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Article THE GRAND SECRETARY. ← Page 3 of 4 Article THE GRAND SECRETARY. Page 3 of 4 →
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The Grand Secretary.
give up Ms viltole time fco the duties' of his office , and that he should -not he allowed to undertalce any other appointment . " Again let us hear Bro . Gregory , now a P . G . D .: — " I do not wish for a moment to depreciate the services
of the Past Grand Secretary , but I can say , from my own knowledge , that when the poorer brethren come for charity , or any of the brethren for business , Bro . Clarke is ahvays to lie found at Ids post ; and we knoAV how much more satisfactory it is to see the head of an office than to transact business with any of the subordinates . "
And the then President of the Board of General Purposes , Bro . Havers , wound up the debate by a speech in which he used these words : —¦ " It was true there had been an addition , to the staff , but that did not diminish the labours of the Grand Secretary in connection Avith his letterswhich are ever on
, the increase -. and through his courtesy and kindness you have matters put to rights every Aveek , which might have been fanned into a flame to the detriment of the Craft . I believe that the value of such services is incalculable to Masonry . "
The greater part of the discussion turned upon the close attention Bro . Clarke had to give to the duties of his office , and the anamoly which existed of the Assist . Grand Secretary ' s salary being equally as large as that of the Grand Secretary , whilst the one could hold other offices in the Craft , and the
principal officer could not ; but not one word was said , that whilst the one was bound to give thirty-nine hours' atttendance per week ( irrespective of meetings of the Craft , Avhieh the Grand Secretary has also to attend ) , the Grand Secretary himself was not bound to as many hours per month , a fact which , we repeat ,
should have been made knoAvn to Grand Lodge . ~ We do not mean to deny that all that was said by the speakers on the occasion to which we have alluded was true , or that they believed it to be so , at the time ; but we challenge Bro . Clarke to the proof that he is now at all times accessible to the Craft , or thafc any
brother kno \ vs when and -where to find him , and the more especially that he does or eA'er did see every poor brother seeking charity , as indeed there is no reason Avhyhe should , so long as Ave have an Assistant Grand Secretary and efficient clerks in the outer office ; bufc such Avere the statements on which the advance of
salary was obtained , and allowed to pass , at the time , uncontradicted by the principal party interested , and therefore he has now no right to complain if a brother who , making inquiry for the Grand Secretary on three or four different occasions , afc proper and convenienthours , fiuds him on each and all absent from his office ,
accuses him of not doing that which his friends so strenuously urged he did . "Every one knows where to find him" says Bro . Smith . Echo answers " find him . " "We do not say that the principal of any
establishment should be always bound to his desk ; we do not say that the Grand Secretary may not occasionall y be
The Grand Secretary.
aAvay from his office even on the business of the Graft , but Ave do say that it would tend to the convenience of very many of the brethren , from the Grand Master downwards , if the Grand Secretary would let it be knoAvn—if onl y as a matter of pure courtesyat what hours he is most likel y to be found in his
office , and if , when he goes out he would , as a rule ( of course there may be exceptions to the rule ) leave ? Avord with one of the clerks when he is most likely to be in the AA'ay , as ifc would save much valuable time to the brethren , to say nothing of temper , and many im-Masonie blessings occasionally uttered with regard to
the Grand Secretary . Now how did we express ourselves regarding the increase in Bro . Clarke ' s salary P Certainly nofc in unfriendly terms -.
—"We certainly approve of the decision , ou more grounds than ore ; first , that which we alluded to lasfi 3 'ear ( the anomaly of the junior officer in rank—if even the seuior in service being paid more than the principal ) ; secondly , because Ave believe that it is better to pay even five or six hundred pounds a year for the undivided and efficient services of a gentleman , than half the
amount for those of one , AVIIO , hoAveA'er efficient , cannofc give his whole attention to our business ; thirdly , because we believe that an ill-paid will be sure to become a discontented and careless officer ; and , fourthly , because we are convinced that Bro . Clarke has , by the great attention he has paid to the duties of his office , deserved the consideration of the brethren ; and we express this opinion
Avith the less reluctance , because we were amongst those Avho , at the time of his appointment , looked upon it with suspicion , if not Avith misgivings , as to his qualifications for ifc . "
To that opinion we still adhere in the main , but we were , at the fciine we wrote these words , Trader the impression that the whole time of Bro . Clarke was given to the duties of his office , which we do not now believe—though we have no reason to suppose thathe employs it in any other profession , or with the view
to gain . There is but one other point to which we needadvert , and then we shall conclude , viz : the courtesy of Bro . Clarke . We do not believe that Bro-Clarke intends to be discourteous—nay , we will
go farther , and say that we know he does not ; but it unfortunately happens that his manner is such as to lead nine-tenths of those he comes .
comes m contact with to feel that he is so ; whilst hig communications , or perhaps we should say , want of communication with brethren abroad , lead them to the same conclusion , as is shown by the following extract from a speech delivered by the Prov . Grand Master of Southern India , at the Prov . Grand Lodge , on the
30 th April last , a copy of the proceedings of which we received through the courtesy of Bro . Clarke , by the very same post which brought us the letter published : at the head of this article : — The Puov . G . MASTEK " expressed his regret afc thelong time Avhich had elapsed since the last Prov . G . Lodge
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Grand Secretary.
give up Ms viltole time fco the duties' of his office , and that he should -not he allowed to undertalce any other appointment . " Again let us hear Bro . Gregory , now a P . G . D .: — " I do not wish for a moment to depreciate the services
of the Past Grand Secretary , but I can say , from my own knowledge , that when the poorer brethren come for charity , or any of the brethren for business , Bro . Clarke is ahvays to lie found at Ids post ; and we knoAV how much more satisfactory it is to see the head of an office than to transact business with any of the subordinates . "
And the then President of the Board of General Purposes , Bro . Havers , wound up the debate by a speech in which he used these words : —¦ " It was true there had been an addition , to the staff , but that did not diminish the labours of the Grand Secretary in connection Avith his letterswhich are ever on
, the increase -. and through his courtesy and kindness you have matters put to rights every Aveek , which might have been fanned into a flame to the detriment of the Craft . I believe that the value of such services is incalculable to Masonry . "
The greater part of the discussion turned upon the close attention Bro . Clarke had to give to the duties of his office , and the anamoly which existed of the Assist . Grand Secretary ' s salary being equally as large as that of the Grand Secretary , whilst the one could hold other offices in the Craft , and the
principal officer could not ; but not one word was said , that whilst the one was bound to give thirty-nine hours' atttendance per week ( irrespective of meetings of the Craft , Avhieh the Grand Secretary has also to attend ) , the Grand Secretary himself was not bound to as many hours per month , a fact which , we repeat ,
should have been made knoAvn to Grand Lodge . ~ We do not mean to deny that all that was said by the speakers on the occasion to which we have alluded was true , or that they believed it to be so , at the time ; but we challenge Bro . Clarke to the proof that he is now at all times accessible to the Craft , or thafc any
brother kno \ vs when and -where to find him , and the more especially that he does or eA'er did see every poor brother seeking charity , as indeed there is no reason Avhyhe should , so long as Ave have an Assistant Grand Secretary and efficient clerks in the outer office ; bufc such Avere the statements on which the advance of
salary was obtained , and allowed to pass , at the time , uncontradicted by the principal party interested , and therefore he has now no right to complain if a brother who , making inquiry for the Grand Secretary on three or four different occasions , afc proper and convenienthours , fiuds him on each and all absent from his office ,
accuses him of not doing that which his friends so strenuously urged he did . "Every one knows where to find him" says Bro . Smith . Echo answers " find him . " "We do not say that the principal of any
establishment should be always bound to his desk ; we do not say that the Grand Secretary may not occasionall y be
The Grand Secretary.
aAvay from his office even on the business of the Graft , but Ave do say that it would tend to the convenience of very many of the brethren , from the Grand Master downwards , if the Grand Secretary would let it be knoAvn—if onl y as a matter of pure courtesyat what hours he is most likel y to be found in his
office , and if , when he goes out he would , as a rule ( of course there may be exceptions to the rule ) leave ? Avord with one of the clerks when he is most likely to be in the AA'ay , as ifc would save much valuable time to the brethren , to say nothing of temper , and many im-Masonie blessings occasionally uttered with regard to
the Grand Secretary . Now how did we express ourselves regarding the increase in Bro . Clarke ' s salary P Certainly nofc in unfriendly terms -.
—"We certainly approve of the decision , ou more grounds than ore ; first , that which we alluded to lasfi 3 'ear ( the anomaly of the junior officer in rank—if even the seuior in service being paid more than the principal ) ; secondly , because Ave believe that it is better to pay even five or six hundred pounds a year for the undivided and efficient services of a gentleman , than half the
amount for those of one , AVIIO , hoAveA'er efficient , cannofc give his whole attention to our business ; thirdly , because we believe that an ill-paid will be sure to become a discontented and careless officer ; and , fourthly , because we are convinced that Bro . Clarke has , by the great attention he has paid to the duties of his office , deserved the consideration of the brethren ; and we express this opinion
Avith the less reluctance , because we were amongst those Avho , at the time of his appointment , looked upon it with suspicion , if not Avith misgivings , as to his qualifications for ifc . "
To that opinion we still adhere in the main , but we were , at the fciine we wrote these words , Trader the impression that the whole time of Bro . Clarke was given to the duties of his office , which we do not now believe—though we have no reason to suppose thathe employs it in any other profession , or with the view
to gain . There is but one other point to which we needadvert , and then we shall conclude , viz : the courtesy of Bro . Clarke . We do not believe that Bro-Clarke intends to be discourteous—nay , we will
go farther , and say that we know he does not ; but it unfortunately happens that his manner is such as to lead nine-tenths of those he comes .
comes m contact with to feel that he is so ; whilst hig communications , or perhaps we should say , want of communication with brethren abroad , lead them to the same conclusion , as is shown by the following extract from a speech delivered by the Prov . Grand Master of Southern India , at the Prov . Grand Lodge , on the
30 th April last , a copy of the proceedings of which we received through the courtesy of Bro . Clarke , by the very same post which brought us the letter published : at the head of this article : — The Puov . G . MASTEK " expressed his regret afc thelong time Avhich had elapsed since the last Prov . G . Lodge