Acacia Journal - October 1915 - Vol. 11, No. 1

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ACACIA FRATERNITY

Grand Editor WILLIAM G. MANN

Associate Ed it ors

A. A. J enkins, Harvard, 60 S tate St., Boston, Mass.

R. I. Mundhenk, Ohio State University, 0. S. U., Co lumbu s, O hi o. J. G. Marshall, Leland Stanford, 1105 B u s h St., San Francisco, Cal. J. Vv. H ill , Kansas, Lawrence, Ka n sas.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE TENTH ANNUAL CONCLAVE

App li cat ion made for entry in the postoffice at Seattle as second cl as matter under the provisio n s of the act of March 3, 1879.

GRAND COUNCIL of

GRAND PRESIDENT

GEORGE E. FRAZER

Evanston, Ill.

GRAND VICE-PRESIDENT

R. CECIL FAY

Olathe, Kansas

GRAND TREASURER

]. A. WOODWARD

Cincinnati, Ohio

GRAND SECRETARY

HARRY E. KILMER

Centerview, Missouri

GRAND EDITOR

WILLIAM G. MANN

Cowen Park, Seattle

MINUTES OF THE TENTH CONCLAV E O F ACAC IA FRATERNI T Y

Mason i c Temple, Oak Street and Van Ness A v e nue , San Francis c o , California August 31, September 1-2-3, 1915 .

Acacia Grand Conclave opened Tuesday, August 31, 1915, at 10 a. m. with prayer by Grand President George E. Frazer. An Address of Welcome was given by Benj. F. Bledsoe, Grand Master, F. & A. M ., California.

Brother Bledsoe spoke in part:

"I know of no h igher honor than the privilege of addressing the Acacia Fraternity. We feel it is a great pleasure to have the Conclave here. You are a Masonic organization devoted to education. Some one has said that he trusted more to the schoolmaster and his primer than to the soldier to safeguard his country. It is very fitting that you should come together in a meeting of this kind. You are receiving the inspiration that comes from the schoolmaster . You are the production of his ability as a leader, the testimony of his ability in safeguarding the nation. On you rests the responsibility of learning how through common effort and community of purpose, yoti may better return the inspiration and accomplishment given to you

''I have a great deal of sympathy and respect for the college man. infrequently he is a product of his own situation and the better for it to perform the duties that rest upon him. A Masonic college man not only has the inspiration that every college man possesses, but he has an additional education that puts him in closer touch with his fellow men.

"With this double of two-fold education you are the better fitted to take your place in society.

"As Grand Master of this jurisdiction, I welcome you. From your ranks we can but expect those who will be the better Masons. I thank you for your presence here in San Francisco. May your meeting be not only an inspiration and help to you but also a direct help to your communities. I am sure that when you shall have departed, we will be able to say that we have been benefitted by your presence.

"Upon the young men of today rests the responsibilities of the future . The justification for . the ir existence depends upon the manner in which they make use of their opportunities . Let it be said the young men of Acacia have the education and the disposition that will justify the existence of their fraternity."

Grand President Frazer: "Acacia is glad to come to your jurisdiction. We have heard much of the people and spirit of California. Though we are interested in ritual matters, we are much more interested in the fellowship and organization that is behind the ritual. We are interested in the ceremonies, but as members of Acacia, as college men. we are more interested in the advancement of the high quality of leadership toward which you men in California have done much to bui l d. We re-

gret, Brother Bledsoe, that yo u must leave u s this bu!, we thank you for being h ere and for the welcome that you have given.

G r and P r es ident Frazer then intr od uc ed a man whom he ca lled " the u rand yo un g man of the State of Kansas." "Few men. today know the debt the Acac ia Frate rnit y h as to Grand Secretary \: II on, of Kan as. He has been an active member of seve ral committees, both loca l and national."

M r. \ Vi i on : " I am her e to meet with the Grand Maste r s of th e R. & S. Masons now meeting in this t emp l e. If I could have arran.gecl the time of th e e meetings , I s h o uld ha ve arranged them so that I have attended both. Ow in g t o m y o ffi c ial clutie in th e o ther body, It will be impo s ibl e for me to a ttend yo ur meeting s very often.

" The Grand Maste r h as sa id some ve r y beautiful thi n gs this mo rnin u. \ V hil e he wa talking, my th oug ht s r an back to the yea r when Fratern it y was a n infant . The fir s t intimation of an orga ni zation that came to m e was from o ur n ow Grand Treasurer of the Grand Loclue, w h o aiel to me , I a m about to o r ga ni ze a chapter of t h e Acac ia Fraternity. \li,Te are exceed in g ly anxious t o know whether the Gra nd Lodge of the State wi ll give any offic i a l r ecog niti o n. I sa id that I did not believe it was good policy. We must bear in mind that a n cie nt craft ma ons recognize nothing but A n ci e nt Craft Masonry. The time w ill come, if Acac ia maintains hi g h s tandin g and keep withiP the dign it y of raft Masonry, th at th ey will be rec og ni zed

''The following yea r or t wo th e G r a nd Co n c l ave wa s held at Lawrence. I was invited t o ay a few words. Yo ur Grand Secretary. K ilm e r , was pre ent. I was much int erested a n d was subsequently made an honorary member. From that clay m y h eart h as been in cacia.

'One po int strong ly brought o ut by th e G r a nd Master thi s m o rning. I want to re-empha ize; the incli vicl ual memb ers of this o rganization "·oulcl themselves as good Masons and good citizens nly throug h the tr own effo rt

"Yo u young men are abo ut to put into form uch l aws as yo u deem be t for the governing of the va ri ous c ha pter There is o ne thing you sh ulcl g uard aga in s t. After exam inin g the r epo rts of a few yea rs ago, tt eemed to me that there wa too much of a dispo sit ion to c han ge the Ia\\' , cha n ges that abso lut e ly meant n o thin g . In your le g i s lati o n try as much a posstb le t o fo ll ow o ut th: lin e of practice of the Grand Lodge. to adhere fundamentally to the ancient l a nd ma rk s of the fraternity .

" \Vhile I may not be w ith you in person, I wi ll be in spirit. I will be w ith you as much as poss ibl e ."

. Dr. Ke iper, an member of the Chap t er of Purdue, s poke bnetly Grand F : aze: aut h orized Dr. Keiper, delegate of the hapter. t.hen m ses ton tn the sa m e building, to carry the g r ee tmus of the Acac ta F rat e rnity to the G rand C hapt er.

G. P. Frazer: "T he fir t se ri o u s busine s of the Conclave will be t o hear a word from of th e lumni C h apter of the Pacific . oast .. Ket.th ts a member of the Co rn e ll Chapter and now li ves tn . Ca l.tf .rma. He t o ne of the few forme r Grand Officers 1 resent . I thmk tt t not o nly a plea ure but the duty of former Grand Officers t o

Missouri ·-------- - - -1- Faris

Cornell ___ ]. F. Bradley

Purdue ________________ G. H. E dd y

Col u mbia __ D. R. Dills

Iowa State ____________ H. B . K inney

Iowa _ L. Osbor n e

Pennsylvania State _________________________________ F. P. Vj eaver

Washington _________ S. L. S1mpson

Co lo r ado _ Thos. F. Wa lk e r

Syracuse .................... ... ... ........ .. .............................. D . R. Hay

Kansas State R. E. E r skine

Col u mbia moved and Ohi o seconded that report be accep t ed. Carried.

Reports of Grand Officer s w ere th en called for.

REPORT OF THE GRAND P RESIDENT

Last year the Ninth Conclave of Acacia met a t Ann Arbor in the beautiful hom e of the mother ch a pt e r to celebrate th e t e nth anniver sary of the of the fraternity. Under the in s pira tion of the pla ce a nd the occas ion , the nmth conclave made great progress in the uni fica tion and dir ect ion of th e effor ts of o ur twen t y -four chapters . We can not meet today without a word of s in ce r e thanks to our mother chapter of Michigan for th e g r ea t measur e of Acac ia p i r it that s he gave to us last year.

This year we meet on the Pacific Coa s t , the g u es t s of the c h apte r s a t Stanford and California. From the twenty-four greatest Amer i can uni ver i ties we co me gladly here today Th e time is pa s t when the nativ e sons of Ca li fornia can welcome u s t o their Golden West. For a ll A m er icans are proud of Ca lifo rni a; s he is ours. She i s o ur frontier of pr og r ess, our own far -fl un g cha ll enge of the be st of American culture.

We are glad to m ee t with the br et hr e n of Stanford and Ca lifornia We h ave much to learn from them. All of the chapters of Acacia will do we ll t o follow o ur coas t chapters in the s tr e ngth of their fraternity lif e and mterfraternity relati o n s. Let the deleg a tes from the E as t learn here how M asonry is li ve d , a nd how the ve ry livin g of Maso nry mak es for th e b es t thing s in University li fe.

For the whole function, the entire purpose of Acac ia is to live Masonry in American univ e rsiti es. Acacia w as founded to furni s h a r ea l hom e ce nter to a group of M aso nic s tudents at each import a nt univ ers it y in America. Through th a t home center she hopes to give s tudent Masons an opportun it y to influence American c o llege lif e. Acacia is not a branch of Masonry; s h e is not a fourth degre e, she is not a Ma so nic r esea rch soc ie ty. Acacia i s a fraternity of college s tuden t s, and her mi ss ion i s sa ne and cle a n univer s ity lif e. For the proof of Masonry is in the per so nal lif e of Masons. Acacia s tand s for co ll ege temperance, for clean living by college m e n , for so und sc h o lar s hip , and for suc h true soc ia l life as becomes e ducated gentlemen. Acac ia stands sq uar e l y aga in st ga mbling of ever:v: kind , partic ularly ga_mbling in with co ll ege ath l etics AcacJa stands agamst whonng, a ga m s t excess JVe dnnkmg, and above a ll against l oafing. Acacia stands none the le ss for indi v idual participati o ll in suc h va riety of college activities as shall round c haract e r and give experi ence u sefu l in a ft e r life. Acacia stands for and clean athletics, for clean coll ege politics , for real co ll ege democracy AcacJa hat es the s nob L e t m e repeat Acacia hates the snob e s pecia ll y t h e fratern i ty snob, the me a ne s t s nob of them' all. Do not stann Acacia. She is not a mol!ycoddle , much l ess is s he a faculty tool. Acacia men are mature ; they are as Q';llc_k to petty faculty tyr anny as they are to s_tudent meann ess. A cacia IS a umvers1ty fraternity; is for clean, strong, active, m dependent Amencan Men . Her purpose , her functiOn is to be herself so that men may se e from her full life what Masonry reall y m'eans '

Acacia is not the first, thank God she is not the only college fraternity to hold such ideals. Nor is Acacia always fortunate in her sons, or in the judgment of her chapters. Ours is a very human institution. But the ideals I have recited are the ideals that I have found in the life of Acacia chapters. These ideals are not ritual, they are not by-laws, they are the purpose of Acacia chapters, as my terms of office have revealed the id ea ls of the chapters to me.

This conclave can be opened in no better way than by thoughtful consideration of the real life of our chapters. Many men there are who find us a strong association and wish us to become a Masonic degree , or a Masonic study club, or a Masonic social organization open to all or to nearly all student Masons. This conclave needs give but little time to such proposals, well meant as they are. We hav l! founded our chapters, we have worked out our ideals, our very toil as undergraduates in our beloved fraternity has taught us to know our field of effort Let us counsel together as to that field. We are an undergraduate fraternity, we are a social fraternity, we are a home fraternity, the great majority of our chapters and of our members a re working h eartily together for the better things in University life A few of our honorary members, a few of our faculty members, or two chapters not yet fully established in the home work of the fraternity, these few of us think of us as a study club or as a Masonic degree, or as an honorary dining club. But these brethren will in their turn catch the spirit that animat es us; they too will see the great opportunity that we now have in University life , and they too will join with us in the work that shall make ev e ry chapter a hom e chapter, a student center, a place dedicated to the high resolv e that Masonry shall be lived. ·

During the past year all but one of our chapters has maintained a chapter house. The Columbia chapter has started a house fund I am informed that se v e ral members of the chapter favor the recenting of a house. Columbia should be encouraged by the example of Chicago. The Chicago c hapter maintains a c hapter house that is a real center of Acacia life. Th e Columbia chapter ca n never become one of the first chapters of Acacia until a chapter house is opened. Columbia is now l arge ly a Masonic club, an excellent club. This conclave should co n side r the status of the Columbia chapter. Perhaps the Columbia chapter can maintain such a club house as is maintained by Harvard chapter.

The chapters have paid their debts during the past year, and the fraternity as a whole has reason to be proud of the local managem e nt of its chapters. Many of o ur chapters adopt a budget at the beginning of the school year and live within their estimated revenue. Each chapter should adopt a n estimate of revenue and an estimate of expense for the sc ho ol year, and a copy of this chapter budget should be filed with the Grand Secr e tary. At the end of the year a financial report should be made covering the transactions of the chapter executives under the chapter budget. The uniform accounting system of th e fraternity should acc omplish these results. This conclave sho uld provide for such modifications in our uniform accounting system as our ex perience with the system h as proven t o be necessary.

Our chapters are buying houses or are building them. Some of th e chapters are pressed for building funds. The chapters are under co n stant temptatiOn to ask for or at least to accept, money from Masons and from Ma so nic bodi es. of money may not prove to be a n unmi xed blessing. Acacia men are not the charity wards. of Masonry. Acacia hous es are not open to all student Masons. Our existence as a college fraternity demands that we ele ct o ur membrs as we choose No chapter of Acacia should accept gifts of money from o utside its own membership. Money sec: ured from Masons or from Masonic bodie s should be carefully bonded and stric tly repaid. And the lo ca l chapters should given the protection of national l aw to this effect . We shou ld value the good wtll of Masons too highly to make it a matter of financial int erest. Acacia m e n should be proud to do for themselves and they should scorn to take money that i s so much needed for true works of Masonic chari ty. . In all financial matters the chapters s hould be guided by their alumni. And the alumni shou ld be consulted as to new members. The chapters are k eep in g in touch with their alumni largely by the publication of c hapter magazines. The chapter magazines have been greatly improved in quality during the past The alumni of the chapters are appreciative of the news that these papers bnng. But the alumni will and do appreciate the personal letter. A lumm wtll reply to

the written letter, as they will not to the general news appeal. Write l et t e rs to the alumni ; let us not forget that the strong chapter of today is strong in the men of the years before.

Pa t conclaves have considered at length question s as to .membersh.lp .qualifications. The fraternity ha s no uniform basis of membership, and th1s IS chief weakne s of our fraternity. A few of our chapters e lect men to who have already given allegiance to a soc ial co llege fratern it y. ln the ma)onty of our chapters such men are not e ligibl e to m e mb er h1p. As a result we have two factions within the fraternity. This problem has drag:ged on for ten years. The fraternity has grown despite the rancor that thi s questwn has e ngender e d and w1ll continue to arouse. Let us meet th1s problem like men. Let u have a common bas; , for the election of new members. Th e majority of our chapters have dec1ded that member of Acacia can have but one socia l fraternity a ll egiance. During the pa s t year two of our chapters have conducted an ac ti ve campaign with the object of cu mpromising the basis on which the majority .of the are work1ng. I speak frankly because I know that the work of th1s fratermty 1s too lmp o.rtant to ju tify any continuation of this st ruggl e of th e few. Compromise has failed; l e t the majority come to a clear cut deci s ion so that we may press forward our work as one strong and united fraternity.

The fraternity has had a year of growth in nati ona l spirit. The national offict-rs have been appealed t o fr eq u en tly for rulings and advice. The n at ional feeling has been st rengthened by the publications of the frtaernity The Journal of Acacia has grown. I have been gratified by the success of the campaign of the editor for more a lumni s ub sc ription s . The Journ a l is the mouthpiece of the fraternity; I have been glad to see a vigorous ed itori a l policy. The ed it or of the Journal shou ld be qualified to speak in the name of the fraternity, and he s h ou ld not hesitate to speak. The Journal bas been weakened in influence by irregularity of issue, by l ack of authoritative editorial policy, and especially by lar:k of suffic ient financia l support. This conclave should define th e editorial scope of th e Journal, and sho uld provide adequate financial s upport for it

The Directory has filled a long felt want. I hav e r egretted th e u sc of Hebrew in the Directory, but this fault can be corrected. I personally addressed a l etter to each name in the Directory and received Jess than one hundr ed r e turn e d letters as a result of incorrect address. The Song Book h as been well received. We still need Acac ia songs. This conclave s hould provide for the second editions of the Directory and Song Book.

The coat of arms has been much used by the chapters. The s tandard badge has been well received. The Ohio State chapter seems to s tand alone in its r e fusal to obey the laws of the la st Conclave as to the purchas e of the standar d badge through the office of the Grand Secretary. The matter of renewing the contract for the badge will come before thi s conclave, and in this connectio n you are a ked to consider the position of the Ohio State chapter in refusing to obey Acac 1a law.

The national st re.ngth of the fraternity is increased by the activities of the a lumm chapte r s at Ch1cago, New York, Washington, and here on the coast. These cha{Jters have a real place in the fraternity; we should look to them more and mor e for sou nd adv ic e. Alumni chapters form a m eet ing ground for the expe rienced men of a ll of the c h ap ter s, and each alumni dinner has much of the value of a natwna.l. conclave. The alumni chapte_rs of the fraternity sho uld be given legal recogmtwn. Spe.ed the Acac1a shall boast a well organ ized alumni chapter 111 eve ry c1ty 111 the. country. We can help the coming of that by clearly defimng the relatiOn of such chapters to the national fra term ty

The Chicago chapter h as raised the important question of a national endowment fund. Th1s not a new question, but each passing year shows the need for a fund from wh1ch our chapters can borrow. We can help the coming of day by clearly defining the r e lation of each chapter to the national fratermty .

fi The report of the Grand Vice President will show that Acacia has but little peld !or external growth. as l ong as he insists upon her present requirements. erm1t me to tres. the importance of our present agre e ment that no new chapters be established 111 purely schools. We are now a University fratermty, the on ly college fratern1ty hav111g chapters only in schoo ls of Uni-

versity grade, and having chapters in nearly all of the important American Universities. Our field of work is unique; we should be proud of our status as the University fraternity, and should be glad of the opportunities that such a stutus gives to us alone of all the fraternities. ·

The great need of our national organization, and of our chapters as well, is a system of chapter visitation. To provoke discussion I have suggested in the Journal a system of interchapter visitations. At my request Brother Flynn of the California chapter will present to this conclave a report covering the systems of chapter visitation employed by other social fraternities. Let us have a full discussion of this all-important question. Perhaps the chapters should be required to visit each other officially. Perhaps we should have a system of district vice presidents. Personally I favor making an appropriation to the office of Grand Secretary, so that the Secretary may visit each chapter some time during each school year.

We need inspection of the chapters. The chapters at Colorado and Washington State do not seem to have a sufficient number of Masons in the student body from which to draw their membe rship. Perhaps these chapters should be suspended. The chapters at Ames anrl Stanford seem to give evidence of internal dissensions. The chapter at Ohio State refuses to 'obey national law. And so I might go down the list. Our chapters need national inspection and advice. We do not have a single chapter that is doing all that it can do to advance the ideals of the fraternity. Our chapters differ on non-essentials, they live too much alone. The problem of chapter inspection is before this conclave for solution.

The conclave at Ann Arbor revised the constitution and by-laws of the fra tcrnity. The chapters have voted on the proposals section by section. The Grand Secretary has not advised me as to the result of the vote by chapters. But I do know that this Conclave should provide whatever legislation is needed to give us a complete and workable code of law.

On the Saturday following last Thanksgiving Day, Brothers Lott of Syracuse, Jenkins of Harvard, and myself represented the fraternity at the annual interfraternity conclave. I make mention of the meeting here only to direct the attention of the delegates to the fact that Acacia is nationally recognized as a social college fraternity. That is our field, and it is but proper that we should take an active part in all interfraternity meetings, both national and local. Our work lies in University life and we can do that work best if we co-operate with other fraternities to the fullest extent.

At the last Conclave I asked the delegates to give careful consideration to a Masonic research movement established under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. The last conclave gave the movement its heartiest endorsement Encouraged by this action at the 1914 conclave, I sent a letter to each member of the fraternity calling attention to the organization of the National Masonic Research Society. Only a small per cent. of our members have become members of this new Masonic study movement. This has been the more surprising to me because of the fact that the N a tiona! Masonic Research Society has published the writing of such distinguished members of Acacia as Prof. Roscoe Pound and Prof. Shepard on. My experience leads me to the conclusion that the members of Acacia are not as a rule interested in the field of Masonic research. Certain it is that but few of our chapters have undertaken Masonic study classes.

Our fraternity is not a research society. But I earnestly hope that this conclave may endorse the work of the N a tiona! Masonic Research Society, and that many members of Acacia may find intere,st in the study of the history, and organization and work of Masonry. It may not be out of place to record here that many of the men most actively interested in this research movement are members of Acacia, and that it is the hope of these men that much of the research work of the society may be intrusted to Acacia men. Your president has the honor to be the first president of the National Masonic Research Society, and will be glad indeed to place any chapter or any member in touch with the opportunities that this national movement affords .

Jn this brief way only is it possible to touch upon the aspirations and problems of the fraternity. I have said enough to tell you that this conclave has much work to do And the Acacia men that have built so well in these eleven years will do the work that is to be done. For we talk of houses, .and think of homes; we talk of high standards of membership, and think of clean and forceful college men

THE ACACIA JOUR

as a whole; we talk of a s trong n a tional fraternity, and have in mind the while the bro ade ning of all coll ege organization s in spi rit and de e ds. We. ha':e not cro ss ed the continent because our interest is in sma ll deta tl s. 0!-lr legtslattOn at thi s concl ave looks towards the greater Acac ia. We hope to butld suc h chapter homes a nd to fo s ter such home s by a strong n a ti onal organizat ion shall our chapters to graduate strong m e n. Our a lumni a r e to be m the problem s that m a ke for better University li ving. Our alu mnt are to be men interested in constructive Masonry, r ea dy a nd able st udy. anc;I to solve the problems of Masonic charity, Masonic finance, Masontc as well as problem s in Masonic history, ritu a l a nd philo sophy. Mos t o f all, Y".e s hall legi s lat e for chapter hom es from which s h a ll come a lumm tramed for mtlttant citizenship, men strong a nd cl ea n and for the d efe n se of publtc school system, for the co n s tru ct ion of po!ttt_cs, a nd for the e s tabli s hment of busin ess administration in all our publtc m s tttut w n s. These problems cry for men ; it is given in part t o Acac ia t o f o rm th e c har ac t e r s of t he m e n th a t are ne e d e d

GEO. E . FRAZER, Grand P 1·esi dent.

Mo ve d by Missouri and seco nded b y Kansas State that report be accepted. Carried .

REPORT OF THE GRAND VICE-PRESIDENT

TO THE GR AN D OFFICERS AND DELEGATES OF THE 1915 CO N CLAVE REPORT OF THE GRAND VIC E -PRE SIDENT

Th e duties of th e Grand Vice-President o f the Acac ia F r ate rnit y are, in the main , limit ed t o th e exte n s io n of th e fraternity. Th ere is at the pr ese nt time a ve ry limited oppo rtunt y fo r the ex ten s io n of the fraternity by th e estab li s hment of n ew chapt e r s . In th e words of m y pr e d ecesso r , th e present G r a nd Pr es id e nt, " It is not conce iva bl e that the Acac ia Fraternity will ever e tablish c h a pter s at trictly profess io n a l sc h oo l s. Nor is it conce ivab l e that th e Acac ia F r a t e rnity will ever be co nt e nt t o es t ab li s h a chapter a t a ny sc h oo l whose enro llm e nt i s not s uffi c ien tl y l arge t o guarant ee th e presence of a t l east ftfty Maso n s in th e s tudent b ody at a ll tim es."

This h owever, does not mean th at the office of t h e Grand Vice-President do e s n ot have a large numb e r of inquiri es, and co n s ider ab l e work t o do , during the co ll ege year. During th e pr ese nt ad m i ni s tr a ti o n, I h ave had inquiries from Ohio Wesleyan U ni ve r s it y, Columbu s, Ohio; Mo ntan a Uni ve r it y, M isso ula , Montana; U ni ve r s ity of T e nn essee, Knoxville , T e nn esse e; Uni vers it y of Virg ini a C harl o tt sville. Virginia ; Di c k so n Law School. Carlisle, Penn sy lvan ia: Detroit School of Law, D e troit, Michigan ; Ok la h o m a University, No rm an, Ok l a homa: U ni vers ity of T exas, A u s tin, Texa s; The Kirk sv ill e Schoo l o f 0 teopathy K irk sv ille Misso uri ; Ohio Un_iversity: A th e n s, Ol:io; Mi a mi Uni ve r s it y, Ohio; K 'e nyon College , Gamb ter , Ohw; V a nderbtlt Uni ve r s ity , N a s h vi ll e, Tenne ssee: Bowdin Co_ll ege, at B run sw ick, C:hicago University of Osteopa th y. Ch i cago, Illinot s; The Drew Theologtc a l Semmary, Madi so n , New J ersey; North D a kot a Ag riCollege,_ o r_th Dakota; Torth Pa c ific Co ll ege, Portland, O r ego n: George Wa s hm g t o n U nt ve r s tt y L aw Sch oo l , Wa s hin g ton , D . C.: Jeff erso n Medical Coll ege . Phil ade lphi a, P e nn sy lva ni a; U ni ve r s ity of Arizona Tuc so n Ar izo n a.

In. add_it_ion to the_ in_qt!iri es h e r e in e num e r ate d , the're h ave bee n a few perona l _mq um es, fro m. tndtvtdu a !s, w hi c h r_ ece ive d . th e sa m e ca r e ful a nd prompt attent to n a th<?se w ht c h I co n s tder ed o ffi c ta l ; offic ta l, as coming fr om a club or a proposed club 111 th e r espec ti ve in s tiuti o n s r e pr ese nt e d.

In a nd eve r_y in sta_nce , I o utlined briefly, the purpose o f the Acacia a nd gave 111 detatl o ur fund a m e!1t_a l s u c h as the o rgantztng of a loca l club , and th e s u ccess fully ltvmg 111 , matntatnm g a nd o perating a h o u se, fo r '!- penod of o n e :yea r. In every eve nt wh e re I w as l e d to believe that ther e was. 111 th e club , o r 111 the propo se d club, what i s generally termed dual membershtp , I ? Ur national f ee lin g which was ev id e n ce d at the 1913 Conclave at aga in s t acti ve member s of general, soc ial, national college_ f r a t ernt tt e becommg members o f Acacia, and which was again introduc ed 111 th e 1914 C o ncl ave, but fai le d t o b eco m e a part of th e Constit ution by only three vo te s.

T further asked for detailed information relative t o the s ize of the institution, deJ)artments and courses offered, the number of Masons in th e ir respective mstltutiOns , both Faculty and students, the general, national college fr a ternities a lready represented by local chapters and for any further information which in their opinion might be of interest or importance to u s, in arriving at a rect, c!efinite and logical conclus ion as to the possibilities for a chapter of Acacia in the future.

In almost every event, my first letter, stating our requirement of one year's residence, seemed to cast a "chill" over those making the inquiry In a s urprisingly large number of instanc es the whole matter terminated with my first answer. However, I followed up with another letter at another date , asking why my question as to their loca l conditions had not been answered. In almost every instance not even this follow up letter was able to thaw out the chilly se nsation, or drive away the shadow of gloom that the first sca re had cast over them The la rger portion of these inquiries are not worthy of any special comment.

To the inquiries which came from technical and profession a l sc hool s, I made it clear that at the present time the view is h e ld that such an institution does n ot afford a sufficient and adequate field for the e stab li s hing of a chapter of Acacia. If the Acacia Fraternity is ever, in the near futur e, going to mak e an exception to this general custom, I have clearly in mind the fact s concerning what I believe to be the most available and practical exception.

I refer to the School of Osteopathy at Kirksville, Missouri. The first thing that attracted my attention to this sc hool was the way th ey "came back" at my first letter , informing them that there was no hopes of obtaining a chapter at a purely technical or professional school. They answered that statement by requesting me to make a personal visit to their institution , offering to pay the expenses, that I might be the bett e r enabled to take up their cause before this body. I again wrote and told them that I believed it would be a waste of my time and their money, but they insisted so strongly, and sent such flatt e ring reports about their local condition that I finally decided to make the trip , as it was an inexpen s ive one both from a financial standpoint and that of time nece ssary to make the trip .

I found upon arriving th er e one of the best organized local clubs that I eve r h a d the privilege of visiting. The per so nnel of the club , compares favorab ly with any chapter of the Acacia Fr a t e rnity th a t I have eve r had the pleasure of visiting. Although it is a small institution , the general student body is of a mature age, and a s urpr is ingly larg e numb e r of the entire s tud en t body are Masons. It see ms to be instilled into the students of th at institution that it is a sp l e ndid thing for them to become Masons and clo se ly associated with that class of people, before they enter upon their professional career, with th e result that from sixty to seventy-five per cent of the students are made Masons during their stay in college.

Kirksville is a sma ll town, but they have two flourishing lodg es, are doing more work in the Masonic bodies, than any town of its size that I ever heard of. The club has been organized for some time , and they are now occupying club quarters in one of the large town halls. They have the largest dance floor in town, an elegantly furnished reading room , a smoking room , billiard a nd pool room, and s leeping quarters for two men. These quarters are occupied by two members of the club , who keep open house there, day and night. All m ee tin gs of the c lub are held in this hall, and it is the general loafing headquarter s for all members of the club and their friends. The dance hall part they rent to other studen t organizations, for parties and dances, and in this way the club rooms are almost self-sustaining. They own all of their own furniture and equipment, and as a college organization stand very high in local circles The men range very high in scholarship, and stand as th e leaders of the institution in every way But of course, we must not lose sight of the fact that there are no general, national, social, college fraternities represented th e re, and that field is ent ir ely foreign from what is considered the proper field for an Acac1a Chapter. But I was so favorably impressed with the zeal and enthusiasm, and the per sona lity of this club that I deemed it my duty to relate to this body, as nearly as possible a tho;ough accurate and concise report of the conditions as I found th e m I trust tl;at this body will discu ss freely the advisability of considering

THE ACACIA JO URNAL

a chapter 111 that kind of an in s titution, and I will be glad to furnish any ot her facts within my knowledge

Th e University of T exas an d th e Umv ers it Y. of Oklahoma are perhaps o nly two promi s ing po ss ibilities at th e presen.t tlme A t first University a t Athens, Ohio, so unded e n co ur ag m g, but upon m': est igatwn, I fmd that they h ave o nly one thou sa nd s tudent s, and th at two-thirds of them are women s tud e nt , which, of course, makes the fi e ld too sma ll for further cons id era tion.

Vand er bilt h as inquir ed annually for the pa st few years b ut as I .vi ew it there are n o h o pe s a t a ll a t th a t in s titution . .

J efferson Med ica l College ha s a club a lr ea dy and h as had for about s ix t ee n years. But the y have no hous e, and did not even answer f!JY r eq u est for detailed information an d my s tatem e nt s the of a house. So whe th er th ey ha ve s uffi c ien t zea l and e nthu s iasm has remamed to be proven. Th ey h ave abo ut twenty-fiv e faculty .members and s tud e nt s, w hich comprises about one-ha lf the Ma so n s 111 the Jefferson Med ica l College . So, as far as I can l ea rn , abo u.t .a ll that they have grasped the present time is th e id ea th at u sed to prevaJ! In parts of the east known as The club id ea" or " Side Degr ee in Masonry ," and h ave n ot yet reahzed th e rea l purposes of the Acac ia Fraternity. . .

I ha ve anxiou s ly waited for furth er inform at ion from Montana at Missoula, Montana, but the detailed inform at ion h as not been fort h com m g, so I s upp ose th ey t oo, ha ve not see n their way clear to comp ly with our fi r st fundamental reauir f' mf'nts . ,

The ot h e r in stitu ti ons wh ic h I d es ir e to g ive personal mention are the Un ive r s ity of Texas and th e Univer s ity of Ok la h oma . I visited persona ll y bot h of th ese institutions, a nd I h e r ew ith s ubmi t th e conditions, as I found them.

I n making these in ves ti gations, a nd in out li n in g th e po li cies to be pursued, and th e co n seq u en t s ubmittin g t o thi s body of what I be li eve to be prospective material , I ha ve kept c l ea rl y in mind thr ee thing s: The o n e year' hou se res idence, th e necessity of having a Mason ic fie l d of fifty or more to choose f r om, a nd the class of th e in s titu t ion in w hi ch the prospective club i s l ocated.

I int e rpr et th e portion of our preamb le which so ab l y states our purpose, "To prepare o ur se l ves as ed u ca t ed men to tak e a more active part, and h ave a greate r influ ence in th e affa ir s of th e commun ity in which we may r es id e. And above all to seek th e truth * * *," t o mean a ne cess ity of a genera l representat ion from th e different department s of co ll ege . To acquire ou r fundamental p ur poses and in that way to accomp li sh the bes t results in the way of broadening th e mind and e nl argi n g the po sibi liti es a nd opportunities for a well r o und ed o u t co ll ege man , the be s t re s ult s ca n o nly b e acco mpli s h ed w h e n the gene r a l exc h ange of id eas is nece ssa rily based up on a. expe ri ence s u c h a.s can on l y be accomp li s h ed, where there i s a great d ivers ity of personal expe n e n ce due to Its memb e r s be l ong i ng to the different d epa rtment s, a nd taking diff erent co ur ses.

T o ob t a in the required information for the rep o rt s of these various club s I have talk e d fi r s t to Acac ia m e n of that institution second t o Faculty JVIaso;1s an d third to th e Club members. ' '

THE TRIANGLE CLUB AT AUSTIN , TEXAS

O pportunity for a new fr a t ern it y in Texa s:

Th e r e are at th e present time in th e University of Texas, fo u rteen fratermtJ. es, u s u.a lly ca ll ed General Fra t e rnities , a nd two ot h e r s, Theta Xi and Delta C hi , r es tnct e d to s tud e nt s of ce. rt a in departments w hi ch m a intain houses a nd refu se to a dmit ge n era l fr a t e rmty men to member s hip. There are approxim a t ely fifteen hundr e d male s tud e nt s on th e campus during th e regular co ll ege year. The average numb e r o f memb e r s in the l oca l c h a pter s doe not exceed many c hapter s h av m g ten to fifteen on th e Chapter Roll. From thi s It IS. app a rent th a t the fraternity fie ld a t Texas i s not overcrowded at the present tJm e.

Ther e ha s been a SC? -c a lled "F r es.hm e n Rule" in vogue at Texas but this ha s n ow b ee n done .a.w aY: with a nd th a t m creases · th e .fi .e ld for a new fraternity.

-:r:he fratermtles m Te.xas would we l come a dditi o n a l fraternit ies; o n e of the q u estw n s recently determmed by the Pan-Hell e ni c Co un ci l to co mbat the a nti-

fraternity is to encourage the establishing and granting of charters to new fraternities 111 Texas.

Acacia would be particularly welcome in Texas because of its well known high standards its relation to the. Masonic. Institution. The Triangles have had the good will of the Pan-Hellemc Council from the first organizat ion of the club and there is every reason to believe that this good feeling will continue, if they should receive a chapter of Acacia.

I talked to a number of the faculty, and if you can rely upon what they say, the faculty generally wi ll look with favor upon the establishing of a chapter of Acacia in Texas.

I a recent communication from Brother ]. E. Treleven stating that the Chairman. of the Faculty Fraternity Committee had asked him to convey to me their w1sh for a speedy grantmg of a chapter of Acacia for the Triangle Club in Texas.

The anti-fraternity feeling at Texas has been very strong and without exception the fraternity men on th e campus and the sympathize;s both in and out of college look to the Acacia Fraternity as a life saver for the fraternities in Texas.

In times passed new chapters in Texas have had difficulty in gaining recognition from the older chapters. The fee lin g of exclusiveness and personal pride due to age, has about passed away, and now it is po ss ibly true that there i s no other instiution in which a chapter of Acac ia would be as heartily welcomed by the other fraternity men as in Texas.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACACIA IN TEXAS

Masonry is very strong in the Southern States, and this is especially true in the City of Austin. The Masonic bodies there are in a flouri s hing condition, and this naturally encourages young men to take the Masonic work. There are between sixty and seventy-five Masons in the University of T exas, and comparing this with former years, it s ho ws a constant and steady increase; even last year, despite the low cotton prices and gene r a l d e pre ss ion over the Stat e, the number of students who are Masons shows a distinct i ncrease over the number of any previous year. I believe there is littl e fear that ther e will ever be too few Masons in the student body to adequately support a chapter of Acacia in Texas. However, I do feel that a male enrollment of fifteen hundred is too sina ll to in sure a suffic ient field, generally speaking, but in this particular case, I believ e that the extraord in ary Masonic interest wi ll overcome the small enroilment. Of course a few of the Masons are a lre ady members of general fraternities, but in Texas as in many other institutions, the larger percentage of the Masons are in the professional schools, where the average age of the student is higher, than in the Academic Department, and the Acacia Fraternity would have as good a chance to secure desirable men from these department s as the other fraternities.

HOUSE CONDITIONS

The club has been in its house since the first of November; furniture was purchased on the installment plan, and the payments on the same have been kept up, and fi nan c ia lly th ey appear to be on a sound basis. Some money w as donated by club members, faculty men and others, some borrowed on a note , signed by club members and their supporters, both in and out of the college. The money thus sec ured was to make a part payment on the furniture and a two-years ' cred it was secured for the remainder of the amount. The club · i s payiEg off this debt at the rate of Twenty-five ($25 .00 ) Dollars per month. · They are also paying for a piano on the installment plan. Thus far every obl igation has been promptly met in a businesslike manner.

The house is not a particularly attractive one, but it serves the purpose very well during their formulative period. The club has experienced the u s ual difficulty in filling their house and meeting their local bills, as is the case ge nerally when a new club is first organized. It was difficult for its members to get away from the rooms a lr eady occupied, and a number of them found it impossible to move this semester, as they had contr ac ted· for their qu a rters for the entire year.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

In this connection the club made a very serious mistake by letting some of their rooms to outsiders who were not members of the club, and who were not even Masons. So in the club has not maintained and operated a house on its own resources, because a part of the has been made by merely renting rooms to outsiders as any roommg or boardmg house would do.

The club has suffered slightly from strong anti-fr.aternity fe.eling, in so much as three of it s members promptly withdrew, when 1t was d.ec1ded by the club to petition for a chapter of a frat e rnity . Thi s was due to the1r s trong convictions on the fraternity question, and although they strongly favored a club they would not tolerate a fraternity. I feel that some of them can b e back into line when it is thoroughly under stood that the and 1deals of the Acacia Fraternity are so much different from the 1deals of the ot h e r general college fraternities

I a lso found other conditions existing at Tex as which were due to the restrictions pl aced by the faculty upon local chapter s of fraternities and a ll organizations and clubs. The most imp ortant of these was due to the Rul e, which prohibits a Freshman from livin g in the h o u se of any orgamzatwn. The club did not hav e enough members without its Freshmen to comp l y with our requirement , concerning the operating of a hou se, and the Freshmen rule prevented them from placing the sa id Freshmen in th e h o u se Th e y tried to comply with both by giving us the impr ession that the hou e was being opera ted by the Triangle Cl ub , (which it in reality was) , and at th e sa me time creating the l ocal impression that it was a mere roomin g hou se. To perpetrate this evasion they held th e ir club meetings in th e n earby Scotti s h Rite Cathedral. Thi s produces a complic a ted s ituati o n. I t ake it that our one-year re s id ence rul e mean s one year's s ucces sf ul residence in s tri c t acco rd with a ll local re s trictions. This , they have not done at a ll thus far, and in fact h ave not lived up to the said requirem e nt in any way, because of the th a t they had r oom ing in the house. In viewing this s ituati on we mu t arrive at o ne of two conclusions, either that they h ave not been operating a hou se a t a ll, or have been doing so in violation of lo ca l restrictions. It i s my op inion and I told them so at the tim e, that the Grand Council wi ll not approve of eit her s ituation, for it occurs to me that we s hould promptly put the stamp of disapprova l on any such underhanded evas ion .

I want the other member s of the Grand Council to co n s id er thi s proposition especially carefully, and freely discuss, whether they approve o r di sa pprove the stand that I took.

Prom what I could l earn, the club taken as a whol e is n ot ve ry st rong fina ncia ll y. This may seem to conflict with my former s tat ement a b o ut the club appearing to be on a so und financial basis, but is not in th e l east when you come to analyze the situation. What I m ea n by not being very stro n g financially is that a surprisingly large number of th e member s are workin g their way through college, and the way th a t they h a ve been en a bled to m eet their financial obligation s and keep the same on a so lid basis , was by exerci in g sane and co n se rvative judgment in the incurring of li ab ilitie s.

1 noted one or two conditions th at I considered developed to a very marked degree, e ith er of unle ss remedied might to their obtaining a charter . I do not des1re how eve r to create the 1mpr ess10n that th e r e will be any serious difficulty in co rre c ting the evils, nor do I de s ir e to cast any reflection upon the club b e c a u se th e ir mi s take s have mainly been clu e to mi information they were conscientious i.n acceptin.g. Th e first o f the se m a y well be descnbed by what I termed a blmcl f o llo wmg of one or two men instead of threshing out the problems as they arise, by the unit ed concensus of opi nion of all concerned.

I have s ince l earned from Brother Treleven that much ha been acco mplished in the way of getting tog et h e r and running as a unit as it sho uld be and I confidently hope that thi s condition will soon be entirely e limin a t e d. '

The other condition referred to is too much "rah-rah" spirit and to o much of a " kiddish" tendency

Much of th i s has been due to mi s directed energy, but I feel assured that ther e are e nough m a tu:e and s ub s t a ntial men in the club. that they once get awakened to the_1r sense of duty and responsibility ; they w1 ll serve as a checkmate to the f oo h s hn ess. It w ill take time to bring

about these changes, but they have the material and will undoubtedly rapidly round into shape as soon as the right men assert themselves.

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MASONIC BODIES

Co!lcerning the relationship with the Masonic bodies, and the personnel of the club, I am going to quote Brother Treleven verbatim, from the partial report that he had already prepared, when it was first contemplated to have him make the report.

"Since the organization of the Triangles, the relation of the club with the local Masonic organization has been most cordial. The Austin Masons have gone out of their way to encourage the work of the club. The present Grand Master of Texas is a member of the club and other Masons have supported the club in every way. The Scottish Rite bodies are very active in Austin. Most of the student Masons have taken at least a portion of the Scottish Rite work, under an arrangement for the payment of fees after graduation from the university. Part of the interest shown in the club by local Masons is probably due to the active part the students have taken in furthering the interests of the Scottish Rite bodies. However that may be, it is true that at present the local Masons seem to be ready to back the club up strongly. Unless the club members abuse this interest of the local Masons there is no reason for supposing that the relations with the Masonic bodies will ever be anything but most cordial. There are probably few existing chapters of Acacia where as pleasant and close connection with the Masonic organization exists as in Texas."

PERSO NEL

The club has been rather fortunate in its selection of members. Acacia need not fear that its standard of membership would be lowered by the granting of a charter to this club The yonng men are almost without exception well thought of around the campus. They are engaged in various student activities. One is quite likely to be selected as Business Manager of the Annual for next year. Another was a University representative on a joint debate. A prospective member is candidate for President of the Student Body. One was a member of the football team. The activities of the members are set forth in detail in the petition to be submitted.

The club has met with the difficulties that should be expected in establishing the proper esprit de corps among its members. Such difficulties are almost always met with when a group of young men without previous experience in community life first start living on a co-operative basis. In this case conviviality was mistaken for Fraternal Spirit. Before Christmas, there was considerably more rah! rah! and boisterous conduct around the house than could be tolerated in an Acacia Chapter. Since the holidays, however, there has been but one time when the conduct of the club could be said to be out of keeping with the Acada spirit. There is every reason to believe that as the club grows older there will be no reason to complain of the lack of esprit de corps, or misdirected energies.

Shortly after the organization of the club, friction developed between one of the men prominent in the work of perfecting the organization and the other members. This friction resulted in the withdrawal of the man from the house. He still retains his membership in the club. This incident was scarcely creditable either to the man concerned or to the club, but is to be attributed to the difficulties of establishing proper relations between the members of a new organization.

At the time of the anti-fraternity agitation around the campus and in the three men withdrew from the club because they were not in sympathy with the proposal to petition for a charter from Acacia. One of these men still lives in the house but is not a member of the Triangles. The club has be e n careful to avoid getting into entanglements with student Masons who are members of general fraternities. One of the charter members of the Triangles is an inactive member of the S. A. E. He was so thoroughly interested in the club that the members thought it would be an injustice to him to exclude him at this time. The club also extended an invitation, which was accepted, to a very

prominent faculty man not knowing he wa s a m emb er of A. T. 0. With these two exceptions no of general fr a terniti es are members of the Triangles.

SCHOLARSHIP

The memb e rs of the Triangl e hav e s hown no sta rtlin g brilliance, but on the o ther hand there h as not been an unduly lar ge numb er of "co ur ses l ost" by club m e mber s . To make an accurate s t a t e m e nt of the stand ing of th e club scho larship, would require a comparative record as is kept i_n mo s t in s titutiom, but is not co mpil ed in T exas. From my detatled conversa t10n s wtth so m e of the faculty I learned that taken as a group, th e members of the club hav e mad e grad es which co mp a r e favorably with th e grad.es made by other groups in the univer s ity. Two member s of the club h ave withdrawn from the sc hool in th e fa ce of a lm ost c e rtain di s mi ssa l for p oo r wo rk , a nd one o th e r h as b ee n on probation for two term s. With these exceptions, the men h ave d o ne accepta bl e work.

CONCLUSION

Summing up bri e fly , my op ini on is that the one year' s residence, in acco rd with the Na tional r eq uir e ment n ow i n vog u e, s h o uld commence at the beginning of the n ex t college year; th at th e y h ave n ot uccessfully maintained, liv e d in, and ope r a t e d a hou se, be ca u se of th e ir having to take in outs ide members, d e monstrated th e ir in a bility and failure t o com ply wit h that part of t h e r eq uir e m e nt I am informed that th ey were advised at the t im e that they took in those o ut s ide memb e r s, of the expe rienc e of the Oregon Chapter, and were thereby warned that th e y were m ak in g a se riou s and perhaps f a t a l mistake, but th ey did n o t h ee d th e warning a nd proceeded in th e a b ove described manner. I und e r s t a nd that it is ser iou s l y contended by so m e of the s upp orter s of the Texas club , th a t th e c lub itself, b e in g e ntir e ly i g n ora nt of Acac i a cus t oms, sho nld n o t b e · held re s pon s ibl e for thi s mi sste p; that it wa s du e to unt ime l y advice a nd inc or re c t information. But I fail t o see h ow we ca n be co n cerned w ith their m ot i ve in m ak ing thi s e rror , but on the o th e r h a nd must co n s id er t h e facts as th ey ex i st. However, it i s not in th e s pirit of a penalty that I favor cons id er in g the time s in ce Nove mb e r as nought to th e m , but as a matter of princip l e, because in r e ality th ey h a"e n ot liv e d up to o ur requirements. As I v iew it , the thing they mu s t do i s to liv e up to the ve ry l e tt er of a ll requirements, including loca l faculty ruling s, for a t l eas t o n e year in o rd e r t o th o r oug hl y demonstra t e th eir ab ilit y so to do . I o utlined in unmi s t akab l e t e rm s th e c h a n ges t h at I deemed n ecessa ry in their general policies, an d exp la in e d fully the methods that sho uld be adop ted in th e ir h o u se r es id e n ce for n ex t yea r , and for my part I fee l that it is simp ly a que s ti o n of waiting t o see w h a t pr ogress th ey make under the directions an d instmctions that hav e b ee n g iv e n th e m .

I d o no t club ready t o r ece ive a chap t er before the Fa ll of 1916, and th e grantmg of th e n to b e e ntir e l y upon the progress made alon;s the pr opose d line s. In s ubtmttm g th e above report , I desire to exp r ess my md eb t e dn e.ss t o B r o ther s Tr e l eve n a nd T ay l or of Wisconsin , and Brother Wea ve r of Mtchtgan.

THE M ASONIC CLUB A T NO R MAN, OKLAHOMA

O p por tunit y for a fraternity in Oklahoma: a r e at th e present tim e in the of Oklahoma seve n ge n e r a l fr.atetmtt es Th e. Kappa A l pha,. Ka l?p a Stgma, Beta Theta P hi , S igma u, Stg!lla A lph a Epsilon, Stgma Cht, Pht Delta Chi, Phi KapJ a S i, a n d o n e l oca l petttton for Pht Gamma D e lta.

:rh e average m e mb e r s hip is tw e nt y -seven! which m ea n s that on l y abo ut 216 of t h e. 1200 mal e enrollment are n ow fratermty m en. This wou l d indicate th a t there: I S amp l e r oo m for a n ew fraternity in Ok la hom a, and in fact, the s tud e nt s a nd fac ulty ge n e rally favor a nd would we l come n ew f r aternit i es.

OPPORTUNITIES FO R ACAC I A IN OKLAHOMA

Masonry is very s tron g in N 'o rman , and eve n th o u g h th e male e nrollment at th e um ve r s tt y ts o nly 1290 , a t th e uni vers ity th ere a r e at the present tim e 79 Masons, 19 o f whom a r e 111 th e faculty and 12 a lr ea d y associated with o ther

fraternities, leaving a tota l of 48 non-affiliated student Masons at the present time. The attitude of the Pan-Hellenic is friendly and favors a speedy granting of a charter to the Masonic Club at the University of Oklahom"a.

It seems appropriate at this time to mention the wonderful growth of the University of Oklahoma, for, as I view the situation, the only remaining question for the Masonic Club at the University of Oklahoma to solve is a sufficient e nrollment in the university to guarantee a sufficient Masonic field in the future.

In 1906 the enrollment of the University of Oklahoma was 600; 1907, 623; 1908, 708; 1909, 696; 1910, 692; 1911, 807; 1912, 793 ; 1913, 876; 1914, 1,377, and in 1915, 1,7SO. This remarkable growth of nearly 400 per year for the past three years would tend to indicate that the University of Oklahoma is soon to take her placl! among the large state institutions of the United States, and I told the club when I interv iewed them there, that I believed that so soon as their institution reached and maintained the proper standing in the way of enrollment that they would have a splendid chance to secure a chapter of the Acacia Fraternity-that the growth in the Masonic field of the said institution has kept pace with the growth in enrollment, as evidenced by the fact that in 1914, with an enrollment of 1,377 there were only SO Masons in the student body, while with the 191S enrollment of 1,7SO, there were 79 Masons, so it appears that if the university incr eases its enrollment the normal this year with the correspond ing increase in the number of Masons, that they will have during the present college year at least 100 Masons, 7S of whom will be unattached and available Acacia m a terial. Acacia would be exceptionally favored in the Univer si ty of Oklahoma by the existence of six Normal Schools in the State. The Normal School s take st udents direct from the rural districts' grade schools, and together with the preparatory work include the first and second years of the university college work, and students desiring to complete their A. B. course must of necessity come to the State University for the last two years. This insures a mature age for coming from the various Normal Schools to the university a nd Acacia stands as good a chance to get men in this class as the other fraternities do, and a surprisingly large number of this class are Masons upon entering th e State Universi ty at Norman. This condition, as I v iew it, places Acacia Fr a ternity in an exceptionally opportune position

HOUSE CONDITIONS

The club was first organized February 28th, 191S, as a direct re s ult of a communication from the Grand Vice-President of the Acacia Fraternity, advising them of our fundamental r eq uirements. On March 6th, 191S, they mov ed into the house which they now occupy and at the close of the college year they had 29 men in the club, four of whom were m embe rs of the faculty, and, with one exception, none of them belonged to any general college fraternity. The one exception is a non-active Sigma Nu, who is a member of the faculty. In fact, he is so non-active, th a t it was not even known that he h ad been a member of the Sigma Nu until after h e h ad accepted the invitation of the club.

The club has been working under the general guidance of L. W. Morrow of Purdue, and has thoroughly grasped the real fraternity idea co mp a;ed with the "club" or "4th degree" idea, that has been preva lent In a hm1ted few places in the East in times past.

The club is truly representative of the different departments of the uni ve r si t y, having 6 laws, S medics; 7 engi neers and 7 arts and sciences Of. 2S st ud ent members 19 are to return to college this Fall, 16 of whom will live 111 the house.

In their house r es id e n ce s inc e March 6th, 191S , they ha ve not operated in such a way as to meet with o ur requirements, but they have had a sp lendid start, and expec t to open up on the right basis at th e beginning of this coming semester.

In the way of a hou se the club has the most and most practical proposition th a t I have ever he ard of. They rent a furmshed hou se for $6S per month, or $780 per year, and this · includ es t en nis courts amp l e facilities on the third floor for billiard and p ool table s. The house will comfortably_ accommodate 2S men and this enables them to r e nt th e rooms for $2 per month less than the average s imil a r room rent s for on the campus, and t ab le "board is SOc less per week, making a st r a ig ht sav ing of $3 per man! pe: month, as pared with the accommodations elsewhere about the umvers1ty campus. Th1s

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is not taking into consideration $100 that can eas ily be realized from renting the rooms during the summer school. . . . . ·

I consider this additiona l inducement for a sav1ng 111 the hv111g expenses a very strong asset in Okla_hOJ?<_l• because, as as I could the gene;al financial standing of the mdividual students 1s not as great as It IS 111 many 111st ituti ons located in older and better established sta tes.

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MASONIC BODIES

Th e relationship with the Masonic bodi es is of a. most cordial _nature, and I learn from talking to the _faculty Masons an_d Masons 111 the town that the club is now recogmzed, even though 1t s existence. has b_een shoft, as a very strong factor and a very material aid to the M aso mc bod 1es at Norman, Oklahoma

PERSO NN'EL

I was very favorably impre sse d with the ch a racter of the member s who composed this club Th e re is not a of a doubt but what they stand as leaders in the University of Oklahom a. Th1 s past se me ste: they had _three members in the state debating teams, two letter three Ph1 D e lta two crary medics, the most prominent and influential y. M. C: A. man tn the umvers ity, one member of the the. VIce-Pres_Ident of the Arts and Sci <!; tces, a Sophomore associate, the t e rn. ing Secretary of the House of

one o_f the lead111g hter_a ry soc ieties, the Presid e nt of the Senate, another literary associate and the Chatrman of the Religion Committee, the President of th e Bar, Past President of _the Forum, the President of the Student Council, the President of the Oratoncal Society and the Captain of the University Rifle Club.

I merely state this in order to pre sen t some tangible ev iden -::e of the wonderful standing of the member s of this club in University Circles-the true conditions however cannot be apprecia ted without a personal observation.

SCHOLARSHIP

On the scholarship I was not able to obtain authentic inf o rmation , because the club is so new and the r eco rds of the s t a nding s of the different orga nizations are not made and kept at the University of Oklahoma as they a re in other institutions , but members of the faculty inform e d m e that were such records k e pt that the Masonic C lub would be far ahead of it s nearest competitor.

CONCLUSION

My conclusion concerning the Masonic C lub in th e Univer ity of Oklahoma is th a t it is one of the livest, mo s t wide awake a nd well balanced clubs that we h a v e under consideration at the present time. That as soo n as they have lived under our one-year r equirement that they wi ll be in ample sha pe for th e receiving of a chapter, provided that the university h as grown ufficiently to insure a proper Masonic field. There is no doubt in my mind but what this condition yvill be realized at the time their one year's residence h as expired. My opinion 1s that they wi ll ready for installation about th e Fall of 1916, and p erha ps a chapter could be mst a llecl in Texas and in the Univer s ity of Oklahoma on the same tnp.

In submitting the above report I acknowledge my indebtedne ss to Brother W. Morroyv of Purdue, yvhose guiding influence ha s clone much toward placmg the club 111 Ok lahoma 111 the favorable light that it i s now held

My re co mmendation to this body in connection with th e Triangle Club at Texa s and the Masonic Club in the Univer ity of Oklahoma i s that thi s Conclave adopt a favoring the granting of a chapter to Triangle Club in Texas Umvers1ty as soon as they have met with our requirements and have show!: a s uffi cient int e rnal growth to warrant the same.

1 hat a charte; !;>e granted to the Masonic Club in the Univer ity of Oklah?ma a.s soon as 1t thoroughly demonstrated that th e uni ver ity i of a suffiCient s1ze and stan?m&" abso lutel y guarantee a uffi c ient Masonic field for the mamtammg of a chapter in the futur e.

The ch01cest memories associated with my services as that of Grand VicePresident has been due to the few, what I ca ll, semi-official visits to the different

chapters. Being permanently located but thirty miles away from my original chapter, .the Kansas Chapter at Lawrence, Kansas, I take occasion to drive up ther<' qmte frequently. In fact, I attend some of the big football games and never intentionally miss a fraternity party, banquet, initiation or anything else out of the ordinary. conne.cted with the a.c.tivities of the local chapter. Perhaps my report upon th1s particular chapter will be colored to some extent by my personal interest and prejudice in favor of my original chapter, but I that I can safely say that during the college year last past, they have had the strongest local chapter that have had .since its first organization. In scholarship, the chapter stood, as It has practically always done, at the head of the list where it belongs Socially, they have improved wonderfully. And especiall; their Spring party this Spring, was considered one of the most enjoyable affairs of the college year at the Kansas University. The thing that appealed to me especially was the way the boys stand generally, on the campus a nd among the local Masons. I am personally acquainted with many of the Masons of the town, and I know that I received accurate and definite information from them concerning the doings of the local chapter. And the Acacia Fraternity may well be rroud of the personnel of the Kansas Chapter, the stand that it is taking, and the showing that it is making in the college world.

T also had the privilege of attending the birthday celebration of the Nebraska Chapter at Lincoln, Nebraska, in February. I was met a t the tr ai n by the boys and conducted to the house, where I met a large number of th e Alumni, and was treated with the usual Nebraskan hospitabity That night they gave a very party, at one of the down-town halls, and there was a very representati\'e gathering on that occasion. There were representatives from practically all the sororities of the campus, and the thing that appealed to me especially was the regard which the so-called "e lite" of the campus seemed to have for the Acacia boys.

It was soon noised about that I was a Grand Officer, and was there in at least some semi-official capacity. And almost without exception, th e girls had so me little remark to drop about the enjoyable times they had had at Acacia functions, and how the boys stood generally in college activities. There was a ring of genuineness connected with the se apparent offhand remark s, which showed to me conclusively that in reality th e y have a high r egard in Nebraska for th e Acac ia Chapter and for its members

The next afternoon an initiation was held in the Masonic Templ e, and it was a very creditable one. The only objectionable feature that I was able to detect abo ut it, was the almost irr es istible tendency to "ring in some horse play" during the regular ceremony. I urged upon them the neces s ity for carrying out the so le mnity of the ritual in the most profound way, and during the initiation of the last two or three candidates they eliminated the foolishness and the impre sions created were much more satisfactory. The officers knew their work thoroughly well, and taken as a whole , the impressions created by the initiation ce r e mony were highly creditable.

Diverging for a moment from the conditions as I found them in NebrasKa, I trust and hope that very delegate from this Conclave will return to his c hapt e r thoroughly imbued with the spirit of solemnity that is so nece ssa ry for making the Acacia initiation successful. It should be as so lemn as any Third Degree, and I would like to see uniformity of initiation above a ll things else Under our present system, with no District Inspector and no Trav e ling S ecretary, it occurs to me that the best way to accomplish this is to have a very efficient demonstration of the ritual in charge of some one who is thoroughly competent to see that the demonstration is carefully carried out in the minutest detail at each and every Conclave.

After the initiation we were taken to the banquet hall, where a very successf ul banquet was s taged. There were present many Alumni, honor ary and faculty members, as well as all the active body And the spirit of enthusiasm, with which the older and inactive members greeted this occasion was a rare treat to one who is deeply interested and gives of hi s own time to the fraternity.

The next visit that I made was to the Manhattan Chapter. It was almost a home-coming, for it had been but fourteen month s since the Grand Officers installed th e ir chapter, at which time I had the privilege of conferring the first section of the work. Most of the old guard were back, and there were many

familiar faces I was very pleased indeed, ' to n ot'e the way they grasped the ideals and possibilities of the Acacia Fraternity in such a short time . · In the afternoon I had the rare privilege of attending a matinee ·dance. It was a very successful affair, and the social situation the Manhattan Chapter may well be described by saying that it is perfectly sat isfactory.

The initiation which they had the night of my arriva l was one of the most impressive that I ever attended. There was not one thing that tended to detract from the seriousness of the occasion, and the way they handled the serious part of it would have been a credit to any ntuch older chapter.

There was only one condition at Manhatt an which was not favorable and promising. This was their standing in sc holarship . Among the fraternities Acacia stood at the foot of the list. This of course is a very deplorable condition, and I attempted to outline policies for them to pursue in the future. I found, upo n investigation, that the standing was due to two men who had practically failed in their work. This failure was due to their attempting to carry too much work, with the natural result that they did not do any of it well.

During this first semester th e ir active m embership was very s mall, and of course these two men cut down the average much more than suc h a condition could have in a chapter which had twenty to twenty-five men, as the other fraternities at Manhattan had at the time this scholarship rating was made. Neither of these two men were in co llege the la st term, and although I have not heard what their standing is, during this last term, yet I sincere ly hope and believe that it has been materially improved.

Their hou se m e thods and practices I considered perfect l y sat isfacto ry. And although I believe I did not mention it, in connection with the Nebraska Chapter, the same hold s true of a ll chapters that I hav e visited this year.

I find th a t in every instance, the s ugge s tion s and out line s given by our former Grand President, F. W. Shepardson have been carried out in detail; that guest book, sc rap books, pictures 1of .athletes, etc., and all these littl e things that tend to build tru e fraternity sentiment for the future generations are being well attended to. And it is very gratifying indeed , to see the wonderful strides that hav e been made along th ese line s in a ll of the chapters, but especially our baby chapter at Manhattan, Kansas.

Taken as a whole, my dutie s as your Grand Vice-President have proved most pleasant. At times the correspondence was heavy, at a time when my own a ffair s occupied the mo s t of my time, a nd a t times the results obtained from attempting to get detailed information from the various inquiring bodies was not sa ti sfac tory , but it has always prov ed to be one of those burdens that it is a pleasure to carry. To tho se who may differ with me, as to our standard of requirements, I trust th a t you will extend the broad mantle of Masonic charity and appreciate th a t my efforts have been conscientiou s and and I trust a nd pray that what I hav e done may hav e been of some service a nd prove to be nf so me good to our beloved fraternity.

R.

CECIL FAY , Grand Fic e-Pr esident .

Harvard m oved and Chicag-o seconded that report be accepted. Carried.

Dr. Keiper, accompanied by thr ee other delegates from th e Gra nd Con clave of Grand Masters, a ll memb e r s of Acacia, entered the room and broug-ht gree tin g-s. They also asked th e pleasure of takino· the Grand President with them to present him to the Grand and make him an honorary deleg-ate.

Ohio mo ved and Pennsylvania State seconded that Grand Pre ident be allowed to go . .

Grand Secretary Kilmer took the chair.

Adjourned at 12:30 to meet at 2:15 p. m.

Delegates and office r s were enterta ined at luncheon at the , Cliff House.

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TUESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION

Grand President called the assembly to order at 2 :25. Upon roll call all delegates and officers were fo u nd to be present. There were also twenty-one alumni members present

Prof Lose n by, of t he fac ul ty of Un i ve r sity of California spoke briefly, adv ising Acacians to be loya l to your own chapter but' not to the disparagement of the oth er chapters.

REPORT OF THE GRAND SECRETARY

For the period from June 15, 1914, to August 21 , 1915.

Brothers: At the close of my sixth term of office, I submit the following report of the work of the Grand Secretary's Office, covering the period above stated together with certain recommendations. '

The special duties assigned to this office by the last Grand Conclave have been performed. Again I ask that a full and complete investigation of the methods employed and the work performed be made by the respective committees, and that the delegates feel free to make such inquiry as they may deem advisable. I hope that no brotherly or personal consideration wi ll prevent any brother from criticising the work done or the methods pursued, for as delegates you owe it to the chapters and to yourselves to see that the work of th i s office Is performed proper l y and that such methods are pursued as will insure its greatest usefulness to the fraternity.

Under the respective headings which follow we shall indicate the work performed and give such recommendations as seems warranted from our experience in doing the work that has come to our hands.

MEMBERSHIP RECORDS

There has been progress made during the year in keeping up our records. There are some missing records, but most of these are for members initiated a l ong time ago, who have been lost to this office and the chapter secretaries. Some of these records will never be obtained. There are a few of the missing records that are chargeable to the neglect of the chapter secretaries in the last two years. This year the chapter secretaries have attended to this work in a very satisfactory manner with one or two exceptions.

There is law enough on this subject. The trouble is to get the l aw complied with We hope that each delegate here will understand that the law requires that no member be initiated into the fraternity without first fi lli ng out an orinigal and duplicate membership record. Does your chapter follow the law? We hops that you will see to it that the l aw is enforced

Each chapter shou l d keep a complete file of records for its members. We believe that the present records are amp l e for our· needs. They are complete enough, If we can get them properly filled ou t.

Will you delegates urge upon your chapters these two essentials in the matter of membership records: The proper preparation of the records of all members initiated and where no record is on file for a member already initiated that a continuous and persistent effort be made to complete your chapter files and the files in this office. ·

The summary given below wi ll give the number of records on file for eac:h chapter.

MEMBERSHIP

Despite the fact that no new chapters have been added to the roll this year, our increase in membership is the largest known for the period. We feel sure that this fact is a source of pride t'o every · member of the fraternity. There have been seven expulsions for the year. Two of these cases were charged with misconduct and the other five were for non-payment of dues.

In this connection we wish to state that one of the great problems which confronts our fraternity is how to make good Acacia members out of these new men. This is primarily a chapter question. Many of these men are initiated and are with the chapter for on l y a year. Do these men w i t h this s h ort a term of active membership get into the spirit of your chapters? We h ope that you can answer this question in the affirmative. If you can not, then the question arises whether it is bes t to initiate men who are to be with you for so short a period. We urge upon the chapters to get men who are to be in the institution for two or three years It is unnecessary to point out the reasons for this · last suggestion.

We have had a less number of honorary members admitted to membership during this period t,han during any previous period . Only four honorary members have been admitted. ·

I submit herewit h a summarized stat emen t of the membership of each chapter and the number of records on file a n d the number m i ssing.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

This summary s h o uld ch ee r u s on to eve n gr ea ter e ff o rts. Ce rtai nly it sets forth c onditions whi ch w a rrant l a rge exp ec t a tions for th e futur e. W e a r e growing in numbers and each chapt er is stronge r not onl y In numb e r of m e mb e r s, b ut s tronge r in all the e le m e nts whi ch go to make up a ch a pter

CHAPTERS

From a dis c ussion of indi v idual m e mber s we pass to the group of m e mbers which c onstitute our cha pt e rs. It has be e n a source of jo y to m e to not e the d evelopment in our c hapt e rs. I hav e known th e cha pte rs quit e w e ll sin ce 1908 and , t a ken as a whol e, co nditions hav e Improved b ey ond our high e st e x p e ctation s . It i s littl e short of wond e rful the growth that has b ee n made In s om e of th e chapte rs. Pro gre ss and developm e nt has everywh e re been th e w a tchword In some c ases not a s mu ch progress has been made as in others, but I f eel in all cases a m a ximum of e nd eav or has b e en put forth

Tt now be c om e s m y dut y to point 04t in a gen e ral way the w ork o f each chapter. W e lay no claim to infa libllit y; w e may b e wrong in our c onclu s i on s , but w e g iv e th e m candidly and frankl y for what th ey ar e worth Some of th e m will read v e r y much as a m a rk e t r e port, being v e ry mu ch alik e .

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_Michigan Chapter has had a great deal to do this year. Th e work has been done. The1r burdens are large, but they have had men with force and insight at the helm a nd If this sort of leadership continues the burdens will be made smaller and the will continue to hold its present high standing.

Stanford Chapter has made a great gain in members and the work of the chapter has llnproved a great deal. There is still room for improvem e nt in th e matter of chapter administration.

Kansas Chapter still maintains a place in the front rank of our chapters. Faithful and e fficient officers have overcome every diffi c ulty Kansas, like Wisconsin, has been served for two years by one man as secretary, and the service given has b een of the kind that would help all our chapters.

Nebraska Chapter has made another year of growth and progress in all the e lements which go to make up a real chapter. Nebraska has had for two years real leadership in the high es t office of the chapter Nebraska still needs a secretary lik e unto Brother Villars, who served them in their darkest days.

California still maintains her place among the chapters. The rise and fall of this chapter has never been imminent Their race has been a steady advance. Progress has been made each year.

Ohio State Chapter has had a great growth in numbers during the year, having added 19 members and maintained the second largest roll of active members. The chapter has undoubtedly made progr ess. I hav e not been able to serve the chapter as I should. I fe e l that this chapter needs a baptism in real fraternity spirit. They hav e had for several years a feeling that the Grand Council, or certain m e mbers of the council, were unfair to certain of their members . I am positive that the attitude of every member of the Grand Council toward the chapter and Its respective memb e rs h as been fair and open and will b ea r the c lost scrutiny. This lesson we should all l ea rn, that whether we like th e Grand Officers or not, we should co - operate with them in doing the things that make for the advancement of the fraternity, and faithfully comply with the l aws which a r e mad e to govern us. Ohio State has not seen fit to follow the law in regard to the present system of k ee ping accounts, a nd some other chapters hav e only given half-hearted compliance with th e law. This chapter also has not c omplied with the requirements in regard to purchasing the official pin

IUinois Chapter has made steady progress. Th ey are in much the same position as Michigan Chapter. They have a heavy burden to carry, but they have good l eaders hip and are making progress

Harvard Chapter occupies about the same place as California in comparison with eac h preceding year's work. The chapter has efficient leadership and a faithful secretary, and these things conspire to make the relations with this office a source of pleasure.

Pennsylvania Chapter has made an even better showin g th a n was made last year. The chap t e r's finances are now in excellent co ndition and the chapter is in condi tion to go forward.

Minnesota Chapter bears the marks of real attainment again this year. Twenty-fiv e men have been added to the chapter this year and the chapter officers hav e been efficient workers. The chapter secretary has p e rform ed his work well and we confidentjy look forward to a great future for Acacia at Minnesota.

Wisconsin Chapter has had a rath e r hard year. Fir e destroyed a part of the chapter house and some of the furnitur e and records of th e chapter. But in spite of this in co nvenience the chapter still maintains its rank. Wisconsin has an e nviable record. To each succeeding Conclave th ey have reported their dues and fees paid ; their membership records on file; their chapter correspondence full and complete; their alumni loyal and at work ; their scholarship high These things go to mak e a chapter stand out in its respective community and in the fraternity.

My own chapter has not had a great growth in numbers this year. There has been progress made, however.

Cornell has had a much better year this year than last, and all things indi ca t e ·a steady growth in this chapter.

Purdue Chapter moves forward each year. Fiftee n new members have been added to the roll. Both Cornell and Purdu e have had capable officers, a nd hav e been served by exce llent chapter sec retaries.

Chicago Chapter has met every issue squarely and has made probably the greatest. progress of any chapter in the fraternity for the year This chapter is !'1-nother examp l e to us of th e n ecess ity of leaving struggling chapters to work out the1r own salvatwn and giving them sympathy and encouragement i n their work. Chapter has given to the fraternity some of her best members. Shepardson, Wre1dt, Groves and McDavid are some of the leaders , and with such leadership failure is impossible.

Yal e Chapter has had a great growth this year. We may expect another year to see Yale taking the same steps forward that Chicago has made. Twenty-seve n memb e rs were initiated into this chapter this year, which is the largest number any c hapter has ever initiated in this period, except as charter m e mbers. Yale has had a capable set of officers this year and an excellent Secretary.

Columbia Chapter still maintains a strong chapter and this in spite of th e fact they do not have a chapter house We have had an excellent helper as Secretary of th1s chapter this year.

Iowa State has made a good record The chapter was unfortunate on account of difficulties with some of its members, but this ha.s been ad j usted. Here again we hav e had efficient service from the chapter Secretary, m strong contrast to the work of the previous year.

THE ACACIA JOUR NAL

I owa Chap t er is growing. Th ey have the numbers , but I feel that th ey are wanting, in c hapt e r and fraternity spirit. But these will come in tim e.

Pennslyvania · State is making constant progress. Th ey do not hav e a large fi e ld to draw from, and still fourt een men were added to th e ro lL The chapter has so"!e indebtedness, but this is being gradually reduced. I have no do ubt of the future of this chapter.

Washington still fights a good fight and is winning. The same may be said for Colorado. I spea]> of both of these chapters tog ether becaus e conditio ns are practically the sa m e in both chapters. They have a rather limited field to draw from. But both chapters hav e a fa ithful few to keep up the battle. We shou ld stand by a nd help them in every way possible. So long as th ese chap t e rs can must e r such men as Carr and :Pickson, they will continue the f)gl+t, a nd we firmly believ e that they will win. They hav e b een doing their best and h ave made progress.

Th e r e has been some correspondence with members of Northwestern Chapter. The last Conclave directed th a t the books and charter of thi s chapter be secured by this office. We have tried faithfull y to locate the books and each trail has broken off without r e sults. The charter of this c h a pt er is deposited with th e registrar of Northwestern U niv ers it y and some of the alumni asked th at it be allowed to remain there for a time. Th e r e seemed to be no objection to this plan, and so th e c harter remains In this d e positor y

Syrac use Chapter has had a rather quiet year. Eight n e w members have been added to the roll, how ever. They are quite conservative and the chapter should get stronger. This year the chap t er h as made a v e ry poor showing financially.

Th e baby chapter has had a good year. Some of the troubles which confront new chap ters hav e developed, but these have b ee n met promptly. We may report steady , progress for Kansas State Chapter.

This finishes the roll of chapters. Taken as a whole, there has been splendid progr e ss for the year. I h ave given you my opinion of th e ir respective condi tion s.

CORRESPONDENCE

Like th e fraternity, our correspo nd ence co ntinu es to grow. This ls as it should be. It is impossibl e to e num e rat e th e many subjec ts tr eated in this correspondence By far th e great majority of th e letters it i s a pleasure to write and to receive Alumni and active members mak e use of thi s office in increasing numbers.

Our files were never mor e complete than th ey are this year. We hav e had the faithful co -op eratio n of the chapter secretaries during th e year . Th e same idea mov es us in the conduct of the correspondence of this office that has intl.nenced us in the past. This office is to be the clearing house for fraternity information, this information to be given promptly and accurately. We trust that th e office has been of assistance to those who h ave mad e th e ir wants known, and that it has c o-operated in every way with those who seek to advance th e interests of tbe fraternity.

We have sent out 1,583 l e tt ers durin g my term of office, b es id es num e rous packages and parcels, as is shown by th e postal register, which will be turn e d over to your Auditing Committee.

FINANCES

Our finan ces continue to improve from year to year. Th e chapters have been more prompt in their payments tJ:Ian ever before a nd l ess mon ey will b e outstanding from that source than a t a ny previous Conc l ave. W e sha ll b e ab l e to p ay a ll e xpense s of this Conclave and have a working balance to begin the work of th e new year I urge that no c hange be made in our dues and fe es for the coming year. This recommendation holds unless you det e rmine to increase the budget in which case you should increa se our rev e nue. L e t us be very careful about added expe nditures, and if we detenpine to make them, provide for th e ir p ay m e nt. · The financial r e port will cover in detail our finances and is h erew ith submitted.

TRIAL BALANCE

Liabilities as follows: Balance to credit of "The Triangles," $42.72. There .J.re then the expenses for this Conclave and sma ll bills for postage and other expenses -of Grand Officers presented as yet.

OF CHAPTER ACCOUNTS

I wish to call your attention to the progress that has been made In keeping the accounts and vouchers by the chapters. This is a matter that I have urged for a long time. Now the present bookeeping system may not be what we want. But if it is wrong, then let us get a new one. By a ll means l et us have a uniform system for keeping chapter accounts, and l e t us see to it that each chapter keeps its accounts as prov ided by law. The reasons for this are obvious and need not be stated here.

As for my own vouchers and accounts, I invite your closest scrutiny. All expenditures have been made in accordance with the direction of the l ast Conclave, and my vouchers should substantiate that fact.

THE JOURNAL

The Journal is no more in my charge. I can only commend the last Conclave for the action taken by them. The Journal has improveti. wonderfully under the· present editor and we all owe him much for his faithful and effl.cient work. I have tried to j1elp i)im in every way I could, and I hope that all of you can truthfully report the same co-opera,tion. · , Vte have kept the books of the Journal and attempted ' to relieve the editor as much as possible of the clerical· work connected with the publishing of the Journal.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

DIRECTORY

Th e Directory sent out at the beginning of the year cost I am doiubttfhul d bt · d from a directory Is commensurate w1th the cost. n e of m e mb ers are not sufficiently establish e d to make a directory rs P a ' h much tomorr o w. I do not b e li ev e that It Is wise to publish a bound eac h year. It might be well to us e a part of one each year to give a dir ec tory of the members and, their addresses. Th e geographiCal directory could b e omitted and save considerable m cost.

CONCLAVE

I still hope that an annual Conclave will b e h e ld. Th e Co n c lav es cost a great deal of money but I b e lieve they are worth the mon ey spent on th e m It will be your duty to the pla ce and tim e of holding the next Co n c lav e . The Conclave cost last year $1,524.17. It is estimated th at this Conclave will cost about $3,000.

ENDOWMENT FUND

The total o f cash on hand given In th e finan c ial statement includes $65.85, which belongs to th e e ndowment fund. This fund was s t a rt e d by Brother G . Hill. I have a lways f avo r ed th e setting as id e of a s m a ll a mount of th e fratermty's funds e ach yea r to add to this fund, which would be nothing more. or l ess than our savings 3:ccount. Place this a mount on inte r es t and let it grow. Th e t1m e may come wh e n we WJ!l need it to tide th e fraternity over, a nd It m ay be o n to help a chapter or individual when properly safeguarded. My suggestion in tlus regard has n o t been he e ded, but I hav e continued to m a k e it. I mad e it at Philadelphia and was laughed out of court, and I hav e m ade it year af ter year with little The Chicago are now urging a plan so mething on this order. I hope you w1ll h ave time to cons1der the suggestion mad e and to at l eas t se t as id e enough to mak e th e present sum one hundred dollars a nd the Gr a nd President and Grand Tre asurer to invest this so that th e principal will be secure, a nd that it will dr aw some interest. Th e r e h ave been few calls for traveling card cases, bu t a number of cards h ave been Issued I am firmly of th e opinion that no ac tiv e m ember shou ld be suppli ed a trav e ling car d This for th e reason that an ac ti ve m e mber should be able to make hims e lf known as a m e mb er of Acacia. To p ermit an active member to n egl ec t to inf o rm him self and travel abroad a mong Acacia m en on the signature of the Grand Secretary a nd the seal of the frat e rnity Is an act unworthy of any c h a pte r that has th e right kind of prid e in the int e llige n ce and instruction of its m e mber s. I do not ex p ec t this suggestion t o be h ee d e d, but I m a ke it b e caus e I feel that It s hould be m ade.

RITU AL

J am in many ways very co n servativ e , and I have urg e d the chap t e rs to tr y out th e :rresent ritual and to follow It to th e l e tt er. I h ave ur ged also that no c h a ng es be mad e. We h ave given th e ri tual a good tri a l and it has not been found wanting, in my j•Jd g m e nt, with one excep tion. I wish yo u would co n s id er the adv isability of making a. cha n ge in the Grand Word. As it is this word is m ea ningl ess. I beli eve that we should h ave a word that m ea nt something t o th e initiate. I f you co nsid e r this suggestion favorably, I have a suggestion to m a k e borrowed from Brother Shepardson.

ACACIA PIN

Th e pr esent arrangement for th e sale of Acacia pins h as brought in $520.60 for the yea r. Thi s is a co nsid e rable sum. If your m e mb e rs have been supplied with as good a pin as cou ld h ave been bought for th e mon ey paid for th em, then we should co ntinue th e a rrang e m e nt. You must be th e final judge s of this matt e r If you b e li eve that the commission going to th e frat e rnity tr eas ury s hould be r educed this ca n b e done. It should be done unless you co mpel each chapter to comply with the requir e ments that they purchase th e ir pins of th e official jeweler. You should understand th a t the awarain g of this co ntract to an official j e w e l e r is a duty that the Grand Council does not s ee k. Th e Co un c il recomm e nded this ste p because th ey b e li eved th a t it would enable th e m e mb ers to purchase as pins as th ey h ad b ee n getting and bring in a conSiderable revenue to the frat e rmty Wer e th e Council right? I believe that they were You must decide this question. If yo u do decide to e nt er into another contract th e n provide that where a c h a pter fails to buy th e pin s fr o m th e official jeweler d es ignated by th e Gr a nd Council th a t th e Grand Secr e tary shall when his next annual report is m a d e up charge to th a t c hapt e r's acc ount the amount of commission flue from. that chapter. This amount to be arrived at by multiplying th e amount of commlSSJon on one pin by th e numb e r of memb e rs initiate d Into th a t chapter during the tim e covered by the Grand Secretary's r e port. I ask this l egisl a tion becaus e wher e a c h a pt e r does not purc hase of the official jeweler it is unfair to th e other chapters who a r e contributing th e ir commissions to th e fraternity tr easu r y and is unfair to th e Grand. Co uncil, who In good faith. mak e their repres e ntations to the official jeweler that all pms will be bought from h1m, and unjust to th e official j eweler who mak e s his bid on the basis of supplying all th e pins.

LAWS

We. should hav e !J. new edition of th e Constitution and By-Laws printe d as soon as pos sJble The rev1slon of the Constitution submitted during the last year will be proclaimed h e re. Then there are a number of By-laws to gather up from the minutes that ar e not Included in the prese nt edition. There also Is some e diting to be done on the Constitution. This will entail considerable work to codify the law and no one man should b e. allowed to mak e his id ea supre me. This work should be done by a co mmitt ee that m th e first plac e und e rstands the law of our frat er nit y as It has

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

developed, then th e re should be some members who will see that the law is so worded that it will be understood by those who read it for the first time.

I desire here and now to Impress on you the fact that our laws will never be so written that every one of our members will know the law. This Is impossible. Already ther e has grown up around our Constitution a lot of interpretation. This is to be founu in the decisions of the Grand Council from time to time. But let us make th e best arrangement possible and make the text as clear as possible.

Under this heading a number of subjects could be included but I must close this report before the hour of final adjo u rnment and permit you a short part in the Conclave's program. For example, active membership is still a bit hazy and so is th e subject of affiliation, the successive steps to be taken in a trial for expulsion, a Traveling Secretary and a score of other points might be raised and I may do this In a supplementary report to your committee on Constitution and By-laws.

MINUTES

I wish to recommend that the minutes of this Conclave appear In the next Journal.

INVENTORY

In compliance with our law I submit herewith an inventory of property h e ld by me belonging to the frat e rnity: One seal; one Oliver typ ew riter; one desk; one Lundstrum filing cabinet; on e Edison mimeograph; one l e tt er file; fiv e m e mbership record books-ledger, cash book, journal, ritual hecord book and roll book; one steel dye for membership records at Buxton & Skinners; one steel dye for charters with the Rounds-Truman Company; 47 card cases; 137 rituals; one postal scale; about 150 copies of the Acacia Song Books and a number of boxes of files and Journals. Th ere is also some stationery and office supplies on hand. There is postage on hand amounting to 39 cents.

CONCLUSION

Finally, I a m thankful for the privilege that has been mine in serving with the present Grand Council. Th e ir work has been well p e rformed and each m ember or the Council has helped m e in forwarding the work of my office.

Th e re are other men who have don e their full part and more to make the work of thi s office less burdensome. Brothers Knorr, Hobson, Hill, Diddle, Dills , Bradley and practically eve ry Chapter Secr etary hav e had a part in whatev e r this office h as accomplished. Helpful suggestions have come from a score or more of our members like James of Harvard, McDavid of Chicago, m e n of the rank and file

To have agreed and disagreed with these men and withal to have labored on together with them to a co mmon end, the welfare of our fraternity, has been our good fortune. For over seven years I have kept the pace with th ese men, and it may be that another and b e tter man is at hand to continue the work, in which case I trust you will feel free to honor him and retire m e to the ranks.

Respectfully submitted, HARRY E KILMER, Grand Secretat·y.

Moved by Ohio and seconded by California that report be accepted. Amended by Chicago that the Conclave express its great appreciation for the work of Grand Secretary. Ordered.

Telegrams of greeting were received from Jenkins of Harvard, and Clayton of Ka n sas.

Grand President spoke of the unusual number of alumni present, indicating a growing interest in Acacia.

REPORT OF THE GRAND TREASURER

TO THE GRAND CONCLAVE OF THE ACACIA FRATERNITY

Gentlemen: I respectfully submit the following financial report past year: for the

Total cash on hand June 20, 1914 $ 3,529 03

Received for interest 68.87

Received from the Grand Secretary 7,193.30 $10,791.20

Total cash disbursements , warrants Nos. 1-190 inclusive Total cash on hand

Fraternally, $ 5.737 .81 5,0 53 .39 $10,791.20

J. A. WOODWARD , Grand Treasurer

THE ACACIA JOUR NAL

Grand President complimented the Grand Treasurer on his success 1n securing a good rate of Interest o n the cash on hand.

Moved by Michigan and seconded by Kansas State that report be a ccepted and referred to the Auditing Committee. · Carried.

' Grand President: There is a new officer at our board, Brother Mann. While he can not be said to be a member of the Grand Council, he is a Grand- Officer according to the last Conclave .

. REPORT OF THE GRAND EDITOR

To t)1e Grand Co nclave of tbe Ac acia Fraternity:

Gentlemen-The Journal has always been a source of much discussion at Conclaves in the past Last year witnessed a new departure in the establishment of an editor, whose duties were clearly outlined. The editor made severa l changes· during the year in ' an attempt to call forth your suggestions and critic i sms, thereby producing a Journal s uch as the Activ e and Alumni members desi r e." The s ugg est ion s were not forthcoming, only two men outside of the Grand Council and the editorial staff made any suggestions or offered any criticism. The J o urnal can be improved by c ritici sm , and when so improved the Alumni wi ll want to subscribe, and the Journal will then flu fill its function in the fraternity.

FINANCES

The Journal a lw ays has been run at a loss to the frate1 nity, and judging from the experie nc es of other fraternity publications, provision for the Journal wi ll always have its little part in the budget The point to be carefully considered is the amount to be allowed for the Journal.

The Journal last year cost as follows: November issue, composition, make ready, binding , packing $439.75

This cost appears to be excessive, but when one remembers the following items:

Tabulated t ab l e not

Cost of printing material wh ich has not entered heretofore and which should I believe , be deducled from the cost of the Journal in order to give one an of the actual cost or $267.

The revision of the Constitution and By-laws added materially to the cost of the November is s ue The high cost of $32 24 for mai lin g and shipping was due. t o the fact th at the J ourna l was s hipp ed from Phi ladelphia , which meant an mcrease m express rate. The February issue .represented a cost of..

If allowance i s made for deduct ion of the cost of repub li s hing the minutes of the preceding Conclave and the tabulated matter, the a c tual cost wou ld then be $818.71 or $81.29 below the cost supposed to cover the expense of publishing the J o urn a l y :ear.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

OFFiCE EXPENSE

The expense of the office for the year amounts to:

Circular letters to chapters :

Circular letters to recorder s : :· :

November Journal, copy , proof, etc , ' May Journal, copy, proof, telegram s, etc .............................. .

Returning photographs

Miscellaneous expense

Total office expense

Making a grand total co st of the Journal for th e year.. SUBSCRIPTIONS

The subscription list for the year shows .an encouraging mcr ease . The total s ub sc riptions for the year were 260. Paid in .subscription s $218 .95. Due o n Journal subscriptions $41. Returns from the Journal $259.95. Actual expe n se of J o urnal $751.15 These figures should furnish an incentiv e for renew ed effort o n the part of all chapters during the ensuing year. The t a bul a ted tabl e publi s h ed in each issue should furnish data sufficient to sec ure new subscribers.

JOUR NAL DEP A RTME NTS

The J o urnal h as been publis h ed the pa s t year with but one thought in mind a nd that to you a Journal such as you de s ired as judge«;J from the report of your Comm1ttee on the Journ a l at th e l as t Concl ave ·

In a ttempting to foll ow your sugges ti ons f here h ave be e n two requirement s that hav e influ enced the se lection of all nrticles a nd h ave governed the it ems that h ave appeared under the he adi ngs of College News, ;Masonic Se ct io n aHd Clippings. The first to publish such articl es as would appeal in particular to th e a lumni a nd the second, to publish them in as brief a form as the mat!'!rial would permit. In regard to thi s point I would lik e t o s ug gest that bio gra phic a l ske tch es in the future be made as brief as possible. I wish to quote in r ega rd to thi s point the sta t e m en t of Brother Hall of Yale, who r e m a rk ed: " The average alumus i s n at int e re s ted in biographical ·s ketches. " .

The d eve lopm e nt of th e se ctions , m e ntioned ' a bove , will do mor e making the Journ a l a m agaz ine which will appea l t q the alumni, than any additiona l features. Th ese sections ca n only .be impr ove d thr.ough th e earnest cooperat io n o f th e chapter editors. Quoting Brother H a ll of Yale aga in : "I ha ve observed that c hapter editors have be e n somewhat r e mi ss in their contributions." The success or failure of these sections in fulfilling their plac e in th e J o urn a l depends e ntirely upon th e c h apte r ed it ors.

The alumni a re a t a ll time s interested in impro ve ment s m ade up on the campus; changes in administration; n ew rul es governing a thl e ti cs a nd stude nt lif e in the fraternities. The chapter editors can s upply thi s inf o rm at io n by send in g th e editor th eir daily papers, and forwarding th e clipping s which may come to their attentio n The Masonic sec ti on h as been much l abored over.

It h as been the concensus of opinion that th e a lumni have but littl e time to read Masonic papers and as a result do not feel like s ub scr ibing for Mason ic magazines. Th e Masonic sec tion i s a n attempt to present, briefly, ideal s w hi ch Masons a nd Ac acians should not lose sight of. Masonic facts were presented with the int entio n of k eeping th e Acacians abreast of c h a n ges, and awake to Masonic facts. This sec ti on mu st receive the s upp ort of every Acac ian, a lumni or act ive. An a rticl e which has appea l ed to you · will unqu est ionab ly be read w ith iust as much int e re s t by your brothers. relating to Ac a cia n s a r e int erest in g at a ll tim es, to a ll Acacians Your Ed it or knows but few of the Acac ia n s, and though he may oftentime5 read of Acac ia n s h e does not recog ni ze th e m as suc h You read of 'these men and are g l ad to note th a t your brothers are spri n g in g into prominence. Tear that art ic le o ut , mark th e m an's c h apter and forward it to the Ed,itor an d in this way help build up the Clippings Secti o n, thereb y making the- J o urn a l appeal to the alumni, bettering th e chapters by their r e n ewed int erest.'

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

The Alumni News Section is not what it should be. It has the beginning however of a good department. The Club Department has had but three reports. Every meeting of the alumm be You can do your little part by sendmg your account of get The news Items. of the chapters could be made more by prefixmg the of graduatiOn of the man in the item, thereby enabling readers to more. readily the J?en in whom they are particularily interested These suggestiOns reqUire but little time on the part of the chapters editors and make for the best fraternal magazine published.

CRITICISMS

There have been some criticisms , adverse and complimentary, which have been appreciated and acted upon to the best of the Editor's abili_ty. Two ;mistakes in crediting subscribers were corrected and a_n I believe, satisfied the chapters envolved that the errors were unmtentwnal. Mistakes due to iJlegible copy cannot be avoided but copy written in a clear _hand could and should be rejected in the future. The Editor should have copy m all cases where possible typewritten. A correction in data was noted _regarding the members in honorary societies in one chapter. The figures published were collected through conversation with members at the chapter while the Editor was visiting the chapter. This mistake and others similar to it would have been avoided had the chapters sent in the information to the Editor. Please remember that members on college publications, in honorary societies, on the teams and in college activities in general can be made good reading matter for the Journal. The chapter editor should supply the Grand Editor with th e information at their hand. The Editor has welcomed all criticism and should at all times be glad to receive suggestions and invite correspondence from those with the interest of the fraternity at heart.

PROPOSED CHANGES

With one year's experience as Editor there are several changes which would aid materially in the publication of the Journal. These changes are so closely allied that they can be best dwelt with as a unit. It has been found very unsatisfactory to edit a journal published in another part of the country . Copy has to be in over a month in advance and, as it is nearly always late, has to be forwarded in a rush without proper reading. The printers Jag on the job unless one can constantly drive them. The make-up can be improved when one is in touch with the composing room. These faults could be remedied by changing to four issues a year as follows: By publishing four issues we can get a second class mailing rate of lc per pound. With this rate the location of the office of the Editor would make no difference in the cost of sending the Journal, and four issues could be sent in place of the usual three. The fourth or the first issue could be made to contain only the report of the Conclave. The remaining three issues could be treated as in the past and the cost would not be increased. We could at the same time make use of our excess copies by sending out sample copies at this reduced rate. For example, mailing copi e s of the November issue cost 7c a piece. The same could be mailed as second class matter at a little less than Zc a piece. In bringing these facts to your attention I am not saying that the cost of the Journal could be cut down, but that the Journal could be made to appear more promptly, and in b e tter shape In addition we could utilize the excess copies. These changes will make the editing more convenient and satisfactory.

CHANGES IN

. The head pieces were introduced in the first issue in an attempt to get your opimo.n. They were removed and the Editor received no comments. I submit herewi!h typ_es of the head pieces u sed, for your selection , should you care to use head pieces 111 the future. Y ?ur will and pleasure should determine the make-up of the Journal: I feel that It should have a more artistic character. A. frank expressiOn of Ideas would help materially in this matter.

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

It been a pleasure to work with the men on the editorial staff, men who had the mterest of the Journal at heart and who put their time and effort into

making the Journal the best journal we knew how to produce. Brother Jenkins of Harvard is responsible for several of the most int eres ting articles. Brot h er Mundhe ink took a particular interest in the Masonic Section Brothers Connybeare saw to it the in t)l e Central Division contributed their part. Brother Marsha ll , m add1hon to workmg on the Conclave, was after subscr iber s.

When one lo<;>ked o'.'er the chapter lett e rs and th e lin es drawn through of the sectiOns w1th the phra_seo logy corrected, 1t easy to recognize th1s va lu ab l e co -operatiOn. The ed1 t or acknow l edges the1r esteemed assis t ance and wishes to take this opportunity, of expressing hi s grateful appreciation of their combined efforts

ARTICLES

The Editor wo uld lik e to have the opinion of the delegates as to th e kind of articles to appear in the Journal , just which of the articles that h ave appeared sho uld have been omitted, a nd which should hav e been r ed uced I hav e written for seve ral articles and have not published them after h av ing r ece ived the same, because they could be improved and were worthy of improv emen t There are two art icles in the fi les wh ic h would make good re ad ing a l ong the lines of Brother Crawford's article in the May issue.

Your idea s on the art icle s wou ld be appreciated by the Editor and I feel that they wou ld be put into practice as soon as permissab l e

In conclusion I would like to suggest that the Grand President appo int a com mittee to co nf er with the Editor and r e port r ega rding propo sed c han ges in the Constitution and By-Laws.

Resp ec tfully submitted, WM. G. MANN, Grand Editor.

G r and P re s id ent: We sho uld express our appreciat ion to this un sa laried off icer for the amount of wor k he has done.

Moved by Pennsylvania State and seco nd ed by Harvard that report be accepted and th a t Conclave express its appreciation for the work of the Grand Editor. Carried:

REPORT OF THE GRAND COUNCIL

Report of th e G r a nd Counc il , by Grand Secretary Harry E Ki lm er:

Brothers: We, the member s of the Grand Council s ubmit the fo ll owing report and recommend a tions and provisional budget required by law:

i. We repo rt the ratification of the e l ection of the following honorary members and their enro llm ent:

William P. Filmer

California Chapter

Robert E D e nfeld Minnesota Chapter

Wil li am S. Hammond Minnesota Chapter Char l es F. Peterson Washington Chapt er

2. No meeting of the Grand Council h as been held this year . The Grand Council determined the matter of distributing the Directory, this matter not having been disposed of by the Conclave It was determined to give one copy free to eac h act ive member and to each J ournal s u bsc rib er and to eac h Grand Officer

We have the following recommendations to make :

(a) We recommend that the Grand President b e given author ity to make a contract with the advice and consent of the Council with an official jeweler and the chapters b e required to purchase a ll pins through the Grand Secretary.

(b) We r ecommend that Ohio State Chapter be censured for not complying with the law of the fraternity in rega rd to th e officil!-1 pin and th a t chapter be required to pay the sum of Twenty Doll a rs mto the Fratern1ty Treasury in lieu of the commissions not paid this year.

(c) In view of the fact that the l ast Gra nd di_rected that a new ed ition of our laws be issued and that this was found Impracticable, because th e

:Constitution was being revised thi s year, we recommend that a new edition of the laws be published as soon as possible.

(d) We re co mmend that this Conclave consider and devise if a system of bookkeeping that will m ee t th e demands of the chapters.

·. 3. The Grand President appoi nt ed the following delegates to the Interfr a t e rnity Conference: A. A. J e nkin s, Harvard C h apter; F. E. Lott, Syracu se Chapter, a nd George E Frazer, Wisconsin

· 4. The vote upon th e proposed r ev isio n of the Constit uti o n r es ult e d in th e adoption of all the sections, with th e following exceytion s:

Art icle II, Sec. 8, r e la ting t o hon o rary membershtp, re j ected, 15 for, 8 ag amst, 1 not vo tin g.

Ar ticl e VI Sec. 15 , relatmg to the ex clu siOn of member s of ot h e r soctal f r atern iti es, reJected, 13 fo'r, 10 again s t, 1 n ot voting.

5. Th e Grand Council recommends th e following a s a provisional budget: BUDGET

ESTIMATED INCOME

, $ 8,080.00

Respectfully submitted, GEORGE E F R AZER, Grand P1 esident, R. CECIL FAY, Grand Vic e-Presid ent J, A. WOODWARD, Grand Treasurer, HARRY E. KILMER, Grand Secr etary, WILLIAM G . MANN, Grand Editor, Grand Council.

Ohio moved, Illinois seconded , that report be accepted. Carried.

T_he then read the following s ections of the revised ConstitutiOn, declarn)g that the required number o f chapters in referendum_ ;rote had cast_ favorable votes and that this reading wou ld be -the off tcta l promulgatiOn of the new Consti tuti on.

REFERENDUM BALLOT ON CONSTITUTION

PREAMBLE

We, student, a!ld alumni of v.ari?us universities and colleges, being Master Masons, and believmg that the pnnciples of Freemasonry are worthy of the most. careful among universities and college brethren, do hereby adopt .this Constitution for the purpose of strengthening the ties of friendship one With asother, to develop a greater zeal for the Masonic institution, to prepare ourselves as educated men to take a more active part and have a greater influence in the affairs of the community in which we may reside, and above all to seek the truth and knowing it to give light to those with whom we may be associated as we travel along life's pathway.

ARTICLE

I Name.

The association governed by this Constitution shail be known as the Acacia Fraternity, and have exclusive juri sdiction throughout the world.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

ARTICLE II Membership.

Art . II, Sec. 1. This fraternity shall consist of the various chapters located at the several universities or colleges, and organized hereinafter provided.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. II, Sec. 2. The active membership of each chapter shall be composed entirely of students, members of the faculty, and alumni of the university or college at which it is located, who are Master Masons in good standing and members of a lodge working under the jurisdiction of a regular Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons , and vouched fo.r by some member of the chapter.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. II , Sec 3. Any student who shall have been an active member of any chapter for four (4) years or upon severing his connection with the university or college, may become an alumnus member of such chapter, or if he so elects, remain an active member by paying the regular dues, but the said member upon re-entering or continuing in the same institution shall again become active unless excused by the chapter.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two. VOTING AGAINST: Syracuse. OT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. II, Sec. 4. Any member of the faculty, who shall have been elected an active member of any chapter, may become an alumnus memb e r after th e exp iration of one year by paying the alumni dues, or if he so elects remain an active member paying the regular dues.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska

Art. II , Sec. 5. No chapter shall elect during any one college or univ ers it y year more than two faculty members, provided however, that this shall not apply to those faculty members who are regularly enrolled as students .

VOTING FOR: Sixteen. VOTING AGAINST: nois, W isconsin, Co rn ell, Yale , Columbia, Syracuse (7). IN G: J ebraska.

Harvard , IlliNOT VOT-

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

Art. II, Sec. 6. Any a lumnus of the university or college, who shall have been elected an active member, after serving his connection with the university or college, may become an a lumnus member after the expiration of one year, or if he so elects, remain an active member by paying the regular dues.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. II, Sec. 7. Any Master Mason in good standing, and a member of a lodge working under the jurisdiction of a regular Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and vouched for by some member of a chapter of this fraternity, may be elected an honorary member of th at chapter, subject to the approval of the Grand Council, and the Grand Secretary shall notify the chapter and the said member of their action. Hono rary members shall be entitled to all the benefits and privileges of alumni members.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. II, Sec. 8. No chapter having five or more honorary members shall initiate more until their number have reached four or less. No chapter in the future shall have at any one time more than five honorary members, provided however, that this shall not effect honorary members already initiated

VOTING FOR: Fifteen. VOTING AGAINST: California, Harvar d , Illinois , Missouri, Purdue, Chicago, Iowa State, Iowa (8). NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

AMENDMENT LOST.

Art. II, Sec. 9. Any active alumnus or honorary member , who shall suffer the lo ss of his ?ta nding as a Master Mason, shall, while under such disability, forfeit his rights and privileges as a member.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art . II, Sec. 10. Upon the initiation of a new m e mber the Secretary of the chapte r shall send the Grand Secretary an individual membership record on a form f urni s h ed by him.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING : Nebraska.

Art. II, Sec. 11. Membership in any chapter of Acacia Fraternity shall be by invitation, and the name or names submitted at a stated or special meeting at least one week before final action. The action shall be by secret ballot and by a unanimous vote shall be necessary for election. '

VOTING FOR: Seventeen. VOTING AGAINST: Michigan, Wisconsin , Cornell, Purdue, Pennsylvania State , Colorado (6). NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. II, Sec. 12. The entire initiation ceremony shall be secret and include only the forms prescribed by the Ritual approved and adopted by the Grand Conclave

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

ARTICLE III Grand Conclave.

Sec. 1: The Grand shall be the gathering of the representatives of th.e vanous chapters, at such time an.d place as shal! have been previously determmed by th e Grand Conclave, that the time and place of meeting may be changed by the Grand Council for good and sufficient reasons.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. III, Sec. 2. The legislative power of the Acacia Fraternity shall be vested in the Grand Conclave, each chapter being represented by one representative with one vote. This body shall also have sole power of electing and insta lling the Grand Officers.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three . NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. III, Sec. 3. The revenue of the Grand "Conclave shall be derived from the following sources:

1. An annual per capita tax upon the active membership.

2. An initiation fee into chartered chapters.

3. Initiation fees of charter members into new chapters.

4. Charter fees.

5. Such other sources as the Grand Conclave may from time to time determine upon.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. III, Sec. 4 . Upon recommendation of the Grand Council, the Grand Conclave may revoke the charter of any chapter, upon two-thirds' vote of the representatives present.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-one. VOTING AGAINST: Michigan, Harvard. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. III, Sec. 5. The following shall be the order of business governing the Grand Conclave:

1. Approval of Credentials as recommended by the Grand Council.

2. Reading of Minutes of preceding Grand Conclave.

3. Report of Grand Officers.

(a) Grand President.

(b) Grand Vice-President.

(c) Grand Treasurer.

(d) Grand Secretary.

4. Reports of Grand Council.

5. Reports of representatives.

6. Appointment of Auditing and Special Committees.

7. Report of Committees. ·

8. Unfinished business.

9. New business.

10. Election and installation of officers.

11. Good of Fraternity.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two. NOT VOTING: Minnesota, Nebraska.

Art. III Sec. 6. Robert 's Rules of Order shall govern the deliberation of the Grand on all points, not covered by this Constitution and By-Laws

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

ARTICLE IV Grand Council.

Sec 1. The Grand Council s hall consist of the Grand President, Grand VicePresident, Grand Tre as urer, Grand Secretary, and Grand Editor.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. IV, Sec. 2. Grand Council shall be the supreme executive and judicial body of the fraternity, except in granting and revoking charters.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. IV, Sec. 3. The Grand Council shall constitute a. Committee on Endowment for administration of all endowment for thts fratermty. All funds known as th e Endowment Fund shall be held separate by the Grand and the Grand Secretary shall furnish copies of the the Journal gratUitously to the donor s.

VOTI NG FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art IV, Sec. 4. All meetings of the Grand Council, excep t th'l:t held at _the tim e of the Grand Conclave, shall be at the call of the Grand Prestdent, subject to a referendum vote of the chapters, as follows:

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two. VOTING AGAINST: Washington. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. IV, Sec 5. The Grand President sha ll send to eac h chapter a statement specifying the time , pl ace, approximate cost, and matters demanding the attention of the proposed meeting. If a m a jority of the chapter votes received by the Grand President within thirty days from the date of m a iling the statements, favor the meeting, he i s authorized t o convene th e Grand Council.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two. VOTING AGAINST: ·washington. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. IV, Sec. 6. By a majority vote, the Grand Council s hall have power to suspend the charter of any chapter, whose conduct s h a ll be suc h as to bring discredit or di s hon o r upon itself or the fraternity. The Grand Council shall not continue the suspension of a charter long er than the n ex t meeting of the Grand Conclave without the co nsent of that body

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art . IV, Sec . 7. Th e Grand Council shall pass upon th e credentials of the representatives, s ubject to the approval of th e Grand Conclave.

VOTING FOR: Twenty ··three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

ARTICLE V Officers

.

Sec. 1. The Grand Officers s hall consist of Grand President Grand VicePresident, Grand Treasurer, Grand Secretary and Grand Editor,' who shall be e lected at the Grand Conclave from the alumni membership and s hall be univerSi ty or college gra duate s, and hold office until their s u ccessors are elected and mstalled.

S111

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two. NOT VOTING: Nebraska. VOTING AGAINST: Wiscon-

A rt. V, Sec. 2. In case of a vacancy in a Grand Office it sha ll be filled by a majority vote of the r ema inin g Grand Officers. '

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. V, Sec. 3. The Grand President s hall preside at the Grand Conclave a nd at the meetmgs of the Grand Council, appo int a ll committees pertaining thereto, and h ave ch_arge of the relatiOn of the Acacia Fraternity to Maso nry a nd revtew the sem t-annual financial reports of each c h ap t e r.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

A rt . V, ?e.c. 4. In case of a tie o n any proposition the Grand President shall cast the dectdmg vote

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two. VOTING AGAINST: Pennsylvama State. NOT VOTING: Ne bn s ka .

Art. V, Sec. 5. The Grand Vice-President shall have charge of the extension of the fraternity and all matters pertaining to the insta llation of new chapters and perform such other duties as usually pertain to this office.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. OT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. V, Sec. 6. The Grand Treasurer shall receive all moneys from the Grand Secretary, pay all bills, and keep a strict account of the same. He shaH be required to make a semi-annual statement to the individual chapters through the Journal.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. V, Sec. 7. The Grand Secretary shall keep records of the Grand Conclave and of the Grand Council. He shall receive all moneys due and coming to the Grand Conclave, shall keep vouchers of all bills paid ; shall keep strict account of the same and shall forward all moneys, so received , to the Grand Treasurer. He shall receive and record the semi-annual financial reports of each chapter after they have been reviewed by the Grand President. He shall submit at the opening of each Conclave a formal report accompanied by vouchers covering his term's work as specified above; he shall receive for performing the above duties such compensation as the Grand Conclave may determine.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. V, Sec 8. The Grand Editor shall be the editor of the J o urnal and hall select associate editors as he may deem proper and have the responsibility of an authority for the publication of the Journal. He shall be entitled to reimbursement for necessary expenses insurred in the publication of the Journ a l.

VOTJNG FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. V, Sec. 9. The Grand Tre as urer and Grand Secret a ry shall each give a sec urity company's bond in the sum of not less than one thousand dollars and as much more as the Grand Conclave may require, the same to be approved and held by the Grand President. The premium on said bonds to be paid by the Grand Conclave.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Ar t. V, Sec. 10. The Grand Officers shall each submit a formal report covering the work of their term of office, at the opening of the Grand Conclave.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. V, Sec 11. The further duties of the officers shall be as provided for in the By-Laws.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

ARTICLE VI

Chapters

Sec. 1. A charter for a chapter of this fraternity may be granted by the Grand Council, upon the application of twelve or more Master Masons in good sta nding, and members of lodges working under the jurisdiction of a regul ar Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons or Ancient Free and Accepted .Maso ns , who are students in or members of the faculty of any college or umverity , after due investigation by the Grand Vice-President, and by a four-fifth s' favorable vote of all chapters in good standing. The investigation of the application s hall be as provided for in the By-Laws.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

Art. VI, Sec. 2. The referendum vote of chapters in all cases is determined by the majority of those voting · in each chapter.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 3. Each new chapter shall pay an initiation fee on all charter members and a charter fee as provided for in the By-Laws.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 4. The chapter shall have jurisdiction over affairs, and may adopt a Constitution and By-Laws for its government, provtdmg they do not conflict with the Constitution and By-Laws of the Grand Conclave. Such Constitution and By-Laws or any amendment thereto must be at some stated meeting prior to the time of final action and a two-thtrds vote shall be required to adopt the same.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 5. Each chapter shall be known and designated by the name of the institution in which said chapter is located.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 6. The officers of a chapter shall be the Venerable Dean, Senior Dean, Secretary, Treasurer, Senior Steward, Junior Steward, Sentinel, provided that a house steward and assistant steward may be elected or chosen by the individual chapter as they may provide.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 7. The officers of the chapter, and their duties shall be as provided for by the Ritual, and their chapter Constitution and By-Laws.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec . 8. The officers shall be chosen annually by ballot not later than the first stated meeting in May of the college or university year.

VOTING FOR: Nineteen. VOTING AGAINST: Ohio, Harvard, Chicago, Yale (4). NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art VI, Sec. 9. The fiscal year of each chapter shall close on May 15th of each year.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two. VOTING AGAINST: Harvard. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 10. Each chapter shall be responsible for the payment of the Grand Conclave annual per capita tax, and the initiation fees, and shall pay the same direct to the Grand Secretary as provided in the By-Laws.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 11. Each chapter shall practice in keeping the records and accounts only the forms provided by the Grand Council.

VOTING FOR: Sixteen. VOTING AGAINST: Michigan, Stanford, California, Ohio, Chicago, Iowa State, Syracuse (7). NOT VOTING : Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 12. Each chapter shall make such reports as are provided for in the By-Laws.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 13 A majority of the active members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

VOTING FOR: Eighteen. VOTING AGAINST: Harvard, Illinois, Purdue, Yale, Columbia (5). NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec. 14. Any member of good standing of any chapter may become affiliated with another chapter upon their invitation and with the consent of his own chapter. Notice of such affiliation shall be given by the affiliating chapter to the Grand Secretary, and to the chapter from which he comes.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two. VOTING AGAINST: Ohio. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Art. VI, Sec 15. Active members of general, national, social college fraternities shall not be eligible to membership in Acacia, and members of Acacia, joining general, national, social college fraternities shall forfeit their membership in Acacia.

VOTING FOR: Michigan, Kansas, California, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Purdue, Chicago, Iowa State, Iowa, Washington, Kansas State (13) . VOTING AGAINST: Stanford, Harvard , Franklin, Minnesota, Cornell , Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania State, Colorado , Syracuse (10). NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

AMENDMENT LOST.

Art. VI , Sec. 16. Any chapter after due investigation may prefer charges against and expel or suspend any of its active or alumni members . Such member s s hall have the right of appeal to the Grand Council. Notice of such expulsion or suspension shall be sent to all other chapters and to the Grand Offic ers. In ca se of an appeal such notice shall not be sent until after the Grand Council s hall have taken action.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-three. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

ARTICLE VII Amendments.

Sec. 1. Amendments to this Constitution may be made by a two-thirds vote of the Grand Conclave and approved by a two-thirds referendum vote of all the chapters in good standing, voting within sixty days after mailing of notice. If the amendment be approved by two-thirds vote of those voting the Grand President shall make due proclamation thereof declaring the amendment carried a t which time the amendment shall become effective and shall so notify the chapters.

VOTING FOR: Twenty-two . VOTING AGAINST: Harvard. NOT VOTING: Nebraska.

Votea in all cases are as returned by chapters.

Calling attention to the order of business as prescribed by the Constitution the Grand President was given permission to have the Minutes of Conclave read by title only, since they had been officially printed in the Journal. -

Before calling for the reports from the representatives of the various chapters, the Grand President appointed the following committees:

COMMITTE ES

Constitution and By-Laws: Illinois , Chair man; Mich igan, Nebraska Franklin, California.

Ritual and Insignia: Kansas, Chairm_an; Stanford, _Yale Publications (Journal, Song-book ,. Dtrectory) : yY tsconsm, Chairman; Syracuse, Kansas State; Alumm, -r:relevan (\_iV ts .) -. .

Auditing and Budget: . Harvard, Oh10, Mtssoun. _

Alumni Chapters: Chtcago, Columbta, Kansas; Alumnus, Gt oves (Chicago).Endowment Fund: Mtssoun, Chatrman; Harvard, Mmnesota.

Fraternity Extension: Purdue, Chairman; Washi n gton, Cornell ; Alumnus, Smith (Triangle Club). . . Uniform Accounting and Reports: Mmnesota , Chatrman; Pennsy l vnia State , Iowa State. . . . .

Masonic Research : Iowa Umverstty, Chatrman; Purdue, Columbia. Condition of Chapters and Chapter Visitation: California, man; Michigan, Yale; Alumni, Keith (Co rnell ), Flynn (Ca l.) , Cornehus (Neb.). . . . .

Next Conclave: Colorado, Chatrman; Franklm, Mtssoun. Resolutions: Nebraska, Chairman; Chicago, Iowa State . Report of Representatives.

Ill i nois moved and Ohio seconded that delegates limited to five minutes. Carried.

Gra n d President suggested that delegates group their remarks as much as possible under the following heading s: Methods o f Getting Men, Housing Prob l ems, Relation t o National Fraternity , Local Interfraternity Relations.

REPORTS OF D E LEG ATES

MICHIGAN

Ne w Memb er s We aim to get back at first of schoo l year. We place books in Y M. C. A., in a store frequently visited by all st ud en t s, one in the Tr eas urer's office and in other important building s where s tudent s are bound to assemble. This is not as a fraternity register but as a Masonic r egister, in which the student places his name and address, department in school a nd local lodge. We visit these regist e r frequently and copy the data.

If a man is unknown to any of us , we appoint a commi ttee to call on this man and look him over and bring him to the hous e for en tertainment.

Hous e Propos it ion. We built a house at quite a cost. We had some $900 available at the beginning of the year. We aimed to pay $1,000 and did so this year However we have another arrangement whereby we pay the alumni an average of $250 per month for 10 months, or $2,500. This will also take care of the interest a nd insurance on the house, though I am not quite sure about the insurance.

Nat ional Law . I know of n.:. violation of Constitution or By-Laws. The uniform acounting sys tem has not been adopted in our ch ap ter. Reasons were stated last year. System is not read ily interpreted. We nave a system that serves our purposes fairly well and we can refer to it and get the data we want in a moment's time. If anything, it is in more condensed form.

Member: Do any active men contribute?

Michigan: They do. A pledge list was circulated this last spring and every active man solicited for a pledge. We aim to get pledge

notes of $100 from each man and aim to get them as early as possible. Vve so licited from la st year's class. They contributed a large part of the $900 that was available this year.

Columb ia : Is this pledging optiona l with active members?

Michiga n : It I S, but about 95 per cent of all men respond.

STANFORD

We have had another year of hard struggl e, especially the first of the year. The second semester has been more successful and harmonious.

New Men. We meet th e railroad train s as the st ud ents come in, and place men at the registration office. We have difficulty in getting mc:mbers because of the sma ll number of Masons in schoo l and we can not get hold of them before they come. Some join Greek fraternities before we get a line on them

Building We have a building fund of $300 deposited in the bank. I wish to correct the statement of the delegate last year. This is a bui lding fund, though we do not expect to build a h ouse for four or five years. We believe in going slow and being sure to get our alumni strong.

Accounting System. We did not u se it as we understood that Section 11 was not in force until voted upon. We do not think the system is as good as it shou ld be and it does not meet o ur needs. We did try to adopt it but it met with considerab l e opposition.

Pins. We found difficu lty in delivery of pins promptly. We think there should be a branch house out here.

Grand President: Do you know how the Be ta s handle the situation out here?

Stanford: No, but I wi ll try to find out.

\Ve have had considerable intern a l tr o ubl e thi s year. One reason for it is that we can not a l ways choose the man with whom we want to live. We have t o take almost any man.

Grand President: How man y Masons in school?

Stanford: Forty to fift y.

Grand President: How many m chapter?

Stanford: Fourteen and fifteen.

Gran d President: That is about one Maso n o u t of three in the Universi t y .

Stanford: But many of the Maso n s are not avai lab le. Possibly members of Greek Fraternities or faculty member s. Avai lable material is practically nearly all taken up

KANSAS UNIVERSITY

New Members. The first week we comb the hill pretty well. We p l ace men at the enrollment building to l ook for men. About the end of the first week we give a Masonic smoker at the T emple Thi s smoker is not announced as an Acacia smoker but we invite a ll Masons including facu l ty men and some of the prom inent Masons from the down-town l odge . Last year ha d about 90 present . Generally we meet a number of men before this comes along but this is also a very successfu l way. We distribute cards and co ll ec t them and pick out certain ones.

House. We ha ve a house that wi ll accommodate 30 men. There is a good place for entertainments, tennis, etc. We charge a flat rate or $28 for board, room and dues, soc ia l and fraternity.

THE ACAC I A JOURNAL

Scholarship . We keep a tabulation book in which each man puts in his name and courses and we send out cards to each of the professors to fi ll in and send back to us. We thus have the grades for each man each month and if not satisfactory, the matter goes to the committee on scholarship.. Accounting System . We follow this system but found 1t a b1t d1fficult. But we thought it best to use the national system. I have no suggestions on the building fund line .

NEBRASKA

We have had a very successful year.

New Membe r s. No uniform system of procuring new members and I think we shou ld have We re l y main l y on personal effort. Every body registers in one building and we have men there to watch for the sq uare and compass. On Monday after registrat ion week ,- we invit e all Masons to a smoker. We get a good l ine on some in this way. We generally get three or four men the first week but we get the majority of our men during the rest of the year. We watch during the year in classes and on the campus and pick them up when not in competition with other Account ing System. We use it and think it is very good. We a l so have bought our pins from the Grand Council and like the sys t e m. We think it is a much better system than the old where every man got his pin from different sources

Student Act ivities . We urge our men to get out into all activities. Any one who has ever been in Nebraska will be impr essed with student interest along this line. Nebraska stands out in student activities. We take an active part in socia l affairs.

House Proposit ion Our lease runs out at end of this year. We have a committee looking after this problem at the pre se nt time . One o f our men is a thirty-third degree Mason. We are going to have trouble on this point. Grand Master is a lso an honorary member of Acacia. They propose to give $5,000 and loan $10,000, the rest of the money to be raised by selling stock. We intend to bu ild a hou se costing about $35,000 I endorse th e s itting down on any gift from outside organization. I don ' t kn ow how the chapter will look at it Even if they say that it will not oblige us in any way, th ey will sooner or later feel that we are under obligations and Masons out in State will likewise feel that they are entit l ed to some consideration. I wish our chapter could have been present this year to hear the suggestions of our Grand Officers on this point .

CALIFORNIA

Ne w Members . We have secured several men much the same way as already stated We s tage men at p l ace of regi s tration and at the co-operative book store. We hav e some al u mn i who send us mat e rial. But the grea ter number of men a r e picked up as in Nebraska, dur i ng t he year. House. We r e nt a house at $80 per month for 12 month s. Not adequate and not a l ways l arge enough. The furniture we own. The building fund is in t h is condition: We had $6.700 pledged by $100 pledge note s, $10 payab l e yearly; $800 of that. fund has been paid in. In addition to that $800 enough has been added to bnng up to tota l of $1,388.35 cash on hand . The additions come from $10 of the $25 initiation fee, turned in regu larly, and from interest accrued. Pins. We fo ll ow the regulations of Grand Fraternity . Accounting System. We use the accounting system, but also keep a sepa r ate l edger a n d day book. We fee l t he system suggested by the Grand Fraternity does not keep the real items in permanent form. So we keep an extra system.

OHIO

9 hi o State has come tl:rough one of. its best :years. Taking in 17 men , p u rchasmg $400 worth of furn 1tu r e and havmg $200 111 treasury at present t ime is o u r r ecord th is year. T h at i s $600 better t ha n we have ever done before ' New Men Method is sim.il ar to that of ot h er chapters already menb one d Our poltcy next year w1 ll be somewhat different. The University Lodge composed mos tl y of university men, w ill be granted a charter and we ex p ect

next year to have the new Masons attend this lodge. We will in this way, determine a man ' s caliber and investigate his record afterwards. '

. House Proposition . Every man at the end of his senior year is supposed to stgn 10 notes of $10 each payable yearly. By this method, we have paid off $10,000 on $22,000 property. We also urge every active ma·n who possibly can to pay up before he is out of school. '

Accounting System. We have not had a man who could use it. We adopted Moore's accounting system which we found gave us all the necessary facts. The chapter always knew how its finances stood and had no trouble with any credits We have a good record of every cent taken in and paid out.

Pins. The pin regulation we have not followed. We had a previous contract with the Acernity Manufacturing Company and our alumni said not to break that contract, and that if we did, they would withdraw their support . I do not think we will continue to buy from the Acernity Company next year. Ritual. We follow ritual entirely. Every man must know his part when it comes to initiation. No one is allowed with a ritual in the hall.

Pennsylvania: Concerning the contract about pins, what were the terms of that contract?

Ohio: It called for 100 pins.

HARVARD

New Men. We do as most of you men, scatter a few note books around at various places for Masons to register and give us their addresses. We have a series of smokers, general Masonic get-together meetings. To some of these, all Masons of the university are invited with usually some of the Grand Masters from lodges in that vicinity. When we get a line on a new man, he is assigned to a committee consisting of men of that department, as law, medicine, etc. Our members come from all over the country and usually a member has a line on some one from his section of the United States. For instance, a man coming from Illinois gets hold of a man from Illinois.

We look for men most of the year. We expect this year to clean up all our rushing before Christmas and devote all the rest of the year to our alumni around town . We are making a special effort to keep in touch with our alumni and make them feel more at home with us.

House Proposition. We have a debt of $8,000 on $12,000 house owned by an Acacia Trust. The alumni pay for the house by subscription. Not compulsory subscriptions. A man is told when he is bid that we owe so much on the house and that when he graduates we will be glad if he will subscribe.

In Finances, we have made substantial progress. At the beginning of year we had a deficit of something over $375, which has now been paid. The only obligations that we have now is to the trust. What we pay the trust is not the rental value of the house, but what we think is a fair amount to pay. Our house has 9 rooms, with 8 t:nen living in house. The revenue is $760, or an average of $95 per room.

Accounting System. We use the accounting system. My experience with it is that it can be handled and I am not inclined to make any criticisms. It could, I suppose, be improved upon. However, we do not run a table and I understand most of the difficulty comes with that part of the system

ILLINOIS

New Men. There are a great many Masons in school and we use a great many ways of getting at them. One of the best ways is through the card that each member . of the university fills out when he enrolls. We have access .to these cards which contain the name of lodge with which the student is connected. We rush through the entire year because a good many Masons take their work later on in the year.

House. Our property is owned by the Heth Chapter of . Acacia, incorporated under the laws of Illinois. All active members of the chapter are members of the corporation. We hold all a lumni members to. alumni dues of $2 per year. We have built our house and find it very nice and comfortable.

National Law. We follow the ritual and aim to follow the law of the national organization and the suggestions of the Grand Council.

FRANKLIN

New Men. Fully two-fifths of the students are of Philadelphia, and this fact makes it very hard for us to see them 111 class. of the Masons are not Acacia material. We use the scoutmg method and gtve one or two smokers Last year we were slow and did .not seen:' to find many n.ew men. We got one of our alumni to run an adver.tlsement 1_11 the paper. ask111g Masons to give him their addresses. The advertisement dtd not mentiOn the name of Acacia.

House. We rent, paying $60 per month. Last year we intended to move out, but the landlord promised to fix it up. When we returned the repairs were not made Five or six men stuck it out for a month or two. It was not a fit house to take new men into. However, we got twelve men during the year.

Standing of Acacia. You asked the delegate last year to find out what standing Acacia had in Masonic circles. It ':lot very good last year but .has be.en much better this year. We have been mvtted to a number of Masomc affa trs and are getting a much better standing. V e ry few of the students of Pennsylvania are active in soc ia l affairs of university Finances. We came out very good considering that we started in debt at begin ning of year.

Interfraternity Affairs. We do not go into them They have a system of having a ch a pter buyer for all fraternities, and tried to get us to go in it, but we thought it a poor scheme a nd better stay out. The pledge rules wou ld also have hindered us.

Illin ois: Are you admitted to the Pan Hellenic?

Pennsylvania: No, we have not applied.

Grand President: Take this thought back to your chapters that Acacia is a member of the J ational Interfraternity Council and it was voted there that all chapters enter freely into interfraternity relations. Unless this Conclave wishes to see Acacia dropped from the Nationa l Interfraternity Counci l, it is the duty of your chapter to belong to your local Pan Hellenic and enter freely into all its activities Do you take in Greeks?

Pennsylvania: Greek Fraternities. buying plan.

No, we have none except members of Professional Mr. President , do you adv ise us to go into this

Grand President: No, but the pledge part is strictly collegiate and you s h ou ld enter into that part.

MINNESOTA

New Men.. We use th e same methods that Illinois has We have registratiOn shps. wtth blank.s for men to register their organization or lod ge. These are 111 to a busmes s man, an Acacian, and we get hold of a number of men 111 th1s way . We h<;>ld .two s moke: s . One is in a near Masonic Lodge room. A ll Masons are mvtted and suitable men ptcked out and invited to the hou se to th e second smoker.

House. We have had our h ouse a littl e over two year s. Every man signs note when he leaves schoo l for $100. And this will take care of the proposition. . Hellenic .. We to the l oca l Interfraternity Council and take part 111 all mterfratermty affans. The last thing in the world we would do would be to l eave the Interfraternity Council. Any fraternity is allowed to pledge any time

during the year but no one allowed to initiate first semester. We have Freshmen in the chapter, three now.

Accounting System. We use the accounting system. But use also a system of our own. We have kept two sets during th e year.

WISCONSIN

\Ve have had a revolutionary year. We discarded the o ld constitution and made a new one, making a number of important changes, one being the raising of the initiation fee to $50.

House. We had a hot time at one time this year. We had a fire which caused about $1,800 damage, We do not know how it started but there was a rumor that it started while fumigating my room. I do not believe the rumor. It has been suggested that we make the fire an annual event.

Member: How many of your men work their way through college?

Wisconsin: At least seven obtain their subsistence from work for the University or the State at the Capitol.

Grand President: Do you find the increa se m dues keeps any desirable men out?

Wisconsin: It has not. \fll e ha ve taken m some men who washed onr dishes.

MISSOURI

New Men. We have not initiated many new men. Probably 150 Masons in schoo l, but our trouble comes in getting them e lect ed. A number of good men , but often some one holds them up. We have a smoker early part of year. We have on ly two lodges at Columbia, and have men at these lodges to watch They have a book at each l odge room for visitors to register. One lodge is especially goon for the kind of work done and many visit it. The names a r e l ooked up and the standing sec ured. If good material, the man is invited to the house, and if good enough, invited to join. We have no regular system of rushing.

House. We have not done much toward house building. We have purchased two lots for $4,850. Have paid $1,000 on them, and at end of next year expect to pay another $1,000. Perhaps we entered into it with too much enthusiasm and too littl e cash. But we expect to get through. We have rented a new house and pay $850 .00 rent.

The Accounting System, we use, but as Minnesota, we have kept" two sets Our man attempted to keep the system given, but said it was too complicated.

CORNELL

' New Men. We have a Cornell Masonic Club, of which at least one officer is an Acacian. A smoker i s held in Temple under auspices of Masonic Club, and each Mason is given a card on which to write his name and l odge, class or year in school, and address. All members of Acacia look over the list and visit tho se thought to be desirable and invite them to the house. We have access to th e Secretary's book in the local l odge and look over it for men taken into the lodge during the year. Very cordial relation exists between the lodges and Acacia, and also between the Greek Fraternities and Acacia.

Social Activities We have given no danc es, but have entertained a number of times at dinners. We try to hav e faculty or alumni members pre se nt every Sunday dinner.

Scholastically, out of sixteen fraternities, we ranked The accounting system was u s ed, but found rather compltcated.

T think we violated no national law.

\i\Tisconsin: We w ish to express onr indorsement of the entertaining of faculty and alumni men frequently.

PURDUE

New Men . Our method much the same pursued by the other chapters with the exception that we had a b ig rush week last and got _goo d results . Previously we had gotten the men throughout the entire year, wh1ch usually in our going up to November with about half a load . Then we took m a bunch of Seniors. We decided to get more young men We w1ll have 22 men coming back next year, with only eight Seniors . House P roposition. Our proposition could well be looked into by chapt_ers that are seeking to build a house. Our cr isis seems to. past a_nd everythmg going all right We pay $240 per month to the bUlldmg assoc1a.twn, and have man age d to raise it without any particular hardship. We have pa1d each month, six in all. We will not a tt e mpt to do any thing more th an work out the p lan as originally outlined. We feel that in five or six years we will be out of debt.

We also had a little fire which burned part of the roof. But the fire extinguisher helped us out.

Before adjourning, Edward Vv. Wellington, Class 1874 Harvard, Grand Master of R. and S. Master Masons, was introduced and spoke briefly. He advised students not to rush to the Shrine, to learn well the first three degrees, and remarked that the higher degrees did not really make men higher Masons

Dr Geiper remarked that Acacia had made ·a profoun<l impression on the Grand Council. That the Grand Master of Maryland had said that if ever Acacia wanted to put a chapter in John Hopkins he was sure the Masons wou l d erect a good house for them.

Grand President Frazer explained the attitude of the fraternity regardi n g such propositions.

Meeting adjourned at 5 :15: Committees in s tructed to hold evening sessions at house of California Chapter.

WEDNESDAY MORNI N G

Conclave called to order by Grand President at 9 :45. All delegates present.

Continuation of reports from de l egates.

CHICAGO

Vve are coming to the Conclave free from debt to th e national fraternity, the first time in several years.

New We get through t h e Masonic Club. We are going to try to put mto effect a reg1strat10n system Similar to the one already mentioned by severa l chapters. '0( have our full since early fall and through all summer. We h!J-ve e 1ght me!! smce May 1st The present affiliation ru l e does not satisfy us, as 1t does not g1ve us a chance to take in so me of th e men from the other chapters who come to Chicago for summer work. We think there be s<?me method of all<?wing affi l iation while in resid e nce in Chicago w1thout forcmg a man to forfeit all clauns of membership in hi s initiate chapter.

National La w. We use accounting but have a lso us e d a second system, as we. found the na_twnal s ystem very madequate . We have in the past and expect. to 111 the future hv e up to the l e tter all the law s of th e grand fraternity.

Vve r msed the due s from $16 to $20 for the four quarters.

Building Fund. We had a banqu e t on Founder's d a y and boosted the building iund. In a few minut es 21 had subscribed to $100 note s, a nd two to $50 notes

each, making a total of $2,200 . These pledges are made payable $10 yearly. In addition to this we have some cash on hand, and several hundred dollars' worth of notes that will be turned into cash. We hav e $1,500 worth of furniture an d to have debt paid off soon

Member: When you borrow money, from whom?

Ch ica go : F rom our facu lt y or al umni members.

Member: How much rent do you pay?

Chicago: Seventy-five dollars per month for twelve months. We have a three-year contract.

Member: In examining men in Masonry, h ow do you proceed?

Chicago: Dr. Gould, an Acacia member of the faculty of University of Chicago, is a member of the examin in g committee of one of the lodges, and helps us; consequently we do not conflict w ith any Grand L o dge ruli n g.

YALE

New Men. We returned with ten men this year. We spe nt the first part of the year in building up the chapter. We were s u ccessful in getting good men. After bui l ding up our numbers, we turned our atten ti on to oth e r matt ers, but rather late in year to dQ much. Th at -is the trouble, we do not get started to build up soon enough. We give a Masonic smoke r Notice in the Yale paper and on posters on camp u s. It seems to me a va lu ab l e addition would be the thing a lr eady suggeste d, putting a Masonic register a bout in various places. I think we s hall attempt that this year. We have had few men in the house this year, because some of th e new men had made cont r acts for room in rooming hou ses a t first of year and were unable to get away from the contract. We hope to avoid this difficulty next year.

Finances. We have come out about even on the hou se. Th e hou se is rented. Building Fund. A proposition is started. We have appointed a new committee this year, composed partly of new men and partly of men who are residents of the city, New Haven. We have $10 building tax which must be paid by each member , and in addition $50 notes payable in five yeats after graduation. The s e notes are optional. We hope to revise this somewhat when the committee reports next year.

COLUMBIA

(After mentioning the death of Col. Arthur McArthur of their honorary members.)

House Proposition. In one of the reports of th e Conclave, Columbia was referred to as merely a Masonic Club , because we did not have a hou se. We h ave been working hard to get a hou se. We thought fo r a time that we had one a nd the alumn i were backing us. The rent was $2,400. The alumni figured it would cost $3,975 a year to run it . Others of us on the committee figured it and found that that figure was entirely too low We found that it would cost not les s than $4,000 and more likely $4,800 per year.

You say we are in same or s imilar situation to Chicago? We are not. It cost money and lots of it to buy a square foot of land in New York. Chicago rents a house for $75 per month. It wou ld cost us three times that amount You say get a smaller house? That wou ld make the cost proportionately larg er for th e number of men.

We thought of trying an apartment, but found that meant go in g in as ind,ividua l men and not as a fraternity. We wi ll have a house if you give u s tim e, but we <.an not do it in a day. We are now trying to get a hous e keeper to put her roomers out and allow on ly Acacia men in the h ouse, putting the telephone in o ur name, e tc . But we are a littl e afraid of the proposition.

We raised a fund of $700 for furniture . Concerning the furniture a nd house line there have been a number of false reports. Mr. Lawrence never gave u s a

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

hou se. Brother Holman never offered to furnish u s a hou s.e. Those reports are ridiculous and hurt us They come back to the m e n a nd dtscourage The Grand President ca lled u s a Ma so nic Club . He came to New York, but not let us know he was in the city. We got th e n ews by a round a bout wa1 vacation time . I had to work hard to get men t oge th er, a nd had to bnng 111 some of the pledgees There w as a report that some of o ur did not know each o th er, h a d to be introduc ed , e tc. Som e of th ese pledge es mtght not have known each other, a nd prob a bly had to be introduced. Such s tat e ment s hurt us. They shou l d not be m ade in publi c.

As to ge tting the names of the Ma so n s in sc ho o l , we have not had ?- chance thi s year to h ave a table in re g is tration h a ll. We think that through the mfluenc e of one of our brothers we can do so next year. We have had to get o u r men through s moker s a nd of o ur men We h ave a card index of Masons , so m e 200, in sc ho o l.

We h ave g ood fr ate rnal sp irit. We h ave s m okers, dances and several b a nqu ets a ye a r. We h ave all th ose thin gs that the ot h e r c hapt ers ha ve , exce pt a h o u se, and we will h ave that if you give u s time . B ut we re se nt statements that we are a Masonic Club.

We wi ll ab ide by every rul e of Acac ia so far as in o ur power to do so . We will do everything that wi ll m a k e the wes t proud of the eas t. I can not promise you a hou se next year or the one ther eafter. But it is coming. Our a lumni are se ttling a round u s and we wi ll h ave their h e lp to get a hou se .

IOWA STATE

New Men. We meet with a Masonic Club, as o th er chapters d o Vve try t o e lect the president or sec r e t a ry of the club Thi s Masonic Club ha s a s mok e r in the name of the club, but we really put it across. Because of the fre s hm a n rule , any freshman that we get mu s t co m e ri g ht at cl ose of year af t e r th e first of May.

The Fraternal Spirit at Iowa State h as been excellent the past se me s ter. La st f a ll, i10w eve r, we h a d co n s id era bl e int e rn a l st rif e, r es ultin g in thr ee being expe ll ed and two withdraw i ng from t h e hou se. That s trif e l as ted f o r so me time On l y after co n s id erab le d e lib erat io n did we t ake th e ac tion th a t we did . W e m ade eve ry attempt to cor r ec t it before we ac ted. We found th e l aws in regard t o expu lsio n rather co mpli cated, but I g u ess it i s a good thin g th at they a r e. We are so rry th a t it h a d to be done. We fee l, h owever, when th ere is internal s trife that can n o t b e cor r ec t e d , it i s b et t e r to take th e s t eps we took.

House Proposition. We rent a h o u se, which is not a good h o us e. We h ave a building f und s tart e d. We bought a lot an d th e chap t er is paying cons id e r a bl e on th e lot. A n y s urplu s from th e house rent money goes to the l ot. Our furniture and o th e r t hin gs a r e paid for.

National Law. In ritu a l work, we fo ll ow the ritual s trictly and use the gowns in initiation. We attempted to u se th e acco untin g system. Me r e l y a n a tt e mpt We h ad hard lu ck in gett in g the o ffi c ia l pins . I was Secretary las t fall. I ordered thr ee p i ns from the offic ial j ewe ler ; one pin h ad thre e jewels o ut and o n e pin lo st j ewe l soo n <_tfter i t was received They were se nt back and co rr ec ted , but it put a damper o n tt . A nd f r o m that tnn e we l e t the fellows buy wherever th e y saw fit.

Gra nd P re s id ent: How man y pins were bougth that way?

Iowa Sta t e: Probab ly fo ur o r five.

G r and Pres ident: The G rand Co uncil may assess yo u about $8 or $10. Did yo ur ch ap t e r . se ri o u s l y discuss the w h o l e pr o p os iti o n , did it see m t o put 1t s authonty above th at of th e Grand Frate rnit y, did it see m to feel paramou n t t o th e concensus of th e last tw o Co nclaves on thi s matter ? ·

I owa S tate : No, it was not premeditated v io l at io n. It was n o t particularly discussed from that stand po int.

F raternit y Re la ti ons: \ 1V e are a memb e r of Pan He l eln ic with tw o r ep re se nt at ives in the Co un ci l. It was du e to our c hapt e r the

fraternities at Iowa institued he Inerfraternity Dinner propos1tion. Every Tuesday evenmg each national fraternity expects five guests. In that way we get acquainted.

Grand Editor: How did the members of your chapter feel toward the men who withdrew after the others had been expelled?

Iowa State: vVe consider them suspended until they see ' fit to correct the matter. We have not taken any definite acti on on account of the time that is necessary.

Pennsylvania State: What d oes the Grand Council think should be done in a case like that cited?

Member: What was the reason for expelling the two men?

Grand President: Principally, I think, because they brought liquor into the house. Vvasn't it? ·

Iowa State: We expelled them on the ground of internal strife. •Ne did not formally charge them with bringing liquor· into the house .

Grand Secretary: I think in regard to those men who set themselves up against the will and authority of the chapter, there are de gre es of course, the best thing for the chapter and the men is to let them ou t. The easiest way is to let them resign. If they do not , then proceed t o expel. It is easier to talk about it than to do it. But many cases have dragged alon g and it would have been better for the chapter had they met the issue squarely and settled it . A man can resign on his ow n initiative, and if he does, he is certainly out of the fraternity. Most of the cases have been resignations.

Grand President: I want to call the attention of the Conclave to the violation of the pin rule at Ames. This comes to my attention for the first time and simply shows that many of the chapters are not versed in national law. I believe the average chapter decides everything on a local basis , with little consideration in your decisions as to what effect it will have on the national organization. Shall we have local sovereignty as we have had in the past, shall each chapter follow national law only part of the time , or shall we have a system of rigid enforcement of national law? It is not fair for one chapter to obey the laws when the other chapters are allowed to disobey . When it comes to a matter of revenue, it is a matter of common honesty. If I ought to pay $2 to the Nat ional Fraternity and do not, I am dishonest. Chapters are not schooled to think in terms of national chapter at all. Ames seems t o have never considered the national funds. That is one of the serious things for this Co nclave to consider. How can we get ou r chapters o n a unif o rm basis, so that each one will know that each of the other chapters is obey in g also.

The moment you permit a c hapter t o buy pins or u se an accounting system in defiance of nati o nal la w , you are breaking down th e national fraternity. If you let that situation continue to g ro w, you w ill simply have eac h chapter an is o lated fraternity. If you want absolute sovereignty let us have it. I should like to ha ve the delegates say what they want. If careless in money matters, let u s have some system of chapter inspection that will prevent it.

Stanford: Stanford Chapter would like to see so me line drawn as to where le g islation atwht to go. vVe think there is t oo much legislation

and too min u te l egislation. A line shou l d be drawn and a certain part left to the local chapter.

lOW A UNIVERS ITY

N ew Me n. We had seven men to start with. Had difficulty in getting new men. But with the help of registrar and several of ?Ur ltve faculty me.mbers, we managed to get a li ne on some. We _have no defimte of _rushmg. I think it would be a good idea. The Masomc Club was not contmued th1s last year.

Relations . With other Masons, good . Socially on par with any fraternity in Iowa City. We are members of the Interfraternity Council, but not of the Pan Hellenic.

H ou s e . We are not buying or building a house. The alumni are paying !or the furniture furnished last year . We have a five-year lease on a new home wh1ch will accommodate twenty men.

We are not satisfied with the accounting system. Financially we are better off rhan ever before. Have paid all old debts and have about $100 in treasury.

We gave a formal party attended by President of University and nine or faculty members.

Vv e hope to hav.e a prosperous year next year.

Grand President: Pennsylvania State IS represented by Bro t her Weaver for the third time

PENNSYLVANIA STAT E

N ew Men . We have considerable difficulty in getting new men. No good system of rushing. One attempt on the part of the chapter a number of years ago to co-operate with Masons in a Masonic meeting, resulted in Acacia getting in wrong with the Masons of the State. We have had to be careful in what we do. In our state we wou l d not be permitted to have a Masonic smoker and advertise it in a newspaper. The Grand Lodge does not approve of such. Masonic meetings are to be announced by individual invitation , never by a public announcement, in Pennsylvania. Conditions are thus peculiar, and we have to go careful. We have had a great deal to do to get back in favor, but by simply going slow and getting acquainted with Masons we are succeeding. The whole matter was a mistake from the start. As Masons get to know what Acacia real l y is, we get into their good grace again .

A cc ou n t ing System . We have had a man as treasurer who has had seven or eight years in a bank, and consequently capable of handling the system. He said it was not the kind Acacia should have. He objects to the recopying of names each month. When we want to look up a man's account, we should have it all on one page. We did not have to use another system, but apparently he thought there could be a better system .

WASHINGTON

New Men Have had a little trouble in getting new men. Have a book in registration office for Masons to register. Not very successful.

House P r opos i t ion . We rent a house for $75 per month the year around. Have not made any arrangement for building house.

A ccountin g System seemed difficult. Did not have men of great expe r ience to handle it.

Finan_c es last year, not good. Owed $600, but reduced it to $300 this year. Scholarship has been very much increased, com i ng up twelve places this last year. Vv have about 50 Masons in school. Our relation with lodges around Sea very yYe put on the third. in the University Lodge, each year. Our relatwns the other fratermhes very favorable. We have the good will of al! the frate:mtles. yYe belong to the Interfraternity Council, and take active part everythmg that 1_s done. Had a team and up in the finals. . ._ast year started w1th two men, one active and one alumni. Ended this year w 1th 24 men .

COLORADO

It seems that there i s a rumor that Colorado chapter is down and out. That is not so, nor will it ever be. Last year most of the men failed to return to school, and Wf! began year with two active men, one of whom was in medical school. We have a total of 700 men in school. Compare that with your schoo ls that have 4,000 men. About 30 Masons; 20 of these, owing to our local by-laws, were not available as Acacia material. We had the previous fall bought our furniture, which was not paid for. We had leased a house. What would you have done? We put our sho ulders to the wheel and kept pushing; paid all bills, except $50 on furniture. Ran a house with one man in it. But it was an Acacia house. We are going to run a house this year if every married man has to get a divorce to live in it. By making a change in our by-laws, we were ab le to take in more men. We took in 15 men the last few months of school. We will begin next year with 23 just as good Acacians as there are in the country. No, you don't have to worry about Colorado.

Grand President: Do you take in active Greeks? ·

Colorado: We did. Eleven. We have some who do not have chapters in Colorado and some do. They lived last year in their Greek houses because the last of May before taken into Acacia. This next year some of them will live in the Acacia house.

Nebraska: Did you say you ran an Acacia house with only one man in it?

Colorado: Yes, and if any Acacian comes to Colorado, he will get just as cordial Acacia welcome as anywhere. Of comse, with only one man in the house, you might call some time when the "boys" were not in, but if you stick around a little while yo u will get a real Acacia welcome .

SYRACUSE

New Men. We have the active co-operation of the faculty. Have several registration places, but registration books are not allowed by interfraternity regulations. Have had one of our faculty members on the freshmen enrollment committee, so he has to meet all the freshmen.

House is owned by Syracuse Alumni Chapter, and payments made by the active members. At close of year, we owed Grand Fraternity $110.00 , which amount will be more than covered by the delegate's expenses. We have paid all our bills and have money in the treasury.

Scholarship is 5 per cent. higher than any other fraternity in the University. Did not use the accounting system last year, but tried it this semester and will use it next year. We are a member of Interfraternity Council and live up to all the freshmen rushing rules.

KANSAS STATE

Membe r of Interfraternity Council. Relations with Greek fraternities good . We try to take part in a ll school activities. We succeeded in getting a place on the enrollment cards for lodge affiliations, but this did not prove very valuable aid as only a sma ll majority of the Masons felt inclin ed to sign. We secured mostly through personal contact and thr ough our alumni . Socially a good year. Had three dances, couple of card parties and a htk e or two. We' have used the acounting system, and while it is not what it should be, we were ab l e to work it. We are very well satisfied with the purchase of in s ignia. We meet two times a month as active chapter, and the weeks between hold gettogether meetings. We have no property, that is, no house, but have $1,000 .00 worth of furniture, which we are paying $65 every three months , from profit of table. We owe now $640 on furniture . We have no honorary members. Board is $3.85 per week. There is an average of 50-60 Masons in school.

ACACIA J OURNAL

G ran d President Frazer was presented with medal showing tecognition of Acacia by the Gra nd Chapter of Grand Masters.

Greetings of Brother M ichae l, Past Grand Master of Illinois, received.

. Yale moved , Chicago seconded, that greetings be se nt to Phi Camma Delta, Psi Upsilon, Alpha Delta Phi, and Beta Theta Pi. Orde r ed.

Grand President: We are now under he ading of rep o rt of committees. The Committee on Chapter Visitation havin g a joint report, Brother F lynn of California will give th e rep o rt for the alumni.

REPORT OF ALUMNI COMMIITTEE ON CONDITION OF CHAPTERS AND CHAPTER VISITATION

To the Officers and Del ega t es of the Acac ia Fraternity in Tenth Grand Conclave Assemb led:

Gent l e men :

We herewith subm it for your approva l a report on what we believe to be the most vital n eed of th e fraternity, some definite form of chapter visitation and s upervision for the purpose of bringing about a more close ly knit organ ization, having the c hapter s more clearly understand each o th er and crysta li z ing in each mor e thoroughly the a ims and ideals of the fraternity.

This report is th e resu lt of much thought and co rr espondence, s uppl e ment ed by personal interview s with many prominent men and women of the fraternity world. Progress has been s low and informati on in many cases ext r e m e ly difficult to sec ure However, we hope that the m a terial presented will aid your committee fo draw up a feasib l e and sat isfactory p lan whereby the c hapt er of Acacia may enjuy adeq uate direction and s uper vision.

You are no do ub t familiar with the Dye resolution Some five years ago, the feeling became st rong in Pennsylvania St ate Chapte r that they were isolated a nd ignorant of the fraternity's affairs, and had had no visit from a single Grand Officer. Th e need of s uch visitation was so ke en ly felt that the fo ll owing resolution by Brother Dye of Penn sy lv an ia State Chapter resulted:

" Re so lved, That there sha ll be appointed by the Gr a nd Council fou r District Deputi es, whose districts s h a ll be as fo ll ows: Eastern, Harvard, Yale, Columbia , Pennsylvania , Cornell, Pennsy l vania State; Central, Michigan , Ohio St ate, Purdue, Chica go, Northwestern, Wiscons i n a nd Illinois; Western, Minneso t a, Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska; Pac i fic, Washington , Oregon, Stanford and California.

"T he duties of thi s officer sha ll be to visit each chapter in his district at least once eac h year, to acquaint each with th e co nditions in the oth e r chapters and to exerc ise ge n e r a l supervision over them and report conditions in the district to the Grand Secretary

" The expen se of th ese visits to be apport ion ed among the chapters of the district. .

"W hen applications for charters are received the Di strict Deputy nearest to the pet it ioning body s hall visit th e pet i t io n ers and report the results of his inve stigations to the Grand Vice-President for transmission with the petitions of the various c h apters." (Nov Journal, p 43 .)

I

Tt h as been a l ong th e lines laid down in this resolution that discussion has occ!.lr r ed during the past few years

.T hi s se lf-app o i nted started out some four months ago to get informatiOn from other fratern iti es as to th e form and efficiency of their sc heme s of chapter v i sitat ion. The further our work progressed the more we felt that the district plan wou ld n ot be su it a bl e for Acacia We talked with Mr. George Banta ed it or of Banta's Greek Exchange. He said : "I was one of the sponsors and originato;s of the district in Phi. Delta Theta , and I regret to say that after a_n expenment of nearly thirty years. It !1a s pr?ved to be decided l y behind the a nd not fi ll the need which It was mtended. It is a hot-bed of petty st n fe and pohtic S and tend s to widen rather than sho rt en the di s t a nce between th e

chapters themselves and the chapters and the national organization and its main fault is in the unjust distribution of expense. I can see no need for a scheme in Acacia, with its small number of chapters and its necessarily slow growth and I feel that she would make a mistake in adopting such a plan." '

This is from a n:an .who the .fraternity .system of this country from top to bottom, and who 1s vitally mterested m the affatrs of every college organization . Mr. Banta has shown considerable interest in Acacia by aiding this committee to secure data and by giving personal advice and suggestion. ·

In the February issue of the Journal of 1915 our Grand President has considered this question from a slightly different point of view by suggesting interchavter visitation according to districts. The same criticism, that of unjust distribution of expense, as offered by Brother Robbins on the Dye scheme in the May issue of the 1911 Journal (page 21) may well be noted here. It is a good 1,200 miles from Stanford or California to Washington or Colorado, and a trip to the former takes at least two days each way, while a trip to Colorado requires more time and is even more expensive. We Western chapters do not need the interchange of visits among ourselves. What we want and need are progressive ideas from the active virile chapters of the middle west and east. We have little to profit from one another for, like Topsy, we have just "growed ," with practically no personal aid or advice from national officers. What we want and need, and what we firmly believe all the chapters want and need is the counsel, advice and criticism ; perhaps, a little sympathy and considerable understanding from one well versed in the fraternity as a whole and one who can become familiar with the peculiarities of locp.l conditions and the personnel of the fraternity. Therefore, we have finally come to the conclusion that the best solution of this problem of chapter visitation . is not a District Deputy plan nor inter-chapter visitation, but a one-man affair. From reports received it is remarkable to note the gigantic strides taken in the past few years by Delta Chi and Lambda Chi Alpha We have written to those fraternities asking for the formula of their success, and it has come back in each case in two words, "Traveling Counselor."

Just what is the field of a National Traveling Counselor?

1. He visits once each year the chapters of the fraternity.

2 He familiarizes himself. with the local conditions of each chapter and appraises from the knowledge gained.

3. .He brings to every chapter the enthusiasm of the others and crystalizes in each chapter the spirit, ideals and traditions of the fraternity.

4. He supervises and advises upon the internai working of the chapters. But he makes the chapter feel that he has come as a friend and advisor, rather than an officer to censure.

5. He aids the officers of the fraternity and of the chapters in the performance of their duties.

6. He builds · up through his personal influence the personnel and scholarship of the chapters, if needed.

7. He broadens the aspect and field of the fraternity.

8. He brings the alumni back into the fold and interests them in the chapter and in the fraternity.

9. He acts as counselor for the individual chapter in matters before the Grand Council.

10. He accumulates a fund of information whereby he is able to judge the comparative status of the chapters and to recommend efficient local workers to the Grand Council.

11. In short, he assembles a gt eat number of small cogs into a smooth running machine.

It is true that men will argue against the idea of chapter supervision on various grounds, and yet Lambda Chi Alpha, a fraternity but six years of age, has done more constructive work in the upbuilding of her chapter and in national administration than Acacia has done in the eleven years of her existence. Why? Because she uses a systematic regulation of chapter policies and affairs through visitation and counsel, · thus bringing the · chapters into one body, homogenous and yet possessed with an individuality.

Our idea of financing this office is presented in the following figures: (Estimated from present budget.)

propose to add to this sum an additional $2 per initiate, totaling-350 at

Lambda Chi Alpha pays its traveling counselor $2 ,000 per annum. Delta Chi last year paid approximately $1,000, and this year will pay from $1,500 to $2,000, realizing the wonderful deve l opmental work that their counselors have been doing Every corporat ion has its "trouble-man" and pays him a big salary. They conside;· it an investment worth many times the amount expended. Is Acacia willing to invest in such a man one-half the amount that Lambda Chi Alpha now pays for this work? Our recomm endation is this: Appropriate $1,000 as a trial investment in a national traveling counselor and give him free range in working out the possibilities of the office.

Respectfully submitted, E. FLYNN.

Report accepted and referred to Comm i ttee on Chapter Visitation.

Committee on Consti t ution and By- Laws, Kirk of Illinois Cha i rman, made report. (Report omitted, as the sections appear later in form of motions.)

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RITUAL AN D INSIGNIA

Vve, the Committee on Ritual and Insignia respectfully submit the following report:

We feel that we ml!st stability and more pronounced uniformity w1th regard to the vanous ms1gma and the use of the Ritual. We recommend

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

few changes, but we do desire to have the use of the Ritual and ins·ignia uniform throughout.

First: We recommend that the Grand Acacia Word be not changed.

Second: We recommend that more attention be given to the technique of the floor work of initiation and that any deviation from the outline of the Ritual by a chapter be duly censured.

Third: We recommend the use of costumes for the initiation ceremonies.

*Fourth: We further recommend a uniform flag, as follows: A gold background with three blue-black triangles set diagonally in the field.

*Fifth: We recommend a uniform hat band, as follows: Black, with gold borders.

Sixth: We recommend a uniform yell.

Seventh : We recommend that no change be made in the Coat of Arms.

Eighth: We further recommend that the official badge be not changed. That the present contract for the purchase of the same be renewed and that all chapters be required to order badges from the Grand Secretary.

·

Respectfully submitted,

]. WILFORD HILL, Chairman, (Kansas) CHAS. S. DAVIS, Stanford. PAUL R. RIDER, Yale.

*Editor ' s Note: Insignia adopted at Chicago and Madison Conclaves.

Committee on Publications, Wisconsin, Chairman:

Brother Grand President: Your Committee on Publications wishes to submit the following report:

Journal. We recommend the publication of four issues each year instead of thre e, as is the present policy, for the following reasons:

1. Secures second-class mailing rate, which is not obtainable under the present system

2. A second-class mailing rate would enable the editor to publish the Journal in his home town without regard to location.

3. The advantages of publishing the Journal loccally, are:

a. Personal supervision of printing.

b. Rapidity of proof-reading and correcting.

c. Less time in conveying copy to press.

4. The securing of a second-class mailing rate

a. Enables the publication of four issues at the present cost of three.

b. Utilization of excess copies.

c. Maintaining a larger exchange list at the same cost.

In order to secure a ·second-class mailing rate on Journals, this committee recommends that Article VI, Section 10, be amended to read as follows:

"Each chapter shall be respossible for the payment of the Grand Conclave annual per capita tax, which shall include Journal subscriptions, and initiation fees, and shall pay the same direct to the Grand Secretary, as provided in the By-Laws."

Also that the following clause be added to Section 8 (at the end) of the ByLaws:

"Each chapter shall pay to the Grand Conclave one dollar per year for each active member for Journal subscriptions; same to be taken from per capita tax fund."

These proposed amendments are necessary in order to meet the requirement s of the postal regulations concerning the number of paid-up subscribers These amendments do not in any way change our present method of financmg the Journal.

Your committee urgently recommend that the Journal fund be mcreased from $900 to $1,000 for the coming year.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

We recommend that the J o urnal be issued em the following dates: October I, December 1, February 1 and May 1, and that the issue be restricted to the r epor t of the minutes of the previous Conclav e, th1s 1ssue to be kept as secret as possible by confining its distribution to Acacia members on ly. . .

In order to assist th e editor in secur in g l ocal chapter news, we believe 1t advisable for each chapter to furnish the editor with all copies of their loc a l college paper.

Your committee i s unanimous in the belief that since the Journal IS the offic1al publication of the fraternity that its editorial policy should clearly reflect the opinions of the majority of chap ter s. With this poin t in mind we wish. to object to th e full expression of the minority on the question of Greek-exclusiOn to the limited discussion of the views of the majority.

Taking into consideration th e amount of labor a nd time required to publish a satisfactory Journal, your committee .suggests that this Conclave seriously considers the advisabi lity of placing the editor on a salary basis.

CHAPTER DIRECTORY

As to th e Chapter Directory, your committee recommends that a revised edition be published in the May issue of the Journal , with the omission of the geographical classification.

SONG BOOK

We recommend that a s tanding Song Book Committee of one (consisting of Brother W. E. Schultz of Ya l e) be appointed to carry on the collection of new Acacia songs to be u sed in a future revision of our pr ese nt Song Book. Furthermore that the present Song Book be retained until the value of each song be ascertained by the test of tim e.

CHAPTER PUBLICATIONS

We recommend that the publications of individual chapters be made of a uniform size, by 6", for the convenience of filing or binding by other chapters.

Respectfully submitted,

ASHER HOBSON. Wiscon s in , Chairman, DELOS R. HAY , Syracus e . RALPH C. ERSKINE , Kansas State

Telegram of greetings from Phi Gamma Delta received and placed on file.

REPORT OF COM'MITTEE ON AUDITING ACCOUNTS

To the Grand President and Members of the Tenth Annual Conclave of Acacia Fraterni ty:

The und ers ign ed committee appoint e d to audit the books and accounts of the Grand Secretary and Grand Treasurer, respectfully report that we have carefully exam ined the same and find them to be correct according to the best of our knowledge and belief. That the total cash receipts were $10 791.20 and disbursements $5,737.81, l eaving a cash balance of $5,053.39 ' '

Respectfully s ubmitted , T . K. RIN AKER, Harvard, Chairman . THOS. E. REES, Ohio. JAMES A. FARIS, Missouri.

Seconded by Illino is that report be adopted. Carried.

Report of Committee o n Alumni Chap ter s, Chicago, Chairman: (Report referred back to committee by Grand President.)

J?rother Groves of Chicag.o Alumni spoke, urging that something defimt.e be done for. the A lu m m chapters. He suggested that an alumni comm1ttee be appomted to meet with the Conclave Committee to suggest something definite in way of recognition and legal status of these chapters.

Gra n d P r es iden t: I .will ask Brothers Groves Ehrenc low Trelevan Cline and Croy le to meet wi t h this committee. ' ' '

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ENDOWMENT FUND

To Conclave of Acacia Fraternity herein assemb l ed:

The Endowment Committee, meet ing in with Brother Groves of the Chicago Alumni Chapter, submit the fo ll owing report:

We recommend that the present endowment fund be increased as follows:

(a) That 50 per cent. of the profit derived from the sale of pins be turned in to the endowment fund. ·

(b) By voluntary contributions from a lumni to be secured by a committee of three a lumni members, t h e said committee to be appointed by the Grand President from alumni located in different sections of the country.

We recommend that when suffi-cient funds have been secured the fund may be used to aid needy students in completing their education or to aid chapters in building houses.

Respectfully submitted, JAMES A. FARIS, Missouri, Ohairman. E C. RUSSELL, Minnesota.

T. K. RINAKER, Harvard

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON UNIFORM ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS

The report was referred back to comm ittee, with instructions to recommend some defiiJ,ite system to take place of present system .. Report appears . on page 81.

Grand President:. When requested to do some work on the accounting system, I asosciated with me Brother Norr, who is also a certified accountant . But it seems to have failed. It is very hard to make a system work at long distance. We had better work out some definite system here while we are together, which will be better than appointing some committee to adopt a system after we are adjourned . Brother Norr has always been at the service of the chapters t o help with this system, yet I know that not one of the chapters has ever asked him for help. Neither have I had any inquiry from any chapter, yet all chapters know I am a professional accountant.

COMMITTEE ON MASONC RESEARCH

The report was referred back to committee. See page 69 for final report

Committee on Next Conclave requested that report be deferred until chapters that wished to entertain the Conclav e next year had been given an opportunity to ex t end t heir invitations.

Grand President: The opportunity will now be given.

Purdue: Most every one understands that Purdue has invited the Conclave for the past three years and possibly four years. We withdrew our invitation for the Conclave of 1913 because Wisconsin was anxious to celebrate their new home. In 1914 we withdrew in order that the Mother Chapter might celebrate its new house. And again this year, in order that the chapters on the coast might have the Conclave the same year as the Exposition, we withdrew in their favor. We feel that we really have the Conclave due us vV e are prepared and have been for three years. Purdue is located in about the most central place of any of the chapters and can probably assure a larger Conclave next year than if held some other place. It will be especially convenient for alumni to be present, as a large number are located around Chicago.

Harvard: Harvard Chapter has extended an invitation to the Conclave for the past four years. We again extend to you a most cordial invitation . The chapter feels that the fraternity would be benefited by a visit to us, where all could see the existing conditions. We know it would be a good thing for the local fraternity. We would be mighty glad to have you come to us next year.

Some may think that since the Conclave is held this year on the Pacific Coast, it would be too expensive to go to the other coast next year. There is something in that, and we mu s t pay some attention to our finances. We do not feel there would be a great deal of difference in the expense.

We take this position: We would be glad to have you with us , but if you feel the added expense would be too great, we will withdraw in favor of some other chapter, but we almost want your promise that you will come to Harvard next year following the 1916 Conclave.

Minnesota : V..'e have had a bid in for two years, possibly longer. We also feel that since the Conclave is expensive this year, the next Conclave should be in the Central States. We know that Purdue has been ahead of us , but we want to have it put on record that after Harvard and have had th e ir Conclaves. we want it the next year.

Grand Prest dent: We should feel congratulated that so many of our chapters want these Conclaves.

Kansas State moved, Syracuse seconded, that we adjourn (11 :15) to meet at 1 :45 p. m. Carried.

Delegates and visitors were sho"Vn through a number of beautiful lodge rooms of the Masonic Temple, in which the Conclave was held.

Luncheon at Portola-Louvre.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

Conclave called to order by Grand Vice-President Fay at 2:15. All delegates present.

Report of Comt?ittee on Fraternity Extension, Purdue, Chairman, called for. (V erbattm report omitted here, as discussion and final disposal of_ report was and the substance of the report appears in the motwns of the Chatrman of the committee.) Page 61.

Texas and Oklahoma propositions. Discussi o n and motions.

Illinois asked that Brother Smith or Brother Trelevan be heard from.

Grand Vice-President: Brother Taylor of Wisconsin Chapter, now a member of University of Texas Faculty, is here.

Brother Taylor:

I am not a member of the Triangle Club which was organiz e d last autumn in University of Texas. Since last Christmas their growth has been very remarkable, especially since Brother Fay visited them. He told them exactly what they would have to do if they succeeded in getting a charter, and they began immediately to try to· do it. Some of the fellows asked me to represent them at this Conclave, and I shall be glad to answer any questions.

Regarding financial conditions, they have made very satisfactory progres s Everything done has been permanent. They bought fur 'niture and paid off a good part of the debt. Have a good house for next year which will accommodate sixteen people. Have twenty-one coming back this fall-twenty-one good , solid, taple fellows. Their scholarship is good, possibly only one who is not as good a s tudent as we would like to have. But we find that frequently in m a ny chapters They are coming back on a firm foundation . Fraternity feeling at Texas came up last winter and it began to look as though the whole thing might be put out. The legislature took it up , but the Triangle Club did much to prevent the legislature from ruling fraternities out. The other fraternities would like to see Acacia ther e. Every fraternity has signed a petition asking that a charter be granted to the Triangle Club.

They have fine spirit and good fellowship. Brother Fay was there at a peculiar time. The election of May Queen did cost one of the members of th e Triangle Club something like $297, yet it is a Southern custom. I did not like it a bit and took occasion to express myself on that subject, when one girl s a id , " Th <•t wasn ' t anything ; it took $504 to elect me." Of course, I think it is a foolish thing, but it merely represents Southern customs.

T have nothing but good words to say about the club. If they are given th e l egi s lation they should be given in this Conclave, th e y will come back next fall with renewed vigor. The visit from Grand Vice-President was worth a great deal to them.

Grand Vice-President: I think Brother Trelevan, also of vVisconsin Chapter and member of faculty of Texas, should be heard.

Brother Trevelan:

I am not a member of the club, and not an official representati v e We h a ve in Texas 2,500 students on the campus at one time, and of these 700 are women, leaving 1,700 or 1,800 men. There are 15 organized national or general fraternities . These m:ganizations have small chapter lists . The largest numbers a bout 20 men. A very small proportion of the Texas students are members of th e general fraternities. In the law school 400 men are enrolled. Because of the age requirement, practically the entire 400 are 21 years of age Masonry is strong in the South . There are 80 Masons in school last year . This shows that there is ample material for establishing a chapter The faculty and the other fraternities would welcome a Chapter of Acacia in Texas. This good-will message comes without solicitation from the faculty. The personnel of the Triangle Club is unusual. They have some of the most men in the University It has at least as good a personnel as any fratermty on th e campus. Acacia would make no mistake in granting a charter to the Triangl e Club.

Member: How many Greeks in the membership of the club?

Trelevan:

One man had Masonic Club, No active Greeks. Two inactive men are members. had such a prominent part in the organization of the it was thought best not to exclude him after the work

he had done. The other is a faculty man, whom the club supposed not to be a Greek.

Member: What is the rate of growth of Texas University?

Trelevan: Five years ago about 1,500 students. Last year on the campus at any one time, 2,500. The European war has affected cotton so much the enrollment this year will not probably be much larger.

- We are not against the e'xt e n s ion of the fraternity. But in order to get our approval , the petitioning chapter must prove that they supported a house without the aid of Greek men.

Ohio: Ohio seconds Wisconsin ' s attitude.

Illinois: Although we hold v ery much the same view, we feel that we would not go so far as to ask that the Greek names · be withdrawn if the petition contains names of Greek men , under the conditions as stated.

California: Will you, Brother Grand Vice-President, give again that portion of your report dealing with what you called underhanded method. I want to know just what that part is.

California: What was the attitude of the club when you mentioned

Grand Vice-President: The point that I had in mind was relative to the rule of living successfully one year in the house as a fraternity. At Texas under the Freshman rule no Freshman could live in a house of any fraternity whether local or national. The Triangle Club had Freshmen, which they needed to support the house. But in order to evade the faculty rule they had their business meetings in the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The Freshman rule has now been repealed and will not confront them next year. it?

Grand Vice-President: They seemed to think it was all right and that they were complying with our requirements. But perhaps we ' have really laid too much stress on this.

Brother Smith, of Chicago Chapter, is present. He is really the founder of .the Triangle Club.

Brother Smith:

I might state that the Triangle Club asked me if called upon m this Convention to say anything in their behalf to read a portion of their biography, which is contained in their petition which will, I presume, be sent to each of the chapters. With the Conclave ' s permission, I will read a section entitled Triangles and General Masonic Organizations (Points emphasized were: Masonic conditions in surrounding territory, beginning of the club , Masonic interest of the members of the club, house fund-$100 pledges, with $1 ,200 pledged for house ,_$2 ,000 of property owned, weekly meetings, typewritten mmutes, activities of the vanous members, honors, etc. He also read the recommendation of 16 fraternities of Texas indorsing the petition

of the Triangle Club, and spoke of securing a place on enrollment card for registering of lodge, etc.

Ohio: How is the schoo l year divided at Texas?

Smith: Three terms. First term begins about September 24, the second January 1, and the third middle of March.

Member: What was the club's attitude about Brother Fay's report about not living in the house and the Freshman rule?

Smith: Well, they had Freshmen in the house. They considered that so long as they had their regular business meetings in the Temple they were not violating the faculty rule and still li ving up to the rule of the Grand Council.

Member: Who rented the house?

Smith: The organization. One man signed the contract and everything passed through him. He was the financial agent. Freshmen were excluded from business meetings in the Scottish Rite Temple. Occasionally one was invited to a ttend when some special point involving Freshmen was up.

COMMITTEE ON FRATERNITY EXTENSION

Purdue (Chairman of committee) moved:

That the Conclave look wit h pleasure on the efforts of the Triangle Club of the University ,)f Texas and th e Masonic Club of the University of Oklahoma, and that a charter be g ranted them some time before the spring of 1916.

Further, that the Conclave does not favor the installation of a chapter in ariy professional or technical schoo l, nor in any schoo l which does not have college or university standing.

Washington seconded the motion.

Ohio: I wish to amend the motion to read that charter be granted before January 1 instead of before the Spring of 1916.

Amendment lost for want of second.

Missouri: If this motion goes through it settled Ok lah oma as well as Texas. I am not prepared to vote on Oklahoma until we get more light. I wonder if we can have that now.

Grand President: All this conclave can do is to recognize these clubs as petitioning bodies and express themselves favorably or unfavorably in that recognition. It is then up to the Grand Council who have the power of sending out the petition to the various chapters to decide whether the charter is to be granted .

Columbia: I rise to a point of informtioan. Do the men representing the Tringle aClub understnd thta they can not have a chapter with Greek men in it? Why raise that point when there is no such prohibition against Greeks in the constitution?

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

Grand President: Merely because the petition must be passed by a two -third vote of the chapters, and a number of the chapters are opposed. to Greek men.

Wisconsin: I move to amend the motion omitting Oklahoma at this time.

Syracuse: Seconds.

Grand Vice-President: My own personal motive in including Oklahoma was that I considered the Masonic Club at Oklahoma very rapidly rounding into shape. The only thing they to ?e sure of is a sufficient number of students to guarantee Masomc field m the future . They are perfectly satisfactory on every other point. And I had hoped that both chapters could be installed on the same trip and save expense and make it more convenient. Oklahoma has no Greeks. They were informed of the feeling expressed in the 1912 Conclave on this matter and of the amendment last year which shows that it would be impossible to get the necessary four-fifths of the chapters to vote for them if they had Greeks .

Illinois: We are very much in favor of the amendment to divide the questiqn. These will have to be submitted to a vote of the chapters, and if some object to one club , they will have to vote against the motion and thus against both clubs.

Grand President: It is not even necessary that the conclave vote at all on either club. If we vote, it merely means we are expressing your attitude, favorably or unfavorably. The petition must go to the chapters and if 20 vote aye, then the Grand Council will install the chapter.

Wisconsin: I do not think the amendment should be interpreted to mean that if we divide the motion that we are unfavorable to Oklahoma. Amendment to omit Oklahoma from motion, carred.

Grand President: The motion now is that we are voting favorably to Triangle Club and in favor of the policy of not granting charters to purely professional and technical schools. - -

Pennsylvania State: I move that we amend the motion to divide these two points. Declared out of order.

Illinois: I move that the petitions of Texas and Oklahoma be submitted separately.

Declared out of order and unnecessary.

Ohio: I move that Grand Vice-President give them a favorable report and that if we consider them strong enough we will o-rant them a charter in the Spring. o

Declared out of order. Not coming from the committee.

Grand Sec:etary: Two things you are trying to do. Report favorably _or otherw1se_ on Texas and Oklahoma; and, second, to vote on policy relative to techmcal schools. You are merely rendering an expression of support to your Grand Council.

Nebraska: I move that Conclave express favorable op ini on to the Grand Council on Texas petition.

Washington seconded. Carried .

Harvard: Harvard voted yes considering it had no bearing on the Greek question.

Columbia: Why the stress on this Greek question? Columbia moves that the Conclave looks with pleasure on e orts of Oklahoma Club and suggests that the Grand Council should, if on full investigation they see fit, submit the petition of the club, at a time when they s ee fit , for a vote of the chapters.

Ohio seconded . Mot ion carr ie d.

Purdue: Move that Conclave does not favor the installati o n of a chapter in any professiona l or technical sc hool , nor in any school whic h does n ot have college or university standing. Seconded and carried.

There being no objections, Conclave returned to committee reports .

COMMITTEE ON CONDITION OF CHAPTERS AND CHAPTER VISITATION

To the Officers and Delegates of the Acacia Fraternity in Tenth Grand Conclave assembled:

Your Committee on Condition of Chapters and Chapter V i sitation herewith submit the following resolution:

That the Grand Conclave appropriate $1 ,000 to cover the expense and compensation of a Traveling Counse lor, this counselor to be selected by this Conclave.

Respectfully submitted,

BEN].

H. PRATT , California, Chairman . PAUL R. RIDER, Yale. CARL MITCHEL TREE, Michigan.

COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

Illinois, Chairman : Report changes as follows, to provide for the Grand Counselor:

Artic l e IV, Section 1. The Grand Council sha ll con s ist of the Grand President. Grand Vice -Pr esident, Grand Secretary, Grand Trea s urer, Grand Editor and Gra1id Counselor. (Grand Counselor added.)

Article IV, Section 6. By a majority vote the Grand Counci l s hall have the power to s u spend the charter of any chapter, who shall in any mann e r or form v iolate any of the provisions of this Constitution or its By-Laws.

It reads as follows:

(By a maiority vote the Grand Council s hall have th e power to s u spend the char ter of any chapter whose conduct shall be such as to bring discr ed it or dishonor upon itself or the fraternity. The Grand. Counci l s hall not continue .the uspension of a charter lon ge r than the next meetmg of the Grand Conclave without the consent of that body.)

Article V, Section 12. The Grand Counselor shall pay official visits to and advise with the various chapters a nd m a ke such recommendations to them as he shall see fit. He shall make his r e port to th e Grand Council and make recommendations to that body regarding conditions of the chapters (New section.)

There being no unfinished business, Conclave passed to head of New Business.

Ohio moved that committee chairmen bring in motions covering the matters in their reports. Kansas seconded. Carried.

Conclave interrupted by a committee from the Grand Chapter of Grand Masters, consisting of Messrs. Robinson, Wilson, and , who said they were sent to s how the warm appreciation of the Grand Chapter of the work of Acacia and r eq uested the permission to take the Grand President upstair s to receive official recognition. Permission granted by Conclave. Grand Secretary Kilmer took the chair.

COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS

Wisconsin, Chairman : Committee moves that the Journal be issued four times a year, and on the following elates : October 1, December 1, February 1, May 1.

Purdue seconded. Carried.

Wisconsin: Committee moves that the October number be restricted to the report of the previous conclave and its distribution be confined to active members.

Ohio seconded.

Grand Secretary: That would exclude the Grand Council.

Stanford: We wish to express our opinion that the ·contents should be referred to the discretion of the Grand Council. I think this is to o minute legislation.

Wisconsin: ·I withdraw this motion.

Minnesota: I m ove that the distribution of the October number be limit ed to active members.

Missouri seconded.

Illinoi s: How can we limit th e circulation of this J o urnal? vVho are receiving it now outside of the membership?

Grand Editor: A few Masonic bodies and those on the exchange list, viz: o ther fraternities.

Illin o !s: I doubt th e advisability of keepin g the book away from tho se bodtes.

Michigan: I would suggest that after all, th e efforts of these entertainin g·. chapters _at;J-d a lumni chapters, that nothing be done which would -result 111 not gtvmg them the full credit for: their work. Michigan opposes any limitation .

Minnesota: ! wish to amend the motion, limiting to members, and not merely to active members.

No second Amendment lost.

Wisconsin: I move that the October issue include the report of the Conclave and be limited to Acacia membership. This does not limit it to active members.

Pennsylvania State seconded. Carried.

Wisconsin: Committee moves that the May issue of the Journal contain a revision of the present Acacia directory with geographical location omitted.

Minnesota: Minnesota seconds. Motion carried.

Wisconsin: Committee moves that $1,000 be devoted to the expense of the publication of the Journal for the coming year. This is an increase of $100.

Syracuse seconded.

Pennsylvania State: That has no bearing on the salary of the editor?

Wisconsin: o. Motion carried.

Wisconsin: Committee moves that a stand in g committee be appointed by the Chair to collect material with a view to revising our present Song Book at some future date. The committee wishes to recommend that Bro. W. E. Schultz of Yale be made chairman of the committee.

Syracuse seconded. Motion carried.

Wisconsin: Committee moves that chapter publications (having in mind printed letters) be made of a uniform size, 8;!4 x 6 inches, for the convenience of filing and binding by the other chapters. It is hard to keep these on file if every chapter has a different size. Purdue seconded.)

Ohio: We do not think this is very good plan. It should be left to the individual chapter. They know more about what their alumni would like to receive. A ll chapters do not have the same conditions confronting them and their alumni.

Kansas: I do not believe it would be any hardship on any chapter to issue a reguiar size. Every chapter wants to file these copies from other chapters, and to do so conveniently, they should be of a uniform SIZe.

Columbia: Does this make it ob li gatory or is this a suggestion ?

Grand Secretary: It wou ld be binding.

Motion carried.

Grand President was returned to the Conclave by the Committee of the Grand Chapter of Grand Masters, with the remark that he had made a speech that was a credit to Acacia.

Grand President resumed the chair.

Grand President: That kind of legislation leads to violation of national law. But if the Conclave does make such laws, every officer should enforce it. Are you going home and urge that your chapters enforce this rule? '

Mich igan: This motion does not cover anything but printed matter. We do not get out a printed letter, merely mimeographed letters. Hence I take it the motion will not apply to Michigan.

COMMITTEE ON RITUAL AND INSIGNIA

Kansas (Chairman): The Committee moves that we adopt a uniform flag, consisting of a gold background with three blue-back triangles set diagonally in the field.

Grand President: We already have an official flag. Does this Conclave wish to change that flag?

Kansas: No; we thought there was no official flag. '0/ e therefore move that we continue the use of the same flag.

Purdue seconded. Carried.

Kansas: The committee moves that the present contract for the purchase of official badge be renewed and that all chapters be required to order badges from the Grand Secretary.

Purdue seconded.

Grand President: I do not like the form of the motion . It sounds like the Grand Council were to renew the contract with the Newman people. They might be able to get a better contract from some other firm.

Kansas: I will change the motion to read that the Grand President receive bids and award the contract for official badges, etc.

Chicago: That might be bad for the Grand President. If the contract should be bad, he would have to face the criticism of the chapters alone. Better make it read the Grand Council receive bids, etc.

Grand President: The motion is carried. That means that every chapter here votes for this thing. I will ask the committee to bring in a section for ,the ritual explaining the coat of arms and its heraldry.

Alumni Chapters. Committee not ready for final report.

ENDOWMENT FUND

Missouri (Chairman): Committee moves "that SO per cent. of the profit deriver from the sale of pins ·be turned into the Endowment fund. That the fund be further increased by contributions from alumni

solicited by a committee appointed ·by the Grand President, committee to be alumni from different sections of the country." This motion has nothing to do with the managemnt of the fund as the constitution provides for that now. It merely bears on the method of increasing the fund.

Ohio: Ohio seconds.

Pennsylvania: Do I understand that part of the revenue of the pins is to be withdrawn for this purpose?

Missouri: Yes; fifty per : cent.

Pennsylvania: We are trying a number of new things; salaried editor, possibly a traveling counselor, etc. Where is the money to come from? .

California: In behalf of the Committee on Traveling Counselor, I want to repeat our recommendation as read this morning. It involves the additional tax of $2 on initiation fees. That will be added to the 50 per cent., left from the sale of pins, to go toward the sa lar y of the Traveling Counselor. We do not really oppose this motion for endowment fund increase but we believe the Traveling Counselor is more important and comes before the endowment proposition. We do not want the proposition of Traveling Counselor complicated by turning money into the endowment fund if it is needed for the Traveling Counselor proposition. ·

At suggestion of Grand President, Missouri withdrew motion in order that" it might be taken up later.

At 4 :15, on motion of Pennsylvania State and Ohio, Conclave adjourned for picture in front of Masonic Temple. Reconvened at 4:30.

Grand President: The chapters should get the reports of this gathering of Grand Masters. It will be quite fully written up and will contain references of Acacia. You should get these reports and file in order that it may become generally known that we have received this recognition. This Grand Chapter probably comprises as many illustrious Masons as any organization. Write to the Secretary of the Grand Lodge of your State and get these reports.

ALUMNI CHAPTER COMMITTEE

Chicago: Bro. Groves will report for the alumni first.

Bro. Groves spoke briefly , urging the necessity of doing something definite in way of recognition of these Alumni Chapters , something that will encourage them and make them feel they are still a part of the Acacia organization "My ideas a re inc orporated in the written report which the active committee wi ll bring in."

Chicago read report :

The Committee on Alumni Chapters having met with the Alumni Committee, consisting of Bros. Groves of Chicago, Chairman; Ehrenclow

of Northern California District, Stanford Chapter; Croyle of Northern California District, Kansas State Chapter; Trelevan of Wisconsin; Cline of Southern California District, California Chapter; and Beersman of New York, Franklin Chapter; and in conjunction with them make the following report :

That such organizations of Acacia Alumni as hold three or m<?re meetings per annum with ten or more members present and membersh ip three or more active chapters, shall be termed Alumm Chapters of the Acacia Fraternity.

Alumni Chapters which are approved as such by the Grand Council not lat e r than one month previous to the m ee ting of the Conclave, shall be entitled to send one delegate to the Conclave, such delegate to have the privilege of the floor and be eligible to committees, but shall have no vote. He shall make report on the condition and activities of his chapter.

The Conclave shall not be responsible for the transportation expenses of such delegate. In all other respect s he shall be considered a delegate on same footing as active delegates and entitled to such local entertainment and privileges at the expense of the Conclave and local chapters as are accorded delegates of active chapters.

We recommend that a committee of three members be appointed by the Grand Pr es ident to make a thorough study of the alumni situation and submit a report to the next conclave with recommendations for a definite organization, and also formulate uniform constitution and by-laws governing alumni bodies.

It is suggested that the committee be composed of I. W. Driehaus of New York Alumni Chapter, C. W Hall of Chicago Alumni Chapter, and A. H Ehrenclow of Northern District of California Alumni Chapter.

JOEL F. McDAVID, Chicago, Chairman. D A. DILLS, Columbia.

J. W. HILL, Kansas.

Chicago moves that this report he accepted and receive the sanction of this Conclave.

Minnesota seconded.

Stanford: Is the expenses of the alumni delegate to be borne by the general fraternity?

Chicago: No; no transportation Merely the local entertainment.

Ohio: I would like to know what influence the alumni chapter would have on Acacia Alumni in that city relative to visiting the active chapter. Would there be a tendenc y to attend the alumni chapter rather than visit the active chapter?

Chicago: We do not find it so. \Ve get more visits. The alumni chapter gets more of the alumni together and increases their interest in our chapter We have entertained the alumni chapter often. It does not keep the alumni away.

S:olumbia: The alumni of New York is our strong support and 1f we ever have a 1t will be largely through their help. We get the benefit of the expenence of men from a large number of other chapters. We want to encourage the alumni chapters.

President: My own experience is that the more a man does the more mte:est he will take in the active chapter. Delegates can do a great work If we have s uch o rganization . Most of us will be alumni

soon. We should have a chapter in many cities-Kansas City, Omaha, Denver, Portland and several others. The e .chapters would constitute a source of strength for the active chapter located in the same city.

Chicago: We are giving the delegate the courtesy of the floor. This was to make them feel that they were a part of the Conclave and be free to spe<l:k and have. influence and give some good advice. In regard to havmg a constitutiOn to present to these alumni chapters, the committee appointed can better work that out and present a definite form for next Conclave to consider.

Motion carried.

MASONIC R E S E ARCH

Iowa University: The Committee on Masonic Research submits the following report:

The Acacia Fraternity is grateful to Broth e r T•ewton R. Parvin , Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, and wishes to express our appreciation to him and to Brother William Cleveland for their kindness in publishing the int e resting and instructive booklet, "The Acacia Fraternity," and to the Grand Lodge of Iowa for making its publication possible

The Fraternity also expresses its appreciation to the National Society for Masonic Research for the articles in the "Builder" by Brothers Pound, Schoonover, Coon, Newton , Shepardson and Frazer.

The chapters are urged to co-operate with this movement and subscribe for "The Builder "

lt is also recommended that the chapters encourage the formation of Masonic Study Clubs among the student body. Such clubs should be social as well as educational.

L. A. OSBORNE, Iowa, Chairman.

D. A. DILLS, Columbia.

G. H . EDDY, Purdue.

Purdue seconded. Motion carried accepting the report.

Grand President: I have repeatedly emphasized the possibility of Masonic research by Acacians. You should look for men in your chapters who would be willing to accept a $600 scholarship and spend a year in Masonic research . That is the sort of Masonic aid I should like to see accorded Acacia.

California: I would like to call the attention of the convention to this phase of research in Masonry. It is impossible to get definite information of the forerunning organization of Acacia. If it were possible to say definitely to the person, here was the situation in the universities of this country before Acacia was. From the records available at present time it would seem it was but a club of very irregularly developed Maonic groups. If one could present that fact and then the conditions that are due to Acacia, then you could make it plain to the lay Mason why we are a select group of men and explain a lot of things that are difficult to explain to the average Mason now . I think we ought to kn o w the historical basis of Acacia.

Grand President: Brother Pratt has done much along this line. I am going to request him to prepare an article for the Builder bearing on

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this phase. Brother Shephardson is the Historian of Acacia. How many of the dele gates know his history of Acacia? How many delegates come from chapters that have Masonic libraries?

RESOLUTION COMMITTEE

Nebraska (Chairman):

Full report appears on page 82. Nebraska raised question of accepting gifts of money from Masons who were not Acacians. Discussion followed:

Nebraska: Nebraska's Grand Master is one of the most loyal Acacians. He is very enthusiastic about house proposition. We have severa l 32nd degree Masons who are striving to get a gift of money from the Grand Lodge. The plan is a gift of $5,000 and a loan of $10,000. We are opposed to the five thousand dollar gift. The loan is all right. I want to put a cold damper on that proposition in Nebraska. We can not accept money from any organizat.ion or any person without them feeling in some way that we will be under obligations to some extent, no matter what they may say at the time. Those Masons out in Nebraska will send their sons to Nebraska and expect them to become Acacians.

California: I wish to present a concrete experience along this lin e. We endorse the sentiment expressed by Nebraska.

About October of last year the local lodge passed a motion that a committee be appointed to devise ways and means to build an Acacia house at the Universities of California and Stanford. I tried at that time to convince them that we should accept that money. The Grand President and Grand Secretary expressed their opinions. I had up to that time thought it was all right. I kept in pretty close touch with this movement. I attended most of the meetings of the committee to carry out the plan . The local lodge stimulated a movement resulting in a motion passing the Grand Lodge resolving that it would be a good thing if Masons wou ld contribute money toward building houses in these two places.

The committee appointed 100 prominent Masons of Ca lifornia for the purpose of so li citing money from the rank and file of Masons of State. One dollar apiece would have raised $50,000. By Spring we became rather anxious to receive the money. Then came a certain development or anti-Catholic expression. There is a strong Catholic institution in Southern California and severa l men on the committee being strongly anti-Catholic, it was soon talked around that we were an institution aggressively against Catholocism. We go t the committee together and tried to make them see that we were not a branch of Masonry but a college fraternity. But they did not seem to be willing to put it before the Masons of the State that we were an organization of selective charwhich we think is really the import'ilnt thing. Therefore we deCided that we could not accept the money except on a str ict commercial basis, viz in way of a loan . For three reasons, (1) the Catholic feeling aroused, (2) the fact that the committee themselves could not be made to really understand Acacia, and, (3) that the committee would

not make the Masons of the State understand that Acacia is a selective body, we decided not to accept the gift.

Missouri: I shall give you the idea of Missouri Chapter. The Grand Lodge wanted to build a house for us; that is, members wanted to get a motion through for that purpose. We felt it would not be the thing to do. If individual Masons wanted to subscribe money to a house building fund, we do not feel any hesitation in accepting it, providing the man who gives is given to understand our method of getting men. We think it is the same proposition as not being obliged to buy Standard oil all your life if o ne should donate to the Chicago University.

Illinois: \V e went one step further. .We were not even' willing to accept a loan from the Grand Lodge of Illinois. We got the loan from our friends. Some of them were Masons but a matter of friendship and not Masonry. Some of the Masons in the university seem to have difficulty in understanding Acacia; some think any Mason should be allowed to petition. We think if we are going to maintain our position as a selective fraternity that we should not accept any loan from the Grand Lodge.

Syracuse : We do not borrow money from any one except our alumni. We do not accept money in any way by loan or gift, from anyone who is not an Acacian. We do not want the Masons of the State to think we are a club.

Motion by Nebraska, seconded by Wisconsin, that no gifts of money be accepted from Masonic bodies other than Acacia. Carried, seventeen voting for, five against, and two not voting.

Harvard and Illinois moved to adjourn to 9 :30 Thursday morning. Carried.

WE D NE SDAY EVENING- EX POSITION GROUNDS

Banquet at 6 :30 in Old Faithful Inn . Chas. A. Vogelsang and C. S. Scott, Commissioners of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, were present. Mr. Vogelsang made a speech of welcome to Acacia and presented Grand President Frazer with a bronze medal, on which was engraved "Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Acacia Fraternity, September 2, 1915, San Francisco." Grand President Frazer made fitting response.

Greetings were sent to Alpha Sigma Phi, who were also banqueting in another part of Old Faithful Inn.

After the banquet delegates were guests of the entertaining chapters to a number of attractions on the Zone, including Stella, Captain, Madame Ellis, Underground China Town, Buddha's Paradise, and the Panama Canal. Later, illuminated aviation.

THURSDAY MORNING

Grand Conclave called to order by Grand President at 9:45; all delegates present.

Report of Endowment Committee continued.

Missouri repeated the motion, stating the three ways of the endowment fund SO per cent. of pin profits, and by. contnbutwns secured by an alumni committee appointed by Grand Prestdent.

Columbia seconded.

Ohio: We would rather see this money go into a fund for providing for a traveling counselor. In regard to sol!citing from alumni, our alumni are already burdened wtth house proposttton and other chapters are in same situation. I do not feel that they should have this other matter pressed upon them at this time.

Wisconsin: \Ve need both an endowment fund and a traveling counselor. But it is a matter of finances. Before Wisconsin can act intelligently we need information from the Budget Committee.

Harvard (Chairman of Budget Committee): I can only give an informal report. Cash on hand, $5,053. Outstanding accounts, $521. Total , $5,574. There is a credit of $42 plus to th e Triangle Club. There are some expense items that are out yet , so I have dropped the odd dollars and will call cash on hand and accounts outstanding, $5,500. Receipts from Journal will be $225 this year. Per capita tax , $2 ,900. Committee figures $1 ,800 from initiations. Pins last year, $2,136. The Council report shows $700 based on net amount, or $2 ,800 on the year , or $662 increase on pins. Committee thought revenue from pins would be $2,200, that is, gross revenue. My figures total $12 ,635. The figures of the Council $12,547, or in round numbers the gross revenue , will be about $12,500.

Journal expenses, $1,000. Pins, $1.650. General expenses of officers, last year $542, probably $200 less than actually needed, or about $700 necessary. Salary of Secretary last year including 14 months, $700. I have used $600, which is at the same rate. The Grand Editor is to be considered. I put the figure at $400.

Taking the s1,1ggestion of the Endowment Committee, 50 per cent. of the pin profits, the figure would be $275 for the endowment fund. It will be necessary to publish the by-laws. I had no real idea how much w_ould cost. I put the figure at $300. The 1915 Conclave expenses mcludmg expenses of delegates and grand officers this year , will be about $3,000. Expenses of Conclave next year about $2,000. These are the figures of the Grand Council in their budget report.

In regard to the Traveling Counselor fund , we will have a reserve fund of $200 when the expenses of this Conclave are paid. But I do not think it is wise to eat into this surplus that we have accumulated. I favor keeping that reserve item.

the various items, I figure there will be a balance of $800. That ts as nearly as I can figure it now.

Missouri: I think Bro. Groves has a suggestion.

. Grand President: We will hear from Brother Groves on the Ancient Htstory of Endowment Fund. . · ·

Groves: The en.dowment elates back several years. A number of men have become mterested m tt from time to time but no one has fol-

lowed it up except Brother Kilmer, who has reported yearly that something should be done.

Two years ago Bro. Hall of Yale got the idea strong and started out to do something with it . He is chief promoter now . I have here some communications from the committee of Chicago Alumni Chapter. They are signed by Hall of Yale, Prakken of Purdue and Brown of Michigan.

Chicago, August 27, 1915.

Mr. President and Brothers:

I should like to make some explanations and di sc ussion s of various points m the plan outlined by the committee for promoting an endowment fund. The report of the committee was drawn up more as a working basis for the Conclave, without giving any discussion or r easo ns for its conclusions. A little add itional information from one of th e committee may , ther efo re, not be amiss.

After considerable thought it has been specified in the report that no money s h a ll be solicited from outside the fraternity membership. There is no question but what it would be pos s ible to derive money in liberal sums from wealthy Masons, who feel kindly toward Acacia, and her purpose. This mean s would be of material assistance in building up the fund to one of some moment, and there are several substantial arguments in favor of such a plan. But on the whole it is wrong. It might get us into all manser of difficulty in the distant future with Masons and Masonic bodies, and even with our contemporary socia l fraternities. A wealthy Mason might be influenced to give a s ubstantial amount toward the s uccess of our endowment proposition. Then eight or t e n years lat er he might send his son to college, and, knowing of Acacia, and h av ing given freely toward its development and not appreciating, as most Masons do not, that memb e r s hip is by invitation only, he would n a turally feel free to send his son to the Acac ia hou se with the expectancy that he could live there Then might follow a comb ination of injured pride, indigation , and a hearty feeling that he h ad played "fis h " when he co ntributed.

Then, too , there might naturally be the feeling a mong other fraternities th at we were supported by the Masonic institution. While this might not be a disgrace, it would sure l y dampen the va l or o f our achievements in th e ir eyes. Our fraternity is on a good, substantial financial basis. We don't need to beg or lay ourselves open · to the most severe a nd unan swe r ab l e criticism by accepting or so liciting money from Masons or Masonic bodies. The method outlined in the report will be slower a nd m ay never reach th e amount po ss ibl e if Masons in general were solicited, but it may save us considerable future embarrassment and give us a greater feeling of pride in the achievement.

The fraternity now has an alumni membership of over four thou sa nd. Suppose we discount this membership by 40 per cent. and say that only 60 per cent. will pay the $2 .00 assessment for three years. The a ccumul a tion of the sum for the three years would be as follows:

To this total might be added about $500 as the profit from the sa le of badges each year; and we have as a grand total in our endowment fund at the end of four years about $12,490.

We are strongly opposed to making the assessment ov er $2.00 a year , and would favor instead, if any change is thought necessary, $1.00 a _Year for five years. We might better go a little slower and be more sure of gettmg there.

The matter of offering some recompense for subscription to the fund as was included in Brother Hill's scheme, reported to the 1908 Conclave, see m s to me to

ACACIA JOURNAL

cheapen the cause. The reward offered was of so little that to offer it to a man to induce him to dig down in his jeans, would be ludtcrous. It must be presented entirely on merit-and it is not lackin g in this respect to any true Acacian.

The length of office of the trustees was made an even number of years to provide for the po ss ibility of a biennial rather than annual Conclave.. Thts would make the term of office expire with the convenin g of the delegates m Conclave. A long term of office is thought highly desirable.

In granting an a cti v e member a loan, some might think it wise to require him to secure the note in case of his death by a life insurance policy of some form. Personally, I believe that any loss from this source would be very remote and that the fraternity should be willing to stand that loss if it were to lose a worthy brother. It seems to me it would be too mercenary to be characteristic of the spirit of Acacia. It would only impose an additional hardship on the one granted a loan , for he would have to pay not only the interest on the loan, but the prem· ium on the insurance policy; and the first premium would come at the very time of all when he could least afford it.

One other thing of vital importance to the s ucce ss of an endowment fund for Acacia, as was pointed out in the report, i s the se lection of the best man to pro· mote the plan There can be only one "best" man, and I believe that the one who has had the matter most at heart, who ha s given freely of his time and energy to Acacia, not only in this connection, but for everything pertaining to Acacia, should be given the place from the central west and made chairman of the com. mittee . C. W. Hall has be en th e guiding spirit, th e promoting genius and the brains and director behind the endowment mo vemen t He probably has a broader acquaintance among Acacia men than any other alumnus, being a member of Yale Ch a pt er and a traveler from coast to coast, with a never failing interest to visit and make himself agreeable and at hom e at eve ry chapter house within a reasonable distance of his course of business. I would s trongly recommend that Brother Hall be given this plac e-! can't say "honor," for it will be a devil of a job. He is a promoter by profes s ion and I believe most competent to assume the r espo nsibility.

Biddin g the d elegate s a nd grand officers my r espec t s an d s incere good wi s hes , and trus'ting th a t th ey will l egislate and "fo r the good of the fraternity ," I am , Yours smcerely a nd fraternally,

H L. BROWN.

Chicago, August 23, 1915.

G e ntlem e n and Brother s:

The co mmittee whose n a m es are signed hereto, bein g duly appointed a com· mittee of the National Fraternity by Grand President Frazer from among the member s of the Chicago Alumni Chapter, de sires a nd re spec ts this opportunity to bring before th e Conclave the m a tt e r o f an endowment fund. Th e merits and po ss ibilitie s of the propo s ition were brought out in a general way in ·a letter from th e Chicago Alumni Chapter to a ll the active c h ap t ers ea rly in Jun e. Its true worth and de s irability will, therefore , be taken for granted t o proceed at once to th e consid e ration pertinent to the Conclave.

Previous attempts to establish a n endowment fund for the future benefit of Acacia hav e been futil e. There mu s t h ave been a r easo n for this failure ; either the plan of raising the money wa s wrong or the men behind the move were lacking. The committee th e refore desires to impres s on the delegates assembled, the importance of adopting the be s t pl a n of action th a t can be devised , and of equal importanc e, the appointment of the best men available to promote the fund In this connection, it has spent considerable time and thought in the study of a plan which would offer the least obstacles of accomplishment and bring the least burden on the fraternity members, and proposes the following plan as the result of its study:

METHOD OF RAISING MONEY

The fund s hall be raised entirely from among the alumni of the Acacia Fraternity Beginning next year and continuing for three years , each alumnus shall be assessed $2 .00 a year by the General Fraternity. To make the plan con· tinuously accumulative, each active member, upon becoming an alumnus shall

be assessed at the end of his first year out of school, and $2.00 each year for the followtng two years. Payment of the $6.00 in either case may be made in one lump if so desired. Subscriptions may be solicited from among the Acacia membership, but such solicitation shall be made on the basis of merit of the proposition in strengthening the future of the fraternity, and not 111 the sense of a cry for help from an institution dependent on charity nor with an:y of • im.munity from national dues, or life to any pubhcatwn. No sohcttatwn shall be made from Masons in general or Masonic bodies.

CONTROL OF THE ENDOWMENT FUND

The Endowment Fund shall be controlled by a Board of Trustees consisting of three members elected by the Conclave for a term of 12 years. At the first election one member shall be elected for four years, one for eight, and one for the full term of 12 years. The Grand Treasurer shall be the fourth member of the Board of Trustees and sha ll represent the Board at the Conclave and executive meetings. In the event of a vacancy on the Board of Trustees the Grand President shall act in the place or appoint an alumnus to serve until the next Conclave when the appointment is to be ratified or a new Trustee elected to serve out the term.

The rules governing the proceedure of the Board shall be in accordance with good, sound, business principles. The monies of the fund shall be deposited or invested in the name of the Acacia Fraternity Endowment Fund, by the Board of Trustees, signed.

USE OF THE FUND

The Endowment Fund is to be used to help finance chapters in buying and building homes; and to aid worthy members, seniors primarily, to finish their college training The use of the fund shall not be begun until deemed advisable by the Board of Trustees.

A chapter desiring a loan for payment on a home shall petition the Board of Trustees and shall offer security conforming to good business principles and pay interest at the rate of six per cent. per annum .

A member desiring a loan to finance his last year in school shall make written application to his local chapter stating his case in full, and the chapter shall act upon the application in regular session. If granted by the chapter the Venerable Dean shall sign the application and forward it to the Board of Trustees who shall have final decision in the matter. No member shall be granted a loan in excess of $500, and interest shall be paid in all cases at the rate of six per cent. per annum, payable at the end of each year from the date of the loan.

If a loan is granted to a member, he shall give his note endorsed by his local chapter , for the amount of the loan. His local chapter will therefore be held responsible for its payment, thus offering further safeguard to the fund in addition to the honor and integrity of the recipient.

RECOMMENDATION'S

In conclusion, the committee recommends that the 1915 San Fr ancisco Conclave take definite action as follows:

1. Adoption of the plan herein described by the committee to raise and control the fund, or of a better scheme.

2 Appointment of a committee to be known as the Endowment Fund Committee, consisting of three men located in three sections of the country, one each in the east, the central west and the west to have full charge of raising the money by any means their ingenuity may devise, within the limitations of the plan adopted.

3. Authorization to credit each year, the profit from the sale of the fraternity badge to the Endowment Fund.

4. Verification of the action of the 1913 Wisconsin Conclave authorizing a credit of $40 from the general funds of the fraternity to the existing Endowment Fund of $60.

Respectfully submitted, (Signed) C. W. HALL, Yale, N. PRAKKEN, Purdue , H. L. BROWN, Michigan, Committee.

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They want something done as a basis and .a They want the right to do this: Beginning next year and contmumg three years every alumnus to be assessed $2 per year by the general fraternity. Every active member to be assessed $2 at the end of first year out of school.

Grand President: Under the constitution, there is no way by which this Conclave can pass an amendment to collect from alumni or assess an alumnus member.

Groves: As a method of control of this fund, it has been suggested that a special board be elected for a long term of :years, 12 .years. The money is primarily to be used to help needy semors fimsh thetr education. It is also to help chapters build houses when they have made an effort and really need help. The committee recommend that the 1915 Conclave take some definite action. Adopt some plan. Appoint a committee to be known as the Endowment Committee, to consist of three men located in East, Central and West , whose duty it shall be to raise funds by soliciting contributions from alumni. They also want a verification of the motion at the Wisconsin Conclave to set aside enough money to make the fund $100.

This communication from Brother Brown sums up the arguments. The money should be solicited from Acacians, and not from Masons who are not Acacians.

Personally I feel that something should be clone. I do not feel that we are in a position to make a large contribution this year to the fund. But I think we should make at least a small contribution and give permission to this committee to go ahead and solicit funds. I do not believe it will interfere with alumni of any chapter, as Ohio fears . These three men should be closely connected with the Journal. We should use the enthusiasm and help from these alumni who are anxious to do something now. If SO per cent. is too large, then make a smaller per cent. and later on we can make it larger. At least something should be done .

Ohio State: I wish to ask Brother Groves how he will take care of this fact. A man to get a loan from this Fund Committee will have to pay about the ordinary rate of interest and give security. Any man or chapter can get that kind of a proposition now. If we are going to establish an endowment fund , I would favor it if it would be of some advantage to the man or chapter.

Kansas State: We think the endowment fund is fine idea but we want the Traveling Counselor first. I wish to amend motion that $75 of the $275 from sale of pins go to the endowment fund and the other $200 go to the Traveling Counselor. I make this as a suggestion rather than as an amendment

Missouri: The constitution provides for the control of the fund, hence can not follow the report of the Chicago Alumni Chapter on that pomt.

Grand Treasurer W oodwarcl took the chair.

Pennsylvania State: \lYe feel somewhat like Kansas State-that if it comes to a choice between Traveling Counselor and endowment fund,

the Traveling Counselor should be first. I believe it will come to one of two things, the Traveling Counselor will have to be given up or we will have to increase our dues. We are young and I do not believe we can afford to take much money now for endowment fund. Every chapter in the country has all they can do to get on a firm financial basis. That should be taken care of first. It seems much like trying to put money out on interest when you need the money to live on yourself. We have not reached the stage in Acacia when we can do much for the endowment fund.

Grand Vice-President: This is an excellent idea. But I think there is a great deal in what Brother Weaver of Pennsylvania State has just said. I think the Traveling Counselor hangs in the balance. I think we should go slow in contributing a large amount to this fund. I suggest as an amendment to the original motion that change 50 per cent. to 10 per cent.

Pennsylvania State: I second that amendment.

Grand Treasurer: The motion is out of order, as a Grand Officer can not make a motion.

Pennsylvania State made the motion as stated by Brother Fay, and Illinois seconded.

Nebraska : I wish to endorse the place of 10 per cent. instead of 50 per cent We might be able to give $275 this year but we do not know that we could do it next year. The 10 per cent. will encourage the Alumni Committee. We should not take any action now and have to "renig" later. We can increase the amount when we are able to do so.

Franklin: We are against the endowment fund idea of assessing alumni $2, for our alumni now have pledges notes and should not be asked to do more.

Grand Treasurer: I shall have to rule you out of order, as we are now discussing the amendment, and not the main motion.

Amendment carried.

Chicago: We strongly feel that this endowment should be started. This 10 per cent. will put it on a solid foundation. We think the rest of the motion is all right.

Franklin: Does the recommendation of Brother Groves regarding assessing alumni still hold?

Grand Treasurer: The Chairman will state the original motion again.

Missouri read the motion. remarking that the motion said nothing about a sessing alumni.

Motion carried.

Wisconsin: How about the $40 question raised by Brother Groves? I move that the $40 voted by the \iVisconsin Conclave be placed in the endowment fund.

THE ACACIA JOUR NA L

At suggestion of Grand Secretary, Wisconsin changed motion to read whatever sum is necessary to make the fund $100. Purdue seconded. Motion carried.

Missouri : There b ei n g n o provisi o n in th e c<;mstitution for the use of this fund, I move that the money be u se d t o a1cl needy students and chapters in building houses .

Grand President: I believe it will be nec essa r y to ha v e a resolution or a recommendation fr o m the committee t o the Co nstituti o n Committee t o that effect . Do you w is h t o limit the p owe r of the G rand Council who now ha ve control of thi s fund ? If so, it w ill be nec essa r y to amend the constitution.

Missouri: We m e r e ly put thi s part in to call a tt ention of Conclave to what our ideas are as t o w hat s h o uld be done w ith th e money, o r, rather t o call attention to that part of the constitution.

Grand Secretary: The amount would be about $130 next y ear. Bett e r recommend that Co un c il be allowed t o invest fund in some interestbearing note or b o nd and thus accumulate. These men who make contributi o ns want t o kno w w h a t is to b e d one w ith this money. I suggest a resolution at this time t o cover that point.

CHAPTER CONDITION AND CHAPTER VISITATION

California(Ohainnan): I m ove that the G rand Co ncla ve app r op ri a t e $1,000 to cover the expe n se and compe nsati o n of a Traveling Co un se lo r , and that this Tra ve lin g Co un se l o r be selected by this Co ncla v e.

Wisconsin: Seconded.

Ca liforni a: I wish to h ave a certain matter presented b y Brother Flynn bearing on this question.

Brother Flynn spoke e mphasizing Traveling Co un se lor wo uld make th e lo cal co nditi o n of o ne chapter known t o a ll. "Wi th ou t thi s under stan din g of the local conditions, we are n o t ab l e to do much. That i s one great d ut y of th e Traveling Co un se lor. He is to ge t kn ow l edge and impart it to the other c h ap ter s ." Brother Flynn th e n r ead parts of r e port of Tr ave lin g Counse l or of D e lta Chi and then continued: "It wo uld overcome antagonisms of chap t e r s toward 'eac h o th e r. Other fraternities do this, so m e hirin g specia li sts. A fraternity must justify it s existence. Acac ia is helping t o save the s i tuatio n for fraternities in several pl aces where l egis l atu r es a r e h os til e. Acacia thus h as grea t r espo nsibility. The soo ner we h ave a Traveling Counselor, the better we will be off. It will h e lp t o s timul a t e th e so-ca ll ed fi ll e r of th e chapte r s, those m en w ho wear the pin and that is about a ll the y do fo r th e fraternity. It will help the chapters to l ea rn wh at th e o th e r c h ap t ers are doing. Few m e n read th e Journ a l. But when a man tell s th e m that so and so do thi s , why a re you n o t doing thi s? Th at would ha ve a real eff e ct, g ive real s timulus. ·

"It will help in h a ndlin g office r s of th e c h ap t ers Chapters o ft e n ha ve o fficer s who do not do duty . By th e assistance of the Grand Council, th e Trav e ling Coun selor ca n bnng pressure on loca l o fficers th a t w ill h e lp ev ery chapter.

" Th e typ e of man is imp o rt a nt. Th e m a n i s go in g t o make o r break th e sc h e me . One year is not a fair time t o s h ow r es ult s that wo uld ju stify removing a m a n from the office. Should hav e s ufficient tim e to work out his own view a nd m a tter s fr om .ot_he r frate:nities. Mu s t b_e a man who i s a good mtxer, w h o t s t actf ul , a nd w tllm g to gtve some of ht s time to vi s iting the

fraternities. I believe Acacia can afford it now. One thousand dollars will pay expenses and allow a small remuneration.

·"I have a schedule here worked out by the Rock Island people, showing the approximate cost of transportation. And I am sure it can be done."

Grand President resumed the chair. ;--'9

California: We have not been able to get together very definite information whereby we could judge the exact value of this scheme. A lot of people with whom I have talked seem to be in favor of it. The main point now seems to be the feasibility of it now. Speaking as the mouthpiece of the committee, we £ee l positive that providing for a Ttaveling Counselor would be one of the most important constructive measures that this Conclave could take . The budget shows it is possible to appropriate $1,000 even without the additional tax of $2 per initiate. The money is available at the present time. As to the man, this committee and the alumni working with us believe there is a man among the alumni who is willing and able to do this work. Wreight of Chicago, Jenkins of Harvard, Keith of Cornell, Coleman of Missouri, and several others are all good men. The man is the big question. One thousand dollars does not pay a salary to the man to speak of. It cost Delta Chi , a fraternity much the same size and similarly distributed as Acacia , $600 for railroad expenses. It will take a man three or four months to do this work. The committee have investigated the matter of the man, and we know there is a man who is able and who will do this for the money we are able to furnish. The money and man are available. I argue that it should be done at the present time.

Columbia: Our views are these. The office of Traveling Counselor and office of Grand Secretary should be combined The Grand Secretary is familiar through his records and reports of the conditions of chapters at large, and will be able to go out at once and give counsel. We do not believe the fraternity is able to finance an experimental proposition such as a man going out to get an education along this line.

Grand Vice-President in chair.

Harvard: We would be willing for this Conclave not to select the man for the office. We would prefer that this matter be left to the Grand Council. They should be authorized to try out a man for this position. A fund should be granted, and authority given the Council to use the fund as they deem best. In view of the budget , I doubt if $1,000 could wisely be put into this fund. I would prefer to reduce the fund to $500 or $700. The Grand Council could select one or two or four different men to visit the chapters they want to have visited and report. That will give the proposition a fairer test and let the members of the next Conclave see how the proposition has worked. It would give it a better chance to succeed. And we will save the question whether we can afford to put $1,000 into it now.

Nebraska: I wish to give Nebraska's opinion concerning the suggestion of Harvard about trying out two or three men. If we try out three or four men we will never get any place. Have one man and let us know whether it is a failure or not .'

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

Flynn: I do bot believe a group of men could be tried out. We must have one man, and we can not afford to send out a number of men.

Columbia: I would like to hear more discussion on the finance of the proposition.

Ohio: I move to amend that the Grand Council select the man. Purdue seconded.

Chicago: We favor this amendment. As yet I have heard of no man other than the Grand Secretary and believe the Grand Council is better able to find out the proper man who is best fitted to do this work.

California : The committee is willing to accept the amendment. The Second also accepted the amendment.

Grand President: The motion now reads that the Grand Council select the man.

Harvard: We move to amend that appropriation be reduced to $700.

Columbia: Columbia seconds.

Harvard: I made this amendment because of condition of finances as I see it. I don't believe that this Conclave should encroach on the reserve fund of $2,000. With $700 at the disposal of Graud Council, they could give the proposition a good fair test. Next year the Conclave could appropriate more if necessary

vVisconsin: In light of discussion on endowment fund, which led to the reduction of amount from SO per cent. to 10 per cent. of the pin profits, I believe that we will have enough to appropriate $1,000.

Pennsylvania State: I would like to hear from Brother Pratt as to the amount of expenses of such a man.

California: Using Delta Chi as a basis, the cost of a trip covering each chapter and including three or four months time, would be about $600 expenses. We arrive at this by taking a regular round trip ticket for a certain circuit, and figuring the actual mileage for chapter off that circuit. The railroad fare, according to the Rock Island people, would be about $215. That means a round trip ticket from Boston to San Franwith side trips figured according to mileage. ·

Syracuse: We do n?t want the Traveling Counselor to be cramped for money. Vl e want hm1 to feel that he can o-ive enough of his time to do his work properly . o

President: Gentlemen , you may rest assured that the Grand Council will not spend any more money than is available. Amendment (to reduce appropriation) lost.

Nebraska: I wish to amend the motion to read that this Conclave select the man.

Lost for want of second.

Roll call on main motion , unanimous . Carried .

Adjourned at 12 :15. Luncheon at the Hofbrau Cafe.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

Grand Conclave called to order at 2 by Grand President. All delegates present.

Telegram from Beta Theta Pi containing greetings received.

Letter from Brother Lott of Syracuse who had expected to be present, read. Illness of mother prevented his attending.

Report of Committee on Constitution and By-Laws, Illinois , Chairman, called for.

Wisconsin: I move that we limit debate to three minutes in order to expedite business.

Pennsylvania State seconded.

Harvard: We object. There is a question coming up this afternoon that Harvard Chapter has not had a chance to be heard on this year and I would not like to be under a limit of three minutes.

Stanford: We also object to a three-minute limit.

Columbia: The Columbia delegate can possibly state his views in three minutes, but I do not like the motion because of the general effect it might have on members of the general fraternity, especially back East. I am afraid it might work to injury of the fraternity.

Chicago : We do not think that the motion shou ld pass because this is the place to thresh thin gs out. It may take a little longer, but do it now.

Motion lost, 5 favoring, 19 opposed.

Grand President: I think we will postpone the report of the Cons titution Committee until we finish the other reports.

COMMITTEE ON UNIFORM ACCOUNTING

Minnesota (Chairman) :

Minnesota: vVe have drawn up several motions embodying a new accounting system. We move that the following system of bookkeeping be adopted by the Grand Conclave as the uniform accounting system, this system to consist of a ledger sheet lik e the one attached, for every individual account, and a cash sheet, like the one attached, for every account such as board, room , house rent, fraternity , social and such o th er spec ial accounts as the Grand Council sha ll deem neces sa ry. And in addition, a duplicate receipt book, like the one attached, t o be used which in connection with the check book , will se rve as an efficient all these books to be the same s ize and in one cover Carried.' '

Minnesota: Minnesota recommends that the Grand Council prepare a financial blank to be filled out sem i-annu ally by each chapter

convenes.

Grand President: The sense of this - motion that the Grand Cou'nd}l . -require a complete financial statement from each . chapter. It does not mean that the books are to be act ually sent fo ' the - Grand Council for auditing.

. Motion . carried, with one dissenting vote.

COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS

· · Nebraska, ( Chairman) :

Nebraska: Committee moves that hereafter traveling cards be discarded. Wisconsin seconded. · 1

Grand Secretary: I merely recon;mended that traveling cards be limited to alumni.

, Nebraska: ·.I · will change the m'otion ' fo reai:i that tr-aveling cards be restricted to alumni. ·

Seconded and carried.

Nebraska: Committee moves that Ohio and Ames be ·ce-nsured and placed on their honor to pay the amou-nt due the general fraternity for pins not purchased through the Grand Secretary. I believe that i s better than to to them to pay a certain amount.

Motion carried.

' r Ohio: I wish to thank th e Conclave for this se ntiment. I think the fellows will feel better about it.

Ames : I wish to do likewise.

COMMITTEE ON RITUAL AND INSIGNIA

Kansas, (Chairman) : ·

Kansas: moves that an explanation of the coat of arms and its heraldry be incorporated in the ritual, the work to be the result of a committee appointed by the Grand President.

Pennsylvania State seconded. Carried.

Harvard: How about the salary and expense of Grand Editor? I move that '!"e place the salary at $400 for the coming year, payable in four equal mstallments, corresponding to each issue of the Journal.

Columbia seconded.

Ohio: I think that is a big jump. I would rather see it put at $200 the first year.. I wish to amend the motion to read that the salary of the Grand Ed1tor be fixed at $200.

Lost for want of second.

Motion (of Harvard) carried.

THE ACACIA JO URNAL

Columbia: My chapter thinks that if every wil1 send out a circular letter at time they initiate, showing the names and lodge of new members, it will result in a number of initiates ·receiving congratulations and put new enthusiasm into them.

Grand President: Some · , chapters ·do that now' and I think it a good plan. It is a uniform practice among college fraternities to send wide notices of is well to notify every other chapter in your community of your action.

Grand President called for .:report of

COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTl.ON AND BY-LAWS

Illinois, (Chairman) :

To the Officers and Delegates of the Tenth Annual Conclave of the Acacia · Fraternity: · ' . . .

Your Committee on Constittuiop and By-Laws respectfully makes the following recommendations of changes in the Constitution anCI ByLaws:

ARTICLE II

Section 8. J o chapter having four o,r. more honorary members shall initiate more until their number has rc;:ached four or less. No chapter shall, in the future have more than four honorary members at any one time, provided however, that this shall not effect honorary members already initiated. · (Change from five to four.)

Minnesota seconded.

Grand President: This is offered as an amendment to the Constitution. It requires a two-thirds referendum vote of the chapters.

Nebraska: · We did not vote last year, but I de) not know why. We are in favor of this, as we have too many honorary members now.

Stanford: I wish to amend the motion to read six instead of four. to limit the number to four.

Iowa State: We do not understand why we should have to wait until one of our honorary men dies before we can elect another honorarY' man.

Michigan: We have as many honorary men as any other chapter, being the first chapter started, and these men are very valuable to us financially and otherwise, but we wish to go on record for this motion to limit the number to 4.

Missouri: We have a number of honorary men. We are not willing to be limited to four or six.

Wisconsin: We have only one honorary member. I believe you are honoring a man more if you have only a few men. It has the appearance from the outside that it is a mercenary matter to take in many honorary men.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

Amendment lost .

On main motion, roll call resulted as follows:

Yes : Michigan, Kansas, ebraska, Califor.nia , Ohio State, Illino!s, Franklin, Minnesota, Wisconsm, Cornell, Chicago, Yale, Columbia , Pennsylvania State , Washington, Colorado, Syracuse, Kansas State.

No: Stanford, Harvard, Missouri, Purdue, Iowa State, Iowa Unive rsity.

Grand President: The vote is 18 for and 6 against. The motion is carried, and being a constiutional amendment will be referred to the chapters for referendum vote.

ARTICLE IV

Section 1. The Grand Council shall consist of the Grand President, Grand Vice-President, Grand Secretary , Grand Tr eas urer , Graund Editor and Grand Coun se lor (Addition of Grand Coun se lor. )

Harvard seconded. Roll call, all voted yes.

ARTICLE V

Section 12. Th e Grand Counselor s hall pay official visits to and advise with the various chapters and make s uch recommendations t o them as he shall see fit. He shall make his report to the Grand Counsel and make recommendations to that body regarding conditions of the chapters. (New section.)

Ohio seconded.

Grand President: I will rule that this is properly a by-law, which may be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the Conclave without referendum of the chapters.

Illinois: I think it is a part of the Constitution, Section 5, but I am willing to withdraw it and wait for the by-laws.

Grand President: Perhaps I am wrong about it. What does the Conclave think about this? Do you want it in the Constitution or by-laws?

Harvard: I s the Traveling Counselor a member of the Council?

Grand President: No, merely a creature of the Council this year. The t o th e Constitution will have t o be passed by the chapters to make him a memb er of the Co uncil.

Roll call on o ri g inal motion , all voting yes.

A RTICLE III

Section S. The following sha ll be the o rder of busines s governi ng the Grand Conclav e:

1. of Credentials as recommended by th e Grand Council.

2. Readmg of Mmutes of pr ece din g Grand Conclave

3. Report of Grand Officers.

(a) Grand President.

(b) Grand Vice-President.

(c) Grand Secretary. ·

(d) Grand Treasurer.

(e) Grand Editor.

(f) Grand Counselor.

4. Reports of Grand Council.

5. Reports of Representatives.

6. Appointment of Auditing and Special Committees .

7. Report of Committees .

8. Unfinished business.

9. New business

10 Election and installation of officers

11. Good of fraternity.

(Providing for report of Grand Editor and Gra nd Counselor .)

Purdue seconded. Roll call , all voting yes.

ARTICLE VI

Section 10. Each · chapter shall be responsibl e for the payment of the Grand Conclave annual per capita tax, which shall include Journal s ub sc riptions and initiation fees and shall pay the same direct to th e Grand Secretary as provided in the By-Laws.

(Making th e Journal subscription li s t larger. )

Purdue seconded.

Grand President: I think that is part of the by-laws.

Grand Editor: The whole intent is to get 250 paid subscribers, so as to get the second class mailing rate.

R o ll call, all voting yes.

ARTICLE VI

Section 14. Ther e shall be two methods whereby a member of any chapter may become a member of another chapter while in attendance at, or connected with institution where th e second chapter is locat ed :

1. Affiliate Membership: A member of any chapter upon becoming connected as a student or member of the faculty with another in s titution , where t h ere is a chapter , may become an "affiliate" member of the second chapter up on the granting of a demit from his first chapter and his acceptance as a member by the s econd. Upon hi s affiliation in the second chapter, he release s all claim upon the first chapter and lo ses all rights or benefits of membership in it ; but becomes a member of 'the second, subject to all rules of active membership in it. Provided how eve r, th a t h e shall not have a demit granted unless a ll his acco unts in the first chapter have been balanced and its consent given.

2. Associate Membership : A member of any chapter upon becoming connected as a student or member of th e faculty with a ny other institution w here there is a chapter, may become an "associate" member of the seco nd chapter, upon the invitation of the second chapter. During such associa te membership, he s hall forfeit all rights and privileges and be relieved of all r es ponsibility of membership in the chapter of which he was formerly a member; but he shall be subject to all rules of active membership in the chapter where he becomes an associate m e mber . But upon hi s severing co nnection with the institution where he has become an associate member, he s hall become subject either as an active or a lumnus member, the chapter of which he was formerly a member, and it shall be the duty of the second chapter to keep the Grand Secretary notified of the dates of his becoming an associate member together with the date of his resumisg active membership in the first chapter. Provid ed however, that he shall not become an associate member in any chapter unless all his accounts in the first chapter has been balanced and it s consent is given.

Which read. Article VI, Section 14. Any member of good standing of any chapter may become affiliated with any chapter upon their invitation , and with

THE ACAC!A JOURNAL

the consent of their own chapter. Notice of such affiliation shall be given by the affiliating chapter to the Grand Secretary,. and to the chapter from which he comes.

Missouri seconded.

Harvard: We have given this cohsiclerable We felt a revision was necessary, but did not have the idea that has been recommended by the committee . I was not able to have any discussion with them. I move as an amendment, that the committee recommend as follows: A man may become an affiliate member of another chapter if in good stahding at the chapter from which he comes.

Grand President: I rule that a substitute motion.

Franklin seconded.

Harvard: After a man leave s California, he becomes an alumnus inember of that chapter. If he comes to Harvard, and we want to affiliate him, if his dues are square at California and in good standing otherwise, we believe h e should be accorded membership in Harvard , though he will remain an alumnus of California. That is, his affiliation with Harvard will not cut off his obligation to California. If he wants to assume the matter of paying dues to Harvard Chapter while he is there , he can do so by becoming an active affiliate member. That leaves the man to feel that the chapter that means the most to him is his first chapter, and so far as Harvard Chapter is concerned, we feel he should feel that way. But we want to be able to take him in and let him take an active part in running the house if he wants to , and we do not want him to cease his relations with his first chapter.

Grand President: We really have three methods before us. The ;Harvard idea, the one proposed by the committee, and the one now in the Constitution.

Michigan: When the California man graduated from Harvard , what is his status?

: Harvarq: An alumnus of both institutions

Chicago: We are as vitally interested in this point as Harvard . \Ve had a number of men with us the last two years and a number who would hav:e b?t. thought they could not without losing 'their membership 111 their ongmal chapter . We are in favor of either the ;Harva,rd idea or the one proposed by the committee. The committee propositiC?n re quires of the local chapter. But we think the Harvard Idea better 111 that respect. A man can not do all his work for Acacia in his · undergraduate days and many come from other schools to our ·graduate departments. The affiliation of members in an easier :nanner will help Chicago. Of course, the men must be in good standmg : !'Yhy the .home .chapter refuse to let him go if he wants to afhhate w1th us while he IS absent from his home chapter?

Grand President: The Grand Vice-President and I are opposed on this .change.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

Illinois: We have found it very difficult for one to serve two masters. He can not serve two chapters. It is difficult to be an alumnus of two chapters. We have a system of holding our alumni to alumni dues, which complicates matters. Hence we propose the demit system by which we give up temporary control, and when he gets through at affil iate school he is all ours again.

Nebraska: We favor the Harvard plan. It will not hurt Nebraska and it will help the graduate schools and in that way really help our alumni.

Columbia: We favor either plan.

A motion carried to vote on the substitute motion.

Roll call on substitute motion resulted as follows:

Yes: Nebraska, Ohio State, Harvard, Minnesota , Yale, Columbia, Iowa, Pennsylvania State, Washington, Colorado , Syracuse, Kansas State-12.

No: Michigan, Stanford, Kansas , California, Illinois, Franklin, Wisconsin, Missouri, Cornell, Purdue, Iowa State, Chicago--:-12.

Chicago explained vote. Did not want any motion on this matter to pass by narrow margin.

Grand President: I rule the motion lost.

Illinois: I move the motion as originally read.

Seconded by Purdue. Roll call, all voted yes.

Grand President: This is a constitutional amendment and will be referred to the chapters by the . Grand Council.

ARTICLE VI

Section 15. An active member of any chapter who , during the time his own chapter has suspended meetings for the summer, is in atten.dance at some institution where another chapter is being conducted, may upon · the invitation of second chapter if he so desires ; 5become an associate member of the second chapter during the time he is in attendance at that instiution, the consent of his own chapter not being necessary. Provided however, that when his own chapter resumes meetings, it will be necessary for him to gain its consent to remain an associate member of the second chapter (New section.)

Grand President: I will ask Chicago to explain the purpose of this section.

Chicago: We have a full summer quarter. If we have to gain the consent at the first of the summer to affiliate a man or asosciate him during the summer, the other chapters are not in session and . could not give their consent. When the other chapters begin again in the fall we could then get their consent and make him an affiliate member.

Roll call, all voting yes.

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

Grand President: Constitutional amendment and will be referred by Grand Council to the chapters for referendum vote.

Gentlemen this is one thing you have carried unanimously against the opinion of your Grand President and Grand Vice-President.

ARTICLE VI

Section 16. Any m e mb e r of any chapter may re s_ig n fron: in Acacia by s ubmitting to his chapter a wntten resignatiOn bearmg his signature and returning his pin . Re s ignation s s hall be _addressed to the chapter and be read by its Secretary at the next regular of the chapter. It shall then be l a id on the t ab l e till th e next regular meetmg but one thereafter, and th_en acted upon by the chapter. A majority vo_te of. the chapter accept a resignation, and any chapter the of one of tts members shall notify the Grand Secretary by wntten notice stgned by the Venerable Dean and Chapter Secretary (New section.)

Chicago seconded.

Roll call, all voting yes.

Pennsylvania State: I do not believe we could enforce the return of insignia, hence we s hould not put it in our laws. Our chapter buys all pins and gives them to the men, but I doubt even then if we could force them to return the pin.

Illinois: We will leave out the reference to the pin.

ARTICLE VI

Section 17. A m e mber resigning from any chapter of Acacia, loses all identity as an Acacian a nd his stat us s hall be that of one w h o has never been initiat ed into Acacia (New section.)

Roll call, all voting yes.

Grand President: Constitutional amendment and will be referred to the chapters.

ARTICLE IV.

Section 16 Member s of general, n a tional, social college fraternities shall sot be _eligible t? member s hip in Acacia, and members of Acacia, joining general, national, soctal college fraternities shall forfeit their membership in Acacia. (Greek Exclusion .)

Nebraska seconded.

Missouri: It has been our policy to admit Greek men who have no chapter at Missouri. We admit none who have chapters there .

V l e are affected by this legislation perhaps more than any chapter the co untry. legislation at this time will certainly cause Columb1a to cease to extst to be a chapter of Aaccia. We do not want you to consider Columbia too seriouslv. We have the life of the fraternity at heart and we do not" want you to feel that we oppose anything that will aiel the national chapter merely because 1t _hurts us. W. e will not_ lie down; if this goes through, we will work m1ght and mam t o contmue our chapter, excluding the Greeks. But

our opinion is that it will destroy all hope of continuing a chapter and of getting a house. Vve believe that this question can better be dealt with as a local matter. I appreciate more and more the attitude of the Western chapters. But at Columbia we feel it is exceedingly narrow legislation. We owe something to the Masonic institution at large. If a man comes to Columbia who is a Mason and is also a Greek, we feel that we should not deny him the privilege of becoming an Acacian. We stand not only for our own local interest, but for the broad principle that all men who are selective Masons, whether Greeks or not, should be allowed to become Acacians.

Yale: I only want to state the conditions of Yale. Twenty-one out of 36 active men are members of Greek letter fraternities. If all our men had to be only members of Acacia, it would put our house out of existence. I take the same position that Columbia takes. If it is for the best interest of the fraternity at large, we will step out for the welfare of the other chapters.

Illinois: Three years ago at Chicago a resolution was made that those chapters that found it necessary should be allowed the next three years. At the end of that time they would bring the matter to a vote again and put an end to taking in Greek men. We find one chapter that still takes in active Greek men. I do not feel that all three of the Eastern chapters will absolutely lose their chapters. If these members would give their own personal idea, they would say that they still have a fighting chance. In the Western chapters, when a man is bid to both Acacia and a Greek letter fraternity, the Greek chapter tells him, "come in with us now and you can joi nthe Acacia later." Often a man becomes a Greek in a school where there is an Acacia chapter. Later he goes to another school and is taken into Acacia, and then retruns to the first school and lets it be known that he is a member of both Greek and Acacia. That hurts Acacia.

Nebraska: \1V e have been one of the pioneers in this branch of legislation. We realize the position of a few of the chapters that take in Greek men, but we think we have some right on our side of the case and we want them to see our difficulties.

This question has been up in conclave for the last 6 or 7 years. It may be up again next year. We consider Acacia a social general college fraternity. If we are to consider Acacia that, we can not under any consideration take in Greek men. We may owe him brotherly love as a Mason, but as Acacians we owe him nothing.

The only reason we require Masonic membership is to insure good men and a better type of men. But as Acacians we owe every other chapter the policy of making a greater national Acacia. If we are to get recognition from the other general fraternities , we must have the same policy throughout the United States. We can not have one chapter doing one thing and the other chapters doing something else. We ask you to consider our case. We have considered your case and respect your views.

Chicago: We are in a position to see the viewpoint of both sides. We have inactive Greek men. We appreciate what the Greek men have

·done for us. w ·e are working 'toward exclusion. w ·e can get · along without Greek men as far as we are locally concerned. Here are four chapters -facing a serious porposition We have got to balance the t;vo propositions. · .Are · we going to throw these chapters out of Are. we going to eliminate them, or shall we take our as 1t been? I think we should all look finally toward excluswn. But th1s is not the logical time to : do it. I.t wil_l not benefit Acacia enough nationally to exclude Greeks now, smce 1t would hurt us to lose these 'four chapters. Let .these chapters work out the problem and gradually exclude Greeks.

Pennsylvania State: I supported the proposition last year, am not quite in favor of this proposition as proposed now. We w1sh t? .call the attention of Columbia to the fact that once they get a house, 1t will be better for them not to have Greeks. Active Greeks will not live in the house, and that makes your proposition more difficult. I would support the motion if it were stated as it was last year. My people believe an inactive Greek should be allowed. I personally do not.

Wisconsin: We are getting no . place and creating antagonism. That is one reason why I wished to have the three minute rule. But since various expressions have been made, I owe it to my chapter to express our views. If at the present time Acacia has chapters that owe their existence to admitting Greek men, we should not force them -to exclude. We do not favor taking in Greek men in our chapter.

Harvard: If this vote goes contrary to our opinion, we will not throw up the charter. We will go ahead. If our fraternity stands today ,because of the members, it is more reasonable to say that prosperity will continue to be aided by Greeks. I believe no chapter that owes its existence to the help of Greeks can be said to be a misplaced fraternity. We are a social fraternity at Harvard, not on a par, but 'above any Greek letter fraternity that can be found. As to that competition that the other chapters meet, it is no doubt a hardship to you. But I do not believe that the view that he may later join Acacia after he has .a Greek _letter is any sufficient reason for keeping good men from JOmmg Acac1a. I do not know how many Greek fraternities have legislated on the matter of their men joining Acacia.

Grand President: Only five national fraternities have legislation that their members qn not join Acacia.

Harvard: It seems this is local legislation. We are a much stronger than we could possibly be if we excluded Greeks, It would weaken Harvard Chapter. We are progressing nicely today.

· Kansas: We woul.d hesitate to do anything which would throw out any of our chapters 111 the East. However we feel this is a national and not a mere local one. It may local to Harvard, but it not to the other fraternities in the middle \1V est. They look at us .m more as a club. We try to take the position of a natiOnal college fratemty, but with this question coming up, it -makes

it embarrassing for us. We are frequently -asked, "To what Greek letter fraternity do you also belong?'' We have not taken in any active Greek rpen within the last five yeax:s, but the reputation is there in school that Greeks are admitted in some of the other chapters, and some wonder why we do not

Grand Vice-President took the chair:

Colorado: I have told you of the conditions in Colorado. We have had a long, hard strife. \V e all felt we were peginning to see the dawn of a better day. If Greeks are excluded, we are not going to quit; we are going to get down and struggle just as we have done before. But it will be hard. We tried exclusion locally and I t o ld you what it did. Our sentiments are the same as those of Columbia-if it is for the benefit of the Acacia Fraternity in general, we say go ahead and do not consider us.

Stanford: That is the attitude I like to see. Stanford is getting along pretty well without Greek exclusion and can continue to do so. It will not make a great deal of difference to us . We have alread)'i built up the fraternity to a certain standard. Our Eastern chapters are more than ready to meet us half way. Ought not we in the West give up a little , make some sort of a compromise? They are willing to give up something. I am not in favor of such radic?-1 legislation as proposed , for I do not believe it will be for the best interest of the fraternity in genera l. I propose a compromise, exclude active Greeks and allow inactive Greeks to be admitted. .Let us not run the ri sk of lo sing these Eastern chaP,ters. It takes time to do these things.

California: California having ' been involved in this movement wishes to state our attitude. Acacia is a general social fraternity. It is a member of the national society of fraternities. As a member of that society and as an honest institution, it desires to be governed by the usual regulations of that society of fraternities, and those regulations involve membership not included in other general fraternities; Therefore we wish to appeal to this Conclave to act purely as a matter of honesty and principle and in accordance with the basic rule governing that national society of fraternities.

Alternate from Harvard: I am a Greek man. I have had six years of active fraternity life. The argument has been advanced that Acacia often lose good men because they are told they can join Acacia after they have joined the Greek. I believe the man joins the bunch he likes best and the fact that he may later join Acacia does not have much influence on him. Greek exclusion would certainly hurt Harvard Chapter.

Chicago: As a substitute for the motion, I move that we pass a resolution that the concensus of the Grand Conclave is that every chapter should adopt a policy of exclusion of active Greeks, c:nd look toward the exclusion of all Greeks in three years.

Grand President: Y motion is not in order. We · dealing \vith a constitutional· question and can not entertain motion or resolution of sentiment now. · ·

THE ACACIA JOURNAL

Roll call (on motion to exclude all Greeks) :

Yes: Michi:gan, Kansas, Nebraska, California, Ohio State. Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Purdue, Iowa State, Washington, Syracuse, Kansas State-14.

No: · Stanford, Harvard, Franklin, Cornell, Chicago, Yale, Columbia, Iowa, Pennsylvania State. Colorado-10.

Grand President: The motion is lost, 14 for, 10 against. Not the necessary two-thirds vote.

ARTICLE VI

Section 18. Active ruembers of general, national, social, college fraternities shall not be eligible to membership in Ac.acia, and members of Acacia joining general, national, social, college fraternities shall forfeit their membership in Acacia

(This is the same provision that was presented last year. It merely excludes active Greeks, not ina,ctive.)

Kansas seconded. Roll call, all yes but Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Colorado. Harvard explained that he was voting as he thought his chapter would have him vote "} will do all I can to get Harvard Chapter to appreciate this situation and the compromise, with the understanding that this is a final settlement of this matter."

Grand President: You must remember that you can not bind a succeeding Conclave.

Yale: Our chapter voted against this section last year and I feel I must vote against it now. But I will do the best I can to explain the sentiment of the Conclave and the compromise effected.

Grand President: The vote is 20 for, 4 against. This is a constitutional amendment and will be referred to the chapters

This is the first time in the history of Acacia that this question has been discussed with the utmost good feeling. You must take off your hats to the fellows who represent the minority.

ARTICLE II

Section 13. No chapter shall initiate any member whom they know to have been eligible to membership in any other chapter withO\It getting an expression from that chapter where the initiate was formerly eligible.

(New section.)

Washington seconded.

Ha,rvard: We favor the necessity of writing, but not of getting the consent of the other chapters. We should give courtesy to the other chapters and that is all.

Stanford: We wish to back Harvard on that point.

Michigan: What shall constitute an objection from the other chapter?

Illinois: I think this is the sense of this body that if a chapter feels that they have had a grave reason for not admitting a man, the second chapter is bound to respect that reason.

Chicago: We feel that this amendment is all right. If initiated into the second chapter and then goes back to the first chapter, it will embarras the first chapter.

Illinois: We will strike out the part about getting consent of other chapter, but make it obligatory on the chapter to write the first chapter.

Harvard seconded. Motion carried.

Grand President: This IS a constitutional amendment and will be referred to the chapters.

ARTICLE IV

Section 7. By a majority vote the Grand Council shall have power to suspend the charter of any chapter, who shall in any manner or form, violate any of the provisions of this Constitution or its By-Laws.

(New section.)

Ohio: We object because if Grand Council had had that power we would have had our charter suspended this last year.

Roll call resulted as follows :

Yes: Kansas, California, Harvard. Illinois, Franklin, Wiscons in, Missouri, Cornell, Purdue, Chicago , Yale, Columbia , Iowa-13.

No: Michigan, Stanford, Nebraska, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa State , Pennsylvania State, Syracuse, Kansas State- 9.

Absent: Washington , Colorado-2.

Grand President: The vote is 13 for , 9 against, 2 absent. The motion is lost.

Grand President: If passed by two-thirds vote of this Conclave, by-laws become law at once.

BY-LAWS

Section 8. Each chapter shall pay to the Grand Conclave, one dollar per year for each active member for Journal subscriptions , the same to be tak e n from the per capita tax.

(Increase Journal subscription list.)

Michigan seconded Roll call , all voting yes.

Section 19. Th e following should be added to thi s section following immediately after it: The pin of the Grand Editor shall h ave a gold bar extending across the black center from the apex to the base and intersecting the b ase of its middle point.

Missouri seconded. Roll call, all voting yes.

Section 31. If the accused resides within a radius of twenty-five mile s of the chapter, he shall appear and plead at a meeting to be held not less than ten days a fter the service, if he re s ides without a radius of twenty-fiv e mil es, he hall appear and plead at a meeting not le ss than thirty after date of se r vice If he fails to appear or explain his absence and it is known that h e h as received notice in regular manner, he shall be found guilty of the charge; but if chapter trying him is satisfied that his absence should be exc used , an extensiOn of time may be granted to such a time as he can appear.

. ; DroppinK out word and· inserting "r,adius of 25 miles," and words "if we .fail tp reqord, etc."

Pennsylvania State seconded. Roll call, all voting

Section 32. After the accused shall have appeared and. plead, . either in person or by his representative who need not be a.· member of Acacia, the 'time for trial shall then be established, which shall not be less than ten days from the date on which the accused or his representative appeared· and ·pleaded and if the accused is without a radius of twenty-five miles it shall not be less than twenty days. He shall have the right to employ a stenographer · to take and the stenographer shall be admitted to the triaL

Purdue seconded.

Ames .: meeting? What about having a public stnographer come .into a secret

Grand President: could not be admitted.

We ci:m not expel on any ground ,that the public See . clauses in the Constitution.

Roll call, all voting yes.

Section 34. At the conclusion of the trial, the accused, and his counsel if not an active member of the chapter, as well as the visitors shall retire from the chapter room. The Secretary shall then furnish slips · of paper of uniform size, upon which shall be wr itt en the words "guilty" or "not guilty." Each brother shall then indicate his judgment as to the guilt or innocence of the accused by placing a cross mark immediately in front of one of the abOV(;! terms. Twothirds of the total number of votes cast shall be required to decide the guilt of the accused. But one ballot shall be taken on this proposition.

Harvard seconded. Roll call, all voting yes.

Section 36. If the accused desires to make an appeal to the Grarid Council he shall give notice thereof within five days after trial, and within ten days after trial, file with the Secretary a written notice of the same.

If the notice of appeal be given, the President shall withhold sentence until fourteen days after triaL If the action of the chapter be approved by the Grand Council, or in case the accused fails to file his written notice of appeal within ten days, the President shall within fourteen days after trial or at the next stated meeting formally pronounce sentence .

"Harvard seconded. Roll call, all voting yes.

ARTICLE II

Section 10. Upon the initiation of a new member, the Secretary of the chapter shall send the Grand Secretary an individual membership record on a form furnished by him. Moreover, when a member demits from one chapter to affiliate with a second chapter, an individual membership record marked "Affiliate Member" shall be made out in duplicate by the Secretary of the chapter with which the member has affiliated and a copy shall be sent to the Grand Secretary.

Section 43. Orders for traveling cards or card cases for a member or an associate member, shall be made through the Secretary of his home chapter. Orders for cards or card cases for an affiliate member shall be made through the Secretary of the chapter with which he is affiliated. Traveling cards shall be sent free and card cases shall be sent upon receipt of the cost price; provided that no traveling card shall be issued to any member whose membership record is not on file in .the office of the Grand Secretary.

California: I have an amendment to Article 2, Section 10.

Columbia · seconded. Roll call, all voting yes.

Grand President: J'his is a constitutional amendm-ent and will be referred to the chapters.

Chicago: 4, 3 .Pe amended by striking out the part after Grand Treasurer, about furnishing journal to donors, so as to ·read as follows :

·ARTICLE IV

Section 3 The Grand Council shall constitute a permanent Committee on Endowment, for administration of all endowment for this fraternity. All funds known as the Endowment Fund shall be held separate by the Gra11d Treasurer. . . .

Ohio seconded.

Roll call, all voting yes.

Grand President: Const itutional amendment and wi ll qe referred to chapters.

California: I move as a resolution that the Grand · Council be requested to secure full membership records for all asociate and other members. This is to take care of the records of the new class of mem· bers provided by the proposed change in the Constitution relative to affiliation. By this I mean that it is the opinion of this Conclave that proper forms and records be made, same to be sent to the Grand Secretary.

Missouri : Missouri seconds.

Roll call, all voting yes.

Harvard: I move to amend Article 7, Section 1, relative to amendments, that amendp.1ents be made in writing . and sent to each chapter on or before April 1st, preceding the Conclave at which the amendment is to be considered.

Illinois : I second.

Nebraska: We are opposed. Our deleg.ate last year went to the Conclave instructed on every point and he could not do any good for the fraternity because he was bound. If we instruct our men before, and that is what would ' result if the above motion passes, they are going to be instructed by their chapters before going to the Conclave. A delegate should be left free to change his mind when he comes in touch with the views of the other chapters and can realize the conditions of the other chapters more fully.

Kansas: Harvard said that one purpose of the motion was that we had been changing the Constitution too much. It seems to me that this motion kills the purpose of the motion.

Roll call. All vote no except Columbia, Harvaru, Illinois and Yale.

Grand Vice-President in chair.

Purdue sec o nded. Carri e d. T e leg ram o f g r ee tin gs of A lph a De lt a C hi r e a d .

COMM

I

TT E E O N R E SO LUTI O NS

TO OFF I CE RS AN D DE L E GA TES OF THE ACACIA F R ATE R ITY I N C ON CL A V E A SS EMB L E D-Y OU R COM MI TTEE R ES P ECTF ULLY S U BMITS T HE FOLLOWING:

'' Be it r eso l ve d by th e Acac ia F r a t e rnity in Co n clave asse mbl ed :

(I ) Th a t w e e xpr ess o ur ap pr ec ia ti o n fo r th e r oya l h osp i ta lit y a n d p l easan t e nt e rtainm e nt f urni s h e d by th e C a li fo rni a a nd Stanfo rd C h apte r s a n d t he No r t he rn C a lifo rni a A lumni t o th e d e lega t es a t th is Cc. ncl ave.

( 2 ) Th a t th e C o ncla ve ex pr esses i ts a ppr ec ia ti o n fo r t h e e ffi c i e n t man agem e nt a nd prepar a tion o n th e p a rt o f B r o th e r s A. R. Ke ith , C. S D av is an d B. K. Pratt

(3) That th e Gr a nd Offi c er s b e a cco rd e d th e a ppr ec ia ti o n of th e Co n clave fo r th e ir untirin g e ff o rt s in de vi s in g a nd dir ec tin g p o li c ies w hi c h h ave br o ug ht t o Ac ac i a th e m os t s u ccess ful yea r.

(

4 ) Th a t thi s Co ncl a v e ac kn o wl e d ge th e co u rtesy te n de r e d b y th e Ge n e r a l

G r a nd C o un c il a nd Ge n e r a l Gr a nd C h a pt e r of th e U n ite d St a t es by th e ir offic i a l v is it a ti o n a nd espec i a lly th e makin g o f o ur Gr a nd Pr es i de nt o ur h o n o r a r y d e l eg ate t o th e ir co n ve nti o n .

( 5) Th at th e Acac i a F r a t e rnit y ex t e n ds g r ee tin g t o Be t a Th e t a Pi, Ps i

Up s il o n. Phi G a mm a D e lt a, A lph a D e lt a Phi a nd A lph a S i g m a P hi , a n d b es t w is h es f o r th e co ntinu e d pros p e rit y o f t h e ir wo rk.

( 6 ) Th a t th e Acac ia F r a t e rnit y ex pr ess it s th a nk s t o th e Maso ni c T e m p l e Assoc i a ti o n for th e ir h os pit a lit y in a ll ow in g u s th e u se of th e Maso ni c Te m p l e fo r th e m e etin g o f o ur Co n clave.

( 7 ) Th a t th e _f..cacia F r a t e rnit y ex pr ess it s g r a titu de t o B r o th e r Ly nn E .

Kn o r. w h o h as d o n e so mu c h t o f o rward th e wo rk of un ifo rm acco unt i n g sys t e m .

(8) Th a t g ift s o f m o n e y b e n o t so li c it ed fr o m a n y n o n -Acac ia n s n or be acce pted fr o m M aso ni c b o di es

( 9 ) Th a t it b e th e se ntim e nt of thi s Co ncl ave t h a t a ll c h a pt e r s n o t o wnin g h o u ses w ork o ut a d e finit e p l a n fo r th e ac quirin g o f a h o u se a t t h e ea rli es t poss ibl e m o m e nt.

(10 ) Th a t e a c h c h ap t e r tak e a n ac ti ve pa rt in th e int erf r a t e rnit y r e l a ti o n s o f it s in s ti t uti o n s a nd w h e r e p oss i b l e j o in th e l oca l P a n-h e ll e ni c o r ga ni za ti o n s

( 11 ) Th a t e a c h c h ap t e r r a ise it s s t a nd a rd o f sc h o l a r s hi p

( 12 ) Th a t eac h c h a pt e r put f o rth a ll p oss ibl e e ff o r ts t o k ee p u p it s m e mb e r s hip r eco rd s

( 13 ) Th a t th e J o um a l l e tt e r s b e m ade m o r e r e pr ese nt a ti ve, a nd be sen t t o t he Grand E dit o r p ro mptly .

(14 ) Th a t th e tr a v e lin g ca r ds f o r ac ti ve m e mb e r s b e di scarde d .

(15 ) Th a t it b e th e p o li c y of th e f r ate mit y t h a t p r ese nt de l evop m e nt be int e rn a l rath e r th a n ex t e rnal.

(16 ) Th a t ea ch c h a p te r e n co ur age th e u se of th e so n g boo k as mu c h as p OS!> ibl e .

(17 ) That th e O hi o a nd A m es C h a pt ers be ce n s u re d for th e ir v i o l a ti o n of th e o rd e r o f th e G rand Co un c il in n o t bu y in g th e sta nd a rd p in a nd th a t th e c h apt e r s b e pl ace d up o n th e ir h o n o r t o m a k e th e pr ope r fi n anc ia l a m e nd s r at h er th a n b e f o rmally fin e d as r eco mm e n de d b y th e G r a nd Cou n c il.

(1 8) Th a t the n a ti o n a l goo d o f Acac ia s h a ll a l ways be pl aced a b ove any l oca l p o li c y.

(19 ) Th a t it b e th e sp irit of th e ir Co ncl ave th at th e Co n s ti t ut iO n a n d ByLaw!> a nd a ll o th e r rul es a nd r eg ulati o n s b e s tri c tl y a dh e r e d t o by eac h c h apt e r.

CA R L D GANZ, Ne br aska, C h airm a n H. B . K I NNEY, O hi o St a t e, J. F . Mc D A V I D , C hi cago .

Purdue s ec e nded. C arri €cl

JOURNAL

Grand President: All committees are now discharged except the Committee on Next Conclave, which will report at Stanford tomorrow.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Kansas State nominated George E. Frazer for re-election.

Illinois seconded.

Columbia: I had hoped to have the privilege myself of nominating Brother Frazer. I have been impressed with the courtesy and ability of the Grand President as displayed in the management of this Conclave.

Chicago and Purdue moved to close nominations and instruct Secretary to cast unanimous vote. Carried unanimously.

Grand Vice-President declared George E. Frazer duly elected Grand President.

California nominated R. Cecil Fay for re-election.

Harvard nominated H. H. Crawford of Illinois Chapter, affiliate of Harvard.

Nom ina tions closed.

Grand President appointed Harvard and Illinois tellers.

First ballot: Fay 15, Crawford 9.

Harvard and Illinois moved to make vote unammous. Carried.

Grand President declared Brother Fay duly elected Grand VicePresident.

Pennsylvania State nominated Harry E. Kilmer for re-election. Minnesota seaonded.

Purdue and Columbia moved to close nominations and instruct Secretary to cast unanimous vote. Carried unanimously.

Grand President declared Harry E. Kilmer duly elected Grand Secretary.

Ohio nominated ]. A. Woodward for re-election Grand Treasurer.

Pennsylvania State and Missouri moved to close nominations and instruct the Secretary to cast unanimous vote for Brother Woodward. Carried unanimously.

Grand President declared ]. A. Woodward duly elected Grand Treasurer.

Pennsylvania nominated William G. Mann for Grand Editor.

Nebraska and California moved to close nominations and cast unanimous vote for Brother Mann. Carried unanimously.

William G. Mann declared duly e lect ed.

Each officer responded by a short speech.

Chicago and Purdue moved to adjourn to meet again next day at Stanford. Carried.

THURSDAY EVENING

Banquet held in Fairmount Hotel. Grand President Frazer, Toastmaster. Other speakers were: Professor Cory of University of Cali· fornia, Professor \ iVilliam F. Durand of Stanford University , William Howard Taft, Judge Murphy and Mr. O'Donald. One hundred and eight were present.

FRIDAY-STAN FORD DAY

About 80 Acacians (and a number of ladies) took the 9 a. m. train for Palo Alto, convening in Stanford Masonic Temple at 10:25. Called t o order by Grand President. All delegates present. Meeting opened under head of unfinished business.

Delegates were instructed to use present accounting system until the Grand Council could get the new blanks to them , which ought to be ready by first of October, but possibly might not be ready until the second semester .

COMMITTEE ON NEXT CONCLAVE

Colorado, Chairman: The committee have decided to acecpt the invitation of the Purdue Chapter to meet i n Lafayette, Indiana, and suggest the date be left to discretion of Grand Council.

Minnesota seconded motion to accept the report. Carried.

Purdue expressed appreciation of action . of Conclave in accepting their invitation and promised good appointments and a rousing Conc lave.

INSTALLATION OF GRAND OFFICERS

Grand President George E. Frazer was installed by Grand VicePresident.

Grand President then installed R. Cecil Fay, Grand Vice-President; Harry E. Kilmer, Grand Secretary; J. A. Woodward, Grand Treasurer; William G. Mann, Grand Editor.

The following men were called on for short speeches:

Trelevan, alumnus of Wisconsin, now of Texa University Faculty , and many times present at conclaves; Rinaker, delegate from Harvard; Croyel, alumnus of Manhattan; Kirk, delegate from Illinois; Groves , alumnus of Chicago, and representative of Chicago Alt1mni Chapter; Weaver, third time delegate from Pennsylvania State Chapter.

Illinois moved, Minnesota seconded, that Conclave send greetings to former Grand President Shephardson, vvho was in the city attending to his official duties as Grand Secretary of Beta Theta Pi . Carried.

Co n cia ve adjourned s in e die. Afte r wh ich c hapter s o f Stanford and Ca lif ornia, ass isted b y Gm nd Vice-President Fay, gave a demonstra ti o n of the ritu a l.

lJeleo·ates a nd visitors we r e en tert ai n ed a t lunch eon by the Stanford Chapte r. "' After luncheon, the \a l o A _lt o Com m e : c ia l _Cl ub gave an autom ob il e rid e around Pa lo A lt o, mcludm g th e Un tv e r s tt y of- Leland Stanford, Jr.

In th e eve nin g th e G rand Mas ter of Ca lif o rnia and Lodge of Palo A lt o gave a reception to Acacia in th e Maso'nic Temple.

MINUTES OF THE GRAND COUNCIL MEETING

The 19 15 Conclave h avi n g ad j o urned and left seve r a l matter s to be disposed of by th e Co uncil , it was determined t o h o ld ,a meetnig o.f th e Cou n ci l during the lun che on h o ur .

-A meeting of the G r.and Counc il was h e ld September 3 , 19 15 , in th e Maso ni c Temple, Pa lo A lt o, Ca lif o rni a

The m embe r s of the G r and Co un cil present we re: Geo r ge E. Frazer, Grand P r eside nt ; R. Ceci l Fay, Grand V ic e-Pres id e nt ; Har ry E. Kilmer, Gra nd Secre t ary; J. A. Woodward, G rand Treasurer, and \ lV G. Mann, G r a nd Secretary .

_ F ir s t: The Co n c la ve ha v in g determined that a chan ge in the uniform bookkeeping system s h o uld be made, th e G r a nd Co uncil urged that th e present sys t e m be followed until a rran geme nt s could be made for the ne w system.

Seco nd : The Co ncla ve having o rd e r ed that a committee be appointed t o make ce rt a in r ev is ions in th e Ritual, the Grand President appointed B r o th e r s R. C. Fay, J. X. Ne uman , F. W. Shepardson and W G. Ma nn as the comm itt ee to h ave charge of this matter

Third: The Co n c lave ha vi n g recommended that an inv es tigati o n be made of unif o rm s fo r ch ap t er off ice r s , the G r a nd Co un c il designated B r o th er J. A. V I oodwa rd t o mak e a r epo rt as t o where the unif o rrns .may be purchased, price , description , etc., th e rep o rt t o be published in the J o urn a l , and th a t the Grahd Co un c il wo uld accep t any unif or m accep t ed by him as th e off ic ia l unif o rm of the fraternity.

Fo ur th : T h e Co n c lave having determined that the Constitution a nd By -L aws s h o uld be cod ifi ed, the G rand Council appointed Brothers R. C. Fay and Harry E. K ilm e r as a co mmitt ee to make the codification of th e law s. In accordance with th e dir ec ti o n o f the Co nclave the Grand Co un ci l ordered th at the G r and Secretary h ave 800 copies of the laws printed and dis tribut ed. · .

F ift h : T h e Grand Pres id e nt a nn o un ced to th e Gra nd Council that a ll bid s u bm itted by j ewe l e r s for th e makin g of th e offic ial pin would ·.be s ubmitt ed t o eac h member of the Cou n c il for hi s adv i ce and criticism.

S i xt h : The Co n c lave h av in g determined that a n ew off ic e r kn ow n as Traveling Sec r etary s h o uld be des ig nat ed, and th at the G ran d Council

should elect this officer, it was determined that the Grand Secretary should address a circular letter to all the chapters asking them for uggestions in filling this office. The Grand Council reque ts that each chapter make formal reply to this letter. The Grand Secretary was authorized to state that the 1)0 ition would be filled by December 1, 1915.

Seventh: The Grand Council received an invitation from Chicago Chapter to avail themselves of the hospitality of that chapter should a session of the Grand Council be held during the year. The invitation was received with thanks.

Eighth: The Conclave having determined that a committee of alumni should be appointed by the Grand Council to olicit contributions for the Endowment Fund, the Grand Council by formal vote elected Charles W. Hall, Yale, Chairman, Irwin Driehaus and Alfred H. Ehrenclou as a committee to solicit contributions for the Endowment Fund. The Grand Council requested that contributions be solicited only from members of Acacia. But the committee may accept voluntary contributions from any . person.

On motion of Grand Treasurer J. A. \i\T oodward, seconded by Grand Vice-President Fay, the Grand Conucil adjourned.

(Signed) GEO. E. FRAZER , Gmnd Pr es id ent. R. CECIL FAY, Gmnd Vi ce -P1· esid ent. HARRY E . KILMER, Gmnd S ec retary.

J. A. WOOD\i'l ARD, Gmnd Tr easur er. WM. G. MA TN, Grand Ed-ito1·.

You can make the Journal a regular periodical by sending your copy in on time. The editor has not received any copy for the November issue, which must go to press November 20th at the latest. Get your material in as soon as possible. Final reports, necessary for the Proceedings of the Conclave, did not reach this office until October 21st, the printers commenced work the 22d, and final proof was corrected the 28th.

Can I rely upon you to do your part?