Mount Tom Lodge, A.F. & A.M.
By-Laws, 1910



ARTICLE I.
The Lodge, Time of Meeting.

Mount Tom Lodge shall hold a stated communication on the first Friday of every month, but by a vote of the Lodge, stated meetings may be omitted during June, July and August.

ARTICLE II.
Elective Officers

Section 1. At the Annual Communication, which shall be the stated communication in November there shall be elected by a majority of the members present, by written or printed ballots, a Master, Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Treasurer, and Secretary; also a Trustee of the Permanent Fund for three (3) years. At the next Annual Meeting following the adoption of these By-Laws, three (3) Trustees of the Permanent Fund shall be elected by ballot to serve one, two, and three years respectively.

Sec. 2. Appointed Officers. The Master shall appoint Senior and Junior Deacons, Chaplain, Marshal, Stewards, and Tyler, and such others as may be deemed expedient for the welfare and order of the Lodge.

ARTICLE III.
Duties and Prerogatives of Officers.

Section 1. Duty of the Treasurer. The Treasurer shall invest all moneys received, as the Committee of Finance or Board of Trustees of the Permanent Fund may direct, or pay them out on such bills or orders as the said Committee may approve. His accounts shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the Committee of Finance, and he shall exhibit to said Committee a record of the same to be laid before the Lodge at the Annual Meeting.

Sec. 2. Duty of the Secretary. The Secretary shall pay all moneys that he may receive on account of the Lodge to the Treasurer, every month. He shall keep an individual ledger account with each member of the Lodge, in a book furnished by the Lodge; shall issue summonses and notifications whenever directed by the Master; shall furnish every candidate with a diploma, and each new member, on his admission, with a copy of the By-Laws, and shall submit his accounts to the Committee of Finance whenever required. He shall record in a book prepared for the purpose, in alphabetical order, the names of all persons who have been suspended for un-Masonic conduct, or rejected as candidates for the degrees in this Lodge, and the date when such suspension or rejection took place. He shall report to the Lodge the names of delinquent members agreeable to Article IX of the By-Laws. He shall receive such compensation for his services as the Lodge may from time to time determine.

Sec. 3. Duty of the Tyler. The Tyler shall deliver all notifications when directed by the Secretary, and shall receive such compensation for his services as the Lodge may from time to time determine


ARTICLE IV.
Committee of Finance.

The Worshipful Master and Wardens, shall constitute a Standing Committee of Finance. They shall examine all bills and demands against the Lodge approve them if found correct with a majority of their signatures they shall examine and audit the book of the Treasurer, Secretary and Trustees of the Permanent Fund annually, and report thereon. They shall investigate and superintend the finances of the Lodge in general except in case of special appropriations ordered by the Lodge

ARTICLE V.
Candidates.

Every application for the degrees must be accompanied by the sum of fifteen dollars ($15) which sum shall be returned if the application be rejected, but may be forfeited to the Lodge if the application be accepted and the applicant neglects to present himself for initiation within twelve months after such acceptance. No Entered Apprentice shall be passed to the degree of Fellow Craft unless he can pass a~ examination that would enable him to gain admission into a Lodge of Entered Apprentices, and no Fellow Craft shall be raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason unless he can pass an examination that would enable him to gain admission into a Lodge of Fellow Crafts. Each initiate when he shall receive the third degree shall be entitled to receive a diploma from the Secretary.

ARTICLE VI
Balloting For Candidates.

No candidate for degrees in this Lodge shall be proposed a second time until after six months shall have elapsed from the time of the rejection of his application. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to inform an applicant of this provision of this article.

ARTICLE VII.


Section 1. Membership.Any candidate who has received the degrees in this Lodge may, by signing the By-Laws, become a member thereof without fee.

Candidates who have received the degrees elsewhere, shall stand proposed, at least one month, and be balloted for at a regular communication. If accepted, they shall sign the By-Laws and pay to the Secretary a fee of three dollars ($3) before they can exercise the privilege of members.

No brother who is not an initiate of the Lodge shall be eligible to sign the By-Laws and become a member thereof unless he produces satisfactory evidence of an honorable membership in, or an honorable discharge from the Masonic Lodge or Lodges named by him in his application for affiliation

Sec. 2. Honorary Membership. Brethren who have been eminently useful to the Masonic Fraternity, or have rendered important services to this Lodge shall be eligible to Honorary Membership. A unanimous ballot of the members present shall be necessary for an election.

Honorary Members shall be exempt from dues, and shall enjoy all rights and privileges of members, except that an Honorary Member who is an active member of another Lodge, shall have no right to vote in this Lodge, while such active membership continues.

ARTICLE VIII.
Fees For the Degrees.

The fees for the degrees in this Lodge shall be $35.00, payable as follows: $15.00 with application; $10.00 before receiving the degree of Fellow Craft, and $10.00 before receiving the degree of Master Mason.

ARTICLE IX.
Annual Dues.

Every member of the Lodge, Life and Honorary Members excepted, shall pay $3.00 annually, payable on July 1st. New members or brothers received by demit, shall pay no fractional part of the year's dues. Any member whose dues are settled, may, by an advance payment of $45.00 be exempt from all future annual dues, and enjoy all the rights and privileges of full membership.

ARTICLE X.
Non-Payment of Dues.

Every member shall settle his dues with the Secretary, at or before the Annual Meeting of each year. Any member neglecting so to do shall be notified by the Secretary, and if he continue such neglect for the space of six months after being thus notified his name shall be reported to the Lodge as a delinquent, and his membership may by a vote of the Lodge, be declared suspended, after due notice of the time when action is to be taken.

ARTICLE XI.

Section 1. Re-instatement. Any member whose membership has been suspended may, by a vote of the Lodge, be re-instated, upon payment of the amount of arrears to date of such suspension.

Sec. 2. Remission of Dues. The Committee on Finance shall have full authority to remit from time to time the dues of any member whose age, infirmity, misfortune, or desserts, may, in their judgment, entitle him to the remission. They shall, however, submit a detailed report of remitted dues, for entry on the records of the Lodge.

ARTICLE XII.

Section 1. Any member of this Lodge who shall expose to other than a Master Mason, any of its sayings or doings relative to the appointment of Committees on Applications for Degrees of Membership, or concerning the reports of said Committees, or results of ballot, shall, upon complaint of any member, if found guilty of the offense, be liable to a dishonorable discharge from the Lodge, and any visiting brother who shall be guilty of the offense, may forever after be debarred from visiting the Lodge.

Sec. 2. This article shall be read in the Lodge at the conclusion of balloting.

ARTICLE XIII.

Section I. Permanent Fund. The Permanent Fund shall be styled the "Permanent Fund of Mount Tom Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, Holyoke, Massachusetts." The Fund shall consist of moneys received for Life Membership, of all donations and bequests to the Lodge which are not otherwise definitely limited, and 10 percent of the entire annual receipts of the Lodge dues (excepting the fees for Life Membership, and the income of the Permanent Fund), and of such additions as shall from time to time be made to it by vote of the Lodge.

The principle of this fund shall never be expended, except by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting.

Sec. 2. Board of Trustees. The Permanent Fund shall be held in the name of the Worshipful Master, Wardens, and Members of Mount Tom Lodge, but shall be under the direction and control of a Board of Trustees, consisting of the Worshipful Master, who shall be the president of the board, and the Treasurer, and three members who hold no other office in the Lodge. At each Annual Meeting, the Lodge shall elect one member of the board for three years. Each trustee, however, shall hold his office until his successor is elected. The board thus constituted shall be styled "The Trustees of the Permanent Fund of Mount Tom Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Sec. 3. Vacancies. Should a vacancy occur on the Board of Trustees of the Permanent Fund by reason of death or otherwise, it shall be filled by an election by ballot at the next succeeding communication, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, due notice of the election being borne on the notification.

Sec. 4. Duties of the Trustees. The Board of Trustees shall carefully and judiciously invest the Permanent Fund in such savings banks or securities of permanent value as in their judgment will best promote the financial interests of the Lodge, and shall select a suitable place of deposit for the securities and vouchers, where their safety from fire and theft will be assured.

The Board of Trustees shall keep a full and accurate record of the investments of the Permanent Fund, and at each Annual Meeting they shall submit to the Lodge a correct statement of the fund in detail, exhibiting its exact nature and condition.

They shall semi-annually pay to the Treasurer, for the use of the Lodge, all incomes derived from the Fund as far as the same can be determined and collected, provided that the Committee on Finance at any time during the Masonic year may require the payment of the income into the treasury of the Lodge, otherwise the income shall at the close of the fiscal year be added to, and constitute a part of the Permanent Fund.

ARTICLE XIV.
Seal of the Lodge.

The seal of the Lodge shall consist of an outer circle, an inch and seven-eights in diameter, with an inner circle an inch and three-eights in diameter. Between these circles is inscribed, "Mount Tom Lodge A. F. & A. M., Holyoke, Mass." Within the smaller circle is represented the Square and Compasses resting on an open Bible, backed by rays of light. Below the Bible is inscribed, "Instituted March 14, 1850."

ARTICLE XV.

Section 1. These By-Laws shall be signed by all the members; they shall be read in the Lodge at least once in six months. No alteration shall be made therein, which shall not have been presented in writing at a stated communication and adopted at a subsequent regular communication by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting, due notice of the proposed action being borne on the notice of the meeting.


© Laurel O'Donnell 1997 - 2012, all rights reserved
This is an adaptation of the original publication
This document may be downloaded for personal non-commercial use only
and cannot be reproduced or distributed without permission.