Honours For Working Masons.

HONOURS FOR WORKING MASONS ,

IT is not often Grand Lodge departs from the ordinary routine , and confers the honour of a Pasfc Grand Officership on members of the Craffc , and even when this unusual course is adopted ifc seldom happens that the

appointment falls to what we may term a commoner m our midst , fche compliment generally being reserved for someone of public popularity , or someone who has occupied a really

semi-official position in the Craft . This being so , then , the honour conferred on Bro . John Lane , on Wednesday lasfc , is all the more marked , and seems to entitle him to even fuller

congratulation than would be the case if it were a matter of frequent occurrence for a Mason fco be so honoured . Bro . John Lane has gained the rank of Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies as a recognition of his greafc

labours as a Masonic writer , and we have the greatest pleasure in tendering him our personal congratulations , heightened in his case , as ifc was in that of Bro . Lake a few months back , in the feeling thafc ifc is again a fellow worker with ourselves who has won distinction from the head of the

Order . This would seem to imply that , however much some of the old fashioned cronies of the Craft object fco publicity of Masonic affairs , those in authority see no harm in the

judicious association of the press wifch Freemasonry , for in thus twice honouring men who have taken a leading part in Masonic press work they also honour fcheir profession .

We are aware it may be urged thafc Bro . Lane ' s work is not to be classed with that of an Editor of a newspaper , his great effort being really a contribution to the history of the Craffc , bufc Bro . Lane has nofc confined himself to thafc work

alone , and will doubtless allow as to claim him as a fellow worker in the cause of Masonic Journalism , for he has often availed himself of the columns of the regular press to promulgate and advance his opinions .

Bufc it is nofc only from a literary point of view we are pleased to see this honour conferred on Bro . Lane . As we

surmised afc the outset it is a direct compliment to a working Mason , and as such might well become a precedent to be frequentl y followed , for it is well recognised in the Craft that honours fall far too seldom on those who really bear the heat

and burden of the work in our midst . Some have expressed a desire to see the number of Grand Offices permanently increased in order to allow of some recognition being accorded these workers , but we think no tangible relief would be afforded by

such an extension , while the custom of conferring Past Grand rank appears to provide all that is necessary in this direction , is read y at hand , and , under certain conditions , is an equal , if not a greater honour than appointment in the ordinary course .

Let us hope , therefore , that the innovation of Wednesday J ast may find frequent repetition in times to come , and that others besides Bro . Lane may thus reap a recognised reward tor their labours in the cause of Freemasonry .

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE

THE Quarterly Communication was held on Wednesday , afc Freemasons' Hall , London , under the presidency of Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., P . G . M . Hampshire and Isle of Wight . The Minutes having been confirmed fche re-appoinfcment of

Brother E . Loveland Loveland as President of the Board of General Purposes was announced from the chair , and he was formally re-invested with the insignia of his Office . The Grand Master in the chair nexfc announced that the

M . W . the Grand Master had been pleased to confer the rank of Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies on Bro . John Lane , author of " Masonic Eecords , " an edition of which is now in

course of preparation by Grand Lodge , Bro . Lane having presented the copyright fco the Craffc . Bro . Beach expressed fche pleasure it afforded him to make the announcement , and proceeded to regularly invest the honoured Brother .

The ten Brethren nominated for fche Committee of Management of the Eoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution were declared elected .

The preliminaries for the elections fco the different Boards were then arranged , after which Bro . John Smith was proposed for re-election as Grand Lodge Auditor , and unanimously returned . Bro . W . F . Lamonby called the attention of the Acting

Master to the fact that he had not specially called for the election of a Colonial Board , and upon Bro . Beach expressing the opinion that it was really a part of the proposal to elect the Board of General Purposes , Bro . Lamonby said he had notified the Grand

Secretary that in the event of his not being elected a member of the Colonial Board he should claim a seat thereon in virtue of Eule 283 of the Constitutions , and some amount of discussion followed in regard to the point .

The Eeport of the Board of General Purposes was next dealt with , the proposal in reference to an Assistant Secretary for German Correspondence being agreed to . The suggestions in

regard to the abolition of the Colonial Board called forth considerable discussion , it being ultimately agreed thafc fche matter should be deferred until the December Communication of Grand Lodgs .

The propositions numbered 7 and 8 , as set oufc in the Agenda of Grand Lodge we published last week , were carried , as also was the proposal of Bro . Farnfield to grant the usual sum of £ 70 for coals for the inmates of the Benevolent Institution at

Croydon . When the acting President came to the nexfc item on the paper , the proposal of Bro . Woodward in connection with the decoration of St . Paul's Cathedral , no response waa made by that Brother , so that the Craft was happily spared any discussion in

regard to the matter , and we hope the whole question will be allowed to rest . There are too many calls in other directions upon the funds of Grand Lodge to allow of any such an expenditure as was here proposed , and we congratulate the mover on his good sense in keeping quiet rather than be severely silenced , as we feel sure he would have been .

The appeal of Bro . W . H . Harris P . M . 956 was allowed , and the business of the meeting being finished , Grand Lodge was closed , the acting Master subsequently receiving the result of the different elections in his private room . The result of the election for the Board of General Purposes

was the return of Bros . A . Sandberg 3 , C . W . Carrell 28 , W . A . Scurrah 167 , E . C . Mulvey 179 , J . J . Thomas 753 , W . B . Fendick 1321 , W . J . Mason 1328 , H . Lovegrove 1507 , A . Blenkarn 1922 , R . P . J . Laundy 2090 , J . Stephens 2308 , A . S . Brown 2347 , J . Willing 2455 , and F . W . Buxton 2460 .

The Colonial Board election resulted in the return of Bros Captain T . C . Walls P . G . St . B . 60 , W . A . Scurrah 167 , E . C Mulvey 179 , C . F . Hogard 205 , E . Eve P . G . Treas . 723 , H Lovegrove 1507 , and J . Stephens 2308 .