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DELTA (CHINA)

Location: Canton, China

Dispensation Granted By: Dudley H. Ferrell

Charter Date: Never chartered; dispensation surrendered at the March 1927 Quarterly Communication.

Precedence Date: 03/21/1925 (1925-143)

Current Status: dispensation returned and charter not granted (Page 1927-43).

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

• Petition for Dispensation: 1925
• Surrender of Dispensation: 1927

HISTORY

A MASSACHUSETTS LODGE IN CANTON

In December 1924, Bro. Graham Kearney, a Canadian engineer resident in Canton, China, wrote a letter to Rt. Wor. Irvin Van Gorder Gillis, District Grand Master for Massachusetts lodges in China, who resided in Peking. Bro. Kearney was a relatively recently made Mason; he had been raised in May 1921 in Star of Southern China Lodge #2013, English Constitution. He was a charter member of Hykes Memorial Lodge in Tientsin, where he was then resident.

Rt. Wor. Irvin Van Gorder Gillis, District Grand Master (Massachusetts.)

His letter to Gillis inquired about the possibility of establishing a Massachusetts lodge in Canton, where there was only one lodge at that time - Star of Southern China #2013. He noted that the lodge owned its own building, had a Masonic Club, and counted "quite a number of Americans" among those who "took an interest" in it as visitors "and some as members. Many more do not, as you can understand from our experience in Tientsin." Two Americans had served as Master, and one of them discussed the possibility of an American lodge in Canton; these two, and the incoming Master of the English lodge, would be among "at least twenty petitions" from the American community. He believed that some English Masons might join and in any case, he felt "sure of the the whole-hearted support" of the English community.

In addition, he noted another advantage of having an American Lodge; Star of Southern China accepted applications from American Masons, but did not act on them "until they receive reports and waivers of jurisdiction . . . This is a hangover from war conditions in England."

Brother Kearney concluded his letter with a note that he would also write to a friend, Charles Burleigh, who had served in 1923 as Deputy Grand Master, to "get, entirely unofficially, the view of the Grand Lodge."

Gillis replied promptly by telegram:

"Referring to your letter of the 19th ultimo authorize you to take immediate action organize lodge in accordance with Massachusetts constitutions mailed to you to-day hearty congratulations all success to you."

He followed this up with a letter on January 11, 1925, expressing pleasure at the news, noting that "not ever having been in Canton I did not fully realize its possibilities from the Masonic viewpoint." With his best wishes, he encouraged Bro. Kearney to "get busy" in preparing a petition for a dispensation, and instructed his District Grand Secretary, Bro. Conrad Anner, to provide information.

THE BRETHREN ASSEMBLE

Encouraged by District Grand Master Gillis, Bro. Kearney proceeded to circulate information among American Masons in Canton. There is an unsigned essay (typed on the stationery of Anderson Meyer Ltd., Bro. Kearney's employer in Canton) asking why certain Grand Lodges did not permit dual membership, which made many Masons hesitant to sever "the closest Fraternal tie known to the Craft - the membership in our Mother Lodge. . . Is it possible," he asked, "to obtain a change of the regulations, or a special dispensation from the Grand Master . . ." or some other way to relieve the burden of demitting from one's mother lodge? This question remained unanswered.

Bro. Kearney's letter to Bro. Gillis on January 18 reported progress.

"I have not begun to get the names of the petitioners, but I am sure the list will run over twenty, and should not be surprised if it reached over thirty, and it will include one W. M. . . . and at least two P. M.s . . . No discussion has as yet taken place regarding the Principal Officers Designate . . .

"As Lodge Star of Southern China has held sway in Canton since 1883, we have felt that they should be consulted, and their cooperation asked for before taking any definite steps. . . I am now pleased to say that I have discussed the proposition fully with their oldest P. M.'s, and have received the most cordial assurances of their support and co-operation. The trustees of the Masonic Temple have promised us the use of the Lodge premises . . .

"I believe that a petition will necessarily have to be accompanied, or followed, by a report and recommendation from you. . . As to conditions, there is no question about the work that is awaiting an American Lodge. We shall have all we can do, I am sure, as there is a large missionary and educational community here (American), in which I know of several men who now wish to take degrees. In addition to this Canton is a U. S. naval station, and there is always one, or usually two gun-boats in port, one of which makes Canton its headquarters. . . So there is a definite work to be done by the proposed lodge, and has been for some time."

Gillis' response on February 3 indicated that he "heartily" approved of the constitution of such a lodge, and would recommend it to the Grand Master. A copy of the petition was sent shortly after to him, and on February 18 he wrote a letter to M. W. Bro. Ferrell, endorsing the petition, though he noted that the lodge name – "Delta of South China" – was somewhat inappropriate; "Delta" referred to the river delta, he noted, but he felt that "South" should be removed; it was done when the petition was submitted shortly after.

DISPENSATION AND CONSTITUTION

In a remarkable act of brevity, Grand Secretary Frederick W. Hamilton responded to the petition on behalf of the Grand Master in a cable to Conrad Anner on March 21. It read: "Dispensation Granted. Hamilton." The actual document was sent by regular mail, arriving some weeks later; it bore the following names:

With the Grand Master visiting the extraterritorial lodges in Panama, the dispensation was signed by Deputy Grand Master and Acting Grand Master Curtis Chipman. In his letter on March 24 to Bro. Kearney, Rt. Wor. Hamilton indicated his pleasure that one of the petitioners had a name "evidently Chinese", and hoped that Delta Lodge would "place itself in this matter beside International, Hykes Memorial and Chin Ling Lodges.

On March 29, Rt. Wor. Bro. Gillis commissioned Wor. Bro. Sidney R. Sheldon as his deputy to constitute the lodge and install its officers; Bro. Kearney, though he had not yet served as Warden, was given dispensation to be installed as Master, with Brothers Robert Beddoe and Henry H. Waples as his Wardens. Neither of these brothers was a Past Master either; this is ample evidence of the eagerness of the Grand Lodge to act quickly and aggressively to establish an American lodge in Canton.

Rt. Wor. Percy Hobson Holyoak, District Grand Master (E. C.)

DISTRICTS

1925: China District

LINKS

Massachusetts Lodges