FREEMASON
TNo New Life Members to be Made After Adoption of
the Amendment
However, while permitting the Lodges to continue to pay Grand Lodge dues at the present rate of only $2 .00 for each life member, the amendment proh ibits them from creating any additional life members, or taking any other action to relieve any of t h eir members from the payment of the annual Grand Lodge dues of $4.00, except members whose dues are remitted by their Lodge because of the inability of su ch members to pay their Lodge dues.
The fact that the By-Laws of many Lodges now provide for life m e mbership, will give those Lodges no right to constitute life m embers after the date of the adoption of this amendment. According t o our law, whe n any portion of the By-Laws of a subordinate Lodge is at variance with the Ahiman Rezon, that portion is, by that ver y fact, null and void.
Honorary Members
It is important to call attention to the fact that the By-Laws of some Lodges provide for what they call "Life Members" who a re exempt from the payment of all due s except Grand Lodge dues. The term " Life Member", i n such ins tances is used in error. Members who pay Grand Lodge dues are known as Honorary Members, and the Lodge will b e s ubject to th e full $4.00 charge for all such members. While the Lodge s will be proh ibited from constituting life memb ers after the adoption
The proposed amendment provides for the first time in the history of Grand Lodge, at least so far as we are aware, that if a Lodge remits th e dues of an y of its m embers, for the reason that they are unable t o pay the same, Grand Lodge will remit the Grand Lodge dues of thos e members.
A Summary
Stated briefly, i f the ame ndment to Article X, Section 1, Item 7, of the Ahiman R ezon is ado pted it will ha ve the following effect:
Grand Lodge fee s will be $60.00 for each initiation or admission of a Brother from a Lodge of another Jurisdiction whose petition s are r eceived s ubse quent to 12 o'clock n oon on St John the Evangelis t 's day next.
Grand Lodge dues, payable b y th e subordinate Lodges will be as follows:
No charge for members whose Lodge dues are remitted because of their inability to pay s uch dues
$2.00 for each member who is a life member as of the date of the adoption of the amendm ent. No Lodge may create a ny new li fe members after the amendment becomes effective.
$4.00 for all ot her members.
Corner
Stone Laying Ceremonies
(Continu ed from page 2)
vania Freemasonr y : that illne ss and infirmity of an applicant are no bar to his entry, rather are they the s urest ticket of admission.
"As our Hom es grew in the years that fo ll owed, the Philadelphia br e thren kept pace with increasing needs for h ospitalizati on, add ing the second and third units
"Once again Philadelphia's Fre emasons took up the challenge and th ey have now nearly completed their se l f-ass igned task of raising half-a-million dollars. Thi s is being su ppl emen ted by unres tricted legacies of Philade lphi a origin and the Hospita l Exten sion Fund s from the same source to produce thi s fine building; a building which will provide not only llO more beds but the newest medical facilities to modernize the whole in s titution " How badly do we need additional hospital capacity?
At a me eting of the Committee on Masonic Homes h el d Jul y 22, 1955 th e fo ll owing s ignificant fact s wer e r eported.
Adult gues ts at the Homes-60 1. Average age of adult guests-80 yea rs Adult gu est s in hospital-218. (Hospital maximum capacity s hould be 165.) Permanent hospita l guests- 204.
The final cos t of the Hospital Extension will be abou t On e Million Five Hundred Thousan d Dollars ($1,500,000.00) Dedication is planned for Jul y 1956. Notwi thst imding the unus ually hot weather, some 1,500 Freemas ons a nd th eir families witne ssed th e ceremonies. Some 800 came from Philadelphia, 300 by spe cial train.
At the conclu sion of the ceremon ies, the R. W. Grand Maste r tendered a dinner to the members of his official family and their l adies and he was further please d to have as his special guests, the members of the Philadelphia Fr eemason s' Memorial H os pital Ex. tensi on Fund Commi ttee and th eir ladies. All others wh o witn esse d the ceremonies were served a splendid buffet luncheon at the s ite of the Hos pital Extension. Let u s hop e that the labors of the Freemasons in Philadelphia, who continu e to l ook after their favor i te Homes proj ect the Hospital, may ins pire Freemasons in other parts of our grea t jurisd iction, to set up other greatl y needed faciliti es at our H omes This, in one section , o ther than Philadelphia, is already b eing done.
CHARLES H. NITSCH R. W. Deputy Grand Master
A Message from Our Grand Master
HE MOST RECENT annual report of the Comm ittee on Finance of the Grand Lodge covers twenty-one printed pages in the 1954 Abstract of the Proceedings. Because of the leng th of this report, which is necessarily detailed and voluminous, I feel that it will not be read by m any Pennsylvania Masons and will be studied a nd analyzed by only the few who a re activel y engaged in the work of the Grand Lodge. It seems opportune, therefore, at a time whe n we are so actively engaged in an extensive building program a t the sea t of our principal charity, the Masonic Homes at Eliza bethtown , to call to the a ttention of the Masons of our Commonwealth some of the important fact s regarding our financial s tructure . The statement has been mad e on so me occasions by the uninformed that "Grand Lodge has l ots of mone y ." This i s true if yo u cons id er only the audi tors' summary of a sse ts which sh ows a total in excess of 26-million dollars, but it mu s t be r emembered that approximately 16-million dolla rs of this total is in trust funds each of which is earmarked for a specific purpos e by the provisions of the will or deed of gift under which the fund was re ceived and ca n only be used for the purpo se designated. W e are under a very definite legal obligation to see that th ese funds are expended only as th ey were intended and, morally , we would be breaking faith wi th tho se who have remembered u s were we to a ttempt to use these fund s for any other purpose Abo ut 4-million dollars of the total represen t s the value of the real estate, buildings and equi pment of o ur Homes in Elizabethtown and 3 -million dollars our Templ e and equipment and other real es tate in Philadelphia. Approximately 2-mi llion dollars is in our reserve funds which mus t be maintained to insure against future unexpected contingencies This includes the re serve carried for the Masonic Homes as well a s the reserve for Grand Lodge itse lf.
About 1-million dollars represen ts restricted funds which are and must be retain ed for the several purpose s for wh ich th ey were created Included in this category are s uch items as the fund s presentl y set aside for the compl etion of the hosp ital extens ion, the development of an ad va nced publication program, the Military and Naval Service fund, the Pension Plan of the Grand Lodge and other similar projects. As a matter of fact, and illustrati ve of the gene r al thought ex pressed above, of the 46 1- thousand d ollars cash in our General Fund but 63-thousand dollars were fre e cash balances availabl e f or unres tricted use as of the date of the last annual report.
It was an ana lysis of this nature which made your present Grand Lodge Officers rea lize that many of the trus t and estate funds, while clearly designated on our records for use as directed b y t he donors, were not being promptly appl ied to s uch use After many month s of study and examination of t h e terms of each gift on the one hand and the specific needs of our Hom es on the other , it wa s found possible
to embark on the improvement program at our Homes, including the modernizi ng of our kitchens, the rehabilitation of the utilities, the erection of the ve r y much needed extension to Olll' hospital and, I am happy now to report, the letting of the contracts for th e construction of the recrea tion building a nd lodge hall. This is the last of the major undertakings presen tly contemplated and will suppl y appropriate r ecreational facilities which have been so badly needed for many years. Those familiar with the Homes have long r ealized the almost total lack of s uch facilitie s and the increasing need to have them · established We have never had a Lodge Hall at our Homes and this lack has b ee n felt, not only b y our male guests, but by many Ma son s throughout the State who have expressed a desire to arrange for Lodge meetings there which could be atte nded by members of the particular Lodge making the arrangements a nd such of the mal e guest s as might be able to attend. For the firs t time, this will n ow be possible under regulations which will be adopted prior to the completion of the building.
All these projects are being carried out wit h funds whic h we r e graciou sly give n to u s for the purpose to whi ch each h as been and is being applied When the program has been completed, a much larger percentage of our " total assets" will appear on th e auditors' report as investments in real estate and equipment, but the far more important inves tment wi ll be in the added comfort and h appiness of our guests at th e Homes and our expanded abi li ty to care for that ever increa sing number of our l ess fortunate brethren and their widows who require hos pital care and treatment.
So, Brethren, whether "Grand Lodge has lots of money" d epends entirel y upon the meaning applied to that s tatement by the person making it. Very definitely, every dollar we have must be considered as availab le only for the specific purpose for which it was given, and t he Grand Lodge mus t keep ever before it the realization that we have three principal obligations to mee t: Firs t: To mainta in and constantly improve, s o far as that is possible, our chari ta ble work in our Masonic Homes. The applications for admissio n ar e increas ing as time goes on and the number of our guests becomes larger each yea r. Coupled with this numerical increa se is an in crease in the ave rage age of our adult gues ts. At the lates t report, we were caring for 655 guests whose average age was 80 years. For the future, the Grand Lodge is expanding its work for a nd among chi ldren and, under the r esolutions r ece ntl y adopted , we have proposed the creation of The Children 's Service Committee and have given to the Committee on Mas onic Homes a much greater latitude in the placing of children therein. Surely, this mu st be contin ued Second : To care for and administer properly the busin ess of Grand Lodge . We are ju s tly proud of the posi tion our Fratern ity has attained ( Con i naul 011. ne:a page)
A
Message from Our Grand Master
( Contin11 ed from page 1 after more than tw o hundre d yea r s of existence in P ennsylvania, and I am cer tain that each member must r ea lize th e finan c ial burden imposed i n m ee ting the ex panding cos ts r es ulting from a constantly increas ing membership which now t otals ju s t short of a quarter million member s Third: T o plan carefully for the fu ture development of th e Maso n ic Center for Penn sylvan ia. Th e magnifi ce nt Temple we have tod ay at Broad and Fi lbert Streets in Philadelphi a, re cog nized , as it is, as one of the fine s t Masoni c T empl es in th e world, is th e result of th e careful planning of our prede cessors . As th ey planned for u s, so mu s t we plan for our s u ccessors. We have taken the firs t s tep by acquiring th e property at Arch and Junipe r S tree ts, and p lan s are now being crystalized for its prod u cti ve use until it will be p ossible t o ha ve it integrated with th e presen t T emple This is the " forward l ook" for the gen e rations t o come and contemplates a Maso ni c Center as outstanding for the future as our T emple ha s been in the pa s t. Finan c ial arra n ge m e nts of a very de finite nature mu s t be esta bli shed to in s ure the completion of thi s Mason ic proj ec t.
Such future pla nnin g fo r all p ha ses of our ac ti viti es n ecessa rily inv ol ves the careful con s ideration of a nnual in come and expense and I , th ere fo re, appointed a sp ecia l committee t o s tud y thi s ma tter and to repor t their conclus ions and recommendations. The Grand Secretary's o ffi ce prepared a comple te finan cia su r vey of all asse ts of Gran d Lodge fo r the us e of that comm ittee a nd this, with o ur auditors' repo rts, served as th e bas is for th e ir r eport. Th eir conclu s ion was that some way mus t be found to in cr ease th e a nnua in come of Grand Lodge and this conclus ion r eceived th e u na nim o us approva l of yo ur elected Grand Lodge Office rs an d yo ur Committee on Finance. It wa s only after this una nim ous approval that th e r esoluti on was intr oduced at the June Quarte rly Communication to amend the Ahiman Rezon by providing for an increa se in Grand Lodge dues from two dollars t o four dollars and an in crea se in initiation fee s from forty dollars to s ix t y dollars. The amounts invo lved i n these in c reases were not th e r esu lt of m ere chan ce or capri ce but were fig ures decid ed up on af ter month s of s tud y of th e cond iti ons to b e m et The present a nnual cos t t o Grand Lodge for th e maintenan ce and o peration of the Hom es at Elizabe thtow n , including the annual approp ri a ti on to t he Patto n In s titution , is $ 1,068,000 a nd it h as b een es timated that, up on compl e ti on and full occupa n cy of the h os pital extens ion, this will be in creased to $1,293,000. T o meet thi s, th ere is foreseeable incom e of $900,000, so that we s hall soo n be op era ting th ere a t a n an nual d efici t of $393,000
Th e s urvey has fmth e r indi ca ted th a t a conser vative es timate of futur e ge n eral expenses of Grand L odge will be $6 25,000 annuall y,
with ava il able income fo r those purposes of $590, 000. Additionall y, t is necessar y to find a means of pro vidin g funds, over a p e ri o d of po ssibly ten to twen t y yea rs, for th e devel opment of th e Maso ni c Cente r , in Philadelph ia, and increased income is requ ired, at least, to f orm a nu cle us for this development.
You can not fee d gu es ts wi th th e value of brick s and mortar , yo u can n ot ca r e for hospital patients by con su ming th e principal of trus t funds , and yo u ca nnot ope rate the Grand Lodge itse lf with fun d s cl earl y earmarked fo r u se at the H o mes or for other s pecific charitable purpo ses . We mu s t find a way to be selfs upporting.
T he only alternative to an in crease i n in come is, of course, a reduct on in expenditures and this would mean , as t o ou r H omes, a defi nite "ceili ng" o n th e number of gues ts t o be adm i tted I believe th e Grand Lodge does not des ire to deny adm ittance to any Ma s te r 1\lfaso n , his wife o r widow nor his children , wh e n deserving of our h elp and assistance. As to the operat io n of Grand Lodge itself, the alte rn at iv e wo uld r equire th e o perati on of a constant ly gro wing fratern ity, in a world of cons tantly in c reasing costs, with less expe nditures than a re prese ntl y being made Thi s woul d see m t o be a n im possibility
As t o th e deve lopment of th e Mas onic Center in Phil ad elphia , th e a lternative wou ld seem t o indi cate a com pl ete aband o nment of all ou r plans and a r etr eat from th a t which we ha ve been d oi ng or , a t the ve r y least, a postponem e nt into th e far di s ta n t futur e of any attempt t o relieve th e ove r crowded co nditi ons in our Tem pl e or to expa nd o ur p h ys ical fa cil ities Grand Lodge du es h ave r e main ed at two dollars per member s in ce 1912 and Grand Lodge fees at fo rty dollars s ince 1923 . In th e i ntervening yea rs, the eco nomic conditio ns of the country ha ve ch a nged a n d e ft us far be hind. It seem s tha t now we mu st corr ect the sit uation and tha t the comparati vely small in creases pro vi ded in the reso luti on to b e acte d upon in Decemb er canno t pr ove a hards hi p t o an y member
RALPH M. LEHR , Grand M aster
Corn e r Stone Laying Ceremonies for Hospital Extension at Elizabethtown Most Impressi ve
An eve nt o f g rea t sign ificance to the Freemasons of P enn sy l va nia , and of partic ular int erest to th e 54,000 Fr ee masons in Ph ilad el phia , t ook place on Ju ly 9, 1955, at th e Mas o ni c H omes at Elizabethtown wh e n the co rn e r -s to ne o f t he Ex te ns i on t o the Phil-
adelphia Freemasons' Memorial Hospita was la id in accordance with the Masonic Cerem onies of th e Gra nd Lodge of P e nnsylvania by our R. W. G rand Master, Bro ther Ralph M. Lehr, assis ed by t he o t her officers of the Grand Lo dge It was most heartening to note tha in addition t o the Grand L odge officers, there were present fou r Past Grand Masters, Brothers Scott S. Le iby Richard A. Kern, George H. De ike and Will iam E. Yeager, t hree P as t Di strict D eput y Grand Masters and 50 of o ur 68 Di strict Dep u ty Grand Mas t ers.
T his is a t r ue ind ication of the in terest of the official fa mi ly of our Grand Lodge in our greatest char i ty, The Masonic Homes at Elizabeth town
At 2:15 P.M. the processi on formed at Grand Lodge H all , th en , led by the Elizabetht own Hi gh School Band , ma rched to the site of th e H osp ital Extension, I' distance of about three-qua r te rs of a mile. The officers of Grand Lodge and the District Deputies, clothed in full Mason ic dr ess made an ins piring a nd colorful appearance in sp i te of the hot day ; the t emperat ure in the s h ad e being 96°
Du ri ng the ce remonies, whe n the Grand Master sp reads t he cement prior to placing th e corne r- sto n e in i ts permanent pos i tion, he asked B rot he r Scott S . L eiby, R. W. Pas t Grand Master, t o assis t him This gracious fr ate rn al gesture was in r ecogniti on of Brother Lei b y's thi rty yea rs se r v ce as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Committee on Mason ic H omes. The prin cipa add r ess was de liver ed by D oc t or and Bro th er Ri chard A. Ke rn, R. W P ast Grand Master. He not on ly r eviewed the past his or y of the P h il adelp hia Freemaso ns' Memori al Hospital but also suggested a patern fo r the fu ture not only for the hosp ital, but for the H omes in ge n eral.
In o r der to full y appreciate the s pecial interest of the Philadelphia Freemasons in t he corner- ston e lay in g of the Hospital Ex t en s ion, l et m e quote from Dr. Kern's. address : "This h ospi tal has from the beginning been the idea a nd the nterest of the Freemaso ns of Phi ladelph ia As you know, the Hom es had n o h ospital from the time the first gues t was adm itted on J une 25, 1910, un ti l the 40 b ed un it Number One was opened in 1916 Indeed y ou h ad to be in good h ealth to be admitted to the Homes (a condit ion tha t still holds in m ost H omes for the elderl y .) T hen some b ret hren in Shekinah Lodge, No 246, in Philadelph ia conce ived the idea of a h ospita l fo r the Homes as the project of that city's cr aft; th ey were J ust in Allman, Bertram R ea ri c k and John Lamon. Th e la s t n amed is the o n e su r vivor, a nd h e t h rough a ll these yea rs ha s con tinued to wo rk for the h ospi tal and even n o w is serv ing as a tru s tee of its Endowmen t F und So began th e fun d ra ising th at provid ed the first unit o f this hos pital whos e corner-s to ne was laid 40 years ago Tha t un i t , I r epea t , made p ossi ble what is to th is da y the pr oud es t boas t of Pe n nsylCon tinued on page 4)
From Our Grand Secretary's Office
Legislation Approved an-i Propo sed at the June Quarterly Communication
After re viewing the r esolutions that were a d opted, a nd the amendments t o the Ahiman R ezon that were pr op osed at the June 1st Quar te rly Communication , no one would dare de ny that they mark a d istinct departure from the practices and proced u res wh ch have prevailed in Grand Lodge for many yea rs
Th e sp ace a llotted to the Grand Secretary in th is issue of the Pennsylvan ia Freemason will b e utilized in an e ffort to report to our mor e than ninety thou sand readers the content an d s ignifi cance of these resolutions and prop osed amendments.
Child Service
In accordance with a tren d that has been apparent am ong Mason ic Bodies for some yea rs, the Grand Lodge of P ennsylvania, at the Jun e Qua rterly Commun ication, took the first steps towa rd the br oadening of i ts benev ole nt and p hi lan thr opi c activities by passing two r esolutions and proposing an amendment to the Ahim an Re zon designed to ex t end those activit ies to children with no Masonic anteceden ts wha tsoever.
The first step in this directi on was taken wh e n a resolution amend ing the R ules and R egulations Go vernin g Admissi on to the Maso nic Homes was unan imously adopted. Thi s resolution prov ided that R egulation No 4, whi ch en umera es th e several classes of children el igibl e for admissio n to the H omes, be s tri cken out and that the following be s u bstituted in lieu th ereof:
4 Such minor children of proper age in th ose cases when Hom e Assistance cannot be a pplied, as are approved by the Committee on Masonic Homes
No l onger are only the minor children or gran d childre n of Mas ter Masons eligible for admission to the Homes . Now all minor children ar e eligib le, and ma y b e admitted at the discretion of the Committe e on Masonic H om es upon the recom me n dation of a subordinate Lodge
A further step was taken by the unanimous adoption of a r eso lution which made the Committee on Chi ld Welfare, appointed by the R. W. Grand Master, Brother Ralph M. Lehr in pursuance of a resolution of Grand Lodge ad opted at the Quarterl y Communi cation of March 3, 1954, the Children 's Service Committee of Jive persons which shall have the du ty to act for the Grand Lodge in all matters r elating to Children's service in this Juri sd iction , except in such matters as are properly within the province of the Committee on Maso nic Home s, unde r such rules and r egul ations a s may be approved by the Grand Lodge
Th e resolution further provided: THAT an in stitute be established at the Juvenile Court of Allegh eny Count y in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, to be called THE PENNSYLVANIA MASON JUVE NI LE COURT I NSTITUTE to be administered unde r the Children's Service Committee under such rules and regu lations as may be approved by the Grand Lodge with such appropriations as may be made available t o the Committee by Grand Lodge on recommendation of the Committee on Fina nce
TH AT a children's fund be established to be called THE P ENNSYLVAN I A MA S ON CHILDREN'S FUND , to be administered by the Children's Service Com mittee under such Rules and Regulations as may be approved by the Grand Lodge with such appropriations as may be made available to the Commi ttee by Grand Lodge on recommendation of the Finance Comm ittee:
(a) To provide assistance, care, educationa l or other fmancial aid to child ren of deceased Mas ter Masons or to those of other Masonic re lationship or to others wi tho ut an y Masonic relatives who are recommended as worthy of s u ch assistance by a subordinate Lodge;
(b) To supplement, on recommendation of a judge of a juvenile court in Pennsylvania or of a committee of local citizens appointed by him, public resour ces for a child who has come within the jurisd iction of th e court, thereby providing "extras" that mean much to a child in giving him tangible evidence of community interest in him regardless of race, creed or color
In order to give permanence to the Ch ldren's S ervice Committee an amendment to Arti cle X III of the Ahiman R ezon was proposed in t he fo rm of a new Sect i on, to be num bered 4·2, and to read as follows:
"Section 42 The Chi d ren's Service Committee shall cons ist of fi ve pers ons wh ch shall have the duty to act fo r the Grand Lodge in all matters relating to Children's Service in this Jurisdictio n except in such matte rs as are properly within the prov ince of the Committee on Masoni c Homes, under such R uJes an d Regulations as may be approved by the Grand Lodge. It shall report all its proceedings to the Grand Lodge annuallr at the Quarterly Communication In December.'
Grand Lod ge Dues and Fees
The many requests for information concerning the proposed amendment to Arti cle X, S ection 1, Item 7, of the Ahiman R ezon, which have been received in the Grand Se cretary's office s i nce the J u ne Quarterly Communication, have furnished abundant evidence, not only of a keen in te r est in the amendment on t he part of many of the officers and members of ou r Lodges , b u t also, in th e 'm i nds of many, an apparent misunderstanding of its provisions.
The amendment is prefaced by ten re citals, which clearly indi cate tha the income of Grand L odge is not sufficient to meet the great ly increased costs of our present program; that the only alternative to an in crease in income is a definite limita tion or "ceiling" on the number of gues ts to be admitted to our H omes, which would be undesirable; and, finall y that after long and thorough study of Grand Lodge finances it has been found that our only poss ible source of additional revenue is through an increase in Grand Lodge dues and fees.
These rec i tals are followed by an itemi zed l ist of th e changes and additions to be made
to Item 7, of Secti on 1, of Ar ticle X, so that when ame n ded it shall read as follows :
"7 Dues and Fees of Subordinate Lodges, viz : Dues for each member annually, $4.00 Of which dues $2 .00 sha ll not be cha rged against nor paid by or for the account of any member who is a l ife member of a SubQrdinate Lodge as of the date of the adop t ion of this amendment.
No Subordinate Lodge shall hereafter, by the creation of life members, or otherwise, take any action to relieve any of its membe rs of the payment of said annual dues of $4 00 except members whose dues are r emitted by their Lodge because of the inability of such members to pay their Lodge dues.
Fee for each initiation, or admission of a Brother from a Lodge of another Jur isdiction , $60.00
Which fee shall be for Mason ic Homes purposes on ly and be a part of the annual appropriation made by the Grand Lodge for that account "
Masonic Homes Pet i tion Fees
I t will be noted that the amendment provides for an increase in the Masonic Homes Petition Fees, charged fo r each ini tiation or admission of a Br other from a Lodge of another Jur isdicti on, from the present amount of $40 00, established in 1923, to that of $60.00 If approved, the new fee will become effective on all petitions received after 12 o'clock noon, December 27, 1955.
G rand Lodge Dues Raised to $4 .00
Provision is also made for an increase in the annual dues of subordinate Lodges f rom $2 00 for each member, at which they were set in December 1912, to $4.00 The new r ate , if the amendment is adopted at our December Quarterly Communication , will not appl y to the present Masonic year, but will become effective in 195 6
Dues for Life Members R em ain at $2 . 00
When the Committee, appointed by the Grand Master, to st u dy Grand Lodge finances and to r ecommend sources of additional revenue, was forced to the conclusion that the only such source available was a n increase in Grand Lodge dues and fee s, immediately the question arose as to what effect such an increase wo uld have upon the L odges in wh ich a large percentage of t he membership are l ife members, and from whom they re ceive no dues whatsoeve r. After mature del iberation, the Committee finally agreed that inasmuch as it wou ld place too great a financial burden upon such Lodges to compel th em t o pay $4.00 for each life member, Grand Lodge dues in the amount of only $2.00 should be charged against or paid by or for the accou n t of an y member who is a life member of a subordinate Lodge as of the date of the adoption of the amendment.
Life Members Pay t h e Lodge N o Dues
A t this po in t it is i mportant that there be a clear und erstand ing of the meaning of the te rm "Life Member", as used i n the Grand Lodge of Penn sy l vania.
A l i fe membe r of a su bordina t e Lodge in this J urisd ic tion is one who is exempt from (Continued on page 4)
