A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY

In the context of this paper, the term government, as applied to a governing body, always indicates the following powers:

a) control of admission to the degrees governed over

b) final responsibility for organising initiation into those degrees (though this is very often vested in local or provincial bodies for purposes of initiation in any one area)

c) responsibility for collecting and forwarding subscription fees from the governed degrees in regions where there is no Provincial Grand Lodge

d) responsibility for ensuring that initiations into the governed degrees are properly performed

e) power to appoint persons to positions of authority within the governed bodies

It does not indicate any of the following:

a) authority to judge any member of the governed degrees (Jucidial authority rests with the Grand Tribunal in the ordinary, with the Areopagus in the extraordinary, and with the Sanctuary and the Throne as executive ratifiers of the decisions of the Areopagus)

b) authority to place any member under suspension on charges (this law-enforcing power residing with designated officials, such as Lodge Masters, members of Sixth Degree, etc. q.v.)

c) authority to independently create laws or bye-laws

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