Analysis Of The Subscription List.

ANALYSIS OF THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST .

THE last of our Anniversary Festivals for the year 1881 has come and gone , and the result in its main features was before our readers last -week . If Bro . Binckes ' s achievement in this instance represents a considerable falling off by comparison with that of last year , it must be borne in

mind that a steadily-progressive increase in the total of our subscription lists is a thing unknown in the annals of Freemasonry . There must and will be fluctuations in the yearly amounts subscribed , aud what is equally clear to all who pay any heed to matters of this kind , it is in the order of things that one Institution will take the lead in one

particular year , and another in tbe next . Last year for instance , it was the Boys' School which received the greatest share of support from the Masonic public , so far as the Festival was concerned , while the Benevolent Institution brought up the rear . This year the latter takes the lead ,

with over £ 14 , 300 , while the Schools are about level , with , in round figures , £ 11 , 500 each . It is quite possible that next year , the Girls' School may occupy the post of honour , and then in due conrse the Boys' will repeat their triumph of last year . It is as well , indeed , there should be these

fluctuations . It would be very disheartening to a Secretary to find that , no matter how constant and energetic his labours , he was invariably last in respect of the result achieved at his Festivals . These fluctuations , therefore , have a wholesome effect , and a disappointed Secretary with

the comparatively modest total of £ 11 , 000 in 1880 , finds himself to the fore the next year , or year after that , with over £ 14 , 000 , while the jubilant Secretary who has snored some £ 14 , 000 at one particular Festival , finds himself very much behind , with only some £ 10 , 000 or £ 12 , 000 at the

succeeding . There are , likewise , several other causes which cannot fail to operate beneficially or the reverse on the amounts subscribed from year to year . Trade may be particularl y flourishing now , and now be in a state of extreme stagnation . At one Festival there maybe a chairman with

a strong and influential Province at his back , which mav be relied on to raise subscriptions to the extent of £ 2 , 000 or £ 3 , 000 , while at another the chairman may be the head of a small Province , or have no Province whatever to give him any special assistance . However , after making

every allowance for these and other contingencies , we shall hnd that taking one year with another , the Festivals of our Masonic Institutions are among the most splendid successes connected with charitable celebrations . It is quite excusable for any Mason to point with something like eni-l , - j «~ j , ^ ...... . „ ,. «„ . WVU . VNJVVV IU ^ Alli \ 3 ViUMnsiasm

to the large sums annually raised by voluntary subscription towards the maintenance of our two Schools and Benevolent Institution . It may be some £ 33 , 000 one year , and only £ 30 , 000 the year following , bnt a good average , such as few other Institutions point to will be

prett y generally maintained . Last year the total for the ™ ree Festivals was some £ 39 , 500 , or about £ 2 . 000 in excess of what it is in 1881 , while 1881 is some £ 1 , 500 in lTeHthet0ta1for1879Yet{fwetakefchetln'eeveai'9 f A , . ' strilv ' e an average , we shall have little reason

» oe dissatisfied with the result for the current year . As gards the particular Festival we are considering , it stands wW series wWcl 1 have ^ e neld in aid of either of our tS r ¦ ¦ Tt is tl , e first that uas ever been held ° ntside Brio-U * ° f the Metro P olitan area . The selection of to he tte celebratiOQ is an innovation , which apnears nave iound but little favour with Borne members of the

Analysis Of The Subscription List.

Craft ; but , notwithstanding this , tho day appears to have been a great success , and the Province of Sussex showed its sense of the unwonted honour conferred upon it by the action of the Board of Stewards and most loyally contributed a sum not far short of £ 800 , while Durham aided

its chief , the Marquis of Londonderry , by raising over £ 728 , which , if short of what might have been looked for , is still a very satisfactory amount . It is early yet to speculate on the probability of holding the Festival of 1882 in one of the Provinces , but the experiment having been tried

and proved successful , we see no reason why it should not be repeated . The Provinces do their share in supporting our Institutions , and some such consideration as in this instance has been shown Sussex will certainly be

appreciated . However , it will be for the authorities to decide the point when the time for making the necessary arrangements is at band , and that will not be till several months have passed .

"We now enter on our usual task of analysing the result . The Board of Stewards was undoubtedly a strong one , if not the strongest , whose services Bro . Binckes has succeeded in enlisting . It consisted of 258 Stewards , of whom ] 10 , or if we include Bro . Matier , the representative

of the Allied Masonic Degrees , 111 belouged to London , and 148 , or in the alternative case mentioned 147 , acted for the Provinces . The result of the combined efforts of this Board was a subscription list amounting to £ 11 , 681 7 s 3 d , the London brethren raisinsr amon ? them £ 5 , 21017 s , and the

Provinces £ 6 , 47010 s 3 d . Taking the Metropolitan first , we find that of the 303 Lodges within its limits , eighty-eight were representedby ninety four Stewards , there being no less than six Lodges which sent up two Stewards ; one Royal Arch Chapter was represented , and the Dinner Committee Club of

the R . M . I . B . had for its Steward Bro . John Palmer . There were also fourteen Stewards unattached , while Bro . C . F . Matier did duty on behalf of the Allied Masonic Degrees , and may be looked upon as Metropolitan or Provincial , at the option of the reader , the Degrees in question being able to boast

of several homes in the Provinces though their headquarters are in London . Of the several lists , as many as sixteen , are three-figure , the Pythagorean , No . 79 , with a total of £ 215 5 s , by the hands of Bro . Henry Roberts , being at the top of the tree as regards amount . After a considerable

interval comes Bro . F . Binckes , unattached , with £ 163 •, Prosperity , No . 65 , with £ 154 7 s , per Bro . Daniel ; and then Bro . T . J . Barnes , the well-known Preceptor , who in the capacity of Steward for the Doric , No . 933 , gave in a total of £ 136 10 s . Bro . A . J . Dnff-Filer P . G . S . B .,

as Steward for the Canonbury Lodge , No . 657 , is down for £ 130 4 s ; Bro . J . L . Mather , of Lodge Perseverance , No , 1743 , occupies a position close up , with £ 123 18 s ; and La Tolerance , No . 538 , and Victoria , No . 1 , 056 , gave £ 120 apiece . Confidence , No . 193 , per Bro . W . Wood , stands

well with £ 115 10 s ; Egyptian , No . 27 , per Bro . Charles Atkins , contributing £ 114 19 s 6 d ; Higngate , No . 1366 , per Bro . John E . Cussans , £ 11217 s 6 d ; Bro . Edward Bowyer , acting independently of Lodge and Chapter , £ 108 3 s . Friends in Council , No . 1383 , per Captain W . A . Eicks ,

£ 107 6 s ; Justice No . 147 , per Bro . George Bolton £ 106 17 s ; Evening Star , No . 1719 , per Bro . M . Mildred , £ 105 ; and Royal Jubilee , No . 72 , £ 103 3 s Gd , per Bro . Dunn . "Very many of these , and especially " Friends in Council , "

figure with regularity at the Festivals of all our Institutions year after year , and the remainder are more often than not conspicuous by their presence . Of the remaining Lodges which sent up Stewards very many , like Grand Master ' s , No . 1 , Antiquity , No . 2 , R . Somerset House and Inverness ,