paraiso, Chile, and Stacy A. Ransom, of Shang

hai, China, for Permanent Membership in the Grand Lodge under the terms of Part IV, Article I, Section 5, of the Grand Constitutions.

ELECTION OF GRAND OFFICERS.

The M.W. Grand Master then announced that the Grand Lodge would proceed to the election of a Recording Grand Secretary in place of R.W. Thomas W. Davis, deceased. The number of votes that might legally be cast was returned as follows:

37 Grand Officers present entitled to

37 votes.

The ballots having been cast and counted the Committee appointed to receive votes reported that 459 votes had been cast, all of which were for R.W. Frederick W. Hamilton. The M.W. Grand Master then informed R.W. Brother Hamilton of his election, giving him formal notice that acceptance would ipso facto vacate the office of Deputy Grand Master which R.W.

Brother Hamilton then held, and asked him if he would accept the office to which he had been elected. R.W. Brother Hamilton replied that he would accept the office, and thanked the Grand Lodge for the signal mark of confidence which had been shown him.

The M.W. Grand Master then announced that the Grand Lodge would proceed to elect a Director in place of R.W. Henry A. Belcher, deceased.

A ballot having been taken, the Committee appointed to receive and count votes reported that 615 votes had been cast, of which 385 were for Brother Matthew J. Whittall, and 230 for R.W. Louis C. Southard, and asked for a ruling as to whether or not a two-thirds vote is required for an election.

The M.W. Grand Master cited Part I, Article VI, Section 1, of the Grand Constitutions and ruled that a majority vote was sufficient for the election of a Director. He therefore declared Brother Matthew J. Whittall elected.

R.W. Louis C. Southard then arose and in a brief speech moved that the election of Brother Whittall be made unanimous. The motion was put and carried.

The M.W. Grand Master then announced that an election would be held for a member of the Board of Masonic Relief, to fill the vacancy in the unexpired term of R.W. Thomas W. Davis, deceased.

A ballot having been taken the Committee appointed to receive and count votes reported that 243 votes had been cast, all for R.W. Frederick W. Hamilton.

APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY GRAND MASTER.

The M.W. Grand Master appointed Wor. Roscoe Pound to be Deputy Grand Master.

In making this appointment the M.W. Grand Master stated that there were ample precedents for the holding of such office in the Grand Lodge by Brethren who had not been Masters of Lodges in Massachusetts. He spoke of Wor. Brother Pound's services to Masonry in Nebraska, of his eminence as a man of science, lawyer, and jurist and of his high standing in the community. In addition to all this he declared that Wor. Brother Pound is the most profound Masonic scholar in America, indeed in the world, and for this reason it was of the greatest value to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts that he should be one of its members.

APPOINTMENT OF JUNIOR GRAND DEACON.

The M.W. Grand Master appointed Wor. Frank Vogel Junior Grand Deacon.

In making the appointment the M.W. Grand Master thanked R.W. Frank Vogel for his prompt, generous, and efficient service as Recording Grand Secretary pro tempore. Called suddenly to aid the M.W. Grand Master and the Brethren by taking up the duties of an office for the permanent holding of which he was entirely unwilling to be a candidate, R.W. Brother Vogel had rendered a great service which deserved the gratitude of the Craft.

INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS.

The M.W. Grand Master then installed the following officers in AMPLE FORM:

R.W. ROSCOE POUND

R.W. FREDERICK W. HAMILTON

R.W. FRANK VOGEL

Deputy Grand Master.

Recording Grand Secretary.
Junior Grand Deacon.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AMENDMENT TO THE GRAND CONSTITUTIONS REGARDING JURISDICTION.

M.W. Edwin B. Holmes reported for the Committee as follows:

IN GRAND LODGE, BOSTON, March 10, 1915. The Committee to whom was referred the proposed amendment to Part IV, Article III, Section 9 of the Grand

Constitutions, conferring equal and concurrent jurisdiction over the several Lodges located in Boston, Quincy, Milton, Hyde Park, Brookline, Newton, Watertown, Belmont, Waltham, Lexington, Winchester, Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Malden, Everett, Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop, have attended to their duty and report as follows:

The question as to the jurisdiction of Lodges has occupied the serious attention of the Grand Lodge from time to time for very many years, and your Committee, appreciating the gravity of the subject, determined to make the most painstaking effort to obtain a clear understanding of the difficulties with which the subject was surrounded. To this end repeated hearings were given to which all the Lodges affected were invited to send their representatives, and nearly every Lodge was represented at one or more of these meetings.

After fully considering all the evidence and circumstances presented and the effect that the proposed change in the Grand Constitutions would have, your Committee are constrained to make a unanimous report against the adoption of the proposed amendments.

Your Committee, however, feels that in certain cases relating to the release of jurisdiction of one Lodge to another injustice and hardship have occurred, but your Committee are united in the opinion that in all such cases the Lodges complained of were actuated by the highest Masonic motives, and in making the following recommendations it should be understood that no criticism of any Lodge is intended.