SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.VIII September, 1930 No.9
I VOUCH FOR HIM
by: Unknown
To vouch for a Mason is, Masonically, to say to the brother to whom
you are introducing the one you are vouching for: "I know that
Bother J.D. (John Doe) is a Master Mason."
By implication it means (1) that the brother doing the vouching has
sat in open lodge with the brother being vouched for: or (2) that the
brother vouching has subjected the brother vouched for to a strict
trial and due examination: or (3) that the brother vouching has
received an avouchment of another brother he knows to be a Master
Mason, that the brother now vouched for is known to "Him" as a Master
Mason.
In some jurisdictions Grand Lodges have decided that no brother may
undertake a private examination of any man representing himself as a
brother without orders from the Worshipful Master of his lodge, or the
Grand Master. In these Jurisdictions it is held that the Worshipful
Master is solely responsible for the proper purging of his lodge, and
that, in consequence, he and only he has the right to select the
committee which shall examine a stranger. In such Jurisdictions only
the Master (or the Grand Master) may decide who is competent and who
is not competent to examine a visitor for entrance into his lodge.
Some Jurisdictions have ruled that no "second-hand" avouchment is
permissible - that "A) can vouch for "B" only if he has sat in open
lodge with him, with the exception, of course, that the members of a
properly qualified and appointed committee may vouch for the brother
they have examined if he has proved himself to be a Master Mason.
Avouchment is a very important matter; much more important than
appears upon the surface. It demands, and should receive, the
earnest thought of all officers of the lodge. The "good and
wholesome instruction" which a Master is charged to give, or cause to
be given to his brethren may be well concerned, occasionally, with
this vital matter.
The number of men who have never taken the degrees who try to get
into Masonic lodges is very small. Nevertheless, there have been,
are, and doubtless will be such men; men without principle or honor;
"eavesdroppers" who have heard what was not intended for their ears,
or men who have become "book Masons" by the study of some of the
exposes of Masonry which may still be found in some libraries, and
which they deem to set forth the correct ritual.
However few in number these importers may be, they must be strictly
guarded against. No such crook desires to work his way into a
Masonic lodge for any other purpose than to obtain credit for being a
Master Mason, and, later, to defraud some of the brethren with whom
he thus hopes to sit in lodge.
Far more dangerous than the "eavesdropper" is the "cowan." In these
modern days the "cowan" is the man who has been legally raised but
who has been dropped N.P.D., or suspended or expelled after a Masonic
trial; or he is an Entered Apprentice, or Fellowcraft, whose further
advancement has been stopped for cause.
If such be evilly disposed he may - and has been known to - forge a
good standing card to use as credentials. Or he may find a lost card
and assume the identity of the name upon it. Some brethren are so
unwise as to keep their good standing cards from year to year as an
interesting collection. If such a collection be stolen, it may be
the innocent means of letting loose upon the Fraternity a whole flock
of designing cowans, since dates upon such cards are changed with
little difficulty. It is an excellent Masonic rule to destroy last
year’s card as soon as you new one arrives. Loss of a current card
should be immediately reported to the Grand Secretary, as well as to
the Master of the Lodge. The Grand Secretary will probably notify
all constituent lodges to be on the lookout for any person presenting
that lost card.
In many Jurisdictions Masters may not authorize the examination of
any would-be visitor who cannot produce credentials. In other
Jurisdictions it is considered sufficient if some known brother
vouches for the credibility of the would-be visitor even if he has no
credentials. Some Jurisdictions require Masters to assure themselves
that the lodge from which the visitor purports to come is a "just and
legally constituted lodge" under some recognized Grand Lodge.
Particularly, Jurisdictions which are afflicted with clandestine
Masons are apt to be strict in this regard. All Jurisdictions should
be especially strict with putative brethren who hail from
Jurisdictions where clandestine Masonry is know to flourish.
Unless forbidden by Grand Lodge, "A" may accept the avouchment of "B"
that he has sat in lodge with "C", and therefore knows "C" to be a
Master Mason. But "A" is not obliged to accept this avouchment. "A"
may have no Masonic confidence in "B". He may believe that "B" has
not been to lodge for a decade and distrusts his memory as to his
sitting in lodge with "C". No Masonic authority has the power to
compel "A" to vouch for a brother because he has been vouched for to
him by another. To vouch or not to vouch is matter of conscience and
belief. Neither is under control of any law, secular or Masonic.
Under no circumstances whatever should "A" ever accept an avouchment
from "B" as to "C," unless all three be present together.
"B" will call up "A" on the telephone: "I’m sending Brother "C"
around to see you," he may say. "I vouch for him as a Master Mason.
Will you see that he is properly introduced to our Tiler tonight?"
(A’s) proper answer is: "Not unless you bring him around and
introduce him to me personally."
"A" has no Masonic means of knowing that the man who comes in and
says: "I’m Brother "B," is really the "B" for whom "C" has vouched!
For the same reasons, no avouchment by letter should ever be
accepted, no matter what the circumstances - nay, not even if the
letter contains a picture of the man it vouches for! Letters can be
lost. Photographs may be changed. Even Lodge Seals may be imitated.
Masonically, there is no such thing as vouching in absence. Masonic
avouchment can only be accomplished in the presence of all three; the
brother vouched for, the bother vouched to, and the brother doing the
vouching. Any other is spurious, un-Masonic and should never be
tolerated or accepted.
"B" does not receive "lawful Masonic information when "A" says to
him: "I have been to the Chapter with "C."
It is true that no man may become a Royal Arch Mason unless he is
first a Master Mason. A Royal Arch Mason, therefore, may have at
some time been a Master Mason. But "A" cannot know how well the
Chapter in question guards its tiled door. For all he knows to the
contrary, "C" held a forged Chapter card, had been expelled from his
Blue Lodge and yet managed to get, or retain his Chapter card.
Doubtful? Probably! But possible never the less.
What applies to the Chapter, of course, also applies to the
Commandry, Council, Scottish Rite, Shrine, Grotto and Eastern Star -
any body of Masonry the members of which must first be Master
Masons.
Especially does it refer to the Masonic Club! The Masonic Club,
worthy and valuable organization though it might be, is in no sense a
Masonic organization. It is an organization of Masons. In some
cities are Interchurch Men’s Clubs, in which male members of all
churches are welcome as members. But no one, the Men’s Club least of
all, would claim that such clubs are Churches! A Masonic club is
made up of Master Masons, presumably in good standing, but it is not
Masonically Tiled, it is not under direct control of a Grand Lodge,
it is not Masonic, and it is not competent to judge for any Blue
Lodge the genuineness of Masonic Membership. Therefore, the fact
that "A" meets "B" in his Masonic club is not "lawful Masonic
information" which "A" can pass on to his Tiler, saying: "I know "B"
to be a Master Mason."
None of these cautions or restrictions can legitimately be considered
to reflect upon the honesty of either the brother who desires to
vouch, or the honor of the brother who wishes to be vouched for. Let
us draw a parallel case and consider what "Avouchment" is in the
business world.
"A" desires to borrow money from his bank. The bank knows and trusts
"A". But long experience has taught the bank that "one name paper"
is at times not good paper. The bank, therefore, requires "A" to
secure some additional name as an endorsement. "A" asks "B" to
endorse his paper. Now "B" may know "A" as a good neighbor, a fellow
club member, the owner of an adjoining pew in the church. "B"
however, may know absolutely nothing of "A’s" finances or credit
rating. If "B" refuses to "vouch for" "A" at the bank, it does not
mean, and is not taken to mean, that he distrusts "A", - merely that
he knows nothing about his financial standing. Similarly even if "B"
knows all about "A" and trusts him up to the hilt, the bank may not
know "B" and therefore may be unwilling to take his "avouchment" -
his endorsement of "A’s" note. That does not mean that the bank
distrusts "B: - merely that the bank has no knowledge of "B", one way
or another.
Let us suppose "A" says to "B:" "I’m going to bring "C" around to
see you. I’ve been to Shrine with him. I know him well. He says
he’s a member of Temple Lodge and I believe him. I’ll vouch for him,
although I haven’t sat in lodge with him."
When "B" very properly refuses to take this avouchment, neither "A"
or "C" have any cause to think that "B" feels any personal distrust
of either. He simply has not received that "legal Masonic
Information" which both "A" and "B" know - and "C" should know, if he
really is a Master Mason - is essential to any proper avouchment.
From these premises it necessarily follows that any avouchment
predicated upon an examination other than that in Ancient Craft
Masonry is of no value as "lawful Masonic information." "A" comes to
the Tiler’s door with "C and asks for a committee to examine him that
he may visit. "A" has a little talk with the Master. "C" is a Mason
alright!" he assures the Master. "But he’s rusty. He never comes to
Blue Lodge; spends all his time in the Chapter. Appoint a couple of
Chapter Members on the committee, will you, Worshipful? They’ll soon
be satisfied!"
The Worshipful Master will do as he pleases, but he is well advised
if he picks two brethren who are "Not" Chapter Masons. The brother
who cannot satisfy a Blue Lodge Committee that has been regularly
Entered, Passed and Raised in a lodge of Master Masons should not be
permitted to enter the lodge - not if he is letter perfect in the
Chapter work and can give all the signs, tokens, and words of the
Scottish Rite - which are numerous.!
No avouchment may be accepted from an Entered Apprentice or a
Fellowcraft. A brother of the first or second degree may be
absolutely sure that all those in the lodge in which he took his
degrees were Master Masons, he cannot posses "lawful Masonic
information" about Master Masons. Neither is he competent to vouch
to a Tiler for any entered Apprentice or Fellowcraft he remembers as
in lodge with him, as a Mason of the degree in which the lodge was
then open on. The right to vouch is strictly a Master Mason’s right’
no brother of the first or second degree possesses it!
Vouching for a brother is a solemn undertaking. Before the lodge and
the brethren the voucher puts his Masonic credit against the
credibility of the brother he vouches for. No squeamishness of
feeling should ever interfere. A Master Mason should not vouch for
his blood brother unless he has sat in lodge with him, tested him for
himself, or unless his brother has been vouched for to him. He may
be morally sure his brother is a Mason but a lodge does not recognize
such surety as "lawful Masonic information."
No brother should ever feel offended because a brother will not vouch
for him. "A" may remember having sat in lodge with "B", yet "B" may
have forgotten that they sat together in lodge. If "B" refuses to
vouch for "A", "A" should be happy that "B" is so careful a Mason,
not offended that "B" does not remember or because "he doesn’t trust
me."
The lodge is more important than the brother. The sanctity of the
Tiled door is greater than the feelings of the individual. The
Masonic honor of the brother doing the vouching should be of far
greater worth to him than any consideration of expediency.
The entire law and the prophets may be covered in one small
commandment: "Never vouch unless you have lawful Masonic
information."