Extravagant Luxuries.

EXTRAVAGANT LUXURIES .

npHE first of the half-yearly elections to the Masonic * Educational Institutions was held on Thursday , when sixteen children were elected to the benefits of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , from a list of thirty-three candidates .

As has happened in connection with almost every election for the advantages of the Masonic Educational Institutions in recent years the polling was tremendously heavy , not exceptionally so , it is true , but that does

not by any means diminish the disparity that is so manifest between the outlay required to secure the benefits of either of the Charities , and the marketable value of the advantages attached to those benefits ;

and we can only repeat our expressions of surprise that some effort is not made to put the matter on a more equitable footing , with some sort of adjustment of the laws of supply and demand or , as they may better be described in this connection , of give and take .

The candidate highest on the poll at Thursday ' s election won her place with 5 , 523 votes , the lowest successful polled 3 , 701 , and she was the only girl who was elected at an expenditure of less than 4 , 000 votes ;

while no less than thirteen of the scholarships were secured after the recording of upwards of 4 , 600 votes in each case . Four thousand , six hundred votes I Has the ordinary subscriber of five or ten guineas to the

Educational Institutions any idea of what this means ? or does he for one moment think what he is giving ; his i 1 1 ••Oo money for , or what he is going to get in return for it ? Probably not one in a thousand of the subscribers ever

gives a moment ' s thought to the subject , and if so many people may be induced year after year to give their money as freely as they have lately done , with this disparity staring them in the face , it may be it

is no business of ours to draw attention to the wide divergencies which exist , or to urge on the Craft the necessity of making a move with a view to remedy or reform ; but we are so continuall y hearing of Brethren

who express themselves as utterl y disgusted with Freemasonry , and others who point the finger of scorn at its boasts of charity as compared with its actual performances in that direction , that we regard the

subject as a public one , and one that not onl y needs ventilation , but strong action unless the Craft desires to make itself the laughing stock of level headed and sensible men amongst us ; for , despite the fact that one

of the leading lig hts , of the Masonic Charity world recentl y had occasion to express his opinion that no doubt we agreed with Carl yle as to the proportion of Fools in the English population , we yet believe there

are some in our midst who cannot endorse all that is being done in the name of Masonic Charity , on behalf of the two English Educational Institutions : although

whether the objectors are to be eventually numbered among Carlyle ' s majority , or with his minority , time alone can prove . Yes , we do agree with Carlvle , or how else can

Extravagant Luxuries.

we account for the continuous flow of subscriptions to these two Funds , from which , comparatively speaking , little is given in return , for we unhesitatingly say that

a -j jt pj . chance in each half yearly election during a Subscriber ' s lifetime is no adequate return for a donation of five . guineas . We have heard the old

nonsense that money thus given in charity is not expected to bring any definite return , but we look at the matter in a different light , and are of opinion that the benefits should be in distinct proportion to the

amounts given . One is met at the very outset of investigations into this question by a difficulty which seems almost

insurmountable : —the difficulty of putting any monetary value upon the votes obtained by a Subscriber or Governor in return for his donation of five or ten

guineas , but even if we give a donor an average life of twenty years he would only receive forty votes for each five guineas subscribed , giving an average of about two shillings and sixpence a vote , so that the 4 , 600

required to carry a candidate would about represent twice the amount the averaged aged child should cost while on the funds of the Institutions . This goes to prove , what we have all along considered to be

equitable , that about 2 , 500 votes should secure a child ' s election to either of our Schools , and any number required beyond that can only be regarded as

paying an excessive price for what has come to be regarded as a very expensive luxury—a place in either of the central Educational Institutions of English Freemasonry .

On Wednesday , 4 th inst ., Bro . Rudyard Kipling was admitted as an honorary member of the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge , Edinburgh , No . 2 . The election took place at a meeting presided over by the Master of the Lodge , who was supported by Past Masters , Office Bearers , and members

of No . 2 , and representative members of other Lodges , numbering altogether a hundred . The Secretary of the Lodge Brother Alfred Murray , W . S ., proposed that honorary membership be conferred on Brother Joseph Rudyard Kipling , member and past Secretary of Lodge Hope and

Perseverance , India . In doing so he mentioned the characteristics of Kipling's writings that endeared him to Scotsmen , and especially to Freemasons , and entitled him to

have his name entered in the Lodge's bnlhant roll of men distinguished in literature , art , and other departments . Robert Burns was Poet Laureate of the Lodge , and Sir Walter Scott was also a member . Past Master Allan

Mackenzie seconded the motion , and said the Brethren would be glad to hear that Brother Kipling at once agreed to accept honorary membership , was sorry he was unable to carry out his original intention of being present at the meeting , and hoped that if , before long , he was in Edinburgh , he would

have the pleasure of making their acquaintance in the Lodge room . The motion was adopted with acclamation , and the Secretary was instructed to forward his diploma and a copy of the z-esolution to Brother Kipling-. Afterwards , an hour

was dedicated to harmony , in the course of which some of Kipling ' s ballads were rendered by Brethren , and the Master , in a happy and appropriate speech , proposed the toast of the latest honorary member , which was received with much enthusiasm .