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

The whole spirit and tenor of the General Regulations, as well as the
uniform usage of the craft, sustain the doctrine, that when a Mason is
initiated in a lodge, he has the right, by signing the bye-laws, to
become a member without the necessity of submitting to another ballot.
In
the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of New York, this principle is
asserted to be one of the ancient landmarks, and is announced in the
following words: "Initiation makes a man a Mason; but he must receive
the
Master's degree, and sign the bye-laws before he becomes a member of
the
lodge."[80] If the doctrine be not exactly a landmark (which I confess
I
am not quite prepared to admit), it comes to us almost clothed with the
authority of one, from the sanction of universal and uninterrupted
usage.
How long before he loses this right by a _non-user_, or neglect to
avail
himself of it, is, I presume, a question to be settled by local
authority.
A lodge, or a Grand Lodge, may affix the period according to its
discretion; but the general custom is, to require a signature of the
bye-laws, and a consequent enrollment in the lodge, within three months
after receiving the third degree. Should a Mason neglect to avail
himself
of his privilege, he forfeits it (unless, upon sufficient cause, he is
excused by the lodge), and must submit to a ballot.
The reason for such a law is evident. If a Mason does not at once unite
himself with the lodge in which he was raised, but permits an extended
period of time to elapse, there is no certainty that his character or
habits may not have changed, and that he may not have become, since his
initiation, unworthy of affiliation. Under the general law, it is,
therefore, necessary that he should in such case submit to the usual
probation of one month, and an investigation of his qualifications by a
committee, as well as a ballot by the members.
But there are other privileges also connected with this right of
membership. A profane is required to apply for initiation to the lodge
nearest his place of residence, and, if there rejected, can never in
future apply to any other lodge. But the rule is different with respect
to
the application of a Master Mason for membership.
A Master Mason is not restricted in his privilege of application for
membership within any geographical limits. All that is required of him
is,
that he should be an affiliated Mason; that is, that he should be a
contributing member of a lodge, without any reference to its peculiar
locality, whether near to or distant from his place of residence. The
Old
Charges simply prescribe, that every Mason ought to belong to a lodge.
A
Mason, therefore, strictly complies with this regulation, when he
unites