Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In June 1923, Thomas G. Moses presented a model to the Binghamton Scottish Rite for their new theater. He painted the scenery during September and October of that year. Moses’ payment for painting the scenery was $2500. It remains uncertain if this amount also covered travel and lodging expenses.
In June 1924 Moses wrote, “On June 2nd, I received $365.00 balance due from Binghamton. I had about given up all hopes of getting it.” Moses completed his work for the Binghamton Scottish Rite scenery project seven months earlier, just before the building opened in November 1923.
$365 was approximately 15% of the project, likely the amount due upon installation. To put this in perspective, $2500 in 1923 is the equivalent of approximately $38,080.99 today. The amount that Moses was waiting for ($365) was today’s equivalent of $5,559.83.
It is hard enough when a payment is past due, and there is no indication of when those funds will appear. Then there is the additional time you spend on a project trying to collect. Creating each additional invoice, letter, email or phone call all adds up, pecking away at your salary. I think of Sosman & Landis representatives traveling across the country to collect final payment, the additional travel fees and lodging. When several clients decide to not pay in a timely manner, it becomes a big problem.
For Moses, this was an ongoing problem during the early twentieth-century with Scottish Rite projects. They would not pay that final payment, no matter how large or small. I have to wonder how the Masons justified non-payment for the craftsmen. It flies in the face of what Masonry teaches.
To be continued…
