THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

lodge, but are bound, on all questions that come before the Grand
Lodge,
truly to represent their lodge, and vote according to its instructions.
This doctrine is expressly laid down in the General Regulations, in the
following words: "The majority of every particular lodge, when
congregated, not else, shall have the privilege of giving instructions
to
their Master and Wardens, before the meeting of the Grand Chapter, or
Quarterly Communication; because the said officers are their
representatives, and are supposed to speak the sentiments of their
Brethren at the said Grand Lodge."[44]
Every lodge has the power to frame bye-laws for its own government,
provided they are not contrary to, nor inconsistent with, the general
regulations of the Grand Lodge; nor the landmarks of the order.[45] But
these bye-laws will not be valid, until they are submitted to and
approved
by the Grand Lodge. And this is the case, also, with every subsequent
alteration of them, which must in like manner be submitted to the Grand
Lodge for its approval.
A lodge has the right of suspending or excluding a member from his
membership in the lodge; but it has no power to expel him from the
rights
and privileges of Masonry, except with the consent of the Grand Lodge.
A
subordinate lodge tries its delinquent member, and, if guilty, declares
him expelled; but the sentence is of no force until the Grand Lodge,
under
whose jurisdiction it is working, has confirmed it. And it is optional
with the Grand Lodge to do so, or, as is frequently done, to reverse
the
decision and reinstate the Brother. Some of the lodges in this country
claim the right to expel, independently of the action of the Grand
Lodge;
but the claim is not valid. The very fact that an expulsion is a
penalty,
affecting the general relations of the punished party with the whole
fraternity, proves that its exercise never could, with propriety, be
intrusted to a body so circumscribed in its authority as a subordinate
lodge. Accordingly, the general practice of the fraternity is opposed
to
it; and therefore all expulsions are reported to the Grand Lodge, not
merely as matters of information, but that they may be confirmed by
that
body. The English Constitutions are explicit on this subject. "In the
Grand Lodge alone," they declare, "resides the power of erasing lodges
and
expelling Brethren from the craft, a power which it ought not to
delegate
to any subordinate authority in England." They allow, however, a
subordinate lodge to _exclude_ a member from the lodge; in which case
he
is furnished with a certificate of the circumstances of his exclusion,
and
then may join any other lodge that will accept him, after being made