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PREPAKING- FOK PUBLICATION . MASONICRECORDS17171886. COMPRISING a complete List of all tho Lodges warranted by the Four Grand Lodges and tho United Grand Lodge of England , with their dates , places of meeting-, successive numbers , & c , & c . By JNO . LANE , F . C . A ., P . M . 1402 , Torqxiay . The work will contain a fae-nmih of Pine's Engraved List of 172 , 5 , and an Introduction by ' . Bro . "W . J . HCOIIAW , P . S . G D . England . It is dedicated , by permission , to H . R . H . the PKINCE or WALES , K . G ., K . T ., & c , & c , ll . W . GUARD MASTEH , and will bo printed on good paper ( about 300 pages ) , and bo handsomely bouud in bluo cloth , bcvoiled boards , gilt edges . Price , to Uiibscrib 8 rs only before publication , ONE GUINEA . As thg Edition will bo necessarily limited , intending subscribers should forward their orders , without delay , cither to Bvo . Hughan , Uvosvonor House , or to tho Author , Bannercross , Torquay .

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A Panacea For "The Unemployed."

A PANACEA FOR "THE UNEMPLOYED . "

IN the present agitation with respect to the great depression of trade and industry , when difficulties in obtaining employment are driving men to find relief from the Mansion Honso and other funds , the mind naturally turns upon the discovery of some means whereby to ease the " glutted" labour market . A popular idea is

that emigration is tho only cure for the evils which are so apparent , and the sore distress which is everywhere around ns , not only amongst the " labouring" classes , so-called , bnt amongst skilled artizans and mechanics . There are many ways of looking at this question , whioh admits of criticism of a varied nature . Many

consider , and with a great degree of force , that the enormous sum contributed to the Mansion House Fund—towards which , by the way , Grand Lodge sent a donation of £ 200—is but a " drop in tho ocean , " and fails to meet the requirements of the case . Temporary relief , it is urged :, is but an incentive to listlessnees ; and , pitiable as it may be

to see each day crowds of indigent men clustering around the doors of the " branch relief offices " in London and the suburbs , it can hardly be gainsaid that tho unhappy-looking individuals who spend so much time hankering after their littlo doles might be more profitably employed . Sam Weller , at a certain interesting epoch iu his

history , uttered tho sago ejaculation , " Whether it is worth while going through so much to lenrn so littlo is a mystery . " And so many of tho poor fellows who would scorn the inquisition of the Charity Organisation Society—a huge blot upon tho vary initio of Charityare yet fain to tremble on the threshold of the " national gift " for

the merest help m the support of thoir wivos aud families . It is not onr province to canvass the many suggestions which have been made as to the manner in which tho present congestion of the labour market might be ameliorated , We leave it to the legislator and the statesmen to say whether tho starting of gigantic public

works would meet the exigencies of a depression which is without parallel in the present generation . There i 3 one scheme , however , which has recently been propounded by a Somersetshire vicar and his wife which , if it conld be rendered practicable , might possibly tend to tho more permanent benefit of tho working classes of this country .

The idea is that societies should bo formed in every district for placing before tho necessitous tho advantages of emigration to " more favoured climes , " especially naming New Zealand , and that " alleven tho poorest—shonld be asked to contributo regularly ( say as little as a penny per week ) towards paying passages out , & c . " The

"idea '" is a good and generous one theoretically , but wo fear it will be endorsed by few beyond that circle which is standing by the kindly-hearted vicar of a country parish and his estimable wife . Men who have moved about in the world and know what life is ,

fail to see that , whilst men , women , and children are starving iu our midst , they will hesitate to subscribe their littlo mites—though " only a penny per week "—towards assisting thoir brethren to '" ' leave their country for thoir country ' s good . " We say theoretically the idea is good , but we fear

it is optimist and unworkable . Thero can bo no question , ra the advocates of this scheme of assisted emigration point out , that tho evils attendant on an overstocked labour market will increase rather than diminish , and the question therefore of relief is too broad for any individual solution . It has been suggested to us by a

correspondent that "if tho influence of the Brotherhood could be Fccnred in this direction "—that is of creating a national " self-aid" system of emigration—great things might be accomplished , and the well-known kind and brotherly feeling of tho Freemasons would do much to dispel the resentment which often arises when the subiect of

emigration is proposed to tho home-loving Englishman . Without in any way criticising in an unfiiendly spirit the well-intentioned suggestions of our correspondent , it is well to say that a difficulty at once pro . seuts itself to the Craft in any way dealing with tho subject in any shape or form . Freemasons , thongh unstinted in their benevolent

actions , are restricted—in their Masonic capacity—to tho objects for which the Institution was founded , and in which it exercises so enormously a munificent influence . Freemasons , as a body , have no power whatever to contributo any more thau they have done to tho alleviation of tho distress which wo see about us . nor to aid iu tho

A Panacea For "The Unemployed."

transference of any of our poor , however deserving or desirous of emigrating to " more- favoured climes . " Thus dismissing as impracticable any appeal to tho general body of the Craft for such a purpose , it is open to question whether , " however wretched tho prospects" of the unemployed , emigration is " ever looked upon as

tho last resource . " Those who attended tho recent Conference on Emigration held in London , and heard tho discussion that took place amongst men who had made a study of colonial life and

experience , will have come to tho conclusion that almost equal difficulty exists thero as wo find at homo . The best hands who are " willing to toil" may unquestionably roup the "fruits of the soil . " But the fact so often reiterated still holds £ rood that tho men who

( ail to succeed at homo are as little likely to find a royal road to prosperity anywhere . If emigration means the drafting of our best skilled hands , and leaving tho homo market to tho monopoly of the mediocre , wo cannot see it would tend in any measure to the national weal . On the other hand , if our " ne'er-do-weels '" are to be shipped

oft " in communities , as our correspondent says , they will find but a sorry welcome at the hands of the colonists , unless , forsooth , " sorno of tho principal colonists could bo induced to interest themsoivos in tho party's welfare on arrival . " Wo quite agree that such an act of magnanimity on the part of the " principal colonists "

would " take off much of tho feeling of loneliness and uncertainty every emigrant must experience on going to an unknown world . " But hard dry facts must bo looked calmly in the faco in the consideration of any such a schema as has been shadowed forth in the letter before- us : and much as wo should bo disposed to lend what

little aid we conld in tho way of solviug the great labour problem , it must , after all , resolve itself into a question of who are fit or otherwise of being assisted to emigrate to mora favoured climes , shonld they desire it . We have before us a couple of pamphlets , compiled for the Auckland Agricultural Company , Limited , setting

forth , in interesting manner , details as to the climate , natural resources , & c , of New Zealand , with full information as to the means of getting there , and obtaining laud on advantageous terms . These are accompanied by items of " general interest to the intending emigrant , " which we commoud to the perusal of those who may be

interested in the subject . Iu the event of their success on tho distant shores of the Antipodes being sirjh as to enable them to aid the funds of "the Free Emigration Association , " well and good ; but , once for all , it must be understood that our Colonies are only fitted for these who , in tho words of the pamphlet , are " really willing to work

in a position to gain a honest livelihood in a most healthy and fertile country , where workhouses and starving people are alike unknown , and whore , by means of industry and thrift , a man may maintain his family comfortably , and also make a provision for his old ago . " Work , industry , and thrift form the threefold key to all success in

life , whother at home or abroad ; and , neither in this country nor in any other can it bo otherwise . Such enterprises as that in which Dr . Barnardo and others are engaged , of sending sturdy young lads to tho Colouies , is a stop in the right direction , and all who witnossod tho departure of two hundred of that philanthropist's " family" for

Canada a few days since will be stimulated in their exertions to support the movement inaugurated by tho founder of our " boys ' homes . " But the case is otherwise in rospoob to those who are popularly known as " tho unemployed , " and wc fail to seo that tho remedy for tho existing evils lies wholly and solely iu emigration . In

any case , however , any scheme- which may tend to tuo benefit ot the deserving poor is worthy of consideration , and wo therefore commend to the perusal of any who may fool an interest iu tho matter the two practical treatises on New Zealand which have been published by the Auckland Agricultural Company , 63 and 69 Cornhill , London .

The Third City Masonic Benevolent Association.

THE THIRD CITY MASONIC BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION .

nni . IE twenty-fourth meeting of this Association , which is held in -3- counecii 'ii with tho Sincerity Lodgo of Instruction , No . 171 , took place at tho Railway Tavern , Fenchurch Street , on Monday , tho 22 nd nit . Bro . J . Newton , the President of the Association , was in the chair , and there wove also present Bro . F . Brown

Vice-President , G . Ward Veiry Treasurer , H . M . Ilobbs Secretary , and tho following members of the Cominit'eo , viz . : —Bros . Webb , J . S . Fraser , Ifuslip , and G . Jones ; also Bros . Large , Magoo , Matthews , Smith , & o . Two ballot ;) were obtained by Bros . G . B . Foster aud

D . Scott . This being tho end of the Society's financial year , the Officers and Oommitteo wero unanimously ro-olootod , aud Bros . Largo and Mageo appointed Auditors . Bro . J . Newton , tho President , iu calling attention to tho fact that this Association had now been in existence for two yonvs . c ' iiurratub . tcd the members on the success

that had ptt ~ ndcd i * - , and referred with satisfaction to tlio number of ballots which had been drawn , viz ., fifty-two ^ of ten guineas each ,

Wo have Leon requested to announce that the Longhboro Lodge of Instruction , No . 22 , lias changed its place ot ' meetm" from tho Cambria , Longhboro' Junction , to tho Gundcn Hotel , Clapham , Tho time of mooting is Monday evening , at 7 ' 30 .

' The ceremony of installation will bo rehears-: , at tlio Prince Leopold Lodge of Instruction , No . 14-1-5 , held jut Bro . W . H . Myers ' s " Printing Works , 302 Wliitechapcl-Iroad , by Pro . Pringlo , W . M . No . 781 , on Mouday evening , | 5 th April , at seven o ' eloek .