
 in which the Lodge may be engaged, when they 
 deem it improper or inexpedient to continue the 
 discussion. Now, there are various modes of 
 closing a debate, all of which are defined and 
 regulated by parliamentary law. One of these 
 is by a call for the previous question. Although 
 there is no positive law on the subject, yet the 
 spirit of comity and courtesy which prevails in 
 the Institution, the authority of the best Masonic 
 jurists, and the general usage of the Fraternity, 
 have concurred in the decision, that the previous 
 question cannot be moved in a Masonic Lodge. 
 All the provisions, therefore, of the parliamen- 
 tary law, which refer to the subject of the pre- 
 vious question, are inapplicable in Masonry, and 
 need not be studied by the Master of a Lodge. 
 
 But the other methods of closing a debate are 
 not in this category. These methods are, to 
 
20 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 postpone to a time certain, to postpone indefi- 
 nitely, and to lay on the table. Each of these 
 methods must be inaugurated by a motion to 
 that effect, and these motions are regulated by 
 parliamentary law, having each an order of pri- 
 ority and preference, and two of them being 
 debatable as to the expediency of adoption, 
 while the third admits of no discussion, but must 
 be put to the assembly immediately after it is 
 made. In all of these cases, it is necessary that 
 the presiding officer should be conversant with 
 the parliamentary law in the premises, if he 
 would avoid confusion and facilitate the despatch 
 of business. 
 
 Not only, then, is a thorough knowledge of 
 parliamentary law necessary for the presiding 
 officer of a Masonic body, if he would discharge 
 the duties of the chair with credit to himself and 
 comfort to the members, but he must be pos- 
 sessed of the additional information as to what 
 parts of that law are applicable to Masonry, and 
 what parts are not ; as to where and when he 
 must refer to it for the decision of a question, 
 and where and when he must lay it aside, and 
 rely for his government upon the organic law 
 and the ancient usages of the Institution. 
 
 Hence a treatise which shall accurately de- 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 21 
 
 fine the parliamentary law in its application to 
 the government of Masonic bodies, showing pre- 
 cisely the points in which it must be pursued and 
 those in which it must be abandoned — which 
 shall indicate the alternating prominence of the 
 parliamentary law and the organic law of Ma- 
 sonry, and which shall thus present the pre- 
 siding officer with a chart, pointing out the intri- 
 cate channels and hidden rocks and under- 
 currents which render every discussion in a 
 deliberative body liable to confusion, which give 
 rise to turbulence, which needlessly protract 
 business, and make doubtful the success of 
 truth — cannot be unacceptable or unprofitable 
 as a contribution to the jurisprudence of the 
 Order. 
 
 I purpose, then, in the present work, to under- 
 take such a task. Defining, accurately, the pre- 
 rogatives of the chair and the privileges of 
 the members, and the difference between the 
 business and the work of a Lodge, — terms 
 of great significance, and which have an import- 
 ant bearing upon the relations of the parlia- 
 mentary law with the law of Masonry, — I shall 
 proceed to lay down the rules and regulations 
 by which the Master of a Lodge may be enabled 
 to conduct the business of the body over which 
 
22 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 he has been called to preside according to those 
 well-settled principles of government by which 
 alone confusion can be arrested and order pre- 
 served. 
 
 Although the term Master of a Lodge is used 
 for the sake of brevity of expression, and to 
 avoid a needless augmentation of words, it must 
 be understood that the remarks made in refer- 
 ence to that officer are equally applicable to the 
 presiding officer of higher bodies, such as Chap- 
 ters, Councils, and Commanderies, unless the 
 character of the remark itself, or a specific notice 
 made at the time, should indicate that the prin- 
 ciple laid down is to be restricted to symbolic 
 Masonry. 
 
 But it must not be inferred that what is said 
 of the government of subordinate Lodges or 
 Chapters, Councils or Commanderies, is equally 
 applicable to the Grand Bodies in those respec- 
 tive divisions of the Rite. A Grand Lodge, for 
 instance, has a different organization from that 
 of its subordinates. The prerogatives of a 
 Grand Master are more extensive than those of 
 a Master ; and the privileges of the representa- 
 tives who make up the governing body are 
 necessarily superior to those which inure to the 
 members of the subordinate bodies. Hence 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 23 
 
 there is some discrimination to be observed in 
 the application of the parHamentary law to the 
 government of Grand Lodges, Grand Chapters, 
 Grand Councils, and Grand Commanderies. 
 These will therefore be, on appropriate occa- 
 sions, specifically referred to, as well as made in 
 distinct chapters the special subjects of investi- 
 gation. 
 
 In the next chapter I shall enter, as a prelimi- 
 nary labor, into an inquiry as to what are the 
 prerogatives of the Master of a Lodge, and as to 
 what are the privileges of its members ; an in- 
 quiry which will necessarily include a discussion 
 of that important and interesting question : 
 What is the difference between the work and the 
 business of a Lodge ? This, indeed, will be found 
 to be, as we go on, a key for the solution of 
 many of the most difficult problems of Masonic 
 parliamentary law. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF BUSINESS LODGES AND OF WORKING LODGES. 
 
 AMONG the differences which distinguish a 
 Masonic Lodge from any other society, one 
 of the most peculiar is, that the Lodge presents 
 itself to us in the twofold aspect of an associa- 
 tion for business and an association for work. 
 The business of a Lodge is that which it does, in 
 common with other societies ; such, for instance, 
 as the regulation of its financial affairs and the 
 adoption of such measures as circumstances may 
 from time to time require, for the good of the 
 Lodge, or the convenience of its members. The 
 work of a Lodge is the technical term intended 
 to denote the reception of candidates and the 
 conferring of degrees.* 
 
 The business of a Lodge is conducted under 
 the parliamentary law, so far as it is not repug- 
 nant to the peculiar character of the Institution. 
 
 * Work is the older word, and was exclusively used in the 
 primitive rituals. The word labor, now more commonly em- 
 ployed, is, however, exactly synonymous. 
 
 24 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 25 
 
 But the work of a Lodge is regulated simply by 
 the will of the Master. To it the parliamentary 
 law can in no way apply, and this arises from the 
 distinctive design of the Masonic organization. 
 
 A Lodge is defined in the old Charges to be 
 " a place where Masons assemble and work." 
 While thus assembled and at work, a Lodge of 
 Masons has a peculiar reference to those ancient 
 building associations from whom the society has 
 derived its existence and organization, and even 
 its name. The operative Masons were engaged 
 in the construction of material temples. The 
 speculative Masons are occupied in the erection 
 of a spiritual temple. From the operative art, 
 the speculative science has borrowed not only 
 its technical language, its implements, and its 
 materials, to all of which it has given a spiritual 
 signification ; but it has adopted its working 
 regulations for its own symbolic purposes. Thus 
 the Master of the Lodge is the master of the work. 
 He lays down his designs upon the trestle-board, 
 that the craft may pursue their labors. He alone 
 is responsible for the fidelity of the work, and 
 must therefore be invested with the most ample 
 power to carry into effect the designs which he 
 has prepared. From the workmen — the mem- 
 bers of the Lodge — he has a right to expect 
 
26 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 implicit obedience. His decisions in relation to 
 work or labor are final, and without appeal, so 
 far as the Lodge itself is concerned. He may 
 be censured, overruled, and even suspended or 
 removed, by the superior authority of a Grand 
 Master or a Grand Lodge ; but the Lodge itself 
 has no power of supervision over the decrees or 
 the actions of its Master when it is at work. The 
 principle of autocracy prevails in all the old 
 Charges and Constitutions by which the society 
 was governed in its earlier days. These docu- 
 ments constantly speak of the Master as the one 
 who was to control the work, while the craft 
 were merely to obey his commands. This prin- 
 ciple has, therefore, been carried into the modern 
 Masonic Lodges, where the symbolic work of 
 speculative Masonry is governed by the same 
 regulations as those that were in use among our 
 operative predecessors. 
 
 Hence, to a Lodge when at work, in the tech- 
 nical meaning of the expression, the parliamen- 
 tary law, or any other rules of order, would be 
 wholly inapplicable. The will of the Master is 
 the rule of the Lodge. What are called the 
 "Old York Constitutions," say that ever}' work- 
 man shall receive his wages meekly, and without 
 scruple ; which, symbolically interpreted, means 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 2/ 
 
 that the decisions of the Master shall be accepted 
 without question. 
 
 But the case is different when the Lodge, 
 having completed its work, proceeds to the trans- 
 action of ordinary business. Rules of order are 
 now required to regulate the discussions which 
 spring up, and the parliamentary law, as it affords 
 the best system, may now be applied to the 
 government of the Lodge. 
 
 But a Masonic Lodge, even when engaged in 
 business only, differs very materially from any 
 other society. The features of undivided respon- 
 sibility which pertained to the Master, and of im- 
 plicit obedience which was required from the 
 craft in the operative system, continue to exert 
 their influence upon the conduct of a Lodge, not 
 only when at work, but also when engaged in 
 business ; and even here, therefore, the parlia- 
 mentary law must be applied with some modifi- 
 cation. This will appear in the subsequent 
 chapters of this treatise. But it must always be 
 borne in mind, that whenever we speak of the 
 application of parliamentary law to a Masonic 
 Lodge, we mean a Lodge engaged in business, 
 and not a Lodge at work; and this distinction 
 between a business Lodge and a working Lodge 
 must never be forgotten. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF A QUORUM. 
 
 THE parliamentary law provides that a de- 
 liberative body shall not proceed to busi- 
 ness until a quorum of its members is present.* 
 What this quorum is has to be settled by a spe- 
 cific regulation of each organization. Thus, in 
 the English House of Lords three constitute a 
 quorum, and forty in the House of Commons. 
 In both Houses of the American Congress, and 
 in many of the State Legislatures, a majority of 
 the members is required to make a quorum. 
 But, no matter what is the number, it is settled 
 by the general parliamentary law, that no busi- 
 ness can be transacted unless the quorum, what- 
 ever it may be, is present. The only exception 
 
 * Quorum is derived from the Latin form of commissions of the 
 peace, which are addressed to several persons of ■whom ( " quo- 
 rum " ) a certain number are required to form a legal board. 
 Substantively, it denotes the number of persons belonging to an 
 assembly, corporation, or society which is required to transact 
 business. 
 
 28 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 29 
 
 to this rule is, that after waiting a reasonable 
 time, if no quorum can be obtained, the members 
 present may organize for the purpose of an im- 
 mediate adjournment to some other time. 
 
 With the exception of this provision, the par- 
 liamentary law of quorums is applicable to Free- 
 masonry, and indeed is made so by special reg- 
 ulations. In the technical language of our ritual, 
 a Lodge, to be capable of doing work or trans- 
 acting business, must be "just, perfect, and reg- 
 ular." A "just Lodge" is one which has the 
 Book of the Law unfolded, with the square and 
 compasses lying thereon ; a " perfect Lodge" is 
 one that consists of the requisite number of 
 brethren ; and a " regular Lodge" is one that 
 has a warrant of constitution authorizing it to 
 meet. The second only of these provisions re- 
 fers to a quorum, but each is equally necessary 
 to the validity of the meeting. In other words, 
 no Lodge of Freemasons can be opened unless 
 there be a sufficient number of brethren present, 
 having a Bible, square, and compasses, and a 
 charter, or warrant of constitution. According 
 to Oliver, an exception in the English Lodges 
 may be made in the latter case ; for he says, that 
 " after the Lodge has been legally recognized by 
 the authorities and registered in the Grand 
 3* 
 
30 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Lodge books, the absence of the warrant would 
 not vitiate the proceedings ; * but a different doc- 
 trine prevails in this country, where it is held 
 that the presence of the warrant of constitution 
 is essential to the legality of the proceedings. 
 
 As to the composition of a " perfect Lodge," 
 that is to say, as to the number of brethren 
 necessary to make a quorum for the transaction 
 of business, the old Constitutions and regulations 
 are silent, and the authorities consequently differ. 
 In reply to an inquiry directed to him in 1857, 
 the editor of the London Freemasons Magazine 
 affirmed that five Masons are sufficient to open 
 a Lodge, and carry on business other than initi- 
 ation: for which latter purpose seven are neces- 
 sary. This opinion appears to be the general 
 English one, and is acquiesced in by Dr. Oliver; 
 but there is no authority of law for it. And 
 when, in the year 181 8, the suggestion was made 
 that some regulation was necessary relative to 
 the number of brethren requisite to constitute 
 a legal Lodge, with competent powers to perform 
 the rite of initiation, and transact all other busi- 
 ness, the Board of General Purposes of the 
 Grand Lodge of England, to whom the sugges- 
 tion had been referred, replied, with an over 
 
 * Masonic Jurisprudence, chap, vi., sect. i. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 3I 
 
 abundance of cautious timidity, "that it is a 
 matter of so much dehcacy and difficulty, that it 
 is thought advisable not to depart from the si- 
 lence on the subject which had been observed in 
 all the Books of Constitutions." 
 
 At a first glance, the authorized ritual would 
 appear to promise us a solution of the problem. 
 There the answer to the question in each de- 
 gree, " How many compose a Lodge?" ought to 
 supply us with the rule by which we are to estab- 
 lish the quorum in that degree. For whatever 
 number composes a Lodge, that is the number 
 which apparently should authorize the Lodge to 
 proceed to business. The ritual has thus estab- 
 lished the number which constitutes a " perfect 
 Lodge," and without which number a Lodge 
 cannot be legally opened. 
 
 According to this rule, seven constitute a 
 "perfect" Entered Apprentice's Lodge, five a 
 Fellow-Craft's, and three a Master Mason's. 
 Without this requisite number, no Lodge can be 
 opened in either of these degrees. In a Chapter 
 of Royal Arch Masons nine Companions consti- 
 tute a quorum, and in a Commandery of Knights 
 Templars nine Knights,* although, under certain 
 
 * This is, by recent decisions, confirmed by the Grand En- 
 campment. The old ritualistic rule made eleven a constitutional 
 quorum in a Commandery of Knights Templars. 
 
32 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 well-known circumstances, three Knights are 
 competent to transact business. 
 
 But in the provision of the ritual we meet with 
 certain practical difficulties, so far as symbolic 
 Masonry is concerned. Thus, although it has 
 been prescribed that three are sufficient to open 
 a Master's Lodge, it is evident, to every one ac- 
 quainted with the ritual, that it would be utterly 
 impossible to confer the Master's degree with 
 that number. And therefore in this country the 
 authority of the ritual in respect to a quorum has 
 not been generally recognized, except for the 
 mere act of opening. 
 
 Looking to the facts that the petition for a 
 dispensation or charter must be signed by at least 
 seven Master Masons ; that a Lodge of Entered 
 Apprentices must consist of not less than seven; 
 and that originally all working or subordinate 
 Lodges were composed principally of Entered 
 Apprentices, and were, therefore. Apprentices' 
 Lodges, the Grand Lodges of America, which 
 have adopted any explicit rule on the subject, 
 have generally agreed to consider seven as the 
 proper number to constitute a quorum for busi- 
 ness in a Master's Lodge, Chase seems, I think, 
 to have adopted the proper view of the subject, 
 when he says that "the minimum number to 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 33 
 
 whom a dispensation or charter can be granted, 
 may be considered as the minimum number to 
 constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi- 
 ness. If seven be the number necessary to form 
 a Lodge, then seven is the number necessary to 
 continue a Lodge and to transact its business."* 
 
 In the absence of any landmark or specific 
 ancient law, written or unwritten, on the subject, 
 I am, therefore, inclined to think that seven 
 should constitute the proper quorum for work 
 or business in any of the symbolic degrees. A 
 Master would be correct in opening his Lodge 
 with two assistants on the third degree, because 
 the ritual declares that three Master Masons 
 constitute a "perfect Lodge." But he would 
 hardly be justified in balloting for candidates, 
 or in making appropriations from the funds of 
 the Lodge, when so small a number of the mem- 
 bers, whose interests would be affected by either 
 of these acts, was present. And as to work, al- 
 though a candidate who had been elected at a 
 previous communication might be present, the 
 nature of the ceremonies would preclude the 
 possibility of the Master conferring the degree 
 with only two assistants. 
 
 It would be better, after the Lodge had been 
 
 * Masonic Digest, p. 79. 
 C 
 
34 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 opened with only three members, that the 
 Master, finding no accession to the number by 
 new arrivals, should close it without proceeding 
 to business or work. 
 
 I have said that the provision of parliamentary 
 law which permits less than a quorum to organize 
 for the purpose of immediate adjournment is not 
 applicable to a Masonic Lodge. Adjournment 
 is a mode of concluding business which is un- 
 known in Freemasonry. The Lodge is opened 
 and closed at the "will and pleasure" of the 
 Worshipful Master, and hence, as a motion for 
 adjournment would be out of order, no good 
 could be accomplished by the temporary organi- 
 zation of a less number than a quorum. In Par- 
 liament or in Congress, the appointed time of 
 meeting having expired, it is necessary that a 
 new time should be appointed for the next meet- 
 ing ; for which purpose those present, although 
 less than a quorum, are permitted by their ad- 
 journment to designate that time. 
 
 But no such necessity exists in Masonry, for 
 the Master of a Lodge has the power of calling 
 the Lodge together at any time. 
 
 The quorum in Grand Lodges depends upon 
 special enactment, and differs in the different 
 jurisdictions. The quorum in a Grand Lodge is 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 35 
 
 generally reckoned not by the number of per- 
 sons present, but by the number of Lodges repre- 
 sented. A Grand Lodge might be opened in 
 the third degree with the quorum prescribed for 
 a Lodge of that degree. But I do not think 
 that it could proceed to the transaction of busi- 
 ness, unless the number of Lodges required by 
 its constitution was present. The same rule 
 prevails in respect to the quorum of a Grand 
 Chapter or a Grand Commandery. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE PRESIDING OFFICER. 
 
 IN the absence of the Master of a Lodge, the 
 Senior Warden, or in that of both the Junior 
 Warden, assumes the chair. And it is not unu- 
 sual for a Warden, in such case, to invite a Past 
 Master of the Lodge who may be present to 
 take the gavel. But whoever, for the time being, 
 presides over the Lodge, is invested, for that 
 time, with all the prerogatives of an installed 
 Master, so far as ruling the Lodge is concerned. 
 The possession of the chair gives this authority, 
 and hence the installation of the Master is called 
 by our English brethren "passing the chair." 
 The Germans press this idea, by calling their 
 presiding officer the " Meister im Stuhl,"* or the 
 Master in the chair ; and Latin Masonic writers 
 use the expression " Magister Cathedra;," which 
 conveys the same idea. Whoever, therefore, is 
 
 * Frequently, but less correctly, " Meister vom Stuhl." 
 
 36 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 3/ 
 
 in the chair, controls the Lodge. Even the 
 Grand Master, if present, can exercise no disci- 
 pline until he has taken the chair and assumed 
 the gavel. 
 
 The duties of a Master are far more impor- 
 tant, and his prerogatives and privileges more 
 extensive, than those of the presiding officer of 
 any other society. The latter is directed and 
 controlled by the provisions of the parliamentary 
 law, but these are applicable to the Master of a 
 Lodge only with many modifications. 
 
 Hence, the Master of a Lodge, faithfully to 
 discharge these important duties, should be pos- 
 sessed of no ordinary qualifications. He should 
 unite firmness of decision with moderation of 
 rule, and should have that spirit of conciliation, 
 and that amenity of manners, which would tem- 
 per the excitement of passions, and prevent or 
 calm unpleasant discussions, with, at the same 
 time, that rectitude of judgment, which will enable 
 him to promptly seize the point of controversy 
 in a question under debate, so that the rules of 
 order, necessary to direct a discussion to its 
 termination, may suggest themselves almost 
 intuitively to his mind. 
 
 Besides the duties of opening and closing the 
 Lodge and directing the work, the Master, in the 
 
 4 
 
38 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 hours of business, becomes the moderator or 
 regulator of discussions and debates, puts the 
 motions which are presented to vote, declares 
 the result, and decides all points of order. Each 
 of these must become the subject of separate 
 inquiry in succeeding chapters, because in each 
 the Master will be controlled to a certain extent 
 by the provisions of parliamentary law. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 OF APPEALS. 
 
 IN every society, when the presiding officer 
 has made a decision on any question, which 
 is unsatisfactory to one or more of the members, 
 it is usual to take an appeal from that decision 
 to the assembly, which may by a vote sustain or 
 overrule it. This is called the right of appeal, 
 and is in accordance with the principles of par- 
 liamentary law, and rules are to be found in 
 every legislative assembly for the exercise of the 
 right. 
 
 But in a Masonic Lodge or Chapter, from the 
 peculiar character of the Masonic organization, 
 an appeal from the presiding officer to the body 
 over which he presides is not known. An ap- 
 peal may be taken to the Grand Lodge or the 
 Grand Chapter; but an appeal made from the 
 decision of the Master to the Lodge would at 
 once be ruled by that officer as out of order. 
 
 This doctrine has been in this country defi- 
 
 39 
 
40 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 nitely settled by almost every Masonic authority. 
 It is true that, about twenty years ago, the sub- 
 ject was freely discussed, and that the Grand 
 Lodge of Ohio and the committee on foreign 
 correspondence of Tennessee, sustained the 
 principle, that an appeal would lie from the deci- 
 sion of the Master to the Lodge, But this opin- 
 ion met with no support from the Masonic jurists 
 of the time, who all have concurred in the prin- 
 ciple, that appeals to the Lodge from the decision 
 of the Master are not in accordance with Masonic 
 law ; and the decisions of Ohio and Tennessee 
 were in subsequent years repudiated and re- 
 versed in those jurisdictions. 
 
 An attempt has been made by a few writers 
 to discriminate between the work and the busi- 
 ness of a Lodge. Thus, the committee of foreign 
 correspondence of Tennessee, in 1853, while 
 admitting that, so far as the mere Masonic work 
 of a Lodge is concerned, there is some plausi- 
 bility in the argument against an appeal, says: 
 " But to contend that no appeal, on any decision 
 whatever, whether business or otherwise, can 
 be taken to the body of the Lodge, is an assump- 
 tion of power altogether too great to repose in 
 the hands of any one individual." 
 
 This attempt to discriminate between work 
 and business would soon lead to confusion. In 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 4I 
 
 many instances it would be difficult to say 
 whether a question of order properly pertained 
 to the work or business of the Lodge, and hence 
 it is safer not to draw this distinction, which has 
 accordingly been repudiated by the highest Ma- 
 sonic authorities. 
 
 This theory is founded on the nature of the 
 Masonic organization. In the early history of 
 the Order, when it presented an almost wholly 
 operative character, the masses of the Fraternity 
 consisted almost entirely of Fellow-Crafts ; while 
 those only were Masters who presided over the 
 workmen. Whether degrees existed at that time 
 or not, is a question that is now being agitated 
 by Masonic writers. It is, however, undeniable 
 that these Masters and Fellows constituted gra- 
 dations of rank. The Master alone was made 
 responsible to the lord for the perfection of the 
 work, while the Fellows were responsible to the 
 Master. Hence, one of the points of the 
 earliest of the old Constitutions, known as 
 the Halliwell MS., gave to the Master the 
 absolute power to dismiss a Fellow, and 
 required the workmen to " receive their pay 
 full meekly such as it might be," that is, 
 without doubt, hesitation, or objection, which is 
 equivalent to investing the Master with auto- 
 
42 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 cratic power* Whence follows the doctrine, that 
 there can be no appeal from his decision. 
 
 At the revival in 1 7 1 7, a new division of the Fra- 
 ternity presents itself. There is no question of 
 the institution at that time of distinctive degrees. 
 Fellow-Crafts were then permitted to act as 
 Wardens, and a Master presided over the Craft, 
 which Master, according to the Charges approved 
 in 1722, was required to be chosen from among 
 " the most expert of the Fellow-Craftsmen." By 
 this promotion it seems that he received the 
 Master's degree. But the mass of the Fra- 
 ternity, who constituted the members of the 
 subordinate Lodges, with the exception of the 
 officers, were Entered Apprentices, and the only 
 degree conferred in the Lodges was that of Ap- 
 prentice ; for the thirteenth general regulation, 
 adopted in 1 721, declares that " Apprentices must 
 be admitted Masters and Fellow-Crafts only in 
 
 * The spirit of implicit obedience to the awards of the Master 
 pervades all the old Manuscript Constitutions. Thus, for exam- 
 ple, the Cooke MS. says (1. 860), "yf eny discorde schall be bi- 
 twene hym and his felows, he schall abey hym mekely, and be 
 stylle at the byddyng of his master or of the wardeyne of his 
 master in his master's absens." And the same spirit of obedi- 
 ence to the Graceman's, the Alderman's, the Warden's, or the 
 Master's authority pervades the Constitutions of the English 
 non-masonic gilds of the Middle Ages. Compare the collection 
 of them laboriously made by Toulmin Smith in his work on 
 " English Gilds." 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 43 
 
 the Grand Lodge, unless by a dispensation." 
 Hence, on the principle of subordination in 
 degrees, which constitutes the very life of the 
 Masonic institution, the decision of a Master 
 Mason cannot be reversed by the action of a 
 Lodge of Entered Apprentices. Thus arose, in 
 the beginning, the Masonic doctrine, that no ap- 
 peal can be entertained by the Lodge from the 
 decision of the Master; and although this dis- 
 tinction of degrees between the Master and the 
 members no longer exists, it being required by 
 the modern Constitutions of this country, at least, 
 that all the members of a Lodge shall be Master 
 Masons, yet for other not less cogent reasons 
 the doctrine and the custom are both retained: for 
 the Master alone is still responsible for the good 
 conduct of his Lodge. To him the Grand Master 
 and the Grand Lodge look for the preservation 
 of order and the observance of the laws and land- 
 marks of the Institution. It would, therefore, be 
 highly unjust to permit a Lodge to overrule the 
 decision of an officer burdened with so heavy a 
 responsibility. If he commits an error, the ap- 
 peal must be made to the Grand Lodge, which 
 alone has the power to reverse his decision ; for 
 in Masonic, as in municipal law, there is no wrong 
 without its remedy — ubi jus ibi remedium. 
 
44 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 If, then, an appeal is made by any member to 
 the Lodge from the decision of the Master on 
 any question relating either to work or business, 
 it is the duty of the Master to declare such an 
 appeal out of order, and to refuse to entertain it. 
 This is the well-settled law of Masonry on this 
 subject. 
 
 Diffident Masters sometimes, doubtful of the 
 correctness of their decisions, have permitted an 
 appeal by courtesy. This, however, is clearly 
 wrong ; for, as it has been well said, the admis- 
 sion of appeals by courtesy might ultimately be- 
 come a precedent, through which the abso- 
 lute right to take appeals would eventually be 
 claimed. 
 
 In the case of a reasonable doubt, the Master 
 may of course avail himself of the advice and 
 counsel of the most experienced members of his 
 Lodge, and especially of its Past Masters, before 
 coming to a decision ; but, having arrived at that 
 decision, and having officially announced it from 
 the chair, it is irreversible by the Lodge. 
 
 On the question of appeals from the decision 
 of a Grand Master or a Grand High Priest, in a 
 Grand Lodge or Grand Chapter, the opinions of 
 Masonic authorities are not uniformly on one 
 side. The Grand Lodges of Alabama, Illinois, 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 45 
 
 and perhaps a few other States, permit an appeal 
 to the Grand Lodge from the decision of the 
 Grand Master. Bro. Abell, of California, who 
 stands high as a Masonic jurist, makes on this 
 subject the following remarks : 
 
 " We consider a Grand Lodge in these days 
 as simply the legislature of the Craft ; and as it 
 is the supreme authority, beyond which there is 
 no tribunal, where an appeal can be maintained, 
 it seems a very absurdity that one man, the tem- 
 porary officer of its own elevation, should be 
 permitted, unquestioned, to declare upon what 
 subject it shall or shall not deliberate, and with 
 despotic power to pronounce and maintain his 
 single opinion in opposition, as it may be, to the 
 united voice of the body which created him." In 
 this opinion Bro. Chase, the author of the " Ma- 
 sonic Digest," concurs. 
 
 The Committee of Foreign Correspondence 
 of theGrand Lodge of New York, adopted in 1852 
 a contrary mode of reasoning. They say : " We 
 think that no appeal lies from the decision of the 
 Grand Master, because he is, in his official posi- 
 tion, required, like the Master in his Lodge, to see 
 that the Constitutions and laws of Masonry are 
 faithfully observed. He cannot do this if his 
 opinion or decision may be instantly set aside by 
 
46 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 an appeal to that majority which is about to vio- 
 late them. In such case, also, he may close the 
 Lodge to prevent the violation; so that calm 
 reason teaches us that there is no other just rule 
 in the matter than that of the supremacy and in- 
 violability of presiding officers." 
 
 Dr. Oliver is equally positive on this question. 
 He says:* "In some instances the Grand Mas- 
 ter's ruling of itself will decide a controverted 
 question, and there is no appeal from his decision ; 
 and if he should ever abuse his power, there is no 
 existing law by which he can be called to account." 
 
 However cogent may be the reasoning of Bro. 
 Abell, (and I admit that the legislative character 
 of a Grand Lodge, as the supreme tribunal in its 
 jurisdiction, might seem to justify an appeal from 
 an improper decision of a Grand Master, as 
 affording the only remedy for a wrong,) yet I am 
 obliged to confess that all the precedents, and 
 with the few exceptions already quoted, all the 
 authorities, are in favor of giving autocratic power 
 to the Grand Master and, by analogy, to the 
 Grand Lodge ; so that it may be considered as 
 the settled law of Masonry in this country, that 
 there is no appeal from the decision of the Grand 
 Master or Grand High Priest to the Grand Lodge 
 or Grand Chapter. 
 
 * Masonic Jurisprudence, chap, vii., sec. ii., p. 391. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 47 
 
 In the year 1856, the General Grand Chapter 
 of the United States adopted a resolution, " that 
 an appeal does lie in all cases from the decision 
 of the General Grand High Priest to the General 
 Grand Chapter, which alone can, in the last re- 
 sort, by vote of two-thirds of the members present, 
 determine what is the Masonic law or custom." 
 But at the same time it provided that this reso- 
 lution, as a rule, should not be considered as 
 operating or having any effect in the State Grand 
 Chapters or subordinates. 
 
 In the same year the Grand Encampment of 
 the United States adopted a similar resolution 
 and a similar provision. The action of these two 
 supreme bodies seems to have settled the point 
 of law, that an appeal does not He from a Grand 
 High Priest to a Grand Chapter, or from a Grand 
 Commander to a Grand Commandery. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OF MOTIONS. 
 
 THE members of every deliberative assembly 
 — and it is in this aspect that we are consid- 
 ering a Masonic Lodge — are of course called 
 upon, from time to time, to declare their will or 
 judgment. This can only be done upon the 
 presentation of a substantive proposition, upon 
 which they are to express their opinion. This 
 proposition is technically called a motion. The 
 discussion upon its merits is the debate, and the 
 judgment is arrived at by a vote, in which each 
 member expresses his individual opinion. The 
 greater number of votes, whether for assent or 
 dissent, is considered an expression of the will 
 of the assembly ; because in parliamentary law 
 the will of the majority, in general, is taken for 
 the will of the whole. 
 
 Motions as thus defined are of two kinds, prin- 
 cipal and subsidiary. A principal motion is one 
 
 that proposes to express some fact, opinion, or 
 
 48 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 49 
 
 principle of the assembly, and which, on being 
 adopted, expresses that fact, opinion, or princi- 
 'ple, A subsidiary motion is one which is in- 
 tended to change the character of the principal 
 motion, as a motion to amend, or to strike out, 
 or insert certain words ; or to control its dispo- 
 sition, as a motion to postpone its consideration, 
 to refer it to a committee, or to lay it upon the 
 table. 
 
 There is another class of motions, which in 
 parliamentary language are called " dilatory mo- 
 tions," because their sole object is to delay the 
 progress of business. They consist usually of 
 motions to adjourn, alternated with motions to 
 adjourn to a certain day. On each of these mo- 
 tions the ayes and nays are called, and thus the 
 time of the assembly is consumed to the exclu- 
 sion of the main question. This system was 
 originally adopted for the protection of the mi- 
 nority, who are thus enabled to prevent, for a 
 time, and sometimes effectually, the passage by 
 the majority of a distasteful measure. In Masonic 
 bodies these dilatory motions have no existence, 
 because the duration of the debate and the con- 
 duct of business is under the control of the pre- 
 siding officer. In Masonry, the minority find their 
 protection in the benign principles of the Order 
 S D 
 
so MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 and in the justice and impartiality of the Master 
 of the Lodge. 
 
 I shall devote this and the four succeeding 
 chapters to the consideration of a principal mo- 
 tion^that is to say, a substantive proposition — 
 which has been presented to the Lodge for the 
 decision of its members, tracing its progress from 
 its presentation, through the debate which may 
 ensue thereupon, to its final adoption or rejec- 
 tion, I shall not encumber the subject at this 
 time with any remarks on the subsidiary motions 
 which may arise. In other words, I will suppose 
 that a motion expressing some opinion has been 
 proposed, that it has been fairly discussed, with- 
 out any attempt to amend, postpone, or other- 
 wise evade its immediate disposition, and that 
 the discussion has been followed by a direct vote 
 upon its merits. 
 
 In treating this subject of motions, four things 
 are to be considered : 
 
 1. The motion itself; how it must be offered. 
 
 2. The debate; how it must be conducted. 
 
 3. The vote ; how it must be taken. 
 
 4. The announcement of the decision ; how it 
 must be made. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OF THE MOTION ITSELF, AND HOW IT MUST BE 
 OFFERED. 
 
 WHEN any member desires to make a mo- 
 tion, he rises and addresses the chair. 
 Having offered his motion, it must be seconded 
 by some other member. For it is well settled 
 by parliamentary law, that no motion which is 
 not seconded can be entertained.* The concur- 
 rence of two members is necessary to secure its 
 consideration. Hence, if a motion is not sec- 
 onded, it falls to the ground, and the chair and 
 the Lodge will take no further notice of it. And 
 this rule applies to all principal motions, but 
 not, as will be seen hereafter, to all subsidiary 
 ones. 
 
 The motion, being thus made and seconded, 
 
 * If a proposition is not seconded, the Speaker takes no notice 
 of it, and nothing is done in consequence of it. — Hatsell's Prece- 
 dents, ii. 120. 
 
 SI 
 
52 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 must be reduced to writing * if insisted upon by 
 any member ; and it is a good rule, that every 
 motion should be written out, as confusion or 
 controversy as to its terms or language is thus 
 prevented in the subsequent proceedings. Many 
 Lodges have a provision to this effect in their 
 by-laws ; and where such provision exists the 
 rule must, of course, be stricdy enforced by the 
 presiding officer. But, in the absence of such 
 rule, the common law of Parliament gives any 
 member the privilege of demanding that it be 
 written. Hatsell, one of the best authorities on 
 parliamentary law, says: "It is to be put into 
 writing, if the House or Speaker require it, 
 and must be read to the House by the Speaker 
 as often as any member desires it for his informa- 
 tion." This is the rule of the British House of 
 Commons, and the same rule exists in both 
 Houses of the American Congress. 
 
 The rule of the Senate is : " When a motion shall 
 be made and seconded, it shall be reduced to writ- 
 ing, if desired by the President or any member, 
 delivered in at the table, and read by the Presi- 
 
 * Hatsell tells us that more than three hundred years ago, 
 April, 1 571, the rule was adopted "that from henceforth men 
 making motions shall bring them in writing," and the custom, 
 he says, " has been uniformly adopted ever since.'' — Precedents, 
 ii. 112. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. S3 
 
 dent before the same shall be debated." That 
 of the House of Representatives is in the follow- 
 ing words : " Every motion shall be reduced to 
 writing, if the Speaker or any member desire 
 it." 
 
 In parliamentary law, a motion thus made, sec- 
 onded, and reduced to writing comes at once 
 into the possession of the House. But in the 
 practice of Masonry another step is to be taken 
 before we can arrive at that condition. The 
 autocratic power of the Master, or presiding 
 officer of a Lodge, makes him the only and final 
 arbiter of questions of order. The Master may, 
 therefore, declare that the motion is not in order 
 — that is, not capable of being entertained — 
 and decide that it shall not be received ; and 
 from this decision there can be no appeal to 
 the Lodge. The motion must be passed over 
 without discussion ; or, if the Master neglects or 
 omits to make such ruling, it is competent for 
 any member to make a similar objection, which 
 objection shall be duly considered by the Master 
 without any debate. 
 
 When a motion in a Masonic Lodge is thus 
 made, seconded, reduced to writing, and not 
 overruled on a point of order by the Master, the 
 Lodge is then placed in possession of it. The 
 
54 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Master reads it from the chair, and says, "Are 
 you ready for the question ? " If no one desires 
 to discuss its merits, the vote is to be imme- 
 diately taken in the form hereafter to be de- 
 scribed. But if there is a difference of opinion 
 among the members, some being in favor of and 
 others opposed to it, a debate will ensue, which 
 constitutes the second stage of the proceedings. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OF THE DEBATE, AND HOW IT MUST BE CON- 
 DUCTED. 
 
 DEBATES in a Masonic Lodge must be 
 conducted according to the fraternal prin- 
 ciples of the Institution. In the language of Dr. 
 Oliver, "The strictest courtesy shall be observed 
 during a debate, in a Mason's Lodge, on ques- 
 tions which elicit a difference of opinion ; and 
 any gross violation of decorum and good order 
 is sure to be met by an admonition from the 
 chair." It must always be remembered, that the 
 object of a Masonic discussion is to elicit truth, 
 and not simply to secure victory. Hence, those 
 means of suppressing due inquiry, which are so 
 common in popular assemblies, are to be avoided ; 
 therefore it is that the motion for the previous 
 question, so frequently resorted to by parlia- 
 mentary strategists, as a means of stifling debate 
 and silencing the voice of the minority, is never 
 admitted in a Masonic Lodge. The discourtesy 
 
 55 
 
S6 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 which such a motion exhibits on the part of the 
 majority, and its evident object to prevent in- 
 quiry, make it entirely antagonistic to the be- 
 nignant principles of the Masonic institution. I 
 have never, in my own experience, known the 
 motion for the "previous question" to be made in 
 any Masonic body, and I suppose that the incom- 
 petency of such a motion has never been doubted. 
 Bro. Benjamin B. French, who, from his long ex- 
 perience as Clerk of the United States House of 
 Representatives, had become an expert in the 
 science of parliamentary law, and who was 
 equally skilful in Masonic practices, said that 
 " Freemasonry knows no ■ previous question,' 
 and no Masonic body should ever tolerate it."* 
 Another method adopted in parliamentary 
 bodies and public assemblies, by which the fur- 
 ther discussion of a proposition is attempted to 
 be stifled, is by a motion to adjourn the debate. 
 It must, however, be observed, that the Master of 
 a Lodge, as the autocratic arbiter of order, always 
 possesses the power to suspend the further dis- 
 cussion of any subject when, in his opinion, such 
 discussion would tend to impair the peace and 
 harmony of the Lodge, or otherwise injuriously 
 affect the interests of Masonry. Yet the exer- 
 
 * American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry, vol. i., p. 325. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 57 
 
 cise of this prerogative is one which no Master, 
 not of a very arbitrary disposition, would exercise 
 without reluctance. He would, unless there were 
 imperative reasons to the contrary, desire to 
 leave the prolongation or the discontinuance of 
 the debate to be determined by the wishes of the 
 members. 
 
 Under such circumstances, I see no reason 
 why a motion to adjourn the debate might not 
 be made, although the Master could, in the proper 
 exercise of his prerogative, decline to put the 
 motion to a vote. Should he, however, accept 
 the motion, it must be governed by the principles 
 of parliamentary law as applied to questions of 
 that kind. Of these the only ones that are applica- 
 ble to Masonic practice are: i. That no mem- 
 ber who has already spoken on the question is 
 permitted to make a motion for the adjournment 
 of the debate. 2. That if such a motion has been 
 negatived, it cannot be renewed until there has 
 been some intermediate proceeding. In parlia- 
 mentary bodies, it is usual to alternate motions 
 for adjournment of the debate with motions for 
 the adjournment of the house. In a Masonic 
 Lodge there could be no such alternation, as a 
 motion for the adjournment of the Lodge is inad- 
 missible ; yet as the members, who, at an early 
 
58 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Stage of the debate, might be unwilling to stop, 
 would perhaps at a later period become wearied 
 and desire to put an end to a tedious discussion, 
 it would be better to so interpret the parliamen- 
 tary rule, as that the motion for the adjournment 
 of the debate having been negatived should not 
 be renewed until some time had elapsed, and of 
 the sufficiency of that interval the presiding offi- 
 cer would be the proper judge. 3. That when 
 a debate has been adjourned to a particular time, 
 on its resumption it assumes the precise place 
 that it had occupied when it was adjourned, and, 
 therefore, no member who had already spoken 
 before the adjournment can afterwards speak to 
 the main question. 4. That although a member 
 had already spoken to the question under dis- 
 cussion, he may also speak on the question of 
 adjournment of the debate, because that is really 
 a new question. 5. That the usual form of the 
 motion is "that the debate be now adjourned." 
 6. That when such a motion is made and seconded, 
 and admitted by the chair, it must be put to the 
 Lodge, unless withdrawn by general consent, 
 before the debate can be resumed. All discus- 
 sion ceases until the result of the motion is de- 
 termined. If adopted, the debate ceases at once, 
 and the Lodge proceeds to other business. If 
 negatived, the debate goes on as before. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 59 
 
 When, in a debate, a brother desires to speak, 
 he rises and addresses the chair. The presiding 
 officer calls him by his name, and thus recog- 
 nizes his right to the floor. While he is speaking 
 he is not to be interrupted by any other member, 
 except on a point of order. If called to order by 
 any member, the speaker is immediately to take 
 his seat until the point is stated, when the Mas- 
 ter will make his decision without debate. The 
 speaker will then rise and resume his discourse, 
 if not ruled out by the Master. During the 
 time that he is speaking, no motion is permissible. 
 Every member is permitted to speak once on the 
 subject under discussion ; nor can he speak a 
 second time, except by permission of the Master. 
 
 The rule restricting members to one speech 
 is in accordance with the general principles of 
 parliamentary law,* and is founded on the very 
 natural doctrine, that a fair discussion implies 
 the right of every one to express his sentiments. 
 But as this can be done in a single speech, a 
 second one is prohibited, lest the speakers should 
 
 * It is essential, says Hatsell, to the despatch of business, that 
 the rule and order of the House, that no member should speak 
 twice to the same question, should be strictly adhered to ; and it 
 is the duty of the Speaker to maintain the observance of this rule 
 without waiting for the interposition of the House. — Precedents, 
 vol. ii., p. loj. 
 
6o MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 become tedious by needless repetition, the dis- 
 cussion be inordinately prolonged, and the time 
 of the assembly be unnecessarily wasted. 
 
 Some Lodges, however, are more liberal on 
 this point, and, by a special by-law, permit each 
 member to speak twice on the same subject ; and 
 such a rule would, of course, override the par- 
 liamentary law ; but where no such by-law exists, 
 the parliamentary law would come into operation, 
 and must be rigidly enforced. 
 
 To this law there are two exceptions, which 
 must now be noted: 
 
 First. Any member in a parliamentary body — 
 that is, a body governed strictly by parliamentary 
 usage — is permitted to speak a second time, and 
 even oftener, by the consent of the assembly ; 
 but as this second speaking is actually a breach 
 of the rules of order, which rules of order are on 
 that point and for that occasion suspended or 
 overruled, to enable the member to speak a sec- 
 ond time, and as the decision of all questions of 
 order in a Masonic Lodge are vested not in the 
 Lodge, but in the Master, the power of granting 
 this consent is, in Masonry, transferred from the 
 Lodge to the presiding officer. Hence, in the 
 application of the parliamentary law on this sub- 
 ject to Masonic bodies, we must make this dis- 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 6l 
 
 tinction. By the parliamentary law no person 
 is permitted to speak more than once on the 
 same subject, except with the consent of the as- 
 sembly. In a Masonic Lodge no brother is per- 
 mitted to speak more than once on the same 
 subject, except with the consent of the presiding 
 officer, unless the by-laws give him the privilege 
 of a second speech. 
 
 Secondly. The right of speaking twice is 
 always given to the mover of the resolution, who, 
 if he desires it, may close the debate ; after which 
 it would be out of order for any other member 
 to speak. Parliamentary jurists are in doubt 
 whether this privilege exists as a matter of right, 
 or simply by the courtesy of the assembly. But 
 that it does exist, and that it is constantly exerted, 
 and has always been unquestionably recognized, 
 is, perhaps, sufficient to make it a matter of right 
 by the law of precedent. This privilege is 
 acceded to the mover, not only on a principle 
 of justice to himself, but of expediency to the 
 assembly. It is to be presumed that the mover 
 of a resolution must know more of the subject- 
 matter which it embraces, or at least that he is 
 better acquainted with the reasons which he 
 thinks should induce the adoption of the propo- 
 sition, than any other member. He ought, there- 
 
 6 
 
62 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 fore, to be permitted, for his own justification, 
 as well as for the information of his fellow-mem- 
 bers, to reply to any arguments which have been 
 made by its adversaries in the course of the de- 
 bate, or to correct what he may deem any mis- 
 statements of facts by the opponents of the 
 measure. But to accomplish these objects, it is 
 necessary that he should confine himself to the 
 arguments which have been advanced, or to the 
 statements which have been made. His reply 
 must be what a reply actually means, namely, 
 that which is said in answer to what has been 
 said by another, and nothing more. He can 
 enter into no new field of argument, nor intro- 
 duce any new topics which have not been touched 
 upon by the previous discussion. If he does, his 
 speech ceases to be a refutation of the arguments 
 of his opponents, and the new arguments intro- 
 duced by him in his second speech give them in 
 turn the right to a reply, provided that the 
 speakers so replying have not before spoken 
 to the question. Thus, Gushing says: "If a 
 member, therefore, in his reply, goes beyond 
 the proper limits and introduces new matter, 
 other members are at liberty to speak to the 
 question." 
 
 There is nothing in these principles of parlia- 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 63 
 
 mentary law which is opposed to or inconsistent 
 with the landmarks of Freemasonry, or the pecu- 
 liar organization of the Institution ; and, hence, 
 this parliamentary law is strictly applicable to the 
 government of a debate in a Masonic Lodge. 
 The rule thus obligatory on a Masonic Lodge 
 may be enunciated in the language of the sixty- 
 third rule of the American House of Represen- 
 tatives, which I adopt as the simplest in its 
 terms, the necessary change being made from 
 leave of the House to leave of the presiding 
 officer : 
 
 " No member shall speak more than once to 
 the same question, without leave of the chair, 
 unless he be the mover, proposer, or introducer 
 of the matter pending, in which case he shall 
 be permitted to speak in reply, but not until 
 every member choosing to speak shall have 
 spoken." 
 
 But if a change is made in the nature of the 
 question by the introduction of a subsidiary mo- 
 tion, then the right to speak again accrues to 
 every member, notwithstanding he may have 
 spoken on the principal motion. Thus, if an 
 amendment is offered, then, as the amendment 
 introduces a new issue, the freedom of debate 
 requires that all the members who desire shall be 
 
64 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 permitted to discuss its merits. The amendment 
 assumes for the time being the character of a 
 new motion, and the debate on it must be gov- 
 erned by the same principles that are applicable 
 to the original motion. But the inquiry into the 
 nature of amendments will occupy our attention 
 in a succeeding chapter. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OF THE VOTE, AND HOW IT MUST BE TAKEN. 
 
 ALL the members who desire to express 
 their opinion on the subject-matter which 
 is presented in the motion having spoken, and 
 the mover of the resolution, if he wishes to avail 
 himself of his privilege, having replied to the 
 arguments which have been advanced against 
 the measure, the next thing to be done is to obtain 
 the voice of the Lodge on the question that is 
 embraced by the motion, and a formal expression 
 of its opinion, whether favorable or otherwise. 
 This is technically called "Putting the question," 
 and, like all parliamentary proceedings, is con- 
 ducted with certain forms, from which it is not safe 
 to depart. As a general rule in parliamentary 
 bodies, the question is put in this form: "So 
 many as are in favor of the motion will say aye; " 
 and then, " So many as are of a contrary opinion 
 will say no." But in Masonry it is a well-estab- 
 lished rule — although often neglected — to take 
 
 6* E 65 
 
66 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 the opinion of the Lodge, not by the vocal utter- 
 ance of aye or no, but by a show of hands. In the 
 " General Regulations of the Free and Accepted 
 Masons, revised, approved of, and ordered to be 
 published by the Grand Lodge [of England], 
 January 28, 1 767," a part of Article XIII. is in the 
 following words : 
 
 "The opinions or votes of the members are 
 always to be signified by each holding up one 
 of his hands: which uplifted hands the Grand 
 Wardens are to count, unless the number of 
 hands be so unequal as to render the counting 
 useless. Nor should any other kind of division 
 be ever admitted on such occasions."* This 
 rule is still in force in the Grand Lodge of Eng- 
 land, without other change than that of making 
 it the duty of the " Grand Wardens or Grand 
 Deacons " to count the votes. This mode of 
 putting the question involves the necessity of a 
 change of phraseology on the part of the pre- 
 siding officer. The usual formula in this country 
 is as follows : " So many as are in favor of the 
 
 * This was a very ancient mode of voting. In the popular 
 assembhes of the Greeks, the suffrages were always taken by 
 holding up the hands. Hence voting was called cheirotonia, or 
 " hand-extending," and a voter was a cheirotonetes, or a " hand- 
 extender." A "show of hands" still means, in English, the 
 expression of a vote. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 67 
 
 motion will signify the same by raising the right 
 hand ; " and then, " So many as are of a contrary 
 opinion will make the same sign." In some 
 Lodges I have heard this phraseology: "So 
 many as are in favor of the motion will signify 
 the same by the usual sign of the Order." But 
 as raising the right hand is not what is tech- 
 nically understood as 2. sign of the Order, the ex- 
 pression is evidently incorrect, and therefore the 
 formula first given is to be preferred. 
 
 If the number of hands raised on each branch 
 of the question is so unequal, that there is no 
 difficulty in deciding which number is the greater, 
 the Master next proceeds to announce the result; 
 which, however, will be the subject of the suc- 
 ceeding chapter. 
 
 But if the presiding officer has any doubt as to 
 which side has the preponderance of hands, he 
 may for his own satisfaction require the vote to 
 be again taken, or direct the Senior Deacon to 
 count the votes ; or if, after making his an- 
 nouncement, any member is dissatisfied, he may 
 call for a division. 
 
 In popular assemblies the vote is first taken by 
 " ayes " and " nays," and the decision of the chair 
 is based on the preponderance of sound, whether 
 of the affirmative or negative side. As this de- 
 
68 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 pends on the accuracy of the ear, the decision 
 may sometimes be erroneous. Hence a division 
 may be demanded, so as to make the result cer- 
 tain by exact counting. In a Masonic body, 
 when the votes are counted by the Deacon, as 
 there can be then no inaccuracy in the count, it 
 would seem unnecessary to call for a division, 
 and such would be the fact, were it not that there 
 is another source of error. In taking the ques- 
 tion in the ordinary mode, many on both sides, 
 from indifference or some other cause, neglect 
 to vote. But when a division is called, every one 
 present is required to vote, unless formally ex- 
 cused ; and hence a division, even after the count 
 of the Deacon, is admissible, because only in that 
 way can the opinion of every member be ob- 
 tained. 
 
 This division of the Lodge is not to be con- 
 founded with a division of the question, which is 
 hereafter to be considered. In the House of 
 Commons a division is made by one party going 
 forth and the other remaining in the House ; 
 whence it becomes important who are to go 
 forth and who are to remain, because the latter 
 gain all the indolent, the indifferent, and the in- 
 attentive ; and the general rule has therefore 
 been adopted, that those shall remain in who 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 69 
 
 vote for the preservation of the existing order 
 of things, and those go out who are in favor of 
 a change. A similar manner of dividing the 
 House in the American Congress having been 
 found inconvenient, the present rule was adopted, 
 by which those in the affirmative of the question 
 first rise from their seats, and afterwards those 
 in the negative. This mode has been generally 
 adopted in Lodges, and the count of the stand- 
 ing members is made by the Senior Deacon. 
 When, therefore, a division is called for, those in 
 the affirmative are requested to stand, who are 
 to be counted by the Senior Deacon, and then 
 those in the negative stand, who are counted in 
 the same manner. It is a general principle of 
 parliamentary law, that all who are present shall 
 vote on one side or the other, unless excused by 
 the House. As this rule is founded on the just 
 principle, that no man shall be permitted to evade 
 his responsibility as a legislator, the rule seems 
 equally applicable to Masonic bodies, where 
 every Mason owes a certain responsibility to the 
 Order of which he is a member. 
 
 In the usual mode of voting, either with or 
 without a division, it is difficult to enforce the 
 rule, because it is impossible to determine with 
 
•JO MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 certainty those who have declined to vote.* In 
 parliamentary bodies, when the yeas and nays 
 are called, it is easy to enforce the rule; but it is 
 not customary, and I think not proper, to demand 
 the yeas and nays in Lodges. In Grand Lodges, 
 where the members are responsible to a constit- 
 uency whom they represent, the vote by Lodges 
 is often called for, which is equivalent to de- 
 manding the yeas and nays ; and I have no doubt 
 that in such cases every member is bound to 
 vote, unless excused by the Grand Lodge. 
 
 The rule must also be enforced in a subordi- 
 nate Lodge on the ballot for a candidate for ini- 
 tiation, where every member is required to 
 deposit his ballot. And this is founded on the 
 great principle of unanimity, as it is set forth in 
 Article VI. of the General Regulations of 1721, 
 where it is said that " no man can be entered a 
 brother of any particular Lodge, or admitted to 
 be a member thereof, without the unanimous con- 
 sent of all the members of that Lodge then present 
 when the candidate is proposed, and their con- 
 sent is formally asked by the Master." 
 
 It is a well settled principle that on the ballot 
 
 *Yet it is competent for any one to call the attention of the 
 chair to the fact that a certain member has not voted. The 
 brother must then vote or offer an acceptable excuse. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. /I 
 
 for a candidate every member present must vote, 
 for unanimity cannot be predicated of a ballot 
 where even one has declined to deposit his ball. 
 
 In parliamentary law, the presiding officer is 
 required to vote only when the House is equally 
 divided, or when his vote, if given to the minority, 
 would make the division equal whereby the 
 question would be lost. 
 
 In so exercising the privilege of a casting vote, 
 it is usual for the Speaker or Chairman to ex- 
 press the reason of his judgment, which has 
 usually been to so vote on any measure as to 
 give to the House the opportunity of further dis- 
 cussion, and not to make the decision final, unless 
 some important principle was involved. Such a 
 rule of courtesy should also direct the Master of 
 a Lodge, who, in giving the casting vote on a 
 closely contested question, should always respect 
 as much as possible the doubtful opinion of the 
 Lodge. 
 
 In parliamentary practice there is no regula- 
 tion which gives to the presiding officer his own 
 individual vote as a member in addition to the 
 casting vote. No such rule exists in the English 
 Parliament nor in the American Congress, either 
 in the House or in a committee. In the House 
 of Commons, it was claimed in 1836 by the chair- 
 
72 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 man of a committee, but the claim was dis- 
 allowed by the House. But it was subsequently 
 ordered that in committees on private bills " all 
 questions shall be decided by a majority of votes, 
 including the voice of the chairman, and whenever 
 the voices are equal, the chairman shall have a 
 second or casting vote." * 
 
 This is an exception to the general parlia- 
 mentary law, but in Masonry it is the permanent 
 rule. In a Masonic Lodge the presiding officer 
 is entitled to a vote like any other member, and, 
 in addition to this, gives a casting vote when the 
 Lodge is equally divided. The parliamentary 
 rule, therefore, that when the House is equally 
 divided the vote is lost, can never apply in 
 Masonry, since on an equal division of the Lodge 
 the casting vote of the presiding officer always 
 gives a preponderance to one side or the other, 
 as the case may be. 
 
 I am not aware of any specific law or ancient 
 landmark which gives this supplemental casting 
 vote to the Master when there is a tie, unless it 
 be No. XII. of the " Old Regulations," adopted 
 by the Grand Lodge of England in 1721, which 
 says: "All matters are to be determined in the 
 
 * Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings, and Usages of 
 Parliament, by Sir Thomas Erskine May, K. C. B., p. 387. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. ^^ 
 
 Grand Lodge by a majority of votes, each mem- 
 ber having one vote, and the Grand Master 
 having two votes." And this law is still in 
 force. Dr. Oliver says of the English usage that 
 in case of an equality of votes the decision cen- 
 tres in the Master, but he makes no reference to 
 his additional vote besides the casting one.* The 
 practice of giving the Master two votes in case 
 of a tie, is, I think, almost universal in this coun- 
 try, f 
 
 There are some other regulations of parlia- 
 mentary law in reference to voting which seem 
 applicable to Masonic bodies, because they are 
 founded on the principles of right and expediency, 
 and do not contravene any of the landmarks or 
 Constitutions of the Order. 
 
 Thus, in putting the question, the affirmative 
 must be put first, and then the negative, and 
 until both are put it is no full question. 
 
 It is therefore a principle of parliamentary law, 
 that after the affirmative vote has been taken, and 
 before the negative has been put, it is in order 
 for any member to speak, if he has not spoken 
 before. This rule is founded on the principle, that 
 
 * Masonic Jurisprudence, p. 223. 
 
 1 1 have heard of a few exceptions, but they are not sufficient 
 to aifect the predominance of the rule. 
 7 
 
74 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 every debatable question may be discussed up to 
 the moment of its being fully put. Although I have 
 very seldom known any member of a Masonic 
 Lodge to avail himself of this privilege, yet I see 
 no reason why it should not be accorded if de- 
 manded. Again, no member, who was not pres- 
 ent when the question was begun to be put, can 
 be allowed to vote or take part in the proceed- 
 ings ; nor any division be called for after the 
 presiding officer has announced the result, if any 
 new matter has intervened. A division must 
 only be called for immediately after the an- 
 nouncement of the vote, and before the intro- 
 duction of new business. 
 
 Such are the rules which govern a Masonic 
 body in putting the question upon any matter 
 which has been sufficiently debated, and by which 
 the opinion of the majority of the members has 
 been obtained. The next stage of the proceed- 
 ings is the announcement of that opinion, as thus 
 obtained, by the presiding officer. The form in 
 which this announcement is to be made will con- 
 stitute the subject of the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DECISION, AND 
 HOW IT MUST BE MADE. 
 
 THE question having been thus put and de- 
 cided by a majority of votes — for, except 
 in special cases, where the concurrence of two- 
 thirds or three-fourths of the voters present is 
 required for the adoption of a proposition, the 
 voice of a bare majority always rules — the next 
 stage is the announcement of the result. This 
 is to be done by the presiding officer, and must 
 be effected after a certain form. It might seem 
 indifferent what form should be adopted, so long 
 as the assembly is put in possession of the 
 knowledge that a decision has been arrived at, 
 and what that decision is. But it is scarcely 
 necessary to dilate on the expediency of forms 
 in all matters of business, or to quote any au- 
 thority for their excellence as checks upon irreg- 
 ularity or arbitrary authority. The form adopted 
 in all deliberative assemblies is very nearly the 
 same ; and that which has been found expedient 
 
 75 
 
76 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 in Other societies may very well be pursued in 
 Masonic Lodges. 
 
 The presiding officer, having himself counted 
 the uplifted hands on either side, or, in case of 
 doubt or of a division, having caused them to be 
 counted by the Senior Deacon, and the count 
 communicated to him by that officer, should then 
 announce the result in the following words : 
 "The ayes have it — the motion is adopted;" or 
 " The nays have it — the motion is lost." 
 
 The announcement having been thus made, 
 any member who is not satisfied with the cor- 
 rectness of the count may call for a division,* 
 which can never be refused if made at this time. 
 The Master then puts the vote a second time, 
 requesting those on each side to stand alternately 
 while they are counted. The Senior Deacon, 
 having first counted the affirmative voters, reports 
 the number, and then counting those in the neg- 
 ative reports them also ; upon which the pre- 
 siding officer makes the announcement in the 
 formula already described, and from this an- 
 nouncement, upon a division, there is no appeal. 
 The subject is then closed, and cannot be re- 
 opened at the same communication, for it is a 
 principle of parliamentary law, that no question 
 
 * Hatsell on Precedents, ii., p. 140. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. ^^ 
 
 can be again offered which is substantially the 
 same as one upon which the House has already- 
 expressed its judgment. "This is necessary," 
 says May,* "in order to avoid contradictory 
 decisions, to prevent surprise, and to afford 
 proper opportunities for determining the several 
 questions as they arise. If the same question 
 could be proposed again and again, a session 
 would have no end, or only one question could 
 be determined, and which would be resolved first 
 in the affirmative and then in the negative, accord- 
 ing to the accidents to which all voting is liable." 
 
 If, therefore, a question which has been deter- 
 mined by the Lodge should be again proposed 
 at the same communication, either in the same 
 language or in language substantially the same, 
 if it had been negatived, or in language of a di- 
 rectly contrary import, if it had been adopted, it 
 would be the duty of the Master to rule it as out 
 of order, and refuse to present it for considera- 
 tion. 
 
 The subject may, however, in some cases and 
 under some conditions, be re-opened by a mo- 
 tion for reconsideration, the rules for making 
 which will be hereafter discussed. 
 
 In those instances where a concurrent vote of 
 
 * Treatise on Law, etc., of Parliament, chap, x., p. 283. 
 7* 
 
78 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 more than a bare majority Is required for the 
 adoption of a proposition ; as, for example, in 
 voting on an amendment to the Constitution, 
 which requires a vote of two-thirds or three- 
 fourths for its passage, the formula of announce- 
 ment is different. Here, the votes having been 
 counted by the Senior Deacon and the result 
 communicated to the Master, the latter makes 
 the announcement as follows : " Two-thirds (or 
 three-fourths, as the case may be) of the mem- 
 bers present having voted in the affirmative, the 
 amendment is adopted ; " or " Two-thirds of the 
 members present not having voted in the affirma- 
 tive, the amendment is lost ;" and the same form 
 will be followed, mutatis mutandis, in all cases 
 where a vote of two-thirds or three-fourths is 
 required for the passage of a proposition. 
 
 I have been particular in the description of 
 these forms, not because they are in themselves 
 important, but because experience has shown 
 that they constitute the best mode of communi- 
 cating to the assembly the result of the discus- 
 sion and vote through which it has just passed ; 
 and, although to those familiar with parliamentary 
 forms the instruction may seem trivial, there are 
 many Masters of Lodges who, not having had 
 that advantage, will not find the information 
 unacceptable. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 79 
 
 Having thus disposed of independent motions, 
 and shown how they should be offered and how 
 they should be discussed, how the question 
 should be put and how the result should be 
 announced, I shall next proceed to the consid- 
 eration of subsidiary motions. These, therefore, 
 will constitute the subject-matter of the next 
 chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OF SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS. 
 
 HAVING treated in former chapters of prin- 
 cipal motions, or, as they are technically 
 called, "main questions," we come next to the 
 consideration of " subsidiary motions," by which 
 term, in the language of Parliament, is meant 
 those motions which are made use of to dispose 
 of the principal motion, either temporarily or 
 permanently, without coming to a direct vote 
 on it. 
 
 But as it is a general principle of parliamentary 
 law, that two independent propositions cannot 
 be at the same time before the assembly, and as 
 these subsidiary motions have the especial privi- 
 lege of being presented at any time, notwith- 
 standing the pendency of another proposition and 
 during its consideration, they are also called 
 " privileged questions." 
 
 According to parliamentary law, when a ques- 
 tion is under debate, no motion can be received 
 except : 
 
 50 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 8l 
 
 1. To adjourn; 
 
 2. To lie on the table ; 
 
 3. For the previous question ; 
 
 4. To postpone to a day certain ; 
 
 5. To commit ; 
 
 6. To amend ; 
 
 7. To postpone indefinitely ; 
 
 and these several motions have precedence in 
 the order in which they are arranged. Such is 
 the modern rule in the popular branch of the 
 American Congress. It differs from the former 
 rule, as well as from that prevailing in the Sen- 
 ate, where the motion to amend is the last in 
 order, all the other subsidiary motions taking pre- 
 cedence of it. And notwithstanding the new rule 
 adopted in 1822, by the House of Representa- 
 tives, whereby a motion to amend must be put 
 before one to postpone indefinitely, the old rule, 
 which is also that of the Senate, still prevails in 
 all popular assemblages, and a motion to postpone 
 indefinitely, while a motion to amend is before 
 the meeting, is admissible, and, if adopted, carries 
 the amendment, as well as the original motion on 
 which it hangs, away from the assembly. 
 
 But of these subsidiary motions or privileged 
 questions, it has already been shown that the 
 motion to adjourn and that for the previous ques- 
 
82 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 tion are repugnant to the principles which regu- 
 late the Masonic institution, and cannot, there- 
 fore, be applied to the government of Masonic 
 bodies. 
 
 The only subsidiary motions that can be en- 
 tertained in a Masonic Lodge, during the discus- 
 sion of the main question, are the following : 
 
 1 . To lie on the table ; 
 
 2. To postpone indefinitely ; 
 
 3. To postpone to a day certain ; 
 
 4. To commit ; 
 
 5. To amend ; 
 
 which several motions have precedence in the 
 order in which they are above arranged. That 
 is to say, the main question being before the 
 Lodge, a motion may be made to amend it. It 
 may then be moved to commit the motion and 
 the amendment to a committee for report. 
 While this question is pending, a motion may be 
 made to postpone the question to the next com- 
 munication, or to any other specified time. This 
 may be replaced by another motion, to postpone 
 the further consideration of the motion indefi- 
 nitely ; and, lastly, before any one of these privi- 
 leged questions has been put to the Lodge, a 
 motion may be made to let the whole subject lie 
 on the table ; and this, if adopted, puts an end 
 at once to all further discussion. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 83 
 
 Or, a principal motion being before the Lodge, 
 a motion to amend it may be offered, and im- 
 mediately the whole four privileged questions 
 may be presented at the same time by four dif- 
 ferent members. One may move to commit ; 
 another, to postpone to a day certain ; a third, to 
 postpone indefinitely ; and a fourth, to lay the 
 motion on the table. Then each of these ques- 
 tions must be put in the order of its precedence. 
 The presiding officer will first put the motion to 
 lie on the table ; this being rejected, he will put 
 that for indefinite postponement ; if that is re- 
 jected, he will then put the motion for postpone- 
 ment to a day certain ; on its rejection, he will 
 put the motion to commit; that being lost, he 
 will put the amendment ; and, if that is rejected, 
 he will conclude by proposing the main question 
 or principal motion. 
 
 It will be seen that a motion to amend is the 
 last in order, and that, when it is offered, there 
 are four ways, besides and before rejection, by 
 which it may be put out of the presence and pos- 
 session, for the time being, of the Lodge. Yet 
 as amendments are offered more frequently than 
 any of the other secondary questions on the first 
 presentation of the principal motion, and as the 
 other subsidiary motions only affect the time 
 
84 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 or mode of consideration, while amendments are 
 intended to change the form, the substance, 
 and sometimes the very object of the main ques- 
 tion, it seems proper that they should be first 
 considered ; after which the other subsidiary mo- 
 tions will be taken up in the order of their pre- 
 cedence : the one which overrides all the others 
 being the first to be considered. We shall thus 
 proceed by a descending gradation from the 
 highest to the lowest, precisely in the order in 
 which these various privileged questions would 
 be put by the chair. The order of consideration 
 will therefore be as follows : 
 
 1 . Of amendments ; 
 
 2. Of the motion to lie on the table ; 
 
 3. Of the motion to postpone indefinitely; 
 
 4. Of the motion to postpone to a day certain ; 
 
 5. Of the motion to commit. 
 
 Each of these will form the subject-matter of 
 a distinct chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 OF AMENDMENTS. 
 
 ETYMOLOGICALLY, "to amend" is to 
 make better, by expunging a fault. In the 
 language of parliamentary law, to amend is to 
 make a change, whether it be for the better or 
 the worse. 
 
 When a motion is pending before a Lodge, it 
 is competent for any member to propose an 
 amendment thereto, which amendment having 
 been seconded,* takes precedence of the original 
 motion, that is to say, it must be considered and 
 adopted or rejected, before the question can be 
 put on the original motion. If the amendment 
 be lost, then the question must be put on 
 the original motion. If the amendment be 
 adopted, the question will be on the original 
 motion as so amended ; and then, if this question 
 be lost, the motion falls to the ground. The 
 adoption of the amendment brings an entirely 
 new motion, more or less altered from the origi- 
 
 * The amendment must, like the original motion, be seconded ; 
 but this rule is often neglected in popular assemblies. 
 
 8 8s 
 
86 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 nal one, before the Lodge, and the original mo- 
 tion disappears, and is no more heard of. The 
 not unusual mistake of some presiding officers, in 
 supposing that the adoption of an amendment pre- 
 cludes the necessity of putting the question on the 
 original motion, must be carefully avoided. The 
 adoption of an amendment is so far from adopt- 
 ing the motion which it amends, that it actually de- 
 stroys it, and brings a new motion before the body. 
 The change effected by the amendment has given 
 a different form to the original proposition. 
 
 An amendment can only be made in one of 
 these three ways, namely : by striking out certain 
 words ; by adding or inserting certain words ; 
 or, lastly, by striking out certain words, and in- 
 serting others. 
 
 I. Striking out certain words. A proposition 
 may be amended by striking out a part of it, but 
 the part so stricken out should not by its omis- 
 sion, affect the coherence or grammatical con- 
 gruity of the remainder of the sentence from 
 which it is to be omitted. The sentence left 
 should present a correct grammatical construc- 
 tion. This is apparently a small matter, but the 
 neglect of its observance frequently leads to awk- 
 ward phraseology, which requires further amend- 
 ments to correct it. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 8/ 
 
 If an amendment to strike out certain words 
 be rejected, no subsequent amendment can be 
 offered to strike out the same words, or any part 
 of them ; but it may be again moved to strike 
 out the same words or any part of them, with 
 other words, provided the new proposition sub- 
 stantially differs in meaning and effect from the 
 one previously rejected. It is an essential rule 
 that the new proposition shall differ substantially 
 from the one previously rejected, because, as it 
 may be stated once for all, it is a well-settled 
 principle of parliamentary law, that no question 
 can again be proposed during the same session 
 (which, in reference to the business of a Lodge, 
 is equivalent to the same communication) upon 
 which the house has already expressed its judg- 
 ment. And this is a necessary rule " to avoid 
 contrary decisions, to prevent surprise, and to 
 afford a proper opportunity for determining 
 questions as they severally arise." 
 
 In accordance with this principle, if the motion 
 to strike out certain words prevails, no subse- 
 quent motion can be entertained to insert the 
 same words or any part of them in the same 
 place. But a motion may be entertained to in- 
 sert them or any part of them in another place, 
 or to insert them or any part of them with other 
 
88 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 words in the same place, provided that the addi- 
 tion of the new words constitutes a substantially 
 different proposition. 
 
 A motion may be made to strike out all after 
 the word "That," and such a motion would be in 
 order, as one of the legitimate means of defeat- 
 ing a proposition. If adopted, the effect would 
 be to reduce the original motion to a nonentity, 
 which in that case would be quietly passed over, 
 the Lodge proceeding to other business.* 
 
 The usage in the British Parliament, in putting 
 the question on striking out words, is not " Shall 
 the words be stricken out," but " Shall they stand 
 as part of the motion." This custom is founded 
 on certain historical and political reasons, which 
 do not affect this country ; and hence, in Ameri- 
 can legislative assemblies, the question is a direct 
 one on striking out, which usage uniformly pre- 
 vails. 
 
 2. Inserting certain words. The rules here 
 are the same as those applicable to striking out. 
 If an amendment to insert certain words be re- 
 jected, no motion can be entertained for the 
 insertion of the same words or any part of them 
 
 * May, in his Treatise on Parliamentary Law, (p. 276,) gives 
 two precedents of this Idnd which occurred in the House of 
 Commons. The equivalent motion in the Congress of the United 
 States is to strike out the enacting clause of a bill. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 89 
 
 in the same place, but it may be moved to insert 
 the same words in another place, or to insert 
 them or any part of them with other words in the 
 same place, provided the additional words make 
 a substantially different proposition. 
 
 On the other hand, if the motion to insert cer- 
 tain words prevails, no motion can afterwards be 
 entertained to strike them or any part of them 
 out. It is res adjudicata; the judgment of the 
 Lodge has been given, and it would be idle to 
 attempt to reverse it. But a motion would be 
 entertained to strike out these words or any part 
 of them with other words, provided, by the addi- 
 tion of those other words, a new proposition was 
 submitted. 
 
 3. Striking out certain words and inserting 
 others. This is a combination of the two preced- 
 ing questions, and must be treated in the same 
 way. A rule of the House of Representatives 
 provides that a motion to strike out and insert 
 is not divisible, but must be put as a whole. 
 This is not, however, in accordance with the 
 general usage of popular assemblies, and would, 
 if enforced, be often productive of inconvenience. 
 Some members might be in favor of striking out 
 and inserting, others of striking out but not of 
 inserting, and others again might be opposed to 
 
 8* 
 
90 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 any change. The best method of giving to each 
 of these an opportunity of expressing his opin- 
 ion is by dividing the question. Hence, on the 
 demand of any member, the question may be 
 divided, so as to make two — first on striking 
 out, and then on inserting.* 
 
 The proper manner of stating the question is 
 first to read the original passage as it stands ; 
 then the words proposed to be struck out ; next 
 those to be inserted ; and lastly, the whole pas- 
 sage as it will stand when amended. If desired, 
 the question is then to be divided, and put first 
 on striking out.f 
 
 During the pendency of the motion to strike 
 out, it may be amended by motions to modify it 
 so as to retain a part of the words. The form 
 of this proposition would be to leave out a part 
 of the words of the amendment, which is equiv- 
 alent to retaining them in the motion. 
 
 * Gushing is contradictory in the expression of his opinion on 
 this subject. He says {No. 1353) that "it is common in this 
 country to provide that the motion to strike out and insert shall 
 not be divisible," but he had previously stated (No. 1335) that 
 the two motions must be " put consecutively to the question, first, 
 to leave out the words objected to, and second, to insert the 
 others proposed in their place." This confusion of opinion seems 
 to have arisen from his referring at one time to the rule of Con- 
 gress, and at another to the usage of popular assemblies. The 
 latter has, I think, been properly considered in the text. 
 
 t Hatsell, ii., pp. 80-87. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 9I 
 
 If the motion to strike out prevails, then the 
 next question will be on inserting the proposed 
 words. Here, again, amendments may be pro- 
 posed to change those words, by leaving out a 
 part of them or by inserting new words. If the 
 motion to insert prevails, then the words so or- 
 dered to be inserted will constitute a part of the 
 main motion. If it is rejected, then the main 
 motion remains with the words stricken out, and 
 none substituted in their place. 
 
 But if the motion to strike out is rejected, then 
 the motion to insert cannot be put. The resolve 
 not to strike out is equivalent to one to retain, 
 and if the words are to be retained, the other 
 words cannot of course be substituted for them. 
 
 But because it has been resolved not to strike 
 out certain words for the purpose of inserting 
 others, it does not follow that a motion may not 
 be made to strike out the same words for the 
 purpose of inserting other and different words. 
 The rule laid down by Jefferson* on this point 
 is as follows: 
 
 A motion is made to amend by striking out 
 
 certain words and inserting others in their place, 
 
 which is negatived. Then it is moved to strike 
 
 out the same words, and to insert others of a 
 
 * Manual, sect. xxxv. 
 
92 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 tenor entirely different from those first proposed. 
 It is negatived. Then it is moved to strike out 
 the same words and to insert nothing, which is 
 agreed to. All this is admissible ; because to 
 strike out and insert A is one proposition ; to 
 strike out and insert B is a different proposition ; 
 and to strike out and insert nothing is still dif- 
 ferent. And the rejection of one proposition 
 does not preclude the offering a different one. 
 
 When the question is divided, and the motion 
 to strike out is first put and then that to insert, 
 Mr. Jefferson thinks that the same rule should 
 prevail, although he expresses the opinion 
 " doubtingly," because it may be thought that, 
 having decided separately not to strike out the 
 passage, the same question for striking out could 
 not be put over again. It is, however, more 
 reasonable and convenient, as he admits, to con- 
 sider the striking out and inserting as forming 
 one proposition, although put in two separate 
 questions. Therefore it may be laid down that, 
 the motion to strike out having been rejected, 
 the motion to insert cannot be put, but that a 
 new motion may be made to strike out, for the 
 purpose of inserting other words, differing in 
 substance from those at first proposed; or a 
 motion may be made to strike out without any 
 motion to insert. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 93 
 
 Any number of amendments may be proposed 
 to a motion, and be all offered before the ques- 
 tion is taken on any of them. But there is no 
 other rule of precedence than that which comes 
 from priority of presentation. They must be 
 put in the order in which they were offered. 
 
 We are next to consider the nature of amend- 
 ments to an amendment, and the rules which 
 regulate them, and this will constitute the sub- 
 ject of the following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OF THE MOTION TO AMEND AN AMENDMENT. 
 
 AS it Is possible that the proposed amend- 
 ment to an original proposition may be as 
 objectionable to some of the members as the main 
 proposition itself, and may seem, in their opinion, 
 equally to require a change, and as the same 
 condition might occur in reference to the amend- 
 ment to the amendment, and so on ad infinitum., 
 there would not seem to be any reason why the 
 proposing of amendments to amendments might 
 not be illimitable, or limited only by the will of 
 the members of the assembly. But the fact is, 
 that such a piling on of questions, to use the par- 
 liamentary phrase, would result in great confu- 
 sion and embarrassment. "The line," says Jef- 
 ferson, " must be drawn somewhere, and usage 
 has drawn it after the amendment to the amend- 
 ment, which is called the amendment in the sec- 
 ond degree." This is a rule founded entirely on 
 the principle of expediency ; but the reason for 
 
 94 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. gj 
 
 it is SO evident that all parliamentary bodies have 
 concurred in recognizing its existence. 
 
 If any part of the amendment to the amend- 
 ment be objectionable, the only way of effecting 
 an improvement in it is to reject this amendment 
 in the second degree ; and then, after giving it 
 the improved form which may be desired, to pro- 
 pose it again as an amendment to the amend- 
 ment. Thus, pending a certain question, it is 
 proposed to amend by inserting a form of words 
 which may be represented by A B. This it is 
 proposed to again amend by inserting C D after 
 A B. This is admissible ; but if it were desired 
 to amend C D by adding E, so as to make it 
 C D E, this would be an amendment in the third 
 degree, and, therefore, would not be admissible. 
 The only way of reaching this result would be to 
 reject the proposition to insert C D after A B, 
 and then to move an amendment to the amend- 
 ment A B by adding C D E. 
 
 When an amendment to an amendment to an 
 original motion is pending, the question must 
 first be put on the amendment to the amendment. 
 If this be adopted, or rejected, then the question 
 will recur on the amendment ; and if this be re- 
 jected, then on the original motion ; or, if the 
 amendment be adopted, on the motion as so 
 
96 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 amended. All the rules which affect an amend- 
 ment in the first degree are equally applicable 
 to one in the second, except that the latter can- 
 not be amended. 
 
 Before dismissing the subject of amendments, 
 it may be proper to say that an amendment need 
 not be of the same character as, or germane to, 
 the original motion. Hatsell says that one way 
 of getting rid of a proposition is to make such 
 amendments to the question as to change the 
 nature of it, and to make it objectionable to those 
 even who proposed it. Thus, an amendment 
 might be offered to strike out everything after 
 the word " Resolved" and to insert new words of 
 an entirely different or even contradictory im- 
 port. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 OF THE MOTION TO LIE ON THE TABLE. 
 
 JEFFERSON says, that "when the House has 
 something else which claims its present at- 
 tention, but would be willing to reserve in 
 their power to take up a proposition whenever it 
 shall suit them, they order it to lie on the table, 
 and it may be called for at any time." 
 
 This was, undoubtedly, the original intention, 
 under the parliamentary law, of the motion to lie 
 on the table. With this view it was often made 
 by the friends of a proposition, who, however 
 desirous of entertaining it, were unable at that 
 moment to consider it. But now this object is 
 much better attained by a motion to postpone to 
 a time certain. In modern American usage, the 
 motion to lie on the table is made by the ene- 
 mies of a proposition, and, as Barclay says, is 
 intended to give it its " death-blow," for the meas- 
 ure so laid on the table is very rarely ever taken 
 up again. 
 
 The motion to lie on the table takes prece- 
 dency of all other motions, and when made 
 
 9 G 97 
 
98 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 the question must be immediately put without 
 debate. 
 
 The motion to lie on the table is not debatable, 
 because to permit debate on it would be to frus- 
 trate the very object for which the motion was 
 made. It is moved to lay a proposition on the 
 table, because it is supposed that the entertaining 
 of that proposition would impede or postpone 
 the consideration of other and more pressing 
 business. Whatever may now be the intention 
 of the motion, such was certainly, originally, its 
 object. The motion to lie on the table is then 
 made to prevent an interruption of the regular 
 business. Now, to go into a prolonged discus- 
 sion on the merits of this subsidiary question, 
 would be only to prolong the delay and interrup- 
 tion, the very inconvenience sought to be avoided. 
 Hence, the motion to lie on the table is to be put 
 at once without debate. 
 
 When a motion to lie on the table has been 
 rejected, it cannot be renewed unless some new 
 matter shall have been introduced. Thus, if on 
 the failure of the motion to lie on the table, a 
 new amendment is offered to the original propo- 
 sition, then the motion to lie on the table may 
 be again made, but not until then. 
 
 The adoption of the motion to lie on the table 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 99 
 
 not only carries with it the immediate subject to 
 which it had been directed, but also everything 
 that, in parliamentary phrase, adheres to it: 
 thus, a substantive proposition being before the 
 assembly, an amendment has been offered to that 
 proposition, and then an amendment is moved to 
 that amendment. It is now moved that the 
 amendment to the amendment lie on the table. 
 If this motion is adopted, not only the amendment 
 to the amendment, but the first amendment also, 
 as well as the original proposition, go to the table. 
 The reason for this rule. If not immediately 
 obvious, will be understood after a very brief 
 consideration. Let us represent the original 
 motion by the letter A ; let -the amendment be 
 represented by B ; and the amendment to the 
 amendment by C. Now, when the amendment 
 B Is offered, the proposition before the assembly 
 ceases to be A, and becomes by the proposed 
 addition or Incorporation of the amendment B, a 
 new proposition, which may be represented by 
 the form A B. Again : If to this amended form 
 of A another amendment (C) is offered, then a 
 new proposition, differing both from A and from 
 A B, is presented for consideration and for ac- 
 tion ; and this new proposition, by the addition 
 of C to A B, assumes the form which may be 
 represented by A B C. 
 
lOO MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 The only way to bring A B back to the as- 
 sembly, from which it has been temporarily re- 
 moved for the new formula which was made by 
 the incorporation with it of C, is to reject, or, as 
 the mathematicians would say, to eliminate C. 
 The question must be categorically determined 
 whether C shall be adopted or rejected. If It be 
 rejected, then the formula to be considered would 
 be A B, and If that be rejected then the discus- 
 sion would be upon A. 
 
 But a motion that C shall lie on the table is 
 not to reject or to eliminate it. It still remains 
 an integral part of the last form or proposition 
 which had been presented for consideration. 
 You cannot consider A B, because that proposi- 
 tion was removed out of sight by the new formula 
 ABC. If you refuse then to consider C, you 
 cannot take up A B, for there is now no such 
 proposition in actual existence. In the language 
 of parliamentary law, C so adheres to A B as to 
 make an integral part of it, and if it be laid on 
 the table A and B must lie there too. In like 
 manner and for a similar reason, if C should be 
 rejected, and then a motion be made and adopted 
 that B lie on the table, A must go to the table 
 with It. 
 
 This rule, although very general, is not uni- 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. lOI 
 
 versal. In the business of legislative bodies 
 there are a few exceptions to it. Of these only- 
 one, it appears to me, has any reference to the 
 government of a Masonic Lodge : that is, that, on 
 the reading of the minutes, a motion to lay a pro- 
 posed amendment to the minutes on the table 
 will not if adopted affect the minutes, which will 
 remain as if no motion to amend had been made ; 
 and, of course, a subsequent motion to confirm 
 the minutes, without any reference to the amend- 
 ment, may be entertained. 
 
 A motion to lay a motion for reconsideration 
 on the table is attended with a peculiar effect, 
 which will be noticed when we come to treat the 
 subject of reconsideration of motions. 
 
 Lastly, it may be observed, that a motion to 
 lie on the table may, like all other motions, if 
 adopted, be reconsidered. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 OF THE MOTION TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. 
 
 THIS is peculiarly an American motion, un- 
 known to the British Parliament, and first 
 used in the Congress of the United States in the 
 year 1806. 
 
 It is an adverse motion : that is, one to be 
 used only by the opponents of a proposition ; for 
 it is equivalent, for all practical purposes, to a re- 
 jection. Its effect is to take the proposition to 
 which it is applied out of the assembly for that 
 session or meeting. The rule of the House of 
 Representatives is, that " when a question is post- 
 poned indefinitely, the same shall not be acted 
 upon again during the session." 
 
 A motion for indefinite postponement is de- 
 batable, but the debate is of a very limited char- 
 acter. The merits or demerits of the original 
 proposition should form no part of the discussion, 
 which should be rigidly restricted to the pro- 
 priety or expediency of postponing the question. 
 A skilful and experienced presiding officer will 
 be careful to see that the debate does not trans- 
 gress this narrow and prescribed limit. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 OF THE MOTION TO POSTPONE TO A DAY CERTAIN. 
 
 THE motion to postpone to a day certain is 
 in general a friendly motion, that is, one 
 which is made by the friends of a proposition to 
 facilitate, or at least not to embarrass, its recep- 
 tion. When a proposition is presented to an 
 assembly, for the consideration of which it is not 
 then ready, perhaps from the pressure of more 
 urgent business, or from the want of certain in- 
 formation not then in its possession, or from 
 some other cause which makes the discussion of 
 the proposition at that time inexpedient or in- 
 convenient, a motion may be made to postpone 
 its consideration to some certain day, or to make 
 it the special order for that day. 
 
 The effect of the adoption of a motion to post- 
 pone to a day certain is to remove the proposi- 
 tion, with all that is connected with it, from the 
 assembly until the day specified, when it comes 
 up as a privileged question. 
 
 A motion to postpone to a day certain may be 
 
 103 
 
I04 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 amended by striking out the day and inserting 
 another. 
 
 One form of postponing to a day certain, and in 
 pariiamentary bodies the most usual form, is to 
 move that the question be made the special order 
 for a certain day. But the nature of this motion 
 will be better treated when we come to the con- 
 sideration of the subject of Special Orders. 
 
 The motion to postpone to a day certain is 
 sometimes used by the opponents of a measure 
 to stifle a proposition by naming some day when 
 it will be impossible to consider the question ; as, 
 in Congress, to a day beyond the end of the ses- 
 sion, or, in a society, to a day which will fall after 
 the adjournment of the body. Such a motion 
 is equivalent to a suppression or rejection of the 
 proposition. 
 
 In Lodges and Chapters the motion to post- 
 pone to a day certain is seldom if ever used, but 
 it is not unusual to employ it in Grand Lodges 
 or Grand Chapters. It is evident that such a 
 motion would only apply to bodies which meet 
 for several days. In a Lodge or Chapter a 
 motion is sometimes made and properly enter- 
 tained to postpone the consideration until a later 
 hour in the evening ; but the rules which govern 
 such a motion are precisely the same as those 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. IO5 
 
 which apply to the motion for postponement 
 to a day certain, only that hour is substituted for 
 day. 
 
 The debate on this motion, like that on the 
 motion for indefinite postponement, is exceed- 
 ingly limited, being confined to argument for and 
 against the expediency of postponement, without 
 any reference to the merits of the original prop- 
 osition. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 OF THE MOTION TO COMMIT. 
 
 WHEN it is desired to make a fuller inves- 
 tigation of a subject than is likely to be 
 obtained by a discussion in full assembly, it is 
 usual to refer it to a committee, when it is said 
 in parliamentary phrase to be committed, or if 
 it has already been in the hands of a committee, 
 it is then said to be recommitted. The usual 
 form of the motion in a popular assembly is, that 
 the subject be referred to a committee. If it be 
 to. a standing committee, the committee is named 
 by the mover ; and, if to a special committee, it 
 is so stated, and the number of the committee is 
 usually designated. 
 
 Sometimes it is provided by law that a subject 
 shall, whenever presented, be referred to a com- 
 mittee, as in the case of a petition for initiation, 
 or membership in a Masonic Lodge. In such a 
 case, it is not necessary to make a motion for 
 commitment or reference. The presiding officer 
 will refer the petition, as a matter of course, 
 
 1 06 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. lO/ 
 
 under the general law, to the appropriate com- 
 mittee. 
 
 A motion to commit may be amended, as, for 
 instance, by adding " with instructions to report." 
 
 The debate on a motion to commit, like that 
 on a motion for postponement, is limited and in 
 the same way; that is, it must be not on the 
 merits of the original question, but on the pro- 
 priety or expediency of committing it. 
 
 Sometimes the report of a committee is not 
 satisfactory, and then a motion may be made to 
 recommit it, with or without instructions, for the 
 purpose of having an amended or altered report. 
 The motion to recommit may be made at any 
 time before the adoption of the report. If a mo- 
 tion to recommit is adopted, the whole matter is 
 brought back to the condition in which it was 
 at the time of the original appointment of the 
 committee, and an amendatory or revisionary 
 report is made at a subsequent time. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 OF INCIDENTAL QUESTIONS. 
 
 INCIDENTAL questions are defined by 
 Cushing to be " those which arise out of and 
 are connected with (though they do not necessa- 
 rily dispose of) other questions to which they 
 relate, and which, for the time being, they super- 
 sede." 
 
 It is evident that there must be a vast number 
 of questions which will be continually springing 
 up during the discussion of any proposition, and 
 which are suggested extemporaneously, by points 
 in the discussion. These are called incidental 
 questions, because they are really only incidents 
 of the debate. It is impossible to anticipate 
 all the questions that might thus arise in the 
 course of a discussion. Five, however, being 
 of more frequent occurrence and of a more im- 
 portant character than the others, may become 
 the subjects of our consideration. These are: 
 
 io8 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. IO9 
 
 1. Questions of order. 
 
 2. Questions for reading papers. 
 
 3. Questions on leave to withdraw motions. 
 
 4. Questions on suspending a rule. 
 
 5. Questions on taking the vote by yeas and 
 nays. 
 
 Each of these will constitute the subject-matter 
 of a separate chapter. 
 
 Before proceeding to the separate considera- 
 tion of each of these incidental questions, it must 
 be observed that they are always in order, and 
 for a time take precedence of and suppress the 
 question before the meeting, provided that they 
 refer to that question. Thus it is always in or- 
 der, during the discussion of any proposition, to 
 move a question of order, or to read papers, or 
 to withdraw a motion, or to suspend a rule, pro- 
 vided that the point of order, the paper, the mo- 
 tion, or the rule has a distinct reference to and 
 a direct bearing on the proposition then before 
 the assembly. 
 
 These incidental questions are also subject to 
 the operation of subsidiary questions. Thus it 
 may be moved to lay any one of them on the 
 table, to postpone, or to commit it. As a gen- 
 eral rule, however, the adoption of the subsidiary 
 
no MASONIC PARLIAMEIfTARY LAW. 
 
 motion does not necessarily carry the main prop- 
 osition under debate with it ; but, the incidental 
 question being laid on the table, or postponed, 
 or otherwise disposed of by a subsidiary motion, 
 the main discussion is resumed as if no such in- 
 cidental question had been made. This rule, 
 although general, is not universal, and the excep- 
 tion must be determined by the nature of each 
 question. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 OF QUESTIONS OF ORDER. 
 
 IN any assembly of persons met together for 
 the purposes of deliberation and discussion, 
 no satisfactory result can be attained unless the 
 discussion is regulated by well-known and gen- 
 erally recognized rules. It is by such rules only 
 that order and decorum can be maintained, dis- 
 cord and confusion prevented, and a concurrent 
 harmony of opinion be reached. These are 
 therefore the rules of order, and their importance 
 is such that it becomes the interest of every 
 member to see them enforced. 
 
 Rules of order relate to the present action of 
 the body, not to any past or prospective pro- 
 ceedings. They prescribe the character of the 
 motions that may be made, the time at which 
 they ought to be made, and the precedency of 
 one motion over another ; they impose the neces- 
 sary limits to debate, and indicate the bounds 
 beyond which it is not lawful for a speaker to 
 pass in his discussion of the question before the 
 body. 
 
112 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Every permanent deliberative body adopts a 
 code of rules of order to suit Itself; but there 
 are certain rules, derived from what may be 
 called the common law of parliament, the wisdom 
 of which having been proven by long experience 
 they have been deemed of force at all times and 
 places, and are, with a few necessary exceptions, 
 as applicable to Lodges and Chapters as to other 
 societies. 
 
 These universal rules of order, sanctioned by 
 uninterrupted usage and approved by all author- 
 ities, may be enumerated under the following 
 distinct heads, as applied to a Masonic body : 
 
 1. Two independent original propositions 
 cannot be presented at the same time to the 
 meeting. If a Lodge is discussing a motion, no 
 other independent motion can be entertained, 
 although a subsidiary one may, until the first 
 motion is disposed of, 
 
 2. A subsidiary motion cannot be offered out 
 of its rank of precedence. Thus, when a motion 
 has been made to lay any proposition on the 
 table, it would be a breach of order to attempt 
 to supersede that motion by one to commit or to 
 postpone. The motion to lie on the table must 
 be first put. That being rejected, the other mo- 
 tion to commit or to postpone may be offered. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. II3 
 
 3. When a brother intends to speak, he is re- 
 quired to stand up in his place,* and to address 
 himself always to the presiding officer. It is a 
 breach of order to address any other member or 
 brother during the debate. 
 
 4. When two or more brethren rise nearly at 
 the same time, the presiding officer will indicate, 
 by mentioning his name, the one who, in his 
 opinion, is entitled to the floor. 
 
 5. A brother is not to be interrupted by any 
 other member, except for the purpose of calling 
 him to order, nor while he is on the floor can 
 any motion be made or question put. 
 
 6. No brother can speak oftener than the rules 
 permit, but this rule may be dispensed with by 
 the Master, if he sees good reasons for doing 
 so. 
 
 7. No one is to disturb the speaker by hissing, 
 unnecessary coughing, loud whispering, or other 
 unseemly noise, nor shall he pass between the 
 speaker and the presiding officer.^ All of these 
 
 * This custom of standing when speaking seems to have been 
 derived from the usages of very early antiquity. "It is every- 
 where observable, in ancient authors,'' says Archbishop Potter, 
 "that no person, of what rank or quality soever, presumed to 
 speak sitting." — Archol. Graca, p. 86. 
 
 t We find this rule existing at an early period in Masonry 
 as a specific regulation, independent of the parliamentary law. 
 10* H 
 
114 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 are breaches of decorum, for which the offender 
 may be called to order. 
 
 8. No personality, abusive remarks, or other 
 improper language, should be used by any brother 
 in debate. If used, the speaker should be immedi- 
 ately called to order by the presiding officer or any 
 other member. In Parliament or in Congress, a 
 member who has been guilty of disorderly con- 
 duct is summarily dealt with ; and if he is disobe- 
 dient to the repeated admonitions of the pre- 
 siding officer, he has been even rejected from 
 the House. There is, I think, no doubt that a 
 similar power is vested in the Master of a Lodge, 
 who may direct a disorderly brother to be ex- 
 cluded from the meeting if he persists in his mis- 
 behavior. 
 
 9. If the presiding officer rises to speak while 
 a brother is on the floor, that brother should 
 immediately sit down, that the presiding officer 
 may be heard. 
 
 10. Every one who speaks should speak to the 
 question. This is perhaps the most important 
 of all the rules of order, because it is the one 
 
 Thus, in the Charges of 1722, the Mason is directed "not to in- 
 terrupt the Master, or Vifardens, or any brother speaking to the 
 Master." And this regulation was derived from an older law 
 extant in the MS. Constitutions of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. IIJ 
 
 most necessary for bringing the debate to a sat- 
 isfactory conclusion. To speak impertinently, 
 therefore — that is, to speak to points not per- 
 tinent and relevant to the subject under discussion 
 — is always viewed as a gross violation of the 
 rules of order. But commensurate with its im- 
 portance is the difficulty of determining when it 
 is violated. It is entirely within the discretion 
 of the Master of the Lodge to decide how far a 
 member should be indulged in a line of argument 
 not precisely within the scope of the question 
 under discussion. The principle has been laid 
 down by an experienced authority, Mr. Speaker 
 Cornwall, of the English House of Commons, 
 that " no matter introduced into a debate, which 
 the question before the House cannot decide 
 upon, is regularly debatable ; " and this may be 
 considered as a correct expression of the rule. 
 No subject should be introduced into a debate, 
 the merits of which could not be decided by the 
 question under discussion, and by that alone. 
 " When a member is in possession of the House," 
 says Sir T. E. May, " he has obtained a right to 
 speak generally ; but is only entitled to be heard 
 upon the question then under discussion, or upon 
 a question or amendment intended to be pro- 
 posed by himself, or upon a point of order. 
 
Il6 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Whenever he wanders from it he is Hable to be 
 interrupted by cries of 'Question'; and in the 
 Commons, if the topics he has introduced are 
 clearly irrelevant, the Speaker acquaints him that 
 he must speak to the question." * 
 
 II. As a sequence to this last rule, it follows 
 that there can be no speaking unless there be a 
 question before the Lodge. There must always 
 be a motion of some kind to authorize a debate. 
 "It is a rule," says Sir T. E. May, "that should 
 always be strictly observed, that no member may 
 speak, except when there is a question already 
 before the House, or the member is about to 
 conclude with a motion or amendment. "j+ 
 
 Parliamentary courtesy, however, permits a 
 member, who is about to make a motion, to speak 
 in its favor before he actually proposes it, but 
 always with the understanding that he will speak 
 to the question, and that he will conclude by 
 formally proposing his motion. It is, however, 
 always better that the member should first make 
 his motion and secure a second, before he speaks 
 to it. 
 
 These rules of order are so essentially neces- 
 sary to the decorous conduct of a discussion and 
 
 * Treatise on Parliamentary Law, p. 298. 
 t Ibid., p. 301. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. II7 
 
 to its successful conclusion in the resolution and 
 determination of the question which is its sub- 
 ject-matter, that every member is deeply inter- 
 ested in its observance. The duty of maintaining 
 them belongs, it is true, in a peculiar manner, to 
 the presiding officer, who should ever be on the 
 alert to detect and check any breach of them. 
 But it is also the privilege as well as the duty of 
 every other member to exercise the same vigil- 
 ance. Hence, it is always in order for any mem- 
 ber to rise to a point of order. 
 
 When a breach of order has occurred which 
 has escaped the notice of the chair, or even 
 before the chair may have had time to check it, 
 any member may call the attention of the pre- 
 siding officer to the violation of the rule. To do 
 so, he will rise from his seat and say, " I rise to 
 a point of order ; " upon which the Master will 
 request him to state his point, the speaker ob- 
 jected to having taken his seat, where he remains 
 until the point of order is decided. The point 
 being stated either orally, or, if required by the 
 chair, in writing, the Master gives his decision, 
 whether a violation of the specified rule of order 
 has been committed or not. If the latter, he says, 
 " The point is not well taken," and directs the 
 speaker to resume his argument. If the former, 
 
Il8 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 he says, "The point is well taken," and either 
 prevents the speaker from further discussion, if 
 it is the discussion itself which is objected to as 
 being out of order, or directs the speaker to 
 resume his argument with the necessary caution, 
 if the objection has been to the manner or scope 
 of his speech. 
 
 In other societies, this decision of the presiding 
 officer, although generally acquiesced in, is some- 
 times objected to by one or more of the mem- 
 bers, when an appeal is taken from the decision 
 to the meeting, who decide without debate 
 whether to sustain or to overrule the decision 
 of the officer. But as has already been shown, 
 there is in Masonry no appeal from the deci- 
 sion of the presiding officer on a point of order, 
 and that decision is therefore conclusive. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 OF QUESTIONS FOR READING PAPERS. 
 
 NO member can be required to vote on any 
 paper the contents of which are unknown 
 to him. Hence, any member has a right to call 
 for the reading of any paper — for instance, a 
 report — which constitutes at the time the sub- 
 ject-matter of a proposition, if it has not yet been 
 read. 
 
 But if the paper has already been once read, 
 or if, although referring indirectly to the sub- 
 ject of discussion, it constitutes no actual part 
 of the proceedings, then it can only be read by 
 consent of the meeting, which consent must be 
 obtained on a motion regularly made. 
 
 1 19 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OF QUESTIONS ON LEAVE TO WITHDRAW MOTIONS. 
 
 'HEN a motion has once been made and 
 
 w 
 
 seconded, and read from the chair, it 
 becomes the property of the assembly. If the 
 mover, therefore, desires to withdraw it, he can 
 only do so by consent of the meeting, which con- 
 sent must also be unanimous. And there is 
 reason in this ; for if the meeting, notwithstand- 
 ing the objection of any member, were to grant 
 leave for the withdrawal of a motion, it could 
 gain nothing by the proceeding, for the objecting 
 member might immediately renew the motion. 
 
 It is not always deemed necessary to make a 
 formal motion for the purpose of a withdrawal. 
 The mover, who desires to withdraw his motion, 
 asks permission to do so, the request being 
 announced by the chair; if no one objects, the 
 consent is supposed to be informally granted ; 
 but if any member says, " I object," the matter 
 is dropped and the discussion continues. 
 
 The motion — or, in the form above stated, the 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 121 
 
 request — for permission to withdraw a motion 
 may be made at any stage of the proceedings 
 before the final vote is declared, and if adopted 
 or granted, it removes the proposition of which 
 it is the subject from the meeting at once, and 
 all further proceedings on it are suppressed or 
 cease. But when an amendment has been pro- 
 posed to a motion, the original motion cannot be 
 withdrawn until the amendment has first been 
 withdrawn or negatived,* and if the amendment 
 has been adopted, it is not in order for the mover 
 of the original motion to ask leave to withdraw 
 it.f By the adoption of the amendment, the 
 original proposition has changed its form and 
 ceased to be the same question, so that the pro- 
 poser has no longer any control over it; 
 
 Questions for the withdrawal of papers are in 
 the nature of questions for the withdrawal of 
 motions, and are subject to the same regulations. 
 Reports of committees, petitions, or protests of 
 members, and all other documents of any kind, 
 when once presented to a Lodge — whether 
 they be read and received as information, or not 
 read and merely laid on the table, and their con- 
 sideration postponed or referred to a committee 
 
 * May, Law of Parliament, p. 260. 
 t Wilson, Digest, p. 12, No. 79. 
 
122 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 — become the property of the Lodge, and can 
 be withdrawn only upon motion or request, and 
 the consent of a majority of the members. A 
 motion for the withdrawal of such papers is al- 
 ways in order. 
 
 But an exception to this ruling must be made 
 in the case of petitions for initiation, which by a 
 recognized law or usage of the Order cannot be 
 withdrawn after having once been presented to 
 a Lodge ; and a motion for the withdrawal of 
 such a petition would always be out of order. 
 Although we can find no regulation to this effect 
 in any of the ancient Constitutions, yet the con- 
 stant and universal usage of the Craft has given 
 to it the force of an unwritten law, and the rea- 
 son for its existence must be sought in the sym- 
 bolic character of our Institution and its original 
 connection with an operative art. The candidate 
 for Masonry has always been considered, sym- 
 bolically, as material brought up for the building 
 of the Temple. This material must be rejected 
 or accepted. It cannot be carried elsewhere for 
 further inspection. The Lodge to which it is first 
 brought must decide upon its fitness. To with- 
 draw the petition would be to prevent the Lodge 
 from making that decision, and therefore no pe- 
 tition for initiation, having been once read, can 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I23 
 
 be withdrawn ; it must go through the necessary 
 form : hence a motion to withdraw it would be 
 clearly out of order. 
 
 A different regulation prevails in Com- 
 manderies of Knights Templars. Grand Master 
 B. B. French made, while presiding over the 
 Order in this country, a decision in the following 
 words : 
 
 " Commanderies, having exclusive power to 
 decide all questions concerning membership, 
 must decide all questions concerning petitions 
 therefor by vote — such as whether or not a 
 petition may be withdrawn, etc." 
 
 This decision was approved and confirmed by 
 the Grand Encampment, at its session in 1862, at 
 Columbus. 
 
 It is surprising that one so experienced as 
 Grand Master French in parliamentary usage 
 should have clothed the language of his decision 
 in such ambiguous and inaccurate phraseology. 
 From its terms we can gather only, and that 
 merely by implication, that in a Commandery a 
 petition for membership (which we may suppose 
 to include a petition for initiation) may be with- 
 drawn by a vote of the body. But we are left 
 in doubt whether that vote shall be a vote of the 
 majority, of two-thirds, or the unanimous vote 
 
124 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 of all present. We must therefore apply the 
 ordinary rules of interpretation of documents 
 and the principles of analogy, to enable us to 
 determine what sort of vote is required to 
 authorize the withdrawal of a petition which has 
 been presented to a Commandery. 
 
 Now, we cannot say that the word "vote" 
 means in this decision a majority vote, or a two- 
 thirds vote, because, as the context declares that 
 " all questions concerning petitions " for mem- 
 bership are to be decided by vote, this would 
 include questions on admission as well as with- 
 drawal, and thus it would follow that a ballot for 
 admission need not be unanimous, which would 
 be contrary to the recognized statutes of the 
 Order, as well as the settled law of Masonry in 
 its other branches. 
 
 In this uncertainty we must come to the con- 
 clusion, that the decision settles only one point 
 — namely, that a Commandery may entertain a 
 question as to the withdrawal of a petition for 
 membership, which by a very liberal construction 
 we may extend to petitions for initiation. But 
 as the decision is entirely silent as to what num- 
 ber of votes is necessary to decide that question, 
 we must settle that point by a reference to the 
 character of the question, and to the manner 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 125 
 
 in which questions of a similar character are 
 settled. 
 
 Now, it is a rule In all Commanderies that 
 every petition for initiation, when presented, must 
 be referred to a committee, and on the report of 
 that committee be subjected to a ballot. While 
 this rule is in force, no petition can be withdrawn. 
 A motion to withdraw it is equivalent to a mo- 
 tion to suspend the rule. It will be seen here- 
 after that no Masonic Lodge can suspend any of 
 its rules or laws except by superior authority. 
 But the decision of Grand Master French and its 
 approval by the Grand Encampment gave to 
 Commanderies the power of suspending the 
 rule, which requires a ballot on a petition, and 
 under the suspension of withdrawing it. But as 
 no rule can be suspended except by general con- 
 sent, unless otherwise provided by another rule, 
 it follows that a withdrawal of a petition, which, 
 as I have said, is to be considered in the character 
 of a suspension of a rule, can only be done by 
 general consent — that is, by a unanimous vote. 
 And this is in better accord with the dignity of 
 the subject; for if a Commandery were per- 
 mitted by a mere majority vote to evade the re- 
 sponsibility of deciding on the character and 
 qualifications of its candidates and to throw it on 
 
126 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 some other Commandery, to which, by this with- 
 drawal, the candidate would be permitted to ap- 
 ply, much evil might, it is evident, arise, and much 
 injury be inflicted on the Order. 
 
 I do not for a moment doubt that the with- 
 drawal of petitions for initiation is contrary to 
 the spirit of the Masonic institution, and I regret 
 that any decision was ever made, from the loose 
 terms of which the implied power of withdrawal 
 can be extorted. But as this decision has been 
 made the law of Templarism, all that can now be 
 done is to guard and restrict its exercise by the 
 most rigid interpretation. I therefore conclude 
 that a motion to withdraw a petition for member- 
 ship in a Commandery may be entertained, but 
 can be decided in the affirmative only by a unani- 
 mous vote. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 OF QUESTIONS ON SUSPENDING A RULE. 
 
 THERE is a recognized power in every de- 
 liberative body to suspend any one of its 
 rules for the purpose of considering propositions 
 or transacting business which would be, under 
 the general rule, out of order and not admissible. 
 
 It is a general principle of parliamentary law, 
 that anything may be done by general consent, 
 and therefore any rule may be suspended at any 
 time by a unanimous vote. But under certain 
 circumstances, provided by the rules themselves, 
 a rule may be suspended by a simple vote of the 
 majority.* 
 
 Hence, if the constitution of a Grand Lodge, 
 or the by-laws of a subordinate Lodge, include a 
 system of rules of order in which there is a pro- 
 vision for their suspension by unanimous consent 
 or by the vote of a majority of those present, it 
 
 * In the House of Representatives, a rule can be suspended 
 only after one day's notice and by a two-thirds vote, except in 
 one case, where a bare majority is sufficient ; but the general 
 usage in societies is to require a unanimous vote. 
 
 127 
 
128 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 will be in order to move such suspension, which 
 motion is not debatable, nor subject to amend- 
 ment, nor can it- be laid on the table nor post- 
 poned indefinitely, but must be brought to a 
 direct vote ; nor, having been lost, can it be re- 
 newed for the same purpose ; nor, having been 
 adopted, can it be reconsidered. 
 
 But it must be remembered that all this refers, 
 so far as a Masonic body is concerned, only to 
 such rules as contain a provision for their sus- 
 pension. When there is no clause in the consti- 
 tution or by-laws which prescribes that a particu- 
 lar rule may be suspended and directs the mode 
 of suspension, a motion to suspend would be out 
 of order and could not be entertained. 
 
 It refers also only to mere rules of order, for 
 it is now universally admitted by Masonic jurists 
 that a subordinate Lodge has no power to sus- 
 pend its by-laws. But on this subject I have 
 written so fully in my work on Masonic Juris- 
 prudence, that I cannot do better than to repeat 
 here what I have there said. 
 
 From the fact that the by-laws of a Lodge 
 must be submitted to the Grand Lodge for its 
 approval and confirmation arises the doctrine, 
 that a subordinate Lodge cannot, even by unani- 
 mous consent, suspend a by-law. As there is no 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I29 
 
 error more commonly committed than this by 
 unthinking Masons, who suppose that in a Lodge, 
 as in any other society, a by-law may be sus- 
 pended by unanimous consent, it will not be 
 amiss to consider the question with some degree 
 of care and attention. 
 
 An ordinary society makes its own rules and 
 regulations,independentof any other body, subject 
 to no revision, and requiring no approbation out- 
 side of itself. Its own members are the sole and 
 supreme judges of what it may or may not enact 
 for its own government. Consequently, as the 
 members themselves have enacted the rule, the 
 members themselves may unanimously agree to 
 suspend, to amend, or to abolish it. 
 
 But a Masonic Lodge presents a different or- 
 ganization. It is not self-created or independent. 
 It derives its power, and indeed its very exist- 
 ence, from a higher body, called a Grand Lodge, 
 which constitutes the supreme tribunal to adjudi- 
 cate for it. A Masonic Lodge has no power to 
 make by-laws, without the consent of the Grand 
 Lodge in whose jurisdiction it is situated. The 
 by-laws of a subordinate Lodge may be said only 
 to be proposed by the Lodge, as they are not 
 operative until they have been submitted to the 
 Grand Lodge and approved by that body. Nor 
 
130 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 can any subsequent alteration of any of them 
 take place unless it . passes through the same 
 ordeal of revision and approbation by the Grand 
 Lodge. 
 
 Hence it is evident that the control of the by- 
 laws, rules, and regulations of the Lodge is taken 
 entirely out of its hands. A certain law has been 
 agreed to, we will say, by the members. It is 
 submitted to the Grand Lodge and approved. 
 From that moment it becomes a law for the gov- 
 ernment of that Lodge, and cannot be repealed 
 without the consent of the Grand Lodge. So 
 far these statements will be admitted to be cor- 
 rect. But if a Lodge cannot alter, annul, or re- 
 peal such law, without the consent of the Grand 
 Lodge, it must necessarily follow that it cannot 
 suspend it, which is, for all practical purposes, a 
 repeal for a temporary period. 
 
 I will suppose, by way of example, that it is 
 proposed to suspend the by-law which requires 
 that at the annual election all the officers shall 
 be elected by ballot, so as to enable the Lodge 
 on a particular occasion to vote viva voce. Now, 
 this law must, of course, have been originally 
 submitted to the Grand Lodge and approved by 
 that body. Such approbation made it the enact- 
 ment of the Grand Lodge. It had thus declared 
 that in that particular Lodge all elections for 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I3I 
 
 officers should be determined by ballot. The 
 regulation became imperative on the Lodge. If 
 it determined, even by unanimous consent, to 
 suspend the rule, and on a certain occasion to 
 proceed to the election of a particular officer by 
 acclamation or viva voce, then the Lodge was ab- 
 rogating for the time a law that the Grand Lodge 
 had declared was binding on it, and establishing 
 in its place a new one, which had not received 
 the approbation of the supreme tribunal. Such 
 a rule would therefore, for want of this confirma- 
 tion, be inoperative. It would, in fact, be no rule 
 at all — or worse, it would be a rule enacted in 
 opposition to the will of the Grand Lodge. This 
 principle applies, of course, to every other by- 
 law, whether trivial or important, local or gen- 
 eral, in its character. The Lodge can touch no 
 regulation after the decree of the Grand Lodge 
 for its confirmation has been passed. The regu- 
 lation has gone out of the control of the Lodge, 
 and its only duty then is implicit obedience. 
 Hence it follows that it is not competent for a 
 subordinate Lodge, even by unanimous consent, 
 to suspend any of its by-laws. Should such a 
 proposition be made, it would be the duty of the 
 presiding officer to rule it out of order, and to 
 refuse to entertain the question. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 OF QUESTIONS ON CALLING FOR THE YEAS AND 
 NAYS. 
 
 IN all American legislative assemblies it is 
 provided, that on any pending question a vote 
 by yeas and nays may be called for ; that is, that 
 the vote of each member shall be openly given 
 and recorded in the journal. The object of this 
 proceeding is to secure the responsibility of the 
 representative to his constituents, who are thus 
 enabled to know how he voted, and to call him 
 to an account, should he have voted contrary to 
 the views or principles which he was elected to 
 represent. 
 
 It is evident that there can be no necessity for 
 such a proceeding in a Masonic Lodge, where 
 every member is independent and responsible 
 only to God and his own conscience for the votes 
 which he may give. The call for the yeas and 
 nays being, then, repugnant to the principles 
 upon which the Masonic institution is founded, 
 
 if a motion or call for that purpose were to be 
 
 132 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I33 
 
 made, the Master of the Lodge should very prop- 
 erly rule it out of order. 
 
 But a different system prevails in conducting 
 the business of Grand Lodges, which consist of 
 representatives, responsible to a constituency 
 whose instructions they are bound to obey. 
 Hence, in these bodies, a vote by Lodges, which 
 may be considered as equivalent to a vote by 
 yeas and nays, is allowed and sometimes pre- 
 scribed by positive rule. 
 
 The calling in Grand Lodges for the vote by 
 Lodges must in all cases, where the constitution 
 of the body has provided no special rule on the 
 subject, be governed by the general parliamen- 
 tary law which regulates the vote by yeas and 
 nays. 
 
 Any member may demand the vote by Lodges ; 
 and if there is a provision in the rules of the 
 Grand Lodge which requires a certain number 
 to concur in the demand, it is the duty of the 
 Grand Master or presiding officer to ascertain 
 whether there is that requisite number. This 
 would be most conveniently done by calling on 
 those who were in favor of the vote by Lodges 
 to rise, when the votes would be counted by the 
 Senior Deacon. 
 
 The demand for a vote by Lodges may be 
 
134 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 made at any time, not only during the voting on 
 the question in another form, but even after the 
 decision has been made by the chair, provided 
 the Grand Lodge has not proceeded to other 
 business. 
 
 If a demand for the vote by Lodges has been 
 once made and refused by the Grand Lodge, it 
 is not in order to make the demand a second 
 time on the same question. But the demand 
 or motion for a vote by Lodges having been 
 negatived, it is in order for any one who voted 
 in the majority — that is, on the negative side — 
 to move for a reconsideration of the vote, which 
 preliminary question will be settled by a mere 
 majority vote. 
 
 While the vote is being taken, and at any time 
 before the decision is announced by the chair, it 
 is permitted to any member to change his vote. 
 
 The parliamentary rule is, that no one shall 
 be permitted to vote on a call for the yeas and 
 nays who was not "within the bar;" that is, in 
 the house when the question was stated. But I 
 do not think that this rule has ever been rigidly 
 enforced in Grand Lodges, where every member 
 is permitted to vote on such an occasion, if 
 present during the roll-call, although he may 
 have been absent when the question was stated. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 OF QUESTIONS OF PRIVILEGE. 
 
 IN all parliamentary or legislative bodies there 
 occur certain questions which relate to mat- 
 ters affecting the dignity of the assembly or the 
 rights and privileges of some of its members, and 
 these are hence called "questions of privilege." 
 Such, for instance, are motions arising out of or 
 having relation to a quarrel between two of the 
 members, an assault upon any member, charges 
 affecting the integrity of the assembly or any of 
 its members, or any other matters of a similar 
 character. Questions referring to any of these 
 matters take precedence of all other business, and 
 hence are always in order. 
 
 It is impossible to make a complete enumera- 
 tion of all these questions, and parliaments, con- 
 gresses, and legislatures have generally been 
 guided by the precedents supplied by the deci- 
 sions of former sessions in deciding what are 
 questions of privilege. 
 
 The analogies existing in many respects be- 
 
 .13s 
 
136 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 tween a Masonic Lodge and a legislative assem- 
 bly leave no doubt in my mind that in the former, 
 as in the latter, questions of privilege may arise. 
 The only difficulty to be encountered is as to 
 what matters can occur in a Lodge or Chapter 
 that would properly give rise to questions of 
 privilege. But as any proposition that involves 
 a question of privilege is to be considered in 
 preference to any other business, it is important 
 that the presiding officer, whose duty it is to 
 decide the point of order, should have some guide 
 by which he may arrive at a correct decision. 
 The following list, although necessarily incom- 
 plete, is presented as an approximation to a cata- 
 logue of what may in a Masonic assembly be 
 deemed questions of privilege : 
 
 1 . Any matter which affects the character of a 
 member. Hence questions relating to charges 
 of misconduct are questions of privilege, and 
 may be presented at any time ; and it is a prin- 
 ciple of parliamentary courtesy to grant an un- 
 usual latitude to the member who is making a 
 personal explanation, because of its importance 
 to his reputation. 
 
 2. Matters that affect the character of the 
 Lodge, such as false and scandalous reports of 
 its proceedings. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I37 
 
 3. Matters affecting the secrecy or safety of 
 the Lodge, where a brother deems it necessary 
 to give the proper precautions. 
 
 Under these three heads, I think, may be em- 
 braced all those subjects usually enumerated 
 in works on parliamentary law as questions of 
 privilege so far as they refer to a Lodge. 
 
 A question of privilege is always in order. 
 Whenever a member rises and says, " I rise to a 
 question of privilege," the question must first be 
 stated. The presiding officer will decide whether 
 it is or is not such a question. If he decides that 
 it is, then the consideration of any other business 
 whatsoever that may at that time be before the 
 Lodge must be suspended until the question of 
 privilege is disposed of 
 
 And this disposition of the question may be 
 either by entertaining it at once, and deciding it 
 on its merits, or by any other of the modes of 
 disposition to which any other question is subject. 
 It may be ordered to lie on the table, be post- 
 poned definitely or indefinitely, or be committed 
 for investigation and report to a committee. In 
 the last case the character of a question of priv- 
 ilege adheres to the report, the presentation of 
 which will always be in order, and will take pre- 
 cedence of all other business. But it does not 
 
138 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 follow that the immediate consideration of and 
 final action on the report must be had ; for the 
 report, like the question to which it refers, is sub- 
 ject to the operation of any of the subsidiary- 
 motions, and may, like any other report, be laid 
 on the table, postponed, or recommitted. 
 
 Questions of privilege, it must be remembered, 
 are entitled to presentation at any time, for in 
 this consists their privilege ; but that privilege 
 does not extend to their consideration. Having 
 been once presented, they become, as to the time 
 and manner of their consideration, subject to the 
 rules which affect all other questions. 
 
 When the question of privilege has been dis- 
 posed of in such a manner as may be deemed 
 proper or expedient, the subject of discussion or 
 proposition which had been interrupted and sus- 
 pended by its introduction, is at once resumed 
 at the precise point at which the interruption had 
 intervened. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 OF PRIVILEGED QUESTIONS. 
 
 THERE is another class of questions, called 
 "privileged questions," which are not, how- 
 ever, to be confounded with the class considered 
 in the previous chapter ; for although all ques- 
 tions of privilege are privileged questions, it 
 does not follow that all privileged questions are 
 questions of privilege. Strictly speaking, in the 
 language of parliamentary law, questions of 
 privilege relate to the house or its members, 
 and privileged questions relate to matters of 
 business. 
 
 Privileged questions are defined to be those 
 to which precedence is given over all other 
 questions. They are of four kinds : 
 
 1. Those which relate to the rights and privi- 
 leges of the assembly or any of its members ; 
 
 2. Motions for adjournment ; 
 
 3. Motions for reconsideration ; 
 
 4. Special orders of the day. 
 
 139 
 
140 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 The first of these classes has been discussed in 
 the preceding chapter. The second, or motions 
 for adjournment, it has been heretofore shown, 
 are unknown in the usages or in the parlia- 
 mentary law of Masonry, and may therefore be 
 dismissed without further discussion. The third 
 and fourth will constitute the subject-matter of 
 succeeding chapters. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 OF THE MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION. 
 
 BY the original parliamentary law, a motion 
 for reconsideration is not a privileged 
 question. Indeed, in the English House of 
 Commons, whence our laws of parliament have 
 derived their origin, the question of reconsider- 
 ation is unknown. There a question, having 
 been once carried, cannot be questioned again, 
 but must stand as the judgment of the House ; 
 and when a bill is once rejected, another of the 
 same substance cannot be proposed at the same 
 session. This rule has often led to much incon- 
 venience, and many expedients have been re- 
 sorted to for obviating its effect ; such as to pass 
 an act to explain, or to enforce and make more 
 effectual, or to rectify the mistakes of an act 
 which has been once, however unwisely, passed. 
 Nothing could possibly be more absurd than 
 such a regulation, which forbids all change of 
 
 opinion ; and therefore the American House of 
 
 141 
 
142 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Representatives has adopted a rule, that a motion 
 for reconsideration, on the same day or the day 
 after, is always in order, and shall take prece- 
 dence of all other motions, except motions to 
 adjourn. Hence, in this country, the motion 
 for reconsideration has become a privileged 
 question. 
 
 It is, however, regulated by certain rules, which 
 prescribe the time when, the person by whom, 
 and the questions on which, it may be proposed. 
 
 I. The motion for reconsideration must be 
 made, says the congressional rule, on the same 
 day or the day after. The operation of this rule 
 in a Grand Lodge or Grand Chapter must evi- 
 dently be the same. In a Lodge where the ses- 
 sion does not continue beyond a day, or rather 
 an evening, it is evident that the motion for 
 reconsideration, to be within this rule, must be 
 made at the same communication at any time 
 before the Lodge is closed. Whatever has been 
 done at one communication cannot be recon- 
 sidered at a subsequent one, any more than an 
 act passed by Congress at one session can be 
 reconsidered at another. If it is deemed advisa- 
 ble at a future communication to do away with 
 a resolution which had been adopted at a pre- 
 ceding one, the proper motion would be not to 
 reconsider, but to rescind or repeal. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I43 
 
 2. No one who had voted in the minority on 
 any question can move a reconsideration. The 
 right of doing so is restricted to those who had 
 voted in the majority.* And the reason of this 
 is obvious : If it were permitted that those who 
 had been defeated might seek to renew the 
 contest in another trial of strength, then the time 
 of the assembly might be wasted by the repeated 
 efforts of the few, who were discontented, to 
 obtain a reconsideration and a new discussion of 
 questions which had been already settled by the 
 many to their own satisfaction. 
 
 3. The motion for reconsideration can only be 
 made in reference to matters that remain within 
 the control of the meeting. Thus, when an appro- 
 priation has been made, and under its authority 
 the Treasurer has paid out the money, it will be 
 too late to move a reconsideration of the resolu- 
 tion making the appropriation. Indeed, where 
 the order consequent on a resolution has been 
 only commenced and not yet executed in full, 
 
 * That is, on the winning side. There may be questions where 
 the majority will be the losers. Thus, on a motion to amend the 
 Constitution, where a two-thirds or three-fourths vote is required, 
 a majority of the members may vote for the amendment and 
 yet there may not be enough of them to make the required con- 
 stitutional majority of two-thirds or three-fourths. Here the mi- 
 nority are evidently the winners, and a motion for reconsideration 
 must be made by one of them. It is always the winning- side 
 that must make the motion. 
 
144 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Strict parliamentary law deems it improper to 
 move a reconsideration, although the completion 
 of the order may be prevented by a resolution 
 to discharge or rescind so much of it as yet re- 
 mains unexecuted. But this would not be tech- 
 nically a reconsideration of the question. 
 
 There are several rules in relation to motions 
 for reconsideration which require notice : 
 
 1. A motion for reconsideration is not de- 
 batable, if the question proposed to be recon- 
 sidered is not. Gushing lays down a different 
 rule, but in the House of Representatives, where 
 the practice of reconsideration first arose, it has 
 been frequently decided that debate cannot be 
 allowed on a motion to reconsider a question 
 that was not itself debatable. 
 
 2. Although an original proposition may re- 
 quire for its adoption a vote of two-thirds or three- 
 fourths, the motion for its reconsideration may be 
 carried by a mere majority. 
 
 3. When a motion for reconsideration is made 
 within the proper limit of time, and the consid- 
 eration of it is postponed to a day beyond that 
 time, if then it is withdrawn by the mover, it can- 
 not be renewed : the time for making such a mo- 
 tion has passed. But here it must be remarked, 
 that if the session of the body, in which such 
 motion for reconsideration has been postponed, 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I45 
 
 should terminate without any action on such 
 postponed motion, it would fail. Thus, in a 
 Grand Lodge, if a motion to reconsider a ques- 
 tion should be postponed to the third day of the 
 session, and the Grand Lodge should close with- 
 out acting on the motion for reconsideration, it 
 would fall to the ground, and the original propo- 
 sition would remain in force. This is founded 
 on an opinion expressed by two Speakers of the 
 House of Representatives, that " where the term 
 of the members expires without acting on the 
 motion to reconsider, for the want of time or 
 inclination, the motion of course fails and leaves 
 the original proposition operative." * 
 
 4. When a motion for reconsideration has 
 been decided either in the affirmative or nega- 
 tive, or while it is still pending, no second mo- 
 tion for reconsideration of the same proposition 
 can be made. But if, on reconsideration, the 
 proposition has been altered in form by new 
 amendments, a motion for reconsideration will 
 then be in order. To permit the same proposi- 
 tion, after reconsideration, to be again recon- 
 sidered, would be an idle waste of time and an 
 unprofitable renewal of altercation. 
 
 5. A motion for reconsideration may be post- 
 
 * Barclay, Digest, 164. 
 13 K 
 
146 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 poned definitely or indefinitely, or laid upon the 
 table. If postponed definitely, or to a day cer- 
 tain, it is subject to the provisions already men- 
 tioned in a preceding paragraph. If postponed 
 indefinitely or laid upon the table, the effect is to 
 kill it, and to leave the original proposition in force. 
 Indeed, in the House of Representatives, when it 
 is desired to put a measure out of all reach of 
 danger, it is an expedient often resorted to for 
 the friends of the measure to move a reconsid- 
 eration, and immediately thereon to move to lay 
 the motion for reconsideration on the table. The 
 effect of this proceeding is, that no second mo- 
 tion for reconsideration can be made, and the 
 first cannot be taken up out of its order, which it 
 is not probable will be reached, and the original 
 proposition is thus secured as an accomplished 
 and unchangeable fact. This is recognized par- 
 liamentary practice, and I see no reason why it 
 should not be pursued in the proceedings of 
 Masonic bodies. 
 
 6. The first effect of a motion for reconsider- 
 ation is, that during its pendency the operation 
 of the original motion is suspended. Thus, a 
 resolution having been adopted to execute a cer- 
 tain act, and a motion to reconsider that act hav- 
 ing been made, the act cannot be executed until the 
 motion for reconsideration has been disposed of. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 14/ 
 
 7. The effect of the motion to reconsider, if 
 it is carried, is to place the original proposition 
 in precisely the position it occupied a moment 
 before its adoption. We are not carried back to 
 the form of the original proposition when it was 
 first introduced, but to the form which it had 
 assumed at the time that the final vote on its 
 adoption was taken. Thus, we will suppose that 
 a resolution had been proposed, which we will 
 call A ; to this B has been offered as an amend- 
 ment, so as to give it the form of A B ; and to 
 this again another amendment, C, has been pro- 
 posed, so as to make it assume the form of A B C. 
 Both amendments being carried, the vote is 
 taken on the proposition in its amended form 
 ABC, and, this being adopted, a motion for 
 reconsideration is made and carried. Now, the 
 effect of this will be to present to the assembly 
 for discussion, not the original proposition A, but 
 the proposition in its amended form, ABC. 
 The motion for reconsideration applies not to all 
 the preliminary proceedings, but only to the final 
 vote. So, in parliamentary practice, when a bill 
 has been read a third time and passed, a motion 
 for reconsideration, if it prevails, places the bill 
 in the position of having received its second 
 reading, and not the first or the second, but only 
 
148 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 the third reading is brought by the reconsidera- 
 tion before the house to be again acted upon. 
 
 8. When the motion for reconsideration has 
 been carried, the original proposition to be recon- 
 sidered comes up immediately for action. It 
 may be discussed, (if it is a debatable question,) 
 amended, postponed, laid on the table, or sub- 
 jected to any other operation to which it was 
 liable during its original passage. And the ef- 
 fect of a successful motion for reconsideration is 
 such, that even if the original proposition were 
 not then before the assembly, but having been 
 adopted, other measures had been acted on, it 
 comes up immediately for action. In Congress 
 it would at once take the place to which it be- 
 longs in the general order of business, or would 
 go over to the next day on which business of the 
 same description would be in order. But in a 
 Lodge, whose session seldom exceeds a few 
 hours, no such nicety of arrangement can be ob- 
 served, and the discussion of the proposition 
 ordered to be reconsidered must immediately 
 follow upon the vote for reconsideration. 
 
 All that has been said in this chapter refers 
 to the reconsideration of motions or resolutions. 
 The reconsideration of the ballot is an entirely 
 different thing, and will form the subject of the 
 succeeding chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 OF THE MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF THE 
 BALLOT. 
 
 THERE is no question within the range 
 of Masonic parliamentary law that is of 
 graver importance than that which forms the sub- 
 ject of the present chapter. The great danger 
 to the Institution is not from a decline by reason 
 of its unpopularity, but rather from the too rapid 
 and incautious admission of members, and hence 
 the sacred and indefeasible right of a secret and 
 independent ballot should be tenaciously guarded 
 as the best security against such a danger. 
 When fears are expressed by the leading minds 
 of the Fraternity that the portals of the temple 
 are too widely thrown open, it becomes neces- 
 sary that all who wish well to the Order should 
 see that its ancient purity is preserved, by a 
 rigid and unalterable determination that, so far 
 as their influence can avail, the inviolability of 
 the ballot-box shall be maintained. 
 
 In a Lodge where every member has a correct 
 
 13* 149 
 
ISO MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 notion of the right of his fellow-members to ex- 
 press their preference for, or their opposition to, 
 a candidate for initiation, and where there is a 
 disposition to work harmoniously with a few 
 rather than discordantly with many, when a bal- 
 lot is ordered, each brother, having deposited his 
 vote, quietly and calmly waits to hear the decision 
 of the ballot-box announced by the presiding 
 officer. If it is "clear," all are pleased that a 
 profane has been found worthy to receive a por- 
 tion of the illuminating rays of Masonry. But 
 if it is " foul," each one is satisfied with the re- 
 sult, and rejoices that, although knowing nothing 
 himself against the candidate, some other mem- 
 ber has been present whom a more intimate 
 acquaintance with the character of the applicant 
 has induced to interpose his veto, and prevent 
 the purity of the Order from being sullied by the 
 admission of an unworthy candidate. And even 
 if that candidate be his friend, and he has him- 
 self a conviction of his worth, he will not hastily 
 impugn the motives of the one who has cast the 
 black ball, but will generously suppose that cir- 
 cumstances and proper influences, of which he 
 has no cognizance, have led to the rejection. 
 Here the matter ends, and the Lodge proceeds 
 to other business. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. IJI 
 
 But this harmonious condition of things does 
 not always exist. Sometimes an injudicious 
 brother, over-zealous for the admission of the 
 applicant, becomes dissatisfied with the result, 
 and seeks by a defence of the candidate, and by 
 impugning the motives of some of those who 
 voted against him, to induce the brethren to 
 desire a new trial, in the hope of a more success- 
 ful verdict. 
 
 A motion for a reconsideration of the ballot is 
 the means generally adopted for obtaining this 
 object, and it is proper, therefore, that the legaHty 
 and regularity of this motion should now be dis- 
 cussed. 
 
 I commence then with announcing the propo- 
 sition, that a motion to reconsider an unfavor- 
 able ballot is unauthorized by the parliamentary 
 law of Masonry; would be at all times out of 
 order ; and could not, therefore, be entertained 
 by the presiding officer. The elements neces- 
 sary to bring such a motion within the provisions 
 of parliamentary law are wanting. A motion 
 for the reconsideration of any proposition must, 
 as has already been said, be made, and can only 
 be made by one who has voted in the majority 
 or on the prevailing side ; because, if this priv- 
 ilege were extended to those who had voted in 
 
152 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 the minority, who had been defeated, and were 
 therefore naturally discontented, the time of the 
 assembly would be wasted, and the members 
 would be annoyed by repeated agitations of the 
 same proposition ; so that it could never be 
 known when a question was definitely deter- 
 mined. 
 
 Now, as the vote on the application of a can- 
 didate is by secret ballot, in which no member is 
 permitted to divulge the nature of his vote, there 
 is no record of the votes on either side, and it is 
 therefore impossible to know, when the motion 
 for reconsideration is made, whether the mover 
 was one of the majority or of the minority, and 
 whether he, therefore, is or is not entitled to 
 make such a motion. Nor is there any prescribed 
 mode of arriving at that information. The pre- 
 siding officer cannot ask the question, nor, if he 
 should so far forget his duty as to propose the 
 interrogatory, could the mover answer it without 
 violating the principle of secrecy, which so rigidly 
 adheres to the ballot. The motion would, there- 
 fore, have to be ruled out for want of certainty. 
 
 But although no motion for reconsideration 
 can be made, there are circumstances which 
 would authorize the Master or presiding officer 
 of his own motion, to order a second ballot. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I53 
 
 which may be considered as practically the same 
 thing as a reconsideration. Thus, on the first 
 ballot there may be but one black ball. Now, a 
 single black ball may have been inadvertently 
 cast — the member voting it may have been 
 favorably disposed toward the candidate, and yet 
 from the hurry and confusion of voting, or from 
 the obscurity of light, or the infirmity of his eyes, 
 or from some other equally natural cause, he 
 may have deposited a black ball when he intended 
 to have deposited a white one.. It is, therefore, 
 a matter of prudence and caution that, when only 
 one black ball appears, the presiding officer 
 should order a new ballot, in the presumption 
 that on this second ballot more care and vigilance 
 will be exercised, so that the reappearance of the 
 rejecting ball will show that it was designedly de- 
 posited in the box. And the foundation of this 
 rule in sound sense and justice is so well admitted, 
 that in almost all Masonic bodies the by-laws 
 provide for a second ballot in cases where one 
 black ball appears in the first. But, if there 
 should be no such by-law, it is competent for the 
 presiding officer to exercise his discretion in the 
 premises, and direct a second ballot if he thinks 
 it is expedient. 
 
 But although it is the prerogative of the 
 
154 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Master or presiding officer, under the circum- 
 stances described, to order a reconsideration, yet 
 this prerogative is accompanied with certain re- 
 strictions, which it may be well to notice. 
 
 In the first place, the Master cannot order a 
 reconsideration on any other night than that on 
 which the original ballot was taken. After the 
 Lodge is closed, the decision of the ballot is final, 
 and there is no human authority that can reverse 
 it. The reason of this rule is evident. If it were 
 otherwise, an unworthy Master might on any 
 subsequent evening avail himself of the absence 
 of those who had voted black balls to order a 
 reconsideration, and thus succeed in introducing 
 an unfit and rejected candidate into the Lodge, 
 contrary to the wishes of a portion of its mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Neither can he order a reconsideration on the 
 same night, if any of the brethren who voted 
 have retired. All who expressed their opinion 
 on the first ballot must be present to express It 
 on the second. The reasons for this restriction 
 are as evident as for the former, and are of the 
 same character. 
 
 It may be asked whether the Grand Master 
 cannot, by his dispensation, permit a reconsid- 
 eration. I answer emphatically. No. The Grand 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 155 
 
 Master possesses no such prerogative. There is 
 no law in the whole jurisprudence of the Institu- 
 tion clearer than this : that neither the Grand 
 Lodge nor the Grand Master can interfere with 
 the decision of the ballot-box. In the sixth of 
 the thirty-nine " General Regulations" adopted in 
 1 72 1, and which are now recognized as a part of 
 the common law of Masonry, it is said, that in 
 the election of candidates- " the members are to 
 signify their consent or dissent in their own pru- 
 dent way, either virtually or in form, but with 
 unanimity ; " and the regulation goes on to say : 
 " Nor is this inherent privilege subject to a dis- 
 pensation, because the members of a Lodge are 
 the best judges of it ; and if a fractious member 
 should be imposed upon them, it might spoil 
 their harmony or injure their freedom, or even 
 break and disperse the Lodge, which ought to 
 be avoided by all good and true brethren." 
 
 This settles the question. A dispensation to 
 reconsider a ballot would be an interference with 
 the right of the members " to give their consent 
 in their own prudent way ; " it would be an in- 
 fringement of " inherent privilege," and neither 
 the Grand Lodge nor the Grand Mas'.er can 
 issue a dispensation for such a purpose. Every 
 
156 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Lodge must be left to manage its own elections 
 of candidates in its own prudent way. 
 
 From what has been said, we may deduce the 
 following four principles, as setting forth, in a 
 summary way, the doctrine of Masonic parha- 
 mentary law in reference to motions for a recon- 
 sideration of the ballot : 
 
 1 . It is never in order for a member to move 
 for the reconsideration of a ballot on the petition 
 of a candidate, nor for a presiding officer to en- 
 tertain such a motion. 
 
 2. The Master or presiding officer alone can, 
 for reasons satisfactory to himself, order such a 
 reconsidei-ation. 
 
 3. The presiding officer cannot order a recon- 
 sideration on any subsequent night, nor on the 
 same night, after any member who was present 
 and voted has departed. 
 
 4. The Grand Master cannot grant a dispen- 
 sation for reconsideration, nor in any other way 
 interfere with the ballot. The same restriction 
 applies to the Grand Lodge. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 OF SPECIAL ORDERS. 
 
 THE most common class of privileged ques- 
 tions in parliamentary assemblies is that to 
 which is technically given the name of " orders 
 of the day." When the consideration of any 
 matter is, by a resolution, postponed to a certain 
 day, the matter so assigned is called, when the 
 day for its consideration arrives, the special order 
 for that day. 
 
 By this act the order of the day becomes a 
 privileged question, and takes precedence of all 
 others. The parliamentary regulations which 
 refer to this question are numerous and intri- 
 cate, but very few of them have an application 
 to Masonic Lodges or Chapters. 
 
 For instance, in all parliamentary assemblies 
 the business is distributed by certain rules, which 
 cannot easily be set aside. Thus, public motions 
 must be considered on one certain day of the 
 week ; private ones on another. A third day is 
 directed to be devoted to the consideration of 
 
 H 157 
 
IS8 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 petitions, a fourth one to appropriations, and so 
 on; so that the class of business which is arranged 
 for one day cannot be discussed on another, 
 unless this rule is suspended. Now, to make any 
 question a special order for the day, and to give 
 it precedence on that day over all other questions 
 — over, in fact, the very class of questions that 
 has been appropriated to that particular day — 
 would be to violate the rules of the house. And 
 therefore it has been decided that, when any 
 proposition is made an order for a subsequent 
 day, it is to be considered that the rules for that 
 occasion have been suspended. But a rule can- 
 not be suspended by the vote of a mere majority. 
 A vote of two-thirds is required for that pur- 
 pose ; and therefore, to make any question a 
 special order, it is necessary that two-thirds of 
 the members should vote in favor of the propo- 
 sition, although, when the special order comes 
 up, a bare majority may postpone its considera- 
 tion. 
 
 No such rule has been established in Masonry. 
 A majority vote only is necessary in a Lodge or 
 Grand Lodge to make any hour or day the 
 special time for the consideration of any propo- 
 sition ; or, in other words, to make it the special 
 order for that hour or day. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I59 
 
 The limited period appropriated to the com- 
 munication of a Lodge makes it very unusual to 
 adopt the practice of special orders ; although a 
 proposition introduced in the early part of the 
 evening might be, and sometimes is, made the 
 special order for a later hour. But the protracted 
 session of a Grand Lodge or Grand Chapter often 
 gives rise to special orders ; and therefore the 
 parliamentary rules that govern them, so far as 
 they are applicable to Masonic bodies, must be 
 considered. 
 
 The proper form of making any proposition a 
 special order is as follows : On the presentation 
 of any proposition, whether it be a motion, a 
 petition, an election, or any other substantive 
 matter, which it is then proposed to discuss, any 
 member may rise and say, " I move that this 
 motion (or whatever else it may be) be made the 
 special order for lo o'clock on Wednesday morn- 
 ing," or any other hour and day that he may 
 select. This motion, being seconded, is put by 
 the presiding officer, and, if adopted by a ma- 
 jority of votes, the proposition becomes the 
 special order for that hour and day. 
 
 Accordingly, when the day and hour set apart 
 for the consideration of the special order has 
 arrived, that special order takes precedence of 
 
l6o MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 all Other business. The presiding officer or any 
 member may call it up, and to do so may inter- 
 rupt any one, although the latter may at the time 
 have possession of the floor, and be addressing 
 the meeting. Whatever business is then before 
 the Lodge must be suspended at once, that the 
 special order may take its place, and be brought 
 before the assembly. 
 
 But, although the special order will thus ob- 
 trude itself before the Lodge at the sacrifice of 
 all other business, it does not follow that it neces- 
 sarily will retain the attention of the members. 
 Like every other proposition, it is subject to 
 various subsidiary motions. It may be dis- 
 charged, or be postponed to another time. 
 
 If a motion to discharge the special order pre- 
 vails, then it ceases any longer to be a special 
 order. It loses its speciality and its privilege, 
 and subsides into the class of motions to which 
 it properly belongs, and can be called up only in 
 the regular order of business, at the time when 
 a motion to call it up would be in order. The 
 business which had been suspended is at once 
 resumed and proceeded with. 
 
 But a motion may be made, and may prevail, 
 to postpone the special order to a future day or 
 hour. The effect of this motion is different from 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. l6l 
 
 that which discharges the order. The special 
 order here loses its speciality and privilege only 
 temporarily, and on the arrival of the time to 
 which it had been postponed it resumes its 
 special privilege, and may be called up as at the 
 original time ; still, however, subject to the same 
 motions for discharge or for further postpone- 
 ment. 
 
 A special order may also be disposed of in a 
 third way. Although it is the right, it is not the 
 duty of any member to call up the special order. 
 Hence, if a proposition has been made the 
 special order for any hour of any day, and that 
 hour passes without any action being taken to 
 proceed with it, the special order is dropped, and 
 can only come up thereafter as unfinished busi- 
 ness and as an unprivileged question. The time 
 appointed to consider it as a special order having 
 passed, it loses its character as a special order. 
 
 Let us illustrate this usage. It is a very com- 
 mon practice in Grand Lodges to set apart a 
 certain day and hour for proceeding to the elec- 
 tion of officers for the ensuing year. Now, we 
 will suppose that on Monday a motion is made, 
 and that that motion prevails, making the election 
 of officers the special order for 12 o'clock on 
 Wednesday morning. When the hour of 1 2 on 
 
 14* L 
 
l62 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 Wednesday arrives, the Grand Lodge may be 
 engaged in some other business, notwithstanding 
 which, any member may call up the special order. 
 If this be concurred in, the Grand Lodge pro- 
 ceeds to the election. But a motion may be made 
 that the special order be postponed until 12 
 o'clock on Thursday ; and if this motion prevails, 
 that hour is set apart for the election, and at that 
 hour the special order again comes up. A mo- 
 tion may, however, be made to discharge the 
 special order, and, if that motion is adopted, no 
 future time is appointed for the election, and a 
 new motion must be made to provide for it. 
 Again, on the arrival of the hour of 1 2 on Wed- 
 nesday no one may feel disposed to interrupt the 
 business then in hand, and consequently no 
 notice would be taken of the special order, which, 
 in that case, would be dissolved, and the election 
 could only be held in consequence of some future 
 motion. 
 
 If, however, the motion to make the special 
 order had been to make it " for Wednesday," and 
 not for "12 o'clock on Wednesday," — that is to 
 say, for the whole day, and not for any particular 
 hour of it, — then it would be in order to call it 
 up at any time during the session of Wednesday. 
 
 When a special order has been taken up, it 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 163 
 
 may be proceeded with to the exclusion of all 
 other business until it is concluded. If not fin- 
 ished at the time of calling off, which in another 
 society would be the adjournment, it is to be 
 resumed the next day as unfinished business, 
 having, however, the preference over all other 
 business, unless a motion be made to postpone 
 or to discharge it. 
 
 It is not uncommon for several orders to be 
 made for the same day, in which case the one 
 first made takes precedence of the others ; and 
 if the whole day is consumed by it, then the 
 other orders lose their speciality, for they cannot 
 be considered special orders for the ensuing day. 
 
 In Congress it is usual to frame the resolution 
 making a special order so that the proposition is 
 
 made " the special order for the day of , 
 
 and from day to day, until the same is disposed 
 of." A resolution so framed would carry over a 
 special order from one day, when it had been 
 omitted, to the succeeding day. This is not the 
 form generally adopted in conducting the busi- 
 ness of Grand Lodges, but I see no reason why 
 it should not be ; and if a motion in that form be 
 made and adopted, the effect of it in a Grand 
 Lodge would be the same as in Congress, where, 
 although the first day may be consumed in the 
 
164 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 consideration of a special order previously made, 
 the second one does not lose its speciality, but 
 on the succeeding day comes up and takes pre- 
 cedence of all other business. 
 
 These are all the rules of parliamentary law 
 in reference to special orders which appear to 
 be applicable to the government of Masonic 
 bodies. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 OF THE ORDER OF BUSINESS. 
 
 THAT there may be no confusion or un- 
 necessary delay in the transaction of busi- 
 ness, that everything may be considered at the ■ 
 proper time, and that due precedence may be 
 given to the most important matters, or to those 
 which claim precedence from some special reason, 
 it is necessary, in all deliberative assemblies, that 
 there should be some well understood arrange- 
 ment, either by regulation or by custom, for the 
 government of the order and sequence in which 
 the various propositions that are likely to be 
 brought before the meeting shall be considered. 
 A settled order of business, says Jefferson, is 
 necessary for the government of the presiding 
 officer, and to restrain individual members from 
 calling up favorite measures or matters under 
 their special patronage out of their just turn, and 
 it is also useful for directing the discretion of the 
 members when they are moved to take up a par- 
 ticular matter to the prejudice of others having 
 
 i6s 
 
l66 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 priority of right to their attention in the general 
 order of business. 
 
 Hence, an arrangement of business under 
 proper heads and by a predetermined rule will 
 be convenient to the Master of a Lodge, because 
 he is thus enabled to carry on the business of the 
 Lodge without unnecessary delay and embar- 
 rassment, and will be necessary for the govern- 
 ment of the members, because by it useless and 
 troublesome contentions for the precedency of 
 propositions will be avoided. 
 
 In every Masonic body, therefore, the by-laws 
 should prescribe an " Order of Business," and in 
 proportion as that order is rigorously observed 
 will be the harmony and celerity with which the 
 business of the Lodge will be despatched. 
 
 In Lodges whose by-laws have prescribed no 
 settled order, the arrangement of business is left 
 to the discretion of the presiding officer, who will 
 not, however, depend entirely on his own judg- 
 ment, since he must be governed to some extent 
 by certain general rules, founded on the princi- 
 ples of parliamentary law, or on the suggestions 
 of common sense. Thus the propriety of getting 
 rid of the unfinished business before any new 
 propositions are entertained will naturally sug- 
 gest itself as a rule of expediency-; for if new 
 
• MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 167 
 
 propositions were permitted to be entertained 
 before old ones, which had been proposed at 
 former communications, were disposed of by their 
 adoption or rejection, or some equivalent dispo- 
 sition of them, the business would so accumulate 
 as to lead to confusion and embarrassment. It 
 is, therefore, a settled rule of parliamentary law, 
 that the consideration of unfinished business 
 should take the precedence of that which is new. 
 Again, there are certain propositions which, 
 whenever they may arise, must be entertained, to 
 the suppression of other matters for the time, 
 because they are questions of privilege. And, 
 lastly, there are special orders, the time for the 
 consideration of which must have been provided 
 at tiie time when their speciality was determined. 
 Governed by these general rules, where, as I 
 have already observed, no special rules have 
 been provided, and exercising a wise judgment 
 in the distribution of matters not coming under 
 these heads, the presiding officer will find no 
 difficulty in conducting the business of the meet- 
 ing with ease to himself and with satisfaction to 
 the members ; but if, on the contrary, he shall 
 permit propositions to be introduced at improper 
 times, irrelevant questions to be presented, and 
 a regular arrangement to be neglected, he will 
 
l68 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 soon find himself involved in a labyrinth of per- 
 plexities, extrication from which will be difficult, 
 if not impossible ; and, as this judicious mand§fe- 
 ment of business constitutes one of the most 
 important functions of a Master of a Lodge as a 
 presiding officer, so does its absence or neglect 
 most strikingly develop his incapacity and unfit- 
 ness for the position which he occupies. 
 
 Experience has shown that the following ar- 
 rangement or order of business is the one most 
 calculated to facilitate the consideration and dis- 
 position of the subjects that are usually brought 
 before a Masonic body, and it is the one, there- 
 fore, that has been most generally adopted. 
 After the Lodge has been opened, the process 
 of which ceremony, as it is prescribed by the 
 ritual, needs no explanation here, the first busi- 
 ness is to read the minutes of the preceding 
 communication, and this is to be followed im- 
 mediately by the question on their confirmation. 
 This refers only, however, to stated communica- 
 tions, because as the law of Masonry prescribes 
 that the proceedings of a stated communication 
 cannot be altered or amended at a special com- 
 munication, it is not necessary nor usual at the 
 latter to read the minutes of a stated one that 
 had preceded it. The minutes, therefore, except 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 169 
 
 for information, are not read at special commu- 
 nications. The minutes, then, having been read 
 and confirmed, the mode of doing which will 
 constitute the subject of another chapter, the 
 next thing will be the consideration of unfinished 
 business. This will be presented by the Secre- 
 tary, through the Master, to the Lodge in regular 
 order. The reports of committees appointed at 
 the former meetings will now be taken up for 
 reading and consideration. Of these, the reports 
 on petitions for initiation or affiliation take pre- 
 cedence of all others. If these reports are favor- 
 able, the next business will be the balloting for 
 the candidates. Other reports of standing or 
 select committees will be next in order. Those 
 of select committees as seeming to have a more 
 important character should take precedence of 
 those of standing committees. Motions made 
 at a former meeting and postponed for consider- 
 ation, or laid upon the table, may now be called 
 up : if postponed without reference to any hour, 
 they will be in order at any time after the recep- 
 tion of and action on the reports of committees. 
 If they had been postponed to a particular hour, 
 they then become special orders, and can be 
 called up only when that hour arrives ; but 
 whether in the one or the other category, it is 
 IS 
 
I/O MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 not the duty of the presiding ofificer to call the 
 attention of the Lodge to such motions,* and if 
 they are not called up by the special motion of 
 a member, they will pass over without notice. 
 The unfinished business being thus disposed of, 
 the Lodge is now prepared for the consideration 
 of any new proposition which may be presented, 
 and the precedency of these propositions will be 
 regulated by the parliamentary law as already 
 described in the present work. 
 
 The presiding officer having learned, either by 
 direct inquiry or by observation, that no further 
 business is likely to be transacted, will direct the 
 Lodge to be prepared for initiation, if there be 
 any candidates in waiting ; for this is always done 
 after the business of the Lodge is transacted. 
 After which the Lodge is closed. 
 
 It was formerly the usage, but one which is 
 now too much neglected, to read the rough 
 minutes of the evening before closing the Lodge, 
 and this was done, not for their approval, because 
 no question of confirmation was taken at the time, 
 but that the members present might suggest to 
 the Secretary the correction of any errors that he 
 
 * It is not his duty, but he may, like any other member, exer- 
 cise the right, and therefore, if he chooses, he may call attention 
 to the special order. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I7I 
 
 might have inadvertently made. This practice, 
 though peculiar to Masonic bodies, is a good one, 
 and should not be neglected. 
 
 The order of business thus detailed may, for 
 convenience of reference, be placed in the fol- 
 lowing tabular form: 
 
 1 . Opening the Lodge. 
 
 2. Reading and confirmation of the minutes. 
 
 3. Reports on petitions. 
 
 4. Balloting for candidates. 
 
 5. Reports of select committees. 
 
 6. Reports of standing committees. 
 
 7. Consideration of motions made at a former 
 meeting, if called up by a member. 
 
 8. New business. 
 
 9. Initiations. 
 
 10. Reading of the minutes for information 
 and correction. 
 
 11. Closing the Lodge. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 OF THE APPOINTMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF COM- 
 MITTEES. 
 
 FOR the purpose of expediting business, by 
 dividing the numerous labors of a dehbera- 
 tive body among various classes of its members, 
 or to obtain the investigation of a particular 
 subject more conveniently, by the inquiries of a 
 few, than could be secured by the whole body, 
 it has always been usual to appoint a certain 
 number of members to inquire into and to report 
 to the main body on any particular proposition, 
 and the members thus appointed are called a 
 committee, because the subject has been com- 
 mitted or intrusted to them for inquiry. 
 
 Committees are divided into two kinds, in 
 reference to the subjects committed to them, and 
 to the duration of their functions, and these two 
 kinds are standing and select. 
 
 Standing committees are those to whom all 
 
 propositions relating to a particular subject, as 
 
 172 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I73 
 
 they arise from time to time, are submitted. 
 Thus, to a standing committee on finance 
 would be referred all matters relating to the 
 funds of the Lodge, as their investiture or expen- 
 diture, and to a standing committee on charity 
 would be submitted all applications for aid and 
 relief. 
 
 Standing committees are usually appointed 
 at the beginning of the Masonic year, and con- 
 tinue in office until its close. The mode of their 
 appointment depends on the provisions of the 
 by-laws, which sometimes designate the mem- 
 bers, and sometimes direct them to be elected 
 by the Lodge or appointed by the Master. 
 Thus, as to the first class, many Lodges have 
 provided, that the first five or the first three 
 officers shall constitute a standing committee 
 on finance, to whom all financial matters shall 
 be submitted. And, in reference to the other 
 class, it is also sometimes provided, that three 
 or five members shall be appointed by the new 
 Master, or elected by the Lodge on the night of 
 the annual election, who shall act as a committee 
 on charity, to whom all petitions for relief and 
 assistance made to the Lodge during the coming 
 year shall be submitted. There may be other 
 standing committees, as, for instance, on the 
 IS* 
 
174 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 library, or on the hall, who are appointed in one 
 of the ways already designated ; but to constitute 
 them standing committees, in the strict, tech- 
 nical sense of the term, their appointment or 
 election should be made at the beginning of the 
 Masonic year, and their functions should continue 
 until its close ; and this appointment or election 
 should not be made under the authority of a 
 resolution, but of a special by-law or clause in 
 the constitution of the Lodge, just as standing 
 committees are formed under the rules appointed 
 at the beginning of the Congress. Committees 
 established at any other time, by a mere resolu- 
 tion, although they may be appointed for an 
 indefinite period, and may be directed to have 
 cognizance not of a single proposition, but of all 
 propositions of a particular class that may, from 
 time to time, present themselves for considera- 
 tion, can be viewed only as quasi standing com- 
 mittees, but are really select committees, and 
 are to be governed in the mode of their appoint- 
 ment by the rules that regulate the appointment 
 of such bodies. 
 
 Select committees are appointed under a 
 resolution of the Lodge for the investigation and 
 consideration of some proposition which, having 
 been presented, it is deemed more convenient 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I/g 
 
 should thus be inquired into by a few members, 
 who can more readily than a large number put 
 the matter into proper shape for the action of the 
 whole body. In the discussion of this subject we 
 are first to look to the mode of their appointment, 
 and then to the manner in which they are to dis- 
 charge their functions, which, of course, includes 
 the question of their duties and powers. 
 
 In the first place, as to the mode of their ap- 
 pointment : Here the parliamentary and the 
 Masonic law differ very widely. Anciently, in 
 the English House of Commons, it was the prac- 
 tice, when a committee was ordered, for the 
 members of the House to call out names for the 
 committee, and for the clerk to take down the 
 names without any formal question, until the 
 requisite number had been obtained. But this 
 practice has been abandoned, and it is now the 
 usage for the person who moves for the com- 
 mittee also to move the names of those who are 
 to compose it, each one being proposed sepa- 
 rately, and the vote is then taken on his accept- 
 ance ; and although, as a matter of courtesy, the 
 list proposed is generally accepted, it is compe- 
 tent for the House to reject any one or all of 
 them, and, by an amendment to each motion, to 
 place some other member on the list in the place 
 of the one rejected. 
 
1/6 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 In the American House of Representatives the 
 rule is for the Speaker to appoint all committees, 
 unless otherwise specially ordered by the House, 
 in which case they are to be appointed by ballot. 
 But the latter mode is now never resorted to, 
 and the present practice is for the House to 
 direct the Speaker to appoint all committees, 
 standing and select. 
 
 By the universal usage of Masonry, the ap- 
 pointment of all select committees, that is to 
 say, all committees created by special resolu- 
 tion, is, unless otherwise specially provided for, 
 vested in the presiding officer ; therefore, when a 
 motion is adopted which creates a committee, 
 and charges it with the consideration of a par- 
 ticular subject, it is not necessary, as it is in other 
 deliberative bodies, for the Master or presiding 
 officer to inquire "How shall the committee be 
 appointed?" Unless the resolution creating the 
 committee provides at the same time for the 
 election of its members by the Lodge, the power 
 of the appointment is in the presiding officer. 
 
 In the motion for the creation of a committee 
 the number of members is often left blank, and, 
 after the adoption of the resolution, it becomes 
 necessary to fill up the blank with some specified 
 number. This may be done, as the filling of any 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. X'J'J 
 
 Other blank, by several motions for different 
 numbers, in which case the presiding officer will 
 put the question on each number, beginning with 
 the highest, until one of them is adopted. But 
 more frequently the blank is filled up upon the 
 mere suggestion of some member, which sugges- 
 tion is informally adopted if there be no opposi- 
 tion. 
 
 As to the number of which a committee is to 
 be composed, there is no other rule than the 
 pleasure of the Lodge ; but uniform custom has 
 restricted committees to as few as can conven- 
 iently and judiciously discharge the duty, on the 
 ground that a few may be more easily brought 
 together than many, are a less unwieldy body to 
 organize, and can more readily agree upon 
 measures. An odd number is also selected in 
 preference to an even one, because, as a majority 
 of the committee make the report, an odd num- 
 ber always secures a majority on one side or the 
 other of the question, if there be a difference of 
 opinion ; whereas in an even number there 
 might be a tie, and the committee could come 
 to no conclusion. 
 
 The committee is appointed by the Master's 
 reading out the names of the members whom he 
 has selected, which duty he may perform at once ; 
 
 M 
 
178 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 or he may require time for a judicious selection, 
 when he announces that he will make the ap- 
 pointment at his leisure. 
 
 There is no positive rule to regulate the pre- 
 siding officer in the choice of committee-men, but 
 the courtesy of parliamentary law has always in- 
 dicated that the person who makes the motion 
 for the creation of a committee should be the first 
 one placed on it, and not to so name him would 
 be considered as an act of discourtesy. 
 
 In naming the other members of the committee, 
 respect should be had to their peculiar views of 
 the subject to be referred. It is a parliamentary 
 practice not to appoint persons on a committee 
 who are opposed to the proposition which is to 
 be referred. It being the object of a committee 
 to prepare the matter with which they have been 
 charged, and to put it into a shape fit for the 
 action of the body which they represent, it is 
 evident that they should be so far its friends as 
 to lead them to such a result. The enemies of a 
 proposition would be more likely to stifle it than 
 to give it a proper form for future discussion. In 
 the forcible language of a parliamentary writer, 
 "The child is not to be put to a nurse that cares 
 not for it." But where the proposition with which 
 a committee is charged consists of several parts, 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I79 
 
 it is no objection to the appointment of a mem- 
 ber that he is opposed to some of these parts, so 
 long as he is favorable to the general proposition. 
 His partial opposition might lead him in the 
 committee to propose such alterations and 
 amendments as would give the entire subject a 
 more acceptable shape in the Lodge when it was 
 reported by the committee, than it had in its 
 original form. 
 
 By courtesy the first-named person is consid- 
 ered as the chairman of the committee, and he 
 is recognized as such, at least so far as to call 
 the committee to order at its first meeting. But 
 every committee has the right to select its own 
 chairman, and may, at its first meeting, displace 
 the one named by the presiding officer and elect 
 another in his stead. This has sometimes been 
 done, but the more general usage is to accept 
 the first-named member as the chairman. 
 
 In strict parliamentary law, to give legality to 
 the acts of a committee, it has been considered 
 necessary that every member should be present 
 at its deliberations, unless at the time of its 
 appointment, or by some general rule of the body 
 which has appointed it, the number required to 
 constitute a quorum shall have been expressed. 
 But this rule no longer exists in this country, and 
 
l80 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 it is generally recognized as good parliamentary 
 law that a majority of the members of a com- 
 mittee will constitute a legal quorum to do busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Unless the time and place for the meeting of 
 a committee have been specifically expressed by 
 the body appointing it, these matters are left to 
 the discretion of the committee, which, without 
 such instructions, may meet at such time and 
 place as to the majority shall seem most ex- 
 pedient and convenient. But a quorum of the 
 committee must meet formally to transact any 
 business ; the opinions of the members cannot 
 be taken by the chairman separately, from which 
 opinions he is to make up his report. Every- 
 thing agreed upon must have been submitted in 
 committee, and an opportunity given for free 
 discussion. 
 
 Business is transacted in a committee with 
 less formality than in the deliberative body from 
 which it emanates. The members are permitted 
 to speak as often as they please, and are not 
 required to stand when addressing the Chair. 
 But all the rules which govern motions and ques- 
 tions in deliberative bodies are equally applica- 
 ble to committees. 
 
 A committee is restricted to the consideration 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. l8l 
 
 and investigation of the proposition with which 
 it is charged. It cannot go beyond it, nor take 
 up other matters irrelevant to and unconnected 
 with it. Appointed with a definite object, it must 
 confine itself to that object. 
 
 A committee may adjourn from time to time, 
 until a majority of its members shall have come 
 to an agreement on the matter which had been 
 referred to it. This agreement it announces to 
 the body which had appointed it in a document 
 drawn up by the chairman, or some other mem- 
 ber of the committee appointed for that purpose. 
 This document is called its report, which will 
 constitute the subject-matter of the following 
 chapter. 
 
 i6 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 OF THE REPORT OF A COMMITTEE. 
 
 WHEN a committee, to which a subject 
 had been referred, has completed its in- 
 vestigation and come to an opinion, it directs its 
 chairman or some other member to prepare an 
 expression of its views, to be submitted to the 
 assembly under whose direction it has been act- 
 ing. The paper containing this expression of 
 views is called its report, which may be framed 
 in three different forms : It may contain only an 
 expression of opinion on the subject which had 
 been referred ; or it may contain in addition to 
 this, a definite resolution or series of resolutions, 
 the adoption of which by the assembly is recom- 
 mended ; or, lastly, it may contain one or more 
 resolutions, without any preliminary expression 
 of opinion. - 
 
 The report, when prepared, is read to the 
 members of the committee, and, if it meets with 
 their final sanction, the chairman or one of the 
 
 members is directed to present it to the assembly. 
 
 182 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I83 
 
 The mode in which the report thus prepared 
 is to be presented to the assembly next requires 
 attention. In the British Parliament the presen- 
 tation of the report of a committee is accom- 
 panied with several forms, which have long since 
 been abandoned in the parliamentary bodies 
 of this country. And while in our popular as- 
 semblies and in Masonic bodies the forms of 
 reception and consideration of a report are still 
 simpler than they are in the National Congress 
 or the State Legislatures, they still preserve 
 enough of the spirit of the parliamentary law to 
 insure expedition and regularity. 
 
 Standing up in his place in the Lodge, the 
 chairman, or other member appointed for that 
 purpose, announces to the presiding officer that 
 the committee to which such or such matters 
 had been referred is ready to report. 
 
 The question which now ought to be put to 
 the meeting by the presiding officer is : " Shall 
 the report be received ? " But here the fiction 
 of the parliamentary law, like the fiction of the 
 common law in many cases, supplies the place 
 of fact, and the question is supposed to be put 
 and carried by the silent acquiescence of the 
 members, and the chairman then reads the report. 
 
 But although it is taken for granted, when 
 
184 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 there is no opposition, that the report has been 
 received, it is competent for any member to move 
 that it be not received. The effect of the adoption 
 of such a motion would, I think, be to suppress 
 the subject altogether, and to dismiss its further 
 consideration, unless a motion was also made to 
 recommit the report. Gushing says, that " it is 
 not apparent what the precise effect of the de- 
 cision would be — whether the committee would 
 be discharged and the matter there stop, or 
 whether the refusing to receive the report would 
 be equivalent to a recommitment;" but he admits 
 that if the report so rejected be the final report 
 of the committee, which had adjourned without 
 day, the committee would be functus officio, — 
 discharged from farther duty, — unless revived. 
 
 It is, I think, most reasonable to suppose that, 
 if the assembly refuses to receive the report of 
 the committee, the matter necessarily drops, 
 unless revived by a subsequent resolution to re- 
 commit the report. The committee, in making 
 its report, has accomplished the duty confided to 
 it, and nothing more remains or is competent 
 for it to do. To refuse to accept the report 
 unconditionally, is to give the quietus not only 
 to it, but to the subject-matter on which it is 
 based. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. l8S 
 
 But on the announcement of the chairman that 
 the committee is ready to report, if a motion be 
 made to receive the report, or if no express op- 
 position being made, it is tacitly received, then the 
 next thing is for the chairman to read it. The 
 parliamentary usage is for the chairman to read 
 the report in his place, and then to hand it to 
 the clerk, who reads it again. But in popular as- 
 semblies and in Masonic Lodges this formality is 
 not adhered to. Sometimes the chairman reads 
 the report and sometimes the Secretary reads it 
 for him, and it is not read the second time unless 
 the. second reading is called for. 
 
 The reading of the report is its reception. It 
 is, therefore, an error, although a very common 
 one among persons unacquainted with parlia- 
 mentary law, to move, after it has been read, that 
 the report be received. This has already been 
 done, and such a motion would now be unneces- 
 sary and out of time. 
 
 The report having been received and read, the 
 committee is thereby discharged, in the case of 
 a final report, from any further consideration of 
 the subject, and is virtually dissolved. It is un- 
 necessary, therefore, to make a motion for its 
 discharge. 
 
 The next question, then, that comes up is the 
 
 i6* 
 
l86 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 disposition to be made of the report. And here 
 it is usual for the friends of the report to move 
 that it be adopted. Now, the report may be 
 made, as has already been said, in three forms : 
 as a mere expression of opinion, as that expres- 
 sion accompanied by resolutions, or simply as a 
 resolution or series of resolutions. 
 
 If the report be in the first of these forms, it 
 does not seem necessary to move its adoption. 
 For as the opinions of a deliberative body can be 
 expressed only in the form of resolutions, the 
 adoption of a mere opinion can have no binding 
 effect. It is best, therefore, to let such a report 
 pass without any motion whatever, and then it 
 would go on the records simply as the opinion 
 of the members of the committee. If this opin- 
 ion is to become operative as a rule of action, 
 that can be effected only by some resolution based 
 upon its recommendations, which resolution may 
 be made by any member of the Lodge or assem- 
 bly. This is the parliamentary method of pro- 
 ceeding, but it is not always observed in Lodges, 
 where the motion to adopt a mere declaratory 
 report is often made. But if the motion is car- 
 ried, its effect is precisely that above stated. 
 Such a motion has no more legislative value than 
 the piece of paper on which it is written. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 18/ 
 
 But the report may be submitted in its second 
 or third form, that is to say, the expression of 
 opinion may be accompanied with resolutions, or 
 the report may consist simply of a resolution, or 
 series of resolutions, not preceded by any pre- 
 liminary expression of opinion. 
 
 Here the motion for adoption would be strictly 
 regular, and its effect would be tangible. If the 
 motion to adopt a report having resolutions 
 annexed, or consisting only of resolutions, be 
 carried, then the adoption of the report is also 
 the adoption of the resolutions, which thus be- 
 come the expression of the will of the assem- 
 bly, and have the same legal effect as they would 
 have if they were resolutions which had been 
 independently proposed by some member irre- 
 spective of the committee. 
 
 But, if the motion to adopt is lost, then the 
 matter is defunct. The effect of a refusal to 
 adopt a report is the same as a negative vote on 
 a motion. By the refusal, it ceases to be before 
 the body, and goes into parliamentary death. 
 
 But on the reception of a report there is 
 another method, besides adoption or non-adop- 
 tion, by which it may be disposed of Instead 
 of moving that it be adopted, a motion may be 
 made that it be recommitted. If this motion be 
 
l88 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 carried, the committee, which had become func- 
 tus officio by the reception of its report, is in- 
 stantly revived. The report is handed to the 
 chairman, and the committee in due time makes 
 another report, which passes through the same 
 stages, and is governed by the same rules as in 
 the case of the first report. 
 
 This recommitment may be accompanied with 
 instructions, but these instructions can refer only 
 to some legislative act, such as the preparation of 
 a resolution for future action. In parliamentary 
 bodies reports are often recommitted, with in- 
 structions to a committee to prepare a bill. 
 Analogous to this would be the instructions of 
 a popular assembly to its committee to prepare 
 a resolution. But, in the case of the parliamen- 
 tary body, the preparation of the bill by the com- 
 mittee is intended to expedite the forms of legis- 
 lation. Nothing of this kind could be accom- 
 plished by causing a committee to prepare a 
 resolution, since the resolution could be more 
 readily offered by a member, and acted on at 
 once by the assembly. It is not, therefore, usual 
 to recommit reports with such instructions, 
 although such a course would be perfectly reg- 
 ular and parliamentary. Sometimes, however, 
 reports have been recommitted, with instructions 
 to change the opinions therein expressed. This 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 189 
 
 is altogether incorrect and unparliamentary. 
 The members of a committee cannot be re- 
 quired to change their views on any particular 
 subject, merely to gratify a majority who hold 
 different views ; and to require them to express 
 on paper an opinion that they do not entertain, 
 would be an unjust assumption of power. 
 
 The better course is, when the report of the 
 committee is objectionable, to reject it at once 
 on the question of its adoption. New resolu- 
 tions can then be offered to meet the views of 
 the majority, independently of the report, if it 
 contain resolutions. If it was only the expres- 
 sion of an opinion without resolutions, the mere 
 reception of it does not give the sanction of the 
 body to the views expressed in it ; but, if it be 
 thought necessary, a declaratory resolution in 
 opposition to the report might be offered and 
 adopted. 
 
 Committees go out of existence only on the 
 reception of their final report. Preliminary re- 
 ports, for the purpose of asking information or 
 instruction in reference to the subject-matter 
 which has been referred to it, may be made by a 
 committee at any time during its session, with- 
 out affecting its continuance. 
 
 Sometimes the stated period arrives for a 
 committee to make its report, which, however, 
 
igO MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 it is not prepared to do, in consequence of not 
 having completed the investigation of the mat- 
 ter referred to it. The usage, then, is for the 
 committee simply to " report progress, and ask 
 leave to sit again." This being granted, the 
 committee resumes its sessions and makes its 
 report at some subsequent time. 
 
 What has been hitherto said refers only to 
 select committees. Standing committees are 
 governed by different rules. Their reports are 
 always in order, and the reception of the report 
 of a standing committee does not affect the con- 
 tinuance of the committee. 
 
 Minority Report. — It sometimes happens that 
 one or more members of a committee will dis- 
 sent from the views of the majority, and that they 
 will naturally desire to express their antagonistic 
 opinions in a written paper. This paper is usu- 
 ally called a " minority report." But the term is 
 an inaccurate one, since the decision of parlia- 
 mentary law is, that the minority of a committee 
 cannot make a report, a minority not being a 
 committee. Such reports are not known in the 
 British Parliament, but in Congress, by a cour- 
 tesy of the House, they are on motion received 
 with the report of the majority and are printed, 
 postponed, or considered in the same manner. 
 Their effect seems to be to serve as a basis for 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I9I 
 
 amendments to be moved in the resolutions pro- 
 posed by the majority. It has been usual, 
 although not strictly parliamentary, in popular 
 assemblies, when there are two reports, to move 
 that the report of the minority be adopted. Such 
 a motion is only admissible on the ground that it 
 is to be viewed as a motion for a substitute, by 
 way of amendment to the report of the majority. 
 If such a motion is adopted, its effect is the change 
 of the character of the majority report, and the 
 adoption of the report as so amended. But at 
 this stage a motion might be made to lie on the 
 table, to commit, or to postpone. In a word, the 
 report of a minority can only be treated as any 
 other amendment to that of the majority. 
 
 One more observation is necessary. The re- 
 port of the minority does not, I think, so adhere, 
 in parliamentary phrase, to that of the majority, 
 that a vote to lay the former on the table would 
 carry the former with it. It is one of the excep- 
 tions to the general rule, that whatever adheres 
 to the subject of a motion goes to the table 
 with it. 
 
 The report of a committee on the character 
 of an applicant for initiation or affiliation is a 
 matter peculiarly Masonic, and requires a special 
 consideration. It will therefore constitute the 
 subject of the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 OF THE REPORT OF A COMMITTEE ON CHARACTER. 
 
 WHEN a petition for the initiation of a can- 
 didate into the mysteries of Masonry or 
 for the application of a brother who has demitted 
 from the Lodge to which he was formerly at- 
 tached Is presented, the application is, by a law 
 so universal that it almost has acquired the 
 nature of a landmark, referred to a committee 
 of investigation, or, as it is often called, a com- 
 mittee on character. 
 
 The Importance, and indeed the absolute ne- 
 cessity, of a proper and careful inquiry into the 
 character of candidates for initiation cannot be 
 too often or too deeply impressed upon the mind. 
 It is the greatest of all the guards that the wis- 
 dom of our predecessors has thrown like ram- 
 parts around the security and safety of our 
 Order. 
 
 So important has this preliminary step towards 
 initiation been deemed, that the " General Regu- 
 lations," approved in the year 1721, prescribe it 
 
 192 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 193 
 
 as a positive law that " No man can be accepted 
 a member of a particular Lodge, without previous 
 notice one month before given to the Lodge, in 
 order to make due inquiry into the reputation 
 and capacity of the candidate, unless by dispen- 
 sation." 
 
 This ancient regulation has, perhaps on ac- 
 count of its evident importance to the safety of 
 the Institution, been better observed than any 
 other of the old landmarks. While the contem- 
 poraneous rules in relation to the exclusion of 
 maimed candidates, to the absence of religious 
 tests, and many more of equally positive enact- 
 ment, have from time to time been neglected or 
 denied, I know of no Grand Lodge that has 
 thought proper to abolish the " due inquiry " into 
 character. The Grand Lodge of Virginia did, 
 it is true, some years ago, propose to abolish 
 committees of investigation, and to constitute all 
 the members of the Lodge a committee of the 
 whole on the character of the applicant ; but the 
 opposition here was not to the investigation, but 
 to the mode in which it was conducted. 
 
 We are then to inquire into the parliamentary 
 
 form, which, in Masonic bodies, is adopted in the 
 
 constitution of this committee ; next, into the 
 
 duties which it is required and expected to per- 
 17 N 
 
194 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 form; and, lastly, into the mode in which its 
 report is to be made and action to be taken 
 thereon. 
 
 As soon as a petition for initiation or affiliation 
 has been read, it must be referred to a com- 
 mittee for investigation into the character and 
 qualification of the candidate. Sometimes this 
 committee is appointed on a motion made by 
 some member. But as in every Lodge there is, 
 or ought to be, a rule requiring the submission 
 of the petition to a committee, it is not essentially 
 necessary that any such motion should be made. 
 The presiding officer may of his own motion 
 make the reference and appoint the committee. 
 
 The old regulation, already referred to, desig- 
 nates specifically the time during which the com- 
 mittee is to exercise the inquiry, and the nature 
 of the inquiry that is to be made. In other 
 words, it defines precisely the duties and func- 
 tions of the committee, and this definition has 
 been made the basis of all subsequent regulations 
 by Grand Lodges on the subject. 
 
 As the old regulation prescribes that a pre 
 vious notice of one month shall be given to the 
 Lodge, it is to be inferred that during that month 
 the committee should be engaged in its investi- 
 gation, so that, having been appointed at one 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I95 
 
 regular meeting, it shall be in order for it to re- 
 port at the next. This time is prescribed, not 
 merely to afford the committee an ample oppor- 
 tunity for investigation, but that by the " previous 
 notice " every one who knows anything that is 
 unfavorable to the character of the applicant 
 may, by being advertised of his petition, be en- 
 abled to come forward and state his objections. 
 It is a sacred duty which every Mason owes to 
 his Order, that he should not wait until he is 
 asked for the information in his possession, but 
 that he should voluntarily, and without any so- 
 licitation, make known all that he thinks would 
 render the proposed candidate unworthy of ini- 
 tiation. Every member of the Order should be, 
 in fact, a guardian watching at the portals of the 
 Temple, to see that none pass into the sanctuary 
 but " he who has clean hands and a pure heart." 
 We are next to inquire what are the functions 
 to be discharged by the committee during this 
 interval of a month between the time of its ap- 
 pointment and that of its report, or, in other 
 words, what is the nature of the investigation 
 that has been committed to it. Now, the old 
 regulation says that the inquiry is made that 
 the "reputation and capacity" of the candidate 
 may be discovered. There is, then, a twofold 
 
196 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 object in the investigation. The one as relates 
 to his reputation, the other as to his capacity. 
 The reputation of the candidate will affect the 
 standing- and character of the Institution into 
 which he applies for admission, for good or for 
 evil, accordingly as he shall be found worthy or 
 unworthy of the favor that has been bestowed 
 upon him. He must be " under the tongue of 
 good report," and the Lodge which should admit 
 a member without this indispensable qualification, 
 would be bringing into our fold, not a lamb, the 
 emblem of innocence and purity, but a ravenous 
 wolf, who will inevitably destroy the flock. 
 
 But it is not simply into the reputation of the 
 candidate that inquiry is to be made : his " ca- 
 pacity " presents also a subject of investigation. 
 By the capacity of the candidate we understand 
 his fitness to receive and to comprehend our 
 sublime mysteries. According to the unwritten 
 law of the Order, a fool or an idiot, an old man 
 in his dotage, or a young one under age, is con- 
 sidered as an improper applicant for initiation, 
 because, in these instances, there is either a total 
 want of mind or an impaired or undeveloped in- 
 tellect, which would render it impossible for the 
 party initiated properly to appreciate the moral 
 and philosophic instructions imparted to him. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I97 
 
 Hence, the Grand Lodge of England, in view of 
 this mental capacity, has provided in its regula- 
 tions that the candidate " should be a lover of the 
 liberal arts and sciences, and have made some 
 progress in one or other of them." 
 
 These two distinctions of the. "reputation" 
 and the " capacity " of the candidate are alluded 
 to in what is technically called the "investiture," 
 or the presentation of the lambskin apron, which 
 the neophyte is told to wear " with pleasure to 
 himself and honor to the Fraternity." The 
 pleasure to himself must depend on his capacity 
 to appreciate and enjoy the symbolic instruction 
 of the Institution ; the honor to the Fraternity 
 will result from the reputation which he may 
 bring to the support of the Order. 
 
 Our next inquiry is into the mode in which 
 the report is to be made, and the action to be 
 taken thereon. And here it may be observed, 
 that the report of this committee stands on a 
 different footing from that of any other commit- 
 tee. The law, or at least the usage, of Masonry 
 has prescribed a particular process through which 
 candidates must pass before they can obtain a 
 right to initiation or affiliation. Of this process 
 the appointment of a committee, and the inves- 
 tigation and report of that committee within a 
 
198 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 specified time, form integral parts. As no mo- 
 tion could be entertained, when the petition was 
 first read, to lay it on the table, or to postpone 
 its consideration, or to dispose of it in any other 
 form than by reference to a committee, so when 
 the month appropriated by the law to the inves- 
 tigation of character has passed, and the com- 
 mittee comes up to make its report, it is not, I 
 conceive, in order to make any motion for the 
 postponement of the report, which must as a 
 matter of course be received. If it were in order 
 to move its postponement, it would be in order 
 to move its postponement definitely or indefi- 
 nitely. But to postpone the reception of the 
 report indefinitely would be equal to a with- 
 drawal of the petition, which the concurring opin- 
 ion of all Masonic jurists has decided cannot be 
 done ; and so that which it is unlawful to do 
 directly might be accomplished in an indirect 
 way. 
 
 The time, then, having arrived for the report 
 to be made — that is to say, the regular meeting 
 immediately succeeding the one at which the pe- 
 tition had been read and referred — the report 
 is called up by the presiding officer in the regular 
 order of unfinished business. The chairman, or 
 some member of the committee, rises in his seat 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. I99 
 
 and makes the report, or, as is more usual, the re- 
 port is sent to the Secretary's desk, and read by 
 that officer. And here occurs the only contin- 
 gency in which the report may be postponed ; for 
 the committee, if it finds the duty of investigation 
 more difficult than had been expected, may ask 
 for further time, which will generally be granted, 
 until the next regular meeting ; but if the com- 
 mittee has completed its inquiries, the report 
 will then be read. The committee is not neces- 
 sarily confined to any precise formula of lan- 
 guage, and may or may not give its reasons for 
 the opinion at which it has arrived. But this 
 opinion must be definitely expressed, as being 
 favorable or unfavorable to the petition. 
 
 The report of any other committee having 
 been read, the action of the Lodge which follows 
 would be either for its adoption, its rejection, to 
 lay it on the table, to postpone it, or to make 
 some other parliamentary disposition of it ; but 
 none of these rules are applicable to the report 
 of a committee on character. Here the ancient 
 and uninterrupted usage of the Order requires 
 that the action of the Lodge on such a report 
 must take the form of a ballot on the petition. 
 The presiding officer, as soon as the favorable 
 report is read, will order the ballot to be taken, 
 
2CX3 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 and the result declared. There can be no dis- 
 cussion on the nature of the report or the char- 
 acter of the applicant ; but the ballot must imme- 
 diately follow the reading of the report. 
 
 But the report may be unfavorable ; and in 
 prescribing what action is then to be taken, we 
 are embarrassed by the fact that Masonic jurists 
 here materially differ in their views. Some con- 
 tend that an unfavorable report requires a ballot 
 just as much as a favorable one, and that there 
 is no mode of rejecting a candidate except by 
 the ballot. But other jurists of equal reputation 
 contend that an unfavorable report is equal to a 
 rejection without a ballot, and in that case the 
 ballot should be dispensed with. I confess that 
 I have always entertained the latter opinion, and 
 that if the report of the committee is unfavor- 
 able, the candidate is at once rejected without 
 ballot. This usage is founded on the principles 
 of common sense ; for as one black ball is suffi- 
 cient to reject an application, the unfavorable 
 report of a committee must necessarily and by 
 consequence include two unfavorable votes at 
 least. It is therefore unnecessary to go into a bal- 
 lot after such a report, since it is to be taken for 
 granted that the brethren who reported unfavor- 
 ably would, on a resort to the ballot, cast their 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 20I 
 
 negative votes. Their report is indeed virtually 
 considered as the casting of such votes, and the 
 applicant is therefore at once rejected without a 
 further and unnecessary ballot. 
 
 Let us suppose that the other rule is the cor- 
 rect one, and that a ballot must be taken on an 
 unfavorable report. Now, it might be possible 
 that when the ballot was taken, the members of 
 the committee would be absent from the Lodge. 
 The ballot might then also be clear, and thus a 
 candidate would be elected in the face of the 
 declaration of three members that he was unwor- 
 thy, and who, if not prevented by circumstances, 
 would have been present and would have depos- 
 ited black balls. It cannot be denied that such 
 a proceeding would be worse than a farce, 
 because it would be a violation of the entire 
 spirit of the Masonic system in reference to the 
 election of candidates. 
 
 It will be proper, in conclusion, to say some- 
 thing of the proper method in which the mem- 
 bers of the committee should discharge the duty 
 confided to them, and the form of the report 
 which they should make. 
 
 Of all the committees appointed for the con- 
 venience of business by a Lodge, there is none 
 so important as that to which has been consigned 
 
202 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 the duty of Investigating the character of a peti- 
 tioner for initiation. It is always unfortunate for 
 the interest of Masonry when such a committee 
 is either ignorant of the responsibility of the task 
 imposed on it or is careless in performing it. 
 When an architect is appointed to superintend 
 the construction of a building, he will, if honest 
 and capable, inspect with the utmost care the 
 character of every piece of material that the 
 builders propose to use. He will make no su- 
 perficial examination, nor rest satisfied with the 
 general appearance of the stone or timber that 
 is submitted to his inspection. He will, by a 
 thorough and minute scrutiny, assure himself that 
 the materials are of good quality, that they have 
 been properly prepared, and that they will secure 
 strength and stability to the edifice. He does 
 all this because he knows that if, when the struc- 
 ture is completed, it should prove weak and 
 imperfect, his professional reputation would be 
 impaired ; and that if any fatal accident should 
 result from this weakness or imperfection, he 
 would be held morally, and perhaps legally, re- 
 sponsible for the consequences of such disaster. 
 Now, if the Lodge is, as our symbolism teaches 
 us, the spiritual antitype of a material temple, 
 of which every member constitutes a stone, and 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 203 
 
 if in that temple it is required that none but 
 perfect stones should be admitted, then it follows, 
 in pursuance of the same symbolic idea, that the 
 making of new Masons is the building up of the 
 temple. And in the process of this construction 
 the members of the committee on character are 
 the architects who are to judge of the quality of 
 the material that is brought up, and they must 
 pursue the same rule of caution and diligence 
 that the professional architect would in supervi- 
 sing a material temple. 
 
 When the builder presents a stone that has 
 been made ready for the building, the architect 
 does not say, " I have heard no one say anything 
 against this stone ; nobody has told me that it is 
 unfit material ; you may deposit it in its desig- 
 nated place," but he examines it for himself; he 
 applies to it the touchstone of his own profes- 
 sional knowledge ; he says, "this is not granite, 
 but sandstone ; it is too soft and crumbling ; if 
 we use it, the wall would be weak." Or he tries 
 •jt with the plumb and square and level, and 
 declares "it ig too long; it must be made 
 shorter ; " or " its angles are not square, and its 
 sides not perpendicular; it will not do." And 
 thus he rejects the material as unfit for use. Or, 
 if the inspection has satisfied him, he says. 
 
204 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 almost in the language of our own ritual : " This 
 is good work, true work, square work, such work 
 as we are authorized to receive," and the stone 
 is then placed in the wall, and the building gains 
 strength from the addition. 
 
 So, too, the committee on character, when a 
 candidate is submitted to their inspection, must 
 pursue the same cautious and prudent course in 
 determining whether he is or is not a stone fit 
 for the spiritual temple. In making up their 
 report, they must not be content to say : " We 
 have heard nothing against this candidate ; no 
 one has come to us accusing him of crime ; we 
 therefore recommend him for admission." Such 
 a recommendation is based on negative informa- 
 tion, or, to speak more correctly, has no basis at 
 all, because no information has been received. 
 The Lodge demands for its own security some- 
 thing more. It does not need to know only what 
 evil has not been said of the candidate, but also 
 what good has been said of him. General rep- 
 utation is not sufficient. Each member of th^ 
 committee should inquire for himself, not merely 
 whether the candidate bears a good character in 
 the community wherein he lives, for men too 
 often seem to be what they are not, but what is 
 his occupation, reputable or infamous ? his habits, 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 205 
 
 his intelligence, his disposition, his private as 
 well as his public walk, and on this, and any 
 additional information like this derived from 
 such an inquiry, they should found their report. 
 
 The brief and unsatisfactory reports, too often 
 made by these committees, are in language like 
 this : " We recommend the candidate for initia- 
 tion." On such a report, which really gives no 
 information, the members are called upon to cast 
 the ballot, and trusting to the fallacious hope that 
 the committee has done its duty, they vote white 
 balls, and thus too often ignorantly introduce a 
 very bad stone into the temple. 
 
 But let us suppose that the committee, after 
 strict inquiry, were to make a report something 
 like this : " We find that the candidate is an in- 
 dustrious mechanic; that he honestly and respect- 
 ably supports his family by his daily labor ; that 
 he is distinguished by an amiable disposition and 
 gentle manners ; that he is temperate in his habits 
 and upright in his dealings ; that he is a tender 
 husband, an affectionate father, a faithful friend, 
 and possessor of the amount of intelligence and 
 intellectual culture that will enable him to com- 
 prehend and value the teachings of our Institu- 
 tion." 
 
 Or again : suppose, unfortunately for the 
 
 i8 
 
206 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 aspirant, the committee should report thus 
 "We find that the candidate is a professional 
 gambler, of intemperate habits, of coarse man- 
 ners, of belligerent disposition, and of so low a 
 grade of intellect that if admitted he could neither 
 understand nor properly appreciate the lessons 
 of our ritual." 
 
 In each of these supposed cases the members 
 of the Lodge would find no difficulty in making 
 a right decision. In the former case, good ma- 
 terial would be accepted ; in the latter, worthless 
 would be rejected. 
 
 But it may be said that the inquiries which 
 must be instituted and pursued to enable the 
 committee to make such a report would involve 
 too much time and labor. The objection is 
 worthless. If in a Lodge of forty or fifty mem- 
 bers — few have less, and many have more — 
 three men cannot be found who, with a month 
 to do it in, can divide the labor of such an in- 
 quiry between them, then it were better that 
 such a Lodge should close its doors to all admis- 
 sions, and remain content with its original mem- 
 bership. Better not grow at all than to grow by 
 the accretion of bad materials. " 111 weeds grow 
 apace," says the proverb. But Lodges should 
 not be like ill weeds, but rather Hke salutiferous 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 207 
 
 plants, whose growth, though slow, will end in 
 the production of wholesome fruit. 
 
 Reform on this subject is undoubtedly needed ; 
 and, as a step towards it, it is recommended that 
 the committee on character, to which a petition 
 on initiation is referred, should be supplied with 
 a form in which the following heads should be 
 printed, the blanks to be filled as fully as possible 
 by the committee: 
 
 "Report on the Petition of 
 
 " We find the following facts in reference to 
 the applicant : 
 
 "Age. . 
 
 " Place of nativity. 
 ' Occupation. 
 
 " Habit of life. (Sober, industrious, or other- 
 wise^ 
 
 " Manners. (Pleasant and agreeable, or rude 
 and boisterous, etc.) 
 
 " Disposition. (Amiable, gentle, or otherwise?^ 
 
 " Married or single. . 
 
 "Domestic relations. {Conduct as a hcsband, 
 father, friend, etc.) 
 
 " Associations. ( With reputable people or with 
 law characters^ 
 
 "Amount of intelligence or intellectual cul- 
 ture. 
 
208 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 " Miscellaneous. {Anything else that they may 
 know of him))" 
 
 With such a report before it, no Lodge could 
 err in coming to a conclusion on the important 
 question of admitting a new member into the 
 great family of which it constituted a part. I 
 am sure that if this, or some similar form, were 
 once adopted, no further complaint would be 
 made, as is now too often done, of the careless- 
 ness or inefficiency of committees on character. 
 A month might not be always a sufficient time in 
 which to obtain the information thus required. 
 If not, let there be no hurry; the committee 
 should have further time. It is better that the 
 candidate should wait a year than that the Lodge 
 should make a mistake. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 OF FILLING BLANKS. 
 
 A PROPOSITION is sometimes presented to 
 a meeting, and even adopted in an incom- 
 plete form ; as when, in a motion for an appro- 
 priation for money, the precise amount is not 
 stated ; or when in a proposition to do something 
 at a future time, the exact day is left for subse- 
 quent consideration. In each of these cases a 
 blank occurs, which must be filled up. It is 
 usual to leave the filling up of the blank until 
 the motion is adopted, because, if it should be 
 rejected, any further discussion of the subject 
 would be unnecessary. 
 
 After the proposition has been adopted, the 
 next question to be put by the chair is, " How 
 shall the blank be filled?" And then, as the mo- 
 tion to fill the blank is not considered in the 
 light of an amendment to the original motion, 
 but rather as an independent proposition, which 
 is intended to give it completion, any number of 
 these propositions may be made. But of course 
 
 i8* O 209 
 
2IO MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 there must be an order in which they are to be 
 considered. 
 
 In the early days of the British Parliament, 
 these blanks generally referred to the amount 
 of taxes to be levied and to the time at which 
 they should be collected. And as the object of 
 the members was to reduce as much as possible 
 the burdens of the people, the effort was always 
 made to fill the blank for money with the smallest 
 sum, and the blank for the day on which it was 
 to be collected with the longest time. Hence 
 sprang the rule, which still exists in Parliament, 
 that in filling blanks the smallest sum and the 
 longest time shall be first put.* 
 
 But in this country a different rule prevails. 
 Here the reason that governs is not to begin 
 at that extreme which and more, being, as Jeffer- 
 son, citing Grey, says, within every man's wish, 
 no one could negative it ; and yet, if he should 
 vote in the afifirmative, every question for more 
 would be precluded ; but at the extreme which 
 would unite few, and then to advance or recede 
 until you get a number which will unite a bare 
 majority. Hence the rule in the Congress of the 
 United States, which has been universally adopt- 
 ed in all public meetings in this country, is to 
 
 * See Hatsell, Prec, iii. 184. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 211 
 
 begin with the highest sum and the longest time ; 
 and therefore the presiding officer will continue 
 putting the propositions for filling the blank in 
 this order, until the assembly comes to one on 
 which a majority of the members can agree. 
 
 Sometimes the sum or time will be inserted by 
 the mover in the original motion, so that no 
 blank occurs. Yet as the sum or time proposed 
 may not be satisfactory to all, an effort may be 
 made to change it. But this can only be done 
 in the form of an amendment, by moving to 
 strike out and insert, and here the rule of the 
 largest sum or the longest time will not prevail, 
 but the parliamentary law of amendment will 
 be in force. One amendment only, and one 
 amendment to it, is permissible, and the latter 
 must be put to the question first. Thus the 
 original motion may be " to appoint a committee 
 of three persons." An amendment may be 
 offered to strike out three and insert five ; and 
 this may again be amended by a motion to insert 
 seven instead oi five. The motion to strike out 
 and insert may be divided. If the motion to 
 strike out be lost, the motion to insert cannot be 
 put, but a new motion may be made to strike out 
 three and insert nine, or some number other than 
 five or seven. If the motion to strike out be 
 
212 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 adopted, then the amendment to insert seven will 
 be put in order ; and, that being lost, then the 
 question will recur on inserting y^z/^. If this also 
 be lost, the proposition will remain incomplete, 
 because three has been stricken out and nothing 
 inserted in its place, and a new amendment must 
 be offered for the insertion of some other num- 
 ber. And the proceedings will continue by the 
 introduction of new figures, until the original 
 proposition is perfected by the adoption of some 
 number which will be satisfactory to the majority. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 OF CO-EXISTING QUESTIONS. 
 
 IT is a principle of parliamentary law that two 
 independent propositions cannot be at the 
 same time before a meeting. But during the 
 pendency of a main question, a privileged motion 
 may be made and entertained, and then these 
 two motions, the original and the privileged one, 
 constitute what are called co-existing questions. 
 Now, it may be asked what becomes of the origi- 
 nal motion, if the privileged one be decided in 
 the affirmative. The answer will depend on the 
 nature of the privileged motion that has been 
 adopted. The parliamentary law prescribes that 
 when a motion for adjournment is made and 
 carried during the pendency of a question, that 
 question is suppressed, and cannot again at a 
 subsequent meeting be revived except by a new 
 motion. As the closing of the Lodge is in Ma- 
 sonic usage equivalent to an adjournment, it is 
 evident that the closing of the Lodge during the 
 
 pendency of any question must have the same 
 
 213 
 
214 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 effect. But the inconvenience, and oftentimes 
 the injustice, that would result from the rigid en- 
 forcement of such a rule has led to the adoption 
 by Congress of a special regulation, by which 
 such interrupted propositions are considered not 
 as totally suppressed, but only as thrown into 
 the class of unfinished business, to be taken up 
 at the proper time, when such unfinished business 
 would be in order. And although no such spe- 
 cial regulation should be found in the rules of 
 order of a Lodge, the spirit of comity and the 
 dictates of convenience will always prevail ; and 
 hence a question interrupted by the closing of 
 the Lodge is only suppressed for the time, and 
 will be renewed at the next communication as 
 unfinished business. 
 
 So, during the pendency of any discussion, if 
 the hour for any special order has arrived and 
 that order is taken up, the pending question is 
 suppressed for the time, but will be ipso facto re- 
 newed when the special order has been disposed 
 of. 
 
 The pending question is also affected by some 
 other motions, which are to lay on the table, to 
 postpone indefinitely, to postpone to a certain 
 time, or to commit ; all of which may co-exist 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 2IS 
 
 with it, and must be taken up in the order of 
 their precedence as privileged questions. 
 
 If all these motions are rejected, the discussion 
 of the original proposition of course goes on. 
 But if any one of them is adopted, the effect will 
 be various. If the proposition is laid on the table, 
 it is suppressed until called up again ; if post- 
 poned indefinitely, it is permanently suppressed ; 
 if it be postponed to a certain time, it becomes 
 a special order, and at that time takes precedence 
 of all other motions ; when it is committed, it can 
 only be renewed by the report of the committee 
 to which it has been committed. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 OF THE DIVISION OF THE QUESTION. 
 
 IT is a well-settled principle of parliamentary 
 law, that when a question contains more 
 parts than one it may be divided into two or 
 more questions. But to be thus divisible, the 
 question must contain independent propositions 
 so distinct and entire that one of them being 
 taken away, the other may stand perfect and 
 complete. For if, by the striking out of one of 
 the propositions, the other will become mean- 
 ingless, the question cannot be divided. The 
 division of a question must be so made that each 
 clause can stand by itself. Thus, a motion to 
 appropriate money for the relief of a member is 
 not divisible, because, if the clause "to appro- 
 priate money" be stricken out, the clause " for 
 the relief of a member " would be without mean- 
 ing. The congressional rule is very explicit, that 
 the question may be divided " if it comprehends 
 
 propositions in substance so distinct that one 
 
 216 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 21/ 
 
 being taken away, a substantive proposition shall 
 remain for the decision of the House." 
 
 By the parliamentary law of the English Com- 
 mons, the House must decide whether a question 
 is or is not divisible. But the rules of the Ameri- 
 can Senate and House of Representatives say 
 that, " any member may call for the division of 
 the question," but as it is subsequently provided 
 that the division may be made if the question 
 comprehends propositions that are substantially 
 distinct, it would necessarily follow that the 
 Speaker, and of course the House, may overrule 
 the demand for a division, on the ground that the 
 question does not comprehend distinct proposi- 
 tions, and, therefore is not divisible. Such is 
 the usual practice in popular assemblies, and the 
 same rule affects Masonic Lodges. Any mem- 
 ber may call for a division of the question. If 
 the presiding officer overrules the call, the divi- 
 sion cannot be made, because there is no appeal 
 from his decision. If any other member objects, 
 the point must be settled by a vote of the Lodge. 
 But if the call for a division is not overruled by 
 the chair, or no objection is made, the proposi- 
 tion will be divided, and the question be put on 
 each clause separately. 
 
 The call for a division of the question may be 
 19 
 
2l8 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 made at any time before the vote is taken on the 
 main question. The rules that prevail on this 
 subject in the government of Masonic bodies 
 may be briefly stated as follows : 
 
 1. Any member may, at any time before the 
 vote is taken, demand a division of the question. 
 
 2. The presiding officer may overrule the 
 demand because in his opinion the question is 
 not capable of an intelligent division, and this 
 puts an end to the matter. 
 
 3. Any member may object to the demand, 
 and then the motion, whether the question shall 
 be divided must be put to the Lodge. 
 
 4. If the demand is not overruled by the pre- 
 siding officer, and no objection is made, the 
 question will be divided, and each clause of the 
 division will then be treated as a separate and 
 independent question. 
 
 5. Neither clause so divided is subject to any 
 of the subsidiary motions, except amendment. 
 It may be amended, but it cannot be laid on the 
 table or postponed. The question must be direct 
 on its adoption. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 OF AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS. 
 
 THOSE rules which regulate and define the 
 duties and privileges of its members in a 
 Grand Lodge are called the Constitution, and in 
 a Subordinate Lodge the By-Laws. What Mr. 
 Rawle remarks of political constitutions may be 
 just as well applied to those of private societies. 
 He says : 
 
 " On the voluntary association of men in suffi- 
 cient numbers to form a political community, the 
 first step to be taken for their own security and 
 happiness is to agree on the terms on which they 
 are to be united and to act. They form a con- 
 stitution or plan of government suited to their 
 character, their exigencies, and their future pros- 
 pects. They agree that it shall be the supreme 
 rule of obligation among them." * 
 
 An essential element of this instrument is its 
 permanency, at least so far as that no change 
 can be made without due notice, so that the 
 
 * View of the Constitution of the United States, p. 5. 
 
 219 
 
220 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 members may not be taken by surprise, by the 
 sudden enactment or repeal of a law. 
 
 Hence, in every constitution and code of by- 
 laws there is a provision by which embarrass- 
 ments are thrown in the way of change. A sim- 
 ple resolution may be passed or be rescinded by 
 a bare majority vote ; but to enact a new by-law, 
 or to repeal one that had been already enacted, 
 requires the affirmative vote of sometimes two- 
 thirds and sometimes three-fourths of the mem- 
 bers present, and that, too, only after a previous 
 notice given one or two meetings before and 
 after two to three readings. 
 
 Now, the provision for the mode of this repeal 
 alteration, or amendment, is a part of every con- 
 stitution or code of by-laws, and by that provi- 
 sion the Lodge and the presiding officer are to 
 be governed in the premises. 
 
 If the by-laws of a Lodge require that no alter- 
 ation shall be made unless it be proposed in 
 writing at a regular communication, laid over 
 until the next regular communication, then read 
 a second time and adopted by the votes of two- 
 thirds of the members present, it is evident that 
 the duty of the presiding officer is to see that 
 these provisions are complied with, and they 
 themselves supply the necessary instructions for 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 221 
 
 his government. All that needs to be remarked 
 is, that the amendment thus proposed takes the 
 character of a special order, and as a privileged 
 question has precedence of every other propo- 
 sition when the time for action on it has arrived. 
 
 But it is necessary here to refer to one diffi- 
 culty which is sometimes thrown in the way of 
 a presiding officer, and which he should, by a 
 proper knowledge of parliamentary law, be pre- 
 pared to meet. And to understand this, it is 
 most convenient to supply an example. 
 
 Let us suppose, then, that, with such a pro- 
 vision in the by-laws as that already cited, there 
 is a clause which enacts that "the Lodge shall 
 meet at 8 o'clock p. m. on the first Monday of 
 every month." Now, an alteration may be pro- 
 posed to strike out "first Monday" and insert 
 " second Wednesday." This being proposed in 
 writing, read at a regular communication, and 
 recorded on the minutes, becomes the special 
 order for the next regular communication ; and, 
 being then read a second time, will be adopted, 
 if two-thirds of the members present concur. 
 But when the proposition is before the Lodge for 
 final action, some member may propose, as an 
 amendment to this amendment, to strike out 
 
 "Wednesday" and insert "Thursday." And it 
 19* 
 
222 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 has been contended, that such an amendment to 
 the amendment could be submitted and be acted 
 on ; but such a doctrine is altogether erroneous. 
 The original amendment was to change the time 
 of meeting from the "first Monday" to the 
 "second Wednesday," and this only can be 
 before the Lodge for consideration, since it alone 
 has gone through the regular and prescribed 
 form of two readings. The amendment to the 
 amendment, which would make, if adopted, an 
 alteration from the " first Monday " to the " sec- 
 ond Thursday," has not been proposed at a 
 previous communication, has not been laid over, 
 and has not passed through a second reading. 
 Not having come before the Lodge in accordance 
 with the forms provided in the by-laws for alter- 
 ations or amendments, it would be out of order 
 for the presiding officer to entertain it. 
 
 In other words, it may be laid down as a 
 rule, that no repeal, alteration, or amendment of 
 the by-laws having been proposed, can, at any 
 future time in the proceedings, be subjected to 
 change or amendment. The proposed altera- 
 tion must be presented for final action in the 
 very words in which it was originally proposed. 
 The proper time for offering the amendment to 
 the amendment would be when the former was 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 223 
 
 first proposed. Both the amendment and the 
 rider to it would thus go through the regular 
 course, and both would come up for a second 
 reading, and for action at the subsequent meet- 
 ing. It is scarcely necessary to say, that in that 
 case the amendment to the amendment would 
 be first in order of consideration. 
 
 It has been contended that at the time of 
 acting on a proposed amendment, a change in 
 phraseology so as to improve the language, but 
 which does not affect the spirit and meaning of 
 the proposed amendment, is admissible. But as 
 it is not always easy to determine whether the 
 change in language may not alter the precise 
 meaning, it is better to adhere to the strict rule, 
 which permits no change to be made, but re- 
 quires that the proposition shall be submitted to 
 a vote in its original form. 
 
 It is admitted that no change in the by-laws 
 of a Lodge can become operative until approved 
 and confirmed by the Grand Lodge. But an in- 
 experienced Master will sometimes permit a mo- 
 tion for the temporary suspension of a by-law, 
 believing that such suspension may be made by 
 unanimous consent ; but such a proceeding is in 
 violation of Masonic law. If a Lodge cannot re- 
 
224 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 peal any one of its by-laws without the consent 
 of the Grand Lodge, it is an evident consequence 
 that it cannot suspend it ; for this is, for all prac- 
 tical purposes, a repeal for a definite, although 
 temporary, period. It is the duty, therefore, of 
 the presiding officer to rule any proposition for 
 a suspension of a by-law to be out of order, and 
 therefore not admissible. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 OF NOMINATIONS TO OFFICE. 
 
 THE subject of nominations to ofifice is ger- 
 mane to a treatise on the parliamentary- 
 law of Masonry, because the propriety and le- 
 gality of such nominations has been made a 
 question in some quarters, and therefore it be- 
 comes the duty of the presiding officer, if such a 
 nomination is made, to decide whether it is or is 
 not in order. 
 
 If there be no special regulation in the con- 
 stitution of a Grand Lodge, or in the by-laws 
 of a Subordinate Lodge, which forbids nomina- 
 tions for ofifice, then such nominations are in 
 order ; for nomination is the Masonic rule and 
 usage, and the neglect of it the exception. 
 
 The oldest record, after the Revival, that we 
 have, informs us that on June 24, 171 7, "before 
 dinner, the oldest Master Mason (now the Mas- 
 ter of a Lodge) in the chair proposed a list of 
 
 proper candidates ; and the brethren, by a major- 
 
 p 22s 
 
226 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 ity of hands, elected Mr. Anthony Sayre, gent., 
 Grand Master of Masons." * 
 
 All the subsequent records of the Grand Lodge 
 of England show an uninterrupted continuance 
 of the custom, it being for a long time usual for 
 the Grand Master to nominate his successor. 
 The present constitution of that Grand Lodge 
 requires that " the Grand Master shall, according 
 to an ancient usage, be nominated at the quar- 
 terly communication in December." The custom 
 of nomination is practised in some of the Eng- 
 lish Lodges, but discontinued in others ; and Dr. 
 Oliver, in his Jurisprudence, thinks it a practice 
 that is open to objection, because there are, he 
 says, few brethren who would be willing to incur 
 the odium of voting against one who had been 
 nominated. But while disapproving of a nomi- 
 nation on the ground of policy, he does not deny 
 its legality. 
 
 If, therefore, there be no regulation of a Grand 
 Lodge or of a Subordinate Lodge, which specifi- 
 cally prohibits nominations for office, such nomi- 
 nations will be in order, and must, when they are 
 made, be entertained by the presiding officer, 
 
 * Anderson's Constitutions, 2d ed., p. 109. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 OF THE CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES. 
 
 THE first thing- in order, after the ritual 
 ceremonies of opening have been per- 
 formed, is the reading and confirmation of the 
 minutes, and the only question to be here con- 
 sidered is the limit that is to be made to proposed 
 amendments or alterations of them ; for it is the 
 duty of the Master, after the minutes have been 
 read for the information of the Lodge, to inquire, 
 first of the Wardens and then of the brethren, 
 whether they have any alterations or amend- 
 ments to suggest. 
 
 Now, it has sometimes been supposed that if 
 any business has been transacted at the pre- 
 vious meeting of which the minutes purport to 
 be a record, which it is desired to rescind or re- 
 peal, the proper method will be to propose an 
 alteration of the minutes before confirmation, by 
 which all reference to such business will be 
 stricken out. But this evidently is an erroneous 
 interpretation of the law, which proceeds from a 
 
 227 
 
228 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 misunderstanding of the true character of the 
 minutes. 
 
 The minutes of a Lodge are supposed to be, 
 and ought always to be, " a just and true record 
 of all things proper to be written." They con- 
 stitute the journal of ^he proceedings of the 
 meeting to which they refer, as those proceed- 
 ings actually occurred. If altered by the expur- 
 gation of any part, they cease to be a record. 
 
 It has occurred in the proceedings of the Eng- 
 lish Parliament and the American Congress that 
 portions of the journal which contained the rec- 
 ord of transactions which had become obnox- 
 ious, have been expunged by a vote taken sub- 
 sequent to their confirmation ; and these prece- 
 dents, it is supposed, would authorize a Lodge to 
 rescind or annul, or even to expunge, from its 
 minutes any particular portion. 
 
 But the question on so rescinding, annulling, 
 or expunging must be made after the minutes 
 have been confirmed. The first question, and 
 the only question in order after the minutes 
 have been read, is, " Shall the minutes be con- 
 firmed?" And this question is simply equiva- 
 lent to this other one : " Is it the sense of the 
 Lodge that the Secretary has kept a just and 
 true record of the proceedings." And the alter- 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 229 
 
 ations or amendments to be suggested before 
 this question is put, are not to change the record 
 of what has really occurred, but to make the 
 record just and true. 
 
 The decision has been made in Congress that 
 " when a member's vote is incorrectly recorded, 
 it is his right on the next day, while the journal 
 is before the House for its approval, to have the 
 journal corrected accordingly. But it is not in 
 order to change a correct record of a vote given 
 under a misapprehension." 
 
 In the Grand Lodge of England, the usage 
 has been, when the question is on the confirma- 
 tion of the minutes of a previous communication, 
 to entertain a motion for the non-confirmation 
 of the record of any resolution, the effect of 
 which is to rescind the action of the preceding 
 Grand Lodge. Sometimes the motion has been 
 made to confirm one part of a resolution which 
 had been adopted, and not to confirm the other 
 part. This irregularity was so apparent, that in 
 1859, the Earl of Zetland, who was then Grand 
 Master, declared that such a motion would be out 
 of order. He admitted, however, the right of the 
 Grand Lodge to refuse to confirm the minutes 
 in reference to an individual resolution, although 
 it was not denied that the record was correct. 
 
230 MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 
 
 This usage is so incorrect, that it is not sur- 
 prising that the Earl of Zetland, in announcing 
 his decision, should have declared that the prac- 
 tice in the Grand Lodge was so little analogous 
 to that pursued in Parliament, that he could, in 
 making up his opinion, "derive no assistance 
 from parliamentary usage." Neither is it sur- 
 prising that an intelligent writer in the "Free- 
 masons' Magazine" for September, 1858, should 
 have condemned what he calls this "piece of 
 absurdity frequently performed in Grand 
 Lodge." 
 
 " No one," he says, " can, when the minutes 
 are correct, with any regard to truth, move that 
 such minutes be not confirmed, nor can any 
 amendment be entertained on the question that 
 the minutes be confirmed which tends to alter 
 or erase a minute correctly entered on the 
 record." 
 
 This enounces the true principle. The ques- 
 tion on confirmation of the minutes simply re- 
 lates to the correctness of the record, and no 
 motion or suggestion for an alteration can be 
 made, except it be to correct a mistake or to 
 supply an omission. The suggestion of any 
 alteration which would affect the correctness of 
 the record, would be out of order, and could not 
 be entertained by the presiding officer. 
 
MASONIC PARLIAMENTARY LAW. 23 1 
 
 Finally, as it is an accepted principle of 
 Masonic law that the proceedings of a regular 
 or stated communication cannot be reviewed or 
 overruled at a special one, it follows that it is 
 not competent at a special meeting to read, for 
 confirmation, the minutes of the preceding 
 regular communication. Hence no minutes are 
 read at special meetings, except perhaps at the 
 close, for the information of the members, and 
 for the correction of errors or for supplying 
 omissions. But the minutes can be read for 
 confirmation only at a regular communication. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ADJOURNMENT of a debate, 56. 
 of a Lodge, 18. 
 Adoption of a report, 186. 
 Affirmative vote taken first, 73. 
 Alteration of the by-laws, 220. 
 
 of the minutes, 227. 
 Amendment, 85. 
 
 in the second degree, 94. 
 
 in the third degree, 95. 
 
 introduces a new issue, 63, 85. 
 
 to an amendment, 94. 
 
 to an amendment of the by-laws, 221. 
 Amendments to the by-laws, 219. 
 Appeal, definition of the term, 39. 
 
 from the General Grand High Priest, 47. 
 
 from the Grand Commander, 47. 
 
 from the Grand High Priest, 44. 
 
 from the Grand Master, 44. 
 
 from the Grand Master of Templars, 47. 
 
 from the Master, 39. 
 Argument, permitted scope of, 115. 
 Ayes and nays, 70. 
 
 BALLOT, dispensation for reconsideration of, 1 54. 
 reconsideration of, 148. 
 second, when allowed, 153. 
 
 20 * 233 
 
234 INDEX. 
 
 Blanks, of filling, 209. 
 Business Lodges, 24. 
 
 order of, 165. 
 By-laws, alteration of, 220. 
 
 amendments to, 219. 
 
 amendment to an amendment of, 221. 
 
 suspension of, 223. 
 
 CALLING yeas and nays, 70, 132. 
 Candidate, qualifications of, 195. 
 Casting vote of the Master, 72. 
 Chair, presiding officer is he who sits in the, 36. 
 Character of a Lodge, questions affecting, 136. 
 
 of a member, questions affecting, 136. 
 
 report of committee on, 192. 
 Co-existing questions, 213. 
 Commit, debate on motion to, 107. 
 
 motion to, 106. 
 Committee, adoption of report of, 186. 
 
 appointment and functions of, 172. 
 
 by whom appointed, 176. 
 
 disposition of report of, 186. 
 
 number of members of, 177. 
 
 on character, 192. 
 
 on character, form of report of, 205. 
 
 on character, how to make inquiry, 201. 
 
 reception of report of, 185. 
 
 recommitment of report of, 187. 
 
 refusal to receive report of, 184. 
 
 rejection of report of, 187. 
 
 reporting progress, 190. 
 
 report of, 182. 
 
 report of minority of, 190. 
 
 rules for the meeting of, 180. 
 
 select, 174. 
 
 standing, 173. 
 
 who is chairman of, 178. 
 
INDEX. 235 
 
 Confirmation of the minutes, 227. 
 Counting votes, 66. 
 
 "r\EBATE, adjournment of, 56. 
 
 ■L' how to be conducted, 55. 
 
 Debate, suppression of, 56. 
 
 Decision of Master not reversible by the Lodge, 43. 
 
 of question, how to be announced, 75. 
 Definite postponement of motion, 103. 
 Definition of parliamentary law, 13. 
 Discussion permitted before announcement of vote, 73 
 Dilatory motions, 49. 
 Disorder, how corrected, 114. 
 Disturbing speaker forbidden, 113. 
 Division of the Lodge in voting, 67, 76. 
 
 of the question, 2 1 6. 
 
 PXPUNGING from minutes, 228. 
 
 piLLING blanks, 209. 
 
 ^ Floor, who is entitled to the, 59, 113. 
 
 Forms, importance of, 16. 
 
 GENERAL Grand High Priest, appeal from, 47. 
 Grand Commander, appeal from, 47. 
 Grand High Priest, appeal from, 44. 
 Master, appeal from, 44. 
 Lodge, quorum in, 34. 
 
 HANDS held up, proper mode of voting, 66. 
 Hissing forbidden, 112. 
 
 INCIDENTAL questions, 108. 
 
 ^ Indefinite postponement, 102. 
 
 Independent propositions cannot exist together, 112. 
 
 Initiation, petition for, 122. 
 
 petition for in Commanderies, 123. 
 
236 INDEX. 
 
 Insert words, motion to, 88. 
 Interruption of a speaker forbidden, 113. 
 
 LIE on the table, motion to, 97. 
 includes the whole subject, 99. 
 
 may be reconsidered, loi. 
 
 not debatable, 98. 
 
 not renewable, 98. 
 Lodge, definition of, 25. 
 
 just, 29. 
 
 Master of, 37. 
 
 perfect, 29. 
 
 quorum in, 34. 
 
 regular, 29. 
 Lodges, business, 24. 
 
 working, 24. 
 
 working, parliamentary law inapplicable to, 26. 
 
 MAIN question, 51. 
 Master of Lodge, his casting vote, 72. 
 
 his duties, 37. 
 
 his qualifications, 20, 37. 
 Minority report, 190. 
 
 protection of, in Masonry, 49. 
 Minutes, alteration of, 227. 
 
 confirmation of, 227. 
 
 expunging from, 227. 
 
 reading of, 168. 
 Motion cannot be offered twice, "j"]. 
 Motions, 48. 
 
 dilatory, 49. 
 
 for adjournment of debate, 57. 
 
 for reconsideration, 141. 
 
 for reconsideration of ballot, 149. 
 
 how must be offered, 51. 
 
 lost, cannot be renewed, 77. 
 
 must be made before speaking, 116. 
 
INDEX. 237 
 
 Motions must be seconded, 51. 
 
 must be written, 52. 
 
 precedency of, 82. 
 
 principal, 48. 
 
 subsidiary, 49, 80. 
 
 to adjourn not permissible, 18. 
 
 to amend, 85. 
 
 to commit, 106. 
 
 to commit, debate on, 107. 
 
 to lay on the table, 97. 
 
 to postpone indefinitely, 102. 
 
 to postpone reconsideration, 144. 
 
 to postpone to a day certain, 103. 
 
 to suspend a rule, 127. 
 Mover of a resolution permitted to speak twice, 61. 
 
 VTEGATIVE vote taken last, 73. 
 ^^ Nominations to office, 225. 
 
 rVBEDIENCE to authority, 42. 
 ^ Objections to a motion, 53. 
 Once speaking only permitted, 63. 
 Order of business, 165. 
 
 questions of. III. 
 
 rules of, 112. 
 
 violation of, how to be noticed, 117. 
 Orders, special, 157. 
 
 of the day, 157. 
 
 pAPERS, questions for reading, 119. 
 •'• Parliamentary law, definition of, 13. 
 
 necessity of knowledge of, 20. 
 
 objections to, considered, 17. 
 Personalities in debate forbidden, 113. 
 Petitions for initiation, 122. 
 
 for initiation in Commanderies, 123. 
 Point of order, how made, 117. 
 
238 INDEX. 
 
 Postpone indefinitely, motion to, 102. 
 to a day certain, motion to, 103. 
 Precedency of motions, 82. 
 Presiding officer of a Lodge, who is the, 36. 
 Previous question, 19, 55. 
 Privileged questions, 139. 
 Privilege, questions of, 134. 
 Progress, reporting, 190. 
 Putting the question, 65. 
 
 QUESTION, division of the, 216. 
 how to be put, 65. 
 
 member must speak to the, 1 14. 
 
 once lost, cannot be renewed, 77. 
 Questions, co-existing, 213. 
 
 for reading papers, 119. 
 
 for suspending a by-law, 128. 
 
 for withdrawing motions, 1 20. 
 
 incidental, 108. 
 
 of order, iii. 
 
 of privilege, 134. 
 
 privileged, 139. 
 Quorum, definition of, 28. 
 
 in a Chapter, 31. 
 
 in a Commandery, 31. 
 
 in a Grand Chapter, 35. 
 
 in a Grand Commandery, 35. 
 
 in a Grand Lodge, 34. 
 
 READING papers, question for, 1 19. 
 Reception of a report, 185. 
 Recommitment of a report, 187. 
 Reconsideration, motion for, 141. 
 
 motion for, cannot be made twice, 145. 
 motion to postpone, 144. 
 of ballot, 149. 
 Reply by the mover of a resolution, 62. 
 
INDEX. 239 
 
 Report, adoption of, 186. 
 disposition of, 186. 
 minority, 190. 
 non-reception of, 184., 
 of a committee, 182. 
 
 of a committee on a question of privilege, 137. 
 of a committee on character, 192. 
 of a committee on character, form of, 205. 
 reception of, 185. 
 recommitment of, 187. 
 
 SECOND to an amendment, 85. 
 to a motion, 51. 
 Secrecy or safety of Lodge, questions affecting, 137. 
 Select committees, 174. 
 Seven constitute a quorum, 33. 
 Show of hands, voting by, 66. 
 Sitting, member cannot speak while, 113. 
 Speaking, rules for, 59, 113, 114. 
 
 second time, 60. 
 
 to the question, 115. 
 Special orders, 157. 
 
 discharge of, 160. 
 
 postponement of, 160. 
 Standing committees, 172. 
 Stand, member while speaking must, 113. 
 Strike out and insert words, motion to, 89. 
 
 out words, motion to, 86. 
 Subsidiary motions, 49. 
 Suppression of the debate, 56. 
 Suspending a by-law, 128. 
 
 a rule, 127. 
 
 'T'lE in voting, 72. 
 
240 INDEX. 
 
 VOTE by Lodges, 133. 
 by yeas and nays, 70, 132. 
 casting, 71. 
 how counted, 66. 
 how to be taken, 65. 
 Voting by show of hands, 66. 
 no one excused from, 69. 
 
 WINNING side not always the majority, 143. 
 Withdrawing amendments, 121. 
 motions, 120. 
 papers, 121. 
 
 petitions for initiation, 122. 
 petitions for initiation in Commanderies, 123. 
 Working Lodges, 24. 
 
 YEAS and nays, calling for the, 70, 132. 
 voting by, 70, 132. 
 
 THE END. 
 
The most Important Masonic Work ever Published. 
 
 ENCYCLOPEDIA 
 
 OF 
 
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 ^t jfltomtiM*. 
 
 BY 
 
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
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 work tells everything that may be known about the Masonic 
 Order, past and present. 
 
 Philadelphia Evening Telegraph. 
 A very important and valuable contribution to the literature 
 of Freemasonry has been made by Dr. Albert G. Mackey. This 
 is by all odds the most learned, elaborate, readable, and instruc- 
 tive work on Freemasonry we have ever met with ; and it is 
 deserving of a place in every library that makes any pretension 
 to completeness. 
 
 21* 5 
 
NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Union Herald, Charleston, S, C. 
 
 Every intelligent Mason, and every Masonic library, should 
 not fail to procure it. It comprises the result of more than thirty 
 years of labor, study, and research, every line of which has been 
 written by the distinguished author. 
 
 Masonic Jewel, Memphis, Tenn. 
 
 It is far superior to any work of the kind ever before published 
 — the crown book of all of Mackey's publications — a Bible to 
 Freemasonry. Not that we endorse Brother Mackey in all his 
 views, or believe him correct in all his statements, but this book 
 comes so near being a complete library on Masonry in itself, 
 that we are disposed to give it our unqualified endorsement. 
 The work is a very large one ; the learning and research dis- 
 played therein is wonderful and exceeding thorough. 
 
 Harper's Weekly. 
 
 This book will be welcomed by Masonic students as the most 
 valuable contribution which has appeared either in the United 
 States or England. The work is the result of many years of 
 patient research, investigation, and thoughtful study. 
 
 London (England) Freemason. 
 Brother Mackey's work has at last reached this country. It 
 does not belie the great fame or high ability of our excellent 
 American brother. It will be welcomed by all Masonic students 
 as the most valuable contribution to Masonic archaeology, history, 
 and science which has yet appeared in the United States or 
 Great Britain. Those who peruse it will find themselves amply 
 rewarded for the expenditure of time and money. It is a work 
 which ought to be in the library of every Lodge and of every 
 Masonic student. Is most creditable to our brother, an honor 
 to America, and destined, we believe, to advance the great and 
 happy cause of Masonic literature. 
 
 6 
 
NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Willimantic Journal, Conn. 
 
 No member of the Order can be without it, if they desire to be 
 thoroughly posted in the history and symbohsm of the Frater- 
 nity. 
 
 Freemasons' Repository, Providence, R. I, 
 
 We have arisen from a careful examination of Mackey's 
 Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry with a feeling of profound grati- 
 tude to the author for the valuable contribution which he has 
 made to the history, science, and literature of the Masonic in- 
 stitution. Instead of the crude and ill-expressed statements and 
 opinions so common in too many works of the kind, the work 
 exemplifies the fruits of extensive reading and scholarly research, 
 embellished with the graces of rhetoric and the accompaniments 
 of a pure classic style. No wonder he has attracted the attention 
 of the learned. The fiat, " Let there be light," has gone. forth. 
 The printing-press is scattering on every hand the leaves of 
 Masonic knowledge and culture. 
 
 The Freemason, St. Louis, Mo. 
 This splendid work will long stand — a grand monument to its 
 author, of invaluable worth to the Craft. It is so far superior to 
 any of his former efforts, and other Masonic dictionaries, that 
 comparison is out of the question. It is almost impossible to 
 think of any subject connected with secret societies cognate to 
 Freemasonry which it does not fully define. 
 
 Sunday Dispatch, Philadelphia. 
 Here are to be found explanations frequently sought for by 
 historical students, but difficult — almost impossible — to be ob- 
 tained except by long research and knowledge of the sources of 
 information from which alone the instruction required can be 
 obtained. The work is much more than a Cyclopsedia of Free- 
 masonry. It is a cyclopaedia of mythology, knighthood, religion, 
 and of almost every curious fact connected with associations 
 of men. It is a book which every Mason who takes an interest 
 in the history and progress of his Order ought to have. 
 
 7 
 
NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 
 
 The Bulletin, Norwich, Conn, 
 
 The volume treats upon the order of Masonry from its founda- 
 tion, giving a concise definition and history of all the symbols 
 and grades of the Order proper to be placed on paper ; a his- 
 torical sketch of the ups and downs of the Order, its persecutions 
 and martyrdoms, the life and services of all the principal mem- 
 bers of the Order who, years ago, defied the whole world, and 
 stood by the great lights and truths that are to be learned within 
 the Lodge Room, and not only those of the dark days of 
 Masonry, but of more modern times. A full description of the 
 Crusaders is also to be found in its pages, with a history of the 
 order of the Knights Templar. The book is one that will com- 
 mand the attention of all, and every person who is fortunate 
 enough to possess a copy will be unwilling to part with it at any 
 price. 
 
 Brethren, suffer a word of exhortation : procure a copy of this 
 Encyclopaedia ; you will have occasion to refer to its ample pages 
 again and again. The information you thus receive will enable 
 you to comprehend intelligently all subjects pertaining to the 
 Craft, and give a reason to yourself for the " hope that is within 
 you." 
 
 Public Ledger, Philadelphia. 
 
 Probably the most complete and exhaustive Masonic work yet 
 published is the Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry and its Kindred 
 Sciences, by Dr. Albert G. Mackey. Its preparation has in- 
 volved a prodigious amount of labor and research. He has 
 written other and smaller works on the subject ; but in this one 
 has gathered everything that can be obtained in the whole range 
 of history and literature that sheds any light upon the extensive 
 and powerful society to which he has devoted so much attention. 
 An index is also added, which is of great use to the reader. The 
 work itself is a fine specimen of typographic art, and is quite 
 creditable to both printer and publisher. 
 
 8 
 
NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 
 
 The Argus, Port Townsend, W. T. 
 Every member, and every constituted body of every rite, ought 
 to be the possessor of a copy of this work. It is the largest, 
 finest, and most perfect compendium of Freemasonry ever pub- 
 Ushed. 
 
 The Daily Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. 
 Matters connected with Freemasonry have been the study of 
 Dr. Mackey's hfetime, and no man hving is better quahfied than 
 he to write them. 
 
 London (England) Masonic Magazine- 
 All honor to Dr. Mackey for the zeal he has evinced and the 
 sacrifices he must have made in the good cause of Masonic lit- 
 erature, and all praise to him, and gratitude from many a 
 Masonic student, for the labor he has undergone, the skill he has 
 employed, and the learning he displays in this his last and most 
 striking literary production. It is the most clear, and con- 
 densed, and compact dictionary of Freemasonry now in existence, 
 and a cursory perusal has convinced us how carefully Brother 
 Mackey has collated all his authorities, verified his quotations, 
 and how very able are his own personal editorship and contribu- 
 tions from first to last, of which he speaks, we observe, in such 
 modest terms. 
 
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 432 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
 II 
 
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