                The Tyranny of One Man Hidden in a Box
                        by Edward M. Gair, MPS
      (Reprinted by permission of The Philalethes - August 1989)

     Back  in  1717,  at the first Grand Lodge in  England,  life  was 
simpler  in  the  upstairs room over the Goose  and  Gridiron  Tavern. 
Everyone  knew everyone else. Even London was small in  population.  A 
Candidate  for Masonry was know among the brethren before he  came  to 
the Lodge. So the good hearted brethren passed a rule that a vote on a 
new member should be unanimous.

     today, in the huge traffic snarl of the cities, no one knows  the 
Candidate. So in long, boring sessions we ballot and give one man  the 
full right to blackball and hide himself in a box. The tyranny of  one 
man  is  hidden  in secrecy and never to be disputed,  because  he  is 
supposed to know more than the unanimous vote of all his brethren. The 
good  name of the Candidate is made into a mystery by one  person  who 
cannot  be  known, nor could anyone discuss it with him if  they  knew 
him. No tyrant in history could ever work with such secrecy. Ideas  of 
democracy may change, but not the tyranny and secrecy of one man.

     Now even a Saint couldn't do that well in selecting a brother. Do 
we really think that we could select even twelve disciples. One  would 
be a Peter who would say he never knew you, one would be a Thomas  who 
would  doubt you, and then there is always a Judas who would sell  you 
for  thirty pieces of silver. Do we think we know so much about  human 
nature that we can select by the tyranny and secrecy of one man hiding 
in  that box? Do we really give him that much authority and  skip  the 
votes  of all the rest of us? King Solomon said that there was  wisdom 
in  a  multitude of counselors. Toss out the multitude; give  the  one 
vote a tyranny over all.

     Sixty or seventy men today spend a long evening balloting so  one 
man can drop black cubes. Who has the patience for this obvious  abuse 
of power? We bore ourselves with procedure until very few will come to 
the  Lodge to participate in spiteful hate and vicious  slander.  What 
could  be done in Committee takes the time of men who do not have  the 
time for one man's tyranny. Is this the spirit of the Masons who  gave 
us a government in America of a representative majority rule?

     In  New York the Grand Lodge recently voted for a rule  of  three 
black cubes. At least someone has admitted that one man should consult 
two  others. The three are not an elected form of government. No.  The 
three just secretly drop blackballs.

     In  Wisconsin the Grand Lodge tried to get the single  tyrant  to 
confer with the Master. It is an attempt to prevent the balloting on a 
man's  good  name. If a ballot comes up not clear, the  objector  must 
tell the Master why within thirty days, or the Master must declare the 
objection void and the petitioner elected. At least the confidence  of 
the Master is made to count for something.

     There  are also boring balloting methods on men who  are  already 
Master  Masons. Instead of welcoming our own brethren for  affiliation 
to  another Lodge we let the silent tyranny rule. There are fewer  and 
fewer affiliations and few Masons go through the unnecessary balloting 
on   their   good  name  as  Master  Masons  seeking   the   appendant 
organizations.  We have multiplied the appendant organizations  beyond 
their  capacity  to  exist  and  never  simplified  the  procedure  of 
welcoming  our  own Brother Masons. Why ballot on a man once he  is  a 
Master Mason?

     In California a study is being made of the history of a  majority 
rule in a representative form of government. Some who wrote the United 
States Constitution were Masons. America has an elected representative 
form  of government. committees meet and vote by a majority rule.  The 
Senate  never votes by the tyranny of a single cube on  nomination  by 
even a President for his candidate for a cabinet office.

     In  a Lodge we elect the Master, Senior and Junior Wardens  by  a 
majority  vote. Would it be possible that we could trust them to  vote 
on  Candidates by a majority vote? Could they constitute  an  Election 
Board  that would work with the Investigating Committee? The  majority 
vote  of  the Election Board could be held in secret  to  protect  the 
Candidate's  good  name.  No boring balloting of the  Lodge  would  be 
necessary.  Any  member  could attend the meeting on  request  of  the 
Master  and  present any objections without becoming a  tyrant  hiding 
behind a box.

     May  brotherly love prevail and along with it may we never  yield 
to an abuse of power against the unanimous vote of all the rest of the 
Brothers who want that Brotherly love to prevail.

     The  February  issue of "The Philalethes" has a  picture  of  the 
Jefferson monument in Washington D.C. on the cover.

     The words inside the monument above Jefferson's statue speak  out 
against the abuse of power. Nine of those who signed his words of  the 
Declaration of Independence were Masons.

               "I Have Sworn Upon The Altar Of God
               Eternal Vigilance Against All Forms
               Of Tyranny Over The Mind Of Man."
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