The Grand Master’s Crusade Against the Gaming Tables
A stern decree from the Royal Arab Masons attempts to purge 'monstrous' gambling and intemperance from lodge halls in Seattle and beyond.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Grand Master of the Royal Arab Masons of Washington Territory recently issued a proclamation regarding the conduct of its members. Addressing the subordinate chapters, he wrote: 'It has been reported to me by reliable sources that some members of our chapters so far forget themselves as to be guilty of keeping gaming tables... this is bound to bring odium and dishonor to our order.' Quoting ancient Masonic charges, the Grand Master declared that a Mason should be 'an observer of the laws of the land' and warned that 'the vice of gambling... finds itself upon the victim like a boa constrictor.' He ordered that any member found guilty of gambling, profane swearing, or intemperance would be reprimanded, suspended, or expelled. He further commanded the high priests of the chapters to carry this edict into effect, stating that if a member refuses to heed the warning, he shall be put upon trial and, if found guilty, expelled.
“The vice of gambling, unlike any other vice, is of all most dangerous and baneful to integrity, honor, morality and true manliness. It fastens itself upon the victim like a boa constrictor, and never loosens its hold until the last drop of honor, truth and manhood is extracted.”
This 1885 moral crackdown by the Masons against vice in their private halls mirrors the eternal struggle to regulate personal conduct within community organizations. Today, Seattle debates similar questions of 'civic health' and public space, though the venues have shifted from 19th-century gaming dens to debates over public drug use and homelessness, yet the rhetoric of 'moral contagion' remains strikingly unchanged.
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