GRAND ORANGE LODGE

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 167, 3 April 1923, Page 11

GRAND ORANGE LODGE

THE DUNEDIN CONFERENCE. Br Tblegbaph. —Press Association. Dunedin, April 2. Tho Grand Orange Lodge Grand Master (F. G- Cumming) in his report stated that 46 visits’ had been made to lodges, mostly outside tho largo centres. After reference to primary lodges and the great present need for a clean Christian brotherly soul, Bro. Cumming referred at length to tho difficult and dangerous lot of Protestants in Ireland, concluding: “What avtragedy, and the end is not in sight. Can the object of these unspeakable crimes and persecution he to crush Protestantism in Ireland? Mas it any wonder that loyal Protestant Ulster should lose no time in exercising her statutory right to exclude her self from tho Southern I'ree State? Ulster is the only place at present in Ireland where there is security for life and property. The Ulster Government is now in full working order, and with the passing of time it 1J?couies more firmly established. Law and order are observed and the people are happy and contented. They are prepared to co-operate on equal terms with those in tho south in all matters that affect the welfare of Ireland. They hope the Free State Government may establish . law and order and bring prace, happiness, and prosperity to its own community; but-under no circumstances will the loyalists of Ulster ever consent to give up their own Parliament. The report was received and adopted. Grand Lodge correspondence from the City of London Lodge, No. 45, stated that it had been unanimously decided to request every grand lodge to take steps to frustrate the apparent attempt by Rome to bring England once again under its heel, as indicated by the reports which had appeared in various newspapots that King George V. would during his visit to Italy have audience with the ’ Popo. The letter was referred to a special committee set up to consider and report to the.lodge. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland wrote with reference to a draft of £957 forwarded in February, 1920, intimating that when that money reached the Grand Lodge the Home Rule Bill was likely to pass, and the\ sum was not therefore passed over to the Carson Defence Fund. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland now asked that the money might be retained for grand lodge purposes. It was decided that as the money was subscribed for a specific purpose to which it could not now be devoted, the Grand Lodge of Ireland should bo asked to return the money so it could be held in trust and made available for defence purposes in Ulster should the necessity arise. Five hundred members attended the church parade yesterday.