E. H. ADDINGTON

OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. 87
It serves only to bring before you the circumstances of the case.
The documents have been referred to the Committee on Appeals
and Grievances.
I had sincerely hoped that nothing would have arisen during
this year requiring the disciplining by me of any Masonic
Lodge, but there seems to be prevalent a careless regard for
the preservation of the moral character of our Institution. It
seems strange, indeed, that Masons should entertain such confused
ideas with regard to the moral qualifications of candidates.
By no sophistry can we ever be convinced that one who
is indicted for murder by a Grand Jury of this State is a person
'' under the tongue of good report.'' Therefore, when Lodges
fail to appreciate their moral duties, it is time that coercive
measures should be taken to direct them again in the right
path. It is far better to close our Masonic Lodges than to
permit them to confer the honors of Masonry upon unworthy
individuals. I trust you will approve my action, as I have the
consciousness of having performed my duty to you in the present
instance.
HOME.
WHICH MOTHEB LOVE AT HOME, OR CHILLY INSTITUTIONAL CARE f
WHICH ?
I plead guilty to having received no direct information of the
result of the work performed by the Committee on Widows and
Orphans Home, but I have ascertained that up to the last week in
December the sum of about $500 only had been turned over to
the Grand Secretary as the contribution obtained by solicitation
from the constituent Lodges in aid of this project. The Committee,
if that is all they show, has met with no great encouragement,
and the result seems to indicate in a material way that
the plan of building a* Home does not meet with the approval
of the majority of the Craft in this Grand Jurisdiction.
I cannot but commend the disinclination of Louisiana Masons
to inflict upon the distressed of our Masonic family the horror
and humiliation of an Asylum. Those magnificent monuments
of marble and stone hide behind their walls the sepulchral coldness
of organized Charity, a disguise of the true Charity which