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Article STEWARDS FOR OUR CHARITIES. Page 1 of 2 Article STEWARDS FOR OUR CHARITIES. Page 1 of 2 →
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Stewards For Our Charities.
STEWARDS FOR OUR CHARITIES .
THE important question of providing for tho ever increasing demands of our Charities is one which causes considerable anxiety to many of the foremost supporters of onr Institutions , and we feel no apology is needed from us for again referring to the subject , or for supplementing 1
previous articles analvsing the results of the Stewards ' labours with others which will point out how those results are obtained , and the best means for their augmentation . Under the present constitution of the Chanties the Craft stands committed to an outlay of say £ 35 , 000 per annum ,
and the task of raising this large amount , in fane of any eventualities which may arise , is no inconsidei'able undertaking That opinions as to the means to be adopted for the realisation of the desired object are divided is evident from the varied expressions which have been made during
tho past three months . The most recent , perhaps , is that of our Deputv Grand Master . Lord Skelmersdale , at the Festival of the Mark Benevolent Fund , held only a few weeks since , stated that , in his opinion , Charity dinners were a mistakp , and that the money spent on them would
be of much moro use in the coffers of the Charities themselves . The opposite view was at once defended by Bro . Binckes , the Secretary of the Boys' School , whose experience renders his words of great weight . Again , when the qualifications required of a Secretary for onr Girls' School
were being discussed , some held that personal canvass of the Lodges by the Secretary was absolutely necessary , others in direct opposition laid it down that the Secretary should be in attendance at tho office of the School to receive the money which , according to their idea , was to come in of its
own accord , and to answer questions . A very good theory , we admit , but ono which a brief study of the Stewards ' lists of our Charities will , we think , soon upset . The idea of these advocates appears to be that every Mason throughout the country knows , ov should know , the history and
requirements of our Institutions . We would advise those who have such , ideas to make a tour of onr Lodges , Metropolitan or Provincial , they would soon find that not only is all mention of the central Charities omitted at the majority of tho meetings , but in not a few cases the bulk of the
members know nothing whatever of the existence of the Institutions , much less think of according them any support . While such is the case , wc hold that it is necessary for our Institutions to have Secretaries who consider i * their duty to travel , far and wide , to make known the work
which is being done , and the amount yearly required to keep the Charities in a state of efficiency . Their prime effort is to obtain tho names of brethren willing to act as Stewards , and in furtherance of this object we maintain that personal canvass is the main element for success .
On reference to the last lists of our three Institutions , which , of conrsp , do not comprise the Festivals of the present year , we find that among the brethren who appear under letters A and B in the London Lists ( which may be taken as fairly representing the whole alphabet ) , omitting
those whose addresses are unknown , 202 have served the office of Steward , the number of Stewardships represented being 384 , viz ., 13 G for the Benevolent Institution , 134 for the Girls , and 114 for tho Boys' School , or nineteen
Stewardships among ten brethren—nearly two to each Steward . This proportion , however , is not carried out in individual cases . Of the 202 Stewards , 112 , or considerably over half the number , have only acted once ( 45 for the Benevolent , 39 for the Girls , and 28 for the Boys ) , while
Stewards For Our Charities.
of the remaining 90 , nearly one-half have acted on two occasions only , the figures being 21 for the Girls' and Boys' Schools jointly , 14 for the Girls' School and the Benevolent Institution , six for the Benevolent and the Boys ' School , one Steward twice for the Girls , and one twice for
the Benevolent . Thus we find that 15 D out of the 202 Stewards have not completed what we consider the allotted duty of every energetic Mason , namely , that he should act as a Steward for each of the three Institutions in turn . To this number may be added
eight others who , for some reason or other , have not patronised all three Charities , though six of them have served the office of Steward three times , and the other two four times each . We thus have 39 Stewards to account for , and of this number 23 have acted once on behalf of each of
the three Institutions . The remaining sixteen total 91 Stewardships among them , five having acted four times each , four five times each , three six times each , one seven times , two eight times each , and one ten times . As Ave have
stated above , these figures do not include the Festivals of this year , but the addition of those makes very little difference in the proportions . Of the 55 Stewards of the 1878 Festivals who should be included , 25 appear in previous
lists , and of this number eight have acted once before , four twice , seven thrice , one each four , five , seven and eight times , and two six times each , while three served at two , and one at all three of the 1878 Festivals . Thus 1878 gives an addition of 26 to the number of "single" Stewards , and
makes the totals on all accounts under letters A and B 439 Stewardships , represented by 230 Stewards ( the Girls ' School being first , with 152 representations , followed closely by the Benevolent Institution which shows 151 , thus leaving the Boys' School with 136 ) . Of the 230 Stewards ,
130 have served once only , 49 twice , and 26 on three occasions , the remaining 25 have acted four or more times each , registering among them 133 Stewardships . Havinsr so far devoted ourselves to a section only of the Charity Stewards , we have given the exact figures in each
case , but it will be necessary , in order to make our remarks complete , that we should include the whole body of Stewards , and we must now work on the above summary as a fair average of the whole . For this purpose we have totalled the number of Stewardships as given in the last
lists of subscribers of the three Institutions , with the following results : —Girls 1 , 968 , Boys 1 , 800 , Benevolent 1 , 671 ; to these figures mnst be added the Stewardships of 1878 , viz . : 211 , 237 and 221 respectively ; thus we have as the total number of Stewardships on record 2 , 179 for the
Girls' School , 2 . 037 for the Boys' School , and 1 , 892 for the Benevolent Institution , together 6 , 108 . These figures , on the above basis , would give 3 , 200 Stewards as the number ifc present on the books of the Charities , and of these 1 , 809 maybe reckoned as having served once only , 682
on two , and 362 on three occasions each , while the remaining 347 have acted more than three times each . It won'd thus seem that it is not so difficult to enlist the support of a brother for a first Stewardship as it is to induce him to
continue to advocate the claims of the Charities , and it therefore appears that the main point to decide is , not so much the best means of obtaining neiv Stewards , as how to induce those who have once acted to continue their
exertions . We think we are within the mark when we say that 9 out of every 10 brethren who decide to act , as Stewards , start with the intention of workiug on behalf of the three Institutions , and , therefore , that it is certain there is some reason why considerably over half the number stop after acting onee , What this retarding in-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Stewards For Our Charities.
STEWARDS FOR OUR CHARITIES .
THE important question of providing for tho ever increasing demands of our Charities is one which causes considerable anxiety to many of the foremost supporters of onr Institutions , and we feel no apology is needed from us for again referring to the subject , or for supplementing 1
previous articles analvsing the results of the Stewards ' labours with others which will point out how those results are obtained , and the best means for their augmentation . Under the present constitution of the Chanties the Craft stands committed to an outlay of say £ 35 , 000 per annum ,
and the task of raising this large amount , in fane of any eventualities which may arise , is no inconsidei'able undertaking That opinions as to the means to be adopted for the realisation of the desired object are divided is evident from the varied expressions which have been made during
tho past three months . The most recent , perhaps , is that of our Deputv Grand Master . Lord Skelmersdale , at the Festival of the Mark Benevolent Fund , held only a few weeks since , stated that , in his opinion , Charity dinners were a mistakp , and that the money spent on them would
be of much moro use in the coffers of the Charities themselves . The opposite view was at once defended by Bro . Binckes , the Secretary of the Boys' School , whose experience renders his words of great weight . Again , when the qualifications required of a Secretary for onr Girls' School
were being discussed , some held that personal canvass of the Lodges by the Secretary was absolutely necessary , others in direct opposition laid it down that the Secretary should be in attendance at tho office of the School to receive the money which , according to their idea , was to come in of its
own accord , and to answer questions . A very good theory , we admit , but ono which a brief study of the Stewards ' lists of our Charities will , we think , soon upset . The idea of these advocates appears to be that every Mason throughout the country knows , ov should know , the history and
requirements of our Institutions . We would advise those who have such , ideas to make a tour of onr Lodges , Metropolitan or Provincial , they would soon find that not only is all mention of the central Charities omitted at the majority of tho meetings , but in not a few cases the bulk of the
members know nothing whatever of the existence of the Institutions , much less think of according them any support . While such is the case , wc hold that it is necessary for our Institutions to have Secretaries who consider i * their duty to travel , far and wide , to make known the work
which is being done , and the amount yearly required to keep the Charities in a state of efficiency . Their prime effort is to obtain tho names of brethren willing to act as Stewards , and in furtherance of this object we maintain that personal canvass is the main element for success .
On reference to the last lists of our three Institutions , which , of conrsp , do not comprise the Festivals of the present year , we find that among the brethren who appear under letters A and B in the London Lists ( which may be taken as fairly representing the whole alphabet ) , omitting
those whose addresses are unknown , 202 have served the office of Steward , the number of Stewardships represented being 384 , viz ., 13 G for the Benevolent Institution , 134 for the Girls , and 114 for tho Boys' School , or nineteen
Stewardships among ten brethren—nearly two to each Steward . This proportion , however , is not carried out in individual cases . Of the 202 Stewards , 112 , or considerably over half the number , have only acted once ( 45 for the Benevolent , 39 for the Girls , and 28 for the Boys ) , while
Stewards For Our Charities.
of the remaining 90 , nearly one-half have acted on two occasions only , the figures being 21 for the Girls' and Boys' Schools jointly , 14 for the Girls' School and the Benevolent Institution , six for the Benevolent and the Boys ' School , one Steward twice for the Girls , and one twice for
the Benevolent . Thus we find that 15 D out of the 202 Stewards have not completed what we consider the allotted duty of every energetic Mason , namely , that he should act as a Steward for each of the three Institutions in turn . To this number may be added
eight others who , for some reason or other , have not patronised all three Charities , though six of them have served the office of Steward three times , and the other two four times each . We thus have 39 Stewards to account for , and of this number 23 have acted once on behalf of each of
the three Institutions . The remaining sixteen total 91 Stewardships among them , five having acted four times each , four five times each , three six times each , one seven times , two eight times each , and one ten times . As Ave have
stated above , these figures do not include the Festivals of this year , but the addition of those makes very little difference in the proportions . Of the 55 Stewards of the 1878 Festivals who should be included , 25 appear in previous
lists , and of this number eight have acted once before , four twice , seven thrice , one each four , five , seven and eight times , and two six times each , while three served at two , and one at all three of the 1878 Festivals . Thus 1878 gives an addition of 26 to the number of "single" Stewards , and
makes the totals on all accounts under letters A and B 439 Stewardships , represented by 230 Stewards ( the Girls ' School being first , with 152 representations , followed closely by the Benevolent Institution which shows 151 , thus leaving the Boys' School with 136 ) . Of the 230 Stewards ,
130 have served once only , 49 twice , and 26 on three occasions , the remaining 25 have acted four or more times each , registering among them 133 Stewardships . Havinsr so far devoted ourselves to a section only of the Charity Stewards , we have given the exact figures in each
case , but it will be necessary , in order to make our remarks complete , that we should include the whole body of Stewards , and we must now work on the above summary as a fair average of the whole . For this purpose we have totalled the number of Stewardships as given in the last
lists of subscribers of the three Institutions , with the following results : —Girls 1 , 968 , Boys 1 , 800 , Benevolent 1 , 671 ; to these figures mnst be added the Stewardships of 1878 , viz . : 211 , 237 and 221 respectively ; thus we have as the total number of Stewardships on record 2 , 179 for the
Girls' School , 2 . 037 for the Boys' School , and 1 , 892 for the Benevolent Institution , together 6 , 108 . These figures , on the above basis , would give 3 , 200 Stewards as the number ifc present on the books of the Charities , and of these 1 , 809 maybe reckoned as having served once only , 682
on two , and 362 on three occasions each , while the remaining 347 have acted more than three times each . It won'd thus seem that it is not so difficult to enlist the support of a brother for a first Stewardship as it is to induce him to
continue to advocate the claims of the Charities , and it therefore appears that the main point to decide is , not so much the best means of obtaining neiv Stewards , as how to induce those who have once acted to continue their
exertions . We think we are within the mark when we say that 9 out of every 10 brethren who decide to act , as Stewards , start with the intention of workiug on behalf of the three Institutions , and , therefore , that it is certain there is some reason why considerably over half the number stop after acting onee , What this retarding in-