The Growing Menace Of Freemasonry by Arnold Leese

by Arnold Leese

Disraeli, speaking at Aylesbury, 20th September, 1873, said:—"I can assure you, Gentlemen, that those who govern must count with new elements! We have to deal not with Emperors and Cabinets only. We must take into consideration secret societies, who can disconcert all measures at the last moment, who have agents everywhere, determined men, encouraging assassinations, and capable of bringing about a massacre at any moment."

The Conspiracy of Silence.

"THE position claimed by Freemasonry throughout the Whole World is a peculiarly and radically exceptional one. It alone is never, except in rare instances, dis­cussed by the Press; indeed, it refused to allow itself to be discussed."

"Although priests openly deliberate and pronounce upon all other points affecting the general interests of mankind; although Christianity with its system and doctrines, the State with its laws and constitution, are topics of free discussion; although the most intimate and personal concerns of individual persons are made public—Freemasonry alone, by the universal consent of Europe, is acknowledged to be a Noli me tangere! Everyone shrinks from speaking of it, as of an uncanny ghost. This phenomenon is an obvious proof of the immense power Freemasonry exercises in the world . . . . "

This was said over 60 years ago by the Bishop of Mayence and it is still true to day. The time has arrived when this Con­spiracy of Silence must be dissolved. Freemasonry and the Jew Power (which is also surrounded by a vast conspiracy of silence) have for centuries been undermining Christian and Aryan civilisation.

Before proceeding further in this investigation, it is necessary to consider brief statistics of the number of Freemasons in the world. H. Coston's book, "Les Franc Maçons Célèbres," gives the following figures for 1930, which agree with those from other sources:—

It will thus be seen that Great Britain has the highest per­centage of Freemasons of any country in Europe; in fact, 78 per cent. of the European Freemasons are British. It must however be realised that Freemasonry is restricted to males of 21 years of age or over, except in the case of sons of Freemasons, who are admitted at the age of 18; it will be sufficiently accurate to assume a mean age of 20 years for the purpose of the following statistical calculation. According to official figures based upon the 1931 census there were in that year 14,063,823 males of 20 years of age and upwards: thus the percentage of Freemasons on this basis becomes 3.3. It is undeniable that Freemasonry is only to be found amongst men who enjoy a certain social and financial standard of life; thus the £3 per week man is rarely found in the ranks of Freemasonry. From observation it would be fairly accurate to say that Freemasons are drawn from those in receipt of £400 per annum and upwards; if, therefore, the number of Freemasons in Great Britain is calculated as a percentage of those of the salary standard indicated, this figure will be very considerable. Inland Revenue statistics are not available showing the number of males in Great Britain in receipt of £400 per annum and upwards; but an idea of the position may be obtained from a consideration of the figures of men insured under the National Health Insurance Act; the official figure for 1931 was 12,224,500. It is extremely improbable that many of these will be Freemasons, as the salary limit is £250, so this figure should be deducted from the 14,063,823 (males of 20 years of age and upwards) and we arrive at the figure of 1,839,300 approximately.

Thus, there were in Great Britain in 1931, 459,000 Free­masons out of 1,839,300 males of over 20 years of age, whose salaries were outside the scope of the National Health Insur­ance Act; this gives a figure of 25 per cent.—that is, of every four adult men in Great Britain, receiving £250 per annum or more, one is a Freemason. Needless to say, if figures were available for the number of male adults in receipt of £400 per annum and upwards, this percentage would be considerably higher.

We have not taken into consideration the various other secret societies represented in Great Britain, such as Odd Fellows, Druids, Buffaloes, Foresters, etc., which, though not having any direct, visible connection with Freemasonry, have many points of resemblance, and are, therefore, liable to the same objections from a Fascist standpoint. The membership of these secret societies is 1,728,000 (Whittaker's Almanac, 1934); whilst being classified as "Friendly Societies," all have a ritual, and make use of signs and pass words.

Freemasonry is Essentially Jewish

WHATEVER may be the origin of Freemasonry, and this is a very disputable point even amongst Masonic experts, the fact remains that to day it is predominantly a Jewish institution: this is shown clearly by the following quotations from various authorities:—

Rabbi Isaac M. Wise, in "The Israelite" of America, 3rd August, 1855:—

Masonry is a Jewish institution, whose history, degrees, charges, passwords and explanations are Jewish from beginning to end, with the exception of only one degree and a few words in the obligation."

Richard Carlile in "Manual of Freemasonry":—

"The Grand Lodge Masonry of the present day is wholly Jewish." 

Bernard Lazare (Jew) in "L'antisemitisme":—

"It is certain that there were Jews around the cradle of Freemasonry; certain rites prove that they were cabbalistic Jews."

Brother Rudolph Klein in "Latomia," 7 8, 1928:—

"Our rite is Jewish from beginning to end; the public should conclude from this that we have actual connections with Jewry."

Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society, Vol. 2, page 156:—

"The Coat of Arms used by the Grand Lodge of England is entirely composed of Jewish symbols."

Freemasons' Guide, New York, 1901:—

"The Freemasons erect a building in which the God of Israel will live forever."

Le Symbolisme, July, 1928:—

"The most important work of the Freemason must be to glorify the Jewish race, which has preserved unchanged the divine standard of wisdom. You must rely upon the Jewish race to dissolve all frontiers."

The Textbook of Freemasonry, London, page 7:—

The initiate to the Master Rite is referred to as "humble representative of King Solomon."

An Encyclopædia of Freemasonry, Philadelphia, 1906:—­

"Each Lodge is and must be a symbol of the Jewish temple; each Master in the Chair, a representative of the Jewish king; and every Mason a personification of the Jewish workman."

Bernard Shillman in "Hebraic Influences on Masonic Symbolism," 1929:—

"The true reason why members of the Masonic Craft address each other as Brother so and so . . . is purely because of Hebraic Influence."

"The Freemason," 14th March, 1936:—

"Bro. Benas expressed the view that the Israelitish tradition is of the very tissue of Masonic substance, and the spirit of that tradition is its vitalising element."

Very recent evidence is found in a resolution of the "World Non Sectarian (sic) Anti Nazi Council to Champion Human Rights" at a Meeting held in London under the chairmanship of the American Jew, S. Untermeyer (reported in South African Jewish Chronicle, 14th December, 1934) to the effect that the Jewish boycott of Germany should continue inter alia "until it (the German Government) shall have restored to the Masonic Lodges the status and property of which they have been deprived."

Furthermore, it will be found that most Freemasons, particularly of the higher grades, invariably oppose and obstruct all attempts to investigate or to resist the constantly growing domination of Jewry, and that Freemasonic Gentile politicians are constantly to be found prepared to further Jewish interests.

It is, in fact, true to say that no conscientious Freemason can be other than pro Jewish; this is clearly shown in Dudley Wright's The Jew and Freemasonry, London, where on page 3 one reads: "In 1923 and 1924 some difficulty occurred in the Province of West Yorkshire in curtain Lodges, where an attempt was made to bar Jewish candidates from passing through the rite of initiation; and the late Sir William Pick Rayner, then Provincial Grand Master, addressing his Provincial Grand Lodge, said: "How can we, as Freemasons, honour King Solomon and, at the same time, put a reproach on one of our own day for having the same blood in his veins as had that King? Regard for King Solomon should teach us to regard with sympathy all who belong to the nation of which he was the exalted head."

Masonic Brotherhood

IT is quite beyond the scope of a pamphlet of this kind to describe or discuss the ritual and symbolism employed in the Lodges, or to investigate their secret meanings, or to trace most of them back to perverted Aryan Sumerian sun and fire rites.

We will now consider the teachings of Freemasonry as so clearly expounded by that very able English writer, Brother J. S. M. Ward, in his "Freemasonry, its Aims and Ideals." In order that it may be realised that Brother Ward speaks with the voice of knowledge, it is necessary to study his Masonic qualifications, which are clearly stated on the title-page of his book, "Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods."

Brother Ward, therefore, knows his subject; he points out that persons become Freemasons from a desire to be charitable, for comradeship, from a sense of universal brotherhood, and from a wish to search after the Light (to learn the spiritual meaning of the symbols and the significance of the mystical tradition).

Charity is certainly a Christian virtue; and although it should be performed without ostentation, we cannot agree that it need be shrouded in secrecy; however, the charity of the Mason is very one sided, as Masonic charities only assist members of the craft and their relations; we do not suggest that Masons do not contribute to charities of wider scope, but we do maintain that the much vaunted Masonic charity is restricted within a very narrow and selfish circle.

"A brother who has taken part in sedition against the State without being guilty of any other crime, need not on that account be expelled from his Lodge." Rev. James Anderson, "Book of Constitutions," 1738.

Nationality Superseded

REGARDING comradeship, Brother Ward refers to "the mysterious tie which, though hidden and secret from the outside world, yet binds together all true Masons throughout the world" (the italics are ours). We have now come right up against that very big question, internationalism; and it is on this that we have quite a lot to say. We will first quote Brother Ward again (p.p. 169 170):—"When war broke out, many Lodges issued cards to serving members asking foreign Masons to give help for the owner of the card. They were printed in English, French, German, and Turkish." On page 2 we read:—"German Masons treated English or French Masons better than they did non Masons who fell into their hands—and there were many well authenticated cases of this kind." This no doubt explains why "during the war there was a remarkable increase in the number of men who desired to be admitted to the Order, not only in England but all over the English-speaking world."—The Freemason, 4/5/35.

We trust the reader has fully appreciated all that this means, namely, that in time of war there exists a secret understanding between the soldiers of enemy states . . . in other words, a Secret Society sets itself above the State. There have been cases where soldiers have actually ceased firing on the receipt of a masonic sign from the enemy; we will quote a few instances:

Le Globe, 1st year, page 51, quotes a case at the Battle of Waterloo of a Prussian officer who utilised this means of escape from certain death.

Le Franc Maçon, August, 1860, states that over one hundred French sailors gave the distress signal at the Battle of Trafalgar, and were thereby saved.

John Fellows in "The Mysteries of Freemasonry," London, 1860, says:—"A case of this kind happened in the American revolutionary war, which is often alluded to by Masonic writers. Colonel McKenstry was taken prisoner by the Indians, who were preparing to put him to a terrible death.

In this emergency, he gave the Masonic sign of distress which induced a brother Mason, a British officer, to interfere and save his life."

Lennhof in "The Freemasons," London, 1934, says, in speaking of the American War of Independence:—"There were many military Lodges on the British side also, and consequently, when troops were taken prisoner, it often happened that Freemasons fell into the hands of Brethren. Many a soldier owed his life to this."

Another case is quoted in the Masonic Review of Cincinnati, March, 1896, in reference to Grant's raid on Petersburg, Virginia, 2nd April, 1865.

The German Masonic paper, Herold, in 1900, published an article quoting cases of the use of the distress signal by British officers in the Boer war; also by both sides in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.

The German General staff in Berlin issued a notice on 3rd April, 1917, to the Police Chief in that town, stating "there still exist connections between German and foreign Freemasonry, and that a considerable amount of espionage takes place through these channels." The German Masonic paper, Bauhütte (3rd April, 1915) quotes a case where a number of Belgian franc tireurs were condemned to death; one of them made a sign to the German officer in charge of the execution party, and was immediately freed.

Other cases are quoted in "Freemasonry in the Royal Scots," by T. R. Henderson, 1934, when it is said "Many stories have been related in the past of the assistance rendered by one Mason to another in cases of danger or distress. Incredible though several of them may appear at first, most of the stories have been well authenticated; and they may serve to show the influence of Masonry in warfare."

"The Greatness of Britain is the work of the Freemasons." Freemasons' Chronicle, 1902, Vol. 1, page 319.

Race Superseded

BROTHER WARD says:—"Under the Grand Lodge of England, I, an English Mason, have sat in a cosmopolitan Lodge in Burmah, itself working under a lawful charter from my own Grand Lodge, and have seen the ceremonies performed by men of every colour and creed, and I must acknowledge that these men were good Masons. Nor did I in any case lose caste or even feel that I had lost caste by visiting their Lodge and partaking of their banquet." Brother Ward states that there is a colour bar set up by U.S.A. Masons, and considers it illogical, as negroes are mostly Christian and monogamous; he states that "British Lodges have admitted thousands of coloured men"; and, referring to India, admits "that in some of the side degrees, cases have occurred in which the Lodge was being used for political and seditious purposes." After considering the question, Brother Ward thinks that only the negro should be excluded from white Lodges, as he says "what may be fair and reasonable treatment of the negro is probably quite unreasonable in the case of the old Asiatic nations who, after all, were civilised peoples while we were still savages." It is evident that Brother Ward has not studied the history of the early Aryans, and we recommend Colonel Waddell's {"Makers of Civilisation," obtainable from I.F.L., price 28/ , postage extra.} book to him; he will then lose that inferiority complex he must feel whenever he sees a low caste Hindu.

The Daily Telegraph of April 25, 1935, publishes a photograph of the "Viceroy, the Earl of Willingdon, in procession to lay the foundation stone of a new Masonic Temple at New Delhi." The picture shows him preceded by one white and one coloured standard bearer!!

Sir E. Headlam in The Freemason, 1st June, 1935, says:—

"There are now, in India, purely European Lodges and purely Indian ones, and also many mixed Lodges, as so vividly depicted by Brother Rudyard Kipling in his well known song, 'My Mother Lodge'."

It is not difficult to form an idea of what has been behind the scenes of the India White Paper.

Freemasonry and Christianity

AT the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717, the original charges referring to the conditions of membership of the Order stated:—"They should be true to God and Holy Church, and use no error or heresy." In other words, only a Christian could become an initiate; this did not suit the Jews, who, as Brother J. C. Ehrmann said in 1816, "soon saw that the Royal Craft was a suitable means of firmly founding their own esoteric kingdom . . . Jews are Rosicrucians, they swear upon the Gospel, bow before the Cross, wear the dress of the Church, celebrate with Christians the Holy Supper . . . and remain Jews."

"In 1721," Brother Ward relates, "the Grand Charter of the Grand Lodge of England, John, Duke of Montagu, instructed Dr. Anderson and several other prominent Masons to revise the Ancient Charter so as to make them more suited to the period": these were issued in 1723. The most striking change was with regard to religion, for instead of demanding that a Mason should be a "true son of the Holy Church," it ran as follows:—"But though in ancient times, Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, what­ever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree; leaving their own particular opinions to themselves." Brother Ward comments on this by saying: "To alter Freemasonry from a Christian to a vaguely Deistic basis was a complete revolution." In 1816, the last traces of Christianity were removed from the Constitutions, the Duke of Sussex being Grand Master at the time; of the Duke, the Jewish Daily Post, 6th May, 1935, states "The Duke of Sussex was an open friend of the Jewish community . . . he opened his doors to Jews with great affability."

The results were soon to be observed; Dudley Wright, in his booklet, The Jew and Freemasonry, says: "Certainly the admission of Jews to the membership of English Lodges dates from a very early period in the history of organised Free­masonry in England"; he then quotes an article from the Daily Post of September 22nd, 1732, referring to a meeting of a Lodge at the Rose Tavern, where "in the presence of Jews and Christians," a new member was admitted by Mr. Daniel Delvalle, "an eminent Jew Snuff Merchant."

Brother W. Sanderson of the English Mistery, says on page 55 of his book, "That which was Lost: a Treatise on Freemasonry and the English Mistery": "It is very easy now, but quite unfair to criticise the founders for introducing Judaic traditions. They had gone a very long way by suppressing the New Testament for the sake of the harmony between Christian and Jew" (our italics). That seems clear enough! And this was in 1723, when the number of Jews in England must have been very small! It is, however, clear that the power of the Jew was already beginning to be felt.

Brother Sanderson continues:—"The volume of the Sacred Law is not the Bible, or any particular book, but the sacred book of any of the religions included in the craft. Any religion may be satisfactory if it fulfils Masonic requirements."

The position to day is that Freemasonry, whilst not being officially anti Christian (in Great Britain, at any rate) is definitely not Christian. Just as the mention of Christ was removed from the Parliamentary oath to suit the Jews, so has Christianity been dropped from Freemasonry for the same reason.

From the religious standpoint, Freemasonry may be correctly described as Deism wrapped in a solar lunar phallic mystery. The Brahmin priest who worships naked before his revolting sexual emblems, just as well as the woolly negro who indulges in disgusting animal sacrifices, may both become Freemasons, provided that they recognise a Grand Architect of the Universe, whoever he may be!

It is both interesting and instructive to study the relations between Freemasonry and the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Clement XII (1738) was the first to issue a Bull against all secret sects, including Freemasonry; eleven other Popes have issued similar Bulls since that date. These various edicts called upon the bishops to excommunicate Freemasons, which very thoroughly excluded Roman Catholics from joining that fraternity. As a result of this, one of the excuses made for the subversive action of the Grand Orient Masons in France and Italy is that as Freemasonry had been banned by the Roman Catholic Church, it was forced underground and thereby became subversive; just as logical as saying that because stealing is prohibited by the police, so thieves must work secretly; but that does not make thieving a virtue!

At the present time, the Roman Catholic Church in Britain seems to be very quiet on the subject of Freemasonry; in fact, it is quite certain that open attacks on the part of Roman Catholic priests are far from encouraged. Admitted, that anti Masonic literature may be bought at certain Catholic bookshops, but on examination it will be found that such books are written by Jesuits—the exact relationship between the Society of Jesus and the Roman Catholic Church is not too clear. We venture to assert that the majority of non Masonic Protestants are not even aware of the official standpoint of the Roman Catholic Church towards Freemasonry—sufficient evidence in itself to show how weak this propaganda must be when it is realised that there were 2,820,000 Roman Catholics in Great Britain in 1931.

As to the attitude of the Established Church, the less said the better. The Church of England clergy, from bishops to curate, are very numerous in the ranks of Freemasonry; needless to say, seldom are any words ever uttered against Freemasonry from Church of England pulpits. The Freemason, 8th July, 1935, says: "Half the Clergy of this country, repre­senting all other denominations other than the Catholic, are Freemasons." A Conference of British Methodist ministers held at Bradford on 22nd July, 1927, recommended ministers to have nothing to do with Freemasonry as "The distinctive faith of Christianity . . . is wholly incompatible with the claims put forward by Freemasonry" (Times, 23rd July, 1927).

The Greek Orthodox Church at its Council in August, 1932, banned Freemasonry, Theosophy, Christian Science, Anthro­posophy, and the Y.M.C.A.

The reader who is further interested in the purely religious side of Freemasonry is referred to;—

1. "Menace of Freemasonry to the Christian Faith," by Rev. C. P. Hunt (Wesleyan), Freedom Press, Breaston, Derby. 1/4 post free.

2. "Reflections on Freemasonry," by an Anglo Catholic, Freedom Press, 1/8 post free.

3. "Freemasonry and the Anti Christian Movement," Rev. E. Cahill, (Jesuit), M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd., Dublin.

(These are not supplied by the I.F.L.).

Grand Lodge of England and Grand Orient Masonry: Their Relationship

BY the term, Grand Orient, is meant a Masonic organization of that name which operates principally in the 'Latin' countries; thus, there are the Grand Orients of France, Belgium, Italy (before Mussolini), Spain, Jugo Slavia, etc. It is impossible to enter into the history {For particulars, see I.F.L. pamphlet, "Freemasonry," price 3d., post free, 3½d.} of the formation of the Grand Orient, but the important point is that Grand Orient Masonry is, and has always been known to be, essentially political in its action and outlook. These political effects can best be studied in the case of France, beginning with the Revolutions of 1789, 1830, 1848, and the Commune of 1871, and finishing with the Stavisky scandal of 1934. Now to day the English Mason is always most insistent that he is not like other Masons, and one is led to think that the Grand Orients are to be regarded as outcasts and untouchables. It is important to note that relations between Grand Lodge and Grand Orient were only broken off in 1878; thus, direct relations between the two existed during the various upheavals in French history above referred to. Furthermore, there is reason to think that English Masons helped in these events.

It is possible to refer very briefly to the revolutionary activities of Masonry in France, and a few quotations will suffice:—

1. Brother Lamartine in "Le Franc Maçon," 1848, Vol. 1:—From the womb of Freemasonry have sprung the great ideas which have laid the foundations of the democratic movements of 1789, 1830, 1840, and 1848.

2. Count Haugwitz (himself a Mason) in his petition to the Congress of Verona, 1822:—I am definitely convinced that the drama which began in the year 1788 and 1789, namely the French Revolution and the murder of the King, with all its cruelties, was not only decided upon by the leaders of Freemasonry, but also was the actual result of this society's activities and of the oaths taken by it.

It should be noted that at this time, the Grand Orient of France was recognised by the Grand Lodge of England.

3. Albert Sorel, in his "Europa und die Revolution," says that the Freemason, Lord Mansfield, stated quite openly in Parliament that "the money that was spent to further the French Revolution was money well spent."

Finally, the following names of many existing Lodges of the French Grand Orient show clearly the connection with events in 1789, such as:—1793, Danton, Marat, Babeuf et Condorcet, etc. The actions of Freemasonry in supporting more recent revolutionary movements will be considered later in this pamphlet.

To return to the present day: Brother Ward confirms that direct connection was broken off between the Grand Orient and Grand Lodge of England in 1878; but he admits that the Grand Lodge retains fraternal connections with certain foreign Grand Lodges which are still friendly with the Grand Orient.

Thus, the Grand Lodge of Switzerland, "Alpina," with its headquarters at Geneva, recognises the Grand Lodge of England, Grand Lodge of France, and the Grand Orients of France, Spain, and Greece, in addition to thirty-six other Masonic organisations of different countries (see "Annual of Universal Masonry," 1923, Büchler & Co., Berne, pp. 241-242). The same Annual informs us that the headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite in France are at 8, Rue Puteaux, Paris; also at this address is the Grande Loge of France! And yet the Grand Lodge of England, according to the Annual of Masonry, does not recognise the Grande Loge of France, although members of the former may belong to the Scottish Rite, whose French Supreme Council is in the same building at 8, Rue Puteaux, Paris!!

It will be observed that there are many international cross-connections of which Lodge Alpina, Geneva, seems to be the centre; is it a coincidence that the headquarters of the League of Nations are in the same town?

Furthermore, the cold shouldering of the Grand Orient of France on the part of English Masonry is shown to be purely hypocritical, otherwise, why were Masons in the British Army served with cards written in the French language if help was not to be expected from the Grand Orient and Grande Loge of France?

This attitude is rendered plainer by the fact that Masonic writers are constantly stating that there is only one Free­masonry throughout the world; it is important therefore to give some examples:—

1. Brother Ward in "Freemasonry, its Aims and Ideals," page 36:—"Freemasonry is an organised world wide Brotherhood," page 8:— . . . mysterious tie which though hidden and secret from the outside world, yet binds together all true Masons throughout the world."

2. Brother Ragon in "Orthodoxie Maçonnique," page 353: "Freemasonry has the fundamental character of being universal, which character is indispensible to its being. It is one; and any rite or any nation that deviates from this principle is in error, and strays from the path of Freemasonry . . . . Is there English mathematics, Scotch mathematics, French mathematics? No! there is mathematics, just as there is Freemasonry."

3. "As far as I am aware, the signs and grips of the St. John's degrees (i.e. Grand Lodge of England) of all recognised Lodges of the world are the same." This evidence was given on oath on 14th March, 1932, before the Frankfurt Court by Brother Mullendorff, who was former Grand Master of the Grosse Landesloge of Germany. (Taken from "Freimaurerei vor Gericht," by R. Schneider.)

4. "Freemasonry is not exactly international, it is universal; it is a society non national, a society of 'humanity'; not a society of international brotherhood, but a Society of Universal Brotherhood." Bull: Off: Grand Lodge of France, October, 1922, (quoted in "Light bearers of Darkness," London, 1930).

5. "Neither boundaries of States nor vast oceans separate the Masonic fraternity. Everywhere it is one," said an American Past Grand Master (Freemason's Chronicle, 1906, 2, page 132).

Freemasonry and Modern Politics

IT is fairly generally known that the discussion of politics and religion is not allowed at Masonic meetings. However, this ban does not seem to be very rigid, as Brother Ward says:—"Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that there is a type of political question which may be considered a matter open to discussion in Lodge, and the objections to politics in Lodge are rather to narrow party politics than to be under­stood as debarring Masons from considering the social welfare of their fellow men." In other words, you mustn't push Mr. Smith as your local Parliamentary candidate, but you may make propaganda in favour of Political and Economic Planning, and the League of Nations, or do your best to further the Jew boycott of Germany, because these are not "narrow," and affect "the social welfare of your fellow men"!

Brother W. Sanderson says:—"The prohibition of dis­cussion by no means implies exclusion of religion and politics from Freemasonry, which insists on every mason having a religion, and on taking an active part in politics . . . Free­masonry does not exclude politics or religion. It forbids discussion or controversy." All this sounds rather Jesuitical or Talmudical to us!

Under the heading of "Modern Politics," may be considered the greatest upheaval in human history—the Great War of 1914 1918. It is an undeniable but significant fact that the incident that started the War was engineered by Freemasons, that is, the murder at Serajevo of the Austrian Archduke on June 28th, 1914. It is impossible in a pamphlet of this nature to consider this matter at any length; it is dealt with briefly in Vicomte Leon de Ponçins' book "The Secret Powers behind Revolution," Boswell, 1929 (now unfortunately out of print—hardly surprising!) This book refers constantly to the published full proceedings of the trial of the chief conspirators, Cabrinovic, Princip, Illic, and Grabez: it was published in Germany in 1918, and the French edition in 1930, entitled "L'Attentat de Serajevo. Documents inédits et texte integrale des Stenogrammes du Procès." A study of this book (and others) shows clearly that the Serajevo affair was planned by the Serbian Grand Orient. That the murder had long been decided upon is shown by Count Czernin (former Austrian Premier) in his book "In the World War," Cassell & Co., Ltd., 1919; on page 45, he writes: "One fine quality in the Archduke was his fearlessness. He was quite clear that the danger of an attempt to take his life would always be present, and he often spoke quite simply and openly of such a possibility. A year before the outbreak of war, he informed me that the Freemasons had resolved to kill him. He even gave me the name of the town where the resolution was passed—it has escaped my memory now—and mentioned the names of several Austrian and Hungarian politicians who must have been in [on] the secret."

Reference has already been made to the use by troops during the war of Masonic cards, whereby they obtained in the enemy's hands better treatment than that meted out to the non Mason; the German General Staff Order regarding Freemasonry and espionage should also be remembered; as can be well imagined, it is most difficult to obtain positive evidence of the relations between secret societies and inter­national espionage, but the possibilities in this matter need no description.

In The Freemason of January 19, 1929, Lord Blythswood is reported to have said "I often think that if more people joined Freemasonry, who are at present outside it, they would not have so much misfortune to the world. Wilhelm II was the first of the German Emperors who was not a Freemason. I often ask myself whether the map of Europe would not have been very different to day to what it is, if the Kaiser had been a Freemason."

Friedrich Hasselbacher, in his book, "High Treason of the Military Lodges" (in German), publishes photographs of Lodge meetings in Brussells and Liége showing German soldiers and Belgian civilians holding masonic meetings and dinners—even the menus were reproduced, showing that when the German civilians were short of food, the Masons dined well with the enemy! Hasselbacher's book is an unanswerable and damning document; it reproduces in facsimile a mass of letters and 'Field Post Cards' from Masons to their Lodges.

In one letter (p. 73), a Brother writes to his Grand Master suggesting that he get in touch with English Masons via the Grand Lodge of Norway, in order to find out their "war aims"—and Freemasonry is purely a charitable institution

Furthermore, the Wiener Freimaurerzeitung of August, 1918, states that English soldier Masons formed a lodge at Cologne, to which Germans were admitted. Another manifestation of this international brotherhood state of mind is the League of Nations; we will first quote Brother Lennhoff (Jew), a well-known masonic writer whose books have been translated into English, in the Wiener Freimauererzeitung No. 6, 1927, he says:—­"Certainly, up to a point the people are correct who assume a connection between Freemasonry and the League of Nations. The League of Nations as such is derived from Masonic ideas." It should be noted that President Wilson was a Mason (there is ample evidence on page 268 of Wichtl's "Weltfreimaurerei"), and that the leading statesmen (politicians) who were concerned were also Brothers—Lloyd George, Clemenceau, Briand, Stresemann. It is not irrelevant to mention that Lloyd George's secretary was the Jew, Sassoon; President Wilson's chief adviser, the Jew, House; Clemenceau's Secretary, the Jew, Mandel Rothschild; also that the first act of the League of Nations was that Sir Eric Drummond called on Rabbi Ginsburger to assure him that the guarding of the rights of Jewry would be an important duty of the League (Der Israelit, No. 45, 1 November, 1920).

Considerable evidence would be brought forward to prove the Jewishness of the League of Nations in its conception and in its aims; it will be sufficient here to quote Leon Motzkine in "Les Juifs," September, 1933: "Of all the peoples, the Jewish people is without doubt that which has shown the greatest joy, and the highest satisfaction in the formation of the League of Nations . . . it (the League) had as its mission not only the prevention of wars . . . but also to put an end to the political, social, and moral misery of the Jews in all countries."

"Die Freimaurerei" by Platon, quotes the Swiss Masonic journal, Alpina, as stating:—"go to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. There you may read the immortal declaration of Human Rights (the Treaty of Versailles). That is our work. Masonic symbols decorate the heading of the document."

The Berliner Tageblatt (the Leading German Jewish newspaper of the pre Hitler era) in its issue of 3rd June, 1927, admitted that, at the admission of Germany to the League of Nations, Stresemann employed Masonic phraseology in his first speech, and actually gave certain signs which were replied to by Briand.

The Swiss Masonic journal, Alpina (19, 1929) reports that the Grand Master of the Berne Lodge "Zur Hoffnung," made a speech at the time of the funeral of Herr Stresemann, in which he said:—"The aims of Freemasonry may be fulfilled when it produces in one century three such men as Stresemann, Briand, and MacDonald."

Alpina, 31st May, 1917, reported that a Conference of the Masonic Jurisdiction of the Allied Nations would be held at the Grand Orient of France, Paris, on 28th, 29th, 30th June, 1917. On the agenda was:—"The object of this Congress will be to investigate the means of arriving at the Constitution of the League of Nations." The meeting duly took place under the Master of the Grande Loge de France, Peigné; and of the President of the Grand Orient, Corneau; when provisional constitutions of the future League of Nations were drawn up, they were almost identical with those adopted later. The full proceedings of the meetings have been published under the title "Société des Nations Super Etat Maçonnique," by Leon de Ponçins, Edition Beauchesne, 1936. It is true that Great Britain was not officially represented at the Congress, but certain allied lodges were present which were recognised by [the] Grand Lodge of England, and which could easily have acted as agents; see page 13.

"It is the duty of Universal Freemasonry to co operate ab­solutely with the League of Nations in order that it may no longer have to submit to the interested influences of Govern­ments." Convent: Grand Orient, 1923 (from "Lightbearers of Darkness," London, 1930).

Freemasonry again came to the fore in the Red Revolution in Hungary under Bela Kun, Grand Master of the Lodge, Haladas, at Debreczin. After the fall of the Terror, the Hungarian Government closed the Lodges and seized the archives; the result of the investigation of those is to be found in the book, "The Sins of Freemasonry," by Adorjan Barcsay. At this time, the French Minister, Berthelot, asked the Leader of the Hungarian Peace Delegation, Count Apponyi, to reestablish Freemasonry: the same request came from the British representatives at Vienna and Budapest (see Huber). The U.S.A. made the opening of the Lodges the chief demand for a loan—but without success. The Red Commune at Munich again showed the same power behind the scenes; the eleven Jewish leaders were all members of the same Munich Lodge.

A slight glimpse of what is behind the Irish "question" may be obtained from examination of the Home Rule for Ireland Acts, 1914 and 1920; these preclude the Irish Parlia­ments from any power to "abrogate or prejudicially affect any privilege or exemption of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Ireland"—it is above the Law!

In "Latomia," a German Masonic journal, Vol. 12, July 1849, page 237, is the following:—"We cannot help but greet socialism (Marxism) as an excellent comrade of Freemasonry for ennobling mankind, for helping to further human welfare. Socialism and Freemasonry, together with Communism, are sprung from the same source."

The Attitude of Grand Lodge of England

WHILST it would be manifestly absurd to suggest that 90 per cent. of English Freemasons are other than true to the Crown and Constitution, it is pertinent to stress the fact that in the face of the admitted and well known subversive movements of the Continental Grand Orients as (of which a few examples have been mentioned), the Grand Lodge of England has been ominously silent. Search the pages of the daily papers; is there one word to be found from Grand Lodge or from any leading Mason in his official capacity, protesting against this prostitution of the "Royal Craft"? The answer is a clear cut NO! This silence is damning.

We will go further in this matter, and say that the only important political phenomenon of the last half century—the growth of Socialism—was fertilised and bred in the hot-houses of the Masonic Lodges of this country. It is true that the revolutionary cry of 1789—Liberty, Equality, Fraternity—is not shouted from the Masonic house tops of Great Britain; yet we maintain definitely that the state of mind produced by Freemasonry makes the initiate an easy prey to socialistic ideas; this is undeniable. The leading Socialists of every country are to be found in the ranks of Freemasonry or of Bnai Brith (Jewish Freemasonry); we will quote a few names published some years ago by Heise:—

Great Britain. Macdonald, Henderson, Snowden.

Belgium. Vandervelde, Hymans.

Austria. Adler, Ellenbogen, Seitz.

Hungary. Bela Kun, Alpari, Szamueli.

Poland. Pilsudski.

U.S.A. Gompers.

Holland. Troelstra.

France. Thomas, Bougnet, Renaudel, Briand.

Denmark. Bang.

Sweden. Branting.

Russia. Tschitscherin, Lenin, Zinowiew, Trotski, Kerensky.

But your Freemason is not even an honest socialist; he may believe in the equality of man, but in practice he is obliged to show a preference towards a "Brother"—a direct denial of such equality.

Morals and Ethics of Freemasonry

BROTHER Ward says:—"We have undertaken a special obligation to help a brother Mason over and above any outsider, and we are bound to do our best to discharge it." It is seldom that this aspect of the matter is so clearly put; to make it clearer, we will give a few obvious examples of the results of this in practice:—

1. If you are an employer, you will engage a Mason in preference to a non Mason; as Brother Wilmshurst says in "The Masonic Initiation," p. 197: "It is a well known fact that commercial houses to day find it advantageous for business purposes, to insist upon their more important employees being members of the Order."

2. If you are a buyer in a business firm, you will buy from Mason travellers in preference to those who are not of the fraternity.

3. If a Mason has committed an irregularity, either in business, public life, or of a private nature, fellow Masons will do their best to hush it up. As the Freemason, 18th May, 1935, says "Next to the duty of screening a Brother in distress, there ought to be no more sacred duty than that of compassionating his faults."

4. If a Mason is guilty of an offence, and a fellow Mason is in a position to decide upon the penalty, he will make it less than he would have done for a non Mason. Whilst we have confidence in the non Jewish Judges of this country as far as this matter is concerned, we cannot always admit the same sense of security as regards local magistrates and administrators.

Non Masons! think this over; it may explain certain happenings in your daily life that have always baffled you.

Tail Piece

IF the non Masonic reader of this pamphlet should discuss its contents with an acquaintance who is a Freemason, he will encounter one of the following things:—

1. A stony look, and a complete refusal to be drawn into any discussion.

2. A point blank denial that this pamphlet contains a single word of truth: we can only invite the reader to study the books quoted in the Bibliography, to investigate the subject for himself, and to form his own opinion.

3. An honest admission that he had no idea that such things were so; in this case our reader can be assured that his acquaintance is either a member of the lowest degree, or takes no interest in the subject beyond paying his fees and enjoying certain privileges.

4. Prevarication, in the sense that it will be maintained that the various statements quoted herein have quite another meaning to that which they would normally appear to have; in this case we would refer to the official statement of the National Socialist Party in Germany, issued on August 24, 1934: "The Party has learnt . . . that the words of Free­masons may be trusted its little as the assurances of the Jews. It has learnt in both cases that the ideas intended have a different meaning to these conveyed by the spoken word according to the normal usage of the German language."