The Builder Magazine

February 1928 - Volume XIV - Number 2

 

The Shadow of the Vatican

By DR. LEO CADIUS (Continued from January)

THIS series of articles is written by a member of the Roman Church.

He is still a member of that Church and has no desire to leave it.

The articles do not touch on any matter of faith or doctrine, and while severely critical of the administration are in no sense an attack upon the church itself.

It is the author's opinion that the reforms he proposes would not only be to the advantage of Roman Catholics but would largely remove the suspicions of so many thoughtful non-Romanist American citizens.

 

AMONG the Catholic common clergy and the educated laity there exists a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the present organization of the hierarchy. And, no doubt, there are even some bishops who secretly resent the selfishness of the Italian clique that has for centuries been monopolizing the government of the Church and is ever reaching out for new power.

 

Then why do they not lift up their voice in protest? Why do they not start an agitation to break the chain ?

 

There is nothing to prevent the Catholic laity from launching such a movement, provided it is not aimed at the foundation, at the basic principles, of church government. But the laity is not accustomed to have a voice in ecclesiastical matters. It feels unfamiliar and insecure on such ground. It has been taught to pay and to obey, to hang on to the apron strings of the clergy.

 

Also America is a young expanding nation, barely emerged from the pioneer state and engrossed with the development of the immense material resources of this vast territory. This is a materialistic age. The atmosphere of our country is distinctly commercial. We cannot reasonably expect the young American church to be able to boast of proportionately as great a number of educated laymen, of scholars, thinkers and idealists, as we find in France, Germany or Great Britain. And only well-educated men would muster sufficient self- confidence to consider the gigantic task of reorganizing an unwilling and almost all-powerful hierarchy. It would be tackling not a national, but a world problem.

 

As regards the Catholic episcopate, most members of this august body are presumably well pleased with the present hierarchic system. They got there under the systerm They attained under it their high ecclesiastical dignity, their position of power and prestige and (often) of wealth, either by their own efforts, or through the kind, and unsolicited, recommendations of some friend and patron. How many of our bishops would be wearing a mitre, if the nomination lay in the hands of the common clergy and the laity?

 

Every American bishop proclaims it on his official documents that he is bishop "by the grace of God and favor of the Apostolic See." By Apostolic See is meant the ltalian Autocracy. In presuming to criticize that governmental system, he would appear to be guilty of ingratitude, of attacking the benefactors that have raised him to his exalted dignity, of, so to speak, biting the hand that has fed him. And not only would he by such criticism irretrievably ruin his chances of further promotion, but he would, if he persisted in it, sson face "demotion" and other disciplinary procedure. Rome would impose silence on him under penalty of removal from office and of serving sentence behind monastery walls.

 

THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH

 

And what about the lower or "common" clergy, the plain priests who have no such prelatical handles to their names as Right Reverend, Most Reverend, His Lordship, His Grace, His Eminence? Is there no such thing as freedom of speech among them?

 

Theoretically there is.

 

Practically, there is just as much as there was at a certain meeting of the Amalgamated Brass Beaters Union in Chicago. Its purpose was to elect officers. Mike Dugan had been the president and autocrat of the Union. It was his intention to remain at the helm. His faithful lieutenant, the redoubtable Terry Killduff, presided over the meeting. Several speakers had been heard, all advocating the reselection of Mike and his ticket. "Now, before we proceed to ballot," said the chairman, "I want everybody to have a chance to speak out his mind. We believe in free discussion. Has anybody got something to say?" A man known to be an anti-Duganite arose. "Mr. Chairman, I do not quite agree to - " Before he had finished his sentence he was knocked down from behind. There ensued a prolonged pause. "Does anybody else want the floor?" suavely inquired the herculean Terry. More silence. "Well, then, if everybody seems to agree to the reselection of Mr. Michael Dugan, I do not see the need of a ballot. Mister Secretary, please put it on record that this meeting of the Amalgamated Brass Beaters Union reselects unanimously, by acclamation, Mr. Michael Dugan for president."

 

There exists as much freedom of speech in the Catholic Church today as the peace advocates enjoyed in Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, Rumania and the United States after the small, but resourceful, war factions in those countries had prevailed on their respective governments to take the plunge into the world war.

 

There is this one difference, however: the suspension of free speech in the war-stricken countries was temporary; in the Catholic Church, it has lasted for centuries. It is not so much due to repressive legislation on the part of the Vatican as to a subtle intellectual penetration in virtue of which the Catholic masses are kept in peaceful submission. An oligarchy of cardinals, backed by the heads of a few powerful religious orders, has been perpetuating itself in power. It styles itself the divinely constituted government of the Church, and it is accepted as such by the Catholic people for whom it is no less than the mouthpiece of the Holy Ghost. To criticize this government means to attack the Church, to rebel, to sin against the Holy Ghost. Not only will the oligarchy, or its agents, frown on the wretch of a critic, and (if worth while) take action against him, but practically the entire Catholic press, in its pious loyalty, will empty the vials of its wrath or derision on the miscreant.

 

A bishop, priest or layman may submit opinions or advice to the Vatican. He will be given courteous hearing. But the opinions must not be of an uncongenial nature. A suggestion, for instance, that the Holy Father internationalize or democratize the government of the Church would decidedly not be countenanced.

 

REASONS FOR SUBMISSION

 

There is another reason why the American clergy submits without protest to the aggressions of the Italian autocracy. The average American priest is a builder. He is engaged in material construction, in the erection of churches, schools, convents, rectories. From the first day of his pastorate to the last, he is beset with cares and worries about financing his enterprises. He has to tax his brain to the limit to raise the necessary funds. Add to it the burden of his spiritual ministration. He has not the time nor the inclination, nor has he sufficient familiarity with theology and church history, to concern himself with hopeless theories of a new constitution for the Church. He is a pragmatist, not a dreamer. He will not bump his head against a massive stone wall, he will not assail an impregnable fortress. He will not borrow trouble, invite derision, or persecution. He has the American gift of caution and adaptability. He will rather endure oppression than burn his fingers by resisting it. Submission to authority is a trait characteristic of the adherents of the Roman Church. It is one of the sources of her strength. It is also one of the causes of her colossal losses. It works both ways.

 

IS EMANCIPATION POSSIBLE?

 

If the American Church is to be emancipated from the yoke of the absolutistic Italian Oligarchy, the initiative will have to be taken by the American non-Catholics, as an act friendly to their Catholic fellow citizens and also for the protection of the American ideals of democracy. For, as we have seen, the American bishops and priests are tongue-tied. Their economic security, their chances of promotion to ecclesiastical honors, to power and wealth, are involved. The American Catholic laymen are either indifferent about the subject, or, if interested, feel diffident or incompetent of approaching it.

 

It is probable that the Knights of Columbus would favor such emancipation, but there is little, if any, prospect that they will broach the subject. In the first place, who would agitate it? Assuredly not the Catholic press of the United States. It is, in its entirety, with the possible exception of the previously mentioned Fortnightly Review of St. Louis, subservient to the hierarchy.

 

Let us assume, for the sake of the argument, that the Knights of Columbus did resolve to identify themselves with the emancipation movement. A simple mode of procedure for them would be to draw up a petition requesting of the Holy Father that he inter-nationalize and democratize the government of the Church. They could, presumably, without great effort obtain millions of signatures of American Catholics. It would be a monster petition. It would have to contain a definite program of reorganization. The program would have to be formulated with the greatest of circumspection under the guidance of expert theologians and church historians. It could not conflict with any of the basic principles of the Catholic faith. It would have to be theologically unobjectionable.

 

Allowing now that such a monster petition is correctly formulated and duly forwarded to the Holy Father, what would he do? He would reply in a most benevolent, paternal tone. He would adduce a list of reasons why he cannot comply with the request. One of them would presumably be, that, the nations of the world being still aflame with hatred engendered by the great war, the internationalization of the government of the Church at this time would be too risky an experiment to be given a trial. In fact, that it would not be feasible, that it would lead to schisms. And the like. A good statesman, like a good lawyer, is never at a loss for arguments to plead his cause. The Holy Father will counsel patience. Yes, after the world has returned to a normal and stable condition, he will most gladly consider the proposal and give it his most careful attention. He will then proceed to sugar-coat the pill with a lavish effusion of expressions of his high regard for the great and glorious American people, of the deep love he harbors for them, of his profound, undying gratitude for the past generosity of the American Catholics. He will invoke the divine blessing upon them, and thus the performance will end, like a successful church service, with the Apostolic Benediction.

 

Still, one never knows. Let the Knights of Columbus stage the experiment. It would be a spectacle worth watching. It might lead to interesting developments.

 

But let us suppose that the Knights did not permit themselves to be sidetracked by honeyed talk. Let us assume that they insisted upon a revision of the constitution of the Church along the lines of democracy and international justice, and that they threatened, in the case of refusal, to withhold their contribution to the Peter's Pence. What then?

 

The Holy Father could (and most likely would) reply by dissolving the Order. The Knights are a powerful organization; some non-Catholics credit them with greater influence in the affairs of the American nation than is exercised even by Freemasonry (1). This is obviously an exaggeration, about 85 per cent of the members of the United States Senate and of the House of Representatives belong to the Masonic brotherhood. Nevertheless, nobody will deny that the Knights are one of the dominant factors in the life of the nation. A stroke of the Pope's pen, and the Knights are decreed out of existence, as Pope Clement the Fifth in 1312 by a stroke of the pen wiped out the great Order of the Knights Templar. Such is the power of the Pope, the head of an absolutistic foreign oligarchy!

 

However, all this seems to be idle talk. It is extremely improbable that the Knights will ever undertake the burden of such a petition. And even if they entered upon the project, the American hierarchy would soon prevail upon them to abandon it.

 

It would seem that the deliverance of the American Church from the yoke of the Italian Oligarchy can only come through the kind offices of our non-Catholic fellow-citizens. How this could be effected, we will see later.

 

THE ELECTION OF BISHOPS

 

We Roman Catholics believe that the bishops are the successors of the Apostles. The first vacancy in the episcopate was caused by the death of Judas Iscariot. He was replaced by the Apostle Matthias, who was elected by popular vote. The bishops of the early Christian era, such as St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Martin, St. Nicholas, were chosen by the clergy and the people. But if I suggest today that we return to that custom of the primitive Church, that we let the Catholic clergy and the people of each diocese directly or through delegates nominate their bishops, I am guilty of rebellion against the divine constitution of the Church.

 

Up to the year 1925 the Catholic clergy of Ireland had the privilege of nominating their bishops. In May, 1925, an American priest had the "impudence" to inquire of the Papal Delegation in Washington, D.C., why that privilege was denied to the American clergy. A few months later, in the fall of 1925, the Vatican issued a decree depriving the Irish clergy of that privilege. I have not as yet heard that anybody in Ireland dared to protest against that high-minded measure.

 

If Zambo, the little French poodle, nominates our American bishops, we may expect that a little English bulldog belonging to some Cardinal's sister in Rome will nominate the bishops in Ireland.

 

The following incident is said to have taken place during the present generation: An American bishop made his quinquennial visit ad limina, that is, a pilgrimage to Rome to visit the graves of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. At this occasion the bishop calls on the Holy Father to report to him on the state of his diocese. Said American bishop had been denounced to the Vatican as having been indifferent about the welfare of the Italians in his district. His reception was, accordingly, sub-zero.

 

"And what have you done for the Italians in your diocese?" the Pope frigidly asked the empurpled culprit during the audience.

 

"Holy. Father, what have you done for the Italians in your own country?" the American retorted. "Of all the Catholics that come to the United States, the Italians are the most backward both in attending and supporting their church. I have in my diocese ten different nationalities represented. They all manage to keep up their own churches and schools - all, except the Italians. They have to be subsidized by the other nationalities. A good-sized Irish, or German, or Polish congregation will build a magnificent church and fill the large edifice six times and oftener on Sundays. For an Italian congregation of the same size a little shack will do and one Mass is sufficient. In my diocese the churches are crowded to the doors. Here in Italy I see the churches empty on Sundays, barring a few women and children. Holy Father, I ask again, what have you done for the Italians in your own country?"

 

The audience did not last very long and the American bishop departed without the customary benediction.

 

It is to be feared that there is one thing wrong with the above story, namely, that it is merely - a story. It is extremely improbable that there ever lived an American bishop who had sufficient courage to utter even one word displeasing to the Holy Father.

 

APOSTOLIC FREEDOM

 

In the Acts of the Apostles we are told: "And in those days, the number of the disciples increasing, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, for that their widows were neglected in the daily ministrations." The little difficulty was promptly adjusted.

 

Today the discontent is over that preferment of the Italians in the government of the Church which has endured for centuries. But the murmuring is done by the timid Catholic clergy and people in a subdued voice, behind closed doors, lest the Italian taskmasters hear it. St. Paul was not afraid to administer a rebuke to St. Peter when the latter practiced dissimulation in the issue of eating with the Gentiles. We read in the epistle to the Galatians: "But when I saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all: If thou being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not of the Jews, how dost thou compel the Gentiles to follow the way of Jews?"

 

If the Apostle of the Gentiles lived today, he would step up to the successor of Cephas in Rome and say to him: "Thou bemoanest this world war, the most appalling of all catastrophes. Thou deplorest the selfishness of the nations and the greed of individuals that threaten to provoke another more destructive war that will leave the whole human race in a state of universal hopeless chaos. And thou thyself arrogatest to thyself and to thy nation unjust special privileges. Thou deniest to the flock of Christ equal rights with thy Italians. How canst thou expect the nations of the world to respect international justice, to foster a spirit of universal brotherhood and love, when thou, the greatest moral potentiality on earth - when thou, thyself, art tainted and blackened with unpardonable selfishness, art persistently practicing international injustice ?"

 

Yes, the Holy Father is most anxious to see a permanent world peace established on the basis of international justice. He is willing to do anything and everything towards the realization of that happy ideal  - anything and everything except practice social justice himself. He is an untiring advocate of social justice. Suum cuique! To introduce the reign of social justice throughout the world he is willing to do anything and everything - anything and everything except practice social justice himself. Ask him to restore to the Catholic clergy and laity their former rights, their just share and voice in the government of the Church, and you will find that either he has become a deaf- mute or else he will fulminate an anathema upon you.

 

COMMON ERRORS ABOUT THE CATHOLIC RELIGION

 

As we have seen, the American Catholics permit themselves to be used as a door mat by a small Italian Clique in Rome which I have symbolized under the name of Zambo. We must give them credit, however, for defending their rights at home against any aggressions on the part of American non- Catholics. They watch with jealous eyes against any encroachment on their interests by the daily press, the theater, the movies, the legislatures, the business houses.

 

One reason for this lies in the fact that they are a minority in this country. A minority is usually compact, spirited, aggressive, resentful, ready to raise its bristles at the slightest provocation.

 

Another reason is found in the circumstance that the Catholic religion is so much misunderstood and misrepresented. The Catholic feels that he is something of a martyr and this strengthens his attachment to his church.

 

Here are some of the most common errors one meets even among educated, fair-minded non-Catholics:

 

1. ADORATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

 

To adore means to accord divine honors. The Catholic considers it the greatest possible crime against God to adore any creature, even the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

2. DISRESPECT FOR PROTESTANT MARRIAGE.

 

The opposite is the case. The Catholic religion teaches that the marriage between two Protestants is valid and a sacrament. If a Protestant man would put his Protestant wife away, even on the ground of infidelity, and marry another woman, he could not be received into the Catholic Church unless he previously divorces his second wife. The Catholic, therefore, holds the Protestant marriage vows more sacred than many Protestants themselves regard them.

 

3. PAPAL INFALLIBILITY.

 

The Pope is infallible only as teacher of religion and morals when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, solemnly as the Head of the Church. As a private theologian he can err in matters of faith and morals, and needless to say, in everything else. His position is somewhat analogous to that of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice as a private lawyer can err, but when he delivers an official decision as Chief Justice then the question is settled and there is no higher appeal.

 

In their boundless reverence for the Pope, however the Catholics let him actually be infallible in practically everything. That is, they dare not criticize him even when such criticism would redound to the benefit of the Church. For example, the rule of Zambo over the American Church is unjustifiable and indefensible but no American Catholic dares to criticize it.

 

4. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.

 

It means that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from the stain of original sin from the very first moment of her existence in the womb of her mother. The original sin is, according to Christian fundamentalism, the spiritual stain or disability inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve, wherewith every human being is born. It is washed off in baptism.

 

The Immaculate Conception is not to be confounded with the Virgin Birth of Christ. Much less does it imply that the conjugal act by which children are conceived in holy wedlock, is sinful.

 

5. CONVENTS.

 

No sane person can possibly lend credence to certain insinuations made against the convents by irresponsible and vile sheets. The nuns are good and holy women, worthy of every admiration and respect.

 

In the interest of democracy and humanity, however, some convents could bear inspection. I know one large community of over a thousand nuns, most of them school-sisters, educated American girls. They conduct a long string of academies and parish schools. This community was founded over fifty years ago. The sisters have never had to this day an opportunity of electing a Superior, neither by direct nor by indirect ballot. A small clique of tyrants perpetuates itself in power a la Zambo. The case has been reported to the Papal Delegation in Washington, but to no avail. The suspicion seems justified that the Superior, the "Venerable Mother," sends occasionally a fat check to Zambo in Rome. The community is financially very strong.

 

Another large community not far from the headquarters of the one just mentioned, has only very recently had its first chance of electing a Superior, after it had smarted for a long time under Zambo rule.

 

It would be a service to humanity if every state in the Union established a Bureau of Cults to investigate these religious institutions and all other public institutions, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, every five or ten years. I sincerely hope that the Knights of Columbus would rather encourage than thwart the creation of such Bureaus. Convents have nothing to lose, but rather a good deal to gain, by such investigation. They should be visited by women inspectors, of course.

 

These inspectrices would frequently be surprised to learn how little is done by the Catholic parishes and pastors for the comfort of the school-sisters. Often twenty or thirty of these noble, self-sacrificing women are packed together in a small building like herrings in a keg. They have to manage, with a minimum of modern conveniences, on the small salary of three hundred dollars a year per teaching sister. Across the street lives the Reverend Father in a luxuriously furnished stately mansion with the latest of everything in the line of comfort. If the good nuns received the tenth part of the attention he bestows on the welfare of his pet dog, they would consider themselves transferred to paradise.

 

6. CELIBACY.

 

The celibacy of the clergy has great advantages and serious disadvantages. Hence it has been styled by Catholic churchmen the perpetual question. Non-Catholics who condemn it should remember that to every Catholic priest in the United States there are at least one hundred unmarried men of the same age. Nobody seems to bother about them. Then why pick on the priest?

 

Above are but a few samples of a long list of misunderstood Catholic doctrines and practices. These misrepresentations irritate the Catholics and tend to consolidate them. Many a lukewarm Catholic who sees his religion distorted warms up to it again.

 

It may surprise some Protestants to hear that the Catholics are rather indifferent about other people's religion. The word Protestant is rarely heard in a Catholic pulpit and when it is mentioned it is done in a respectful, non- controversial way. An attack on Protestants and their religion in a Catholic pulpit is something extremely rare. These rare instances are, however, well advertised in certain periodicals.

 

OBJECTIONABLE CATHOLIC DOCTRINES

 

It must be admitted that some of our officially approved textbooks of Catholic Theology contain doctrines that are a source of just apprehension to nonCatholics.

 

I confine myself here to citing two from two modern standard works that are being used as textbooks in Catholic seminaries the world over. They are the Theologiae Dogmaticae Compendium (Compendium of Dogmatic Theology), by Hugo Hurter, and the Summa Theologiae Moralis (Sum of Moral Theology), by Hieronymus Noldin. Both authors, now deceased, were Jesuits and professors in the theological faculty of the state university of Innsbruck in Austria.

 

In the eighth edition of his compendium, volume the first, No. 446, Hurter quotes the Italian Jesuit Palmieri:

 

On account of the positive, though indirect, subjection of the civil authority to the authority of the primate (papacy), the Roman Pontiff can not only forbid the civil authorities any measure that would hurt the church, but he can also prescribe to them (the civil authorities) anything that is necessary, or even very useful, for the (welfare of the) Church; for he has the power to loose and to bind in everything that is conducive towards the good government of the Church and towards the right administration of the Christian commonwealth.

 

Palmieri then continues to demonstrate how papal independence from all civil authority, including the exemption of the Catholic clergy from the jurisdiction of the civil courts, is conducive to the good of the Church.

 

The Pope's claim that the civil authorities are subject to his authority will not secure any advantage for the Church, for he cannot force the governments to respect his demands. He merely engenders distrust and hatred of the papacy and of the Catholic religion. The Catholic people have to suffer for it.

 

In the nominally Catholic Latin countries, in which the papacy asserts all sorts of divine rights and prerogatives, there is continuous friction between the state and church. In soi-disante Catholic France, priests and bishops had to serve as combatants in the World War. In the mostly Protestant Nordic countries, in which owing to the separation of the (Catholic) Church from the state, the Pope asserts no such prerogatives, the Church progresses and prospers. During the war the priests were exempted from military service. The world may be, after all, not so hostile to religion. It seems as if it wants to say to the papacy: "If you come around with your divine rights, you will get nothing and less than that. But if you come and ask for courtesies and accommodations, you can have everything that is reasonable."

 

The other author mentioned was Hieronymus Noldin. In the thirteenth edition of his Sum of Moral Theology, published in 1920 by Felieian Raueh in Innsbruck, Vol. III, No. 67, he declares in the treatise on baptism:

 

67. De infantibus haereticorum -  The Children of Heretics:

 

It is certain that the Church has the right to baptize the children of heretics and to prevent them from being imbued with the errors of their parents, because heretics, being subjects of the Church, can be compelled to observe the divine law. The Church, however, does not make use of his right of hers, because she cannot prevent that children of heretics are brought up in heresy.

 

By "Church" the author means, of course, the Roman Catholic Church. She looks upon heretics as her subjects, because they, being baptized, are Christians. She asserts no claim whatsoever on nonChristians.

 

68. De infantibus infidelium - The Children of Infidels:

 

1. Ordinarily, it is not permitted to baptize the children of infidels without the knowledge and consent of their parents, because, if such baptized children are taken away from their parents, the natural right of the parents (to their children) is violated; while, if they are left in the custody of the parents, an injury is done to the Sacrament on account of the certain danger that these children will not be raised as Christians.

 

Moreover, in regard to the children of Hebrews, there exists a special legislation of the Church that they be not baptized without the consent of their parents.

 

2. A contingency may arise, however, when children of infidels may and should be baptized without the knowledge and consent of their parents:

 

(a) when they (the children) are in danger of death.

 

(b) when they happen to be outside the custody of their parents or guardians, so they may be raised in the Catholic faith

 

Note - When a non-Catholic child has been, licitly or illicitly, baptized without the knowledge or consent of the parents, it has to be taken away from them, if they are infidels or Jews on account of the proximate danger of perversion (in faith). A child of heretical parents, however, may be left under their custody, as long as they do not deny their faith in Christ.

 

How this theory works in practice, the following illustration will show:

 

It happened about the middle of last century when the pope still enjoyed possession of civil authority over the central part of Italy, the Patrimontgm Petri. Bologna belonged to the papal territory. A little Jewish boy, Edgar Mortara, son of Momolo Mortara, a resident of the city, fell dangerously ill. There was little, if any, hope for his life. The Catholic servant-maid, in Christian charity, clandestinely baptized the boy to open to him the gates of heaven. Contrary to expectation, he recovered. The maid, troubled in conscience, confided her action to a priest. He notified the papal authorities. On June 23, 1858, little Edgar, who had been christened Pio, in honor of the then reigning Pope, Pius IX, was forcibly abducted by them from his heart-broken parents and placed in a Catholic institution to make sure of his Christian education. He became later, of his own accord, a priest of the Augustinian Order, felt supremely happy as such and never ceased to thank God for his good fortune in having been raised a Christian. Thus the abduction that had aroused a storm of indignation throughout the world ended happily for the principal party concerned.

 

Few Catholic laymen, if any, and not many priests, are acquainted with this "divine" right and duty of the Church to abduct, under given circumstances, the children of non- Catholics. For all practical purposes, it is a dead-letter, nowhere in the world has the Church the power to enforce it. But the interesting question remains: would she enforce it, if she was able to? The last pope to wield secular power, Pius IX, did enforce it, and Catholic theologians to this very day are teaching and defending this "divine" right.

 

As long as it is asserted, Latin Freemasons will consider themselves justified in persecuting the Church as an enemy of the freedom of conscience.

 

As the Catholics continue to form a rapidly rising percentage of the population of the United States, American non-Catholics will naturally ask: If American Catholics should ever attain a numerical preponderance, would they lend themselves to carrying out a papal policy that encroaches on the religious liberty of others? To that question one can only answer that the present-day American Catholics would most intensely hate such a papal policy; but whether they would dare oppose it is a different proposition altogether. The present-day American Catholics have permitted themselves, without the slightest protest, to be stripped of every vestige and semblance of self- determination.

 

Would it not be to the interest of religious peace and to the interest of the Catholics the world over, if the papacy waived, in an official pronunciamento, some of its "divine" rights, such as the "positive, though indirect, subjection of the civil authority to the Roman Pontiff," and the forcible catholicization, under given conditions, of the children of non-Catholics?

 

It is with reluctance that I quote these two objectionable passages from the textbooks of my revered teachers, Hurter and Noldin. Personally, they were tolerant, kind-hearted, amiable, saintly priests, endowed with as large a portion of common sense as any human being ever enjoyed. They loved to see people cheerful and happy and always relished a joke.

 

One will ask: how then could they give utterance to such fanatical doctrines? The answer probably is: these doctrines are an inheritance from a narrow minded, austere age in which pennywise sophistry often triumphed over Christian charity and common sense. Instead of relegating these mischievous, trouble-breeding tenets to the junk pile, the scholastics, who dominate Roman Catholic theology, continue to venerate them as sacred relics. They are dangerous relics, these skeletons in the closet. But are they really relics? Is it certain that there is no life left in those bones? Has the papacy made up its mind never to enforce these fanatical doctrines again? This is a pertinent question the government of the United States ought to send the Vatican with the request: R.S.V.P.

 

----o----

 

The Board of Editors

 

THIS collection of miscellaneous information is not intended to be humorous, even if some may think it funny. It has been prepared for the special entertainment and delectation of the eighteen brethren concerned and any ribald brother who proceeds to laugh will be excluded from the meeting; otherwise invited to skip the succeeding pages. It doesn't concern anybody else but ourselves anyhow.

 

The printer began the New Year very well by turning the Board of Associate Editors into a Board of Directors. The mystery has not yet been fathomed but perhaps he thought, perhaps (dreadful thought!) he had reasons for thinking, that one was needed, and intended it as a not too delicate hint. The Editor-in-Charge (please no one ask why) being "off the job," did not notice this nefarious deed until it was too late. He wishes to say, if anyone will listen, that it won't occur again, if he can help it, as he does not want sixteen directors directing him into the straight and narrow way. He has not got time to go any other way.

 

The idea of this collection of biological - no, biographical specimens - well, that again is hardly the word either, but let it pass, everyone ought to know what we mean - arose by chance, as most brilliant ideas have a way of doing. We insist the idea is brilliant. It dawned upon some of us that we really knew very little about each other, and in order to get acquainted it was decided to introduce ourselves to each other, and also to the members of the Society and the public-at-large, so far as it cares to pay the entrance fee to the show. But it is chiefly for ourselves, and we won't mind a bit if everyone else looks the other way and talks very fast about something else.

 

It must be admitted, or asserted, that certain members of the Board haven't played fair. If only we could have sent a traveling Inquisitor with a portable rack or a set of thumbscrews in his suit case, we might have gotten fuller and less evasive confessions. Failing this we might have invented some details to fill up the gaps; and it would have served these few slackers right if their life histories had been expanded in the light of unfettered imagination and fancy free. However, the high standards of THE BUILDER prevented, and we reluctantly gave up all thought of indulging in this pleasure. We stick to the evidence, such as it is, no matter how fragmentary the story may be.

 

Still there is enough to show what a remarkable lot we are. Our chests swell inches as we think of it. All kinds, shapes, sizes and ages are represented. There are five, for instance, who are or have been engineers - a goodly proportion. Six served in some capacity in the war, from the humble private in the ranks to Chaplain and Lieutenant-Colonel. Five there are who have had legal training - some thought better of it, but others have become successful in that profession. Nine are, or have been, editors - by vocation - or otherwise connected with the press - a state of affair perhaps not so remarkable when one comes to think of it. There is one clergyman, one statesman, two accountants, three stamp collectors, four scout masters, five especially interested in work for boys and education. Finally all of them are, of course, students and most of them are married.

 

This all totalled up makes a very large and imposing Board. Any one good at addition can find the total, but we are not going to give the answer, and do not desire correspondence on the subject.

 

Thus we begin with

 

Louis Block

 

Was born in Davenport, Iowa, in June, 1869, in which place he has lived all his life. He was educated in the Davenport public schools and later entered the State University, from which he graduated in due course. He entered the legal profession in which he has been eminently successful. He was married in June, 1893, to Cora Bollinger and has three sons.

 

Bro. Block was made a Mason in Trinity Lodge, No. 208, at Davenport, being raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in February, 1895. He took the Capitular Degree, in Davenport Chapter, No. 16, and became a Knight Templar in St. Simon of Cyrene Commandery, No. 9, in January, 1901.

 

He was Master of Trinity Lodge for three years in succession, from 1899 to 1901. In 1899 he was appointed to serve on the Committee of Appeals and Grievances of the Grand Lodge. In 1905 he was elected Senior Grand Warden. In 1907 he became Deputy Grand Master and in 1911 was elected Grand Master of Iowa. For three years before this he had acted as Fraternal Correspondent, and after his term of office as Grand Master he was again chosen for this important task for which he was so well fitted. He served his Grand Lodge now in this capacity for a quarter of a century.

 

In 1899 he was exalted to the Royal Arch in Davenport Chapter, No. 16, and in 1901 became a Knight Templar in St. Simon of Cyrene Commandery, No. 9. In 1904 he was elected High Priest of his Chapter and in 1908 became Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of Iowa. He took also the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and has been successively Venerable Master of Adoniram Lodge of Perfection, No. 4; Wise Master of St. John's Chapter, Rose Croix; Preceptor of Coeur de Leon Council of Kadosh, and finally received an honorary 33rd Degree in 1907. In spite of his long Masonic life his interest in the Craft remains unabated, and his annual report on Fraternal Correspondence is one of the outstanding features of the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Iowa.

 

George Henry Dern

 

Was born in Dodge county, Nebraska, in 1872. He was the second child of John and Elizabeth Dern, who were both natives of Germany and among the pioneer settlers of the state.

 

He was educated in the Hooper public schools, the Fremont Normal College and the University of Nebraska. In between times he worked at various things, in the grain and lumber business, and in the County Treasurer's office. He stood high at the University both in his studies and in athletics. In 1894 he was captain of the, football team that won the Missouri Valley championship.

 

After graduation he went to Salt Lake City and entered the employ of the Mercur Gold Mining and Milling Co. Beginning as bookkeeper, he steadily advanced until he was made General Manager of the company in 1902. This position he has held ever since, though he has also acquired many other mining interests. In collaboration with T. P. Holt he developed a new process for treating ores, and devised the Holt-Dern furnace for low grade silver lead ores. He organized the Tintic Milling Company, and has been consulting engineer for other important firms.

 

Though so active in his profession be has found time for literary and public affairs. He has been on the School Board of the town of Mercur, and is a member of a number of clubs and professional associations, including the University Club, the American Political Science Association and the American Economic Association.

 

He was married in 1899 to Lottie Brown, of Fremont, Neb., and they now have five children.

 

In 1924 he stood for the office of Governor of Utah. His opponent was running for re-election and had the well organized Republican machine backing him. Bro. Dern stood alone. He had been in the State Legislature for some years, however, and had become known as a man with sound ideas and an ambition to make the management of public affairs as honest and efficient as those of private concerns. Against all expectation be defeated his opponent by a large majority. Since then he has been fully engaged by the cares of office. He has emerged as a statesman in his attempts to obtain a solution of the vexed problem of the Colorado River. It is impossible to go into the matter here, but while maintaining the rights of his own State he has endeavored, by not claiming more than was right and just, to induce the other States concerned to agree. He has also defended the rights of the States against the encroachments of Federal bureaucracy.

 

Bro. Dern was initiated in Wasatch Lodge, No. 1, at Salt Lake City in 1897. He was elected Master of the lodge in 1902. While at Mercur, though retaining membership in his Mother Lodge, he did so much for Rock Mountain Lodge, No. 11, that he was made an honorary member in recognition of his .services, a distinction very rarely granted in Utah.

 

He has been Grand Representative for Texas since 1904, Grand Lecturer in 1910 and 1911, and passing through the Grand Warden’s chairs in -succession became Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, of Utah in 1912, and Grand Master in 1913.

 

He was exalted in Utah Chapter, No. 1, in 1898, became a Knight Templar in Utah Commandery, No. 1, in the same year, and received the 32nd Degree of the A. and A. S. R. in Utah Consistory, No. 1, in 1904. In 1925 he was created K.C.C.H. and in 1927 received the 33rd and last degree of the Rite. In spite of his manifold duties he takes a part in the ritualistic work of the 31st and 32nd Degrees.

 

His contributions on Masonic subjects have all appeared in THE BUILDER. Bro. Dern has a clear and incisive style, and strong common sense, which makes everything he writes interesting and worth reading. Even his official utterances have this quality of holding the attention of those who have no direct interest in the subjects and problems involved.

 

N. W. J. Haydon

 

Was born in the small but ancient town of Newton Abbott in Devonshire, England, in 1871, his father being a physician and a member of the local Masonic Lodge.

 

In 1889 he left England and came to the United States and was for a time settled in Minnesota. From there he went to Manitoba, and after four years went to St. John, N. B. Two years later he returned to the United States and found employment at Lowell, Mass. Here he became a member of the Theosophical Society, being introduced thereto by his employer, Bro. A. H. Hobson, who was also a Past Master of William North Lodge. This was in 1896. In 1899 he went to Boston, and in 1901 returned to -Canada and finally settled in Toronto. He was married in 1904 and has one daughter.

 

Bro. Haydon was initiated in William North Lodge, Massachusetts, in 1897, but transferred his affiliation when he went to Toronto, where he became a member of the newly instituted Riverdale Lodge. In 1913 he was among the group of brethren who were active in forming the Central Masonic Bureau, which was organized to assist the Toronto lodges in selection of material. Of this he was at first Assistant Secretary and later Secretary. The Bureau proved itself so useful that it was later adopted into the Constitutional Machinery of the Ontario Craft.

 

In 1920 he became an Associate Member of Lodge Quatuor Coronati and became its Provincial Secretary for Ontario in place of R. W. Bro. H. T. Smith who had resigned. The same year he was active in the formation of the Toronto Society for Masonic Research, of which he became Secretary-Treasurer, an office he has held ever since.

 

He was exalted in St. Alban's Chapter, R. A. M., in 1921, and admitted to Adoniram Council in 1925. In the same year he paid a visit to Boston and Lowell and by special dispensation of the Most Illustrious Grand Master of the Grand Council of Massachusetts, R. and S. M., M. W. Bro. Arthur Prince, who had been Senior Warden of William North Lodge at the time of his initiation, he received the degree of Super-Excellent Master, which had not then been worked in his own Council in Toronto.

 

His hobby is stamp collecting, though of late years it has been forced into the background. He has been a regular contributor to the Masonic Sun, of Toronto, for many years, and his contributions to THE BUILDER will not need mention here. He is in part author of First Steps in Freemasonry, a very useful little book published by the Toronto Research Society.

 

Robert Ingham Clegg

 

Vice-President of the National Masonic Research Society as well as an Associate Editor, he has been active in the organization from the start, and has been a frequent contributor to the columns of THE BUILDER. He is Editor-in-Chief of The Masonic History Company, of Chicago, Ill., and the revisor of Dr. Albert G. Mackey's famous books, the History of Freemasonry, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Symbolism of Freemasonry and Jurisprudence of Freemasonry.

 

A mechanical engineer by profession, a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Civil Engineers' Club and the Cleveland Engineering Society, and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, he has served as chairman of the Committee on Constitution and By-Laws of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and until his frequent absences from his home city of Cleveland, Ohio, was active in engineering and other civic bodies there, serving also as vice-president and chairman of the Business Committee of the Board of Education, a position of joy and usefulness very much to his liking and a service only interrupted by protracted out-of-town work.

 

He has long been identified with technical and trade journalism and was engineering editor of the first journal in English devoted to the automobile, and since then an editor of leading metallurgical and other scientific publications in Cleveland and New York, also editing various reference books for engineers.

 

He is a Past Master of Tyrian Lodge, No. 370, Cleveland Ohio, and Past President of the Past Masters' Association of that district; Honorary Past President of the Past Masters' Association of Hamilton county, Ohio, and honorary member of the Library Association at Cincinnati. A member of Cleveland Chapter, No. 148, R. A. M., Cleveland Council, No. 36, R. & S. M., Holyrood Commandery, No. 42, K. T., Cleveland Chapter No. 139, O.E.S., and a Sovereign of St. Benedict Conclave No. 34, of the Red Cross of Constantine, all of Cleveland, Ohio He has occupied the appointive office of Grand Historian of Ohio.

 

For a number of years he was President of the Cleveland Masonic Temple Association and served as a member of the two building committees chosen to erect the combined structure in Cleveland housing the Scottish Rite, the Shrine and the Grotto, as well as the York bodies, and he has occasionally also given his services gratis as an engineer and Freemason in the design and erection of Masonic temples elsewhere in Ohio and other States of the Union. A similar advisory and working service was long ago also rendered by him in the organization of Masonic Study Clubs through the medium of THE BUILDER and other magazines. He is an honorary member of the Masonic Study Club of London.

 

While studying at the British Museum and the various Masonic Libraries in Europe, he received many additional Masonic degrees. A list of these appeared in the printed proceedings for 1924 of the Grand Lodge of Ohio as follows:

 

Received the Royal Order of Scotland, Degrees of Herodim and the Rosy Cross, on the nomination of several Officers of the Grand Lodge of Ireland at a meeting held in Edinburgh on July 4, 1924, the Earl of Elgin, Grand Master Mason of Scotland, presiding. In Newcastle, Northumberland, received the degrees conferred in Royal Kent Tabernacle, of Time Immemorial Antiquity, the principal as well as the appendant degrees being, among many others, Holy Royal Arch, Knight Templar Priest, Knight of Patmos, etc. In London received the degrees of St. Laurence the Martyr, the Red Cross of Babylon, Knight of Constantinople, the Grand Tyler of King Solomon, the Secret Monitor, Grand High Priest, and Ark Mariner. In the Metropolitan College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia was given the Zelator grade and afterwards advanced by the College of Adepts through further stages to the Seventh Grade.

 

He is a Steward of the Rose and Lily Council of London, a member of the Correspondence Circles of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, also of London, the Lodge of Research at Leicester, England, and the Lodge of Research at Dublin, reading at the latter's invitation a paper at Belfast on "Irish Influence on American Freemasonry." He enjoys honorary membership in lodges as far asunder as Cleveland City Lodge, No. 15, Cleveland, Ohio, and Dundee Saint Mary's, No. 1149, of Scotland, the ceremony in the latter case being made all the more memorable by the presence of the officers and brethren from Mary's Chapel Lodge, No. 1, of Edinburgh, who journeyed to Dundee especially for this occasion.

 

He is also a life member of the Verein Deutscher Freimaurer and of the Ligo Framasona, the latter an international group of brethren each in possession of two or more languages.

 

He has also recently contributed several articles in the series of essays on the Masonic Survey for the Christian Science Monitor and has for years written for many publications of the Craft here and abroad.

 

He has received the Thirty-third Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

 

In the Society of Operatives in England he was given the Seventh Grade of Operative Mason.

 

He is a Past President, and was also for some years chairman of the Committee on Resolutions of the National League of Masonic Clubs, and is also a Trustee of the Educational Foundation organized to endow in perpetuity a Professorial Chair for Diplomatic and Foreign Service, a project in line with the expressed desire in the last will of Bro. George Washington, our first President of the United States.

 

Joseph Edgerton Morcombe

 

Was born at Cardiff, in Wales, September, 1864. He omits to say when he came to America, or give any details of his private history. He became a Mason at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The contiguity of the famous Masonic Library of the Grand Lodge of Iowa was of great service to him, and also the influence of the late Bro. T. S. Parvin. After the death of the latter, Bro. Morcombe wrote his biography at the request of the Grand Lodge. He also held the appointment of Grand Historian and was on the Committee of Fraternal Correspondence.

 

Bro. Morcombe is at present a member of Lodge Educator, No. 554, San Francisco Cal.; Rabbi Chapter, No. 103, Storm Lake, Iowa; Maple Valley Council, No. 25, Ida Grove, Iowa; San Francisco Commandry, No. 41, K.T.; San Francisco Consistiory, No. 1, A. and A. S. R. and Abu Bekr Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., Sioux City, Iowa. Of this he writes:

 

"Here is the usual array of bodies, not always an indication of Masonic knowledge. Let me hope however that from some of these grades I have learned a bit here and there and that I am not altogether ignorant of the meaning and purpose of the ancient Craft."

 

And he adds:

 

"Masonic office holding has never appealed to me, nor have I ever been attracted by ritualism to the extent of memorizing and reciting set forms of words. I have rather sought to find significance than to be content with phraseology."

 

He became a frequent contributor to the Masonic press and in 1909 became the editor and publisher of The American Freemason, at Storm Lake, Iowa. The magazine was undoubtedly one of the best Masonic periodicals ever published. It was a great loss to the American Craft, did they but realize it, that it became necessary to discontinue during the war. It brought together a group of writers and students that it would be difficult to say has ever been matched before or since, even by THE BUILDER. The war was responsible for many losses, and this, for Masons, was not the least.

 

Bro. Morcombe later started the National Trestleboard in San Francisco, a periodical later merged with THE BUILDER. He then became Editor-in-Chief for the Masonic Publications Corporation. He is now editor and part proprietor of the Masonic World, also published in San Francisco, and he bids fair to make this magazine one of the outstanding Craft journals of the United States.

 

It will be seen from this record that American Masonry owes a great deal to Bro. Morcombe. He believes in the Institution even after more than thirty years labor in and for it, and the many disillusions that must have come in that time. He says that to him it "is a wonderful potentiality, to be used, perhaps, at some crisis" in the world "for immense benefit to the race and to our civilization." And also that be finds in it "a simple yet sufficient philosophy of life, which is saying much in this time of confusion and restlessness."

 

If Bro. Morcombe, has been chary of relating the facts of his personal life, these quotations will help to reveal the man.

 

Charles Clyde Hunt

 

Bro. Hunt has been interested in the National Masonic Research Society since its very inception, for he is one of its founders. Several years before the Society itself was formed, Bro. Hunt was active in Craft educational work in Iowa, and in 1912, as a member of the Committee on Masonic Research of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, rendered a report which can really be considered as the seed from which the N. M. R. S. grew. He has been a Steward of the Society since 1914, and has served as Secretary since August, 1923, when the Society's headquarters removed from Iowa to St. Louis. Numerous contributions from his pen have appeared in THE BUILDER, notably his report on the Thomas-McBain Masonic Fraud Case, at Salt Lake City in 1922. Bro. Hunt was one of the government's witnesses at that time.

 

Bro. Hunt was made a Mason in 1900, and served his lodge, Lafayette, No. 52, Montezuma, Iowa, as Master from 1904 to 1908. He was active in the educational work of the Grand Lodge, and in 1917 entered the Grand Secretary's office as Deputy to the late Newton R. Parvin, who was also an active supporter of the N. M. R. S. and one of its original officers. He was appointed Grand Secretary in January, 1925, and six months later elected to that office by an overwhelming vote which has been repeated each year since.

 

As a member of the Capitular Rite, Bro. Hunt has served Royal Arch Masonry of Iowa as Grand High Priest (1919-20) and is now a member of the educational committee of the General Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of the United States. His year as Eminent Commander of Apollo Commandery, No. 2, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, came to a close last December. Bro. Hunt is a Mason of the 32nd Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, S. J., where his services have been utilized in local degree work.

 

Bro. Hunt's greatest work in recent years has been his inauguration of modern methods and index systems in the Iowa Masonic Library, of which he is the ex-officio Librarian. Beginning with the Clipping Bureau, which he introduced while still Deputy Grand Secretary and Librarian, he has made the contents of the institution available to brethren unable to call at the library in person. He has gathered about him a corps of' individuals specially trained in the exacting requirements of a large library, and has developed an esprit de corps which sets out his administration as a new epoch in the history of the institution. The Grand Lodge Bulletin, which is sent free to all Iowa Masons upon request, has been changed from a quarterly to a monthly, and now ranks as one of the representative periodicals of the American Craft. A complete reclassification of the Library has been made, preparatory to the publication of a Newton Ray Parvin Memorial Catalogue, in which the Masonic literature of the library will be fully listed.

 

Thoroughly conversant with Masonic jurisprudence, Bro. Hunt has written a Masonic Trial Manual for use in Iowa, and he has also compiled a most copious index for the Masonic Code of Iowa and a similar volume for the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar of Iowa. During the past year, an index has been prepared for the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, A. F. & A. M., from 1844 down to date, which comprises more than 50,000 references. This touches not only upon Iowa, but through the indexing of the Correspondence Reports, is an intricate network in which Masonic activities of national importance in all American jurisdictions for the period covered can be caught.

 

With all of his abilities in Masonic fields, Bro. Hunt is not a one-sided man. He acquired a college education through his own efforts (B.A., 1892, Grinnell College, Iowa), and for a time thereafter taught school. His ability as an accountant was used for the public good through twenty-two years of service as Deputy and county treasurer, and as State Examiner of Iowa. He is also active in church work, and holds membership in several civic welfare organizations. A man of family, Bro. Hunt has had the hearty interest and support of his wife in his labors, and has two sons and two daughters who have made a marked success in their own fields of educational endeavor.

 

F. H. Littlefield

 

Was barn at Avon, Mass. His parents were of the old New England stock. He was educated in the public schools and later at Thayer Academy at Braintree, the school founded by Gen. Sylvanus Thayer, father of West Point Military Academy. He entered Harvard University but left to enter journalism, removing to Jacksonville, Fla., where he read law and was also on the editorial staff of the Jacksonville Times-Union. Thence lie went to Indianapolis, where he was on the staff of The Sentinel for a time. Removing to St. Louis he continued newspaper work in executive positions on The Republic, The Globe-Democrat, The Star and other daily and class journals. In 1917 he became interested in fraternal publications and organized the Standard Masonic Publishing Co., acquiring "The Missouri Freemason," one of the oldest and best established Craft periodicals in the United States. He became an Associate Editor of THE BUILDER, and in 1923 was elected Executive Secretary and Treasurer of the National Masonic Research Society. It is not too much to say that it is owing to Bro. Littlefield's efforts that the Society was brought through a difficult and critical period, and its members owe him a greater debt than many of them realize.

 

He is married and has one son, who is also a Mason, a member of the same lodge as his father.

 

Bro. Littlefield was initiated in Duval Lodge, No. 18, at Jacksonville, Fla., and later transferred his membership to Occidental Lodge, No. 163, of St. Louis. He was elected Master in 1918, serving through 1919.

 

He received the Capitular Degrees in St. Louis Chapter, No. 8, R. A. M., and was later made a Knight Templar in St. Aldemar Commandery, No. 18, of which he was Commander in 1925. He is also a member of St. Cloud Conclave, No. 42, Red Cross of Constantine and Hiram Council, No. 1, Royal and Select Masters. He received the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Missouri Gonsistery, No. 1, and is a member of Moolah Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S. He has been very active in real Masonic affairs, serving from time to time on important committees, such as the Building and Finance Committees of the Masonic Temple of St. Louis.

 

He is a member of the Missouri Athletic Club of St. Louis, the Rotary Club and other similar organizations.

 

David E. W. Williamson

 

Was born in California, how long ago he does not say, but not too long and not too short one would judge. He started in life as a civil engineer, but took to writing, and since then has been chiefly engaged in newspaper work in California and Nevada. For the last thirteen years he has been editor of the Reno Evening Gazette. His chief hobby seems to be the acquisition of languages, with the study of archeology and ancient history, but takes an interest in modern history as well. He is a communicant of the Episcopal Church and a member of the Vestry of Trinity Church in Reno. He is married and has a son, who is also a Mason.

 

His family has the Masonic tradition, his father and both his grand-fathers were Masons, his father and his father's father being also Knights Templar.

 

Bro. Williamson has contributed a number of valuable articles to THE BUILDER, all marked by strong common sense, and what is not too common, sound learning. He has a marked gift of discriminating criticism, of which the article in THE BUILDER for May, 1922, is a good example.

 

He is a member of Reno Lodge, No. 13, also of Reno Chapter; he belongs to the Council of Royal and Select Masters and is a Knight Templar. He has held the office of Chaplain in Reno Lodge for several years; is a Past High Priest of his Chapter, a Past Grand Chaplain of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of Nevada, and present Grand Chaplain of the Grand Council, R. and S. M. He took the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in 1921, and is, now Prior of the Consistory.

 

He became a member of the N. M. R. S. in 1920, through having been shown a copy of THE BUILDER. This induced him to write to Bro. H. L. Haywood who introduced him, by letter, to other members of the Society with similar interests to himself. He became an Associate Editor in 1922.

 

Charles F. Irwin

 

Was born in the Borough of Bellevue, Pa., and educated in the schools there and at Pittsburgh. Is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College and studied for the ministry in the Western Theological Seminary of Pittsburgh, with a post graduate course at Oberlin College, Ohio. He has held a number of pastorates in different parts of the country, and done specialist work for the State Sabbath School Association of Pennsylvania. Served a year and a half as Chaplain in the U. S Army during the war, and is now a pastor at Wilmerding, Pa. He is married and has one son and several daughters.

 

He has been much interested in work for boys, and has been a leader of a number of clubs for them, and conducted summer camps or Boys' Cities. He is also interested in the DeMolay Order, to which his son belongs.

 

His Masonic career was determined by family tradition, as his father was a Mason and Past Master of Alleghany Lodge, No. 223, of Pittsburgh. He was initiated in Kedron Lodge, No. 389, at West Middlesex, Pa., in July, 1903. Later he joined his father's old lodge. When he went to Ohio in 1907 he dimitted and joined Belle Centre Lodge, No. 347, at that place, of which he was elected Master in 1914. He joined Lafayette Chapter, R.A.M., at Bellefontaine in 1911, Logan Council of the same place, and Bellefontaine Commandery, of which he is Past Commander. He dimitted from Lafayette Chapter in 1920 and became a member of Eaton Chapter, at Eaton, Ohio, where he was elected to the office of King. His military service prevented his going further in office. He took the degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite at Dayton, and also joined Hamma Chapter, O.E.S., at Belle Centre, of which Mrs. Irwin and his daughters were also members, Mrs. Irwin being a Past Worthy Matron.

 

Bro. Irwin is interested in archeology and in Military Masonic bodies and is a collector of Masonic relies. In connection with this he has made, partly under the auspices of the N.M.R.S., a card index of more than 12,000 Masons who were in the American Expeditionary Forces, and is still adding to it. He has also much data on the various Masonic clubs and like organizations and military lodges that came into existence during the war. It is his hope to make these unique records as nearly complete as is humanly possible.

 

He has published a number of articles along these lines, some in THE BUILDER, and during 1927 a series that appeared in "The Master Mason" under the title of The Quest of the Twelve Fellowcrafts, which is the story of Masonic club life during the war. An archaeological article appeared in THE BUILDER, The Walum Olum, which was of great interest.

 

His present chief interest looks forward to the day when his son can enter the Fraternity, with the hope that some day another Past Master's jewel may lie beside those of grandfather and father.

 

Ray Vaughn Denslow

 

Was born at Spickard, Mo., in March, 1885, being the son of William Marvin and Malinda Caroline Denslow. He received his education in the public schools of his home town, at Blees Military Academy, Macon, Mo., Macon High School and the University of Missouri, from which he graduated in 1903 with the degree of A. B.

 

He was editor of the Trenton Daily News from 1909 to 1911; Assistant Postmaster from 1911 to 1921; National Supervisor of the Order of DeMolay for Boys from 1921 to 1923, when he was elected Grand Secretary of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons; Grand Recorder of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar and also Grand Recorder of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters in Missouri.

 

His special interest is the history of the Middle West and the State of Missouri in particular. He is the author of the interesting and valuable work on the beginnings of the Craft in the West, Territorial Masonry, and is also an associate editor of Walter Williams' History of Northwest Missouri.

 

He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, of the Missouri Historical Society, the Acacia Fraternity and the International Rotary. He was married to Clara Alice Merrifield, of Mason, Mo., and has one son, born in 1916.

 

Bro. Denslow was initiated in Censer Lodge, No. 172, at Macon, in March, 1906, and went on in due course to take the degree of the Royal Arch Chapter, the Council of Royal and Select Masters, the Knights Templar, Red Cross of Constantine and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. He is Past Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Missouri, has been created K.C.C.H. in the Scottish Rite and is now Grand Senior Deacon of the Grand Lodge of Missouri and General Grand Master of the Third Veil of the General Grand Chapter, R.A.M. He is also on the Committee of History of the General Grand Council and Editor of the Missouri Grand Lodge Bulletin, as well as Associate Editor of THE BUILDER. Bro. Denslow is also a bibliophile and has in his collection some very rare and curious books.

 

Jesse Meigs Whited

 

Was born at Carlin, Nev., in November, 1876, and received his education in the Nevada public schools, later going to Stanford University (1893-1896) and later graduated from the University of California with the degree of L. L. B.

 

He is engaged in insurance, representing a number of companies in an executive and other capacities. Is now Agent General for the Central Surety and Insurance Corporation of Kansas City, Mo.

 

During the war he was the Director of the Executive Committee which recruited and equipped the Masonic Ambulance Corps as the 364th Ambulance Co., U. S. A. He was an honorary member of the Corps.

 

He has been greatly interested in work among boys, and is active in the Associated Boys' Council of San Francisco and Secretary of the Public Schools' Welfare Association. He was elected active member in 1921 of the Grand Council of De Molay and has since them been Grand Marshal and Active Member in Charge of Northern California and Nevada, and is National Trustee of the De Molay Endowment Fund. He is also National President of the Delta Sigma Lambda, the De Molay College Fraternity, and a member of the Commonwealth Club of California, the State Bar Association, and of the Alumni Associations of the University of California and Stanford University.

 

He was initiated in California Lodge, No. 1, and raised in September, 1907. He was elected Master of the lodge in 1916. In the Grand Lodge of California he has been on the Committee of Masonic Education since 1917 and was chairman in 1921; served on the Committee on Charters in 1924 and on the Correspondence Committee since 1918, with a few intermissions. He belongs also to California Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M., California Commandery, No. 1, K. T., and to the San Francisco bodies of the A. and A. S. R., in which he has served as Venerable Master in 1915, Wise Master in 1916 and received the 33rd and last degree in 1918. He joined the O.E.S. and was Worthy Patron in 1914 of King Solomon's Chapter, No. 170. Is also a member of Islam Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., and of the Past Masters' Association of California, of which body he has been Secretary since 1920. He belongs also to the Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots, and served as Pharaoh in 1923-24, and is editor of the Sciots' Magazine.

 

Bro. Whited is a member of the Correspondence Circle of Quatuor Coronati Lodge and is a Steward of the N.M.R.S as well as Associate Editor of THE BUILDER.

 

Arthur Caswell Parker

 

Was born in the Indian Mission Settlement of Iroquois, Erie County, New York, in 1881. His father, a teacher, graduate of Albany Normal School, was the son of the leading chief of the tribe, and held the office of Secretary for many years. His mother was of Scotch ancestry. It was inevitable under these circumstances that the son of this marriage should grow up in an atmosphere of books. They were his first toys. His grand father, the Chief, took great delight in reading Milton and Shakespeare to his little grandson. It was in this home library that he first became acquainted with Masonic literature, for in it were such works as Harris' Masonic Discourses, Mackey's Lexicon, and Masonic Guide.

 

Bro. Parker was educated in the Reservation Schools, the High School of White Plains, the Dickinson Seminary of Williamsport, and Rochester University, from which be graduated with the degree of Master of Science.

 

In 1902 he became field assistant of the American Museum of Natural History; then in 1903 Field Archeologist for the Peabody-Harvard Museum of American Archeology, and in 1906 received the appointment of State Archeologist for New York, with offices in the State Education Department.

 

Always interested in his own people he became Organization Secretary of the Society of American Indians in 1911, and after four years' service in this office was elected President. He founded the "American Indian Magazine" and was its editor for four years. He also founded and was first President of the New York State Indian Welfare Association, and fought proposed legislation detrimental to the interests of the Indians' for many years, being consulted on these matters by Presidents Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson. In 1919 he was Secretary of the New York State Indian Commission and did much to help solve the complex problems confronting the State in regard to Indian affairs. In 1923 he became Chairman of the Committee of One Hundred, of which many noted men and women were members.

 

He also organized the New York State Archeological Association and the Albany Philosophical Association, and for many years was active in Boy Scout work.

 

In 1925 he became Director of the Rochester Municipal Museum, and his work in this institution led to great improvements in methods. He is Vice-President of the American Association of Museums, and is one of the leading proponents of modern museum administration which seeks to make of such collections a popular university of visual instruction. His official publication, Museum Service, is regarded as an authoritative text on this subject.

 

Bro. Parker's archeological works are numerous, the State of New York has published seven including the two volume Archeological History of New York. He contributed two volume to the Buffalo Historical Society's publications, The Last Grand Sachem and Seneca Myths and Folktales. Of more popular works are Skunny Wundy and Other Indian Tales and The Indian How Book. He has also published various works of American Ornithology.

 

He joined Sylvan Lodge, No. 303, at Sinclairville, N. Y., and was raised in November, 1907. It was natural that he should seek to become a member of the Craft as there was a strong Masonic tradition in his family. One of his great-uncles was Gen. Ely S. Parker, who was Gen. Grant's Military Secretary, who was instrumental in founding several lodges in New York and has been Worshipful Master of most of them. Gen. Parker was a full-blood Seneca, and the Head Chief of his Nation.

 

Bro. Parker later joined Masters' Lodge, No. 5, at Albany, and in that city he became a member of Temple Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M., of which he was the historian. He also joined DeWitt Clinton Council, R. and S. M., Temple Commandery, No. 5, K. T., and Buffalo Consistory, A. and A. S. R. In 1924 he received the 33rd Degree and became a member of the Supreme Council. In the same year he was admitted to the Royal Order of Scotland.

 

His work on Masonic subjects has led to the production of the two booklets, American Indian Freemasonry and Secrets of the Temple, which were published by the Buffalo Consistory. A more scientific work was the essay on The Masonic Motif in Iroquois Silverwork, which was published in the American Anthropologist in 1916. His articles in THE BUILDER include, The Double-Headed Eagle, Indian Freemasonry and The Ark of the Covenant. He has other works in hand and in the press.

 

Jacob Hugo Tatsch

 

Was born in Milwaukee, Wis., in January, 1888. He was educated in the public schools of that city; attended George Washington University, Washington, D. C., and Coe College at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

 

In 1905 he entered the banking profession with the Old National Bank of Spokane, Wash., advancing through various departments until his election as assistant cashier. He resigned this position to enter the foreign departments of New York and Boston banks in 1919 and in 1922 was elected assistant cashier of the Union Bank and Trust Co. of Los Angeles, Cal.

 

Being offered an opportunity to devote all of his time to Masonic research, Bro. Tatsch came to Cedar Rapids as research assistant with the National Masonic Research Society, of which he was made a Fellow in 1922. He was appointed assistant secretary of the Society in 1923, in which capacity he also served as assistant editor of THE BUILDER. When the Society removed its headquarters to St. Louis he entered the employ of the Masonic Service Association of the United States, Washington, D. C., and became the manager of its book department and also assisted the Rev. Joseph Fort Newton as associate editor of The Master Mason.

 

Unsatisfactory conditions prompted Bro. Tatsch and two other department managers to resign in August, 1924, and after an assignment to active duty at the Army Finance School in Washington, where he was the first reserve officer to graduate from the institution, he entered the Iowa Masonic Library at Cedar Rapids to work in the German and French sections for two months; but upon the death of Grand Secretary N. R. Parvin, he was offered a permanent engagement as assistant to Bro. C. C. Hunt, the new incumbent, and then took office as curator and associate editor. One of his outstanding accomplishments is the change which he inaugurated in the Grand Lodge Bulletin, which had become a monthly publication in 1.925 upon recommendation of Grand Master Ernest R. Moore and the hearty approval of the Grand Lodge.

 

He was made a Mason in Oriental Lodge, No. 74, Spokane, Wash., in 1909, and was elected Worshipful Master for the year 1914; he was appointed Junior Grand Deacon of the Grand Lodge of the same state during the year 1914 and Grand Orator for 1917-18. He received the Scottish Rite Degrees in Oriental Consistory, No. 2, Spokane, in November, 1909, and has held various offices in the Rite in that city. He was a member of El Katif Temple of Spokane, but received the Capitular Degrees in Washington, D. C., as a candidate of Trowel Chapter, No. 49, R. A. M., Cedar Rapids, in 1924; the Cryptic Degrees in Palestine Council, R. and S. M., Cedar Rapids, in 1925.

 

Always interested in Masonic research he joined the Correspondence Circle of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, in 1912, and for many years has been one of its most active local Secretaries in the United States. He is also a member of the Correspondence Circles of Lodge of Research, No. 2429, Leicester, England; Lodge of Research, No. 200, Dublin, Ireland; Manchester Association for Masonic Research; Merseyside Association for Masonic Research, and Somerset Installed Masters Lodge.

 

Two honors accorded Bro. Tatsch in 1927 were the election to membership in the Authors' Club of London, and Authors' Lodge, No. 3456, restricted to members of the club. This was made possible through his activities as an author, for in addition to numerous contributions to the Masonic press of the United States and countries overseas - where his articles have appeared in German, French, Dutch and Norwegian - he has written several books. His first was Short Readings in Masonic History, which went into two editions in 1926, and is now being translated into Spanish for publication in the Bulletin of the Grand Lodge of Cuba and for circulation in book form in Latin America, generally. German and French translations are also under way. He also brought out High Lights of Crescent History, a readable account of Crescent Lodge events from 1851 to 1926. Bro. Tatsch is an affiliated Past Master of that lodge in Cedar Rapids, and for his work was presented with one of the lodge's Past Master's pins. A third book, Freemasonry, in the Thirteen Colonies, is now in the hands of the Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., of which Bro. Tatsch was elected vice-president recently. He is also the firm's literary editor. A fourth volume is to be completed in 1928, written in collaboration with E. M. Eriksson, Ph. D., The History of Anti-Masonry in the United States, 1737-1927, of which some of the chapters have appeared in THE BUILDER. Masonic Bookplates, written with Winward Prescott, M. A. (Harvard), is also on the press for distribution early this year. Bro. Tatsch has also translated Wilhelm Begemann's Friederich de Grosse ,under der Alte and Angenommene Schottische Ritus, on behalf of the Supreme Council, A. and A. S. R., S. J., whose history has been written by Bro. Charles S. Lobingier, 33rd Degree, Grand Cross.

 

Bro. Tatsch's many years of bank training have made him intensely practical, and this has also been stimulated by his military experience. Beginning as a Captain in the National Guard of Washington during 1917, he spent the closing months of the war in the Military Intelligence Department, and upon signing of the Armistice reverted to the National Guard Reserve until 1922. In 1924 he was commissioned Captain in the Finance Department, Officers' Reserve Corps, and last March passed his examinations for promotion to Major. He is now President of the Iowa Department, Reserve Officers' Association of the United States, and is a member of the Corps Area Advisory Board of the Seventh Corps Area, U. S. Army, Fort Omaha, Neb. Two of his articles on Army finance are a part of the official texts for students at the Army Finance School and the Correspondence Courses. In event of a major emergency, Captain Tatsch will be on duty at the school as instructor.

 

During his residence in Washington he served as Secretary of Washington Chapter, No. 3, National Sojourners, and is also a member of Washington Camp, Heroes of '76. He is a charter member and a trustee of the Cedar Rapids High Twelve Club, was Scoutmaster, Boy Scouts of America, 1919, graduate Scout Masters' Training Course, and received a medal for displaying qualities of unusual leadership in the work. He was a member of Spokane Council, Boy Scouts of America, in 1919.

 

Robert James Meekren

 

Was born in London, England, in June, 1876. At the age of fifteen he went to Canada, and lived on a farm in Quebec Province for six years. He returned to England and took an engineering course at the Polytechnic, after which he returned to Canada. He married, in 1901, the eldest daughter of the late Dr. John Meigs, of Stanstead, Quebec, in which place he made his home. His wife died in June, 1907.

 

A member of the Anglican Church he served as church warden for many years, and also as lay reader. He organized the first troop of Boy Scouts in Canada outside of the cities of Ottawa and Montreal. This work engaged a great deal of his time until 1915. He was also a School Commissioner for Stanstead for a number of years.

 

He enlisted in the 4th University Company of the P. P. C. L. I. and went overseas in November of 1915. He went to France in the early spring of 1916 and joined the Battalion then at Ypres. In June he was buried in a bombardment, suffering injuries to the back. Was taken prisoner and was several months in hospitals at Courtrai and Julich. In the autumn was sent to a convalescent camp (so-called) at Stendahl, where he remained until the end of December, 1918. Returned to England via Copenhagen and was in hospitals there and in Canada till September of the next year when he was discharged at his own request. It was not, however, until 1920 that he was able to do very much. ;Since then his general health and strength has gradually returned.

 

Bro. Meekren joined Golden Rule Lodge, No. 5, at Stanstead in May, 1911, and was raised the, September following. In 1914 he entered the newly formed Lively Stone Chapter, No. 16, being exalted to the Royal Arch in March, 1914. In July of the same year he took the Ineffable Degrees of the A. and A. S. R. in Newport Lodge of Perfection, receiving the remainder in Burlington Consistory, Burlington, Vt., in 1920. He was elected Master of Golden Rule Lodge in 1922, and owing to the accident of death and removal, was elected also as First Principal of Lively Stone Chapter for the same year; the double duty making it necessary to devote practically the whole time to the work.

 

In 1920 he became a member of the N.M.R.S., and some time after joined the Correspondence Circle of Quatuor Coronati Lodge. He became an Associate Editor of THE BUILDER at the end of 1923, and in 1925 came to St. Louis to assist Bro. H. L. Haywood, then Editor-in-Chief. He took full charge when Bro. Haywood's health made it necessary for him to give up this part of the work, he being then Editor of The New York Masonic Outlook as well.

 

Bro. Meekren has written a good deal, but published very little excepting ephemeral articles. The most important work on Masonic subjects outside of what has appeared in THE BUILDER was an article, The Sublime Degree, written mostly in 1914 but not published until 1915, when it appeared in the Tyler-Keystone, then edited by the late Bro. Campbell.

 

His chief interest is the study of Philosophy, Comparative Religion and kindred subjects. His hobbies, which he cannot now indulge, are gardening and making and mending things mechanical, from clocks and watches up.

 

A. L. Kress

 

He is a native of Iowa where he was brought up and educated. He took up the profession of engineer and has specialized latterly in industrial relationships. In the exercise of his profession he has been in different parts of the United States and lived for more than a year at Halifax in Nova Scotia. In recent years he has been in the employment of the United States Rubber Company, being in charge of the efficiency work of their subsidiary factory at Williamsport, Pa. Recently he has been made Assistant Manager of another of the compa