The Daughters Of The Graft.

THE DAUGHTERS OF THE GRAFT .

I THERE is no need for a long association with English - * - Freemasonry to convince anyone that its members are taught and practice respect towards the weaker sex , as the ladies are usually termed . In the course of the ceremonies which make an outsider a member of our

Brotherhood , the duty of protecting the wives , the sisters , and the daughters of his fellow members is impressed on the candidate ; at the festive board the toast of the Queen takes the premier place , even in advance of the Craft

itself ; while in the quieter work of Freemasonry—its charity—we find the widow and the orphan daughter specially provided for ; indeed the daughters of the Craft were the earliest care of our ancestors in this direction ,

and the constant thought of many of its best members at the present day , just as they have been during the whole of the one hundred and ten years the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls has been in existence , and will so

continue , we trust , as long as want and misfortune around us make it necessary for the less fortunate of our fellow creatures to appeal to those who are more favoured with this world ' s goods .

At the present time the English Craft is being actively canvassed on behalf of the one hundred and tenth Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , which is to be held on Wednesday , the 18 th

of May next , under the presidency of a Brother who has done much for our Charitable Institutions , and the Craft generally , in years gone by—Sir Reginald Hanson , Bart ., M . P ., Past Grand Warden of England , Patron and

Treasurer of the Institution concerned . Although we are not without serious forebodings as to the result of the appeal he and the Board of Stewards working under him will make to the Craft , we yet hope sufficient will be

collected , with the amounts already in hand , to meet the expenditure of the year , so as to obviate the necessity of actually getting into debt , or the equally undesirable expedient of selling out invested funds to meet current requirements .

It will hardly be necessary to explain to our readers that the cause for this gloomy- estimate of what is likely to occur in connection with this year ' s Festival of the Girls Institution , is the same as acted so detrimentally in

the case of the Benevolent Institution celebration in February last , when the result was little more than half an ordinary collection , on account of the strong appeal , and the great energy that is being devoted to the Centenary

celebration of the Boys School , which occurs in June next , and much as we . wish for a better result in the case of the Girls , we fear it is only hoping against hope to really

expect it—but this dismal feeling must not be allowed to entirely overweigh all other considerations . It is no good to quietly sit down and allow things to

The Daughters Of The Graft.

take their course ; with an up-hill battle to fight extra effort is necessary , and we trust a sufficient number of Brethren will recognise this during the next few weeks , in order to place matters in a far more favourable position

than at present seems likely . The Girls School is not a mere passing whim of the hour , that can be taken up and set down again at pleasure ; but is rather an established fact , and one that requires a good round substantial sum ,

year by year , in order to keep pace with the actual expenditure ; which expenditure , it must be particularly remembered , cannot be curtailed or varied to meet such a special contingency as has this year arisen , but must

be regarded as a really permanent matter , and in view of the fact that the assured income of the Institution is but a modicum of what is disbursed , the bulk' of the necessary amount has to be provided year by year as the free will offering of voluntary contributors .

At . the present time this Institution has under its care 267 Daughters of the Craft , who are well fed , clothed and educated at the splendid Schools at Battersea Rise , and it does not require any very great calculation to convince one

that this large number of orphan children entails a very heavy outlay , especially when it is remembered—as is actually the case—that they are educated with so much care , and so thoroughly in all the branches of a good

English education , as to fit them for any position they may be called upon to fill in after life . The Craft has long recognised that what is worth doing at all in this direction is worth doing well , and accordingly no expense

has been spared in years gone by to place the Institution and its staff in the highest degree of efficiency—all of which matters , it is very easy to imagine , call for continued and heavy expenditure . The maintenance alone of so

large a number of children , and the necessary staff , is no small item , and as it is really impossible to half starve those under our care because of the fact that this year the Craft is celebrating the Centenary of the establishment of

the Boys School , it will be at once apparent this expenditure must be met as usual , and so it is with everything that has to be paid for out of the funds of the Institution . The greatest care has been exercised in the

past in the matter of expenditure , and there is really no room for retrenchment on this special occasion ; consequently , the relief must come from another quarter , and the best method seems to be for the Craft to make

a special effort , not on behalf of this Institution primarily , but indirectly so , it is true , by doing all that is intended on behalf of the Boys Centenary without taking away its average contributions on behalf of our Girls .

We have so recently expressed our views in regard to these special appeals to the Craft , on particular occasions , that there is little need to repeat them now , but we have yet to be convinced that any real benefit accrues if , when one