II. Spencer Lewis, being duly sworn, de- tribes); that the description and drawing

poses and says that he is the imperator of presented truly represent the trade-mark the unincorporated body, the applicant® sought to be registered; that the specimens named in the foregoing statement; that he show the trade-mark as actually used upon believes the foregoing statement is true; the goods. that he believes cae body pes the ee ANCIENT AND MYSTICAL 1 aS Le sear ORDER ROSAEcRUCI
EU ? ? BON Ok By H. SPENCER ; association, to the best of his knowledge and yes lubes belief, has the right to use said trade-mark in the United States, either in the identical : c form or in any such near resemblance there- 9 ce J, ied suber ied before me this to as might be calculated to deceive; that y Ys : said trade-mark is used by said body in [1.8] C. B. SESSIONS,
C oA commerce among the several States of the Notary Public.
Imperator.
This is the Registration of a Trade-Mark which Mr. Lewis has falsely repre- -sented to be a United States Patent giving him the right to the exclusive use of the Rosicrucian name and symbols. It is nothing of the kind. It is a Trade-Mark for .a monthly magazine, and certain named publications. See “a” and “b”. Note that
66,9)
it is to be used “in commerce” at “c”’. He has used this as an Artifice of Fraud.
875
BRNO PR MCRAE
OOOO lowe me = CHAPTER SIX 3%
POV Osavosoosoe
CONTROLLED COMMITTEES AND CONVENTIONS USED AS A SMOKE SCREEN FOR A FAMILY RACKET
Irs TRUE NATURE AND Exact Status REVEALED
It takes some skill and considerable audacity to fabricate a spu- rious occult, mystic or fraternal order; it requires more dexterity and adroitness to conduct such a fraudulent scheme and swindling device for a period of twenty years under the sacred name of a holy order; it calls for considerably more deftness and cunning to build it into a gigantic swindle, to make it gross a million or more per year and to absolutely control and convert it into a Family Racket, but it necessitates the heights of superb cunning and unusual re- sourcefulness when exposed to use the exploited victims as instru- ments of defense, as a shield for guilt and as spokesmen of his innocence.
Biblical students will recall how the crafty Jacob, when his brother was famishing for food, purchased the Birthright of Esau ‘with a mess of pottage’ and later how Jacob, by deceptive means— the use of hair-covered gloves—deceived his father and robbed his brother of a kingdom and his blessing.
“And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, the voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. And he said, 4rt thou my very own son Esau? And he said, I am.” (Genesis 27:22-24)
And it recently came to pass that another, with all of the decep- tive arts of Jacob increased many fold, fabricated a spurious R. C. ‘Order, attempted to trademark its honorable name and sacred emblem and, as the self-appointed Imperator of a Hierarchy of Fraternal Racketeering, set up a kingdom therein all his own, for his own aggrandizement and the luxurious support and enjoyment
1 Genesis 25 :24 to 34.
879
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE Gr) BOOK >
of himself and family. With this fraudulent scheme and plausible device he has deceived thousands and robbed them of their suste- nance and ideals as valuable as their birthrights.
The Hands of Esau—T he Voice of Jacob
And it also came to pass, when his fraudulent scheme and fra- ternal swindle, conducted as a family racket, was exposed, that he answered not in his own name and with truth, but in the names of ‘VOLUNTARY COMMITTEES” and “UNANIMOUS CONVENTIONS” and with falsehood. It came about in this way: When confronted with truth and the exposure of his fraudulent scheme and fraternal racket—which culminated immediately prior to the 1935 conven- tion*°—by subtle suggestion and cunning designing he caused to be appointed certain ‘voluntary’ committees to investigate the charges. Before these committees, acting under the duress of his cunning and plausible deception, he appeared and explained to them how their great “Order” (which is not their “Order” after all) and its noble “Imperator” had been slandered by these exposures and “proved” the “utter falsity” of our absolutely true charges by exhibiting to the committees deleted and mutilated documents, fal- sified and misrepresented “‘charters’” and manufactured evidence, as we have shown in preceding chapters herein.
In this manner he shaped and dictated the reports of his several ‘voluntary’ committees, which were consolidated in the report of a ‘‘special’? committee concerning which he makes the following statement :
“WHAT THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE REPORTED—After the special ‘Administration and Welfare’ committee, voluntarily formed at the 1935 Convention, had completed its five-day investigation and in- quiry into the charges made by Clymer in his books, and by the other. defamers of the Order, it presented its 57-page report to the Convention, after each member of the Committee had read it and
? Although the exposure of this fraudulent scheme has been going on for years, as herein shown, yet during the early part of 1935 several members, including his for- mer Grand Treasurer, had exposed the scheme, the suit of the Smiths, of Colorado, was filed in the Federal Court at San Francisco, and our pamphlets, now republished as Books Two, Three, Four and Five in Volume I, were published. All of these seri- ous exposures caused him to take action at the July Convention, 1935, to make a plaus‘ble reply thereto in the name of “committees” with the approval of “a unanimous convention.”
880
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
signed his or her name [and sworn to] before a notary, attesting to its correctness.*
“We offer herewith [in White Book D] the ‘Conclusion’ of that long report, as read to the Convention and ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY —without a single dissenting voice.t| (Other committees volun- tarily formed at the Convention had also investigated many of the charges from special angles, and also voted, therefore, on this re- port) ;
““Vhe voluntary members of the “Administration and Welfare Committee” desire to report that a careful, exhaustive [!] search and investigation of the records, including correspondence, audits and all available data, as well as lengthy interviews with the several enemies of the Order, reveal that the charges made are fictitious, without foundation, and represent a vilification of the various Officers of the Order, and are also false claims and exaggerations of petty instances, as well as heckling. It is evident that their mo- tives are: by innuendo, falsification and high-pressure means, to place the officers of the Order on the defensive and in a false light; and through clever distortion of the Officers’ proper and well-mean- ing acts develop friction within the Order co as to disrupt it and cause the members to demand a change in the Constitution, in order that certain sinister influences may assume control of the Order and dominate its future activities for a selfish purpose and private gain, and thus place the organization in the very category’ with which they have falsely charged both the Order and its present Officers.’ (White Book D, p. 37.)
VOLUNTARY AND UNANIMoUS—It is one of the many cunning tricks and artifices of the Imperator of the Lewis Hierarchy to make it appear that his every act and deed has been voluntarily, enthusiastically and unanimously approved and ratified by all of his paying members in conventions duly assembled. Upon its face White Book D—purporting to “whitewash” Mr. Lewis and his family racket—it may purport to be under the hands and oaths of the delusioned and misled ‘“‘voluntary committees” and the ‘‘unani- mous convention’; but, be ye not deceived, it is the voice of the
3 Certainly the signatures and oaths of deceived and misled members cannot attest the correctness or the truth of a false report deceptively procured.
£'The capitals and italics are ours. Having things done “unanimously” is an over- worked artifice and device of fraud, as we have seen.
5 The italics are ours. Note the usual method of confusion and the charging of others with doing or attempting to do that of which he is guilty. See Note 1, p. 154, supra.
881
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS “WHITE (=) BOC Sei
‘Imperator’ proclaiming his own innocence (?) and blessing his own racket—it is another case of the “hand of Esau’ with the “voice of Jacob” perpetuating a modern family fraud.
He Enters a Plea of Confession And Avoidance by Way of Justification
Speaking with the voice of Jacob under the hands of Esau, he states the charge and his “voluntary”? committee finds that al- though the charge of Clymer is true, to wit: that they have con- verted AMORC into a family racket, yet, nevertheless, he’ is entirely justified in wsurping all the rights, powers and authority of the organization because he and his family incorporated the Su- preme Grand Lodge of AMORC; therefore, it belongs to them; because ‘‘all foreign Rosicrucian authority [ ?] and documents were in the personal name of H. Spencer Lewis® and not in a group of persons”. ‘Therefore, none have any rights or any voice in the management of AMORC, save and except the Lewis Hierarchy, and because “‘no one else has put in any claim to the right of direct- ing AMORC.” Therefore, the Lewis family have the sole and
exclusive right! Under his charge and reply ““NuUMBER TEN” Mr. Lewis says:
“Clymer charged that the ‘Lewis family’ was ‘usurping’ the power and authority of the organization and running it ‘in their own way’ without proper authorization."
“The Committee found that in the original incorporation papers the State of California granted to the Imperator and his wife, the Supreme Secretary and his wife, and one other fifth person, the right to have the sole voting power of the organization, inasmuch as H. Spencer Lewis and his-wife and the others were the origi- nators as well as incorporators of the AMORC Supreme Grand Lodge and that all foreign Rosicrucian authority [!] and documents were in the personal name of H. Spencer Lewis and not a ‘group of persons’. The Committee made inquiries through legal channels
6 We have shown in the preceding chapters that he possessed no Rosicrucian author- ity and that his “documents” are snares and delusions.
‘ This is Mr- Lewis’ way of stating our charge, which is that he organized a fraudu- lent R. C. Order and converted it into a family racket. He states the charge in his own peculiar manner that he may make the argument and set up the subterfuges in the name of the committee that follow.
882
PORCH A PAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROBE
and found that the corporation of AMORC is a perfectly correct one in every legal sense, and that the Imperator and his family or associates are not ‘usurping’ any authority that belongs to anyone else, inasmuch as no one else (except Charles D. Dean, now de- ceased and his place filled by Dr. Le Brun) was ever connected with the corporation and no one has put in any claim to the right of directing the AMORC in place of the present directors. “HE CONVENTION ITSELF VOTED UNANIMOUSLY THAT IT WOULD HAVE NO ONE ELSE BUT THE PRESENT OFFICERS. How can anyone be a ‘usurper’ of some authority if there never was anyone else in pos- session of that authority, and no one else comes forward and claims it? This was the very embarrassing question asked by the Court during one of the conspiracy trials. The conspirators could not answer. Why does Clymer use such a tricky word as ‘usurper’? And how can he intelligently and honestly charge that the Lewises are illegally or wrongfully managing a movement which they estab- lished and incorporated? Is not such a charge grossly malicious to any thinking person?” (White Book D, pp. 34-35. The capitals are ours. )
A Lewistonian Enigma
Admitting that the AMORC is run entirely by his family and another appointed by himself and family; that they have the sole voting power of the organization, and asserting their right to the absolute control and management thereof by virtue of being the originators and incorporators of the AMORC Supreme Grand Lodge and because all alleged Rosicrucian authority is in his name, therefore the members of AMORC have no rights or voice in the management thereof and no choice as to who shall manage the same.
Yet, in the face of his asserted absolute control and the sole right of his family to manage the affairs of AMORC, he asserts that the convention, which was supposed to represent members who have no voting rights and no voice in the management, vote ‘“unani-
8 This refers to the case of AMORC ys. Geo. L. Smith, which we reviewed in Chap- ter I, supra. There was only one so-called conspiracy trial, and Smith was the only so-called conspirator present. We have carefully reviewed the record in that case, and no such question was asked by the Court. This is a gratuitous statement by Mr. Lewis, inasmuch as he would have it appear that the charges made are the result of an illegal conspiracy. It is another artifice to detract attention from the truth of the charges and to forestall investigation.
883
AN ANSWER TO. LEWIS’ WHITE (i) BOOK ve
mously that it would have no one else but the present officers,”’ that is, the Lewis family, to manage the AMORC.
At and prior to the time he wrote the foregoing statement, that ‘no one has put in any claim to the right of directing the AMORC in place of the present directors,” there was pending in the United States District Court at San Francisco a case styled: Roy W. Smith and A. E. Smith and others vs. Supreme Grand Lodge of the An- cient and Mystic Order of Rosae Crucis, a corporation, the Lewis family and others, in which the right of the members of AMORC to have a voice in the management thereof was asserted, which Mr. Lewis and his son Ralph vigorously contested. We shall have fre- quent occasion to refer to this case and the testimony of the Lewises in connection therewith later on in this chapter. However, since the title of the case is lengthy, we shall refer to it as the “Federal Case.
In the Federal Case he testified that the government of AMORC is autocratic’; that it is vested solely in himself and his family, and — another appointed by them, as the Board of Directors of the incor- porated Supreme Grand Lodge, and that:
“At no time have we ever submitted any matters to be voted upon to any of the members, except the five who are now on the Board of Directors.t| There never has been a proposition submitted to the general membership for a vote or action. We have allowed them to make recommendations at our ténventions, but we have never allowed them to vote on anything having to do with the ad- ministration of funds, and there is not a single member who has ever voted upon that, except those on the board of directors.” (Federal Case, Reporter's Transcript, pp. 217-218. The italics are ours.)
In view of the foregoing, one wonders why the convention should vote or how the convention could vote “unanimously” that it would have none other than the Lewis family to manage the organization. The convention’s rights and powers, at the most, are only advisory and without binding force or effect. Is this Lewistonian trick of having or pretending to have conventions alleged to represent the membership “unanimously” approve his pretended Rosicrucian au- thority and the absolute “autocratic” right of his family to control
° See Part Three of Chapter IV, pp. 355 to 363, supra.
1 The Board of Directors consisted of H. Spencer Lewis, his wife, his son Ralph and his wife and another whom they could “hire or fire” as they saw fit.
884
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT. PROFIT”
and manage the AMORC an enigma—a buffoonery—a typical in- consistency, or is it a badge of fraud?
All “Authority” Vested in Him
Following the organization of h’s fraudulent device, called the Fuposi, reviewed in Chapter Four, supra; with its recognition and Marc Lanval’s certification (our Reproduction No. 52, p. 526 supra) of the authenticity of his spurious R. C. Order in mind; with many additional ‘charters’, honors and powers granted to him through the Fuposi in hand, and in reply to the demands of certain of his members that the membership be given a voice in the management of AMORC, Mr- Lewis, in his organ for the mem- bers only, in December, 1934, addressed his members who furnish the “Royal Revenues” and support his family hierarchy as follows:
“Our OTHER CHarters—Incidentally, I would like to say as a mere passing remark, and for the sake of having it go on record, that all of the authority for the Rosicrucian Order [?] of AMORC and for the Rosicrucian activities in North America has always been granted to one individual, your present Imperator. None of the charters [!] or powers of authority has ever been granted to any group of individuals in North America, or to any incorporated body, or any regularly formed organizations. You can well understand that such high powers and authority [!!] cannot be granted to groups, but only to an individual. And so all of the best documents, charters, authority, warrants, and other papers of authorization pos- sessed by the AMORC, and all of the new ones? representing the other thirteen organizations of the Federation [Fuposi] have been granted to the Imperator personally. “That is, he can transmit this only to another individual as hereditary? transfer of his power, and, of course, it cannot be seized or appropriated by any other person or group of persons, for such authority is not a tangible something that can be bartered or sold, or regularly appropriated without the consent and the actual approval of the one who holds it. A person holding such authority may organize and appoint a group of asso- ciates constituting HIs Supreme Council and Supreme Lodge, but the Imperator holds the autocratic position of exclusive possessor of the power and authority. I say this in answer to some of the
2 See Parts One and Four of Chapter IV, supra. 3 See Chapter IV, pp. 355 to 359, supra. * We have seen in Chapters IV and V, supra, that he possesses no Rosicrucian
885
AN ANSWER: TO LEWIS* WHIEVEG?) BOOK 2.
ridiculous things that have been said in the past few years by some of our friendly enemies who have asserted that they believed that they could secure legally the right to operate the Rosicrucian organiza- tion in North America by some legal process of transferring the authority to another group of members, or by demanding that the present Supreme Council of AMORC transfer its authority to an- other Supreme Council.’ It is not quite clear in my mind what the foolish plan is that some of these persons had in mind, but anyone or everyone who knows anything about the authority granted, in such instances, knows that there could be no Rosicrucian Order in North America operating under any authority or charters which I possess, unless I, as Imperator, agreed to it and approved of the organization.
“Of course, this also means that I, solely, am responsible for the administration of the organization, and the activities of those that I appoint in the administrative body under me. If I find that any of the officers associated with me or who are assisting in carrying out the authority I have, are not competent, or NOT DEPENDABLE,° or not living up to the spirit of the organization, I have the right to dis- miss them from whatever position they hold, the same as I have the right to dismiss a mere employe or office worker who is engaged in some of the activities of our various departments.” (Rosicrucian Forum, December, 1934, p. 70. The capitals and italics are ours.)
In the foregoing quoted statements of Mr. Lewis we have a clear and definite declaration of his viewpoint and his asserted claims. However, all of his assertions and arguments are predi- cated upon the false and fraudulent claim that he possesses Rosicru- cian authority, rightfully exercised, and that he is the legal head of the authentic Rosicrucian Order or Brotherhood in North America.
He Made AMORC—It Belongs to Him Inasmuch as Mr. Lewis created the AMORC and has carried it
authority and that his so-called “best” and “important” documents, charters, warrants and “papers of authorization” are snares and delusions—mere devices of fraud.
° There have been several “Supreme Councils” of the AMORC, as we have seen in Chapter V, supra, and as we shall further see as we proceed.
° After trying out many different “Supreme Councils” composed of a different num- ber of people at different times, and composed of Grand Masters of his Grand Lodges, he found them all incompetent and undependable. Therefore, he constituted his fam- ily the Supreme Council, who are dependable and who depend on AMORC for their livelihood and support.
886
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT. PROFIT”
on as an enterprise for his self-exaltation and glorification, and the support of himself and family, his argument that he and his family had a right to incorporate it in 1928, to regard it as their own and to run it as they please, at first blush and upon its face, appears plausible as being based upon the principle that an inventor is en- titled to enjoy the fruits of his invention and to take the necessary legal steps to reserve them for the exclusive benefit of himself, fam- ily, heirs and assigns.
However, the plausibility is prima facie only and does not take into account the fact that it is a fraudulent Rosicrucian Order, and no man or his family have a right to incorporate an illegal enter- prise; that he organized it as a fraternal organization and no man ‘has a right to carry on a fraternal swindle functioning as a cor- poration with himself and family as the board of directors and operated for the sole support of himself and family; and, but for the fact that he has made certain representations as to the nature of the government and the governing body of AMORC and the status and rights of members, which we will now consider.
Let us be warned, that here—as usual—we will find his state- ments on this subject—as on all subjects—to be a twisted mass of contradictions.
In his propagandic literature, issued and circulated to induce in- dividuals to join his fraternal enterprise, he has stressed the rights, privileges and advantages of the membership in his alleged order. On the other hand, in his various constitutions, rules, regulations, legal structure and incorporation of the Supreme Grand Lodge he has restricted and completely annulled all rights and privileges of the members and reserved all such rights and privileges to himself and family.
Who Are the Members of the “Order’’ ?
From 1915, when he launched his spurious Order Rosae Crucis, until very recently he has been soliciting and inviting every one to become members of “our Order’. In 1916 he stated that he was possessed of the blessings of the ‘‘Masters’’ which they sent to America, and that he in turn gave them to his “Brothers and Sis- ters of the Order Rosae Crucis in the United States.’ That on
7 See quotation (23), Chapter V, supra.
887
AN ANSWER: TO LEWIS WHITE (BOOK es
May 13, 1915, the first officers, supreme councilors and a few others were ‘‘duly initiated into the Order” and were “‘raised to the dignity of Knights, Sorores, Brothers and Sisters of the Order Rosae Crucis.’’* And in descr_bing his “First RosicRUCIAN TEM- PLE“IN THE Uws:-AY’ he said:
“All in all this is a Temple of which every Rosaecrucian will be proud. We shall be glad to have members of our Order from any city visit us at any time and enjoy our rooms and the facilities for study and pleasure afforded in every possible way.” (American
Rosae Crucis, March, 1916, p. 9. The italics are ours.)
In 1929 in an article describing the wonderful headquarters then recently established in San Jose, California, and the various im- portant operations and fields of activity of the Order and in ad- dressing the members of AMORC generally, Mr. Lewis said:
“Personally, I extend to each one of you, wherever you live, and in whatever grade of the work you may be, an invitation to come and visit Headquarters, and see with your own eyes what is being done and what is being accomplished. Do not forget that the Supreme Temple, the Supreme Lodge, and all the Officers [offices | and departments at Headquarters constitute your home and your national center of interest in the work we are doing. We want you to have a share of interest in our Headquarters and that yoU ARE PERSONALLY A MEMBER OF THE SUPREME LODGE IN EVERY SENSE. Therefore, on this occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the pres- ent cycle of our organization in America, I send each of you the cordial greetings of fellowship and extend my hand to you as a brother. I assure you that the organization values your membership as I per- sonally value your friendship and your hearty co-operation in the work that lies before us.” (The Mystic Triangle, July, 1929, p. 163. The
capitals and italics are ours.)
In his propaganda booklet The Light of Egypt, first issued. in 1928 and circulated during the years 1928 to 1931—during the time he was incorporating the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, amending its charter and converting “the Order’ into his family racket—writing under the prominent headline of ‘INVITATION TO BECOME A MEMBER” extended to everyone, he said:
‘““THOSE TO WHOM THIS BOOK IS SENT RECEIVE A LETTER USUALLY INVITING THEM TO BECOME A member of the Order.
8 See quotation (33), Chapter V, supra.
888
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
NONE ARE INVITED TO BECOME MERE Students OF A COURSE OF INSTRUCTIONS. AS A member OF THE ORDER YOU ARE ENTITLED TO EVERY BENEFIT OF any kind THE ORDER HAS TO OFFER AND WHICH MAY BE ADDED IN THE FUTURE.” (The Light of Egypt, 1930 and 1931, p. 28, Mr. Lewis’ italics. )
His propagandic literature is replete with such statements and many other quotations to the same effect could be produced if space permitted. However, from his foregoing statements it appears certain and beyond cavil that in 1929 he regarded all members of AMORC not only as members of the “Order’’ but also as members of the Supreme Lodge in every sense, and as late as 1930 and 1931 he was still inviting and soliciting everyone to become members of the Order with every benefit and privilege, not ‘mere students” or members of the ‘“‘Brotherhood”’ to which he now says all the mem- bers belong—while the Lewis family alone are members of the Order. On September 1, 1930, by an amendment to the corporate charter of the Supreme Lodge, the Lewis family and another ap- pointed by them became the only members of the corporation con- trolling and managing the AMORC, as we shall presently see. ‘Therefore in his next propaganda booklet (First edition 1932, fourth edition 1934) a “Sealed Book” entitled: “The Wisdom of the Sages’ in his “‘First Words to the Reader” he changes his invi- tation to read as follows:
“READ CAREFULLY EACH PAGE, EACH PARAGRAPH! Place your- self in a quiet, restful mood, alone if possible, and permit the author to reveal to you the picture, the plan, the purpose leading to attain- ment, power, success, and—lI]lumination.
“This book is gladly given to you. It carries with it the cordial invitation to attune yourself with The Invincible Empire and Conquer.
“Start with the next page, and without missing or passing a word or a line, in orderly progression follow the development of its unique message.
“You are a privileged seeker, indeed, and the AMORC wel- comes you within its PRIVATE DOMAINS.” (The Wisdom of the Sages, 1933, first inside cover page. “The capitals are ours.)
Who Originally Governed the AMORCG?
In his first propaganda booklet issued in 1915 Mr. Lewis repre- 889
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS-WHITE (2) 3 5OOK o3
sented to the public’ that ‘““The American Supreme Council is now in charge of the Order’s affairs in America;” that “ the Order in Amer- ica will operate under its Charter’ signed by the Council” and that ‘the American Council and Officers of the Grand Lodge will have the supreme power in all Rosicrucian matters in the United States and dependencies.”
However, after the supreme council, in charge of “‘the Order’s” affairs in America had elected him “Grand Master General and Imperator” as we have seen,” two years later by virtue of the lead- ership of his fabrication he secured the adoption by ‘the Order” of the Constitution of 1917 for the AMORC which provided that the ‘“Government of the Order in North America shall rest with and be exclusively in the hands of the Imperator’? and that the ‘“American Supreme Council shall constitute a nominal executive board for the administration of the Order in America’”’ but to be appointed by and subservient to the wishes of the “Imperator”, who is the “Supreme autocratic Executive of the Order in North America’’.” In this manner he retained the complete control of his own invention and fabrication and constitutionally declared himself to be the autocratic ruler thereof.
As to “The American Supreme Council” it was provided that:
“This body shall consist of the officers of the Supreme Grand Lodge, and such additional Brothers and Sisters of the Order, in any Lodge, as may be selected by the Imperator or the Supreme Grand Master to make a total of twenty-five Supreme Grand Councilors.” (Sec. 1, Art. Five, Constitution, 1917. The italics are ours. )
In 1921, in his “Pronunziamento 777”, the major portion of which was quoted in Chapter V,* after asserting that “the Order”
® See quotation (11), Chapter V, supra.
1 With the Constitution of 1917, published in New York, 1917, he published a copy of his first “Charter’”—same as quotation (32) in Chapter V, beneath which he states. that the “charter” was signed by nineteen men and women. Compare this with his statement, quotation (30) in Chapter V, where he said the same “charter” was signed by twenty-five Councilors, and quotation (73) in Chapter V, where he said it was. signed by fifty-two charter members.
*See quotation (30), Chapter V, supra.
® See Sections 1 and 2 of Article Two, Section 1 of Article Four and Section 1 of Article Five of the Constitution of AMORC, 1917.
* See quotations (57) to (6+), both inclusive, and quotation (66), which includes the
890
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
was operating under the Constitution of 1917, in declaring the true status of AMORC in “black and white’, he represented to the public and to his members, that:
“ORGANIZATION—The Imperator of the Order is the Chief or Supreme Executive. [he Supreme Grand Master, George R. Chambers, is President of the Supreme Council and Master of the Supreme Grand Lodge. The Supreme Council is composed of the Masters of all the Lodges of the North American jurisdiction. The Supreme Grand Lodge is composed of all the Masters and high degree members of the Order in North America living in the various cities of the North American jurisdiction. It is the Supreme Spiritual body conducting the spiritual and metaphysical affairs of the order and directing all its esoteric work while it advises and recommends the exoteric activities through the Supreme Council. Grand Lodges are the governing Lodges in each State or division of the territory in the North American jurisdiction. Subordinate lodges are located in small and large cities of the various States and in Mexico, Canada, Alaska and the various territories and de- pendencies of the United States of America and also in the central American countries. Dispensation Lodges, study groups and pre- paratory centers located in many small cities throughout the North American continent are under the direct supervision of the Supreme Lodge, while the subordinate Lodges are under the jurisdiction of their respective Grand Lodges. The AMORC college is incor- porated as a separate institution and is under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council. Other esoteric bodies and movements carry- ing on separate branches of the work such as prison welfare, child welfare, Church work,’ public lectures, research work and a de- partment for the promulgation of the universal language, are under the direction of the Supreme Grand Master or the Department of Extension, the Department of Welfare, or the Ministraro of the Supreme Council, or in the hands of competent individuals who are acting under the direction of the Imperator.” (The Triangle, July 19, 1921, pp. 2-3. The italics are ours.)
Although he calls himself the “Chief or Supreme Executive’, yet he solemnly represented to the public and to his members that the Supreme Grand Lodge is the Supreme body conducting the “‘spir-
entire “Pronunziamento 777,’ except the quotation set forth in this chapter, which completes it.
5 Although the AMORC was engaged in “Church work” in 1921 and for some time thereafter, it is now claimed to be NON-RELIGIOUS.
891
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE (2)*bOOK vs
itual”’ affairs of the order; that ‘“The Supreme Council is composed of the Masters of all the Lodges of the North American jurisdic- tion;” that ‘““The Supreme Grand Lodge is composed of all the Masters and high degree members of the Order in North Amer- ica” —of “unlimited number’’, as we shall presently see—and that “Tt is the Supreme Spiritual body’’, thus cunningly leaving the im- pression that the AMORC is governed and controlled by Masters of Lodges and “high degree’? members representative of the mem- bership at large, whereas, in fact, it has always been his private racket of which he has retained control by one or another designing method or cunning artifice.
The Constitution an Artifice
Like all of his statements and representations, the Constitution of 1917—under which he operated his fraternal racket until March 18, 1931, and to which he now resorts to justify the conversion of the AMORC into a family aftair—was contradictory in terms and was designed to leave a false impression and to mislead the public and his members. It was one of his many fraudulent artifices cun- ningly designed to promote and at the same time reserve unto him- self all the fruits of the promotion of his fraternal swindle.
While reserving to himself the ‘‘exclusive and autocratic” control of “the Order” in Article Two, yet in Article Three dealing with the “Form of Organization’ he declares in Sections 1 and 2 thereof that: “In order that the dictates of the American Supreme Council and purposes of the Order itself be more efficiently executed”’, the ‘North American Jurisdiction shall consist, therefore, of fifty or more Grand Jurisdictions” which were declared to be “‘united only in submission to this constitution and the government of the Order”, following which Section 3 provides:
“Lodges shall be established in these Jurisdictions as hereinafter provided under the following general classification with the follow- ing form of regulation:
“(a) A Supreme Grand Lodge shall be composed of the Supreme Grand Master, the Supreme Grand Officers, the American Supreme Council and an UNLIMITED NUMBER of Brothers and Sisters. It shall be the Supreme Spiritual body for the North American Juris- diction. It may be located in any city of and Jurisdiction of this
Order. 892
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
“(b) Grand Lodges shall be founded and maintained in every Grand Jurisdiction of this Order in North America to the number of one Grand Lodge for each Grand Jurisdiction.° “They shall be granted Charters under this Constitution by the Imperator in the name of the Grand Master of each Grand Lodge. Such Grand Lodges shall be subservient to the Imperator, the American Su- preme Council and this Constitution.
“(c) Subordinate Lodges shall be founded and maintained in every Grand Jurisdiction of the Order in North America to an indefinite number of Lodges for each Grand Jurisdiction. They shall be granted Charters by the Grand Lodges of their respective jurisdictions issued by the Grand Masters of said Grand Lodges with the approval of the Grand Councils of said Grand Lodges." Such subordinate Lodges shall be subservient to this Constitution, their respective Grand Lodges and indirectly to the Imperator and the American Supreme Council.” (Constitution, 1917, Article Three, Section 3. The capitals and most of the italics are ours.)
The Conversion
And so with an inconsistent constitution, as an artifice, with con- tradictory provisions he gave to his fabrication and fraternal swin- dle the plausible appearance of being a fraternal order in which all the members—the “Brothers and Sisters” in “unlimited numbers’”’ are members of the Supreme Grand Lodge, and of which all mem- bers who qualify themselves may be eligible to hold all the offices and positions of honor, trust and responsibility therein. By such cunning and trickery he gave it the appearance of being a self- governing brotherhood, yet when it is stripped of all subterfuge and artifice it is found that the entire organization is subservient to his wishes and that by such trickery and artifice he has attempted at all times to keep absolute control within his own hands, while leading his members—the victims of fraud—to believe that they possessed substantial rights in the organization and a real voice in
6 Now, as we shall presently see, under the family racket plan the Supreme Council and the Supreme Grand Lodge are composed of the Lewis family. There is but one -Grand Lodge under the immediate supervision and control of the Lewis family, and the Masters of all subordinate Lodges are appointed and removed by the family -who “autocratically” control the entire organization from top to bottom.
7 Under the family plan, all subordinate lodges are now formed under the super- vision of the Supreme Grand Lodge or the Lewis family and are under its “autocratic” econtrol. See Constitution and Statutes of the Grand Lodge, AMORC, 1934.
893
AN ANSWER’ TO LEWIS WHITE {500K 2s
its management.
Notwithstanding that under the provision of the Constitution of 1917, which was in force until March 18, 1931, all the “Brothers and Sisters’? were members of the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC and many of them at different times had been members of the Supreme Council, had held all the offices in the Supreme Grand Lodge except the office of “Imperator” and were eligible to be elected to that office,* yet, without saying a word to the mem- bers, and without their consent, he converted the AMORC into strictly a family affair by the simple process of forming a corpora- tion and incorporating the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC.
On November 15, 1928, by articles of incorporation, filed in the office of the Secretary of State of California, H. Spencer Lewis, his wife, his son, his son’s wife, with the assistance of Charles L. Dean, incorporated his family enterprise under the corporate name of SUPREME GRAND LopcE or AMORC as a college and seminary.
Evidently running a college and seminary under a charter that apparently did not limit the membership of the corporation to his family was not satisfactory to Mr. Lewis, so accordingly on Sep- tember 1, 1930, under a certificate signed by himself as president and his son as secretary, the Corporate Charter was amended changing the corporate name to The Supreme Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis; changing the purposes and adding Articles Seven and Eight, limiting the membership to five in number and vesting the entire voting power of the mem- bership in the board of five trustees—thus effectively placing the complete control and absolute management of the corporation within the hands of his immediate family—and the AMORC thereby became and now is a family affair—an enterprise of H. Spencer Lewis and family.
The Corporate Charter as Amended
The Charter or Articles of Incorporation under which he is now operating his aforesaid Family Racket, as amended, is as follows:
“First: That the name of said corporation shall be
8 See Section 1 of Article Four, Constitution of AMORC, 1917. 894
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
‘THE SUPREME GRAND LODGE OF THE ANCIENT AND MYysTICAL Orver RosarE Crucis
“Second: That the purposes for which said corporation is formed are as follows:
“(a) To teach, foster and perpetuate the traditional principles and laws of the Ancient Rosicrucians ;°
“(b) To foster the spirit of brotherhood and fellowship among men, particularly among its members.*
“(c) To retain and maintain fraternal and spiritual relations with the duly constituted Supreme Bodies of the ‘OrpER ROSAE Crucis’ throughout the world.’
“(d) To establish and maintain subordinate lodges throughout its territorial jurisdiction and in accordance with the provisions of its constitution charge and collect such dues and fix such qualifica- tions as a prerequisite for membership as the Board of Trustees from time to time may deem meet and proper and for the best interests
of the Order.*
“(e) To organize, maintain and control such subordinate bodies or corporations as may be necessary or convenient to carry out its objects.
“(f) The enumeration of the foregoing purposes shall not be deemed as exclusion by enumeration, but this corporation shall have all the powers and privileges granted by law to similar corpora- tions.
“Third: That the place where the principal business of said cor- poration is to be transacted and where its college or seminary is to be conducted is in the City of San Jose, County of Santa Clara, State of California.
“Fourth: That the term for which said corporation is to exist is fifty (50) years from and after the date of its incorporation.
“Rifth: That the number of trustees of said corporation shall be five (5), who have been so classified that the term of one of said
9 We have seen that Mr. Lewis possesses no Rosicrucian authority and that his so- called R. C. Order is fraudulent. Therefore, his family enterprise is incorporated for an illegal purpose.
1 Converting “the Order” into a family affair and spending the funds of the mem- bers as they see fit is a splendid way to foster the spirit of brotherhood and fellowship among men, and particularly among its members, who are the Lewis family.
2 We have seen that his family racket maintains no fraternal relations with the authentic Order of the Rose Cross throughout the world, and the so-called International ‘or World Council of the AMORC is a farce, a delusion and a fraud.
3 This provision gives the Lewis family absolute control over the AMORC and its paying members.
895
AN ANSWER, TO LEWIS” WHIEE (@)*bOOKw is
trustees shall expire in one year, the term of another of said trustees shall expire in two years, the term of another in three years, the term of another in four years, and the term of the fifth of said trus- tees shall expire in five years; that the trustees thereafter elected to succeed those whose terms expire as herein provided shall serve and hold office for five years and until their successors are elected and qualify; that the names and residences of the trustees elected and appointed are as follows:
NAMES RESIDENCES ‘TERM OF OFFICE Hi SPENCEROUEWISs 100 co eee San Jose, Calif..Five (5) years R MeTewise.g. 37. ft ete San Jose, Calif..Four (4) years NEARTHA Ra MEWS sea oe San Jose, Calif.. Three (3) years GLADYS, LEWIS nee ree ee San Jose, Calif.. Two (2) years Graries. DB) DEANSuan ee eee San Jose, Calif..One (1) year
“Sixth: That said corporation shall have no capital stock and its business shall not be carried on for profit.*
“Seventh: At the time of election or appointment, and through- out their term of office, the trustees of this corporation must be members in good standing of the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, within the territorial jurisdiction of this Supreme Grand Lodge.’
“Kighth: The total voting power of this corporation shall be in said trustees and any three of their number shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business of the corporation.” (Compiled and quoted verbatim from certified copies of the original articles of incorporation the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, and amend- ments thereto, under hand of Secretary of State and the Great Seal of the State of California.)
Being the original incorporators, with themselves installed in office and as the trustees of the Supreme Grand Lodge of the AMORC by this amendment to the corporate charter—whether rightfully or legally—H. Spencer Lewis, his son Ralph and their wives acquired the complete and absolute control and autocratic management of the AMORC, which they have been and now are exercising.
4 We shall presently consider in this chapter whether the corporate business of this family enterprise has been carried on for profit.
5 It is claimed now, as we shall presently see, that only the Lewis family—the Hier- archy—and a handy-man appointed by them to do their bidding, are members of “the Order.’ The paying and supporting members are not now members of “the Order,” but belong to “the Brotherhood” which supports the governing hierarchy.
896
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
How It Was Accomplished
Before the charter of a membership corporation may be changed or amended, the members or a majority thereof must consent and a sworn or verified certificate of the officers of the corporation showing such consent must be presented to the Secretary of State. He must be satisfied that at least a majority of the members of the corporation have consented to the proposed change in the charter before he will file it and it becomes effective as an amendment to the Charter of the Corporation.
Therefore, to secure and to make effective said amendments to said Charter, the following sworn or verified statement of H. Spencer Lewis and his son Ralph appeared as a part of the cer- tification of said amendments, filed in the office of the Secretary of State of California, to wit:
“That this Corporation organized for objects and purposes other than for pecuniary profit and is without shares of stock, and the number of voting members of said Corporation total 5,000. [Note this Admission. |
“That on the 23rd day of July, 1930, there was presented at the annual convention of the members of this Corporation, in the City of San Jose, County of Santa Clara, State of California, a true copy of said resolution of the Board of Directors, together with a request for the assent and approval in writing of the members thereto; that there is now on file with the Secretary of this Corporation a total of 74 assents of the members of this Corporation, which are all in writing, and containing a copy of the resolution of the Board of Directors,* and showing the affirmation and approval of said reso- lution of said Board of Directors by the member whose name is signed thereto, and that the total assents constitute a majority of the members of said Corporation, the members assenting repre- sented, by proxy, the total voting membership of this Corporation.
“IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hands and affixed the Corporate seal of this Corporation this 12th day of August, 1930.
H. Spencer Lewis, President, R. M. Lewis, Secretary.”
(From an officially certified copy of the original certificate on file
8 The resolution of the Board of Directors—Lewis and family—proposing the amend- ments to the corporate charter of the Supreme Grand Lodge of the AMORC.
SOT
AN ANSWER TO: LEWIS’ WHITE (7) BOOK! se
in the offices of the Secretary of State of California.)
This certificate was sworn to by H. Spencer Lewis and R. M. Lewis on the 12th day of August, 1930, but the same was not filed by the Secretary of State and did not become effective as an amend- ment to the corporate charter of the Supreme Grand Lodge of the AMORC until September 13, 1930.
This certificate shows and the Lewises admit under oath that at and prior to September 13, 1930 (the effective date of the amend- ment) there were Five Thousand voting members of said corpora-
tion and Five Thousand members of the Supreme Grand Lodge of the AMORC. .
Of course, a majority of 5000 members is 2501, or more. There- fore, this certificate shows that more than Two Thousand Five Hundred, or a majority of said members, consented to said changes or amendments to said corporate charter. That this consent was evidenced by the signatures of seventy-four delegates in attendance at the “‘annual convention of the members of the Corporation”’ held in San Jose, California, on the 23rd day of July, 1930, who were alleged to hold the powers of attorney of a majority whose con- sent they gave and evidenced by their signatures, although no writ- ten powers of attorney were filed and no previous notice that the amendments would be voted om or considered at the convention. As a matter of fact, no delegate held the proxy or power of attor- ney to consent to said amendment, as is shown by the testimony of Ralph M. Lewis in the Federal Case’ at San Francisco on Febru- ary 20, 1936. ‘Therefore, the testimony of the Lewises—father and son—relating to said certificate casts a serious doubt upon it and the truth thereof is very doubtful. It is a matter of regret that we do not have the space to review and comment upon that interesting testimony. If the certificate is not true, then the mem- bers of the AMORC have been tricked; a fraud has been com- mitted on the State of California, and an amendment to a cor- porate charter has been procured and obtained upon a false cer- tificate. Perhaps the Secretary of State and the Attorney General of the State of California will be interested in looking into the question very carefully.
7See Reporter's Transcript, pp. 21 to 31 inclusive, especially pp. 21, 26 and 29.
898
= AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
Did They Usurp the Members’ Rights?
The schematic setup of the AMORC today and since advent of said amendment to the corporate Charter as shown by the diagram of “the Organization” set forth on page six of the latest Constitu- tion and Statutes of the Grand Lodge of the AMORC—effective October 13, 1934—is as follows: Over and above all, H. Spencer Lewis, the ‘autocratic’ Imperator of the Lewistonian Hierarchy —the ‘‘vested authority’”—who, in fact, possesses no authority; the Supreme Grand Lodge, Inc., the Legal (?) Corporation, com- posed of the Lewis Family which is “the Order’’,—legally (?) operated by a Board of Five Directors (Trustees®)—absolutely controlled by the Lewis family, with the voting power to perpetu- ate themselves in ofice—the Royal Family of the AMORC by blood transfusion.and royal descent, and the arbitrary and imperial- istic rulers thereof—and, the subservient Grand Lodge—the ‘‘Gen- eral Membership Body’—the kindly disposed and charitable “Brotherhood” composed of the paying and contributing member- victims who produce and supply the ‘‘Royal Revenues” for the sup- port and luxurious living of the Princely and Royal Hierarchy of Fraternal Racketeering.
Concerning the rights and high prerogatives of the Lewis fam- ily—the hierarchy—and the exact status of the ordinary paying members of the AMORC, Mr. H. Spencer Lewis testified in the
Federal Case at San Francisco, in February, 1936, as follows:
“Q. And since that time, since the incorporation of that company, corporation, [the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC] you have always contended, and take the position now, that the corporation consists solely of five persons and that the members of the Order are not members of that corporation? A. That has been the un- derstanding in our Order and the Orders in Europe and all our branches for all times.
“Q. That is your position? A. Absolutely.
“Q. And you consider that the members of the Order since that incorporation [of the Supreme Grand Lodge] have no voice in that, in the corporation itself? A. Since the Order—since the control
8 It has been shown in this work and demonstrated to a certainty that he possesses no,Rosicrucian authority, that his claims to that effect are false and fraudulent and that his spurious R. C. Order operated as a family affair is a fraternal swindle.
9 So designated in the Corporate charter.
899
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’"WHITE (2) BOOK ve
of the Order refers to the hierarchy, the members couldn’t have any vote. [hat was understood by each member in coming into the
Order.
“Q. Irrespective of the hierarchy, and all that, your position is, right now, and was, at the time of the incorporation of that cor- poration in November, 1928, that there were only five of it, and that the members of the Order had no interest in it? A. Only the five members of the corporate body of the Supreme Grand Lodge. * * * Tn every sense of the word,—where the word ‘Order’ is used it means hierarchy, because our charters and documents of authority from Europe name only the Supreme Grand Lodge as “The Order’.?
“Q. Well, as a matter of fact, you got that charter—or what- ever it was—in 1915, or before that, didn’t you? A. In 1909.
“Q. In 1909. And this corporation with these fve members was not formed until November, 1928, was it? A. That is true, as a corporation; but still we [the hierarchy] existed before that time.
“Q. At any rate—and accordingly you have never considered that the Order—consisting of the members of the Order, were a part of this corporate body, or had anything to do with it? A. The mem- bers of the organization—when you speak of ‘members’ meaning the general membership, never had any vote or holding [rights or interest] in the hierarchy of the organization, either in the unin- corporated or corporated group known as the Supreme Grand Lodge.
“Q. And the members of this Order, [the AMORC] in your opinion, and according to your contention, had nothing to do with the corporation [the Supreme Grand Lodge] that was incorporated in November, 1928? A. No.” (The Federal Case, Reporter's Transcript, pp. 131, 132 and 133. “The italics are ours.)
The Paying Members Not Concerned!
Although, under the Constitution of 1917, as we have seen, all were members of the Supreme Grand Lodge, which constitution was in force in 1928, yet they had nothing to do with the incor- poration of the Supreme Grand Lodge in 1928, and were not con-
1 But this statement is mot true, as we have shown and shall further show as we proceed.
2 Again we direct attention to the falsity of these claims. AMORC has no charters and documents of Rosicrucian authority, as we have seen. Besides, Mr. Lewis claims elsewhere that these bogus charters and spurious documents are issued only in his name—to him individually and personally. How, then, could they “name only the Supreme Grand Lodge as the Order?”
900
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
sulted—but the Lewis family, claiming to be the hierarchy of the Order—indeed, claiming to be “‘the Order’’—incorporated it as their own—all as their very own!
Continuing with the testimony—counsel then directed Mr. Lewis’ attention to a small pamphlet known as The Rosicrucian Catechism, which he admitted was officially issued by the corporation—the hierarchy—to which counsel referred, as follows:
“Q. Let me call your attention to this language in this book, quoting from page 6: “The Rosicrucian Order is a fraternity or- ganized similarly to all other non-sectarian educational lodges. Its members, however, are students, and through their affiliation they receive training in special knowledge, which aids them in their va- rious vocations and assists them spiritually. * * * It is duly char- tered and empowered to function as a lodge.’ A. Yes, that is true, because we have lodge rooms
“Q. You have reference to the Order then, do you not, in that statement? A. We have reference to the activities of the members in a ritualistic sense when we say ‘as a lodge’.
“Q. What do you have reference to when you said, it—‘The Order is duly chartered and empowered by the laws of the land to function as a lodge’? A. The Corporation.
“Q. Well, the corporation and the Order are separate and dis- tinct in your mind—aren’t they? A. No; the Order—officially the Order is the hierarchy.
“Q. Well, the hierarchy was formed long before the corporation, wasn't it? A. And always would be the same.
“Q. Well, the hierarchy was formed long before the corporation, wasn tit? JA. Yes.
“Q. * * * In this pamphlet you don’t mean “The Order’ com- posed of the members? A. Not at all.
“Q. Not at all? A. That [the body composed of the members ]
is called a fraternity or brotherhood. * * *
“Q. Well, it was not legally chartered, was it, until 1928? A. Legally chartered in 1928, yes. ‘That was the first time it had a legal [!] charter; but also it has legal charter [!!] by its superior
3 At another time he swore that the term “Rosicrucian Brotherhood” is a similar name describing the Rosicrucian Order. See Volume I, p. 207, and Exhibit B, p. 253; also his statement on pp. 208 to 211 of Volume I. See also his statements in quotations (55), (57), (60), (66) and (88) in Chapter V, supra, where he makes still other and different distinctions between said terms. See quotation (19) where the Order is called a sacred Brotherhood.
901
AN ANSWER TO’ LEWIS WHITE (7) BOOK ae
bodies in Europe.* * * * It is illegal for any group of persons to call themselves Rosicrucians and operate under the Rosicrucian name without a charter from the International Council. We were legally chartered by them.” (Jd., pp. 133, 134 and 135. The italics, the exclamation points and the matter in the brackets are ours. )
The Paying Members Not of “the Order”
Certainly it is illegal and fraudulent for any one or any group of persons to call themselves Rosicrucians and to operate under the Rosicrucian name or names without a charter or proper Rosicru- cian authority legally and rightfully exercised. That is the gist— the sum and substance of the fraud, as we have often pointed out throughout this work.’ Mr. Lewis here recognizes this and thereby admits that it is illegal and fraudulent for anyone to operate a so- called R. C. Order without Rosicrucian authority. However, he attempts to escape the force of his logical conclusion and admission by claiming, under oath, that which he has falsely represented to the public to induce many to become paying members of his family racket, to wit: that it is legally chartered by the Rosicrucian “‘Inter- national Council”. We have seen in Chapters IV and V, supra, that there 1s no International Council and that he has no authentic Rosi- crucian charter; therefore, his admission aforesaid is tantamount to an open admission that his family racket is a fraudulent concern and a fraternal swindle.
Let us continue with his testimony, as follows:
“Q. In other words, in your opinion, the members of the Order or the persons who pay dues and all that, are not members of the Corporation at all? A. No, because in the first place the dues which the members pay is hardly sufficient to meet more than the expenses of the lectures and postage that they receive. The funds of the Order with which properties have been acquired has been some donation or from our book sales or commission, and that allows us a sufficient opportunity to have a reserve fund, and from time to. time build a building. [The effect of his testimony given here was
+The omission is in reference to Counsel offering “The Rosicrucian Catechism” in evidence. Nothing is omitted which would place Mr. Lewis’ testimony in a false light.
° Several references have been made to this matter, but see specially our statement in the Personal Foreword, pp. 24-25, supra.
902
asa Tee
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
that, although he had 12,000 active members, that many of them were delinquent part of the time. Besides, he had a postage bill running between fifty and sixty thousand dollars a year; therefore, he could not make any money out of the dues alone. |
“Q. Now you say these members, in your opinion, are not mem- bers of the corporation at all? A. No.
“Q. And really not members of the Order? A. Not of the Order in its /egal and technical sense. ‘The word ‘Order’ is loosely used by the Order, saying I am a part of the Order, and so on, as some people do. They apply to themselves that word; they are just in the outer circle. We are not responsible for the loose terminol- ogy in which the word Order is used; but when we in any legal document or official document, when we speak of ‘the Order’ we are doing it in the same sense it has been used in Europe for many years.° “Che outright Rosicrucian Order is not the body of people; it is the hierarchy, and we must adhere to those landmarks.
“Q. You say in any legal document you never use any loose lan- guage to indicate that any of the members that have been subscribing are members of the Order; is that it? A. In any document that I prepare and watch out for the correct legal phraseology.
“Q. Well, Doctor, will you look at this? [Showing him the certificate to amend the corporate charter of the Grand Lodge, hereinbefore quoted.] A. Yes; but this was prepared by our very eminent legal counsel and handed to us to sign.
“Q. And you signed it? A. Yes.
“Q. And you swore to it? A. Yes.
“Q. And you affixed the seal of the Order to it? A. Yes. The concept of it is true, but I regret to say that I failed to notice two lines in there, and the wrong use of the words.
“Q. Did you fail to notice that you represented to the Secretary of State that this corporation is organized for business and purposes other than pecuniary profit, and is without shares of stock, and that the number of voting members of this corporation total 5,000? A. Yes, that was the part I overlooked, that 5,000 voting members.”’ (Id., pp. 136-137 and 138. The italics are ours.)
The testimony given by Mr. Lewis in the various cases in which
6 We did not know that the term Order has a different meaning in America and Europe. Mr. Lewis must find a better explanation to justify his actions than this. It is too thin; it, will not hold water. Certainly, the real Rosicrucians in Europe and America make no such distinctions. To them the Rosicrucian Order, Brotherhood or Fraternity are one and the same thing.
903
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS” WHILE (7) BOOK ie
he has testified on the number of members of his enterprise, called the AMORC, is as conflicting and as uncertain as his claims to Rosicrucian authority and authenticity. In the Federal Case his son Ralph testified that the membership of the AMORC of all classes in 1928 was approximately five or six thousand and in 1930 about fifteen or seventeen thousand, but that only those who pay their dues are members—that when a member fails to pay his dues he ceases to be a member. However, H. Spencer Lewis testified that they only had twelve thousand active members in 1936 and that there were a large number of delinquencies among them;' therefore, from said testimony it is reasonable to conclude that the paying members in good standing in 1930 were 5,000 in number; or that his statement to that effect was true and was not over- looked, and that his contradiction of it and his story of having signed and swore to said statement without reading it or knowing what it contained was an afterthought, devised and put forth to escape his act in certifying said facts to the Secretary of State after he under- stood the legal effect of the same.
AMORC Owned by the Lewises
After counsel had directed Mr. Lewis’ attention to his propa- ganda booklet, Rosicrucian Illumination, in which he made the fol- lowing statement: “If the name and address appearing on Page 28 is that of the SUPREME GRAND Lopeg, then you will know that no Lodge or Group in your vicinity is prepared at just this time to accept any new members and you are invited to become a member of the Supreme Grand Lodge,’ and after showing him various magazine articles in which he had referred to the members of the AMORC as being members of the Order, his testimony continued as follows:
“Q. You have just said that the magazines go to the members after they are members? A. Yes; ninety percent of them. It is not used for propaganda purposes.
“Q. After they are members of what? A. Members of the Na- tional Lodge, Grand Lodge, Grand Lodge of Canada, Grand Lodge
of Pennsylvania, or any other Grand Lodge.
‘For the testimony of Ralph M. Lewis, above referred to, see Federal Case, Report- er’s Transcript, pp. 18 and 16. cotinine of H. Spencer Rowe Tide palsies
904
AMORC
A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
“Q. But not members of the Order? A. No.
“Q. They never become members of the Order? A. No, not of the Supreme Grand Lodge.
“Q. That is in spite of the fact that this literature [his own literature] refers to them as members of the Order—they never become members of the Order? A. That [his own usage] is just a general term, another loose term in using the word ‘Order’ and ‘Rosicrucian Brotherhood’. We distinguish between the Order as the hierarchy and the general membership as the Brotherhood. (Jd., pel/l- Ttalics ours.)
“Q. Now, this hierarchy, which is the Order—who composes that hierarchy? A. The Corporate body.
“Q. What? A. The Corporate body under the direction of the
International Supreme Council, the Supreme Grand Lodge.®
“Q. The hierarchy, then, that is the Order, are the five persons who compose the corporate body? A. And then it has an affilia- tion, as an advisory body, the members that are the oldest members in the most advanced course of study, perhaps 100 members scat-
tered throughout the country, who act as an advisory body to the hierarchy.?®
“Q. And this hierarchy consists of yourself, your wife, your son and your daughter-in-law, and Mr. LeBrun,? who was brought over here from France and made a member? A. Yes.
“Q. Made a member of the hierarchy? True? A. That is
eine, r=
“Q. And the hierarchy that consists of these five people that owN THE Orper, of which all these other members are not a member, are the five people I have just referred to? A. Yes.” (Jd., pp. 202, 203 and 204. The capitals and italics are ours. )
* We have seen that there is no International Supreme Council. Do you suppose he means that his “Supreme Grand Lodge”—the Lewis family—is the International Supreme Council? It will be recalled that at one time he declared his American Su- preme Council to be the “Supreme Council of the World.” See quotation (70), Chap- ter V, supra.
® But these higher-degree members—“the most advanced members’—can never become members of “the Order” or of the “hierarchy.” The most that they can be is ‘to become advisors to the Lewis family. It is, indeed, a strange fraternity of brotherly love!
1 Mr. LeBrun is now deceased. The Lewises have appointed Mr. Thor Kiimalehto ‘to succeed him. He is a salaried employee, acts as the Sovereign Grand Master of the ‘subordinate Grand Lodge—the “Brotherhood” to which the paying members belong. He is the servant of the Lewises who fired him and who can “fire” him when they so desire. See statement of Mr. Lewis hereinbefore quoted.
905
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE (2) BOOKS De
ARE THEY USORTE hoe
This is the contention of the Lewises as told by the published statements and testimony of Mr. Lewis, and this is the way in which they excluded the paying members, took possession of the fabricated and spurious R. C. Order which they have been running as a family racket since 1928.
We are now in a position to answer the question: Did they usurp the rights of the paying members? Obviously the answer must be that they did take away from them their membership in the Su- preme Grand Lodge of the fabrication, their right to hold office, all offices in said Supreme Grand Lodge including the Supreme Council thereof. All officers were elected*® under the Constitution
of LOL?
From the beginning of his fraternal racketeering and the organi- zation of his spurious order even until 1931 and after he had con- verted it into a family affair with his family as the only members of “the Order’ he invited and solicited people generally to become members of “the Order’ as we have shown from his own propa- ganda literature. Moreover, up until a year or so ago, he spoke of the members of AMORC in all his published statements as being members of the Order and recognized them as members of the Order, not merely contributing brothers to his family enterprise.
Under the Constitution of 1917, upon which Mr. Lewis relies for his autocratic right to rule the AMORC as he sees fit, the Su- preme Grand Lodge was composed of ‘“‘an unlimited number of Brothers and Sisters” (Article Three, Section 3, quoted supra), therefore the members who had been invited to become members of the Order were members—‘‘Brothers and Sisters’’—of ‘“‘the Order”
2 It is provided in Articles Four and Five of the Constitution of 1917 that all the officers of the Supreme Grand Lodge shall be elected, including the Imperator and the Supreme Grand Master, and that such officers are ipso facto members of the Supreme Council. On October 25, 1917, under said Constitution, “the Order” elected a Supreme Grand Master at “the Twenty-first Lateran Council,” at which time Mr. Lewis stated that he had no power to appoint such Supreme Grand Master, but that he must be elected by the Supreme Council. Then the Supreme Council consisted of Mr. Lewis and a number of other paying members who were members of the Order and of the Supreme Grand Lodge. (American Rosae Crucis, November, 1916, pp. 223 to 228.) Now the Supreme Grand Lodge and Grand Council consist only of the Lewis family and their hired servant and handy-man, and the Lewis family appoint all of the officers from the highest to the lowest.
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AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
and members of the Supreme Grand Lodge. Now, the Constitu- tion of 1917 was in effect until March 18, 1931,° at which time he
proclaimed the Constitution of 1931, which was said to be an amendment to or a Constitution adopted in lieu of the Constitution of 1917—f it was legally and properly done according to the Con- stitution of “the Order” providing for changes in its organic law. Therefore, the “Brothers and Sisters’? and the members of ‘“‘the Order”? were members of the Supreme Grand Lodge when he and his family incorporated it in 1928, without consulting the ‘Brothers and Sisters’ who were members thereof, and when they amended its corporate charter in 1930 making themselves ‘‘the Order’’, the “hierarchy” and the only members of the Supreme Grand Lodge, and placing themselves, whether rightfully or wrongfully, in abso- lute control thereof. Hence, the members—the paying members, who built the “institution behind the advertisement’? and contrib- uted to the property of the Supreme Grand Lodge, were deprived of membership therein and the rights incident thereto, and the Lewises usurped those rights—and of that there is and can be no question.
Is Constitution of 1917 Still in Effect?
The Constitution of AMORC, 1917, provides in Article Seven- teen that it can be amended “only by a two-thirds vote of the official delegates of all Lodges represented at a National convention of the Order for North America.”” During a convention July, 1930, it was voted to amend the Constitution of 1917 and a committee was appointed to draft the amendment. The committee reported the drafting of the Constitution of 1931 to the trustees of the Su- preme Grand Lodge on January 15, 1931, and on March 18, 1931, H. Spencer Lewis approved it and declared it operative as of
March 21, 1930,* before another convention met to approve it. Later Mr. Lewis discovered and declared that it was not in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of 1917, that it was
3 See Constitution and Statutes of the Grand Lodge, AMORC, 1931, p. 5. It is true that on March 18, 1931, Mr. Lewis proclaimed said Constitution to be effective as of March 21, 1930, but, with his legal experience and his insistence upon legal rights and correct legal phraseology, he should know that Constitutions and Statutes cannot -be made retroactive.
4 Constitution and Statutes, 1931, pp. 3, 4 and 5.
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AN ANSWER TO LEWIS WHITE (7) BOCK. >.
contradictory in terms, and took away some of his right to auto- cratically rule the Order, so accordingly at the annual convention of “the Brotherhood’’— (“the Order’, being the Lewis family, holds no conventions)—he had another resolution passed to make an- other Constitution and a special committee appointed to draft the new Constitution. Mr. Lewis being the principal part of the “spe- cial committee’, the new Constitution was prepared entirely under his dictation, and on October 15, 1934, by virtue of his “‘autocratic”’ powers, he proclaimed it to be in effect.” Therefore, the conven- tion of the members of ‘the Brotherhood” never voted upon it section by section or adopted it as Constitutions should be and gen- erally are adopted."
According to the testimony of his son Ralph in The Federal Case,’ only ten percent of the members of “‘the Brotherhood”’ be- long to subordinate lodges and ninety percent belong to the Grand Lodge or National Lodge; therefore of eight hundred present at the 1934 convention,* accredited delegates from the subordinate lodges represented ten percent of the membership at large, while
° The “Imperator’s” proclamation being as follows: “The special committee af- pointed upon the recommendation of the registered delegates personally present at the National Convention in San Jose, California, during July, 1934, having completed its work of drafting a new Constitution and Statutes for this organization in North America, and having incorporated in these special recommendations unanimously voted upon by the delegates at the same Convention; and the various members of the Supreme Grand Lodge and Board of Directors [the Lewis family], having care- fully studied and analyzed the said new Constitution and Statutes, and having con- sulted various legal and other authorities in regard to the improvement of them; and, furthermore, having made sure that all of the provisions therein were in harmony with the ancient Constitutions and Statutes of the Order and with the original Con- stitution upon which the Order in this North American Jurisdiction was founded, the Supreme Grand Lodge unanimously |!] adopted the new Constitution and Statutes of the Grand Lodge [not by the convention of the members of the Brotherhood] on the evening of Saturday, October 13, 1934, and recommended that the Imperator of the Order immediately proclaim their adoption.
“Accordingly, I hereby and herewith express my approval of the new Constitution and Statutes and proclaim them to be in effect as of October 13, 1934, for the govern- ance of the Grand Lodge [that is, “the Brotherhood”] and all of its subordinate bod- ies and membership until such shall be amended or altered in any manner by the Supreme Grand Lodge.’ (Constitution, 1934, p. 7. The italics are ours.)
6° Perhaps later on he had it “approved” by the membership of “the Brotherhood” by another “unanimous” convention under the pressure of his mob psychology and his unanimous management of conventions.
° Reporter's Transcript, p. 115.
* This is the number present according to the testimony of Ralph M. Lewis in the Federal Case. See Reporter's Transcript, p. 115.
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AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
the other individuals present only represented themselves individ- ually as members. Hence, only a fraction over ten percent of the membership at large were actually represented; whereas, almost ninety percent of the members were unrepresented at that conven- tion or at any of his so-called conventions of “the Brotherhood”’.
Now, it will be recalled that it required a “‘two-thirds vote of the Official Delegates of all Lodges represented at a National Convention of the Order for North America,’ therefore, it is certain that the so-called action of the 1934 convention to amend the constitution of 1917 by substituting another constitution in place or in lieu thereof was irregular and not in accordance with the method provided for the amendment of the constitution of “‘the
Order for North America”’.
In the light of the foregoing facts and on the record as made by the Lewises, it is extremely doubtful whether the Constitution of 1917 has been properly or legally amended, or whether the Con- stitution of 1934 as prepared and adopted by the Lewis hierarchy and proclaimed by the “Imperator” thereof has any legal force or effect. Therefore, the paying members of the AMORC may still be members of the Supreme Grand Lodge under the provi- sions of the Constitution of 1917.
According to the testimony of the Lewises, their former attor- ney and Grand Treasurer in said Federal Case,’ it is certain a ma- jority of the 5,000 members of the Supreme Grand Lodge?—that is, more than 2500—did not legally consent to the amendment of the corporate charter of the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, making the Lewis family and their hired servant the only members
of the Supreme Grand Lodge AMORC.
A careful checking of the so-called “official” and alleged “legal” acts of H. Spencer Lewis and his son Ralph reveals that such acts are irregular and mere subterfuges, and that their claims that the general membership of the AMORC—the paying members or
® Constitution, 1917, Article Seventeen, p. 28.
1 Reporter's Transcript, pp. 1 to 381. The pages on which this testimony will be found are too numerous for reference. It is necessary to read and analyze the entire ‘evidence in the case to get the correct and full import of it. We commend it to the careful consideration of official investigators and to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General of the State of California.
- 2 Do not overlock the fact that, in any event and beyond cavil, the Constitution of 1917, as we have seen, was still in force.
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AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE (2) BOOK pe
the victims of their exploitation—in conventions duly represented -have unanimously consented to and approved their every act and deed in converting the AMORC into a family affair are not true but are only artifices for the operation and perpetuation of their fraternal enterprise.
Lewis Family in Complete Control
Whether rightfully or wrongfully and aside from the usual Lewistonian ballyhoo about special recommendations unanimously voted upon by the conventions, the gesture of the appointment of special committees to draft and report a new constitution, the approval of the same by the Board of Directors and the Imperator, and the “‘Imperator’s’”’ proclamation putting the same in effect, all of which sound fine, look well on paper and may lead the credulous members into the belief that they have made a Constitution for themselves, yet, notwithstanding all such subterfuge, and useless camouflage, the power to make and amend all constitutions, statutes and by-laws; to appoint all officers of all lodges from the highest to the lowest, to prescribe the rights and privileges and to fix the status of members; to receive and disburse all funds, and to man- age and control all property of AMORC is exercised solely and absolutely by Lewis and family.
Let us take a brief look at the most extraordinary Constitution which the Lewises made “‘with the advice of legal counsel” for the government of the Grand Lodge, all subordinate bodies and the paying members of the “Brotherhood”, which the Imperator of the Lewis Hierarchy proclaimed to be effective as of October 13, 1934. It reserves to the Lewis family—the hierarchy of the Order —all and every right and privilege and the complete and absolute control of the AMORC and its paying members. It recites that the paying members concede the same to the hierarchy and that they acknowledge all such rights, privileges, powers and absolute control to be vested solely in and exclusively in the Supreme Grand Lodge, which is the Lewis family. It reads as if it was a Royal Decree and Imperialistic Proclamation of an ancient Emperor— an autocratic, despotic ruler—requiring and accepting the oath of fealty of his liege lords and the humble submission of his vassal subjects. One would never recognize it as being the Constitution —
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AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
of a fraternal association, operating under a lodge system, and founded in the spirit of brotherly love—because it is not so founded, all allegations to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Grand Lodge of the Paying Members
Subservient to the Lewis Hierarchy
It provides that the Grand Lodge of the AMORC, to which all the paying and contributing members belong, is a separate and distinct body from the Supreme Grand Lodge, composed of the Hierarchy or the Lewis family; that no paying member of AMORC has any affiliation with, relationship to, financial or material interest in, or can ever become a member of the Supreme Grand Lodge except by special favor and dispensation of the Lewis family.*
Now, having clearly set forth in Articles I and II of the Con- stitution of the Grand Lodge, (1934) that it is a separate and distinct body created and chartered by the Hierarchy; that it de- rives its precious existence, its powers (if any) and its great privi- lege and most unusual honor of supporting the Lewis family from the Imperator and the Board of Directors composing the Supreme Grand Lodge—family racket, and that its administrative control rests exclusively and entirely in the Board of Directors of the Supreme Grand Lodge, which has been reiterated time and time - again, throughout the constitution and statutes of AMORC, and having firmly and surely asserted their absolute control over all the property, the funds, and the membership, yet, to make their security doubly sure and to fix—if they can, irrespective of all rules of law and principles of equity, right and fairness—the legal status of themselves and the members who pay and contribute to the support of their fraternal racket, they provide at the end of the Constitution in Article XIII, Sections 34, 35 and 37, as follows:
“Sec. 34. For all purposes of general legal expression of the status
3 See Constitution of Grand Lodge, 1934, Articles I and XII, pp. 9 and 17. Thus far they have exercised this benevolence in the appointment of Sovereign Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge, who are their humble, hired servants, each of whom in turn has served as the fifth member of the Board of Directors of the Supreme Grand Lodge and has complied with the wishes of the Lewises.
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AN ANSWER TO)LEWIS’ WHITE (?)sbO00kK= pe
of the members in the Order* of North and South America it shall be understood by this Constitution and by its provisions, rules and regulations, that all members of the AMORC of North and South America coming within the authority, privileges, rights and bene- fits of this jurisdiction of this Order are members of the outer congregation, and general membership of the Order of AMORC with its distinctly separate and exclusive governing body’ known as the Grand Lodge, and the subordinate bodies, Lodges and chapters of the Grand Lodge, these forming a complete unit and circle of members, restricting and limiting the legal status, rights and privi- leges of each member to the strictly physical and legal form of a fraternal association, and having no legal association or connection with any of the other outer congregations or physical organizations of AMORC or the Rosicrucian Order, in any other jurisdiction in any part of the world.
“Sec. 35. That the Imperator and the Supreme Officers and members of the Board of Directors of the Supreme Grand Lodge constitute the inner congregation of the AMORC of North and South America in accordance with the ancient landmarks® of the Order in other lands, and other periods of time, and this Supreme Grand Lodge with its Board of Directors and chief executives enu- merated hereto [being the Lewis family] shall constitute a separate legal group directly controlling, conserving and maintaining the perpetuity of the Rosicrucian traditions and landmarks, teachings
4 When Mr. Lewis made this Constitution in 1934 it was his idea that all the mem- bers of the AMORC, as well as his family, were members of “the Order,” but divided ‘ into two classes: the “inner congregation,” composed of his family—the ruling class— and the “outer congregation,” composed of the paying members supporting the ruling class. The idea that he and his family were “the Order” and the only members thereof, and that the members generally constituted “the Brotherhood,” was an after- thought born when he began to prepare to go to trial in the Federal case in which some of the general members were asserting the rights of membership of the Order.
° This constitution, written with an abundance of words, filled with artifices and subterfuges, contradictions and misleading on its face to the casual reader, abounds with catch-phrases such as this intended to leave the general membership under the false impression that they belong to a self-governing body and that they have certain valuable rights and special privileges, whereas, in fact, the Grand Lodge is not a governing body in any sense of the term, but is in all things subservient to the Supreme Grand Lodge of the Lewis family, and the members have no rights, except the right to pay their dues and purchase books and merchandise from the hierarchy, and no privileges except the privilege of receiving the so-called Rosicrucian teachings, lessons and other questionable mystic merchandise and occult “bunk” which the Imperator of the hierarchy is pleased to give them.
®6’These so-called “ancient landmarks” of a spurious organization fabricated in 1915 appear to change to serve the needs and to accommodate the necessities of the Lewis family at the will or the caprice of the Imperator of the hierarchy.
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~AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
and principles’ in the jurisdiction of North and South America, and dividing its legal responsibilities and obligations with no other mem- bers of the Order in any other section, division, lodge, or group of the Order, or in any other country or jurisdiction of the world, and retaining its powers and authorities exclusively as an incorporated body having no general membership, and responsible only to the State® in accordance with its articles of incorporation and to the con-
_ stitution, by-laws, rules and regulations which it has adopted, pro- claimed, made public and holds sacred as its exclusive guide and perpetual obligation.”® (The italics are ours.)