Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of ow Correspondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must bear the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith .

MORE ATTEMPTED DISFRANCHISEMENT . To lite Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHROMCXK . DKAU SIR AND BROTHER , —Tho last Committee Mooting of tho Boys' School affords another instance of the centralising policy now in vogue in certain quarters . Upon tho question of nominating a House Committee for tho next twelvemonths , niifl Brother ( only too evidently with the sanction

of thoso who should have known better ) handed in a lid of the full number of twelve candidates as Itis individual proposal , and so attempted to exclude any other candidate from tho chance of election . Under these circumstances it will not be thought unreasonable that some of the well-wishers of the School shonld havo resolved to oppose such an attempt to monopolise'tho privileges of the Subscribers ,

and have determined to assort tho rights of tho General Committee to elect their own Honse Committee . With this view Bro . A . Dnrrant P . M . No . 11 . 85 has been nominated to bo ballotted for on the 1 st June , when tho Subscribers will have an opportunity of deciding for themselves whether a policy which has been already repudiated by Grand Ledge , is to be tolerated in the management of our Charities . Yours fraternally ,

H . T . Tnojrrsox , Lower Clapton , 8 th May 1878 . P . M ., Life Gov

The Vacant Secretaryship.

THE VACANT SECRETARYSHIP .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CIIKONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Will you allow mo , through your columns , to suggest to the Committee of the Girls' School that the

approaching election of Secretary should bo decided by show of hands , continued until one of the canidates have a majority of those present ; otherwise the successful candidate might be elected by a very small proportion of tho Committee . Yours fraternally ONE OF THE CANDIDATES .

Proxy Voting.

PROXY VOTING .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CIIKOXICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I cannot say that I see the force of Bro . Gould ' s argument , that if it is just and expedient for tho system of proxy voting to bo adopted at the election of Secretary to one of our Institutions , it is desirable , for the sake of consistency , that it should be adopted in the case of members of tho Lodge of Bonevoleuce .

The election of a Secretary happens , to use a familiar expression , but " once in a bine moon ; " the Lodge of Benevolence meets once a month . Tho election of a Secretary is conducted publicly . The names of the candidates are openly announced , and no ono interested in tho election could by any possibility experience the slightest difficulty iu ascertaining tho various qualifications , if any , which the rival

candidates possess . Tho applications which are made to the Lodge of Benevolence are necessarily private . It would be intolerable that tho merits and grounds of the various applications should be set forth in black and white , and circulated among the Masters of our Lodges . Yet somo such course must perforce be adopted iu order that the Country Masters may know what aro the nature and deserts

of the cases thoy are about to support or oppose by their votes . Cases which come before tho Lodge of Benevolence aro carefully sifted , so that no Mason unworthy of assistance may be relieved . But in order that the Country Members may bo guided to vote aright , the result of such prcliinininary inquiries would havo to be circulated , and what is essentially private as well as essentially painful and personal would

thus bo made public to the whole Masonic world . Moreover , tho recommendations of the Lodge of Benevolence in all cases of £ 50 and upwards are not final , bnt aro made subject to the confirmation of Grand Lodge , and I think we may safely rely on the discretion of those members of the Lodgo who habitually or occasionally attend , not to abuse tho trust confided to them . If relief were administered

too lavishly or on unworthy brethren , it would not be very long before snch abuse was brought under the cognizance of Grand Lodge , and a remedy would speedily be applied ; but the general feeling is that tho Fund of Benevolence is , under existing arrangements , both wisely and discreetly administered . Such at least is tho inference I feel justified in educing from the lato discussion in Grand Lodge on

a motion for the reconstruction of tho Lodge of Benevolence . Grand Lodgo then virtually decided to " let well alone , " being quite satisfied tho Lodgo of Benevolence conducted its affairs " well " not " ill . " Again , everybody who is entitled to vote at the election of a Secretary to ono of our Institutions , is deeply interested in the

result , because it will affect the well-being of tho Institution , beneficially or otherwise , for years and years to come . But ifc will require a very long stretch of the imagination to establish any connection between the relief of Bro . A , B , or C , and the welfare of Freemasonry during the next ten , twenty , or thirty years , even if it could bo shown that iu relieving him the Lodgo had acted unwisely or extravagantly .

Proxy Voting.

But to carry Bro . Gould's argument to its logical conclusion , he must go still further . If the proxy system is good for the election of Secretaries as well as candidates to our Institutions , and if it is good in order that the Country members of tho Lodge of Benevolence may exercise their rights in administering relief to indigent brethren , as well

as for the election of Secretaries , then , I say , it will be quite as desirable iu the case of Country Members of Grand Lodge . Then will follow , of course , the adoption of that most absurd of all practices , namely , of a brother declaring his vote for or against a question , even before the merits of such question havo been discussed . I need hardly

point out to Bro . Gould that it is impossible in all cases to formulate a just opinion as to tho merits of a question , after having merely read the sentence or sentences in which it is couched . However , I do not think if will bo well to carry the argument further . I havo

every confidence that when Bro . Gould comes to examine more closely into the question he has raised , ho will , with his usual perspicacity , discover that tho analogy he has sought to establish between the two cases of the election of a Secretary , and the exercise of its functions by the Lodgo of Benevolence , is more apparent than real . I am , Dear Sir and Brother , Fraternally yours , FAIR PLAY .

Committee Meeting Of The Boys' School.

COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

Tin : monthly meeting of the General Committee was held on Saturday last , at Freemasons' Hall . Tho brethren who attended wero Bros . Eaynham W . Stewart ( in tho chair ) , Eawson , Snow , Turner , Roseuthal , Euff , It . B . Webster , H . T . Thompson , Pullen , Massey , Murray , Dcwar , Ferryman , Hunt , Tyrrell , and Binckes . After the confirmation of minutes , two outfits were granted to late pupils of tho School , and

tho following brethren were nominated for the Honse and Audit Committee : —Honse : Bros . J . G . Chancellor , Benjamin Head , H . W . Hunt , W . F . 0 . Moutrie , Joyce Murray , W . Paas , Hyde Pnllen , W . Roebuck , C . J . Roe , S . Rosenthal , E . W . Stewart , S . Wood , and Alfred Durrant . Audit : Bros , John Boyd , J . W . Dosell , E . B . Grabham , Benjamin Head , W . Mann , D . W . Pearse , Jesse Turner , Alex . Wallace , E , B . Webster , and Hyde Pullen .

Committee Meeting Of The Benevolent Institution.

COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

THE May meeting of the Committee of the Eoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution was held on Wednesday afternoon , at Freemason's Hall . Bro . Colonel Creaton presided . The other brethreu of the Committee who attended were Bros . S . Eawson , L . Stoan , Griffiths Smith , Eaynham W . Stewart , Thomas Cubitt , C . A . Cottebrune , A . H . Tattershall , J . A . Farnfield , John G . Stevens , James Brett , Edward Cox ,

Charles John Perceval , George Bolton , and Bro . James Terry Secretary . Bro . Terry read to the Committee tho report to he presented to tho annual meeting , to be held on the 17 th instant , and after the nomination of tho Committee to be elected , Bro . Eaynham Stewart drew the attention of tho brethren to the great services rendered gratnitously by Dr . Strong to the Institution for the last seventeen

years , and concluded by moving that a testimonial of the value of one hundred guineas be presented to Dr . Strong in recognition and appreciation of his services . The motion was carried unanimously , after having been seconded by Bro . Griffiths Smith . Bros . Col . Creaton , Eawson , Head , Stewart , Farnfield , and Terry wero appointed

as a Committee to decide upon the testimonial and its presentation . A gardener , who had been recommended by Bro . Cutbush , was appointed to fill the vacancy therein for the office of gardener at the Institution , and after a slight discussion , as to providing a residence for this officer , Colonel Creaton aud Bro . Terry were authorised to inquire into the subject , and tho brethren then separated .

Wo beg to acknowledge , with fraternal thanks , the receipt of copy of the " Official Directory for the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall , " originated and edited b y Bro . W . J . Hughan , P . G . S . Deacon England , & c , & c , & c . This is the eighth year of the publication of this valuable and

interesting Guide to Cornish Freemasonry . AVe have noticed previous editions , and fully described the nature of their contents . Let it suffice , if we say in this case , that the Directory for 1878 is as carefully compiled and well arranged as , and will be found to be , if possible , even more

complete than , its predecessors . Wo have , however , thought ifc well to extract the following particulars , which show the strength of Craft and Arch Masonry in the Province . There were , at the close of the year 1877 , twentyseven Lodges , with a total membership of 1 , 567 brethren .

This gives an average of -58 members per Lodge . There were , afc tlie same date , 277 Past Masters among them , giving an average of 10 P . M . ' s per Lodge . Tbe number of initiates during the year was 148 , or less by seven than in 1870 , but the number of subscribing members had

increased by exactly 100 , from 1 , 467 to 1 , 507 . Since 1873 , the increase has been about thirty-three per cent ., or to give the precise figures , from 1141 to 1-5 G 7 . InRoynl Arch Masonry , there are twelve Chapters , with an a ^ greo'ate

membership ot Z 6 b Companions , or as nearly as possible 20 members per Chapter . In other words , thero is one Royal Arch Mason out of every 6 , 5 Craft Masons .