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Article PROJECTED EXTENSION OF THE GIRLS' SCHOOL. Page 1 of 2 Article PROJECTED EXTENSION OF THE GIRLS' SCHOOL. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Projected Extension Of The Girls' School.
PROJECTED EXTENSION OF THE GIRLS' SCHOOL .
HOW far the brethren of to-day are justified in pledging the liberality of the future generation of Freemasons , or that section of them who will be called upon to maintain the three existing Masonic Charitable Institutions , is a question which is treated far too lightly by the Craft at
large , if indeed it ever receives a passing thought . At the present time , the , expenditure on account of the Benevolent Institution and the two Schools is something like £ 40 , 000 per annum , and the continuous cry is for enlargement and extension of the benefits the Institutions afford .
The need is indeed great , and we are gratified to find so strong a spirit prevailing in favour of increasing the number of grants ; no one would be more pleased than ourselves to see all the candidates who crave for help relieved through the instrumentality of the existing Charities . However ,
as it is impossible to do more than a certain quantity of good with a limited amount of money , there is but one remedy—to increase the receipts . It is lack of funds alone that prevents all candidates being admitted to a participation in the benefits of the respective
Institutions as time after time tbe day of election comes round . How to help ? is a problem many would like to solve . Still , it must not be forgotten that the annual expenditure the three institutions are actually pledged to is a large sum to raise , and however much we may desire to relieve
distress in the present , it behoves us also to look to the future . Except in the case of tho Benevolent Institution , whose Asylum at Croydon—ample in every respect for all requirements—costs but very little to maintain , our Charities are burdened with large establishments which in themselves
demand a considerable sum annually to keep up , and should at any time the donations from the Craft be reduced any considerable extent very little saving could be effected in this particular item . With the Benevolent Institution it is very different ; only a small minority of the annuitants thereof
being provided for in the regular establishment , the Committee would , if unfortunately they found the receipts so reduced as to prevent the maintaining of the existing number of annuitants , find it a comparatively easy task to lessen them , and however much such a course might be
deplored , it would bo far better than to continue a larger number at the risk of creating a deficiency which , if it once appeared on the balance sheet , might speedily increase , and perhaps take years to eradicate . It -will doubtless be urged that the case of the annuitants of the Benevolent
Institution is far different to that of the children of the Schools , the one being , generally , in a position to look after themselves , the others requiring continued supervision . The best answer we can give to this argument is to refer brethreu to the laws of the Schools themselves , which
specially provide " rules applicable to children clothed and educated out of the establishment , " thereby at once demonstrating the feasibility of such a course , and producing a strong argument in favour of stopping the mania for increasing and enlarging the existing buildings .
As our readers are already aware , it is now proposed to spend six thousand five hundred pounds for the purchase of a house and three-quarters of an acre of ground adjoining the Girls' School at Battersea Eise . This step ,
be it remembered , will likewise largely increase the amount annually required for the School , that is , if the additional accommodation this outlay should provide is to be fully made use of , Taking the matter in its first objection-
Projected Extension Of The Girls' School.
able phase—thai it pledges the future generation to a still larger amount than they are at present committed to—we think the proposal should be rejected by a large majority . It is unfair to compel the Craft in years to come to subscribe a sum even equal to that raised
at the present time , much less to call upon them to contribute more and more as year after year the Festivals come round . The spending of so large an amount as £ 6 , 500 in land and buildings should provide accommoda - tion for very many more children than can be at present
maintained , and , therefore , if the proposed amount is spent , we may expect the Craft to be continually called upon to exhibit renewed energy in order to enable the Committee to make use of the unoccupied space at their command . Even at the present time there are numerous brethren who
think that children could be educated and clothed in their parents' homes cheaper than by taking them to the Schools ; while some go so far as to state that the benefits those children would receive through being brought np in their own sphere would be much greater than is the case under
existing circumstances . It is not at all unlikely that this view may , before long , become widely supported . Supposing that it does , and that , in the course of two years , those who advocate it find themselves in the majority , what would then become of the house and land now proposed to be
purchased , and which mast take considerably longer than that period to be fully developed ? All these points have to be taken into consideration , and again we pronounce the Craft of to-day as steering a wrong course . In fact , the limits of propriety are exceeded when so much coincidence with
the views of the present generation is expected from those who will be called upon to subscribe in the future . For ourselves Ave look upon the question iu yet another form . We think that many Provinces and Lodges expect too much from the Institutions , and by skilful
generalship , or outside influence some get considerably more than their share ; that is if we take into consideration the value they receive compared with the amount of their donations . When members take sufficient interest in au orphan or an old comrade to secure an election to
one or other of the Charities , they often think they have done their duty ; so they have , if their donations to the Institutions have been consistent , and in proportion to the extent of their receipts , but they certainly have not if they had to go outside their own circle to secure all the
necessary votes . We would ask a Lodge when they recommend a candidate for one or other of the Schools if they are prepared to prove their interest in the case by providing any part of the necessary items for the child ' s maintenance ; whether , in fact , they would
clothe the child if the Institution provided for other claims . If the members of such a Lodge consented , they would demonstrate beyond question their desire to exercise towards one of their own circle that greatest of all Masonic virtues—Charity . But if not , why should the Craft at
large be called upon to do the whole task , a portion of which they iu particular should certainly be expected to perform ? We are not in favour of dispensing the
benefits of the Institutions only to those who contribute to the funds , or of keeping an exact account against each section , but we like consistency . We think that many brethren who now take active interest in the welfare of
the offspring of less fortunate members , would do more for their assistance if an opportunity was afforded , and therefore we are in favour of devoting a portion of the funds of each of the Educational Charities to the support of children outside the Schools . With a pom-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Projected Extension Of The Girls' School.
PROJECTED EXTENSION OF THE GIRLS' SCHOOL .
HOW far the brethren of to-day are justified in pledging the liberality of the future generation of Freemasons , or that section of them who will be called upon to maintain the three existing Masonic Charitable Institutions , is a question which is treated far too lightly by the Craft at
large , if indeed it ever receives a passing thought . At the present time , the , expenditure on account of the Benevolent Institution and the two Schools is something like £ 40 , 000 per annum , and the continuous cry is for enlargement and extension of the benefits the Institutions afford .
The need is indeed great , and we are gratified to find so strong a spirit prevailing in favour of increasing the number of grants ; no one would be more pleased than ourselves to see all the candidates who crave for help relieved through the instrumentality of the existing Charities . However ,
as it is impossible to do more than a certain quantity of good with a limited amount of money , there is but one remedy—to increase the receipts . It is lack of funds alone that prevents all candidates being admitted to a participation in the benefits of the respective
Institutions as time after time tbe day of election comes round . How to help ? is a problem many would like to solve . Still , it must not be forgotten that the annual expenditure the three institutions are actually pledged to is a large sum to raise , and however much we may desire to relieve
distress in the present , it behoves us also to look to the future . Except in the case of tho Benevolent Institution , whose Asylum at Croydon—ample in every respect for all requirements—costs but very little to maintain , our Charities are burdened with large establishments which in themselves
demand a considerable sum annually to keep up , and should at any time the donations from the Craft be reduced any considerable extent very little saving could be effected in this particular item . With the Benevolent Institution it is very different ; only a small minority of the annuitants thereof
being provided for in the regular establishment , the Committee would , if unfortunately they found the receipts so reduced as to prevent the maintaining of the existing number of annuitants , find it a comparatively easy task to lessen them , and however much such a course might be
deplored , it would bo far better than to continue a larger number at the risk of creating a deficiency which , if it once appeared on the balance sheet , might speedily increase , and perhaps take years to eradicate . It -will doubtless be urged that the case of the annuitants of the Benevolent
Institution is far different to that of the children of the Schools , the one being , generally , in a position to look after themselves , the others requiring continued supervision . The best answer we can give to this argument is to refer brethreu to the laws of the Schools themselves , which
specially provide " rules applicable to children clothed and educated out of the establishment , " thereby at once demonstrating the feasibility of such a course , and producing a strong argument in favour of stopping the mania for increasing and enlarging the existing buildings .
As our readers are already aware , it is now proposed to spend six thousand five hundred pounds for the purchase of a house and three-quarters of an acre of ground adjoining the Girls' School at Battersea Eise . This step ,
be it remembered , will likewise largely increase the amount annually required for the School , that is , if the additional accommodation this outlay should provide is to be fully made use of , Taking the matter in its first objection-
Projected Extension Of The Girls' School.
able phase—thai it pledges the future generation to a still larger amount than they are at present committed to—we think the proposal should be rejected by a large majority . It is unfair to compel the Craft in years to come to subscribe a sum even equal to that raised
at the present time , much less to call upon them to contribute more and more as year after year the Festivals come round . The spending of so large an amount as £ 6 , 500 in land and buildings should provide accommoda - tion for very many more children than can be at present
maintained , and , therefore , if the proposed amount is spent , we may expect the Craft to be continually called upon to exhibit renewed energy in order to enable the Committee to make use of the unoccupied space at their command . Even at the present time there are numerous brethren who
think that children could be educated and clothed in their parents' homes cheaper than by taking them to the Schools ; while some go so far as to state that the benefits those children would receive through being brought np in their own sphere would be much greater than is the case under
existing circumstances . It is not at all unlikely that this view may , before long , become widely supported . Supposing that it does , and that , in the course of two years , those who advocate it find themselves in the majority , what would then become of the house and land now proposed to be
purchased , and which mast take considerably longer than that period to be fully developed ? All these points have to be taken into consideration , and again we pronounce the Craft of to-day as steering a wrong course . In fact , the limits of propriety are exceeded when so much coincidence with
the views of the present generation is expected from those who will be called upon to subscribe in the future . For ourselves Ave look upon the question iu yet another form . We think that many Provinces and Lodges expect too much from the Institutions , and by skilful
generalship , or outside influence some get considerably more than their share ; that is if we take into consideration the value they receive compared with the amount of their donations . When members take sufficient interest in au orphan or an old comrade to secure an election to
one or other of the Charities , they often think they have done their duty ; so they have , if their donations to the Institutions have been consistent , and in proportion to the extent of their receipts , but they certainly have not if they had to go outside their own circle to secure all the
necessary votes . We would ask a Lodge when they recommend a candidate for one or other of the Schools if they are prepared to prove their interest in the case by providing any part of the necessary items for the child ' s maintenance ; whether , in fact , they would
clothe the child if the Institution provided for other claims . If the members of such a Lodge consented , they would demonstrate beyond question their desire to exercise towards one of their own circle that greatest of all Masonic virtues—Charity . But if not , why should the Craft at
large be called upon to do the whole task , a portion of which they iu particular should certainly be expected to perform ? We are not in favour of dispensing the
benefits of the Institutions only to those who contribute to the funds , or of keeping an exact account against each section , but we like consistency . We think that many brethren who now take active interest in the welfare of
the offspring of less fortunate members , would do more for their assistance if an opportunity was afforded , and therefore we are in favour of devoting a portion of the funds of each of the Educational Charities to the support of children outside the Schools . With a pom-