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

also founded in reason. If the committee, after a due inquiry into the
character of the applicant, find the result so disadvantageous to him
as
to induce them to make an unfavorable report on his application, it is
to
be presumed that on a ballot they would vote against his admission, and
as
their votes alone would be sufficient to reject him, it is held
unnecessary to resort in such a case to the supererogatory ordeal of
the
ballot. It would, indeed, be an anomalous proceeding, and one which
would
reflect great discredit on the motives and conduct of a committee of
inquiry, were its members first to report against the reception of a
candidate, and then, immediately afterwards, to vote in favor of his
petition. The lodges will not suppose, for the honor of their
committees,
that such a proceeding will take place, and accordingly the unfavorable
report of the committee is always to be considered as a rejection.
Another reason for this regulation seems to be this. The fifth General
Regulation declares that no Lodge should ever make a Mason without "due
inquiry" into his character, and as the duty of making this inquiry is
entrusted to a competent committee, when that committee has reported
that
the applicant is unworthy to be made a Mason, it would certainly appear
to
militate against the spirit, if not the letter, of the regulation, for
the
lodge, notwithstanding this report, to enter into a ballot on the
petition.
But should the committee of investigation report favorably, the lodge
will
then proceed to a ballot for the candidate; but, as this forms a
separate
and important step in the process of "making Masons," I shall make it
the
subject of a distinct section.
Section VI.
_Of Balloting for Candidates._
The Thirty-nine Regulations do not explicitly prescribe the ballot-box
as
the proper mode of testing the opinion of the lodge on the merits of a
petition for initiation. The sixth regulation simply says that the
consent
of the members is to be "formally asked by the Master; and they are to
signify their assent or dissent _in their own prudent way_ either
virtually or in form, but with unanimity." Almost universal usage has,
however, sanctioned the ballot box and the use of black and white balls
as