CHAPTER II.

STfje petition at Cantritrates,
A candidate, qualified in the way described in the preceding chapter, and being desirous of admis- sion into the Order, must apply to the Lodge near- est to his place of residence, by means of a petition signed by himself, and recommended by at least two members of the Lodge to which, he applies.
This is the simple statement of the law ; but there are several points in it which require further consideration.
In the first place, he must apply by written peti- tion. No verbal nomination of a candidate will be sufficient. The petition must be written, because it is to be preserved by the Secretary in the archives of the Lodge, as an evidence of the fact of applica- tion, which, in the event of a rejection of the appli- cant, or, as he is more usually called, the petitioner, may become of some importance. The form of the petition is also to be attended to. I am not of the opinion that a oetition, drawn up in a form differ- ent from that usually adopted, would be liable to rejection for a want of formality ; and yet, as ex- perience has caused a particular form to be adopted,
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it is better and more convenient that that form should be adhered to. The important and essential points of the petition are, that it shall declare the place of residence, the age, and the occupation of the petitioner.* These declarations are made that the committee to whom the petition is to be re- ferred for inquiry, may be materially assisted in their investigations by this identification of the petitioner.
The petition must be signed in the handwriting of the petitioner. This appears to be the general usage, and has the sanction of all ritual writers. t The Grand Lodge of England expressly requires it to be done,! and assigns, in its Constitutions, as a necessary deduction from the requisition, that those
* The form laid down by Webb, in bis " Freemason's [Monitor/' is tbat usually adopted in ibis country, and is unobjectionable for brevity and suf- ficiency. It is in tbese words :
" To the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Brethren of Lodge, Xo. —
of Free and Accepted Masons.
" The petition of the subscriber respectfully sheweth, that having long entertained a favorable opinion of your ancient institution, he is desirous of being a member thereof, if found worthy.
" His place of residence is ; his age, years ; his occupa- tion [Signed]
" A. B."
t " The declaration to be assented to by every candidate previous to ini- tiation, and to be subscribed by his name at full length."- — Preston, Ol, ed., p. 32. " All applications for initiations should be made by petition in writ- ing, signed by the applicant." — Webb. p. 31. " Every person
shall be proposed by a member, in writing, which shall be signed by the can- didate."— Dalcho, p. 31. " The candidate is required to
sign the following form of petition." — Dove, JIasonic Text Book, p. 150. But it is unnecessary to multiply quotations.
% " He must, previous to his initiation, subscribe his name at full length U a declaration."— Constitutions of the G. L. of England, ed. 1845, p. 86.
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who cannot write are ineligible for initiation.* Mucli carelessness, however, exists in relation to this usage, and it is by no means an uncommon practice for a member to sign a petition on behalf and at the request of the petitioner. This practice is, nevertheless, to be condemned. The signature should always be made by the applicant himself. In this way, if there were no other good reason, we should at least avoid the intrusion of wholly unedu- cated persons into the fraternity.
The petition must be recommended by at least two members of the Lodge. Preston requires the signature to be witnessed by one person, (he does not say whether he must be a member of the Lodge or not,) and that the candidate must be proposed in open Lodge by a member.f Webb says that " the candidate must be proposed in form, by a member of the Lodge, and the proposition seconded by another member."^ Cross, whose " Masonic Chart" gradually superseded that of Webb in this country, (principally on account of its numerous illustra- tions, for otherwise it is an inferior work,) says that a recommendation, the form of which he gives, " is to be signed by two members of the Lodge,"§ and he dispenses with the formal proposition. These gradual changes, none of them, however, substan-
* In a note to the Constitutions, as above cited, it is added: " Any indi' vidual who cannot write is consequently ineligible to be admitted into the Order."
f Pkeston, " Illustrations," p. 32.
i Webb, " Monitor," p. 32.
§ Cross, " True Masonic Chart," p. 13.
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tially affecting the principle, have at last resulted in the present simpler usage, which is, for two mem- bers of the Lodge to affix their names to the peti- tion, as recommenders of the applicant.
The application must be made to the Lodge nearest the candidate's place of residence. This is now the general usage in this country, and may be considered as Masonic custom by almost universal consent. It must, however, be acknowledged, that no express law upon this subject is to be found either in the Ancient Landmarks or the Old Consti- tutions, and its positive sanction as a law in any jurisdiction, must be found in the local enactments of the Grand Lodge of that jurisdiction. Still there can be no doubt that expediency and justice to the Order make such a regulation necessary, be- cause it is only in the neighborhood of his own resi- dence that the character of a candidate can be thoroughly investigated ; and hence, if permitted to apply for initiation in remote places, there is danger that unworthy persons might sometimes be intro- duced into the Lodges. Accordingly, many of the Grand Lodges of America have- incorporated such a regulation into their Constitutions," and of course,
* " Subordinate Lodges shall not receive a petition for initiation from an applicant who lives nearer to another Lodge than the one he petitions, with- out first obtaining the unanimous consent of the other Lodge at a regular meeting."— Grand Lodge of Illinois. " No candidate shall be received in any Lodge but the one nearest his residence.''— £. L. of Ohio. California requires the applicant to have resided in the state for twelve months, and it the jurisdiction of the Lodge for three months. Nearly all the Grand Lodge* have made a similar regulation.
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wherever this has been done, it becomes a positive law in that jurisdiction.
As a corollary to this last mentioned regulation, ii follows, that a non-resident of a state is not en- titled, on a temporary visit to that state, to apply for initiation. But on this point I speak with much hesitation, for I candidly confess that I find no Landmark nor written law in the Ancient Constitu- tions which forbids the initiation of non-residents. Still, as there can be no question that the conferring of the degrees of Masonry on a stranger is always inexpedient, and frequently productive of injury and injustice, by foisting on the Lodges near the candidate's residence an unworthy and unacceptable person, whose only opportunity of securing admis- sion into the Order was by offering himself in a place where 'the unworthiness of his character was unknown, there has consequently been, within the last few years, a very general disposition among the Grand Lodges of this country to discountenance the initiation of non-residents. Many of them have adopted a specific regulation to this effect, and in all jurisdictions where this has been done, the law becomes imperative ; for, as the Landmarks are entirely silent on the subject, the local regulation is left to the discretion of each jurisdiction.
But a few Grand Lodges have extended their regulations on this subject to what I cannot but conceive to be an indefensible limit, and declared, that residents of their own jurisdiction, who have thus been initiated in foreign states, shall be
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deemed to be illegally or clandestinely made; and shall not, on their return home, be admitted to the rights of Masonry, or be recognized as Masons.
This regulation, I have said, is indefensible, be- cause it is exercising jurisdiction, not simply over Lodges and Masons, but also over the profane, for which exercise of jurisdiction there is and can be no authority. The Grand Lodge of Missouri, for instance, may declare whom its Lodges may, and whom they may not initiate, because every Grand Lodge has supreme jurisdiction over its subordi- nates ; but it cannot prescribe to a profane that he shall not be initiated in the State of New York, if the Grand Lodge of that state permits one of its. subordinates to receive him, because this would be exercising jurisdiction, not only over a Lodge in another state, but over persons who are not mem- bers of the craft. If the Grand Lodge of New York should permit the initiation of non-residents, there is no authority to be found in the Landmarks or Constitutions of the Order under which the Grand Lodge of Missouri could claim to interfere with that regulation, or forbid an uninitiated citizen of St. Louis from repairing to New York and ap- plying for initiation. Missouri may declare that it will not initiate the residents of New York, but it cannot compel New York to adopt a similar rule.
Well, then, if New York has the power of enact- ing a law permitting the initiation of non-residents, or if, which is the same thing, she has enacted no
128 THE PETITION
law forbidding it, then clearly such initiation is legal and regular, and the non-residents so made must everywhere be considered as regular Masons, entitled to all the rights and privileges of the fra- ternity.* The Grand Lodge of Missouri, then, (to follow up the special reference with which this argument was commenced,) cannot, under any color of law or reason, deny the validity of such making, or refuse the rights of Masonry to a candidate so made. How, then, it will be asked, is the evil to be remedied, when an unworthy person, temporarily removing from his own home for that very purpose, shall have applied to a distant Lodge in another jurisdiction, and which, in ignorance of his true character, shall have admitted him ? The answer is plain. On his return to his usual residence, as a Mason, he comes at once under the jurisdiction of the nearest Lodge ; and if his unworthiness and im- morality continues, he may be tried and expelled. The remedy, it is true, entails the additional trouble of a trial on the Lodge, but this is a better course than by declaring his making illegal, to violate the
* A well founded conviction of the evils which often result from the initia- tion of non-resideuts, has sometimes led to the enunciation of doctrines which cannot be sustained by Masonic law. Thus, in 1854, the Committee of Cor- respondence of the Grand Lodge of Michigan recommended the adoption of a resolution protesting against the practice of Lodges in other jurisdictions, conferring degrees on persons not residing in their jurisdiction, and instruct- ing the Lodges in Michigan " to hold no Masonic communication with those who may receive the degrees, in disregard of such protest." The Grand Lodge adopted the first and second clauses of this recommendation, but wisely declined to endorse the third. — Proc. G. L. of Mich., 1854 pp* 26-44.
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principles of Masonic jurisprudence, and to act dis- courteously to a neighboring jurisdiction.
It was necessary, for the lucidity of the argument, and to avoid circumlocution, to refer to particular Grand Lodges by name. Any others would, for this purpose, have done just as well, and accom- plished the object intended, or I might have refer- red to the Grand Lodges of A and B ; but I have selected those of Missouri and New York from the historical fact, that a few years ago, this very prin- ciple was the subject of an animated controversy between these two highly intelligent bodies.* After all, as the question is a vexed one, and as the prac- tice of initiating non-residents is liable to great abuse, it is to be wished that every Grand Lodge would exercise that power which it rightly pos- sesses, and forbid its own subordinates to initiate
* The circumstances of this case were as follows : — " A resident of St. Louis, (Mo.,) whose application for initiation had been rejected, was on a temporary visit to New York in the year 1852, admitted into the Order by one of the Lodges of that city. This act was received with much disap- probation by the Masons of Missouri, and the person who had been made in New York, on his return to St. Louis, was refused admission into the Lodges. There was considerable discussion of the subject between the parties most interested, and in the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, for that year, there is a well written report emanating from the able pen of my friend and brother, the Grand Secretary of that jurisdiction. In this report, Bro. Sullivan has contended for the principle, that every Grand Lodge pos- sesses jurisdiction over not only the Masons within its geographical limits, but even over all who are eligible to be made Masons. The Grand Lodge, in accordance with the recommendation of the committee, adopted a resolu- tion, declaring that no Lodge, under its jurisdiction, shall recognize, as a reg- ular made Mason, a resident of the state, who may, during a temporary absence therefrom, receive the degrees in Masonry without the consent ol the Lodge, undei whose jurisdiction he may reside. '
6*
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non-residents, at least without the recommenda- tion and permission of the Lodges nearest to their domicil.
The petition must be read on a regular night of meeting. This is done that no member may be taken by surprise, and an unworthy or unacceptable candidate be thus admitted without his knowledge or consent. The rule is derived by implication from the fifth of the Regulations of 1721, which prescribes that the petition shall lie over for one month. Now, as it is admitted that a ballot cannot, take place, except at a regular communication of the Lodge, this will carry back the time of presenta- tion to the previous regular meeting.
The petition having been once read, cannot -be withdrawn. It must go through the ordeal of in- vestigation and ballot. This, too, is a regulation derived from constant and universal usage, rather than from any expressed statutory provision. The Ancient Constitutions say nothing on the subject ; but so general has been the custom that it may now be considered as having the force of an unwritten law. Many Grand Lodges have, in fact, adopted it as a specific regulation,'"" and in others, the practice
* " Nor shall any letter applying for initiation into the mysteries of our Order be allowed to be withdrawn without a ballot, or such withdrawal shall be considered a rejection, and notice given to the Grand Lodge." — Const G.