THE BUILDER SEPTEMBER 1929

American Army Lodges in the World War

The War Time Lodges of Louisiana, Ohio and Colorado

By Bro. CHARLES F. IRWIN, Associate Editor

WHEN a sudden national emergency such as the World War overtakes
the nation, and our young men are rushed from their homes and
peaceful pursuits to be concentrated in camps and cantonments and
placed under intensive military training, the farthest removed from
every experience they have had up to that moment; when thousands of
these same young men awaken suddenly to the attractiveness of the
Masonic Fraternity and storm the doors of the lodges nearby their
home towns, are accepted and await their opportunities to obtain
the coveted degrees; when the sudden demand which all this thrusts
upon an average lodge working in the neighborhood of the same
cantonment, a situation is created that is beyond the powers of
that lodge to handle; what then shall a Grand Master and a Grand
Lodge do?

This is far graver than a hypothetical question. It is one that
strikes right down into the heart of our Institution. It raises a
swarm of other questions, and among them is this: Which is the
better, for a Grand Master to stretch his authority a little and
grant a temporary dispensation creating a temporary Field Lodge to
handle this emergency work; or to issue a dispensation to the
lodges already constituted and working nearby the cantonment,
empowering them to break some of the fundamental Landmarks of the
Fraternity; and to enter, pass and raise candidates, irrespective
of the solemn charges laid upon him, "never to depart from the
landmarks of the Fraternity"?

This is quite an interesting problem, is it not? And yet it was the
practical situation that confronted one of the finest Grand Masters
in America and it gave to his Grand Lodge some of its most
intensive thinking. What we write here regarding this situation is
not to be taken as a criticism but as an earnest attempt on our
part to give to the Fraternity an insight into one of the
situations that arose in the war and to record it in this series
for future Masonic Students to analyze and to draw conclusions.

Liberty Lodge, U.D., Situated at Camp Beauregard, Alexandria, La.

"Liberty Lodge, U. D ," of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, was the
child of a great emergency. It came into being as the effort of a
great Mason to attempt to solve one of the most baffling problems
that our Fraternity has had to face namely, shall we or shall we
not have Field Lodges in times of national emergency?

When the local situation of so many states in which training camps
were established is examined, invariably it is found that the
entire social structure of the surrounding countryside is
disrupted. Within a few weeks hundreds and thousands of young men
are assembled within restricted areas and put to work; business
swells to enormous proportions, and the demands upon the citizens
in general and the business men in particular are beyond the
imagination of all who have never witnessed the phenomenon.

Alexandria is a fine city in the State of Louisiana. Its social and
business life is the equal of any other of similar size in the
country. Suddenly in 1917 the government took leases on certain
ground within a short distance of the city and soon barracks,
warehouses and other structures were rising from the ground. And
within a few weeks the railroads were bringing trainloads of young
men out of civilian life through the city and depositing them in
the new cantonment. The name of this cantonment was Camp
Beauregard, named for the celebrated Confederate General. It was
not long until the local-lodges of freemasonry discovered that
hundreds of young men within the camp had knocked at the doors of
lodges both within and without the state lines, and had been
accepted by their lodges. Then the mail and the telegraph lines
were burdened with the flood of requests from the said lodges for
the local lodges to confer the work upon these candidates by
courtesy.

There was one lodge of Masons in Alexandria, Oliver Lodge, No. 84,
which is within the city proper, and there was Curtis T. Hines
Lodge, No. 317, at Tioga, a neighboring town. These two lodges are
made up of the typical men who constitute an average city lodge;
largely business men, and men who carry responsibilities upon their
shoulders. Their own business responsibilities leaped within a
night to proportions they had never dreamed of. And yet upon all
this burden was heaped this urgent call from all over the country
to confer the degrees of Freemasonry upon the young soldiers.

They did not hesitate but with the characteristic open heartedness
of genuine Master Masons, "went on foot and out of their way" to
respond to the call. Special meetings were arranged for and night
after night, even when heavy day's business cares had wearied them,
relays of the membership of these two lodges armed floor teams and
began their work.

Meanwhile Grand Master John W. Armstrong had observed all this
situation. For through his office were flowing these floods of
requests from other jurisdictions as well as from the lodges within
his own.

He made repeated visits to Camp Beauregard as well as to the other
military centers within his state. He consulted with the Masons on
the ground who were bearing the brunt of the deluge. No one had any
clear solution to offer to the problem he had to face, and it was
a real one.

Grand Master Armstrong at length came to a conclusion. It was this,
that so far as the courtesy work was concerned, it belonged to the
Grand Lodge of Louisiana to care for this and not one or two local
lodges. Because the appeals that came for courtesy work came, not
to the subordinate lodge, but to the Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge.

His reasoning was sound; and his conclusion was that he would issue
a dispensation creating an emergency lodge, to be known as "Liberty
Lodge U.D." This lodge was to be maintained by Oliver Lodge, No.
84. It was to confine itself strictly to the working on the
courtesy material from the cantonment. But at once he seems to have
met with strong opposition from Oliver Lodge, No. 84, whose members
seem to have feared that this would be creating a rival lodge, and
thus they refused to consent to the solution. In their opposition
were sown the seeds that later destroyed the Field Lodge. Fifteen
Masons constituted the petitioners who presented to Grand Master
Armstrong the request for the dispensation. The opposition to the
emergency lodge, however, was not confined to the local lodge in
Alexandria. It appears that strong influences within the Grand
Lodge itself had lined up in opposition to the dispensation.
Meanwhile the flood of requests kept coming in to the Grand
Master's desk.

Liberty Lodge opened and began its-work, and strove to do its bit,
working side by side with Oliver Lodge, No. 84, in Alexandria,
supported by Curtis T. Hines Lodge, No. 317, nearby. Brothers might
differ as to modes but they were one in action.

Meanwhile the time came for the Annual Communication of 1918, of
the Grand Lodge of Louisiana. It met and Grand Master Armstrong
came before that body to make his accounting for his term of
office. At the end of this story you will find copies of his
address, together with other official papers that touch upon this
lodge. If you will give his story a careful reading you will find
the heart of this brother beating with a fervent regard for the
young men within the camps. Further as you read the full address
and consider his careful planning for the Masonic "Rest Room,"
which he opened in Alexandria for the comfort of military Masons,
and discover its careful financing, you are compelled to the
conclusion that this Grand Master was a sound thinker and doer.

But in spite of the masterly presentation of his solution to the
hypothetical question with which this story commences, there were
strong forces in Grand Lodge who looked at his solution from a
diametrically opposite viewpoint. Who shall say whether or not they
were right or wrong? The report of the Committee on the State of
the Order became the spear point that struck at the Grand Master's
action in issuing the dispensation. They based their adverse report
upon several grounds:

1. That Liberty Lodge was instituted with less than fifteen
members.

2. That Oliver Lodge, No. 84 did not approve of it.

3. That the dispensation was made to run to December 31 1918, which
was beyond the limitations of the term of Grand Master Armstrong's
administration.

4. That the granting of the dispensation was irregular, and
illegal.

5. That Oliver Lodge, No. 84, could handle the situation by Special
meetings.

The report of this committee was approved, together with the
resolution attached to it by the committee. The Grand Master
succeeding Most Worshipful Brother Armstrong, namely, Brother
George A. Treadwell, was directed to recall the dispensation,
which, upon assumption of his office as Grand Master, he did. Thus
ended Liberty Lodge U. D. But the problem was not yet solved. All
that had happened was that the Grand Lodge of Louisiana answered
the first part of our hypothetical question in the negative.

Meanwhile Oliver Lodge, No. 84, was working overtime upon the
accumulated work thrust upon Louisiana by other Grand
Jurisdictions. And here let us pause long enough to notice that
some of the most strenuous opponents of Military Lodges were the
first Grand Jurisdictions to flood Grand Jurisdictions with
requests to perform the work upon candidates from their
jurisdictions, by courtesy. The same thing prevailed in the
Military Lodges that went across the sea. We have already seen in
previous articles how these lodges received numerous requests from
Grand Jurisdictions who had fought the idea of Military Lodges,
requesting these same Military Lodges to confer the degrees on
their candidates. And, so far as it was possible to comply, in
every case the Military Lodges gave full service. The brethren back
in Alexandria meanwhile were bending under this added burden that
had been thrust upon them.

Grand Master Treadwell, the possibility of a special emergency
lodge being denied him, had the other horn of the dilemma to meet,
namely, shall a Grand Master under any circumstance disregard the
solemn injunction laid upon him, and permit the removal of the
Ancient Landmarks for a season. It is a serious situation in which
to place a high officer in our fraternity.

His solution of the problem is evidenced by the step taken by our
excellent Brother Treadwell.

At the end of this story you will find excerpts from the
Proceedings of 1919, Grand Lodge of Louisiana, as well as a review
of the same by the Correspondent within the Grand Lodge of
Missouri, writing in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of that
state for 1919.

In these documents you will find that Grand Master Treadwell
proceeded to issue a dispensation to Oliver Lodge, No. 84,
Alexandria, and to Curtis T. Hines Lodge, No. 317, Tioga,
empowering them to open and carry on special meetings strictly for
the purpose of doing courtesy work. Quoting from the Grand Master's
own report:

The result of the visit the had gone to Alexandria to get first-
hand knowledge of his problem] was that I issued a dispensation
permitting Oliver Lodge and Curtis T. Hines Lodge to initiate, pass
and raise as many Candidates at one and the same time as could be
conveniently and properly handled, to confer the second section of
the Master Mason's Degree, when more than one Fellow Craft was
raised, but the last in summary manner, so-called, and to confer
more than one degree upon Candidates at one and the same
Communication, all the above to apply to work for other lodges
only. I am glad to report that all requests for Degree work made by
the other Jurisdictions have been complied with very little delay,
although since the last session of the Grand Lodge, Oliver Lodge,
No. 84, has conferred 363 degrees by courtesy, and Curtis T. Hines
Lodge, No. 317, 64 degrees.

The italics are mine. In other words, Grand Master Treadwell dared
to remove the landmarks in order to solve the question.

The life of Liberty Lodge U. D. was like the illustration in one of
our lectures. "It blossomed, budded and sprang into fruit in a
day." But the frost nipped its shoots and it fell into a sere and
yellow age.

Nevertheless this short-lived Military Lodge was not without
benefit to the Craft at large, for it carved out a path whereby
Grand Lodges may, if they will, meet a similar emergency and do
their part to solve it. The work done by Liberty Lodge was
identically the same as that which was done in mass formation by
the two regular lodges. It was the gesture of one type of mind
which is flexible and dares to cut through precedent in order that
a fine piece of work might be done.

Were there no records of other Military Lodges in existence, then
the wisdom of Grand Master Armstrong might not be so clear. But the
unimpeachable testimony of the Military Lodges I have already
described in this series is proof beyond contradiction, that the
Field Lodge had its place in the great war.

For the information upon which this history of Liberty Lodge U. D.
is based, we are dependent on the reports and transactions of the
Stated Communications of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana for the years
1918 and 1919, together with the review of the same by the
Correspondent of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, together with
personal correspondence with officers of the Grand Lodge of
Louisiana.

Proceedings of Grand Lodge of Louisiana, 1918, gage 30 seq.

The Annual Address of the Grand Master (Armstrong): "Liberty Lodge
U.D."

The situation at Alexandria was such that it was imperative another
lodge should be located at this place to take care of the enormous
amount of work entailed on account of conferring degrees as a
courtesy to lodges in this State and of Sister Jurisdictions, of
those who were elected to receive these degrees by their respective
lodges and are now located at Camp Beauregard.

The feeling in Oliver Lodge, No. 84, was against the establishment
of another lodge at this time, but they realized that something had
to be done to assist the lodge, as they had so much work of their
own it was nearly impossible for them to do any more courtesy work,
and this class of work increasing. The problem was solved by the
granting of a dispensation for a Lodge, U.D., with power to do only
courtesy degree work. This dispensation has been granted to Liberty
Lodge U.D., the same to continue until December 31 1918, with the
hope that by this time the war will be over or that a charter will
be asked for. I have granted this dispensation without cost from
the Grand Lodge, and Oliver Lodge, No. 84, is to maintain same
without cost to Grand Lodge.

Proc. Grand Lodge, 1918, page 157, Report of Committee on State of
the Order.

The Committee on the State of the Order presented the following
report:

New Orleans, La., Feb. 6, 1918. 

To the M. W., the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, F. & A. M.: 

Brethren:

Your Committee on the State of the Order would report that we
heartily approve the earnest solicitude of the Grand Master in his
desire to facilitate our soldiers in receiving the degrees of our
Order, but our information is that Liberty Lodge U.D. was organized
with less than fifteen members and that Oliver Lodge, No. 84, the
nearest lodge, did not approve of same. Furthermore, the
dispensation was made to run to December 31, 1918, which is beyond
the following Annual Communication for this Grand Lodge.

For all these reasons your committee agree that the granting of the
dispensation was irregular and illegal and the same should be
recalled. This situation should be handled by Oliver Lodge, No. 84,
holding the necessary Special meetings to do the work. We append
the following resolution:

Resolved, That the dispensation granted to Liberty Lodge U. D. be
recalled by the Grand Lodge.

fraternally submitted,
L. E. THOMAS,
B. B. PURSER,
W. B. MORRISON

Committee.

On motion, the report of the committee was received and the
appended resolution was duly adopted.

Proc. Grand Lodge of Missouri, 1919, page 49 Review by
Correspondent of Proc. Louisiana, 1919.

He (G.M. George A. Treadwell) recalled the dispensation of a lodge
(Liberty Lodge U.D.) created, as we understand it, only to aid the
other lodges in Alexandria in conferring the multitude of degrees
requested by other Grand Jurisdictions for soldiers at the nearby
camp. He compensated this, however, by issuing a dispensation which
would seem to meet the exigency. (Quoting from G. M. Treadwell's
Annual Address): "The result of the visit was that I issued a
dispensation permitting Oliver Lodge, No. 84, and Curtis T. Hines
Lodge, No. 317, to initiate, pass and raise as many Candidates at
one and the same time as could be conveniently and properly
handled, to confer the second section of the Master Mason Degree,
when more than one Fellow Craft was raised, but the last in summary
manner, so-called, and to confer more than one degree upon
Candidates at one and the same Communication, all the above to
apply to work for other lodges only. I am glad to report that all
requests for degree work made by other jurisdictions have been
complied with, with very little delay, although since the last
session of the Grand Lodge, Oliver Lodge, No. 84, has conferred 363
degrees by courtesy and Curtis T. Hines Lodge, No 317, 64 degrees."

In 1922, we notice in the list of lodges in the Grand Lodge of
Louisiana, the following: " Alexandria, U.D. ", which would seem to
indicate that the brethren of Alexandria reversed their opinion as
to the need for an additional lodge within the city of Alexandria.

I give here part of a letter from Wor. Bro. John A. Davilla, Grand
Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, dated August 1, 1928:

John W. Armstrong was Grand Master during the year 1917 and that
after the constitution of Camp Beauregard, as the training camp,
just outside of Alexandria Oliver Lodge, No. 84 located at that
point, was working nightly with different shifts of officers
endeavoring to keep up with the heavy demands for courtesy work in
addition to their own.


This lodge had already absorbed Solomon Lodge, No. 220, on the
opposite side of Red River, and this work was centered upon

Oliver Lodge with only a little help from Curtis T. Hines Lodge No.
317, in the same parish, the location being not very distant.

Grand Master Armstrong visited Alexandria frequently and was
willing to grant a dispensation for a new lodge at that point, but
found that the officers and membership strongly in opposition to
such a step which they felt would create a rival lodge finally. The
Grand Master finally did grant a dispensation for Liberty Lodge
U.D., limiting its powers to the work of conferring degrees by
courtesy and fixing the time limit of the dispensation as December
31, 1918, which covered the term of his successor in office.

This Subjected him to some criticism at the hands of the Committee
on State of the Order and upon their recommendation, the
dispensation was recalled.

Ohio Military Lodge U.D.
For the Ohio Division of the U. S. Army.

IN presenting this paper on the abortive attempt of the Ohio Masons
in the Ohio Division of the United States Army to obtain from their
Grand Master and Grand Lodge a dispensation to open and conduct a
Military Lodge, I do so because it carries a lesson, that it may be
hoped will be a guide to the Grand Lodges of America if and when
the next national emergency arises.

The tragedy of Masonry during the World War lay in the
unpreparedness of almost every Grand Lodge to meet and surmount the
problems that a great war engenders. The fact that the usual
procedure has become crystallized into rigid form under the close
supervision of men who by age and temperament so often are not in
close contact with the heart-throb of the Craft in the times of
stress, the tenacity with which forms and traditions are held to,
and the slowness with which new departures can be made, result in
great hardship for the Craftsmen who in such times turn to their
fraternity for its sustaining power.

Ohio 's tragedy was due to many causes: to the opposition of a
Grand Master who personally could not see any use in the existence
of a Military Lodge within his Grand Jurisdiction; to the political
undercurrent that swept the Ohio Division while in the southern
cantonment, and which political upheaval swept the beloved General
John C. Speaks out of his command of that division, and at the same
time removed him from eligibility to serve as the first Senior
Warden in the proposed Ohio Military Lodge U.D.; to the movement of
the Ohio troops from its southern cantonment by the time the
machinery of the Grand Lodge had adjusted itself to the war-time
situation; and, finally, to the grave mistake the petitioners made
in nominating and naming for their first Master and Wardens, men
who held high military office in the division. This mistake was
carefully guarded against in the case of North Carolina, where a
Sergeant was named for the first Master of their Military Lodge. In
times of national emergency men holding high military rank are so
pressed with responsibilities and cares that in the nature of the
case it is impossible for them to give a Masonic lodge within their
command that attention that is vitally needed by the lodge. In
every ease during the past war where the Military Lodges took root
and grew strong, the Master and Wardens were officers, or enlisted
men, of the Junior Grades or at the most not above a regimental
commander's grade.

The story of the steps taken by the Ohio Masons to prepare and
present their case before their Grand Lodge are told in the
Proceedings of 1917 and 1918, together with letters which I have
received from officers of the Grand Lodge, and from Masons of
influence in the State of Ohio. Being an Ohio Mason myself, a Past
Master of an Ohio lodge, I have a special and personal interest in
this story, and am trying to get it into permanent form so that it
may be preserved among the other histories of military
organizations of Masonry during the war.

In the Proceedings of 1917, Grand Master Joel C. Clore declares in
his address to Grand Lodge:

I have received some informal requests for the establishment in the
State of Ohio of Military Lodges, sometimes called Traveling or
Army Lodges. I have answered these requests by stating that it
would not be conducive to the best interests of Freemasonry, in my
opinion to authorize such lodges. I have explained that the Grand
Master has no power in the premises, but that the initiative would
have to be taken up by the Grand Lodge. I am opposed to the idea no
proper place can be had for the meeting of a lodge under conditions
now existing in Europe where the men are engaged in actual
fighting. No proper safeguard can be thrown around a lodge of
Masons.

The fallacy of this line of reasoning is now, of course, apparent
to all Masons in the light of the histories of our Military Lodges
which have appeared in THE BUILDER. Such lodges were able to hold
regular meetings in Europe, in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and
Germany, to the happiness and welfare of the Craft serving in our
armed forces in Europe.

However, Grand Master Clore, in spite of his own personal
disapproval of Military Lodges, gave the information to the Grand
Lodge in 1917, whereupon steps were taken to meet and solve the
situation. The first step that was made is to be found in a
resolution prepared and presented to Grand Lodge by Past Grand
Master Charles J. Pretzman, ever an ardent friend of the soldier
Mason, and a believer in the value of a Military Lodge under proper
rules and regulations.


Worshipful Brother Pretzman offered the following resolution which
was promptly referred to the Committee on Charters and
Dispensations:

Resolved, That the incoming Grand Master be and is hereby
authorized to grant, in his discretion, a dispensation for an Army
or Traveling Lodge or Lodges upon such conditions and with such
limitations as to jurisdiction as in his judgment may be advisable,
and that all petitions prepared for that purpose and now in the
hands of the Brethren present, be referred to the Committee on
Charters and Dispensations.

This committee in due time brought its findings upon the floor of
the Grand Lodge, and by the mouth of Bro. Campbell M. Voorhees made
the following report:

Your Committee on Charters and Dispensations reports that it has
had under consideration the petition for a dispensation for a new
lodge with the Ohio Division of the United States Army, to be named
"Ohio Military Lodge U.D.", praying for a warrant or dispensation
to empower them to assemble as a legal body to discharge the duties
of Masonry in the several degrees of Entered Apprentice,
Fellowcraft and Master Mason in a regular and constitutional
manner, according to the ancient usages of the fraternity and the
laws and rules of this Grand Lodge, with Bro. Frank W. Hendley, a
Past Master of this Grand Jurisdiction, to be its first Master;
Bro. John C. Speaks, to be its first Senior Warden; and Bro William
V. McMakin to be its first Junior Warden. Said petition has been
signed by some fifty brethren, members of the Masonic lodges of
this Grand Jurisdiction, now in active military Service with the
said division, presented to this Grand Lodge, and referred to this
Committee on Charters and Dispensations, pursuant to resolution
duly adopted. This committee has carefully considered said petition
and the action of this Grand Lodge in reference to former petitions
for dispensations for Military Lodges, and recommends that a
dispensation be granted to our brethren with the Ohio Division of
the United States Army for a new lodge to be named "Ohio Military
Lodge U. D." under such general rules and regulations as this Grand
Lodge has heretofore adopted or may hereafter adopt, and upon the
payment of the fee prescribed by this Grand Lodge.

The Grand Lodge Proceedings goes on then to the discussion of the
rules to govern such Military Lodges, as follows:

By M. W. Bro. W. A. Belt:

Amendment to Section 3 of the Code.
To the Grand Lodge of Ohio F. & A. M.:

The undersigned hereby propose the following amendment to Section
3 of the Code so that Section 3, as amended, shall read as follows:

Sec. 3. Each subordinate lodge possesses the inherent right to
enact by-laws for its government, provided the same are not
inconsistent with the Constitution, By-Laws Rules and Regulations
of the Grand Lodge or the fundamental principles of Masonry.

And to that end that these shall be preserved inviolate, it is
hereby declared that no by-law of a subordinate lodge shall be of
any validity until approved by the Grand Lodge, provided that so
much of the by-laws of a subordinate lodge as relates to and fixes
the time of stated meetings thereof and the amount of annual dues,
which shall not be less than $2.00, may be altered or changed
without submitting the same to the Grand Lodge for its approval,
and further, provided, that where a lodge adopts the Uniform Code
of By-Laws recommended by this Grand Lodge, the Grand Master
approve them, and as a part of such Uniform By-Laws, a lodge may
provide for trustees and their election and such provision may be
approved or disapproved by the Grand Master.

Fraternally submitted,
LEVI C. GOODALE
IKE M. ROBINSON
LEWIS P. SCHAUS
C. G. BALLOU
W. A. BELT
F. B. WINTER
CAMPBELL M. VOORHEES
GEO. D. COPELAND

The copy of the rules and regulations above referred to it as
follows:

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR MILITARY LODGES.

The Committee on Charters and Dispensations having recommended that
Dispensations be granted to Military Lodges, the undersigned, the
Committee on Masonic Jurisprudence, respectfully report that they
have had the same under consideration and recommend the adoption of
the following rules and regulations.

1. Dispensations for Military Lodges may be granted by the Grand
Master upon the same petitions, certificates, and prerequisites as
are required for the establishment of civil Lodges, except that the
consent of other Lodges shall not be required, nor a Dimit from the
Lodge to which the petitioner belonged, but always provided that
said Dispensations shall in every case end with the present War,
and provided further, that such Lodges shall have no right to
confer degrees in any part of the United States or its
dependencies, but only in foreign countries.

2. Dispensations shall not be issued to any but Ohio Masons who are
members of Ohio Lodges.

3. No Military Lodge shall, on any pretense, initiate into Masonry
any inhabitant or sojourner in any town or place at which its
members may be stationed, or through which they may be marching, or
any person who does not, at the time, belong to the armed forces of
the United States, nor any period who at the time of his
petitioning or at the time of his enlistment or selection was not
eligible to petition an Ohio Lodge.

4 Every Military Lodge under the authority of the Grand Lodge of
Ohio shall so conduct itself as not to give offense to the Masonic
authorities in the country or place in which it may sojourn; never
losing sight of the duties it owes to the Grand Lodge of Ohio, to
which communication is ever to be made and all dues and fees
regularly transmitted.

5. In case of the death, removal, resignation, or permanent absence
of any officer of the Military Lodge, the Grand Master may supply
the vacancy.

6. Military Lodges shall make the same returns as civil lodges.

7. Any Brother joining a Military Lodge shall not thereby forfeit
his membership in the Lodge to which he formerly belonged, but such
joining shall operate to suspend his payment of dues to the Lodge
to which he formerly belonged and of the payment of Grand Lodge
dues by said Lodge for him.

8. At the close of the present war all members of such Miliary
Lodges who were Masons before their connection with the same, shall
immediately be restored to full membership in their respective
Lodges; all persons initiated by said Military Lodge and members
thereof at the close of the War shall receive certificates from the
Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Ohio which shall clothe them
with the same rights and privileges enjoyed by the holder of a
dimit.

9. At the close of the present war it shall be the duty of the
Master or other Officer having the Dispensation records, jewels,
papers, and other property of such Lodge in charge, to forthwith
deliver the same to the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Ohio.

The above is respectfully submitted. 
ALLEN ANDREWS, 
BARTON SMITH, 
O. P. SPERRA, 
F. S. HARMON, 
B. F. PERRY 
NELSON WILLIAMS, 
CHAS J. PRETZMAN.

With this action on the part of Grand Lodge, the way was open for
the presentation of petitions for Military Lodges within the Ohio
Division. But in the meanwhile he internal cleavages along military
lines had taken place and temporarily the matter was laid aside by
soldier Masons.

In the 1918 Proceedings of Grand Lodge we find two notations that
tell the final story of the Ohio attempt for a Field Lodge.

The Grand Master reported:

Notwithstanding the Grand Lodge at its last Annual Communication
authorized the Grand Master to grant Dispensation for Military
Lodges, none have been granted, for the reason that no petition has
been received for the same.

At the same communication, the Committee on Charters ad
Dispensations reported:

Inasmuch as petitioners for a Military Lodge failed to comply with
the rules thereof, and the Grand Master not having signed a
dispensation, the petitioners for same having removed to different
camps, we recommend that a note to that effect be made in the
minutes of this Grand Lodge and the papers in the case be retained
by the Grand Lodge.

The original papers accompanying the original petition for the
Military Lodge, not being in conformity with the proper form, had
been returned to the southern cantonment to the original
petitioners. In the meantime by the rearrangement of troops and
stations, many of the original signers had left the southern
cantonment and thus entirely new petitions would have to be made
out. But the time for the great move across the seas had come, and
no further opportunity was present for the Ohio Masons to prepare
and forward their petitions to the Grand Master.

Thus the opportunity for Ohio to have had a Field Lodge dissolved
into the air.

But this whole procedure has conducted to one excellent result. The
way has been prepared in Ohio for any further or future movements
by Ohio Military Masons to prepare their case and present it to
their Grand Lodge. Ohio has crystallized in concise form a set of
rules and regulations that will become, not only for her own
membership but for other Jurisdictions, that can be resuscitated in
time of national emergency, and rapidly set up an Emergent Lodge
for the comfort and care of her Masonic brethren serving their
nation in its armed forces.

The First Colorado Cavalry Lodge.

THE history is presented not as the record of an actuality, but as
a Military Lodge that existed only as a hope, and an attempt that
never attained fulfillment. Its story reveals a cross section of
the insurmountable obstacles which made it impossible for the Grand
Lodge of Colorado to complete the plans which it had put forward to
meet the needs of soldier Masons in the exigencies of war. It
points to the situation that will confront the Grand Lodges of
America should a like great emergency arise. Owing to the
organization of the national forces in time of need there are
states whose quota will be so small, relatively speaking, that
their identity as state troops will be merged in larger groupings
of men from other states. In such a case what should be the
procedure for a Grand Lodge to take when the petitions are received
from their members in the army for the forming of Military Lodges?

Shortly before the declaration of war by our President, in 1917,
the service men of Colorado found themselves gathered in the camps
in their state preparing for an intensive course of training for
war. As we would expect, the pride of Colorado rested in the
cavalry troops of their state. For what else should we look for in
the western country than men who had a natural love and aptitude
for the saddle. In these cavalry regiments appeared almost
immediately a desire on the part of the Masons enrolled to obtain
from their Grand Lodge permission to form and carry on a Military
Lodge. To show the attitude of mind on the part of the Grand Master
I will quote from the columns of THE BUILDER for December, 1917:

The following communication from M. Wor. Bro. L. D. Crain, then
Grand Master of Colorado:

In answer to your inquiry I desire to say that the Grand Lodge
delegated the right to the Grand Master to institute such Military
Lodges as in his judgment he might think were for the interest of
the Craft. Up to the present time no Dispensation has been issued
to such Lodges. There is, however, a movement on foot to organize
a Colorado Lodge in one of the Units now in the service of the
Government. There is one obstacle in granting a Military Lodge for
Colorado Masons; we are not sure that enough Colorado men will be
located in the same place, regiment or division, to support a
Lodge. It is a question which has not apparently been opened, if a
Military Lodge formed by the Grand Lodge of one State, can justly
take soldiers from another State in the Lodge. Without discussing
the point I will say I must be reasonably assured that enough
Colorado material will be available to form a Lodge and to maintain
it before I will look with favor upon the organization. As
mentioned before a Military Lodge is now forming in one of the
Camps, but no Dispensation has as yet been issued.

So much for the attitude of mind of the Grand Master. It displays
a fine discrimination and good judgment as to the situation that
confronted his Jurisdiction. But going back into the summer months,
in the Colorado Proceedings of the same year, we find:

The formation of a military lodge was authorized by the following:

Resolved, That this Grand Lodge hereby approves the issuance of
Dispensations by the Grand Master, at his discretion, for the
formation of Military Lodges to be formed by Master Masons in good
standing, residents of Colorado, and in the military service of the
United States; provided the said lodges shall be formed and
governed and shall meet, transact business, work and make reports
under such rules and regulations as may be formulated by the Grand
Master, which shall conform as near as the circumstances may permit
to the Book of Constitutions of this Grand Lodge.

This action on the part of the Grand Lodge was produced by the
reception of a petition from certain brethren within the ranks of
the first Colorado Cavalry, to-wit:

PETITION FOR DISPENSATION FOR A NEW LODGE,

Presented to the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M., of Colorado, September
18, 1917.

Camp Baldwin, Denver, Colorado, September 7, 1917.

To the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, Ancient, Free and Accepted
Masons of Colorado:

Your petitioners respectfully represent: That they are Master
Masons in good standing and soldiers in the First Colorado Cavalry
in the United States Service, soon to engage actively in war in
defense of the primal principle of Masonry-Democracy.

In this manner we will be deprived of our active participation in
Masonry, and its restraining influence and of the last honors of
Masonry to those who may not survive this acid test of their belief
in that principle.

It is impossible to form a permanent Lodge such as is contemplated
by the Grand Lodge Constitutions, owing to the provisions therein
concerning territorial jurisdictions. The history of Masonry is
full of instances where Brethren in the Army have been granted
special dispensations to hold Traveling Lodges with some of the
powers of regular Lodges, which could meet in Lodge capacity at or
near their camps or posts and perform some of the functions of
regular chartered Lodges.

It is unnecessary for your petitioners to dwell upon the wholesome
influences with which not only the members of such a Lodge, but
also all the members of the regiment would be surrounded by the
establishment of such an Army Lodge in the First Regiment of
Colorado Cavalry. Nor need we point out the service which would be
rendered by this Grand Lodge to the Colorado Soldier-Mason in the
amelioration of the vicissitudes of the soldier's life, not alone
by affording him opportunity to continue his life as a Mason, but
added thereto his life as a Mason under the jurisdiction of the
Grand Lodge of Colorado.

Such a Lodge indeed should be limited to members of the regiment
and as members of such regiment could not have opportunity to
obtain the Masonic Degrees at their stations, there would be no
conflict of jurisdiction with that of any other Grand Lodge.

The expenses incident to such a Lodge have been provided for by
pledges of donations to be paid by the petitioners signing this
petition, upon the Issuance or the Dispensation prayed for.

There is attached hereto the certificate of the Grand Lecturer of
the M. W. Grand Lodge of Colorado, as to the proficiency of the
Brethren nominated herein, to be Worshipful Master, Senior Warden
and Junior Warden of said Lodge.

Certificates of each of the petitioners whose names are signed
hereto, properly endorsed, certified by the Grand Secretary of the
M. W. Grand Lodge of Colorado, are presented herewith

We, therefore, pray that a Lodge be established by Dispensation in
the First Regiment of Colorado Cavalry with the powers of regularly
chartered Lodges, under such limitations as the Grand Lodge may
deem best.

We recommend that Brother William L. Hogg be appointed Worshipful
Master, Harry D. Smith Senior Warden, and Dean E. Martin, Junior
Warden of this Lodge, and that said Lodge be named "First Colorado
Cavalry Lodge," under Dispensation.

This petition was properly introduced into the business of the
communication of Grand Lodge in September of 1917, whereupon it was
referred to the Committee of Jurisprudence consisting of: George W.
Musser, Charles H. Dudley, and Robert M. Simons. This committee
reviewed the whole situation and in due time brought back to the
Grand Lodge session the following report:

Report of the Committee on Jurisprudence.

The Committee on Jurisprudence presented the following report
which, on motion of M. W. Brother George W. Musser, duly seconded,
was adopted:

To the M. W. Grand Lodge, A.F. & A. M., of Colorado:

Your Committee on Jurisprudence, to whom was referred the petition
of Brother William Leonard Hogg and others for a Dispensation for
the formation of a Military Lodge, to be known as "The First
Colorado Cavalry Lodge," respectfully report as follows:

That said petition be referred to the incoming Grand Master with
recommendation that the petition be granted and the Dispensation
issued upon presentation to the Grand Master of such evidences of
the good standing of the petitioners and other facts as may be
required by him.

We recommend the adoption of the following resolution:

"Resolved, That this Grand Lodge hereby approves the issuance of
Dispensations by the Grand Master, at his discretion, for the
formation of Military Lodges, to be formed by Master Masons in good
standing, residents of Colorado, and in the military Service of the
United States, provided the said Lodges shall be formed and
governed and shall meet, transact business, work and make reports
under such rules and regulations as may be formulated by the Grand
Master, which shall conform as near as the circumstances may permit
to the Book of Constitutions of this Grand Lodge."

Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE W. MUSSER
CHARLES H. DUDILEY
ROBERT M. SIMONS,
Committee

With this favorable consideration the brethren within the first
Cavalry set to work to realize their great masonic desire. But in
the meanwhile forces were at work that brought their anticipations
to nought. The War Department, in its broad and Comprehensive
policy of army organization found it necessary to dismount the
cavalry and to rearrange its component parts so that the first
Cavalry of Colorado was broken up into smaller units and lost its
identity. But a number of the brethren strove even with this
calamity to gather some action out of their ruined plans. The story
comes to us in official form as told in the Proceedings of 1918 of
Colorado. Grand Master L.D. Crain, in his address before the Annual
Communication of the Grand Lodge in 1918, refers to the situation
in the following words:

MILITARY LODGES

The Grand Lodge, at its last Annual Communication, authorized the
Grand Master to issue Dispensations to Military Lodges under such
regulations and requirements as might seem wise to him. Colorado
Masons in the Cavalry Service of the National Guard, which
organization was assimilated by the National Army, petitioned the
Grand Lodge for a Dispensation to form such a Lodge. This petition
was turned over to me with the instruction from the Grand Lodge as
given above. Before the proper steps could be taken to form this
Lodge, the Cavalry was ordered to California. Again, before the
organization was completed, this unit was entirely disbanded, its
members being assigned to various other branches of the Service. I
was then asked to issue my Dispensation to a "Colorado Military
Lodge" in place of a "Colorado Cavalry Lodge." This I agreed to do
under certain conditions. The conditions were as follows:

First, that I be assured that enough Colorado Masons would be in a
unit or division to maintain a lodge.

Second, that I be given reasonable assurance that there would be
sufficient Colorado men in such divisions to furnish candidates for
work, and that only such candidates would be considered by this
Lodge.

The reason for my second condition is this Even in time of war I
believe territorial jurisdiction should hold. If, therefore the
Military Lodges be permitted to assume jurisdiction over material
from another Grand Jurisdiction, then such Grand Jurisdiction
through its Military Lodge could claim jurisdiction over Colorado
soldiers, and this I could not accede to as their right.

The conditions imposed were such that the Brethren interested could
not comply with, and the Military Lodge was not formed.

I believe it is a question if the interest of the Craft will be
greatly or at all benefited by such Lodges. As Masonic Clubs
perhaps, they would contribute to the pleasure of the members. In
such cases purely social clubs composed of Masons would be quite as
useful.

In the Correspondence Report of Alabama for 1918, the writer takes
notice of the Colorado Proceedings and especially the Grand
Master's address and places in quotations these words found in that
address: "The Grand Master was empowered 'at his discretion' to
issue warrants." If you couple this with the closing words of that
same address as found above it may be that the brethren from
Colorado faced the same situation that confronted petitioners from
several other of the states where those in authority were not
predisposed toward the whole proposition of Military Lodges.

However that may be, our comrades from Colorado were unable to
realize their great desire for a lodge to accompany them into the
military service and were compelled to fall back upon their own
initiative and to take advantage of all the Masonic opportunities
that came across their paths wherever they found themselves during
the war.

We have presented this brief resume of the steps taken looking
toward the formation of a Colorado Military Lodge in order that as
complete a history as possible may be put on record of all that was
attempted along these lines during the war.

Closing with the same thought with which this article began, we
point out that to some of the Grand Lodges within states where
their National Guard is not large in numbers there will inevitably
come, through the plans of organization of the military forces of
the Government, this same splitting up of local military
organizations into smaller units attached to regiments and
divisions made up of soldiers from a number of states. Thus their
problem as to army lodges is immeasurably more difficult than is
the problem of the more thickly populated states.
