The Benevolent Institution Festival.

THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION FESTIVAL .

SINCE we last wrote on the prospects of this interesting event good headway has been made . The Board of Stewards now numbers about 190 , and this compact little band is working with a will that we trust will produce a satisfactory result . It is not to

be expected , in view of the supreme effort made last year , that we shall have many three-figure lists to announce , still that happy consummation will be achieved by a few of the zealous workers who have entered the arena . The Festival will take place on

Wednesday , the 22 nd instant , at Freemasons' Tavern , and on this occasion , as heretofore , the splendid Temple belonging to the Order , at Freemasons' Hall , wherein the usual concert will be given—will be thrown open for the convenience of the brethren and their lady

friends . We trust the Chairman , Bro . C . E . Keyser , J . F ., will be well supported , and that the amount to be realised may exceed the anticipations of those to whom the control of the Institution is entrusted .

Freemasonry And Labour.

FREEMASONRY AND LABOUR .

Masters' work should command Masters' wages . Each workman shoidd receive what he is actually worth . . In no . case shoidd the demands of Capital or Labour be exorbitant , or unjust . An address by Rev . J . L . Seward , Grand Minister of State , before the Massachusetts Council of Deliberation , Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite , 88 th June 189 V .

WHILE it is not a Masonic custom to introduce anything pertaining to party politics into our official proceedings , it is neither out of place nor taste to discuss , in a . dispassionate spirit , somo of the groat questions of the day which intimately concern ua all , and are interwoven

with the general . well-being of our nation . Such a vital subject is the relation of capital and labour . It is no new theme . It was brought to the attention of the first men who became civilised sufficiently to know the relation of

labour to the problem of tho supply and demand of those things needful to eat and to wear . It was brought forcibly to the attention of the poor Israelite slave in Egypt who was compelled to furnish his tale of bricks without being provided with the material with which to make them . The

contests between the helots of Sparta and their conquerors and masters , and those between the plebeians and patricians of Rome , differ only in details from the trouble in any age or nation between the labouring and the nonproducing classes .

How has Masonry been related to this agitation , and what is her present attitude with regard to this all important subject ? Individual Freemasons have doubtless

entertained , and do entertain , very various opinions upon this matter ; but there are certain positions which may be called Masonic . Through all the variety of opinions there is still a grand , central Masonic principle which applies to

Freemasonry And Labour.

the labour problem . It is found in our great Masonio biblical text . 1 . That text is the twentieth chapter of the book of Matthew , which is our scripture lesson for the Mark Master ' s degree . That immortal chapter is rarely

understood . It is often deemed very difficult . Some persons have even sided with the labourers in the parable , in supposing that those who had borne the burden and the heat were very badly treated . As a matter of fact , this parable

teaches a lesson of great value and importance , and one which is very truly Masonic in its nature . Unless wo have the key to its meaning , the lesson is lost to ns . I will try , in a moment , to discover this key . Let me first speak of some of the general details of the story .

The scene which Jesus pictured would have been very familiar to any oriental person of his day , or to-day even . The principal square of an eastern town , with the markets , shops , and public buildings upon its four sides , like a Greek agora or the Roman forum , would be filled , at early

dawn , with unemployed men seeking employment . The labourers were abundant and the employers few in proportion . The wages would be low because of tho abundance of help . There were so many mouths to be fed , and so little money , all told , to be had for wages , that just enough

to keep the soul and the body together would be accepted in lieu of nothing . Hence the so-called penny , the Roman denarius , worth about fourteen cents , was even considered a liberal day ' s allowance . The low state of civilisation and cultivation of such a community can be readily inferred .

Trench , in his "Notes on the Parables , " quotes from Morier's " Second Journey Throngh Persia , " in which the author describes exactly such a scene as Jesus pictured . He writes : " Here we observed every morning , before the sun rose , that a numerous body of peasants were collected ,

with spades in their hands , waiting to be hired for the day to work in the surrounding fields . The custom struck me as a most happy illustration of our Saviour's parable , particularly when , passing by the same place late in the day ,

we found others standing idle , and remembering His words , 'Why stand ye here all the day idle ? ' as most applicable to their situation ; for , on putting the very same question to them , they answered us , ' Because no man hath hired us . '" Jesus did not intend to imply that the late comers were vicious or intentionally lazy . There was little work , and

there were many to do that little . Unly the early comers secured the prizes as a rule . Why , then , did the late comers fare as well in respect towages ? Why did thoy receive as much as those who had worked in the neat of a

tropical sun ? Only those who have travelled in Palestine can appreciate the force of this allusion . The mid-day heat is well nigh unendurable . What justice was there in giving the late comers as much pay as those who came earlier ? We might say , as does the parable , that the

owner could do as he pleased with his own . There would be no legal injustice in such a course ; but there is really a deoper and far nobler reason for Buch an action—a reason

which goes to the very foundation of rigbteousuess and justice . The key to the explanation is all contained in the single sentence—pay each man what he . is actually worth .

I recently hired a foreigner to work in my garden . He laboured all day with good intentions ; but a Yankee whom I hired , for an hour in the afternoon accomplished more than the foreigner had accomplished in a whole day . The