The Expenditure Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

how the financial affairs of the Charity were being managed will be more than surprised when they see the official statement of the expenditure for tho past year , and compare it with the totals of preceding ones . The

question of expense in connection with the two Masonic Educational Charities has frequently led to fierce attacks from brethren who considered that the funds subscribed by the Craft were dispensed with a too lavish hand , and if

we may judge from last year ' s figures it might appear a much larger sum has been expended year after year in the past , over each boy , than is necessary if tho strictest economy is practised on every side . We are not prepared

to say that the lowest figure has yet been reached , but we feel sure the supporters of the Boys' School will hail with satisfaction the reduction of the average expenditure per boy , from £ 46 19 s 9 kl , at which it stood for the year 1885 ,

to £ 40 6 s 7 | d , the cost per head for 1886 , especially when , as we have reason to believe , the reduction is likely to prove of a permanent character . Considerable alterations

have lately been made in the inner working of the School at Wood Green , and if the balance sheet for last year may be taken as a criterion , the results are eminently satisfactory .

The year just concluded shows the lowest average of expense of any twelve months during which the present system of maintenance and education has been in operation , and it presents such a falling off as compared with its

immediate predecessors as to make it all the more noticeable . The only period in which the average expenditure nearly approached that of last year was 1875 , when the total cost was £ 40 9 s 8 | d per head , with an establishment

of one hundred and seventy-three pupils , whereas there are at present two hundred and forty-two lads receiving the benefits of the Institution . In order , however , that our readers may see exactly how the totals have varied in

the past , we append the following table , which forms part of the Statement of Accounts issued by the Institution , and is intended to show the cost per head and the number of

boys iu the Institution , in each year during which the present system of maintenance and education has been in operation : —

Year Establishment Office Total No . of Boys 1866 37 19 10 9 16 3 47 16 4 100 1867 37 13 2 9 1 11 46 15 1 103 1868 36 15 9 8 17 8 45 13 5 115 1869 35 6 8 8 14 10 44 1 6 115 1870 36 1 4 8 19 6 45 0 10 119 1871 34 10 9 8 4 7 42 15 4 124 1872 38 4 7 7 0 10 45 5 5 126 1873 37 19 11 $ 7 1 0 i 45 1 0 146 1874 37 13 ll £ 6 3 0 43 16 1 U 164 1875 34 8 5 6 1 3 ? f 40 9 8 » - 173 1876 37 3 8 * 6 15 1 + 43 18 10 . 1- 180

1877 38 4 6 6 7 6 44 12 0 192 1878 37 14 1 | 5 18 4 f 43 12 6 212 1879 37 16 2 5 14 3 ^ 43 10 5 f 215 1880 38 1 8 | 5 3 0 ^ 43 4 9 218 1881 37 16 6 5 9 0 43 5 6 218 1882 39 2 3 6 11 10 45 14 1 215 1883 38 9 6 6 9 6 44 19 0 215 1884 38 19 6 6 11 6 45 11 0 215 1885 39 14 41 7 5 5 46 19 9 } 215 1886 34 6 1 | 6 0 6 40 6 7 * 242

These figures will no doubt speak volumes of themselves but they also present some peculiar features , foremost among which we may mention that the total of last year ' s expenditure , with two hundred and forty-two boys to be

provided for , was considerably below that of 1885 , when the number of lads on the establishment was only two hundred and fifteen : in other words , such care has been

used of late that the addition of twenty-seven pupils to the Institution has not only entailed no additional outlay , but has actually resulted in a saving of upwards of £ 342 on the total cost of the year .

Taking the accounts seriatim as they appear in the Statement issued by the Institution , we have first a summary of the year ' s receipts , from which we gather that the actual total received by the Charity on the General

Account was £ 11 , 813 19 s 5 d , upwards of eleven thousand pounds of which consisted of Donations and Subscriptions from Private Donors , Lodges , Chapters , & c . The other principal items were Grand Lodge and Grand

Chapter , £ 160 ; Dividends on invested Funds , £ 580 ; and Legacy , £ 50 . When we say that the whole of these amounts , in addition to the balance brought forward , were

expended to provide the necessities of the year , it will be at once recognised how small a part of the total annually required for the Institution arises from what may be

The Expenditure Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

described as a permanent source , and how much depends on ' the liberality of the members of the Craft , who year by year are appealed to for funds with which to continue the work of the Charity . We next have a statement of

the year's expenditure , which is subdivided under three heads : Ordinary , Special and Building Accounts . The first embraces the expenses of the office ; salaries , rent , postages , printing , stationery , advertising , hire of rooms for elections ,

& c , which together total up to £ 1 , 457 18 s lOd ; Salaries and wages at School , £ 2 , 352 8 s 4 d ; Provisions , £ 2 , 437 16 s lid ; Clothing , £ 1 , 583 4 s Id ; Education and maintenance of Boys out of the Institution , £ 80 ;

Household requisites , £ 414 15 s lid ; Infirmary , £ 110 3 s 4 d ; Head Master ' s residence , £ 287 lis ; and various , £ 1 , 295 5 s 9 d ; giving a grand total of £ 9 , 760 Is Id as the "Ordinary Expenditure" for the year . Included in this

sum is an item which many supporters of the Boys' School consider they should be relieved of , as likewise do a large proportion of those who contribute to other Charities throughout the country . We allude to the matter of rates

and taxes , which in the case of tho Boys' School amount to upwards of £ 1 per head on all the boys in the Institution , while we are further informed that there aro matters in arrear—pending items in dispute—which , if the

Institution eventually has to pay , will increase this amount by , say , ten shillings per head . This sum may not be excessive , if taken in comparison with what has to be paid by the occupiers of private houses in the same

neighbourhood , but it nevertheless appears to be a tax on benevolence which should be removed at an early date . Doubtless good arguments can be used against such a course , but on the whole we think the opinion of the

country would be averse to the taxation of Charitable Institutions if a vote could bo taken on the subject . The matter is one which will ere long be brought more prominently under public notice , for the daily papers of a

month since announced that a bill had been prepared for presentation to Parliament by the friends of some of the London and other hospitals , which proposes " to restore the exemption from taxation which

Charitable Institutions enjoyed for 250 years , " but to which it is alleged they have been subjected since 1866 , owing to the decision of the House of Lords in the case of an appeal carried to that tribunal . When we look at the

sums payed by other great charitable . institutions in London and the suburbs for " rates and taxes , " we see that the outlay of the Boys' School under this head may

be described as about equal to the average , but we are certainly of opinion that all Charities should be exempt from such charges .

The " Special Expenditure " of the year shows a total of £ 1 , 017 lis 3 d , and embraces a variety of items which will be allowed as reasonable by all who recognise that the

Institution has some other claims on its resources than the mere education and clothing of its pupils . The expenditure on the Building Account for the year was £ 1 , 753 5 s 2 d , so that the total outlay under these three heads was £ 12 , 560 17 s 6 d .

We next have particulars of tho " Sustentation Fund " receipts and expenditure , and then details of the small farming operations which are carried on at Wood Green , from which we may infer that the production of batter ,

eggs , milk and hay , is a much more profitable undertaking than the ordinary farmer—with his long continued " bad times "—would have us believe . Of course we recognise that there are special considerations in

connection with this miniature farm , which make it different to the general run of those from which farmers are expected to get a living ; no doubt we should hear very

different tales if every farmer had , for instance , as ready a market as that enjoyed by the Wood Green venture . However , the Executive are to be congratulated on the results they are able to show under this heading .

The special " Preparatory School Building Fund" is next considered ; the statement shows an income for the year under this heading of £ 1 , 150 16 s 2 d , the whole of which has been expended on works connected with the

supplementary building . There is still a balance outstanding on this account , but the figures supplied are hardlv clear as to the amount , the statement for 1886 give ' s the balance due to Bank , & c , as £ 1 , 635 7 s 5 d ; while another summary — for 1883-86 — puts the debit to

Bank at £ 1 , 290 5 s lid . No doubt both are capable of explanation , and we are equally sure that the balance , whatever it is , will soon be cleared off . The total con-