No. 24. Withdrawing From Freemasonry
Decision: It is not within the power of any Mason, or any body of Masons, to voluntarily withdraw from Freemasonry.
Constitution, Article VII, Sec. 1.7.3. November 16, 1874. (Morton, GM)
No. 25. Reimbursement For Relief
Decision: A Lodge of Masons contributing to the relief of a distressed sojourning Mason, has no right to demand reimbursement from the lodge of which such distressed sojourning Mason is a member.
General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.6. November 16, 1874. (Morton, GM)
No. 26. Blank Ballots At Election Of Officers
Decision: Upon the question as to what disposition should be made of a blank ballot found in the box at an election of officers? I decided that a blank piece of paper had no value, expressed no choice, and should be thrown out before the vote was declared.
Constitution, Article VII, Sec. 1.7.4. May 15, 1882. (Freeman, GM)
No. 27. Minimum Required To Confer Degrees
Decision: Upon the question as to whether the second degree could be conferred when only six brethren were present? I replied that while I should think it advisable under such circumstances to postpone work, yet I was not aware of any regulation of this Grand Lodge or in the General Regulations of Freemasonry that would forbid it. That while it required seven members of a lodge to ballot for initiation or membership, yet according to the old rituals three Master Masons could open a Lodge of Master Masons, for work, provided they possessed the necessary constitutional qualifications.
Constitution, Article VII, Sec. 1.7.19. May 15, 1882. (Freeman, GM)
No. 29. Resident With Foreign Degrees
Decision: A person who while absent in foreign country received the degrees, upon his return to this jurisdiction desire to visit a lodge. I decided that he could not be allowed to visit, and that the brethren must not hold Masonic intercourse with him. Afterwards he desired to affiliate with the lodge, and I authorized the Master, if he was satisfied that the person referred to was ignorant of our regulations, and innocent of any attempt to contravene them, to examine him, and if he was satisfied that he had been made in a regular lodge, and had the proper vouchers, to receive his application for membership in the usual way, and admit him upon a unanimous ballot, and the payment of the regular fee.
Constitution, Article VII, Sec. 1.7.20. May 15, 1882. (Freeman, GM)
General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.3.
General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.7.
No. 30. Determining The Validity Of Objections
Decision: Objecting to profanes becoming members of the lodge, when the names of the persons objected to are not before the lodge, is not an objection within the meaning of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge; to be a valid objection it should be made personally, either to the Master, or to the lodge when open in due form, because an objection can have no weight unless made after a ballot has been taken and found to be clear, and no objection can be valid previous to the action of the lodge.
Constitution, Article VII, Sec. 1.7.21. May 15, 1882. (Freeman, GM)
No. 31. Determining The Masonic Year
Decision: The Acting Master of a lodge decided that members assessed for dues on the 22nd of April, 1880, were a year in arrears on the 14th of April, 1881, on the ground that it was a "Masonic year." He also decided that a notice issued on the 14th of April, requiring the delinquent to appear for trial on the 9th of June, was two months' notice as required by the by-laws of the lodge, on the ground that it covered two regular communications, which was what was intended by the by-laws.
I decided both these questions in the negative, on the ground that we know no such thing as "Masonic" years or months. That a year in the by-laws meant what it said, and in the case under consideration extended from April 22nd, 1880, to April 22nd, 1881. Likewise, that the two months, referred to in the by-laws, must be taken to be two full months, and not the time from one regular communication to the next but one succeeding.
Constitution, Article VII, Sec. 1.7.27. May 15, 1882. (Freeman, GM)
No. 32. Residents With Out-Of-State Residences
Decision, A lodge cannot lawfully receive a petition for the degrees from a profane, who, although he has lived for more than a year within the jurisdiction of the lodge, yet has maintained a legal residence in another State, and within the year next preceding the time of making application for the degrees, has exercised the right of suffrage in that State.
Constitution, Article VII, Sec. 1.7.13. November 20, 1882. (Vincent, GM)