Sweden 1773. In most of these countries Grand Lodges were subsequently created and continue to this date, save that in Austria (not Hungary) and Russia no masonic lodges have for some time been permitted to assemble. There is a union of Grand Lodges of Germany, and an annual Diet is held for the transaction of business affecting the several masonic organizations in that country, which works well. H.R.H. Prince Frederick Leopold was in 1909 Protector, or the “Wisest Master” (Vicarius Salomonis). King Gustav V. was the Grand Master ☩ of the freemasons in Sweden, and the sovereign of the “Order of Charles XIII.,” the only one of the kind confined to members of the fraternity.
Lodges were constituted in India from 1730 (Calcutta), 1752 (Madras), and 1758 (Bombay); in Jamaica 1742, Antigua 1738, and St Christopher 1739; soon after which period the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland and Scotland had representatives at work throughout the civilized world.
In no part, however, outside Great Britain has the craft flourished so much as in the United States of America, where the first “regular” lodge (i.e. according to the new regime) was opened in 1733 at Boston, Mass. Undoubtedly lodges had been meeting still earlier, one of which was held at Philadelphia, Penna., with records from 1731, which blossomed into a Grand Lodge, but no authority has yet been traced for its proceedings, save that which may be termed “time immemorial right,” which was enjoyed by all lodges and brethren who were at work prior to the Grand Lodge era (1716–1717) or who declined to recognize the autocratic proceedings of the premier Grand Lodge of England, just as the brethren did in the city of York. A “deputation” was granted to Daniel Coxe, Esq. of New Jersey, by the duke of Norfolk, Grand Master, 5th of June 1730, as Prov. Grand Master of the “Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Pensilvania,” but there is no evidence that he ever constituted any lodges or exercised any masonic authority in virtue thereof. Henry Price as Prov. Grand Master of New England, and his lodge, which was opened on the 31st of August 1733, in the city of Boston, so far as is known, began “regular” Freemasonry in the United States, and the older and independent organization was soon afterwards “regularized.” Benjamin Franklin (an Initiate of the lodge of Philadelphia) printed and published the Book of Constitutions, 1723 (of London, England), in the “City of Brotherly Love” in 1734, being the oldest masonic work in America. English and Scottish Grand Lodges were soon after petitioned to grant warrants to hold lodges, and by the end of the 18th century several Grand Lodges were formed, the Craft becoming very popular, partly no doubt by reason of so many prominent men joining the fraternity, of whom the chief was George Washington, initiated in a Scottish lodge at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1752–1753. In 1907 there were fifty Grand Lodges assembling in the United States, with considerably over a million members.
In Canada in 1909 there were eight Grand Lodges, having about 64,000 members. Freemasonry in the Dominion is believed to date from 1740. The Grand Lodges are all of comparatively recent organization, the oldest and largest, with 40,000 members, being for Ontario; those of Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec numbering about 5000 each. There are some seven Grand Lodges in Australia; South Australia coming first as a “sovereign body,” followed closely by New South Wales and Victoria (of 1884–1889 constitution), the whole of the lodges in the Commonwealth probably having fully 50,000 members on the registers.
There are many additional degrees which may be taken or not (being quite optional), and dependent on a favourable ballot; the difficulty, however, of obtaining admission increases as progress is made, the numbers accepted decreasing rapidly with each advancement. The chief of these are arranged in separate classes and are governed either by the “Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch,” the “Mark Grand Lodge,” the “Great Priory of Knights Templars” or the “Ancient and Accepted Rite,” these being mutually complementary and intimately connected as respects England, and more or less so in Ireland, Scotland, North America and wherever worked on a similar basis; the countries of the continent of Europe have also their own Hautes Grades. (W. J. H. *)
FREEPORT, a city and the county-seat of Stephenson county, Illinois, in the N.W. part of the state, on the Pecatonica river, 30 m. from its mouth and about 100 m. N.W. of Chicago. Pop. (1890) 10,189; (1900) 13,258, of whom 2264 were foreign-born;
(1910 census) 17,567. The city is served by the Chicago & North-Western, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul, and the
Illinois Central railways, and by the Rockford & Interurban
electric railway. The Illinois Central connects at South Freeport, about 3 m. S. of Freeport, with the Chicago Great Western
railway. Among Freeport’s manufactures are foundry and
machine shop products, carriages, hardware specialties, patent
medicines, windmills, engines, incubators, organs, beer and
shoes. The Illinois Central has large railway repair shops here.
The total value of the city’s factory product in 1905 was
$3,109,302, an increase of 14.8% since 1900. In the surrounding country cereals are grown, and swine and poultry are
raised. Dairying is an important industry also. The city
has a Carnegie library (1901). In the Court House Square is
a monument, 80 ft. high, in memory of the soldiers who died
in the Civil War. At the corner of Douglas Avenue and
Mechanic Street a granite boulder commemorates the famous
debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas,
held in Freeport on the 27th of August 1858. In that debate
Lincoln emphasized the differences between himself and the
radical anti-slavery men, and in answer to one of Lincoln’s
questions Douglas declared that the people of a territory, through
“unfriendly” laws or denial of legislative protection, could
exclude slavery, and that “it matters not what way the Supreme
Court may hereafter decide on the abstract question whether
slavery may or may not go into a territory under the Constitution.” This, the so-called “Freeport doctrine,” greatly weakened
Douglas in the presidential election of 1860. Freeport was
settled in 1835, was laid out and named Winneshiek in 1836,
and in 1837 under its present name was made the county-seat
of Stephenson county. It was incorporated as a town in 1850
and chartered as a city in 1855.
FREE PORTS, a term, strictly speaking, given to localities
where no customs duties are levied, and where no customs supervision exists. In these ports (subject to payment for specific
services rendered, wharfage, storage, &c., and to the observance
of local police and sanitary regulations) ships load and unload,
cargoes are deposited and handled, industries are exercised,
manufactures are carried on, goods are bought and sold, without
any action on the part of fiscal authorities. Ports are likewise
designated “free” where a space or zone exists within which
commercial operations are conducted without payment of import
or export duty, and without active interference on the part of
customs authorities. The French and German designations
for these two descriptions of ports are—for the former La Ville franche, Freihafen; for the latter Le Port franc, Freibezirk or
Freilager. The English phrase free port applies to both.[1] The
leading conditions under which free ports in Europe derived their
origin were as follows:—(1) When public order became re-established
during the middle ages, trading centres were gradually
formed. Marts for the exchange and purchase of goods arose in
different localities. Many Italian settlements, constituting free
zones, were established in the Levant. The Hanseatic towns
arose in the 12th century. Great fairs became recognized—the
Leipzig charter was granted in 1268. These localities were
free as regards customs duties, although dues of the nature of
octroi charges were often levied. (2) Until the 19th century
European states were numerous, and often of small size. Accordingly
uniform customs tariffs of wide application did not exist.
- ↑ In China at the present time (1902) certain ports are designated “free and open.” This phrase means that the ports in question are (1) open to foreign trade, and (2) that vessels engaged in oversea voyages may freely resort there. Exemption from payment of customs duties is not implied, which is a matter distinct from the permission granted under treaty engagements to foreign vessels to carry cargoes to and from the “treaty ports.”
