The Approaching Festival Of The Girls' School.

will be realised to allow of the Institution being continued in its present condition , while if there is a balance of receipts over expenditure during the year we shall be all

the more delighted . This and much more can be achieved if the Chairman of the day is as liberally supported as he deserves to be , and for this reason we earnestly plead on behalf of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls .

The Jubilee And The Boys' School.

THE JUBILEE AND THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

ONE effect of the action of the Executive of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , in deciding to admit tho whole of the candidates upon their list for the next election without a contest , in celebration of the Queen ' s

Jubilee , has been to raise an inquiry as to whether a similar course might not be adopted with regard to the Boys' School . Now , as we briefly pointed out in these columns a fortnight ago , snch a step , however desirable in

itself—and no matter how unanimously it would be approved by the whole body of subscribers , if the responsibility which would attach to it wero not greater

than they feel justified in taking upon themselves—is impracticable . Under existing circumstances a " consummation so devoutly to be wished" must be at once aud for all dismissed from the minds of the most enthusiastic and

ardent supporters of the Institution . In the first place there were only five candidates unprovided for in connection with the next Girls ' election , against twenty who must be left , out in the cold after the admission of those provided

for at the Boys' election on Monday next . That of itself would prove an insurmountable barrier against clearing the sheet and admitting the applicants en Hoc ; but there are other and more cogent reasons why such a suggestion

is rendered impossible of being entertained . These have been tersely aud practically set forth by the worthy Secretary of the Institution , and we commend Brother Binckes's letter to the perusal of all who are interested in

tho sustenance and progress of both our educational establishments . Bro . Binckes always writes with the outspokenness and frankness which characterize his public utterances , and for which he has achieved proverbiality ;

but his diction is sharp and decisive , and based on sound common-sense . It will be well , therefore , for the brethren to take heed of what he has to say on this momentous

question , and we trust his last letter on tbe subject will serve as a text for reflection , and an incentive to continued efforts on behalf of " Our Boys " at Wood Green .

In the first place , it is pointed out that the Girls' School possesses a funded property of fifty-nine thousand pounds , added to year by year from the surplus of receipts over expenditure ; its permanent annual income is £ 1 , 931 : and

there was a credit balance at the bank up to the end of last year of £ 7 , 047 . Quite a different state of affairs exists with reference to the Boys' School ; and , as many of ns are forcibly reminded that strong , healthy lads cannot

be fed and clothed—to say nothing of their educational training—without the expenditure of money , it will be seen how hopeless it is to wish for the admission of the twenty applicants for the benefits of the School at the

election next Monday , in excess of the twenty-five for whom vacancies are happily to be found . Bro . Binckes reminds us that the Boys' School possesses a funded property of seventeen thousand pounds only ; that its

permanent annual income is but £ 755 ; and that the balance at tbe bank at the end of last year was to debit £ 2 , 250 . The last item is the most serious of all , but of course it is well known that the reason why the Boys ' account is so much " to the bad " is attributable to the

extensive alterations , enlargements , and additions which have been made to the Wood Green establishment of recent years , by the express resolve of the general body of the subscribers . There have been large extensions carried

out from time to time in connection with both Institutions , tbe total expenditure on which , it is presumed , has been pretty equal ; but whereas the Girls' School has , happily , tbe means to meet all such expenditure , the Boys' School ,

is unhappily heavy in debt on that account . The ultimate value of securing funded property is thus fully exemplified , and it will be a fortunate thing when the day arrives in which the Committee are enabled to secure some permanent and substantial additions to their reserve fund . Another point in the Secretary ' s communication is with regard to th © relative cost of the education , maintenance , and

The Jubilee And The Boys' School.

clothing of boys and girls ; and it will be accepted as a fair deduction that the expenditure needed for , say , 250 girls may be taken at little more than two-thirds of the similar expense for the same number of boys . Paterfamilias

knows to his cost how frequently the wardrobes of his young hopefuls require replenishing and repair , what justice they can do to the trencher after their out-door

athletic games , and how essential it is to give them a superior education , so as to fit them for the battle of life and enable them to hold their own in an acre when

competition becomes every day more keen . In all these matters boys are—at any rate in their earlier stages—more expensive to maintain than are their sisters , and the

computation made by Brother Binckes is very fairly proportionate . If so , the admission of twenty boys beyond the number for whom vacancies already exist , reckoning

the cost at the very low estimate of forty pounds a year , would involve the necessity of an additional income of nearly a thousand pounds per annum . It is selfevident that in the present position of the funds , the idea

suggested by some writers that the Executive of the Boys ' School should imitate the example of the Girls' is far beyond the range of practical consideration .

In the next clause of his letter Bro . Binckes alludes to the fact that the Centenary celebration of the Girls' School next year will be an event unprecedented in association with a Masonic Charitable Institution , and will most nssuredly be attended with a result also unprecedented .

We quite concur with him in the opinion that it is not altogether improbable that the decision of the Special Court in the present instance may be repeated , and that all candidates offering themselves will be again admitted

without election . But , be that as it may , " there can be no hope—no possibility—of this course being imitated in the Boys' Institution until a very considerable improvement be effected as regards its resources . " The Centenary of the

Boys School does not occur until the year 1898 ; and Bro . Binckes says truly , " whether I may be spared to assist in such celebration is a matter of uncertainty . " Of course it is , as are all things mundane , but it is the sincere

and genuine wish of every subscriber to the Institution that its great support and mainstay , so far as hard work is concerned , may be spared to help in the " work before us , " at any rate for eleven years longer , and that he may

joyfully assist at the Centenary of an Institution to whose solidity , progress , and efficiency he has so largely contributed . Reference is briefly made in the communication under notice of the want of a swimming * bath at

Woodgreen , without which the accommodation at the School , excellent as it may be pronounced , must be regarded as deficient . Tbe force of this remark cannot be doubted for a moment ; there are few Institutions of the magnitude

of our Boys School that are unprovided with the means of enabling the boys to practise natation and to acquire the art of swimming . But this , we fear , like the admission of additional candidates , must be deferred until a " more

convenient season ; ' at any rate , until the works already in progress are turned out of hand . After touching , en passant , upon the annual cost per boy afc the School—a subject that was fully commented upon in our columns

last week , Bro . Binckes concludes his letter by fervently trusting that in this year of Jubilee the genuine cases of Masonic distress exhibited by the many appeals to our Boys' Institution may not pass unrelieved , and that the

Festival in June next , closely approximating the date of tbe Jubilee Celebration , may , by the assistance of the brethren whose services as Stewards are urgently needed and anxiously awaited , be attended with so large a success

as to render the future one of pleasurable contemplation . Applying an old adage in a somewhat original sense , he adds , " There are localities to which coals may be sent as readily as to Newcastle , and where they are more needed . "

We commend Bro . Binckes ' s statements , the main points of which are embodied in this article , to the thoughtful consideration of our readers , and trust they may be the

means of stimulating interest in an Institution so eminently deserving of support , and which is at the same time particularly in need of increased funds .

To-day ( Saturday ) at noon the Quarterly Court of the Governors aud Subscribers to the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls will be held at Freemasons' Hall , when several motions will be brought forward for consideration ,