Far East Lodge No. 10
The Name
"Far East" is a general term used to designate the countries in eastern Asia. In in broadest sense it includes all the countries of Asia that lie east of Afghanistan .Historically, the term used to designate the part of the world that was most distant from the maritime nations of Western Europe At present the use of "Far East" is decreasing as more specific terms, such as "East Asia and Southeast Asia are being used.
The Lodge
This lodge was organized in Manila by H Lawrence Noble. James Mc C. Bury, William H. Brown and Harry S. Morgan. It received its charter from the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands on February 13.1917 and was constituted the following day.
Far East Lodge became a casualty of the dispute that erupted between the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands and the Shrine organization in the second decade of the last century.
In the Nineteen Twenties some American Masons who were Shriners blackballed all Filipinos who applied for membership in the Shrine. They argued that since Americans founded the Shrine, membership in it should be limited to Americans. Other Americans, however felt that racial and sectarian prejudice have no place in Masonry. Far East Lodge was composed mostly of Shriners and became “hotbed of discord and dissension". The members spoke ill of each other and forgot their Masonic obligation.
On November 12,1923, a disgusted Grand Master Frederic H. Stevens took drastic steps to prevent the cancerous growth from further disrupting harmony in the fraternity He arrested the charter of Far East Lodge No. 10 and appointed Leo Fisher as custodian of the lodge. Later, he relented somewhat. Through Leo Fisher, the members were informed that the entire membership of the lodge was restored in good standing, but the charter stood arrested. The restoration enabled the members to affiliate with other lodges or participate in the founding of new ones. On January 24, 1924 the charter of the lodge was declared forfeited.