1 June 1993

Brethren:

Another interesting analogy:

A recent Fortune 500 Forum featured reports from several CEOs who had made
radical changes in firms that were in a, shall we say, not so good shape, when
they were drafted to revive them, successfully turning them around.

One common thread had to do with employee relations.  Twenty five to thirty
years ago sales were up, profits were good, everything was rosy.  Union
contracts as to wages and working conditions were generaly weighed in favor of
the employees due to lack of negotiation and cooperation because a work
stoppage was the last thing management wanted.

Now things are a bit different.  Foreign competition is intense.

One of the reasons for the success was working with labor, explaining to them
the situation, that some practices, might term them feather-bedding, had to be
negotiated.  Given adequate reasoning, labor, unions, seeing success for the
company meant success for them, came to terms on needed changes.

Twenty-five to thirty years ago Freemasonry was in the same position as these
firms.  Business was good, candidates were plentiful, ritual was the only labor
practice as there was literally no time available for other than conferring
degrees.  Ritual being the only work, ritual controlled not only the Lodges
(business) but literally Freemasonry itself.  Here I have to mention that I am a
California Freemason.  Oh, yes, our catechism proficiency, an American
innovation, is a part of this business.

Now this is not a dialogue with the purpose of advocating doing alway with our
current proficiency.  This is a plea for management and labor to come to common
terms as to what course of candidate education is necessary for the successful
preservation of our business just as the leaders written about herein
negotiated with labor for the success of their businesses.

One thing is evident, our current proficiency, because it is the only education
a candidate normally, yes normally, receives, is an education he is completely
helpless with when confronting someone asking him about his new experience or
anything about our Craft.

An educational process that gives him what he needs, the current proficiency and
what he should have to be fluent in Freemasonry, is just too much to expect a
candidate to work on, particularly in these times, so there can be nothing else
except a compromise.  If our successful businesses can do this, Freemasonry to
be a successful business must do likewise.

Think about this.

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