The Boys' School.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

THE Quarterly General Court of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will bo held on Monday , tlio 10 th instant , for tho transaction of important business . First of all , a Treasurer for the ensuing year will be elected , and then twelve brethren to represent the Life and Annnal Subscribers on the General Committee . Next two

additional vacancies in the school will be declared , and their will be considered a recommendation from the General Committee that five additional boys be elected , and if such recommendation be adopted , to elect sixteen boys from the list of fifty-nine approved candidates , instead of nine

as originally announced . After this , a proposition will be submitted , in accordance with a resolution of the General Committee held on 1 st January last , with a view to authorising the payment of £ 2 , 000 , being the amount of the purchase money of the freehold of " Kent House , "

with land required for a sanatorium . Two motions will then be brought forward , the first by Bro . Dr . Ramsay , " that every three years the four Senior members of the House Committee retire , but shall be eligible for re-election , and the four who have been least frequent

in attendance shall retire annually , and be ineligible for re-election for a space of twelve months . " The second motion will be proposed by V . W . Bro . Rev . A . F . A . Woodford P . G . C . and P . Prov . G . W . West Yorkshire , to

the effect "thafc , having in view the reaenfc imputations cast on the administration of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , this Court deems it to be its duty to express its unabated confidence in the House Committee and

executive . As regards this latter motion , we propose offering a few remarks . It may be in the recollection of our readers thafc , in otii issue of 25 th December last , we announced the presentation by the Committee appointed to inquire into the alleged

mismanagement of the Boys School of a long and exhaustive report , in which the governing body were completely exonerated from the charges made against them . So perfectly innocent were they of all errors , either of omission or of commission , so simple and straightforward

was the task of the Investigating Committee that it was not even found necessary to call in a professional accountant , though authority for that purpose had been granted . Under the circumstances we expressed a hope that the difference arising out of these charges , the bona fides of

which we did nofc question , but which had thus been authoritatively disproved , should be allowed to die out , and that , in the future as in the past , West Yorkshire would cordially co-operate with the rest of the Craft in promoting the welfare of this important charity . West

Yorkshire , however , ifc seems is sore upon one point . Its Committee of Investigation applied in due course to the Secretary for information on certain points . The members of this Committee , by the merest accident in the world , were Life Governors of tho School , and they directed their

Secretary , who was not even a subscriber , to apply for the information in question , but on their behalf as a Committee , and not in their capacity of Life Governors . Bro . Binckes , acting strictly in accordance with a resolution passed on the 1 st January last , of the General Committee of the

School , declined in any way to recognise officially the West Yorkshire Committee of Investigation . At the same time he expressed his readiness to furnish answers to the several queries , as indeed he would most courteousl y have done to any member of the Committee itself

The Boys' School.

if ho applied in his capacity of Life Governor . How far the General Committee were right in ignoring the existence of the West Yorkshire Committee , ifc comes not within our province to determine , bnt manifestly Bro . Binckes , with the resolution before him , had no option bufc

to reply as he did . Since then , the West Yorkshire Committee have delivered their report . In ifc they draw attention to certain imperfections ,, as thoy deem them , in the mode of rendering the School accounts , and they lay great stress on tho great cost per head of maintaining , clothing ,

and educating the pupils of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys as compared with the expenditure per head in sundry other Schools of somewhat similar stamp . Wo have before us a copy of their report , but ifc is nofc our intention to bring any of its details under tho notice of our

readers . To do so would , in the first place , occupy too much space . In the next , so far as wo have been able to gather from a pretty careful examination of its most material points , the report differs bufc slightly from tho pamphlets already published by Bro . Tew and Bros . Tew

and Rev . 0 . G . D . Perrott . Lastly , the Committee specially appointed by the Governing Body of the School , to inquire into and determine the merits or demerits of the charges raised by West Yorkshire , have long since delivered their report , to the effect that no irregularities whatever had

occurred in the financial management of the School . A most critical examination had satisfied them , not only that the apparent discrepancies to which their attention had been drawn were capable of explanation , bufc also that tho whole financial arrangements of the School were in tho hicrhest detrree creditable to the executive . Under the

circumstances , it naturally occurs to us to ask what will it profit any one if we reopen questions that have boon already settled . West Yorkshire has complained , its complaint has been investigated , and a decision has been given , to tho effeefc thafc its complaints have no foundation . As for

the comparison instituted , we confess we attach bufc little importance to this . The expenditure per head has been steadily diminished , while as regards the office expenditure , wo may note that a smaller staff could nofc do tho work , or at all events nofc do ifc as satisfactorily as it is done

now . Moreover , the cost under this head of service will not be sensibly increased when the school is enlarged to two hundred , or even to two hundred and fifty pupils . Again , while the general body of the Craft is most exemplary in the fulfilment of its charitable duties , while its

contributions to the funds of this Institution are year by year more considerable , there is no wish on the part of any members that tho Boys' School should be conducted after the manner of an ordinary charity school . In years gone by , the pupils , then far fewer than now , were clad in very

homely garb . With brown corduroy trousers , close fitting , buttoned-up brown jackets with metal buttons , and underneath ifc neither vest nor under vest , but only a shirt of the make of an ordinary night shirt , the pupils of the Masonic Boys' School were bufc little better dressed than pauper

children , while in manners and bearing they were the terror of the neighbourhood . Now , thanks to the marvellous energy of " our Hercules . " and the governing body generally , and thanks also to the hearty response which Masons

have made annually these fourteen or fifteen years past , the Masonic Boys' School is a pattern of excellence , both in discipline and management . The boys are well-behaved , wellfed and clad , and moreover the course of study laid clown is of the most liberal character . Under these cir- " enmstances , it is impossible thoy can feel or experience aught but the most affectionate regard for the school in