Section 36 provides that the general members through their

progress and advancement—that is, if they keep on paying their dues—pursuing their studies and through adherence to the princi- ples (!) andideals (!!) of the organization may become “‘afhliated members in a purely fraternal, ritualistic and spiritual sense’ or “special honorary forms of membership”’, but with all and despite all those wonderful “honors” and spiritual affiliation they are to have no “legal status” other than Grand Lodge members—crea- tures of the outer congregation—with no rights except to pay their dues and no privileges, except to receive whatever the “hierarchy” chooses to “give” to them. And then, as to their other rights and privileges, if any, not divested by the Constitution and vested in the Lewis hierarchy, it is further provided:
“Sec. 37. Any undetermined matter or any question regarding the legal status, rights and privileges of any member of AMORC of North or South America shall be submitted to the Sovereign Grand Master of this Grand Lodge through the Secretary of the lodge or group in which any member or group of members raising such question of legal status, rights, and privileges may be affiliated, and such question shall be submitted by the Sovereign Grand Master of this Grand Lodge to the Board of Directors of the Supreme Grand Lodge for final decision, and such decision shall be binding upon each and every member or group of members without question or without provocation. * * *” (QOur italics.)
* By now it should be obvious to the reader and investigator that the Lewis hier- archy of fraternal racketeering have zo Rosicrucian authority and that they are not perpetuating the traditional teachings and principles of the Order of the Rosy Cross.
8 And the State is responsible to its citizens and owes them protection against frauds masquerading under one of its corporate charters.
9 But they can abandon their “perpetual obligation” and amend the constitution at any time to suit themselves. See Article XIV of the Constitution of 1934.
943
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE (?) BOOK “D”
The Royal Revenues of the Hierarchy
As we have seen, the Grand Lodge and subordinate bodies are unincorporated associations created by the Supreme Grand Lodge (The Hierarchy) as the means of producing cash, the funds and material wealth upon which the Lewis Hierarchy subsist and revel in luxury at home and abroad, and also to provide the war chest, the funds they use to hire clever lawyers to defend, to publish false defensive pamphlets in defense of, and widespread deceptive propa- ganda for the promotion and maintenance of their strictly private “Fiiérarcial snacket:
It is provided in Article IX, Sec. 27 of the Constitution (1934) of the Grand Lodge that the revenues and sources of revenue of “The Hierarchy’—that is, the Lewis family—otherwise known as the Supreme Grand Lodge, are: (1) Registration fees of mem- bers; (2) Monthly dues paid by members; (3) Royal Support, per capita percentage of dues received from subordinate lodges or bodies under the Grand Lodge; (4+) Special donations of money, properties or other material assets donated to the Hierarchy; (5) Sale of official magazines, books, publications, general supplies, supplementary courses of study, articles deemed necessary for lodges and members—such as ancient Egyptian Beetles, without pedigree, manufactured in San Francisco,’ and numerous articles of commerce upon which the Hierarchy have built up a thriving and lucrative business—splendid source of revenue—constantly adver- tised in the official magazine of the Hierarchy.
Although Article IX of said constitution purports to describe the revenues of the Grand Lodge, as defined and prescribed from time to time by the Board of Directors of the Supreme Grand Lodge, but such Grand Lodge has no revenue of its own. It is the operating business subsidiary and glorified collecting agency of the hierarchy. Such description, so elaborately defining the ‘revenues and sources of revenue of the Grand Lodge” is a mere trick, an artifice of fraternal racketeering—a sham and a delusion of words, because all such revenues so artfully and cunningly described as revenues of the Grand Lodge—the great ‘“‘Brotherhood”’ of the members—are the property of “the Order’’—the hierarchy or the Lewis family, and it is so expressly stated in Section 28 of the
1 See advertisement and our discussion thereof, Chapter III, pp. 183 to 186, supra.
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AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
same article, as follows:
“Sec. 28. In the levy, receipt, use, possession, and accounting of the foregoing and all other revenues and property this Grand Lodge and all its subordinate bodies act only as temporary agents in trans- mittal of such funds and revenues from the members to the funds of the Hierarchy known as thé Supreme Grand Lodge.” (Our italics. )
And in Section 29 of the same article it is provided that all members and officers hold all records, funds, property, matters and things within their use, control or knowledge in trust for the Supreme Grand Lodge and the Hierarchy.
How the Mighty Hierarchy May Spend
Article X of the same Constitution is another delusion of words and an artifice of the racket. After providing for the transmittal of all funds to the Supreme Grand Lodge; that said funds shall not be held in trust for any lodge, group or for the general mem- bership, but exclusively for the maintenance and perpetuation of the ideas of the organization in accordance with the Constitution of the Supreme Grand Lodge and the ideas and requirements of the Lewis family, and that they shall not inure to the benefit of any member or officer of the Order,’ the said article then provides the ways and the means by which they—the Lewis Hierarchy— may use the same for their own use and benefit, and to gratify their every desire and whim, according to their ideas and caprice and within their “‘sole discretion’’, as follows:
“Tt is herein recognized that the expenditure of all money rests in the sole discretion and absolute authority of the Supreme Grand Lodge and that this constitution recognizes that said sole discre- tion and sole authority of the Supreme Grand Lodge carries with it the power to expend said moneys for operating expenses of the Supreme Grand Lodge and/or the Grand Lodge and for salaries to employees of either body and for administration expense of build- ings, offices, laboratories, auditoriums, libraries, museums, dormi- tories, homes for officers of either the Supreme Grand Lodge or the Grand Lodge, and all necessary administrative, upkeep and main-
? We shall presently give this further consideration in connection with the consid- eration of the question as to whether this fraternal racket should be exempted from the payment of taxes.
US)
AN ANSWER TO°LEWIS “WHITE (2) BOOK 2.
tenance expenses at the National Headquarters of the Supreme Grand Lodge in Rosicrucian Park, California, and for the expenses of traveling representatives, lecturers, and workers carrying on the activities of the Supreme Grand Lodge and/or the Grand Lodge, and for such research, explorations, investigations or inquiries into sciences and allied subjects of this or allied organizations of interest and benefit to the members of the Order generally. No shares of stock shall be issued by this Grand Lodge or its subordinate bodies in the name of this order or any of its officers and no dividends, shares of interest, percentage or profits or any financial benefits other than salaries and service fees and traveling expenses shall be paid to any officer or member of the Supreme Grand Lodge or the Grand Lodge or any subordinate body of this Grand Lodge, except for special services rendered or for services in connection with the work of the welfare department and only in those events shall the same be paid when authorized by the Board of Directors of the Supreme Grand Lodge.’ (The italics are ours.)
The only limitation placed upon the spending of the Hierarchy is found in Article Eleven of said constitution, which provides that: none of the funds shall be loaned to any member or invested in any speculative stock, but in the case of a national emergency, the Hier- archy ‘‘may purchase some government bonds or state or city bonds of a guaranteed and protected nature, solely as a humanitarian GESTURE and for the good of the nation or community”. (Italics are ours.) And this is charity, indeed, and a display of public spirit that is marvelous!
The Spirit of the Constitution of 1917
In the Preamble to the constitution of 1934 it is recited that some of the provisions of the Constitution of 1930 were inconsistent with the Constitution of 1917, and that the Constitution of 1934 was adopted to restore the spirit and to carry out the intent of the Constitution of 1917. Let us see how faithfully this purpose has been carried out. It will be recalled that Mr. Lewis was elected* Grand Master General and Imperator of the AMORC on April 1, 1915. The constitution of 1917 provides that:
“His successor and all future Imperators of the Order in North America shall be elected by a two-thirds vote of all the Grand
° See quotation (30), Chapter V, supra.
916
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
Lodge Masters in North America and the members of the Ameri- can Supreme Council of North America duly assembled in a Na- tional Convention, called especially for that purpose within seven days after the vacancy of the office. Such successor must be elected within thirty days after the vacancy of the Imperator’s office and position from among those Brothers of the Order who are in the highest degrees of the Order in North America.”* (Constitution of 1917, Article Four, Section 1. The italics are ours. )
Now since he has taken complete charge of “the Order’’, and under one pretext or another has converted it into a family affair in perpetuity, he is living up to the letter and spirit of the Consti- tution of 1917 by asserting and maintaining that each Imperator or Supreme Grand Master of “‘the Order’’—that is, of his fabri- cated spurious order—is succeeded by one of his sons.’ ‘Thus mak- ing “the Order” a family racket of himself and heirs forever.
The Constitution of 1917 provides in Article Seventeen thereof that:
“Amendment to this Constitution shall be made only by a two- thirds vote of the Official Delegates of all lodges represented at Na- tional Convention of the Order for North America.” (Our italics.)
Upon the same subject—and in the spirit of the Constitution of 1917, we suppose—the present Constitution of 1934, in Article Fourteen, Section 38, provides:
“Sec. 38. The power to amend this constitution, revise it or modify it is vested exclusively in and reserved to the Board of Directors of the Supreme Grand Lodge, Incorporated, in accord- ance with the ancient landmarks, principles, and customs of the Order, which provide that the Supreme Hierarchy of the Order in each jurisdiction shall have this exclusive control and direction
of the material and spiritual [!] activities of the Order.” (Our italics. )
We had hoped to make a careful comparison and critical analy- sis of the provision of the Constitution of the AMORC of 1917 and 1934 and the testimony of the Lewises in the Federal Case in
+ This same article provides for the election of the Supreme Grand Master and other officers. Now they are all appointed by the Lewis family in the spirit of the Con- stitution of 1917!
5 See The Rosicrucian Digest, September, 1930, pp. 224 to 227, and quotation therefrom in Chapter IV, pp. 335-336, supra.
O17
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE (7) BOOK} = De
relation thereto, but the lack of space, at least in this volume, for- bids. However, the foregoing minor examples will sufice to show how the Imperator of this spurious R. C. Order has lived up to his “perpetual obligation’ and the “spirit of the Constitution of 1917”, as well as the subterfuges and artifices employed to convert it into a family racket.
The Subterfuge of “Unanimous” Conventions And the Unusual Power of the Imperator
We have seen that in the Constitution of 1934 Mr. Lewis has reserved unto himself and family the exclusive right and power to define the rights and status of the general membership® and to change that status and the “good standing”’ of the members at any time by special decrees of the hierarchy. In addition to their abso- lute control of the rights and privileges of the members of “the Brotherhood” which the hierarchy give and which they may take away as it may suit their convenience or fancy, it is provided in Article Three, Section 7B of the present Constitution (1934) that:
“Tt is recognized in this Constitution that the Imperator, by reason of the powers vested in him by the Supreme Grand Lodge, has the right and authority to EXCOMMUNICATE any member of the Order of AMORC in North and South America, affiliated with this Grand Lodge, which excommunication shall completely and automatically [should be ‘autocratically’] terminate all of a mem- ber’s rights and privileges of the Order’ of AMORC of North and South America.” (The capitals and italics are ours.)
This same article and section which gives the ‘“‘Board of Direc- tors of the Hierarchy of the Supreme Grand Lodge”’ the power to issue special decrees through the Imperator of the hierarchy on all matters “having any vital bearing upon the integrity, good name, spirit or Esoteric or Exoteric purpose of the Order’, that is, that may reflect upon the good name of the hierarchy or interfere with the purposes or wishes of the Lewis family, further provides that:
° See Constitution, 1934, Article Seven, Section 25B, which defines the status and “good standing” of the general membership, which, according to their ideas, is loyalty to the Lewis hierarchy.
“This is rather inconsistent with and repugnant to his more recent position that “the Order” consists only of the hierarchy and that its membership is limited to his family or the Board of Directors of the Supreme Grand Lodge.
OFS
AMORC—A FAMILY RACKET— “WITHOUT PROFIT”
“All decrees and pronunziamentos issued by him [Mr. Lewis] and which bear his [Masonic-like] seal and the seal of the Su- preme Grand Lodge of AMORC of North and South America shall be binding, conclusive and final on all the officers and mem- bers of the AMORC of North and South America, affiliated with this Grand Lodge or any of its subordinate bodies.” (Our italics. )
It will be remembered that he had Alfred H. Saunders and his wife excommunicated in 1916 because they refused him a vote of confidence.* Then, in the spirit of the Order, he had the Supreme Council of the Supreme Lodge, composed of the Brothers and Sisters of the general membership, do the excommunicating. Now, in the spirit of his modernized and revised fraternal racket, he re- serves the power of excommunication unto himself.
Mr. Lewis is a master in the use of mob-psychology, as well as at the fabrication of spurious orders and the promotion thereof with false high-pressure propaganda. His conventions, like his Junket to Egypt and other publicity stunts, are well-planned affairs. The desired resolutions are prepared in advance, they are pre- sented to the convention and the adoption is moved by a paid em- ployee holding his office during the pleasure of the Lewis hierarchy. If a serious question is presented, Mr. Lewis appears before the convention and makes a plausible presentation of his side of the matter with mutilated and misrepresented documents and falsified “proof’’, the “delegates” laboring under the duress of his power to “hire and fire’ them, the visiting members laboring under the deception of his eloquent tongue and the fear of excommunication, vote to please their high and mighty Imperator, and the chairman, favorable to and under the control of the hierarchy, declares the action “unanimous.” This is a true picture of the Lewistonian unanimous conventions—he deceives his conventions as he misleads his “‘special” and “voluntary” committees. Said ‘‘unanimous’”’ con- ventions simply represent the desires and the will of Mr. Lewis and his hierarchy. They are so perfectly managed and so com- pletely under his control that he could unanimously pass a resolu- tion declaring that the moon is made of green cheese. ‘There is nothing in the annals of American life that is comparable to his well-planned, perfectly controlled and cunningly manipulated con-
8 Chapter IV, pp. 578, 579, supra. 919
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS WHILE (7), BOOKS Be
ventions,’ except the “‘steam-roller’’ political convention, which pales into insignificance and suffers much as an instrument of efh- ciency for ‘“‘putting things over” with “‘a zip and a bang” by com- parison with the highly efficient “unanimous” conventions of the Lewistonian hierarchy of fraternal racketeering.
Now, if any officer or employee of any lodge fails to enthusias- tically do their bidding, off comes his head and his pay stops—he 1s out of a job. Witness the case of Mr. A. Leon Batchelor, former Grand Treasurer. If a member fails to bend the knee of submis- sion and refuses to extend a vote of confidence to the hierarchy, he is excommunicated. Witness the case of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred H. Saunders.
Therefore, these often mentioned and much relied upon “unani- mous’’ conventions to authorize, approve and justify the question- able and unconscionable acts of H. Spencer Lewis and son Ralph are not the expression of the voice and desires of the membership at large, properly represented, as the Lewises would lead the public to believe—they are, in fact, nothing more than devices and arti- fices for the promotion and the perpetuation of their fraternal racket.
The Federal Case
It is not our intention to discuss this case to any considerable extent or to attempt to analyze the issue involved, since they were not decisive of the real issue of fraud discussed and exposed in this work, which must be and in all justice will be ultimately decided, although they do have a bearing upon the general fraudulent scheme upon which this fraternal swindle is founded; upon which it has been and is being operated, and the ways and means by which it has been converted into a family racket. It had been our intention to discuss and analyze at length the testimony of Mr. Lewis and his son Ralph as given in this case, to show its bearing upon their real fraud and the fraudulent nature of their fraternal racket, and to show, as we have in Chapter V, that many of their statements under oath are in conflict with and repugnant to
° His expert cunning in the manipulation of conventions, national or international, is shown in connection with the Formation of the Fuposit exposed in Part Four of