CLANDESTINE MASONRY
by Ralph Herbold    
    
    
    
Introduction

      Clandestine is an interesting word with a wide range of meanings. Any-
thing clandestine may be secret or concealed in a bad sense, unauthorized, ir-
regular, or surreptitious.

      Not referring to Masonry, a clandestine gathering is one held in secret
and perhaps for a malicious purpose. Among Roman Catholics, a clandestine
marriage is one at which no priest officiated.

      Among Masons, a clandestine Lodge is one whose origin was fraudulent
or one whose charter one time may have been regular but is no longer recognized
by competent authority.  Mackey says a clandestine Lodge is one constituted
without the consent of a Grand Lodge or a regular Lodge which continues working
after its charter has been revoked.

      A clandestine Mason is one who was made a Mason by fraud or one who
claims membership in a clandestine Lodge.

      For twenty years, the Grand Lodge of Chalifornia had a committee on
Clandestine Masonry but it was discontinued in 1947 on recommendation of Grand
Master John R. Moore.  One reason given was that having such a committee im-
plied that we maintained contact with clandestine Masonry and that clandestine
Masonry thus had an avenue through which to contact us. Actually, Grand Lodge
never did countenance any irregular Lodge, or any person clandestinely initiated
therein.

      At the 1946 Grand Masters' Conference, the Grand Master of Oregon re-
ported the results of a questionnaire on clandestine Masonry.  Of the fifty-seven
jurisdictions in the United States and Canada which he contacted, only four report-
ed the existence of Caucasian clandestine Masonry.  California, Arizona and Texas
were aware of Mexican clandestine Masonry.  Thirty-eight jurisdictions reported
Prince Hall Masons but agreed, in general, that this group gives them no trouble
and that nothing need be done about it, holding to the theory that if Freemasonry
is good for the Caucasian, it is also good for the Negro.

CLANDESTINE MASONRY
       PART I
  COLORED MASONRY

      No man has a right to belong to a Masonic Lodge, whatever his attain-
ments, rank or station may be.  Membership in a Lodge is a privilege granted
by unanimous vote.

      No man is prohibited from applying for membership in a Masonic Lodge
if he is a man, good and true, believing in God and a future existence, whatever
his origin, race, or creed.

      Many of us have sat in Lodge with Brethren from other lands who were
Moslems, Hindus, or Buddhists -- Brethren whose ancestors were American
Indians, Orientals, or Polynesians.  In every case, these Brethren were mem-
bers of Lodges working under the jurisdiction of a Grand Lodge recognized by the
Grand Lodge of California.

      Such recognition is not based upon race or color.  One of the invited guests
at the 1873 communication of the Grand Lodge of California was a Negro. (1) Fur-
thermore, our Grand Lodge recognizes Alpha Lodge No. 116 of Newark, New Jersey,
all of whose members are Negroes.

      The impact of Freemasonry on Western thought has been so significant that
men in many countries have formed organizations with rituals and ceremonies in
imitation of our own. A number of such groups may join in forming a Grand Body
not unlike our Grand Lodge.  If such an organization calls itself Masonic, we
refer to it as being clandestine, that is, fraudulent, irregular, or unrecognized.

      The most wide-spread of all such organizations in this country is Negro
Masonry.  The Los Angeles telephone directory lists six  Grand Lodges and a
number of local Lodges with names and numbers not found in the roster of Calif-
ornia Lodges.  Many of these groups imitate Freemasonry openly and have their
Grand Lodges, Temples, Eastem Star Chapters, and Shrine.

      The oldest and most respected of them all is Prince Hall Masonry.  Its
origin dates back to 1778 when Prince Hall Masons claim Prince Hall and several
other Negroes were made Masons in a military Lodge in Boston.

      Prince Hall Masonry is considered by some people to be regular in every
respect.  Others regard it as irregular and even as fraudulent.  One historian
completely sells you on his version of what happened and then another historian
or scholar brings evidence which completely disillusions you or leaves you
floundering in a sea of uncertainty.  We need not necessarily question the state-
ment that "if Masonry is good for the Caucasian, it is also good for the Negro,"
but we may have to leave the question of regularity unsolved.

      On March 6, 1778, it appears that Prince Hall (Prince is his name and
not a title) and fourteen other colored men were "made" Masons by Sergeant John
Batt, a deserter from the British Army.  Researchers have been unable to come up
with a Masonic background for John Batt and it is the considered opinion of stu-
dents of this phase of Masonry that Batt picked up a Masonic expose and from
the information therein convinced Prince Hall and his fourteen companions that
he was qualified to confer the degrees upon them. African Lodge #1 was organ-
ized by an assembly of unaffiliated Negro "Masons" in Boston at a later date.

      The Prince Hall yearbook of 1955 says Prince Hall was born in the British
West Indies, his father being an Englishman and his mother a free colored woman
of French extraction. From the Price Notarial Records, 1769-72 (Boston, Massa-
chusetts) we find that Prince Hall was given his freedom from slavery on the
ninth day of April 1770, having been a slave 21 years.

      Now, let us consider the circumstances upon which Prince Hall Masonry
bases its claim for regularity of origin. On March 2 and June 30, 1784, Prince
Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England (Modern) for a charter which was
issued September 29, 1784 but, due to delays, was not received until April 29,
1787.

      On May 6, 1787, by virtue of this charter, African Lodge #459 was consti-
tuted and began its work as a Masonic body.  On June 24, 1791, a General Assemb-
ly of Colored Masons met in Mason's Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, and formed
African Grand Lodge with Prince Hall as its first Grand Master.  Price Hall died in
1807, and 1847 the name of the Grand Lodge was changed to Prince Hall Grand
Lodge. At the present time (1964) Prince Hall Masonry has 38 Grand Lodges in the
United States, many of which have chartered Lodges in States not able to support a
Grand Lodge of their own.

      In 1876, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts repudiated Prince Hall Masonry,
saying that their charter was never recognized by any Lodge in Massachusetts and
emphasizing that the 1784 date of the charter was after the date of Masonic inde-
pendence, 1777, and after the treaty of peace with England in 1783.  But, in 1947
the Massachusetts Grand Lodge published a pamphlet "Negro Freemasonry" in
which the regularity of Prince Hall Masonry was discussed.  The following state-
ment in that pamphlet created quite a furor among other Grand Lodges:  "Thus for
170 years African Lodge and its successors have been functioning in Massachusetts
in good faith and with justifiable belief that their origin and procedure were as
regular and legitimate as we have thought ours to be."  The word "justifiable"
would seem to indicate that the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts considered Prince
Hall Masonry to be regular.

      Another point brought out in this pamphlet was that African Lodge #459,
later renumbered #370, was dropped from the roll of the United Grand Lodge of
England when it revised its roll in 1813 and omitted those which had gone out of
business or had become attached to some other Grand Lodge.  This pamphlet also
stated that this had no effect upon the legitimacy or standing of any erased Lodge,
including African Lodge, as it was merely one of seventy United States Lodges
dropped in the revision.  However, a request by Brother Ralph Herbold addressed
to the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England received the follow-
ing reply:  "In reply to your enquiry of April 2nd (1960), addressed to the Grand
Secretary, I write to inform you that African Lodge (warranted at Boston in 1784
as Lodge No. 459 on the roll of the "Modern" Grand Lodge of England) was dropped
from the roll of the United Grand Lodge at the time of its formation in 1813 -
presumably for non-payment of dues since the year 1798 and for failure to com-
municate with Grand Lodge since that date"

      Massachusetts also brought out that in view of the existing social conditions
in our country, it is advisable for the official and organized activities of white and
colored Freemasons to proceed in parallel lines, but organically separate and
without mutually embarrassing demands or commitments.

      Immediately following the declaration by the Massachusetts Grand Lodge
in 1947, the correspondence really flew between Samuel H. Wragg, Grand Master
of Masons of Massachusetts and John R. Moore, Grand Master of Masons of Cali-
fornia.

      Grand Master Moore contended that, by its action in recognizing Prince
Hall Freemasonry as regular and legitimate, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts
did violence to and invaded the rights and sovereignty of the Grand Lodge of Cali-
fornia and that the comity and friendly relations theretofore existing between the
two Grand Lodges had been severely strained.  In other words, Brother Moore's
position was that the action of Massachusetts in declaring Prince Hall Masonry
regular was, in fact, a recognition, for we recognize only what we consider to be
regular and do not recognize that which we do not consider to be regular.  This
would mean that the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was recognizing Prince Hall
Masonry.

      Massachusetts countered with the statement that they were referring to
Prince Hall Masonry only in Massachusetts.  Prince Hall Masonry, however,
thought otherwise, as shown by the following quotation:  "Archie W. Herbert,
Worshipful Master of Guardian Lodge #50 F&AM Prince Hall Affiliation, was
recently honored by being elected president of the Masters and Wardens Associ-
ation of the Prince Hall Masons of Los Angeles.  In his new office, he has been
authorized by Most Worshipful George H. Vaughn, Grand Master of the Most
Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the State of California and Jurisdiction,
to endeavor to bring to the front information recently forwarded to this body from
the files of the Grand Lodge of the State of Massachusetts.  This information posi-
tively establishes the Prince Ha11 Masonic family as orthodox and duly chartered
in its endeavors to fulfill the pre-established modes of Masonic procedure in for-
warding the cause of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. (2)

      The last official action of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge concerning Prince
Hall Masonry was-in 1949 when they rescinded the vote of the 1947 Grand Lodge.

     There are many Prince Hall Lodges in California and they consider them-
selves to be regular.  They regard all other Negro Masonic bodies clandestine.
Since we call Prince Hall Masonry clandestine, we could consider these other
bodies clandestine, clandestine Lodges.  These Prince Hall Masons are proud of
their reputation as regular Masons, as distinguished from the other irregular
colored Masons.  One Prince Hall Mason put it nicely when he said that "we three-
letter Masons won't ask anyone to join our Lodge as they must see the goodness in
us and want to be one of us".  The word three-letter refers to the designation
F&AM as opposed to the AF&AM which they call four-letter Masonry.

      They do something about it.  A recent issue of the Prince Hall Masonic
Digest published reports from Kansas, Connecticut, Georgia, and Kentucky of
their success in putting bogus Masons out of business by Court action.  The
Spring 1961 issue of the Royal Arch Mason tells of a Court case in Connecticut
in which 13 so-called Negro Masonic groups were barred from using the name
"Masons" or affiliate titles and from using the insignia, symbols, and rituals.
The suit was instituted by a Prince Hall group.

      In summing up this section, we could do no better for the balancing of
our thoughts than to quote our Brother Rudyard Kipling who, through his associ-
ations in India, recognized the true meaning of tolerance and Universal Brother-
hood.

God gave the Hyssop and Cedar their place -
    Also the Bramble, the Fig and the Thorn -
But that is no reason to black a man's face
Because he is not what he hasn't been born.
And, as touching the Temple, I hold and profess
    We are Fellow-Craftsmen, no more and no less.
The Quarries are hotter than Hiram's forge,
  No one is safe from the dog-whips' reach


It's mostly snowing up Lebanon Gorge,
    And it's always blowing off Joppa beach;
But once in so often, the messenger brings
    Solomon's mandate:  "Forget these things!
Brother to beggars and Fellow to Kings,
    Companion of Princes - forget these things!
Fellow-Craftsmen, forget these things !

(1) 1873 California Grand Lodge Proceedings, page 25
    1848 California Grand Lodge Proceedings, page 38

(2) 1948 California Grand Lodge Proceedings, Page 38.



CLANDESTINE MASONRY

     PART II

 Women in Masonry

      One of the oldest landmarks of our craft is that a Mason must be a man,
free born and of age.

      A brochure for enquirers titled "Co-Masonry" published by the American
Federation of Human Rights, which, incidentally is the name that the Co-Masonic
Lodges go by, has the following comments to make on this landmark:

      "It is not a question of considering whether women should be admitted -
they are already inside the barriers.  The question of today then is not 'can women
be entrusted with the Masonic secrets' for they have them.  The question is whether
it is just and wise to acknowledge their claims, as is being done in every walk of
life, or whether we should continue to brand them as clandestine.  What really con-
cerns every honest man is whether we are acting justly in refusing to permit our
mothers, sisters and wives to benefit from the spiritual and social help we our-
selves derive from Free-masonry.  Remember, there may be more than one solution
of the problem and it is not necessarily the case, even if we admit that women are
entitled to enjoy these privileges, that we are bound to admit women to our Lodges."

      The Origin of this Co-Masonic order can be traced back to 1882 when Marie
DeRaisme, a distinguished French lady, was made a Mason in a regular Lodge,
under the Symbolic Grand Lodge of France, at LePecq near Paris.  As a result of this
action, the Lodge lost its charter.

      In 1893, Dr. Georges Martin, a French Senator and ardent feminist, along
with Marie DeRaisme and the Master of the Lodge which made her a Mason,
organized Human Rights Lodge #1, which became the Mother Lodge of the Co-
Masonic order.  Lodges followed in Switzerland in 1896, England and South Amer-
ica in 1902, India and Pennsylvania in 1903, Holland in 1905, Italy in 1906 and
by 1936 they had over 700 Lodges.

      "The Hidden Life of Freemasonry" by C.V. Leadbeater, justificies Co-
Masonry by referring to the Buddhist and theosophist theory of reincarnation that
Masonry is in the soul and not the body and if a man who is a Mason dies and re-
turns in his next reincarnation as a woman, that is no basis upon which to deny that
person Freemasonry.

      In reading several of their books on symbolism and ceremonies, it is found
that their ritual is much the same as ours, and, due to this reincarnation and a
clairvoyant background, they have a distinct advantage over us in research work
on Masonic symbolism.  This same author, C.W. Leadbeater, states that in
being initiated into Freemasonry, he found nothing new, as he remembered going
through a similar ceremony in similar surroundings about 6000 years ago in Egypt.

      To illustrate this point we quote from the previously mentioned "Hidden
Life in Freemasonry"; using only excerpts from a detailed seven page description
of the pillars on the porch of King Solomon's Temple:

     "We find various descriptions of these columns (or pillars) given in the
Christian scriptures. A description is also given by the Jewish historian
Josephus, and another may be found in Mackay's "Lexicon of Freemasonry."
These accounts differ in various respects, and the details given are so confused
that Masonic writers are by no means in agreement as to any but the chief
features.  I therefore thought it best to take the trouble to make a clarvoyant
investigation.
       
     "At the back of each pillar, so that they were not seen at all from the
front, were three small doors, one above the other, so that part of the pillar
may be thought of as divided into safes, in which archives, books of the law
and other documents were kept.

     Superimposed upon the network is a rather curious decoration of chains,
hanging in festoons, and there are seven rows of these festoons one below the
other.  Each loop of chain consists of seven links, and in each came the central
link of the chain which is the largest and heaviest, and the links diminish in size
and weight as they rise towards the end of the loop.

     "All this, we are told, was the work of (H.A.) a widow's son of Naphtali.

     "It is to be understood that all this varied ornamentation was not arranged
in basso-relief, as would be expected in a casting; on the contrary it stood out
boldly from the face of the pillar."

     California had its share of Co-Masonic activity which was high-lighted
during the 1930s when a man by the name of Goazion, a member of a Lodge under
the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of France went up and down the State visiting
Lodges and inducing men and their wives to join this group which had its head-
quarters in Larkspur, Colorado.  The Grand Secretary (Harry Bundy) of the Grand
Lodge of Colorado writes that:  "A protest from some of the officers of the Grand
Lodge of California to Colorado for allowing a clandestine organization to operate
in their jurisdiction brought the rather tart statement, as I now see it in looking
at our files, to the fact that if they would stop allowing this man to proselyte we
might be able to do something about stopping the spread of the organization
throughout the rest of the country."

     The Grand Secretary of Colorado also writes that the Co-Masonic Lodges,
as far as he can learn, are mainly in the Great Lakes area and along the North-
east Coast and into California, Mexico, Central and South America, adding that
some of the Mexican Grand Lodges worked closely with the Co-Masonic Lodges,
even allowing inter-visitation and the use of their temples.

     In 1934 the Grand Lodge of California Committee on Clandestine Masonry
reported an American Federation of Human Rights Co-Masonic Lodge meeting at
Hollywood Boulevard and Serrano moving to a small room in the premises of an
independent Catholic Church, also in Hollywood.

     A recent Co-Masonic bulletin from their headquarters in Colorado reports
their Grand Master visiting Lodges in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ojai and also
reports the formation of a new Royal Arch Chapter in Seattle in 1958.

      The Druid Hall in San Francisco, just around the corner from the Masonic
Temple at 25 Van Ness Boulevard is the meeting place of a number of Masonic
organizations and also lists on the bulletin board the American Federation of
Human Rights.

     The California Grand Lodge Committee on Clandestine Masonry reported
in 1936 that they had located a school known as "Woman's Order of Esoteric
Masonry," which was incorporated in 1915 by Dr. Harriet L. Henderson for the
purpose of studying the work done in Masonic Lodges but making no attempt to
organize Lodges.

      Along this same line there is reported "The Honorable Fraternity of
Ancient Freemasons" formed in England in 1913 which is composed entirely of
women.  They claim to work the same as the Grand Lodge of England and also
claim a large membership.  The "Weekly Illustrated" of December 1938, printed
in London, carried a large spread of pictures relative to the Grand Lodge officers
and the regalia used, stating that the Grand Master, a woman of course, was
elected to that post for life.

     There are stories of women being made Masons in regular Lodges but they
can be generally discounted.  The qualification in all regular Lodges that a
Mason must be a man would make such an instance irregular and would automatic-
ally make such a Mason an irregular Mason.

     The most persistent of these stories and one that some credence could be
given to is the story of Mrs. Richard Aldworth of Ireland, who was Elisabeth St.
Ledger at the time this event took place.

     The story goes that during some alterations to the family mansion she was
able to conceal herself in a place to observe the Lodge meetings held there.  The
Tiler apprehended her as she was leaving. After consultation it was decided to
confer upon her the first and second degrees at that time, about 1710, and since
there was no third degree it could be said she received all the light that could
then be conferred.

CLANDESTINE  MASONRY

PART  3

OTHER  CLANDESTINE  MASONRIES

      This classification could cover a "multitude of sins", so we shall try to
enumerate a few of the more interesting cases.

      We can start close at home where we have an excellent example of a clan-
destine Lodge becoming regular in Los Angeles.  Our own Vallee de France Lodge
was originally chartered by some obscure body in Louisiana and in 1892 another
charter was issued to it by the Grande Lodge/Symbolique Ecossaise/of France.
Under the American Rule it was a clandestine Lodge and the Grand Lodge of
California forbade inter-visitation between its members and ours.  In 1895 it
surrendered its French charter and in 1897 it received its charter from our Grand
Lodge and became a regular California Lodge.

      There were trying times in the Masonic history of the Hawaiian Islands in
the 1850's.  Peace was restored at the 1860 communication of our Grand Lodge
when Lodge le Progres de l'Oceanie was made regular after having been declared
clandestine in 1856.  For interesting reading, it is recommended that you read
this story in One Hundred Years of Freemasonry in California.

      Probably the outstanding charlatan to appear on the American Masonic
scene was Matthew McBlain Thomson.  According to his own story, he was made
a Mason in 1874 in Scotland, being a member of three lodges there.  This would
show him to be an enthusiastic Mason.  He apparently did not lose this enthusiasm
when he came to this country for he affiliated with a Lodge in Idaho and served as
an officer several times, finally becoming Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge in 1901.

      About 1906, Thomson saw great possibilities for personal gain in our Fra-
ternity.  He claimed that he had all there was or ever was in Masonry and branded
all the regular Masonic bodies as irregular.

      To substantiate this claim of irregularity, he maintained that Grand Lodges
must be formed from above and not from below.  For example, California Grand
Lodge was formed by three Lodges banding together, which would be formation
from below.  He maintained that only another Grand Lodge could form a Grand
Lodge.  This would be from above.  As the Grand Lodges in the thirteen were
formed from Lodges, this automatically made them irregular in his eyes.  As
other Grand Lodges in the United States were not only formed from Lodges char-
tered by these so-called irregular Lodges but were formed from below, he could
find no regularity in our Grand Lodges.

      His claim for regularity in the work of the first three degrees came
through the Supreme Council of Louisiana which he traced back to Kilwinning
Lodge #0 of Scotland by dubious channels.  What he did not disclose was that
during the time his organization was flourishing, this Supreme Council of Louisi-
ana was a Creole or Negro Grand Lodge.  His claim for regularity in the higher
numbered degrees was through the Scotland Grand Council of Rites, also an
apparent brain child of his own, for he helped to organize it in Scotland in 1880
and which, at the time of his trial in 1922, still had less than 50 members.  The
only apparent business of this Scotland Grand Council of Rites was the printing
of diplomas for the Thomson organization.  They apparently had a flourishing
business for this same Grand Council of Rites controlled the 90 degrees of the
Supreme Council of the Rite of Mizraim, for sale by Thomson;  the 96 degrees
of the Egyptian Masonic Rite of Memphis, also for sale by Thomson;  the 4th
through the 33rd degrees of the Scottish Rite, also for sale by Thomson;  and the
Oriental Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also for sale by Thomson.  In
addition, it controlled other miscellaneous bodies, including the Royal Order of
Scotland and the Adoptive Order of the Eastern Star, but he did little with this
latter group.  The Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Scotland appeared at
the Thomson Trial and testified that these various organizations were clandestine
and that Thomson, himself, had been expelled from Masonry in Scotland.

      Thomson's members gave the Grand Lodge of Utah a lot of trouble when
they built their temple just a block away from his Grand Lodge building in Salt
Lake City.  To this day, widows of these fraudulent members come for relief
to the Grand Lodge office with fancy patents and diplomas.

      His method of "doing business" was to hire organizers who would go into
a town and put ads in the newspapers announcing that they were looking for men
who were interested in receiving the degrees of Masonry.  The "customers' were
then shown an assortment of charters, diplomas, and sundry certificates, and
were sold the first three degrees for a usual price of $35, of which $20 went to
the organizer and $15 to the American Masonic Federation, Thomson's organi-
zation.  They were sold additional degrees, according to their financial ability,
which might include the complete available stock of 219 degrees.

      Thomson's organization spread over most of the United States before Court
action put an end to it in 1922 for using the mails to defraud.  This is an impor-
tant point, for fraud seems to be the only basis upon which such organizations can
be eliminated.

      The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania has been compelled several times to go
to Court against clandestine groups, usually formed by persons who had been
rejected.  The most recent occasion was in 1944.  The defendants in this case
were a spurious group operating under charter from the Grand Orient of Spain,
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, dated 1893.  These fellows sold the 32 degrees
for $350, with the entire ceremony taking place in an office in less than an hour.
One witness testified that he,  a Roman Catholic, was made a Mason in order to
obtain a government contract that could be given only to a Mason.


      The success of this trial undoubtedly was due to the careful preparation
made by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and the Supreme Council 33 Northern
Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite.  The Sovereign Grand Commander,
Melvin Johnson, a Past Grand Master of Massachusetts, testified as to the history,
traditions, laws, and landmarks of Freemasonry in America.  He delineated the
growth and extent of the written and unwritten law which constitute Masonic juris-
prudence.  His convincing interpretation held the Court, the visiting Judges, and
members of the bar, and even the defendants themselves,  spellbound.  Even the
attorneys for the defense were at a loss as to how to cross-examine him.  The
attorney for the plaintiffs remarked,  "Although it took a whole day to do it, Dr.
Johnson has sealed the fate of fakers and charlatans in Freemasonry for many
years  to  come".

      We occasionally hear about Chinese Masonic Lodges in California, but it
is generally understood that these "Lodges" are not Masonic in character but
rather clubs of some sort, including the whole family and even small children as
members.  It is interesting to note that there are Chinese Brethren in some of
our Lodges in California.  Brother Fong Q. Jing was Master of Confidence,  Lodge
#203  of Castroville in 1946 and 1947.  He was the first native Chinese ever to
serve as Master of a Masonic Lodge in California.

      Mexican and Filipino Lodges have been very active at times, as reported
by our Grand Lodge Committee on Clandestine Masonry.  This committee had
records of two Mexican and three Filipino Grand Lodges having up to 20 consti-
tuent Lodges each.  It is especially interesting to note that his committee repor-
ted in 1939 the formation of Academia Masonica in Los Angeles, which was a
research Lodge for Mexican and Filipino Masons.

      Our own Grand Lodge has taken great strides in meeting the need for
Masonic intercourse by fostering Lodges whose membership consists principally
of members of these groups.  These Lodges are Maya No. 793 and Tila Pass No.
797, both in Los Angeles.

      The recently formed Grand Lodge of Japan had difficulty in gaining recog-
nition.  For a short time, the Japanese Lodges were irregular as far as we were
concerned.  There was some confusion in the manner of their withdrawal from
the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines.  During the negotiations
leading to the organization of the Grand Lodge of Japan, other Grand Lodges with-
held recognition until the Grand Lodge of the Philippines expressed its approval.

      Freemasonry has had a long and interesting history.  It has been exposed,
attacked, imitated and copied.  Those who would dictate the lives and control the
minds of men see in Masonry their bitterest enemy.  Those who seek truth and
freedom hold it in high esteem.  That other groups should try to imitate its forms
and ceremonies is, in fact, an evidence of its continuing impact upon society.
Exposures have never revealed our inner secrets.  When tyrants and dictators
have had their day, Freemasonry will still survive.  Let us not be harsh and
critical of clandestine bodies.  Some of them, of course, may hold us up to ridi-
cule, but most of them are doing their best to live up to the high ideals which we,
ourselves, can never quite attain.


