Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

All Letters must hear the name anl address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith . We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Corespondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

THE LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —It is so eminently desirable that the point raised by Bro . Perceval as to the delay in administering the relief granted by the Lodge of Benevolence should be kept before the Craft , that I feel confident you will excuse my reverting to the question , and suggesting that all shonld be done that ia possible

towards strengthening the hands of our worthy brother when he brings the subject before Grand Lodge . The matter is one of the very greatest importance . It may be taken for granted that no one will go through the painful ordeal of submitting his private cir . oumstances in the first place to his'Lodge , and in the next to the Lodge of Benevolence , unless necessity compels him . Bnt few

Craftsmen , knowing the strict inquisition which will be made into the particulars of hia case , will venture to apply for relief without sufficient cause . A glance at the reports of Grand Lodge and Lodge of Benevolence will show that during the last seven years the cases in which a grant has been revoked or reduced are of very rare occurrence . And when a brother is voted assistance to the extent of

£ 100 and £ 150 , yon and I and every one else are justified in imagining that his necessities are very urgent . But what a farce it ia that thia poor and distressed brother shonld be compelled to wait five or six months for the money that ia granted , a tenth or a fifteenth being all he is allowed to draw in the interval . The Con . Btitntions are very stringent , " whenever voto for a sum of money

not exceeding fifty pounds shall be carried in Grand Lodge , pursuant to recommendation from the Lodge of Benevolence , the same shall he paid forthwith , bnt shonld the vote exceed fifty pounds it shall not be valid until confirmed at the next Grand Lodge . " I allow that it ia impossible to be too particular , and that the Lodge of Benevolence and Grand Lodge are bound to take every precaution against

the wiles of the adventurer , but , on the other hand , it ia admittedly hard linea that a brother should have to wait so long when he has been adjudged worthy of receiving an abnormally large grant . Wonld it not be possible so to amend the Constitutions that a brother who is awarded a sum in excess of £ 50 should be permitted to draw on

account to the extent of £ 40 or £ 50 , when the recommendation of the Lodge of Benevolence has been endorsed by Grand Lodge , the balance being due and payable when the endorsement haa been confirmed . If something of this kind were done , then the very reasonable objection to the delay now caused wonld be removed . Yours faithfully , " S . E . V . "

Provincial Charity Organisations.

PROVINCIAL CHARITY ORGANISATIONS .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICIE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I think every Province shonld have its Charity Organisation . Except , indeed , in the case of those which are strong in membership , there are none , in my opinion , which are ever likely to get along satisfactorily without something of the kind . A strong Province , when it sends up a candidate for one of our

Institutions may be said to command snecess , but a small Province , unless it ia able to control the votea of members and borrow or lend them , aa necessity may require , stands a very poor chance of ever carrying its candidate . It may seem to involve the abstraction of those privileges to which a brother becomea entitled when he subscribes his five or ten guineas or more , that he shonld be as it were compelled

to record hia votes for a particular candidate , in whom he has no personal interest whatever j still it is only by the combination of the many that the snecess of a local candidate ia ever likely to be secured . For these reasons it is that I express my belief as to tho proposed Essex Charity Organisation , that if it ia to effect any enduring benefits , its regulations as to the disposition of votes must be

somewhat exacting . If members are to be at liberty to support whom they please , it must be clear to every one that the candidate adopted by the Province will stand but a very indifferent chance of securing bis election . Let those who may incline to think it a somewhat harsh proceedings to deny a brother the personal exercise of this privilege keep in mind the old story about the bundle

of sticks . Let them also bear in mind that by the exercise of a very little care and ingenuity , a conple of hundred votes may be easily made to do duty for three or four times the number . For instance , Essex has a candidate for the Girls' School , aged eight years . Either five or six elections must be held before the child becomes ineligible in respect of age . The Province has , we will assume , six hundred votes , all told

for the various Institutions , equally divided among the three ; that is , two hundred for the Girls ' , two hundred for the Boys ' , and two hundred for tbe Benevolent . The last two hundred being available for both Fnnds , male and female , it follows that in the course of the year Essex has twelve hundred votes , thongh the marketable rates in the exchange value of the votes for the Charities of necessity vary . For

instance , a hundred boys may be equal to two hundred girls , and fifty old men to twice that number of women ; but taking them at par value , twelve hundred votes are enough to carry an election under ordinary cironmstanoes , while , in exceptional cases , it might be found expedient to anticipate just so many as would ensure success . Any such arrangement , however , wonld be impossible unless the members

Provincial Charity Organisations.

of the Province , who enjoy votea , bind themselves to give their support to the Provincial Association . Henoo the v > line of the opinions which yon . Dear Sir nnd Brother , have enunciated in your article of last week on the" Provinces and Voting Organisation , " and I sincerel y trust the Province of Essex will act npon these opinions . Faithfully and fraternally yours , A PROVINCIAL

Lodge Work.

LODGE WORK .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I confess to having read with an nnnsnal degree of pleasure , Brother Klotz's letter an extracted from the pages of your Transatlantic contemporary the Canadian Craftsman . I regret with him that Masonio literature and especially Masonic magazines and journals do not receive a heartier measure of support ,

and with him also I agree as to the probable explanation of this indifference . Brethren may say what they like about the beauty of our ceremonies , but we cannot shut onr eyes to the fact that nothing is so tedious aa to be compelled conatantly to listen to the same thing , be it the most impressive sermon or the most exhaustive lecture . Moreover , I think with him , as I always have thought , that nothing

could be easier than to make some change in order to do away with this monotony . He is qnite in the right—at least as regards Lodge bnsiness—when he asks , " What is there ever done inside the Lodge , or in the pages of Masonic periodicals , to induce the public to believe , and I may add , to convince the brethren themselves , that progress in art and science has anything whatever to do with Masonry ? " We

may not care much about impressing the outside or profane world with the nature and extent of our claims to artistic and scientific know , ledge , but it is obviously a great shortcoming on onr part that we do nothing to convince our brethren of the reality of snch claims . As Bro . OTTO KLOTZ remarks later on in his letter , we have acoomplished nothing more up to this year of grace 1881 , than " to know

the definition of a square and of a centre , " which two form " the sum and snbstance of all our knowledge of geometry taught us inside the Lodge . " And yet as candidates for the second degree we are taught that " Geometry , as one of the seven liberal arts and sciences , ia a special branch of instruction in the Fellow-craft . " Now what can a man of education think of Masonry , when , if he

has the leisure , to say nothing of the requisite conrage , to attend a lodge meeting say three times in the week during seven or eight months in the year , he finds absolutely nothing done , and the same forms and ceremonies repeated ? What can he think of the reports of such meetings in the columns of a Masonic journal , when for all pur . poses of edification , he discovers after the briefest possible experience

that one stereotyped form will snffice for all , the only points of differ , ence between any given two of them taken at hazard , being that there are two sets of officers , members , and visitors , while in the case of one Lodge there is a candidate initiated , and in tbe other some brother is passed or raised . The one exception in the year to this terrible monotony ia the report of Installation Meeting . Otherwise you , Sir ,

or I , or indeed , any brother ao minded , might in five minntea prepare a form of report , which wonld suffice to describe the regular proceedinga of every Lodge in the United Kingdom . The same may be said of Installation Meetings , aud of the Meetings of Prov . Grand Lodges , the mere local details of time , place , and brethren alone indicating the difference between one gathering and another . It is even worse

with Lodges of Instruction , for in them yon look to obtain something out of the beaten track . Yet the rehearsal of ceremonies ai . d the working of sections is the sum and snbstance of the information vouchsafed . Surely I am not expecting too much when I ask occasionally for a lecture other than those one is compelled to hear over and over again , or that an exposition by some well read brother , of a branch

or section of Masonic history , or pf Masonry as an Art and as a science , might be given . I an well aware that a frequent repetition of our forms and ceremonies is necessary , and especially in Lodges of Instrnction , which brethren attend presumably in order to attain a certain degree of proficiency in them against the time when tbey

themselves may be required to work them . But this does not exclude the possibility of something of real interest being done as well . As it is now , the bulk of our Lodge Meetings have one stereotyped programme in three parts , namely—Part I , Work so called ; Part IL , Dinner ; Part III ., Toasts . Will it never be too late to amend thii programme . Yours fraternally and faithfully , ESURIIN 9 '

Ad00604

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